Tranquility for the Tranquil (Part 2 of 2)

Posted on 29 Jun 2023 @ 5:51pm by Chief Warrant Officer 3 Lamar Darius & Commander Scarlet Blake & Chief Warrant Officer 3 Alexion Wylde & Petty Officer 2nd Class Leon Inaros & EMH Mark X-C "Shirley"
Edited on on 29 Jun 2023 @ 5:53pm

3,125 words; about a 16 minute read

Mission: Episode 18 - Cold Station 31
Location: USS Galileo-A - Deck 3, Sickbay
Timeline: MD 11, 0828 hrs

Previously, on Tranquility for the Tranquil (Part 1)...

Allyndra literally hopped flew to catch him before he hit the floor. "Yes, I figured we needed to handle more than those from the away team. Set up the holodeck as a secondary sickbay, got myself taken care of. Now let's get you fixed up." She noticed the dried blood as she helped him get settled on a bed. "Let's take look shall we?"

He nodded, smiling weakly as he looked at her. "I'm alright, just...keep shivering. Could be shock, could be my medication...I took a lot down there, adrenaline burns though it. Can't shift this headache either..." he gestured to the back of his head. "It's also itchy where that...stuff...latched onto me."

"You feel a little cold. Let's get you settled and put some heat on you and let me take a look at that wound." She got him settled and she had to admit that while she examined and began the healing of the wound the warmth felt good to her as well. "Some shock, the rest is not horrible and we have you with a tissue regeneration going on. It's time to relax. Everything here is fine now."

He took a deeper breath, nodding as he closed his eyes at that. "I am not sure anything will be fine," he finally said. "What we saw, what we...experienced...?" he opened his eyes to watch her. "It'll take me a bit before I sleep well."

"I know what you mean. Try to rest. It's all any of us can do now." She had her own nightmares of the place.

And Now, the Conclusion...

[ON]

Laying on biobed one, Chief Warrant Officer 3 Lamar Darius' breathing started to increase. The vitals displayed above his head on the monitor slowly began to increase. He took a deep breath. Then a deeper one. His eyes slowly and groggily fluttered open. Bright overhead lights shone into his dark brown irises forcing him to squint, but his vision was nothing more than a washed out blur of ambient light.

Then his mind woke up. Mental acuity rapidly spiked. The cold station and the foreign tentacles which had penetrated his body and thoughts...the overwhelming sense of dread and despair he'd felt less than two hours ago. A medley of terrible emotions released a surge of adrenaline through his veins. "...Wh..at?" He blinked then tried to squeeze his hands into fists.

Inaros stepped away from where he was helping Locksley, cleaning his hands as he walked over to Darius' biobed. He smiled gently, putting a reassuring hand on his shoulder. "Easy," he said, his voice calming. "You're in sickbay, Darius. You've had surgery, but you're doing well." He too a moment to look at his vitals. Nice and steady, although heart rate was a bit elevated with the stress. He looked down at Darius, watching his eyes, to see just how...in the moment he was.

Returning the gaze and looking into the blue eyes of a greying-haired man, Lamar sucked in a tight breath. His body visibly tensed even at the presence of the teal-collared medical officer. His vision cleared and quickly shifted to his surroundings. The bright lights, sterile scent and the firm biobed beneath his back... It was all a ruse. Just like the escape and the shuttle journey back to Galileo. A repeat of what the away teams had previously experienced on the cold station when the facility determined it wouldn't let them escape.

"...If I'm in sickbay..." his voice was dry and semi-groggy, "then where's the captain...?" Darius asked. The pain is his upper torso was mostly gone and only mild soreness remained. He subtly moved his extremities to test his capabilities.

"She's on the bridge," Inaros said, watching him for a long moment. "Dealing with a lot of things, I suspect..." his eyes watched him, the movements and inwardly he sighed. If this was another case of I'm going to start running two seconds after I've woken up , then Inaros was not in the mood. "The other away team member have been treated."

