Spectrophobia - Part Three

Posted on Saturday February 19th, 2022 @ 11:02pm by Commander Kanaka Shakura & Captain Franklin Johnson & Lieutenant Commander Nivora T'vek & Commodore Gregory Paladin

3,009 words; about a 15 minute read

Mission: S1-A1-Ep. 1: Spectrophobia
Location: Captain's Ready Room, U.S.S. Poseidon
Timeline: After the events of Spectrophobia - Part Two
Tags: Betreka Nebula, Medbay Explosion, Paladin, Reassignment, Mission End

Immediately after returning from the Akril-Class Starship, Kana had been able to regain her composure long enough to help the Away Team debrief and then return to some modicum of calm following what had just transpired. As soon as she had freed herself from the EVA suit, however, it felt as if the weight of the entire Betreka Nebula came down upon her body and mind.

"That was very reckless, Kanaka!" She thought to herself in a tone reminiscent of her own mothers. The telepathic attack she had used against Russhook had been effective, but had been very taxing for her mentally and physically; these sorts of things were within a Betazoid's capabilities, but extremely dangerous. She was lucky that the Gorn was caught so unaware and didn't have telepathic abilities of its own, or the attack could have easily backfired back onto her.

Before she could think of rest, though, she still had to report to Captain Johnson. He was no doubt tense and possibly erratic after what had just gone down, and though the Poseidon was now withdrawing to safety from the Nebula, he deserved an explanation of what had just happened sooner than any official report could give him in the immediate term. So not taking a chance to stop, the Executive Officer willed her way to the Bridge, doing her best to mask the exhaustion she was feeling.

Upon reaching the Bridge, she presented herself to the Captain as he remained fixed in the command chair. She was not too surprised to see Commodore Paladin had joined him, probably as he needed someone to confide in while Kana was away and Phoebe was busy ensuring the security of the ship in Lieutenant Hirsch's absence. She was now feeling extra sensitive to the emotions of the room, and could feel the residue of what she imagined was the Captain's earlier panic during the Away Team's extraction from the ship.

"Shall I debrief you in your Ready Room, Captain?" Kana looked at him, her words still as clear as ever, but her face visibly more pale. She acknowledged Paladin with a neutral expression.

Gregory and Franklin exchanged a glance, before Franklin nodded to Kanaka and motioned for her to follow.

"Lieutenant, you have the bridge," Franklin said to one of the bridge crew from rotation as he left.

Following them both into the Ready Room, Kana tried her best to figure out where best to start, but the state of her mind made it initially quite difficult. Once he was settled, she tried her best to start, standing right in front of his desk.

"As you know, Captain...I set off with a Forensic Away Team in the hopes that we might ascertain whether these wrecks had been tampered with in any way by the pirates we suspected to be present here in the Nebula. Upon arriving on the Bridge we were able to disable all the present traps and restore partial systems..."

It was at this point that, if either of them hadn't noticed already, something was clearly off about Kana. Her voice was getting noticeably weaker as she had to pause more between her words, and she was looking more down towards the floor than directly ahead at either of them. Her arms, which she usually liked to hold behind her back in formal situations like this, were resting by her side.

"It was--It was obvious that--"

It was at that moment that she collapsed suddenly to the floor.

Gregory was the quick one. He quickly lunged towards the Executive Officer and grabbed her underneath her arms. "I got her," he said to Franklin, "but she's out cold. She needs medical attention."

As Gregory gently laid the XO on the ground, Franklin tapped his combadge.

=/\= Captain to Medical. Medical Emergency in the Captain's Ready Room. =/\=

As he finished, he rushed over to the XO's side.

"Acknowledged, make sure she's kept comfortable and I will be there shortly," drawled T'vek in mild expectant tones, he hadn't even been to medical yet, instead had made to place his three "prizes" is such a word could be used for corpses, in a secure cabin that had long been repurposed in light of his investigations, all with permission of course. He had however made something of a show in the shuttle bay of insisting everyone be decontaminated and then transferred over his away medical kit into a new container, which he still had on him.

Despite having a very good idea who was in need of care, he made no outward display of panic nor did he deign to run, to appear so unseemly in front of the crew was neither proper, not in fact useful, he would arrive in due time, never mind that he was hardly that far from a turbolift which he promptly boarded and made swiftly for the bridge, stalking to the ready room with grim purpose and his usual air of superiority.

Forgoing the formalities he wordlessly waved away both Gregory and Franklin as he kneeled, swooping down almost vulture like upon the prone form of the Betazoid, tricorder at the ready which he barely even bothered to conduct more than the briefest glance to confirm his earlier suspicions, before bringing out a hypospray and sliding in a cylinder and pressing the dispenser to Kana's neck administering a stimulant with the merest hiss.

Gregory and Franklin were quick to move away, giving room to the Chief Medical Officer as the hypospray went into action.

