House Call
Posted on Tue Apr 2nd, 2019 @ 10:45am by Captain Remas McDonald & Lieutenant Chester O'Hamlin
1,589 words; about a 8 minute read
Mission:
S1:4: A Murder Of Crows
Location: Sickbay
Timeline: MD63 11.10 AM (Concurrently with Crisp Autumnal Stroll.)
Detus and Kella both sat on either end of the biobed. The two Chandrian's did so not out some medical need, they did so mostly to keep another of their collaborative little family of strays from getting off of the table. Bar'soon wriggled, writhed, and generally tried his best to get clear of them with a staggeringly well-rounded assortment of curse words.
"You'd think alcohol would make him happy!" Detus said.
"What we've learned is that only stun shots to the head work!" Kella said, wrapping an arm around Bar'soon's ankles. "Anything else just makes him stronger! Doctor! You got the sedative ready?!"
"Got it right here," answered Chet, hurrying over with the hypospray. No doubt because of some class taught at Starfleet Medical- Administering Hyposprays to Reluctant and Struggling Patients 101- he managed to press if to Bar'soon's neck. "That was fun," he said, taking out his tricorder as his patient quickly calmed. "But maybe let's not do it again, hey?"
"You have more of that?" Detus asked. Being the medic on his peoples first warp-capable ship, he was as close to a contemporary with Chester than anyone else in the room. The easy smiles around the room faded as the red alert lights went off, rimming the room's ceiling in ruby flashes.
"All hands, intruder alert on Deck 10 and 11. Unknown hostiles have entered the ship! Prepare the repel boarders!" Captain Remas's voice rang over the ships public address system. But already outside of sickbay, the sounds of a fight were beginning to rage. Interspaced with the harsh whine of phaser carbines from the Expedition Security, were clucking and clicking trills and a rising tonal note that ended in a thud.
Kella opened her mouth to speak when the door's to sickbay opened and a pair of black armoured ExpSec officer's staggered in, stubby carbines at the ready facing the door. The door locked behind them, the physical deadbolts sliding into place with a thunk. They kept their rifles trained on the door, and only after a few silent seconds did one of them look over his shoulder at Chet.
"Doc! Get your people into your office and seal-"
He never got to finish the statement. From the wall, two meters down from the door a field of violet energy apparated in the air, and a swirling maelstrom of limbs and death flew out. A solid looking staff connected with the officer's chest and a purple discharge of energy sent him flying with the scent of charing meat filling the air.
The being that had delivered the blow stood for a moment, perhaps savouring the victory. At nearly 3 meters in height, it had to hunch a little to not bump its armoured helmet on the bulkhead. Long-limbed, with a narrow waist flaring out slightly into narrow shoulders, it looked far to delicate a creature to cause such havoc. The armour was smooth, bulging a little from elbow to wrist where three-fingered hands held onto the staff. It began to swing it around again, moving with a graceful step to attack the second ExpSec officer.
Chet, who had ducked behind the biobed as soon as the doors and opened and admitted some realllybfrwaky characters, was now motioning for his nurses to get everyone to safety in the confusion. He didn’t have any clue what was going on, but he’d be damned if he let anybody kill all his people.
Once they were moving, he peeled out from behind the biobed to see the weird beasty going after someone else. “Oi!” he called in an authoritative voice. “Wotchu on about?”
The creature turned about, arms outstretched.
"Oi! Wotchu on about?!" shouting the alien back at Chet, just as the ExpSec officer raised their carbine and fired a trio of bolts into the alien's back. The air was filled with a scent of burning plastic, and an odour unfortunately like that of a Sunday roast dinner and the alien staggered forward. It toppled against the biobed, sprawling as the staff fell from its hands. A black burn ran along the creature's spine, pealing the armour back as chemical reactants dripped and dribbled from it.
Not knowing what was in the liquids dribbling from the alien's back, Chet scrambled away from the biobed. "Everyone back away!" he ordered, finally managing to get his feet under him and put some distance between the alien and himself. What the hell was actually happening right now?
