The Escape
Posted on Mon Oct 19th, 2009 @ 6:18pm by Lieutenant Commander Kaylis Kirana & Commander Curtiss Drake
1,385 words; about a 7 minute read
Mission:
Shoreleave - Welcoming Old Friends and New
Location: Sickbay, USS Archimedes
Timeline: Current
Shalie watched as the interior of the Utopia disappeared and almost morph into the sickbay of her ship. She felt as though she had been hit by a bus. Her jaw was aching and the taste of blood was ever present in her mouth as she tried to think straight. Her eyes fell upon the back of Doctor Fox. Not sure whether her voice would work she tried to speak, failing at first. She moved closer to him. "Fox." She squeaked in an attempt to get his attention.
Fox paused the slow scroll of personnel on the computer panel before him and turned around with a smile, one that faded almost immediately and was replaced by a scowl.
"What the hell." he said, unfolding his arms from over his chest. "Who did this to you, Lieutenant. I'll have their career on my desk!" he boomed, shuffling her onto a bio-bed gingerly.
Without really thinking of the consequences of her answer Shalie responded. "My...father..." She moved herself to the bed and took her perch. Her head was spinning and everything hurt. All she could think about was Fox and her shoulder. She took a sharp breath as she sat on the bio bed, cradling her arm in her lap.
Fox growled under his breath, he couldn't imagine ever doing anything to harm his daughters or grandchild for any reason. The fact that a father could have done this to her was simply beyond his capacity to understand. He pressed a hypospray to her neck and turned to his tricorder, flipping it open quietly.
"Your shoulder?" he asked, turning the scanner node towards her shoulder. "Did he pull on it?" he asked quietly.
Shalie merely shook her head. "I don't think so...I tried to protect it." The last thing she needed was more of this crap with her arm. Although it would be fitting for the first person to dislocate her arm to be the person that started it in the first place.
"I can see that." Fox replied, setting the tricorder down and picking up another hypo and pressing it to her neck. "Lay back." he said, grabbing his dermaregenerator and getting to work.
"Have you reported this to the Federation Security forces?" Fox asked, starting on her eye.
Again Shalie shook her head. "No...I can't" All she could think about was the crew and her mother. Despite what he did to her, they needed him. "This isn't the first time....but it will be the last." She laid still as he worked her over. She knew the drill.
"Damn right it'll be the last." Fox replied, looking Shalie in the eye, "You tell that no good, son of bitch that he touches one of my Officer's again I'll 'do no harm' him into the morgue so fast he won't know what hit him." Fox growled, setting his tool down on the table loudly and picking up another. "He sets foot on this vessel and so help me..." he trailed off, gritting his teeth as he tried to focus on the task at hand.
Shalie watched as Fox tended to her. His anger was genuine. It amazed her, never had any human she met gotten angry when this happened. They normally just patched her up and sent her on her way. "He won't be on this ship....I was on his." Shalie instinctively licked the blood that was on the edge of her lip. "He tends to avoid contact with me....I made the mistake of visiting my mom on shore leave....I should have known better, the man hates Orions"
"Hypocritical bastard." Fox replied, too incensed to say anything else.
Shalie gave fox a confused look for a second. Not truly understanding what he meant by and not being one to just leave it be she asked. "How is a human hating Orions hypocritical?"
Fox stopped, giving her a strange look. "Last I check, Miss Montgomery, you're not one-hundred percent Human." he said, "How is it your father can hate Orions, when you're half?" he asked.
"Shannon and Jame Montgomery run the SS Utopia. They found me in an escape pod when I was an infant." Shalie started. "My mom raised me like I was her own...but my father raised me like I was his servant and whipping boy." Her tone was very matter of fact. "He always claims that I used the Orion pheromones to make her care for me."
"Perhaps I should send Mr. Intelligence the Starfleet Medical papers on the Orion pheromones and their effect on the opposite sex, not to mention the fact that the pheromones don't even manifest fully in hybrids and even then not until puberty." Fox replied, turning around to consult the computer panel for anything else he needed to take care of on Shalie, "But let's not cloud the prejudice with simple logic." he added under his breath.
"You could give him an actual demonstration on how they work and Jame Montgomery would just assume that you were "under my spell" as he called it when I was younger." Shalie laughed at the thought. "Thanks for patching me up....whenever this happened in the past I was lucky to get an ice pack." Her voice full of the the irony of the situation.
"Yes, well, I expect you back in here if ever this happens again." he said, folding his arms seriously. "Come back and see me if you have any residual pain." he added.
Shalie moved into a sitting position and slid off the bio bed. She wasn't sore per say just felt exhausted. "Sure thing...I won't be going back there..." She turned to leave and just before she left she turned back. "Thanks again....really." She nodded to him before walking out the doors.
Fox watched her the door's slide close behind her and stared quietly for a moment, letting his mind roll over what had just happened. Finally, a slow smirk formed over his lips and he headed towards his office, sealing the door's behind him and taking a seat at his desk. He engaged the computer panel, and pressed a few commands before the Federation logo appeared on the screen and he waited patiently for the transmission to connect. An older man, a few years younger than Cailean appeared on the screen and smiled brightly.
"Cailean, you old dog, how the hell are ye?" the man asked, his voice thick with an Irish Brogue.
"I'm well, Nathaniel." Fox replied, folding his arms on the desk in front of him.
Nathaniel looked back at his old friend and sighed, "This ain't a personal call, is it?" he asked.
Fox shook his head.
"What can I do for ye, then?" he asked.
"Betalis Prime." Fox replied seriously.
"Aye." Nathaniel replied solemnly, "Knew you'd be saving that favor for a while." he said, "Go ahead then, name your price."
"I need to make life miserable for someone, Nathaniel. Its no more than they deserve." he said, "I need you to make it happen."
"Aye, Cailean. That I can do, but I'm not a Starfleet Officer anymore. I run the civilian freighter licensing and lanes." he said.
Fox smiled back and Nathaniel shared the smile, "Aye." Nathaniel said, "What's the transport?" he asked.
"SS Utopia." Fox replied.
"Utopia... Utopia..." Nathaniel replied, scratching his chin as if he were deep in thought, "Ah yes, I believe I saw their documents here earlier... dreadful to hear their shipping permits had been suspended. Got to keep that paperwork in line." he said, shaking his head sadly. "Afraid they'll be in orbit for weeks sorting that out." he smiled. "Oh dear." he added with faux surprise. "Inspection orders, bow to stern from the keel up, oh my my, how on Earth did they miss that? A shame they didn't catch that sooner, would have saved considerable time and money.
Fox smiled back, "A shame, to be sure." he said with a friendly nod. "Looks like you're busy, old friend. I don't want to keep you."
"Aye, I'll be in touch. Nathaniel out."
RSS Feed