Treating the Fighters

Posted on Fri Feb 13th, 2009 @ 6:17am by Ensign Turoc

1,936 words; about a 10 minute read

Mission: Citadel Prime
Location: Sickbay
Timeline: current

[Sickbay]

Both Turoc and Dhindara were beamed into sickbay. In the absence of any medical personnel, they weren't due to arrive before Tuesday, the only civilian doctor on the ship was called in.

Dr. Catherine Halsey was confused indeed as she strode briskly into the sickbay. Being the only doctor onboard, she had been serving in a temporary "Chief Medical Officer" capacity -- she had little else to do all day, so why not help the fleet that had housed her for so many years. Spotting the two members of the crew in her sickbay -- the hulking Yajuta warrior and the Betazoid NCO--she got a little worried, and debated calling Rowena just in case.

Not yet. She would give them a chance before she let the rabid dog off the leash. "I'm Dr. Halsey; it's nice to meet both of you, although perhaps it should have been under better circumstances," Halsey said crisply, barely missing a beat as she calculated her survival odds if she pissed off the Yajuta warrior. "What seems to be the trouble, here?"

"He threatened my life, I tried to defend myself with my telepathic powers... it wasn't enough, he cut me with his blade so I shot him", Dhindara said, giving a quick summary. She was bleeding and hurting. "If you wake him up, place him inside a containment field first. Please."

Halsey nodded, evaluating the younger woman's wounds. "Believe me, I'm not going to wake him up until Rowen--er, Commander Arkham and a Security team arrives. I'm a doctor, I'm not prepared to deal with an angry, brainless savage."

Dhindara smiled. "Thanks", she said. "I hope I didn't kill him. I used phaser level six, he didn't fall when I used heavy stun. Hence the wound."

As she worked to stop the Betazoid's bleeding, she frowned a little. "It's a bit deep -- I'm going to laser suture, just to be safe. I'll give you something for your pain as well. Are you prepared to speak on the issue now, if I call Commander Arkham down here?"

"Yes, of course", Dhindara said, "though I'd rather have the surgery first and then speak when the pain is gone, if you don't mind."

Halsey smiled a little, loading a hypospray to give the younger woman something for the pain she was in. "Oh, I know. But I'll notify Commander Arkham now -- I've known her far too long; she'll get my communication, grumble for at least fifteen minutes about her jaw and her arthritic hip and how she has far too much work to do for this, and then come down. She's gotten rather cross and set in her ways now that she's getting so close to fifty."

"I have felt the amount of pain she is in, doctor", Dhindara replied, "she is definitely not simulating the troubles she's having. But she says she deserves it. Why I don't know, I didn't pry."

"She's...complicated," Halsey said quietly, administering the hypospray, "Rowena Arkham has seen quite a bit in almost thirty years, a lot of which she can't talk about -- but those weigh on her, especially the war, for...rather obvious reasons. They say after that she was never the same."

Dhindara nodded. "Yes, I am much the same way. I have been on Betazed when the Domunion invaded. I've seen and done many things I'd rather have gone without, given a choice."

As she moved to the other patient, she continued to speak attempting to distract the Betazoid from her pain, "She's a good person, underneath it all, though. She's been wonderful to me these past years -- she's not the monster she seems. Not in the least. Although I wonder what she would have been like if she'd never gone to the Academy and gone to Julliard instead...she's a concert violinist, you know."

"I know she's not a monster", Dhindara replied, "no more than I am, at any rate. I can feel her mind, even without actively looking for things. I feel it with you as well. It makes me somewhat of a judge of character. But no, I didn't know about her music. Can she play the violin with that jaw of hers?" Dhindara didn't know much about Terran music, but she'd seen a violin and knew that you had to balance it against your chin.

"Oh, undoubtedly. She's got an amazing pain tolerance, as you can probably sense. To tell you the truth, I don't even begin to understand where that comes from or how she does it day after day--she'll even go through a procedure with no anaesthetic -- just hypnosis and sheer force of will. She calls it 'suffering for her art' -- I call it another surgery. It's rather unfortunate that I don't get paid by the degree of butchering I do. Rowena has always refused a biological implant, which is too bad -- it would do wonders for her pain. But she would never... I think she wants a reason to keep me here, even though she knows that if she wanted me to stay that I..."

Halsey trailed off, and for a moment she seemed as if she was somewhere far off. Snapping back into reality, she said simply, "I'm sorry. That was rather unprofessional of me." Catherine smiled wryly, attempting to hide the pain she was feeling and knowing she was failing. "I've known her ten years, and to tell you the truth, I've made little progress trying to understand her. If you're thinking of taking up the task, you're welcome to it, and I wish you luck."

Dhindara gave her a smile. "Yes, she is very fond of you. I could feel that. But there is sadness as well, which I don't understand. Again, because I didn't want to pry, to invade her privacy."

