Blood Cries: Chapter 6
“Morgan! Hold up!” Talana called out as she rushed down the corridor towards the chestnut-haired navigator.
“What’s going on, Talana?” Lieutenant Bateson grinned, “I was just about to head down to the galley for a cup of coffee—want to join me?”
“You didn’t hear?” An astonished Talana gasped, “Aliz has gone insane. She was walking naked down the corridor covered in blood and carrying a knife...”
“No way!” Morgan retorted, shaking his head in disbelief. “This has to be some sort of sick joke.”
“I’m serious, Morgan.” Talana replied without a trace of her usual irreverent humor, her antennae twitching nervously.
“Jennifer!” Morgan cried out as he sprinted down the corridor towards the lieutenants’ quarters.
“Wait for me, Morgan!” Talana shouted as she took off after him.
Reaching Aliz and Jennifer’s quarters, Lieutenant Bateson’s heart began to race as he saw that the door was still open. Cautiously entering, Morgan called out, “Jennifer? Aliz?” only to hear the sound of whimpering coming from the bathroom. Signaling for Talana to notify security on the intercom, Morgan slowly made his way towards the bathroom only to freeze in shock at the sight that awaited him.
“Morgan?” Talana shouted after she had made her call. “What happened? I’m coming in.”
“Don’t!” Bateson called back as he knelt next to the whimpering and crying Jennifer Watley lying on the floor curled up in a fetal position. “You don’t want to see this, ‘Lana. No one should see this.”
“What? What the hell happened in there, Morgan?”
“A nightmare, Talana.” Bateson replied as he clutched the sobbing Jennifer tightly to him, “A nightmare.”
**********************************************************************
USS Sutherland: 2377
Even though far removed now in time, rank, and experience from the events of that horrible day, Admiral Bateson shuddered visibly as he recounted what he had seen and witnessed to the small group of officers gathered together around a briefing table in one of the Sutherland’s conference rooms. “When security arrived...” the admiral recounted as Boris Rodenko placed a comforting hand on his shoulder, “...we couldn’t take Jennifer to sickbay—it was still a mess. From what I was told, blood was everywhere—besides, Aliz was still tied up in restraints there. And there was no way we were going to let her stay in her quarters. So... Talana took her to her quarters.” Flashing a warm smile, Morgan began to ramble, “God bless Talana...and Cilla too. When Cilla heard about what happened—she didn’t waste any time—she got there right away and stuck by Jennifer.”
“Damn.” Commander Sam Lavelle, the Sutherland’s executive officer, cursed in a low voice as he listened quietly to Admiral Bateson’s recollections of that fateful day. “So... you’re telling us that Captain Shelby is stuck on the Lexington in the 23rd century with whatever that thing is...”
*********************************************************************
USS Lexington 2267
“Easy Commodore...” Dr. Vincent advised as he helped Commodore Wesley to his feet. “Over here.” The physician instructed as he guided the weakened Lexington skipper to a chair next to the biobed occupied by the blonde starship captain from the future who was at that moment rising to a sitting position.
“And you...” The doctor admonished, turning on his other patient, “...what do you think you’re doing.”
“What does it look like, Doctor?” Liz retorted, the note of command in her voice immediately getting a reaction out of the commodore who turned his head towards her. “I’m getting out of this damned bed and getting to work. You’ve got wounded here...” she declared, her heart skipping as she laid eyes on her grandfather, “...and you’re shorthanded right now. So... until some more of your people can get in here...where do you want me?”
“She’s got you there, Doc.” Robert said, wincing as he tried to laugh.
“Captains! You always think you can do anything.” Charles groused, “I guess some things never change.” Bowing down to the inevitable, Dr. Vincent conceded, “I assume you’ve had at least basic Starfleet medical training? All right. See to Commander Kuznetsov. And whatever you do...” the doctor warned, “Stay away from Lieutenant Bathory.”
Watching as her sedated grandmother thrashed angrily at her restraints, Liz repressed a sob as she turned her attention to the Lexington’s Russian first officer, “Right, Doctor.” She acknowledged as she grabbed a first aid kit and began ministering to her patient. “I’m on it.”
