138 The Medic arrived about the same time as the
Engineers with the new communications console. The Medic tore open
North's trousers and hurriedly began to scan the wound. "Sir," he
announced, "I've got to call the Doctor on this."
139 "The Doctor's extremely busy," insisted North, "right now you'll
just have to get that thing out of there, and get me down to sickbay."
140 The Medic took ahold of the end of the metal and tried to pull it.
Suddenly the Engineer working on the communications console screamed,
"DON'T TOUCH THAT!" and came over with his scanner.
141 ''At least four inches of that thing," he explained, "has gone
through the chair, into the cabling on the other side. We don't touch
it, until we go down below and disconnect everything coming up on this
side. The stuff on the other side will be alright. It’s the computer controls and firing controls
we've got to disconnect. Get going you two!" The Engineer's two
Assistants headed off.
142 "Is that really necessary?" asked North.
143 "Sir," the Engineer explained, "when they say the Commander sits in
a hot seat, they're not kidding! You've got duplicate controls for
everything on the command deck; computer and firing controls on your
left, helm and navigation on your right. There's enough juice flowing
around you to cook ten men! That's why you've got twice as much plastic
shield as in the consoles. But this thing has penetrated the plastic
shield and is in the wiring. If we scrape off insulation, pulling on
the wiring, or trying to pull that thing out, POOF!"
144 "I get the picture!" North replied, "But I'd appreciate it if you'd
hurry up. This is getting uncomfortable. As a matter of fact, it's
beginning to hurt!"
145 "I can fix that," announced the Medic, taking out an injector.
146 "No pain killer!" snapped North, "Nothing that will