Darkness

Posted on 26 Mar 2023 @ 5:29pm by Commander Morgan Tarin & Ensign Mimi & EMH Mark X-C "Shirley"

1,527 words; about a 8 minute read

Mission: Episode 18 - Cold Station 31
Location: USS Galileo-A - Deck 3, Sickbay
Timeline: MD 11, 0217 hrs

[ON]

"Pity the Warrior who slays all his foes."
- The Fall of Kang. G'trok, 1087.

Just past 0200 hours, Galileo's small sickbay was quiet and serene; a respite from the earlier turbulence created by a certain ensign's emotional and physical outburst. Pink and red blood had been spilled earlier, yet now the combatants were at peace. Alive. Each one rested on their individual biobeds under sedation while their wounds healed. Wounds which should have been fatal if not for the expertise and technology the Nova-class' medical staff possessed.

The room was dark and dimly lit by only the soft blue and yellow hues of the various LCARS monitors which were dimmed in standby mode. It was the middle of the night and only one medical attendant was present. For now. The rest of the blue-collared nurses and doctors would eventually rotate every few hours to check on their subjects. So would the one's 'boyfriend'...the engineer. However, at this moment, the sickbay was clear, except one small obstacle.

A red hue suddenly glowed across the walls and was accompanied by the discreet sound of a transporter beam manifesting then dissipating. The nurse, deep in work, barely turned his head before a quick hand, quiet and fast like a snake, grabbed the nearby medical hypo filled with sedatives and pressed it against his neck. A quick hiss, a sharp intake of breath, and the sound of a body hitting the ground.

The sickbay quickly returned to its darkness and silence. Several seconds passed. A shimmering shadow appeared over the Klingon's body, then above the Nekomi's where it now lingered.

Though sedated and fast asleep Mimi's ears still twitched at the sound of the transporter beam, involuntarily searching for the source of the noise. As the form it had dispensed came closer the twitching increased and her tail joined in trying to alert her to something being too close for comfort.

The shadow observed the visual responses of the Nekomi then disappeared for a half-minute. Long enough, it hoped, to not elicit more instinctive responses. After time had expired, a warm metallic object softly pressed against one of the ensign's open palms. An invisible, gentle force slowly closed her fingers around the device until the digits pressed against it. Then the sensation of the object rapidly disappeared from her hand.

The claws of Mimi's hand protruded slightly as the force manipulated her hand around the device but otherwise didn't react, her nose twitched when it eventually picked up the unmistakable scent of a Klingon with a distinct difference that marked it out as a female.

The entity quickly moved away for another calculated thirty seconds. More time for the Nekomi to return to her drugged, dream state. Soft, silent footsteps moved away from the ensign's biobed and toward Captain KehG's. There was a long pause, then suddenly a loud guttural groan emitted from his throat. He coughed up bubbly pink blood from his lungs and weakly flailed his arms in his sedated state. The LCARS monitors above his biobed quickly came to life while his vitals started to spike and red line. The lights in the room automatically brightened to signal a coding patient in need of urgent attention.

Shifting light wavelengths momentarily distorted the line of sight between the Klingon and the Nekomi. Suddenly, a blooded d'k tahg was placed in the ensign's hand and her fingers again forcibly wrapped around it to grip it firmly. Several seconds later, the door to sickbay hissed open then shut while revealing no visual evidence of anyone who might have come or gone.

As the scent of Klingon blood wafted up Mimi's nose her mind thought back to the other times she had smelt it and even spilt it. A young Klingon who had tried to bully her in her teens who regretted it when a claw left a mark that would never fully heal. A Klingon on Kreanus who met his end by her teeth, blood gurgling from the rend in its throat before his friends pummeled her unconscious. J'tsec and his friends on the DuJa'Q who had tried to cut her tail off, both fights she didn't win but gave as good as she could.

Repeating audible sirens continued to blare throughout the previously-calm and tranquil sickbay. Throaty Klingon coughs of despair and anguish accompanied KehG's last gasps for breath as more pink blood poured from his mouth and torso. In his final moments, his eyes opened and his head rolled to the side to face the Nekomi. "...Y--y...ouuu...." he gasped for breath, "...coward....!"