************************************************************************
USS Sutherland: 2377
“Were there any ideas as to what caused Lieutenant Bathory to do what she did?” Lieutenant Commander Maximillian Freedman, the Sutherland’s counselor who had been requested to attend the briefing asked as he stroked his chin.
“At the time...” Admiral Bateson answered, “...no one was sure.”
“The blood-wraith.” Lieutenant Sito Jaxa, the Suthy’s chief tactical officer gasped in astonishment as she tried in vain to repress the shudders running through her body.
“The what?” Captain Rodenko exclaimed.
“The blood-wraith.” Jaxa repeated after taking a moment to regain her center. “Nowadays, it’s a tale to frighten children or something like one of your ghost stories that you humans like to tell. Only...” The Bajoran lieutenant averred, “...the blood-wraith really existed.”
“So... what’s the story behind this blood-wraith?”
“It appeared about a hundred years ago and was responsible for a great deal of destruction.” Pausing for a moment to collect her thoughts and take a deep breath, Lieutenant Sito continued her tale. “It preyed...and then was never heard from again. The vedeks at the time explained that it was a pah-wraith and that the Prophets and their agents had expelled it—but no one really believed them. For a long time afterwards, whenever a young woman disappeared, rumors would spread that the blood-wraith had taken her.” Managing a nervous laugh, the blonde Bajoran added, “As the years passed, the blood-wraith became something of a boogeyman. Mothers would tell their children to behave or go to bed or the blood-wraith would get them.”
“So... Lieutenant Bathory was not in control of her mind or her body?” Doctor Denise Murakawa, the chief medical officer of the Sutherland who was also invited to the conference at the last minute, inquired as she gave her long-time friend and lover a questioning look.
“Right. Aliz was as much a victim of that thing as Jennifer, Bob, Alexei, that yeoman and all the others.” Morgan sighed as he regarded the Japanese-Centauran woman sitting across from him, favoring her with a sad smile. “I’m sorry I couldn’t tell you about this earlier, Denise, but...”
“Temporal Prime Directive.” Boris interjected, regarding the Sutherland’s CMO with a fond smile of his own. “Please don’t be angry at the admiral, Denise.” The Commissar pleaded, “I didn’t know either until just now and I am willing to bet that not even Joseph, Gabe or Margaret know what happened.”
“They don’t, and they probably never will.” Morgan replied, referring to the three other cutter captains in his squadron who, along with Captain Shelby, Denise, and one or two others consisted of the closest friends the admiral had at this particular time in his life.
“I don’t think anyone knows for sure all the details of what happened except maybe for one or two people in Temporal Investigations. All I do know...” he further explained, “...is that TI is giving us...giving me...a very…very…wide latitude in handling this—and that’s unusual in and of itself.”
“Well...” Boris inferred, “Those kulaks either know more than they are telling or they’re giving you enough rope to hang yourself with.”
“Or they’re doing both.” Denise added glumly. Then, turning her attention on the admiral, she smiled, “And I’m not angry at you, Morgan...I was just worried and concerned. To have to have held all this in for so long...it had to have been hell for you.”
“Thank you, Denise.” Morgan smiled back. Turning back to the matter at hand, the admiral took on a much more businesslike demeanor, “In any event, we have a lot of work to do.”
“What are your orders, sir?” Sam requested, his anxiousness to recover the Sutherland’s captain obvious in his posture.
“Our first stop is Bajor.” The admiral announced. “We’ve already been granted permission by the Kai and the Vedek Council to take temporary possession of the Orb of Time.”
“And then we go get Captain Shelby.” Lieutenant Sito concluded.
“Right.” The admiral affirmed. “Now...let’s get to work.”
************************************************************************
USS Lexington 2267
Shaking his head somberly as he watched the semi-conscious Aliz thrashing against her restraints on her biobed, Robert spoke in a quiet voice to Dr. Vincent, who, at that moment, was hovering over the commodore, scanning him with his medical tricorder. “Do you have any ideas what might have happened to her, Doctor?”
