Aftermath [Back Post]

Posted on Sun Feb 5th, 2023 @ 12:39am by Christine Graham & Fleet Captain Maxwell Culver & Commander Vianola Paxidor

1,855 words; about a 9 minute read

Mission: Mission One: Goodwill Tour [Part One]
Location: Triton Seabase: Captain’s Quarters
Timeline: MD2: 0400 hours

Max woke with a gasp. Beside him, holographic displays showed his vital signs and some other type of waves. Max looked around, the holodoctor remained on duty. To his left, he could make out Vianola Paxidor. The loss of an El Aurian would be devastating to their people.

“What is going on?” he asked, his tone nothing but confusion.

"You're in bed, Max." Vi moved closer to him and dragged the chair with her. She'd sat by his bedside during some of her off hours since hearing of his condition from the holo-doc the previous morning. "You've been in an induced coma." she let that hang in the air as he got his bearings.

Too much information might overload him at this point.

Max closed his eyes. He had a headache like the nova of a star. The thought might have been mildly amusing if he’d had any idea what was going on.

Sitting up, his ears began to ring loudly before his eyes went black around the edges and he eased himself down to the bed before collapsing. “Coma?” he asked instead.

"Like a really long sleep." Vi joked half heartedly. She knew he knew what a coma was but sometimes her mouth ran quicker than her mind.

Max groaned. “What happened? How long have I been out?”

Vi checked her wristwatch, "Maybe nearly 24 hours now. Doctor Graham said you collapsed yesterday morning." she said as she pulled her jumper down over her wrist. "You may have been poisoned through something called 'The Purge'. According to Graham is was a Romulan neurotoxin originating from the Free State. Our analysis confirms that and we are investigating."

Max looked to the doctor. Her solemn blue face told him she and Vi had reached the same conclusion that Max immediately jumped to as well. “Do we have Ranger Jack and his android in custody?”

Max’s head swelled as he suddenly felt the concern and frustration coming from Vianola. Not only that, but when he looked at her, he could see only her aura - a blue as deep as the darkest part of the sky. He was overwhelmed and he had assumed long ago that he would never come into the stereotypical El Aurian “listener”.

"Not at the moment. We believe they are off world at the moment but I have sent a request for them to return for questioning as a show of good faith on the Rangers' part." Vianola replied. "Given how friendly Jack has been with you I am concerned he may have used that to get close to you, Max, but I don't know him well enough to know what he is like. Questioning will hopefully reveal whether he was part of the poisoning, or an unwitting participant." she shifted uncomfortably.

Max's aura, and feelings, were also pouring out of him. A bombardment of feeling, emotion, almost like a wave from the very ocean Triton floated atop.

She placed her hand on his, "You are safe sir. I am here." She smiled.

Max truly relaxed into the bed. Above him, a voice sounded without feelings or aura. He knew it was their holographic doctor. “It would make sense, captain, that Jack is complicit. Aside from dealings on Freecloud, his flight paths have put him in close range of the Romulan Free State.”

Looking at Vianola, she added, “My apologies, Commander Paxidor, as part of my investigation into the poisoning, I tracked the movements of the SS Strider to see if they could be put in place. I’ll transfer my findings to you.”

“As for you, Captain, I am sure you’ve got a soaring headache. There is nothing I can do for that now. I’ve essentially had to rewire your brain one neuron at a time. I was able to do so without losing your personality and memories, but I’m not sure, with your El Aurian heritage, what side effects might occur. Tell me if there’s anything new.”

Max laughed. “I can see Commander Vianola’s aura and hear new inflections and undertones in her speech.”

“This is known to your people, Captain Culver,” the doctor seemed to dismiss.

“But it’s not known to me. My family and personal doctor thought I would never be a listener. It was always a sense of stress between my parents.” Max looked to Vi. He thought she might be able to explain it better to the hologram.

"Where as that is kind out of the scope of your duties Doctor I would be careful. However, I do thank you for the information." she frowned a little at the hologram. They seemed to go beyond what their programming would suggest they are capable, or allowed, of.

Vianola turned to Max. "What you are feeling, sensing and seeing is what most of us see, Max. It seems the poison and the Doctors medical care has unlocked the part of your brain we use for many of our abilities." she turned to the Doctor. "As 'Listeners', which is a term I hate by the way... totally paints us as all nicey nice people, we hear the universe in what most might call a musical fashion. To us, every word and action vibrates to a specific resonance. In essence, we 'feel' everything." She hoped the explanation would alright, to be honest it was the best she could do. She wasn't an elder by any means and she knew a little herself, but not enough to do it any justice.

