Posted by Captain Rende Asam (Captain) in Main Sim [Sickbay]: The Price of Existence

Posted by Lieutenant Jericho Semenza (Chief Medical Officer) in Main Sim [Sickbay]: The Price of Existence

Posted by Captain Rende Asam (Captain) in Main Sim [Sickbay]: The Price of Existence
Posted by… suppressed (3) by the Post Ghost! 👻

—[SNIP]—

Nurse Hofmann and her team silently tended to Hab’rabi and the biological mess they’d all created, clucking disapprovingly like an old hen but otherwise keeping her own counsel. She worked quickly, quietly, and efficiently around the gathered officers until the floor was sterile and the alien lord was resting comfortably. It had taken the nurse a few moments to figure out the unusual clasps to his chestplate and greaves, but eventually she had him stripped down to the strange, almost ceremonial, wrapping around his hips and thighs.

In repose, Hab’rabi could have been cast from a strange sort of stone. His ashen skin was without blemish, chiseled and well cared for. Whether by genetic design or curious affectation, the alien did not have a single hair on his body. His facial features were broad and flat, but somehow unremarkable. Soft pools of light swam beneath his flesh like moonlight on glass, clouded vein or bone showing briefly in the eerie pulses before fading. Hofmann scanned him from tip to toe before covering him with a modest sheet for warmth, though there was no indication it affected Hab’rabi in the slightest.

“Poor fool’s exhausted himself,” she murmured, administering a hypospray to the base of his neck. “That should help take the edge off. He’ll come ‘round soon enough, just be patient. At least he’s stable.”
—Jas—

Kalika had finished making sure sensitive areas had competent security officers both inside and out. Before settling it the Security Chief, she took a short detour to medical.

“Lieutenant.” The NE stood in attention and let her in. He almost slipped during the warp but fortunately, no one noticed.

Stepping inside, searching eyes looked around the room and she frowned. A hand reached out to gently stop a passing nurse as she let the door close behind her. “Where is Ensign Sacco. It’s imperative I speak with him.”

After being directed, the security officer stepped up beside the man’s bed. Seeing him laying there made her don’t he had ever shot a weapon in his life. She knew him well enough to know he wasn’t a phaser fanatic. He didn’t just shoot people for random reasons. The question was… Why did he shoot the alien?

She glanced at his vitals and then turned to try and flag down a staff member of sufficient rank to let her know if he could be wakened for questioning.

Nurse Hofmann chose that fortuitous moment to check on Ensign Sacco herself. Initially, she moved around Darz and Little as if they were more furniture in the room, making notes on her PaDD and performing cursory scans with a tricorder. Only once she was done did she turn to the security officers.

“He was brought in quite upset,” she explained as she prepared a hypospray. “I’ll rouse him so that you can talk to him, but I ask you to be brief. Both his mind and body were subject to an unusual amount of bioelectric stress and he needs time to recover. I will be monitoring his condition while he’s conscious, but I’ll give you some privacy.”

The nurse pressed the hypospray to Ensign Sacco’s neck gently, watched his vitals for a moment before nodding and moving on with her rounds. It took a moment before Sacco’s eyes fluttered open and he looked around. He gave an uncoordinated blink, then squinted at Kalika like a man struggling to focus.

“Wh-where…” Sacco tried to prop himself up on his elbows, but they wouldn’t hold him. “Oh, my head. What’s going on?”
—Jas—

Peter excused himself from his conversation with Fayth and moved to join Darz and watched the conversation quietly as he mulled over his thoughts. He needed more information, after this, it was time to return to the bridge, link up with Forgrave again and combine their intelligence.

CIO

Kalika frowned and set a gentle hand on Sacco to let him lie back down. “Well, you are in medical. As to the why? I would say it was because someone shot you after you shot our alien guest.” She shook her head and sighed. “What do you remember? Do you recall WHY you shot him?” She didn’t hold her breath that he would have a satisfactory answer, but she did hope he at least remembered something.

Kalika
Security

Mike walked into sickbay from the Medlab and saw the group. Frowning he went over and without saying anything as he listened to them talk, he checked the patients’ vitals which would match a person which had been shot.