“I’m sorry, Robert.” Charles replied with a sad shake of his head as he completed his diagnostics. “But...as a guess...I’d say that something has infected her.” Pointing to the wildly varying and almost off the scale readings above Aliz’s bed, the New England doctor let out a breath born of frustration. “Just look at those. It’s like there’s a war going on inside her...in some ways, it’s like she’s been invaded by a parasite.”
“You may be right.” Wesley affirmed, watching helplessly as the young lieutenant that he rapidly grown fond of lay writhing in a mixture of rage and pain. “Something has gotten inside her. The Aliz I... we...know is not capable of doing whatever that thing inside her did. But what? We need to find out what it is so that we can get it out of her.”
“And we need to do it soon.” Charles declared, pointing again to the life readings. “Take a look. Right now, they’re fluctuating wildly and believe it or not—that’s a good thing. But sooner or later...I’m afraid that they’re going to start synching. And when they do...”
“That that thing will have taken Aliz over completely.” Robert finished in a somber voice.
“I’m afraid so.” Dr. Vincent confirmed. “Sedating her helps some...but I can’t keep her sedated forever.”
“What about putting her in stasis?” The commodore suggested. “Maybe that’ll buy us the time we need.”
“It might.” Charles replied nodding his head thoughtfully. “Or it could cause the parasite to move to another host. Hmmm...we’d have to time it just right—not give it enough time to react.”
“All right, Doctor. You and Talana get to work on that. Get a solution as soon as possible.” Wesley ordered and then inquired, “What about Alexei and the others?”
“Our guest is helping out here...” Charles answered back as he struggled to keep his expression carefully neutral. “Ensign Tyree has a fractured skull and Nurse M’rrel severe lacerations, but they’ll both recover. It would have been worse except for the fact that Aliz was fighting whatever’s inside her tooth and nail.”
The commodore nodded his head as he digested his doctor’s report. “Aliz won’t give up without a fight.” He remarked as his lips turned up into a slight smile as he witnessed the blonde captain, now wearing a medical jumpsuit over her negligee, assisting his first officer.
“Here, Commander.” Liz said as she first helped Alexei to a chair and then injected him with a stimulant from the hypospray in her hand. “I’m not a nurse, but right now I’m the best there is until one comes along.” She quipped as, taking a damp cloth, she wiped the blood off the burly Russian’s face.
“Spaceba. Thank you.” The Bear murmured as the blonde woman ministered to him. “Who are you?”
“Captain Elizabeth Shelby.” The woman smiled back, “Commanding USS Sutherland.”
“I don’t know of a starship named Sutherland. Or a female captain named Shelby.” The burly Russian replied, a suspicious note in his voice.
“It’s all right, Commander.” Doctor Vincent interrupted. “The captain is who she says she is. Just let her do what she’s doing ‘til a medtech shows up.”
The Bear, still not convinced, then glanced at a recovering Commodore Wesley who confirmed the doctor’s words with a shaky grin, “Doc’s right, Alexei. She’s a full captain and does command a starship, and I expect you and the rest of the crew to treat her as such.” Turning his attention to Captain Shelby, the commodore requested as a pair of medtechs finally entered sickbay, “Captain? Once we get things settled here and we get you properly outfitted, I’d like to see you in my quarters, if you don’t mind? I have some questions I need to ask you.”
“Yes, sir.” The blonde captain acknowledged with just the slightest tremor in her voice. “I’ll try to answer what questions I can.”
“Good.” Wesley responded as he rose gingerly to his feet. “Alexei? I’m going to...”
“Commodore?”
Turning upon hearing his rank, Wesley was confronted by a young security crewman. “I think you ought to come with me, sir. We’ve found something in Lieutenants Bathory and Watley’s quarters.
“Jennifer...” Wesley whispered inaudibly, shaking his head in disbelief. “Aliz couldn’t have...she wouldn’t have...” Quickly recovering his equilibrium, the commodore spoke, “All right, give me a moment.” Turning to his first officer, Robert requested, “Alexei? When you’re up and about, can you take Captain Shelby to the quartermaster so that she can get outfitted with a uniform and then assign her appropriate quarters.”
“Da, Commodore.” The big Russian responded immediately.
“And Captain Shelby?” The troubled commodore added, “I’ll see you later.” Turning his attention back to the security crewman, Wesley directed, “All right, young man, let’s go.”