Lamar rolled his head to the side to observe the rest of sickbay. He saw a yellow-collared man who he didn't recognize; then a black-collared man who appeared to be some ancient form of priest. He didn't remember him. Another gold-collared, brown-haired man who looked familiar. Venison? His head felt foggy. And he experienced anxiety growing within his veins. Forcing himself into action, Lamar pushed himself up on his elbow to sit up then clumsily shifted a leg over the side of the biobed. "...We have to get to the shuttles..." he muttered while putting a hand over his eyes to compensate for the vertigo. "You got to get out...it's all a ruse..." he warned.

Inaros watched him, his jaw tightening. He reached to move his leg back on the bed, remembering Lamar's medical file. He was clearly disoriented. Clearly not entirely with it. "It's not," he said, firmly. "Ease back, Chief, you need to take a moment and get your head straight. He reached for his arm, not restraining but giving it a gentle squeeze. "I'm nurse Inaros. And you're on the Galileo, you all got back here in the shuttles."

"...That's what we thought before...two times...three times... Don't touch me!" Lamar objected to the medical officer's physical advances. The man-creature's fingers would probably turn into the tendrils they'd just escaped from and transform his flesh into an abomination. Darius rapidly searched his body and his cut up uniform for his personal devices. "Where's my phaser?" he demanded while fully sitting up and sliding away from Inaros.

Inaros watched him, raising an eyebrow. "There is no phaser in sickbay, for everyone's safety. Now get on the bed, Marine, before I sedate you," he said firmly, watching him closely. "Don't make me say it twice." And he meant it. With what had happened the last day, he wasn't taking any chances. If Lamar posed a danger to himself and others, Inaros would sedate him, restrain him and let the Counsellor deal with him as soon as possible.

Sliding a second leg across the biobed, Lamar tried to escape from the confines of the foreign experimental torture chamber. He pushed himself up off the bed but his knees weakened under his body weight and he momentarily wobbled. The back of his head and shoulders impacted the nearby wall where he again stumbled then snapped his head around with nervous dread. "...Give me my phaser...!" He repeated with dilated dark brown eyes. He scanned a nearby medical tray and found a hypospray which he quickly snatched. He had no idea what it contained but he waved it in front of the blue-collared alien threateningly.

Inaros frowned as he watched the man, before he looked over at Doctor Wylde. "I might need a hand here, Doctor," he said, before he slowly moved to get a sedative. He kept an eye on Lamar and once he had the hypo he moved forward. "I need you to calm down, Darius," he said, firmly.

"What's wrong?" Alexion asked as he approached, arms folding across his chest as he came to a stand still, watching the man with a slight frown. Nothing had shown up in his scans, perhaps it was his mental health. The question had been directed at Darius, to trigger a logical cognitive process.

A second blue-collared alien had been called over to manipulate him in placating fashion. Lamar settled in his footing then subtly surveyed the exit. Adrenaline released into his motor cortex. He held the hypospray in his hand up to the faces of Inaros and Wylde in a threatening manner while he slowly attempted to circle around them. "...Give me my phaser...and you can have this hypo," he attempted to negotiate.

Leon moved, slowly, watching the other man. "Lamar," he said, firmly. "You're in sickbay, you need to put the hypo down and calm down." Yep, he'd need to get a counsellor in. He felt himself tense, his jaw tightening. Couldn't afford another incident on his watch.

"...No, this isn't sickbay," Darius countered, shaking his head which was beginning to throb with pain. He knew better. He'd seen a perfectly-intact cold station turn into the deepest circles of hell. Fool me once... "Get out of my way and no one's gonna get hurt..." He continued to maneuver toward the torture chamber's exit.

"Darius..." Blake pushed herself up from her chair, letting the blanket drop as she moved over to them, her features tired and cold. "Chief, we've all had a very long, and well and truly FUBAR day. But you need to do as you're told and go lie down. Now."