Applying a clotting factor to the Betazoid's wound as she looked over at Turoc, she said, "No, you didn't kill him. Fortunately or unfortunately, depending on how you want to look at it. I told the Commander it was crazy for her to think that she could crush him under her boot heel and turn him into a lapdog..."

Dhindara nodded. "I completely agree. He is aggressive. I didn't look into his mind first, because that's something I don't normally do. Only when faced with a threat I used what advantages I have to defend myself. I sent him images, memories, feelings... he felt like he was burning alive and still he did not go down. Any other person I know would have gone down under that much pain. His mind is of a more primitive sort, operating more on instincts than on conscious thought and mental discipline."

"All right, I'll take you off to surgery now -- get you taken care of first; knowing him, he probably deserves to be in pain for a little while. Shouldn't take long at all."

"You've had a run-in with him before?" Dhindara wondered. "Well, I hope I won't be done for assaulting an officer. Those things can end very badly for NCOs."

"No," Halsey said quietly, moving her off to the surgical suite, "But I've heard quite a bit about him from Arkham. It seems they'd be better off getting rid of him than playing this foolish game with him. He doesn't belong on a starship."

"I agree", Dhindara replied, "not yet, anyway. He needs to be taught." She paused briefly, then added, "I'm very interested in cultures, and when getting a chance to see one first hand for a period of time I jump at it... but his world frightens me, I wouldn't dare go there."

"What the Hell is going on here?!" Arkham barked, entering the sickbay, "Catherine, why the---" Arkham paused, looking over the young Betazoid and the Yajuta warrior and sighing. Shaking her head a little, she asked simply, "What did Turoc do this time?"

"I was trying to get my phaser certification", Dhindara said, "you know, the standard range shooting on the blinking target dots. Without telling me he set them to fire back at me, and it hurt. This, uhm, got me somewhat angry. So I used the training phaser that was set to the same level of pain and shot him. Then he threatened my life, and it went downhill from there."

Turoc was starting to come to, slowly opening his eyes and attempting to gain a sense of where he was, he had not yet regained motor function.

"He's waking up", Dhindara said, "please contain him behind a forcefield."

Turoc now staring to regain motor function opening and closing his fingers and mandibles.

Arkham smirked. Having gotten a decent amount of medical experience in her time being a cripple, she prepared and loaded a hypospray with a powerful sedative, applying it to the neck of the Yajuta, who quickly fell under it's influence. Stripping him of his weapons and activating a force field just in case, Arkham turned back to the doctor and her patient.

"Dr. Halsey, you take her to surgery. I'm going to sit here, have a good stiff drink and try to figure out what exactly I'm going to say to the Commander when I have to tell him two of our crew tried to kill each other and try to see if, somewhere in the bottom of my Scotch glass, is a reason I shouldn't throw both of you off my ship without a second thought!"

"I didn't try to kill him", Dhindara replied, "I tried to incapacitate him. Heavy stun didn't work."

Arkham's mood darkened considerably, which she was sure the Betazoid could feel. "We'll talk after your surgery, Master Chief."

"Yes, Ma'am", Dhindara said.

Catherine wheeled her off to surgery, leaving Arkham alone with the hulking warrior. Shaking her head, a cold look crossing her features, she said, "Computer, Scotch on the rocks please."

Moments latter Turoc began to twitch and speaking in his native language "Oh Cetanu [god of death] grant our fallen brothers glory in their U'sl-kwe ["Final Rest" (death)] Aseigans [servants] bring my Awu'asa [full body armour] I shall oversee the ritual myself post Hult'ahs [guards, observers] the ritual must not be interrupted bring me the Bakuub [straight spear] ....... and a violent twitched violently and let out a groan as if he had been stuck with something C'jit! [Damn] now Dtai'k-de [fight] take Hiju [Combat stance, fighting position] Nan-de Than gaun [="Kiss of Midnight", no mercy] for the S'yuit-des [Coward, pathetic, low and demeaning description] who have defiled our sacred ground now Ki'cti-pa [wrist blades] attack!!!!" After several moments of almost seizure-like twitching he suddenly stopped and said in what sounded like his dying breathing Ell-osde' pauk! [F**k you!] Romulan dog..." and then he was still, not conscious but not dead either.

About fifteen minutes later the effects of the sedative began to wear off and he started to regain consciousness. As he tried to get up and found himself restrained he became enraged "What is this sorcery? I demand to be released, I will not be held by you telepathic tricks, Betazoid! Release me or suffer my wrath." he yelled and then he gave a mighty roar that sent chills down even Arkham's neck.

Over in surgery, even before the yell sounded, Dhindara remarked to the doctor, "He is awake. And angry."

"I've noticed," the doctor said, putting on a pair of gloves and applying something to numb the Betazoid's pain. "Whether that's going to be a good thing or a bad thing remains to be seen, Master Chief. I suppose it's all in Arkham's hands now..."

 

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