"He's dead," the remaining ExpSec officer said after kneeling down to feel for a pulse on the neck of their fallen comrade. A low, pitiful moan arose from the gawky alien. "These fucker's got onto the hull and attacked the repair crew. They got through the hull with some sort of localised site-to-site transporter tech. Its how it got in here when we had the door closed."
"Hey, Doc you have a weapons cabinet in here?" Kella asked, and looked at her brother "What? I'm a soldier, this is soldiering. I don't look all affronted and shocked when you get out a morphax patch do I?"
"Moooorphax?" came a slurred speech from the biobed, as Bar'soon groggily got up on his elbows. "Oh, that sounds just delightful as an aperitif."
"We may be doctors," answered Chet, crossing back to Bar'soon and pulling out his tricorder, "but, we're practical. Weapons closet is over there," he nodded towards one wall. "It's marked biochemical waste just in case bad guys try to get into it." He turned back to Bar'soon. "How are you feeling?" he asked.
"You...injected me with something..." Bar'soon said, both of his eyes blinking out of sync as he tried to focus. "And I was having the most delightful time!"
3 hours earlier at the after-after-party...
Bar'soon stood atop the buffet table, one high heeled foot in the punch ball, the other now barefooted having kicked off the floral arrangement to make a better last stand. He held a pipe, from where and how it didn't really matter and swung it gamely at the Expedition Security officers trying to get him down. He was going to sing, and by the Seven Glowing Heads Of God people were going to listen!
Kella went with the ExpSec officer to the 'Biomedical Waste' cabinet and got out a trio of hand phasers. Kella fumbled with the hand weapon, given it was designed for a hand with four fingers and a thumb, not three and a thumb. She looked at her brother, who quietly shook his head, and then the Chadrian fighter pilot walked over to Chet, holding out the third weapon. She then jerked it aside as Bar'soon reached for it groggily.
"Yeah, no, we're not in 'death by idiot' territory just yet blue boy," Kella said.
"Yes, I injected you with something and I'm going to give you another injection, too," replied Chet, readying another hypo. "This one is going to help you sober up a bit." He pressed the hypo to Bar'soon's neck once more.
"Nooooooo...." Bar'soon whined piteously, trying to bat away the hypo before with a hiss and grunt the chemical cocktail went to work on him. He let out a moan, a look of disgust on his face. "This is undignified! If a member of the royal household wants to remain drunk they bloody well can choose to be. Now, give me the pistol."
"Yeah...no," Kella said, eyeing Chet. "I'd have knocked him out if I were you."
Bar'soon got off of the biobed, his shaky legs taking on a fluid courtly grace as he looked down at the armoured intruder.
"It's a Reka," Barsoon said delightfully, picking up the staff the alien had dropped holding it between his hands. "Oh I remember seeing these when Abborax first took me on as his companion! Fierce fighters, but they only ever spoke using the voice of my mother which I detested!"
"Well, they must be mind readers, choosing a voice you'd listen to." Kella said, holding out her other hand. "Give me the staff your highness, it's not a toy."
"Oh, but it so is!" Bar'soon grinned, and slammed one end into the floor...vanishing into a sparkling shower of violet energy. Kella and Detus looked down at the neat penny-sized burn mark smoking in the carpet.
"Did the David Bowie impersonator just vaporise himself?" the ExpSec officer asked.
"I don't think we're that lucky," Kella said, looking at the floor. A fountain of purple energy arose from the floor, and Bar'soon appeared in it, the staff held above his head as though stabbing at a bird.
"I forgot how fun these things were!" Bar'soon said gleefully. "Weapon and transporter rolled into one! Oh if my guards had had these I'd never have needed to wait for my eightieth birthday to ascend to the throne!"
"Blimey," breathed Chet. "Where's a tranquilizer gun when you need one, eh?"
Kella reached out and grabbed the staff, pulling it from Bar'soom's hand and tossed it to the doctor. Bar'soom made a hurt sound, but some less ready to deal with a armed soldier.
"Sounded like were folks out there in need of help," Kella asked looking at Chet. "Why don't we go out there and minister to the masses?"
"It's a plan," agreed Chet, tossing the staff to a nearby nurse. "Lock that up and make sure he-" he pointed at Bar'soom, "-doesn't get at it." He then grabbed a medkit. "Let's go," he said.
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