***********************************************************************
His stomach turning as he witnessed the scene in the lieutenants’ bathroom, Commodore Wesley turned quickly away. “Cut that poor woman down and get this goddamned mess cleaned up, now!” The commodore nearly shouted as the security officers scrambled to carry out his orders. Turning to Lieutenant Bateson, the still trembling Wesley inquired in a much lower tone, “Where’s Lieutenant Watley?”
“She’s with Talana.” The young navigator replied, shaking his head sadly, “She’s not doing well.”
Placing his hand on the youthful lieutenant’s shoulder, Robert consoled, “Don’t worry, Lieutenant. We’ll take good care of her. Now, can you take me to her?” Taking the navigator’s single nod of the head as an affirmative, Wesley squeezed the young man’s shoulder just a touch before releasing it, “Let’s go.”
******************************************************************
“Da.” Alexei said, his voice filled with great sadness as he heard the news of Yeoman Knowles’ fate from Commodore Wesley through the intercom in Doctor Vincent’s office. “I feel...”
“Don’t blame yourself, Alexei.” Wesley interrupted, “None of us knew. How are things going in sickbay with Aliz and Captain Shelby?”
“There’s no change with Lieutenant Bathory.” The Bear sighed, “As for Captain Shelby—we’re about to go to the quartermasters’ now.”
“I see.” Both Alexei and Liz could hear the pained anguish in the commodore’s word even through the intercom. Her heart going out to both of her suffering grandparents, the blonde captain quietly listened to her grandfather’s voice, “Lieutenant Watley will be staying with Talana until further notice, but eventually, we will have to assign her new quarters—there’s no way she can return to her old room...” after several moments pause, Wesley spoke again, only in a much more subdued voice, “...not after what happened.”
“Understood, sir.” The burly Russian acknowledged, “Anything else?”
“Yes.” Wesley replied, “Bring Captain Shelby to my quarters after she’s through getting settled in. I should be done by then.”
“Aye, sir.” Commander Kuznetsov affirmed. Turning his head towards the petite woman standing next to him, the Bear asked, “Are you ready, Captain?”
“Lead on, Commander.”
**********************************************************************
“It’s all right now, Jennifer...” Talana cooed gently as Cilla hugged her nominal rival, “...you’re safe here.” Hearing her door chime, the lovely Andorian science officer called out, a soft-spoken, “Yes.”
The door sliding open, Commodore Wesley waited at the threshold alongside an obviously worried Lieutenant Bateson. “Can we come in, Talana.”
“Please.” Talana invited, managing a sad smile as she regarded the two men. Her antennae twitching, she reported, “I’m afraid she hasn’t said a word since we found her and brought her here. She’s going to need a lot of help, sir.”
“I know.” Robert sighed. “A lot of us are. This has been...” he paused, shaking his head, “...an ordeal...”
“Sir...” The lovely Andorian interrupted, “...it’s not your fault. You can’t blame yourself. This happened suddenly—without warning. It took all of us by surprise.”
“Thank you, Talana. I appreciate that.” The commodore replied. Pausing for several seconds as if unsure as to whether to continue or not, Robert cleared his throat, “I hate to ask this of you now, Lieutenant Commander, but I need you to help Dr. Vincent. He’s trying to find some way of safely putting Aliz into stasis without giving that thing that took her over the opportunity to move to another host.”
“It’s all right, sir.” The blue-skinned science officer responded, managing a shaky grin, “If it can help Aliz get rid of that thing—I’ll be glad to help out. Cilla?” She asked, turning towards the willowy blonde communications officer still gently embracing Ensign Watley, “...do you mind?”
“No.” Lieutenant Oudekirk answered back, “I’ll stay here as long as you need me.”
“Thank you.” Talana replied as she rose to her feet, “I’ll get over to sickbay now, sir.”
“Sir?” Lieutenant Bateson interjected, his eyes fixed on his sobbing friend, “Would it be all right if I stayed here until my shift begins?”
“If Talana and Lieutenant Oudekirk don’t mind...” Robert replied. Seeing the two women both nod their heads in agreement, the commodore nodded his as well, “Ok, Lieutenant, you can stay. I’ll send Lieutenant Masterson down as soon as possible to help out. If you need me for anything...just call.”