The very last thing Lamar was going to do was remain in the confined and trapped atmosphere of whatever this sickbay pretended to be. He knew better. If that was really Galileo's first officer, she would know, too. Darius' dark brown eyes were quickly becoming bloodshot and he looked at Blake just long enough to know she was some sort of demonic facsimile. Glancing between the shoulders of the bodies surrounding him, he looked for a familiar face. One who he could trust. "Where's Ullswater?" he demanded. "I want to see her!"

"She's in her quarters, recovering," Inaros said as he took a step closer. Carefully. He glanced at Wylde, because he was realising something. This was a disruption, the doctor wasn't done with his patient and here he was, trying to help out. Blake was a patient and here she was, also trying to calm the situation. He was a nurse. This was his job. There was a sickbay of people to consider. "Computer, quarantine forcefield around Chief Warrant Officer Lamar Darius," he watched as the forcefield came up around Darius.

Blake let out a soft breath, nodding gently to Inaros and Wylde. "Get back to your patients. I'm waiting my turn, I can wait next to Darius," she gripped the back of her chair, pulling it over to set close to the forcefield, sitting down heavily with a sigh. "Warraquim is in the holodeck treating the overspill, Darius. When she gets back, you can see that she's made it back safe too," she said lightly, calmly. "I'm told you went up front to help fly the shuttle back, even though you were in terrible shape," she added casually, reminders of the real world, to help prompt his memory.

When the forcefield erected - shimmering briefly into existence with white sparkles - Lamar mentally kicked himself. He should have seen it coming. They'd do anything to keep him here. To wait for the next cycle of darkness which would eventually shroud the cold station and pull him back into the walls. That was where he still was. This wasn't USS Galileo. Darius glanced around his private prison cell then focused on the biobed and its monitor. Can't fool me twice. He quickly stumbled over then set the unknown hypospray into his pocket while he started to inspect the LCARS console at the head of the bed. The small terminal was configured for biomonitoring purposes, but every interface had a connection to ship's systems. This was his way out.

"If you knew I did that then you wouldn't be asking me to lie down right now," he remarked over his shoulder to the Blake imposter. He trained his attention on the LCARS console and began to tap on it, cycling through its operational modes until he finally reached a diagnostic display connected to the ship's operations subroutines. His wobbly dark fingers continued to manipulate the interface while he attempted to access the security functions. The console suddenly displayed a flashing red caution.

"Level Five authorization required," calmly informed the computer.

"We're asking you to lie down because only a couple of hours ago, you had a rusty blade stuck through you're torso....do you remember that?" Blake replied softly, shaking her head as she watched him, making sure he wasn't about to inadvertently harm himself. "Warraquim had to treat you, on the shuttle. So you really do need to rest. They finished up the surgery here. And Darius, if you don't sit down and relax, the doctors will end up sedating you, to make sure you don't hurt yourself or anyone else. If it were me, I wouldn't want that, I'd prefer to be awake, but...it's your choice."

Sedate me? Again? Good luck with that, Darius smirked to himself. He didn't reply and instead focused his attention on the biobed's small console. It seemed impossible for him to directly access the security functions, but maybe if he could bypass them through the weapons locker interface... His fingers strategically tapped away at the console until he manually unlocked the arms lockers throughout the ship. Unfortunately, the closest one was up on Deck 2, which meant he now needed to find a way to the nearest turbolift. Or maybe not.

Leon watched from a slight distance, having gone back to check on the other patients. Darius on the console unnerved him. It didn't feel right. Or look right, and neither did the way he was ignoring Blake. This...was starting to feel like a dangerous situation. "Computer, activate EMH."

The EMH Mark X-C, known as Shirley, although she still wasn't sure that name was her, materialised. She blinked, looking around. "Please state the nature of the medical emergency..." she trailed off as she saw Darius, in the forcefield, tapping away on a console. "I believe even my programming can figure it out."

"Please sedate the patient named Lamar Dairus" Inaros said with a frown, looking at the EMH. The please was genuine, he always felt that you had to be polite to holograms...just in case.