He idly murmured in his by now trademark drawn out drawl of superiority underlining each word with tones of superiority, and a slight smirk sneaking it's way across his usually impassive features, "while I admire your dedication to duty I must also remind you that proper rest after exertion isn't merely advisable, but also required, anything else is negligent, and certainly not what I'd expect from such a promising Starfleet officer...'"

For the briefest moment, Kana had caught a glimpse of memories, memories that she didn't recall but felt as if she herself had witnessed them. Her loss of consciousness was so brief that she could not make any sense of them before she was awakened again, but she felt like she was having an outer-body experience, seeing herself and some of the other crew...an echo of what had just transpired on the Akril-class, perhaps? She wasn't entirely sure.

Kana let out a light groan as the hypospray worked its way immediately through her system, giving her body and mind a brief respite from the exhaustion that had overtaken her. Opening her eyes, she could see that she was laying on the floor and that above her were the Romulan Chief Medical Officer, as well as the Captain and the Commodore who were both looking a little concerned. "You've made a fool out of yourself now, Kanaka." Her mind was quick to chastise her again, once more in the same tone's as her mother.

Hearing the Doctor's quips, she cleared her throat and responded with a slightly healthier voice.

"I was wondering how long it would be until I got a measure of your bed-side manner, T'vek. I shall be sure to get my cat-nap next time." She rolled on her side and then onto her front as she managed to make her way back up to her feet. As she did so she leaned back onto the Captain's desk for an extra bit of footing while the hypospray continued to do it's work.

"Not so fast," T'vek quipped back sleekly, a touch of unusual iron in his tone, seeing his patient now somewhat upright and functional he made no move to stop her himself, instead preferring to make over to the replicator looking briefly over his shoulder, "Sit, Down," before murmuring at the Replicator his back to the other three.

"Apologies for the sudden start, Captain. Commodore." She regained her more professional composure, trying not to betray the larger sense of embarrassment that she was feeling at that moment. "Where was I?" She paused for a moment as she recollected where her thoughts had been before passing out.

"I believe you had just asked the Captain to his Ready Room," Gregory replied, raising an eyebrow at the First Officer. "I think, though, resting may be a better option for you. Is she going to be alright, Doctor?"

Feigning not to hear the question T'vek turned around holding an obsidian black saucer and tall cup that looked like it had been recently liberated from a gothic fortress tower, the steaming red liquid within swirling like free flowing magma, approaching Kana as he set it down in front of a chair and stood expectantly, "Chulan Tea, excellent for fatigue and exhaustion, best drank hot, something of a spicy beverage"

Franklin looked at the Commodore then the Doctor before examining Kanaka. "Number One, what's this about? That was a pretty intense situation there. You sure you wouldn't rather be resting right now?"

Kana eyed the saucer that T'vek had placed down for her in front of one of the lounge chairs in the Ready Room. Taking the hint, she sat down. "Thank you, Lieutenant." She said with a polite but weak smile as she took the seat and stretched her legs a little, before proceeding to drink some of the Chulan tea he offered.

Turning to both Franklin and Gregory, she answered them both. "I suppose I'll cut straight to the most pressing part of the affair; the rest can wait till the official report." She spoke in between sips, seemingly feeling quite revitalised from the offered beverage. "During our mission, Lieutenant Hirsch found himself separated from the main group for reasons I'm still unsure. I was able to retrieve him, but in the process of doing so we were harassed by some form of metalloid being, which managed to pursue us back to the Bridge..."

She paused for a moment before continuing. "...It was there while it blocked our exit that a Gorn pirate confronted us from the other end, having originally kept himself concealed. This was the pirate known as Russhook, a former Academy initiate now rogue. During our encounter he revealed that he had been tipped off on our mission, and that whoever knew we were here, wanted us alive..."

Another pause, and another sip of the cup, before she concluded. "Oh, and as for my faint...as a means of allowing us to escape, I used my telepathic abilities when the Gorn seized me to cause him to feel the pain of all his scars at once. It must have been agony for him. The resulting after-effects, well...you saw the toll such actions can take." She seemed intent on not focusing on that point too much.

The Commodore looked uneasy - very uneasy. When Kanaka had spoken the name "Russhook", his emotional state plummeted. Memories of the shuttle fire flashed before his eyes, and the person in front of him responsible for it was clear for anyone strong enough to see. The flash was momentary, the brief lapse back in time quickly dissuaded as Gregory carefully rubbed his chin. He looked sideways at the XO now, defensively, as if anticipating her to try to sense something.

"I see you have things handled here, Franklin," Gregory said as he managed to partially save his demeanor. Franklin gave him a nod and a brief wave of acknowledgement. Afterward, the Commodore walked out of the Ready Room to escape what might of been a very traumatic PTSD episode.

Meanwhile, Franklin observed his Number One. He carefully digested this information. This had been one of the first real excursions for the Poseidon and her crew. The fact they had run into such violence on their first away mission as a crew and ship had to be more than coincidence. That and the new orders from Starfleet. The Captain moved back a pace, sitting on top of his desk as he held one elbow in a palm and placed the other palm on his cheek.