Seeing the security officer speaking to Sacco Mike said, “He likely won’t be at one hundred percent for about thirty minutes. His system will have to reboot after the shock. And any answers you may get may not contain as much information as you’d like. It all depends on how long ago he was shot.”

Ensign Mike Jones Med

“Shot me?” The ensign looked horribly confused, visually inspecting himself before looking back to Kalika. “I… I remember Lord Hab’rabi on the ground, and the phaser in my hand. I got really confused, and I panicked. Dropped the phaser, called for help. The rest… It was all so fast. Security came. I…”

Sacco squeezed his eyes shut tight, and a tear slid down his face. His face reddened like a man wrestling desperately with his grief, but he didn’t break. Finally, he took a long breath and let it out through shaky lips. The ensign turned away from Kalika then, stared at the vital monitor on the far wall. His voice came again, steady but distant.

“I don’t know if I’m going crazy, but…” Another long pause and a breath. “We were standing in the hall. I was telling him how to use the comm panel and the replicator, following guest protocols like they trained us at the Academy. He seemed preoccupied, but I didn’t think much of it at the time. I thought if I’d woken up impossibly far from home on a derelict ship, I’d have a lot on my mind, too. Before I left, I tried to shake his hand. He… startled, pulled away like I’d goosed him. The look in his eye, you’d think I’d offered him a tarkalian viper. I explained that it was a gesture of friendship, tried to put him at ease a bit. Make him feel welcome. Even apologized for any cultural misunderstandings. I tend to talk a lot when I’m nervous, and that boy was mighty big. He turned away, and I dropped it.”

Sacco squinted into the middle distance, shook his head. “But then he turns to me, and I remember thinking that he had the saddest look in his eye. Again, didn’t think much of it. Even felt bad for him, how lonely and desperate he and his people must have been. He turned, offered me his hand, and apologized. Thinking about it, his voice was sad, too. Just that: ‘My deepest apologies.’ I laughed without meaning to, tried to make it okay. Took his hand, gave it a firm squeeze like my father taught me.”

He curled up on the biobed then, wrapping his arms around his knees and tucking his face into the padding. He looked for all the world like a child trying desperately to disappear, to hide from the monster in the closet or under the bed. Sacco’s chest shook with silent tears, his limbs shivering with fear. Nurse Hofmann took a step forward to comfort him, stopped herself, gripped her PaDD tightly at her waist. She offered Kalika a grandmotherly nod, but said nothing. The ensign continued in a hollow voice trembling with barely-checked emotion, but his words were clear and firm.

“I felt someone watching, something there. That tickle in your brain when you’re being followed but you can’t see who it is, that lets you know you’re not alone in the woods. But it wasn’t in the corridor, it was… in my mind. Like my head was a room, and I was in it with myself but… not. I wasn’t shaking hands with Hab’rabi anymore. It was me. It spoke with my voice, but outside. I heard Hab’rabi, too, but the words were jumbled, like someone sucked all the understanding from me. My other reached for the phaser, and I tried to stop myself. But… I pushed me, and I flew so impossibly fast into… So dark, so cold. A void with no stars, crushing and lonely. There were others, too, screaming in the Empty. I couldn’t reach them. I thought I would go mad.”

Sacco shook his head, and his body melted into a pile of resignation. “That’s when I woke up, or came back to myself. When I noticed him laying there so very still, the phaser in my hand. The smell of ozone and seared meat in my nostrils. Gods, I’ll never forget that smell.”

“I just want to go home,” he whispered in a small voice, then began to rock himself silently.

Nurse Hofmann crossed the room silently and put a hand on Kalika’s shoulder. “I’m sure you have a lot of questions, and not all of them with answers, but I’m going to have to ask you to leave. I’m going to have to sedate him for a little, let him rest. I promise I’ll contact you or someone else if he feels like talking again.”
—Jas—

[Updated to fix the split from here.]

Peter nodded slowly then pointed his head at Kalika towards the turn then turned around and saw the Captain enter the room, years of training kicked in and he almost stood at attention at the unexpected visit.

