Makari listened as other senior officers spoke up. What they had to say was relevant, and important, but none of it explained a darn thing. That worried him. The Captain had selected the crew because they were the best at what they did. He had pulled in great officers, both junior and senior. If they couldn't solve a problem in a timely fashion then who could? Did it mean the problem was impossible? Did it mean they were doomed? Anyone with a pessimistic outlook on the universe would invariably have thought so. Makari was no Cardassian though. He was Risian. And the Risians didn't know how to be pessimistic. It was just genetically impossible. He had scientific proof to back it up. Or not. It didn't change the fact that he wasn't pessimistic though. In fact while everything seemed dire, he still knew they could pull together and succeed.<br/><br/>"Captain, standard quarantine procedures do not tend to include chronitons and time issues, we will have to keep our distance from the starbase until we know if we are a risk to them... and should we leave a sensor buoy in space announcing the present dangers so no other ships, both ours or Romulan alike, wander in unaware?"  Makari suggested after there was a sufficient pause in the conversation to give him a moment to interject before... well anyone else died... he hated to think the thought but the call from sickbay, and the reaction of red alert it brought upon them showed just how real a threat that was.<br/><br/>As the Chief Engineer explained just what was happening within the ship, as in gel packs were possibly aging, Makari listened intently, an idea forming in his own mind. "I hate to admit this thought just came to me, but the fact that most of our crew, and now biological technology is being affected shows this isn't isolated, and neither crew or gel pack dominate the ship when it comes to sheer amounts of life..." He explained and then paused a moment to gather his thoughts. Makari was used to handling ops, offering up efficiency equations and toying with various problems related to his work and making the ship run even an iota smoother. The practical sciences were not his usual field of play, in fact he was a man of the more heady sciences, physics and the like. Still, he did understand science, and his brain was shifting gears from ops to that special bit of insight that every scientist had at one time or another. Not brilliance, not some Newtonian physics breakthrough, but an idea none the less.<br/><br/>"Have we examined pets on the ship? They represent a small amount of our population but one that could be effected... and while on that line of thought there are the plants... I will have the botanists look into that as soon this meeting ends, and I am sure medical can run a cursory examination on pets? But then neither are the most numerous life form on the ship... that falls to the SIMPLE life forms. The air borne spores and germs, the viruses and the like which harmlessly float about us all the time... are THEY changing? And if so, why? If not... why not? I'm suggesting more questions and offering no answers, but that may be the only way to solve this... so can anyone find a way to check the air and water for any changes to things we usually ignore as benign and harmless?" Makari hoped he sounded more official and less rambling than he thought he did, but either way he wanted to get things done, and the idea had been born, now it was time to see if anyone would nurse his baby.<br/><br/>"Doctor, I look forward to working with you, and am open to any suggestions or data you have to offer, this is the first day on the job for me... times like three now... so be patient and I will try not to age so much you get a new patient," He offered with a small smile that he hoped eased past the worry he was sure the majority of them were feeling.