Nodding his head at the two “Aye, sirs” from his junior officers, Commodore Wesley turned and walked slowly away, lost in his own thoughts as he contemplated his Lexington family falling apart all about him. And then there was the starship captain from the future. A nagging thought pushed itself into the rugged commodore’s face as he recalled the words that the possessed Aliz taunted him with as he writhed in pain, “Well...well...a family reunion...” and then what she said when his thoughts turned to Virginia, “This is delicious! So ironic! You seek to find strength in that which is no longer there...” and at the last, just before he passed out, he could have sworn that he thought he had heard Captain Shelby call him, “Poppy!” Shaking his head, the tormented commodore slowly made his way down the corridor. He had to have a meeting with the mysterious woman soon—hopefully—Robert thought, she might have a few answers.
************************************************************************
USS Sutherland: Orbiting Bajor 2377
“Assuming standard orbit.” Lieutenant Maria Django, now acting as operations officer after her boyfriend’s promotion to Commander and First Officer, declared with a slightly teasing grin as she turned her head back to speak to the man sitting in the center seat.
“Thank you, Lieutenant.” Commander Sam Lavelle answered back, giving his lover a quick smile in return. Touching the intercom button on his chair arm, the acting captain announced to his guests, “Admiral...Captain...we’ve arrived. Lieutenant Sito and I will meet you in the transporter room in five minutes. Rising out of his seat, Sam favored his lover with another roguish grin, “You have the conn, Mr. Django. Mr. Sito...you ready?”
“Aye, sir.” The Bajoran tactical officer replied as she joined her old Academy classmate at the turbolift.
“Then, let’s get a move on.”
**********************************************************************
USS Lexington: 2267
“Branch and rank, Miss?” The quartermaster third class standing behind the counter asked as Captain Shelby filled out the uniform requisition.
“Command.” Shelby quickly replied as she handed the data slate back to the quartermaster, “Rank...Captain.”
Pausing for a moment the petty officer barely repressed a snort until brought short by Commander Kuznetsov’s gruff voice, “Do you need to go to sickbay to have your hearing checked, Quartermaster?”
“N...n...n...no, sir!” The hapless petty officer stammered as he wilted under the first officer’s glare.
“I’m glad to hear that, Petty Officer.” Liz, seeing at once that she needed to emphasize her rank not only to the quartermaster, but also indirectly to the Lexington’s executive officer, smoothly took charge of the situation, interjecting, “Now...my uniform, if you please?”
“Yes, Ma’am.” The quartermaster replied, moving rapidly to comply.
“Thank you, Petty Officer.” Shelby responded, taking both the gold and alternate green minidresses, along with the black boots, underwear, and the rest of a female officer’s uniform kit. “I’ll just step into that changing room over there. I’ll be back in a moment. Oh...” she added as she turned to walk away, “...one more thing. I prefer to be addressed as ‘Captain,’ but I will accept ‘Sir.’ I do not like to be addressed as ‘Ma’am’. Is that understood?”
“Da, Captain.” Alexei promptly replied as he at once picked up on Shelby’s subtle intent. Several minute later, the big Russian found himself nearly frozen in place as the attractive blonde emerged from the changing room dressed in the alternative captain’s sea-green with gold trim miniskirt, its low-cut neckline and short length accentuating her figure along with the standard black boots, her hair done up in accordance with current regulations.
Smiling inwardly at the first officer’s reaction, Liz resisted the urge to model her new outfit as she remarked with a smile, “I’m surprised at how comfortable this is...a lot better than the first Starfleet uniform I wore...” she said as she remembered the irritating one-piece uniform that was regulation issue in her early years. “That uniform had a tendency to bunch up on you in the most inconvenient of places—especially if you’re a woman. Not to mention having to keep a constant eye on your diet. I prefer skirts and dresses anyway.” Maintaining her grin, Captain Shelby requested, “If we’re done here, Commander, you can show me to my quarters and then, I believe, I have an appointment with the commodore.”
“Da.” Alexei replied as he let out a deep breath of air. “If you would follow me please, Captain?”