“It’s somewhat overwhelming,” Max admitted. He could feel her concern, but more, he could hear it like music running through him. “If I can’t control one interaction between you and I, how am I going to work on the bridge?”

"Can slowly immerse yourself into it, or throw yourself in the deep end." Vianola suggested. "I think I know what one you'll pick." she added hinting it would be the latter of the two. She believed Max wasn't one for half measures. "We do have a busy couple of weeks ahead, but we can work together on trying to get you through the worst of it."

“Deep end,, as usual, Vi,” Max answered. It was just his way of doing things. Besides, now his parents could tell people he was just a late bloomer instead of feeling ashamed that he would never get his El Aurian gifts.

Vianola nodded. "It's a good thing you can swim." She kept the metaphor going. "I'm glad you see the universe as I do now." She smiled softly. Being able to see in the way that their species did was special. It connected them all to the universe in their own special way.

“It may not take long, but seeing auras, hearing truths and lies, the entire universe as a symphony. But there is a part that is going silent, a great and powerful part, Vi. It feels like a group of beings that we are closely attached to. It also feels that there’s nothing we can do to change it…and maybe that’s right,” Max said, not wanting to say that the Q were either dying or moving onto a new plane of existence.

"Well the truth part comes from our pheromones. I keep mine in check, kind of turned off if you want to think of it like that, and only turn it on when I need or want information from someone." Vi smiled softly. "As for what you sense... we all feel that as well. There are things even a people as old as ours, and theirs, cannot change."

“Pheromones, turn them on and off? Sensing ancient races? Is it true we can sense shifts in time and space?” he asked, his head spinning.

"We can." Vi replied simply. "Some more powerfully than others. It can be the most imperceptible shift, we know something isn't right but cannot place our finger on it. People who may have died seem like ghosts, lack song." she added with a sad expression. "As for our pheromones... well they are what we can release to 'encourage' people to open up to us. They reveal their secrets, desires and fantasies and become almost pliable in our hands. Handy in security work..."

“And, I suspect, handy for a captain with a grumpy Romulan Executive Officer.” Max chuckled, but it turned into a sort of cough. “Alright, I need some clothes and to get to the bridge before we have too many questions,” Max said, knowing he was about to hear the arguments.

"I think us both leaving your quarters at 0400 will cause plenty of rumours." Vianola joked. "But I think you have a couple more hours before Alpha shift, and you should use them. Hearing the universe as we do can be quite tiring for newbies." she placed a hand on his shoulder. "Have some breakfast, rehydrate and I'll meet you on the bridge." she said rising.

“There will surely be enough rumors on this boat without adding another. I’ll see you on the bridge this afternoon. You’ll need some sleep too, Vi,” Max responded gently.”

"Well I tend to lose sleep over my friends getting poisoned and coming close to death." she said looking away and rubbing her hands on her face. She looked in the mirror, she had no idea she looked as ragged and tired as she did.

"I'll get some sleep later." she smiled softly as she turned back to face him. "I've got some things I need to chase up first." Not to mention she stupidly been taking stims to keep herself awake and alert since her investigation had began.

“Alright,” Max agreed, “but you’ll have to take some time off too. Stims aren’t healthy in the long-term.” Max smiled, knowing he’d be doing the same. “Get your man, but make sure you’ve got the evidence before you do.”

"Who said I was taking stims?" Vi became quite defensive over this. It was a shock he'd came out with it as she'd been careful that no-one had seen her take any. "And I always get my evidence." she added with a confident nod.

“Because stims are what I’d be using after my captain was poisoned and I had an investigation open on Jack DiBello, our rancid Ranger. It wouldn’t surprise me if he wasn’t with the Free State.” Max laid out his understanding of both the stims situation and the Jack problem.

Vi sighed. "Yes, well he was very keen to get by your side. It wouldn't surprise me either...now get some rest and I'll see you later." She moved to leave.

“Thanks Vi!” Max said loud enough for her to hear as she left. He laid his head back onto the pillow and watched as the infuser pumped fluids into his vein. He had just over three hours before he was back on duty and he knew he would spend them staring at the ceiling. At least until the holo-doc activated herself and scared the hell out of him.

 

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