One of the MACOs turned to look at the Betazoid. Patar turned to the other MACO, who raised his rifle and aimed it at the Betazoid. "If anything happens, you die."
"I die, she loses her mind," the Betazoid said with a smirk. "Even now, I am making her relive what I did to her. Over and over again. Essentially, I have a hostage, even if I'm not in the same room."
The smirk became a sadistic smile. "Shall we proceed to the negotiations now? Or shall I prove it to you?"
The Cardassian walked over, smiling sadistically. "Actually, you killing Krystal is something that really wouldn't bother me in the slightest. Krystal can be replaced easily enough, and besides, you wouldn't believe how many people would love to replace her position in certain... organizations."
***
The nurse screamed and fell over. The others restrained Krystal into some restraints, and 8 of 14 rushed in, scanning Krystal. "Oh no."
"And what would the Admiral say if he found out you were responsible for her death?" the Betazoid countered. *** The scan revealed that Krystal was essentially trapped in a state of REM sleep, and her brain activity, as well as how much she was still fighting, indicated a fear response. Possibly from an outside source.
"I'm not responsible, you are. Knowing him, he'd probably find an excuse to build an armada of Mobius timeships and turn your Betazed to dust, then wipe out the Terran Empire to end their threat once and for all."
The Cardassian pulled up a chair and sat down, still eyeing the Betazoid. "Trust me, Pevro has made a lot of different simulations of every possible situation, and building an armada of temporal destroyers and then taking over your universe was actually one of them. We won every time, and the admiral actually kind of enjoyed it..."
It would soon occur to the Betazoid that his telepathic powers were starting to be suppressed by an outside source, possibly one in that very room. A Reman, of all things. They seemed intent on breaking the mental link.
U.S.S. Sally, Chief Medical Officer's Office
Admiral Nat sat down, evidently concerned. 8 of 14 sat in his seat, and looked Nat in the eye. "It's getting worse. I have reason to believe that the Betazoid is making Krystal continue to suffer whatever the hell he did to her, through some kind of telepathy he must be using. I honestly don't think there's anything we can do at this point, unless there's a new development."
Nat sighed. "What if we killed the Betazoid?"
"Moral objections to murder aside, it might not be a good idea." 8 of 14 replied. "That could actually kill her, too."
"Like I told you before," the Betazoid said as he noticably started to strain to maintain the link with Krystal. "There's nothing you can do to me that would make me talk."
Patar raised an eyebrow. "If you don't care, why bother making Krystal suffer? You evidently don't care anyway."
***
The Vorta biomedical scientist/also a doctor, Salora, entered Sickbay and tried using his mental abilities to start calming Krystal down, while weakening the Betazoid's link to her even more so than it already was.
"Because I want her to suffer," the Betazoid replied. "She and her counterpart did this to me. I will do the same to her. I will make her BEG for death to escape the pain." *** Krystal started to calm down.
Patar tilted his head to the side. "In case you haven't noticed, you're failing."
***
Salora continued using his abilities to calm Krystal down. A couple of other officers with telepathic abilities soon arrived in sickbay as well, blocking out the Betazoid's powers.
Discovering that the Cardassian was not only right, but that he had lost his connection to Krystal entirely, the Betazoid became furious and turned his anger on Patar in an attempt at revenge. *** Krystal relaxed, but still didn't wake up. Her brain activity returned to normal.
Patar laughed sadistically. "Now you see how worthless you truly are. Now tell me..." he continued, motioning to the four lights, "how many lights do you see?"
***
8 of 14 sighed a sigh of relief. "Ok, her brain activity is back to normal, although I think we'll keep her sedated for a while before we wake her up." He turned to the admiral, who was watching from not so nearby. "Personally, I'd send her over to the Lexington and let them wake her up, though. Considering what she's gone through, she'd probably--" Nat interrupted him. "Yes, I know. Send her over once she's stable. I'll let her crew know to expect her."
Nat walked out and eventually arrived in his office, and opened communications to the Lexington, awaiting their response.
"Is it that obvious?" Outwardly, Lyras's voice was calm, but inwardly, her emotions churned. "I suppose I had better work on blending in, then." The Vulcan wrenched her arm free casually, as though it were something she was used to doing. "Well, I'd better go."
With that, she hurried out of the bar. Well, that could have gone better. I wonder... did he notice my temporal displacement, or...? She trailed off. With a slight shake of her head, Lyras turned her thoughts to other matters. She still had to go see Admiral Quinn. She set off towards the sign that read 'Operations', hoping it would take her to her destination.
-x-
As she walked out of the operations section of the spacedock, Lyras wondered what kind of cover story Daniels - or one of his subordinates - had fed the Admiral. She shrugged slightly, deciding that it didn't really matter right now. Eventually, she'd have to know about it, if only to be able to keep up the facade. But as for the present, Lyras was now captain of the U.S.S. Eterna, registration number NCC-1531. She just hoped it would fare better than the Centuria, her previous ship.
"Admiral Nat here, on the Sally. We have Captain Jade here in our sickbay, after a situation involving a certain Betazoid from the mirror universe." Nat replied, continuing. "Send over your ship's first officer so I can brief them on the situation."
