Star Trek Expanded Universe
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Commander Arban Breetal was chief medical officer of Deep Space 3 in the mid-24th century. (Star Trek: Outpost)

Starfleet career[]

Arban Breetal's medical career began on Earth. He had been refused a position at Ravenstone Memorial on Earth. He then entered Starfleet Academy. After graduating, he was posted to the Starfleet Garrison on Kalimor, where he met a young lieutenant named Montaine Buchanan. The two men became fast friends. They spent a considerable time on the planet.

Then in 2338, Kalimor was attacked by a heretofore unknown species called the Mahr. After neutralizing the colony's minimal defenses, the Mahr destroyed what was left of the colony. The survivors were then herded into pens. Thus began their eight-month ordeal. The Mahr provided irrelevant, backbreaking labor for the most meager of barely edible rations, along with physical beatings and torture for little or no reason. It was the consensus of the surviving colonists that Arban's medical training be hidden so he could treat the injured and infirm away from the scrutiny of the Mahr.

Arban's healing skills were exposed when he tried to help Sakor, an elderly Vulcan that had suffered a brutal beating at the hands of the Mahr. Despite Sakor's protests, Arban was determined to try and ease his pain. After he was spotted, the Mahr sadistically remarked, "That not how you stop pain, This is how you stop pain." He then beat Sakor to death. His medical skills exposed, Breetal was taken to Ch'man, one of the Mahr leadership.

After he returned, he went to the first colonist that needed tending, but would not meet the eyes of any of the other colonists. The Mahr then ordered colony leader Lieutenant Montaine Buchanan to provide colonists for experiments, and Arban Breetal would assist in the experiments. That night some of the more fit colonists attempted an escape, stealing what little reserve food the colonists had put away. The Mahr hunted them down for the sport. None of them were heard from again.

The Mahr continued to take colonists for experiments. Sometimes they would take them from the workgroups, sometimes they would just come into the camp. To take who they wanted. The experiments came to a climax when the Mahr took Montaine Buchanan. He was returned in a delusional state, like the other affected colonists. Breetal managed to smuggle what he thought was an antidote from the lab. He administered it to Buchanan. The antidote worked, though it left the young Lieutenant exhausted, and unable to work. His girlfriend, Emily Alkon took over leadership of the colonists. When the workgroup returned, none of the group would face Buchanan. He soon discovered that Emily had been taken by the Mahr for experiments. She was returned a few days later, in the same delusional state Buchanan was in. This time Arban had no antidote. It had been seized by the Mahr in the attempt. Emily died the next morning. Two days later the camp was liberated by Starfleet.

After recovering, Arban and Montaine were assigned to Starbase 43. Montaine as Logistics Officer, Arban as a Medical Officer. They remained at the starbase for thirteen years. When Montaine was promoted to Captain and given command of Deep Space Three, Arban followed as the replacement Chief Medical Officer. Once there, Buchanan began a campaign of austerity and cutbacks. Arban, seeing no harm in it, gave in to Buchanan's force of personality. Over the twelve years, Dr. Breetal watched as Buchanan cut station staffing to the barest minimum, leaving it able to handle day to day traffic, but vulnerable in the event of mass casualties. The mass casualties came in the form of a Betazoid diplomatic shuttle that came under attack while on a covert mission. After the Miranda-class starship USS Remington, which was on its way to study a trinary star, diverted to assist, and towed the shuttle to DS3. With the support from Doctors Winston, Hern-chinz, along with their respective medical staffs from USS Chimera and Remington, handling the sudden influx of casualties became manageable.

Shortly before the Remington arrived with shuttle casualties, Captain Buchanan was injured in a turbolift accident. As the engineering crews rushed to reach him, he was saturated with anti-grav coolant. When Arban finally reached Buchanan, one of the first things he said to him was that he had to "Save Emily". Arban was forced to conclude that inhaling the coolant had placed him in a delusional state. After getting him to Sickbay, he placed him in a pure oxygen field and engaged a theta suppressor in order to allow him to rest, but this also inhibited short term memory. Despite this, Buchanan and Arban worked together to aid Avery Tovar-Smith's sister, Emily, who appeared to be afflicted with the same pathogen.