"Very well," she went through the forcefield before getting a hypo with what she needed. "I strongly advise you to sit down," she told Darius as she approached him, hypo ready. "Lamar." She tried the name out, because she knew him. And he might respond. Judging by current situation, he was apparently irrational, perhaps experiencing a psychological episode of some description.

The chief warrant officer's head snapped around when he heard the presence of the holographic doctor inside his private cell. The red-haired projection seemed familiar yet deceptive...just like everything else in this so-called sickbay. Mustering swift dexterity, Darius pulled the hypo he'd retrieved from his pocket then held it next to his neck, threateningly. "Get back!" he barked at Shirley. Lamar didn't know which specific fluids it contained, but his basic medical training ruled out axonol, ambizine, melorazine and improvaline based on the vial's coloration. "I'll inject myself with this!"

The EMH's eyes went to the hypo, her head tilting a little to the side. "Go ahead," she finally said, meeting his eyes. "It is a slight pain relief and muscle relaxant. It will also assist with any tension headache," she took a step towards him. "I understand that you are in distress. That you are not understanding what is happening. I will take good care of you." She stepped closer again, steadily, watching him.

He didn't believe a word spewing from the red-headed hologram's mouth. The ruse continued to deepen yet the longer it persisted, the more confident Lamar became in his own volition. He backed away from Shirley then cast one final glance at the hypo in his hand. The moment of truth was here. Would he take the word of some fictional abomination who would transport him to an eternity of torture? Or would he take his own chances, and potentially sacrifice his life on his own terms? The choice was too clear. A soft hiss sounded when he pressed the hypo against his neck. Then he waited for whatever medicine was in it to put him out of this misery...permanently.

Seconds awkwardly passed while Lamar waited for his heart to somehow stop or for his eyeballs to explode out of his head during a seizure. But nothing happened. More seconds ticked by. He experienced very little, and in fact the throbbing pain in his shoulder was beginning to dissipate. Somehow this all started to seem outrageous. Arguing with a hologram who couldn't really hurt him, and needing a phaser when no one else in the room was armed. He could take any of them himself hand-to-hand if he needed to. But why were the overhead lights still so bright? Who was really the creator of macaroni and cheese? An ancient Vulcan?

Darius squinted as his pupils dilated then looked back at the hologram wondering what she might look like without her uniform. She...or it, wasn't unattractive. "Computer, remove the emergency medical hologram's clothes. Authorization..." he tried to remember his command codes, "Lamar-zero-zero-zero-zero...one?"

Galileo's computer chirped and processed the request. "Access to the emergency hologram visual matrix preferences denied." He sighed then sat down on the corner of the biobed to think of a workaround.

Holograms didn't breathe. The rise and fall of the chest was a programmed quirk, to make people feel more comfortable with them. The EMH would have sighed if she had known how. At him. Neither did she have any emotions, being a hologram. Despite this, there was a look of annoyance that crossed her face, briefly. "Right," she said and stepped to him. She pressed the hypo against his neck, sedating Lamar, before she got him lying down on the biobed. "You sleep this off. And perhaps you won't remember this at all." She stepped away and out of the forcefield. "Is there anything else that is required of me?"

Leon looked at the EMH, then over at the now sedated Lamar. "No...thank you. Computer, deactivate the EMH." He watched her disappear before he looked over at Wylde, raising his eyebrow. That was some unexpected excitement.

Alexion raised his eyebrows at Leon's expression from where he scanned the now empty eyesocket of the male scientist. The barest of smiles pulled at his lips as he shook his head lightly. It almost took him back to his time at home, working the hospital on the night shift. Almost.

[OFF]

--

CWO3 Lamar Darius
Conn Officer
USS Galileo-A
[PNPC Saalm]

PO2 Leon Inaros
Nurse
USS Galileo-A
[PNPC Rice]

CWO3 Alexion Wylde
Medical Officer
USS Galileo-A
[PNPC Blake]

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

CMDR Scarlet Blake
First Officer
USS Galileo-A

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