"Good. Just... meet up somewhere and signal my crew to beam you aboard when you're ready. Nat out." Nat closed the channel and waited for them to arrive, while heading down for the main transporter room.
The signal came after Nat arrived, and soon two women materialized on the pad. One was an Andorian wearing an open Sierra 1 with red shoulders, the other was a human wearing a Sierra 1 with medical blue/teal shoulders. Both had Commander pips. THe Andorian stepped forward.
"Commander Tala, USS Lexington," she introduced herself. "Krystal's XO. This is Dr. Reynolds. What happened?"
"Admiral Nat, U.S.S. Sally, at the moment..." he sighed and turned to the door. "We'll go down to our sickbay, and my ship's medical officer can explain it."
The admiral walked out, while motioning for them to follow.
They arrived in the main sickbay, and 8 of 14 passed Reynolds a PADD containing all the data and reports regarding Krystal's condition. Everyone in the room, admiral including, were fairly quiet, waiting for the doctor to read the PADD.
Elric went over to the command ring with the holographic displays of ships around Spacedock. He could see the Sally, the Lexington and the mirror Chronostorm nearby. A report told him Captain Jade was under medical care. He hoped she was okay, and wondered what was happening with the attacker.
Then he brought up the data on the Caitian starship Emerald, which was being cataloged by Spacedock engineers. The brainwashed Caitians were all in the Brig, being examined by Doctor Melzine.
Next to the alien ship was his old ship the Amaterasu, a vessel with only one person on board: a holographic engineer was all Starfleet would spare. He then watched the starship move into Spacedock's interior.
"Stealing your own vessel?" came Commander Allura's interruption. "Hasn't that been done before?"
Elric turned to her. "Doesn't mean it can't be done more than once."
"Either way, it doesn't look good for you, despite the fact you revealed unregulated cloaked ships and captured intruders," she replied. "Starfleet likes the results, but the methods aren't always appreciated."
The Captain crossed his arms. "Do you guys want me to raise my hand before I go to the bathroom too? I'm Captain in rank for a reason. If they didn't want me making decisions, they should've demoted me."
"Rumour has it, it'd been discussed," she added. "Not that I'm on their side or anything."
Elric thought about it for a moment. "Well, I'm not going to let that stop me from doing my job. Hopefully they can see past my rash nature for my integrity. Anyway, thanks for the heads up." He nodded to the Aenar and Operations officer and walked off, noticing Captain Lyras nearby. "Everything okay, Captain?"
Lovely, more people... Lyras observed the approaching captain. "Yes, I am well." She replied, wondering for what purpose this captain was approaching her. Curiosity, perhaps?
A jolt of fear coursed through her before she stifled it. Had he noticed her... atypical behavior?
This time travel thing would have been a lot easier to deal with if I didn't know I was supposed to be dead right now. She mused.
What, she wondered, made Daniels think she was cut out for this? What did he see in her? She was an oddity in the 23rd century, and she was bound to be even more of one in the 25th.
She turned her attention to the captain in front of her. "I do not believe we have met," she said, successfully in keeping her tone calm and even.
Obviously... she thought wryly.
"I am Lyras." the Vulcan continued, studying the man before her.
"Captain Elric," he extended his right hand, as his left, cybernetic hand was gloved. Elric was slim built, had dark brown short hair, and wore the Odyssey white-shouldered uniform. "Sorry to interrupt you. I was just curious. Are you on Spacedock for long?"
"If anything happens, you die."
Winning.
The smirk became a sadistic smile.
"Shall we proceed to the negotiations now? Or shall I prove it to you?"
The resident forum voice of reason (I HAZ FORUM REP! YAY!)
***
The nurse screamed and fell over. The others restrained Krystal into some restraints, and 8 of 14 rushed in, scanning Krystal. "Oh no."
Winning.
The resident forum voice of reason (I HAZ FORUM REP! YAY!)
Winning.
***
The scan revealed that Krystal was essentially trapped in a state of REM sleep, and her brain activity, as well as how much she was still fighting, indicated a fear response. Possibly from an outside source.
The resident forum voice of reason (I HAZ FORUM REP! YAY!)
The Cardassian pulled up a chair and sat down, still eyeing the Betazoid. "Trust me, Pevro has made a lot of different simulations of every possible situation, and building an armada of temporal destroyers and then taking over your universe was actually one of them. We won every time, and the admiral actually kind of enjoyed it..."
It would soon occur to the Betazoid that his telepathic powers were starting to be suppressed by an outside source, possibly one in that very room. A Reman, of all things. They seemed intent on breaking the mental link.
U.S.S. Sally, Chief Medical Officer's Office
Admiral Nat sat down, evidently concerned. 8 of 14 sat in his seat, and looked Nat in the eye. "It's getting worse. I have reason to believe that the Betazoid is making Krystal continue to suffer whatever the hell he did to her, through some kind of telepathy he must be using. I honestly don't think there's anything we can do at this point, unless there's a new development."
Nat sighed. "What if we killed the Betazoid?"
"Moral objections to murder aside, it might not be a good idea." 8 of 14 replied. "That could actually kill her, too."