Relationships[]

With his subordinates[]

Medtech Kell[]

Kell was a staff nurse, as well as a certified Nurse Practitioner. He was with Dr. Breetal when they found Capt Buchanan following his disappearance from sickbay. When Dr. Breetal was faced with the possibility of 12-hour shifts because of the imminent departure of the Chimera and the Remington, Kell offered to cover a shift. Breetal declined. With the ward full, an M.D. was needed on all shifts.

Dr. Wylothia[]

Dr. Wylothia was DS3's resident xeno-medicine specialist. She was one of the few Starfleet members from the planet Edo.

With his peers[]

Dr. Hern-Chinz[]

Dr. Hern-Chinz was the chief medical officer of the Miranda-class USS Remington. He and his staff filled in at the station sickbay while Remington was docked at Deep Space Three.

Dr. Tricant[]

Dr. Tricant is part of Dr. Hern-Chinz's medical staff on the Remington. He filled in at the station sickbay, augmenting Dr. Breetal's staff while the Remington is docked at Deep Space Three.

Dr. Rachel Winston[]

When the Chimera is docked at DS3, Dr. Rachel Winston and her medical augment station's medical personnel.

With his superiors[]

Captain Buchanan[]

Station commander Captain Montaine Buchanan had been friends ever since they served together at the Federation colony on Kalimor. Following the initial attack, then Lieutenant Montaine Buchanan took charge of the survivors, leading the work details the Mahr assigned, with Arban tending the sick, injured and infirm in secret.

Following their rescue, Arban joined now Lieutenant Commander Montaine Buchanan at Starbase 43 as a medical officer, a position he retained for 13 years. He was then promoted to Commander and assigned with now Captain Buchanan at his new posting as commander Deep Space Station Three.

Arban was one of the few people who saw no harm in Capt Buchanan's austerity program. The arrival of casualties from the Betazoid shuttle changed all that. The mass of casualties, combined with Buchanan's turbolift accident, threatened to overwhelm the understaffed medical center. It was the aid of the medical personnel from Chimera and Remington that kept the situation from spinning out of control.

Captain Buchanan had difficulties during his convalescence. His desire to control was in conflict with resting in sickbay, leaving his First Officer, Lieutenant Commander Gregory Torkelson with the burden of command. On one occasion, he actually snuck out of sickbay, to the consternation of Dr. Breetal and the medical staff. Buchanan has pleaded to return to duty. Arban refused, stated that he would not be returned to duty until he was recovered.

Chronology[]

Memorable Quotes[]

"Hope can also be the reason to do the dirty work, not delay it. Hope is attached to what will be gained after the dirty work is done. The people on this station have been doing the dirty work for a long time, Monty, with nothing at the end of it but more work. Now they are finally seeing that there may be something at the end of it for them"

"Are you suggesting that Commander Torkelson has figured out a way to outsmart a thousand years of human, Vulcan, and Federation managers and computer programmers? Wow. You must really respect him if you think he's possible of that."

"This reunion isn't for the people left behind, Monty. It's for the people who survived . . . who lived to go on and build happy, healthy productive lives. And, as much as you protest, you know as well as I, all of that was made possible by you. They want to see you, Monty. They want to show you how much they appreciate what you did for them on Kalimor. Maybe even prove to you that they were worth saving."

"What we went through on Kalimor, Monty, didn't really end there. As you well know, an experience like that follows you your entire life. Some people figure out a way to handle it. Some people don't."

Background[]

Dr. Arban Breetal is played by Larry Phelan in episodes 01 thru 31 and by Cary Ayers from Episode 32 onwards in Star Trek: Outpost.

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