Mimi's eyes slowly fluttered open as KehG's voice gurgled around the sickbay, she looked around not immediately recognizing her surroundings in her sedated state. "Mosti dampris?" Then her mind reacted to the weight of something in her hand and she saw the bloody d'k tahg, gasping she dropped it to the floor.

Captain KehG's frantic garbled breaths soon weakened into a series of wheezes. His limbs continued to twitch and flail until he finally managed to roll himself over on his side -- and off of the biobed. His hefty and muscular frame impacted the floor with a thud then remained motionless. Copious amounts of his pink blood spread in an expanding circle across the carpet in his final moments.

A half-minute of silence consumed the sickbay. Suddenly, KehG groaned and came back to life. His redundant organs had taken over the remainder of his bodily functions for the true final seconds of his life. He raised his head, his bloodshot eyes trained on the Nekomi and her biobed positioned less than five meters away. A deep cough burst from his mouth, spraying more blood across the floor as he took another garbled gasp for air. The veteran warrior narrowed his eyes at Mimi and vowed to destroy her with his last breath.

KehG managed to push one of his arms in front of his body, then a second one. His legs slowly pumped in conjunction with his other extremities to crawl toward the Nekomi at a slow yet methodical pace. Hand over hand. Knee to knee. He closed the distance within thirty seconds until he managed to look up at the Starfleet officer from the foot of her biobed.

"W-we will go...to.." he wheezed, "Sto-vo-kor...together...!" he proclaimed as one of his thick hands reached up to grab her shoulder.

"I did not do this." She told KehG putting her hand on his, though she certainly had wished him dead she knew it wasn't her. "Computer activate.... surely... Shirley?..... the EMH." She groggily called out, no one had responded to the alarms yet so the EMH was the only option if she was going to get help.

The Klingon captain used the leverage from his grip to reach for Mimi's throat. His opposite hand grabbed the furry woman's esophagus and latched onto it with honor and conviction. His powerful fingers started to squeeze it tight, digging deep into the Nekomi's larynx and soft neck muscles.

In the near distance, a holographic figure quickly shimmered then materialized. Shirley's distinctive red hair and blue-collared uniform appeared within the sickbay, initially stoic and without emotion during her first seconds of summons. "Please state the nature of the medical emergency," she said.

Mimi put her hand to KehG's trying to break his near death grip on her throat, her own strength lessened by the sedatives still coursing through her system. "Help." She managed to say.

The EMH quickly surveilled its surroundings; the vacant biobed inundated with Klingon blood; another pool of bodily fluids nearby on the carpet; a robust Klingon warrior now attempting to strangle a fellow patient on an adjacent biobed. Shirley's programming led her to swift action. Her first response after observation was to alert the rest of the crew. "Doctor Shirley to Security and Medical," she said, not needing to manipulate her fake commbadge, "we have an urgent situation in sickbay."

Realizing she wasn't going to break his grip with her own strength before she passed out Mimi changed her grip using both hands, digging her claws into the gaps between the Klingon's knuckles and into his wrist hoping the pain would cause him to let go before she had to sever veins and tendons.

Captain KehG's death drip on Mimi suddenly softened in conjunction with the hiss of a hypospray. The EMH, Shirley, now stood next to the two patients and observed the Klingon lose consciousness and slide to the floor. She helped remove his fingers from the Starfleet officer's throat then looked down into her groggy eyes.

"Ensign Mimi. Can you hear and see me?"

Mimi took several deep breaths, she was surprised by the Klingon's strength even as his life faded from him. After a few moments she looked up at Shirley. "Yes, I can see you."

To Be Continued...

[OFF]

--

Ensign Mimi
Deputy Operations Manager
USS Galileo-A

Captain KehG
Commanding Officer
IKS Praxis
[PNPC Saalm]

EMH Mark X-C "Shirley"
Medical Officer
USS Galileo-A
[NPC Saalm]

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