Winning.
The resident forum voice of reason (I HAZ FORUM REP! YAY!)
***
The Vorta biomedical scientist/also a doctor, Salora, entered Sickbay and tried using his mental abilities to start calming Krystal down, while weakening the Betazoid's link to her even more so than it already was.
Winning.
***
Krystal started to calm down.
The resident forum voice of reason (I HAZ FORUM REP! YAY!)
***
Salora continued using his abilities to calm Krystal down. A couple of other officers with telepathic abilities soon arrived in sickbay as well, blocking out the Betazoid's powers.
Winning.
***
Krystal relaxed, but still didn't wake up. Her brain activity returned to normal.
The resident forum voice of reason (I HAZ FORUM REP! YAY!)
***
8 of 14 sighed a sigh of relief. "Ok, her brain activity is back to normal, although I think we'll keep her sedated for a while before we wake her up."
He turned to the admiral, who was watching from not so nearby. "Personally, I'd send her over to the Lexington and let them wake her up, though. Considering what she's gone through, she'd probably--"
Nat interrupted him. "Yes, I know. Send her over once she's stable. I'll let her crew know to expect her."
Nat walked out and eventually arrived in his office, and opened communications to the Lexington, awaiting their response.
Winning.
With that, she hurried out of the bar. Well, that could have gone better. I wonder... did he notice my temporal displacement, or...? She trailed off. With a slight shake of her head, Lyras turned her thoughts to other matters. She still had to go see Admiral Quinn. She set off towards the sign that read 'Operations', hoping it would take her to her destination.
As she walked out of the operations section of the spacedock, Lyras wondered what kind of cover story Daniels - or one of his subordinates - had fed the Admiral. She shrugged slightly, deciding that it didn't really matter right now. Eventually, she'd have to know about it, if only to be able to keep up the facade. But as for the present, Lyras was now captain of the U.S.S. Eterna, registration number NCC-1531. She just hoped it would fare better than the Centuria, her previous ship.
The resident forum voice of reason (I HAZ FORUM REP! YAY!)
Winning.
The resident forum voice of reason (I HAZ FORUM REP! YAY!)
Winning.
"Commander Tala, USS Lexington," she introduced herself. "Krystal's XO. This is Dr. Reynolds. What happened?"
The resident forum voice of reason (I HAZ FORUM REP! YAY!)
The admiral walked out, while motioning for them to follow.
Winning.
The resident forum voice of reason (I HAZ FORUM REP! YAY!)
Winning.
"This was personal," she finally said. "I... I'll have to run some tests in a few days, but I need to see her now."
The resident forum voice of reason (I HAZ FORUM REP! YAY!)
Winning.
"How bad?" Tala asked.
The resident forum voice of reason (I HAZ FORUM REP! YAY!)
Winning.
Elric went over to the command ring with the holographic displays of ships around Spacedock. He could see the Sally, the Lexington and the mirror Chronostorm nearby. A report told him Captain Jade was under medical care. He hoped she was okay, and wondered what was happening with the attacker.
Then he brought up the data on the Caitian starship Emerald, which was being cataloged by Spacedock engineers. The brainwashed Caitians were all in the Brig, being examined by Doctor Melzine.
Next to the alien ship was his old ship the Amaterasu, a vessel with only one person on board: a holographic engineer was all Starfleet would spare. He then watched the starship move into Spacedock's interior.
"Stealing your own vessel?" came Commander Allura's interruption. "Hasn't that been done before?"
Elric turned to her. "Doesn't mean it can't be done more than once."
"Either way, it doesn't look good for you, despite the fact you revealed unregulated cloaked ships and captured intruders," she replied. "Starfleet likes the results, but the methods aren't always appreciated."
The Captain crossed his arms. "Do you guys want me to raise my hand before I go to the bathroom too? I'm Captain in rank for a reason. If they didn't want me making decisions, they should've demoted me."
"Rumour has it, it'd been discussed," she added. "Not that I'm on their side or anything."
Elric thought about it for a moment. "Well, I'm not going to let that stop me from doing my job. Hopefully they can see past my rash nature for my integrity. Anyway, thanks for the heads up." He nodded to the Aenar and Operations officer and walked off, noticing Captain Lyras nearby. "Everything okay, Captain?"
USS Phoenix-X Literary Index | Comics | New story: "Sea of Artifacts"
"Yes, I am well." She replied, wondering for what purpose this captain was approaching her. Curiosity, perhaps?
A jolt of fear coursed through her before she stifled it. Had he noticed her... atypical behavior?
This time travel thing would have been a lot easier to deal with if I didn't know I was supposed to be dead right now. She mused.
What, she wondered, made Daniels think she was cut out for this? What did he see in her? She was an oddity in the 23rd century, and she was bound to be even more of one in the 25th.
She turned her attention to the captain in front of her. "I do not believe we have met," she said, successfully in keeping her tone calm and even.
Obviously... she thought wryly.
"I am Lyras." the Vulcan continued, studying the man before her.
Winning.
USS Phoenix-X Literary Index | Comics | New story: "Sea of Artifacts"