"This can't be coincidence," he stated aloud for those present to hear. "Starfleet had an emergency transmission sent almost at the cusp of your away mission, Number One. They wanted us out of here. Said Intelligence reported things were too dicey for an Academy Ship. They're assigning the USS Carla Romney and the USS Nautilus will be taking over our posting."

The Captain let the importance of those names sink in. The Carla Romney was an Akira-class, more than capable of handling any pirate threats. The Nautilus was a Steamrunner class, which typically ran support for recon or fleet engagements. To have both in the same sector and undertaking the same patrol signified that Starfleet understood a very real threat in the vacinity. Mixed with the recent, probable pirate encounter, this meant that the USS Poseidon was far out of her league.

T'vek continued to keep his own council on the manner as usual, and for that matter his opinion, suspecting that this conversation was not entirely intended for his pointed ears as he instead made an outward show of checking on Kanaka, examining readings on his tricorder and of course keeping his feelings under very tight wraps, keeping his mind more akin to the ordered workings of an ancient clockwork timepiece.

Kana for her part had clocked the Commodore's sudden departure and, still being sensitive to the emotions of the room, could tell that something had bothered him about what had unfolded. She wasn't entirely sure of what, though, and decided that she would have to leave it for another time to try and push for answers out of him. Especially with the Doctor keen to make sure she was getting her required rest. Though before she did so, she'd be sure to counsel her Captain.

"Which leaves me still wondering why they ever thought it was a wise idea to send us here in the first place. Did they severely underestimate the risks involved?" She pondered openly, though personally she kept her real question to herself. "In what way is the Commodore involved with all of this?"

"In any case, I'm just glad we're being reassigned. We can hand off the results of all our findings to Starfleet in the coming days while we wait to be handed our next mission; I'm hoping something a bit more suited for our class, this time. We're an escort vessel, not pirate-hunters." Her tone was a bit less formal this time, likely due to how tired she was starting to feel. Again though, she kept her most private thoughts to herself. "Though I fear we may still be being hunted."

"Should be something more suited," the Captain said, a hint of a grin. "Should be much more suited."

"Keep drinking Commander, although it's no substitute for proper rest, Chulan Tea is something of a time honoured tonic for Romulan Academy students finishing their projects, no adverse effects unlike excessive use of Stimulants," T'vek murmured quietly seeking not to overtly interrupt the conversation as the deck suddenly rocked violently beneath his feet and the alert sounded, =/\= Bridge to the Captain. There's been an explosion on Deck 7, damage control is responding. =/\=

=/\= I'm my way! =/\= He then eyed Kanaka before eyeing T'vek. "Isn't your medical office on Deck 7? Did you leave something open, Lt. Commander?"

The Captain's tone wasn't entirely accusatory, but there was a hint of suspicion there.

"Shall we save the quips and witty repertie until after we know what's going on, if you recall I've made mention of my concerns of security on this ship and we are hardly wanting for sabotage these past few weeks, I'm more concerned for patients in medical stasis, if whatever this is causes any disruptions we're looking at quite the death toll off of just that." T'vek riposted languidly as he made the mildest show of displeasure at the accusation while looking more concerned than anything else at the mention of the crew who had fallen afoul of contaminated medical supplies.

The Captain cleared his throat. "I meant in the manner of Mr. Perkins and his lab exploits," Franklin clarified. "If I was out of line, I apologize."

"Forgiven, and kindly do not compare me to the criminally incompetent," T'vek replied with a warm smirk, the slight clearly forgotten perhaps indicating that he had been perhaps a touch sarcastic, having the Captain on the hop was always amusing and he certainly needed a bit of levity given the events of the past few hours.

After a moment, the Captain added, "Shall we proceed?" before heading to the exit and turbolift.

Kana as soon as she heard the explosion set the tea she had down and tried to stand, but even after the hypospray, she still didn't find it easy to stand completely. "I'll keep an eye on things here on the Bridge. You both better go and see what has happened."

Franklin, looking to T'vek for confirmation, then nodded to his XO. "Alright, Number One. Hold the fort down. We'll be in touch."

Watching them both leave, Kana took a deep breath and tried her best to straighten her now very badly beaten uniform. It seems like she wouldn't be getting that much needed rest immediately. "Just keep it together for a little longer, Kana." Her thoughts towards herself became a little softer and much more in her words as she prepared herself to step back out onto the Bridge, and assure everyone that everything was being taken care of.

They had been haunted by enough ghosts for one evening, she thought.

==========

Captain Franklin Johnson
Commanding Officer
USS Poseidon

&

Cmdr. Kanaka "Kana" Shakura
Executive Officer & Chief Counsellor
U.S.S. Poseidon

&

Lt. Cmdr. Nivora T'vek
Chief Medical Officer
U.S.S. Poseidon

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