Rende entered sickbay and paused when the door closed to take in the scene. Hofmann, Kalika, and Jones were with Sacco. She hoped they were getting some answers there. She saw a flash of medical blue in Hab’rabi’s room and moved that way. She stood in the door way, standing perfectly still, but her eyes roving the room. Hab’rabi looked like he’d been dumped, albeit carefully, on the biobed. He was a rather large specimen after all. Semenza was over seeing him. And that young Betazoid doctor was curled on the floor, looking like she might be sick…again if the smell of cleaner and vomit in the room was any indication. Had the warp field been that harsh on those affected? She moved over and knelt down next to the young doctor. “Are you alright, Lt?”

Standing she looked over at Semenza, “Lt Semenza I need to speak to you, privately. Can someone else on your staff come help the Lt and watch over our guest for a moment?”

Rende, CO

“Captain, You’ll want to hear what Doctor Fayth has to say, she received a vision from Hab’rabi, it’s…” He hesitated “Worrying. Do you know where I can find commander Kohr?” He asked mostly to let the Captain know where he would be going without explaining why immediately.

CIO

Rende paused, “A vision? Did he harm her?” Betazoids were a wonderful people but always seemed to be in the middle of things. Probably because people relied to heavily on their telepathy. “I just left him, he was in his quarters.” On her way past him she spoke low, no need to spread information too far, “Cargo Bay 2.”

Kalika hadn’t seen the Captain’s arrival. She frowned at Sacco a moment then nodded to the nurse. “He’s definitely going to need to answer more questions. But I’m finished now. If you need anything, the security officer left here can help.”

Kalika turned and moved to tap a query on the nearest console to find where the Security Chief was. He needed to know this. And they needed to make sure that no one else touched the guest, if Sacco’s reaction was any indication what would happen.

Kalika
Security

Semenza nodded to the captain, waving over Ensign Jones to take his place. “They seem fine, any of the doctors should be able to stand in for a moment. What is it you need, Captain?”

~ Lt Semenza, CMO

Rende led the doctor to his office and waited for the door to shut. “This is restricted information Doctor. There are more survivors of Hab’rabi’s people on board his ship. In cryo stasis. We also have reason to believe there are hostiles on his ship. It is not ideal but you need to be prepared to receive those survivors in case we have to beam them out to save them. Also prepare for casualties. Quietly, we don’t want to tip our hand and put our own people in danger.”

“What happened to Lt Fayth and Hab’rabi?”

Rende, CO

Semenza crossed his arms, leaning his weight on one leg. “If Hab’rabi caused this much of a problem for our ship already, how can we prepare for more of them? We still haven’t found any way to stop the motes’ effects on our own crew.” Then he frowned. “The warp field… I’m not sure why, but it had rather a violent effect on both of them. They collapsed and threw up. My scans indicate they’ll be alright, but…” Semenza shrugged, frustrated by the lack of information.

~ Lt Semenza, CMO

Rende nodded, “Yes he has, but he came to us fully awake and thawed out. His crew is not. They are in cryo-stasis, so they will be asleep, and they will need a safe environment to be moved to, if we should need to move them before they wake. And no we haven’t, but perhaps you or one of your doctors can come up with a way to disrupt the connection. We don’t want to harm anyone though.” Rende was no doctor, but she was educated enough, “It doesn’t seem to have affected the whole crew. Was anyone else who was in contact with the motes affected?”

Semenza nodded without any idea how he was going to manage that. “Yes, Captain.” Then he nodded to answe her second question, “I believe so, but not as severely as Lt Fayth and Hab’rabi. Those two got the worst of it.”

“I am confident in your ability to come up with an answer doctor. Now Cmdr Sigmundsson said Hab’rabi related some information to Lt Fayth. Is she well enough for me to speak to? After that I want to speak to our guest.”

Rende, CO

“She will soon be if she isn’t already,” Semenza said with another nod. “Hab’rabi I’ll want to check on first, but I have no doubt he’ll be able to speak with you.” Then he could get to work with his team to find the answer they were looking for. A way to disrupt the motes’ connections…

~ Lt Semenza, CMO