A House Full Of Strangers

Posted on May 05, 2015 @ 7:14pm by Captain Michael Turlogh Kane & Lieutenant Eve Dalziel & Selyara Chen
Edited on on May 05, 2015 @ 7:16pm

Mission: Limbo

"A HOUSE FULL OF STRANGERS"

(Continued from "A Matter of Time")

****************************************
****************************************

Captain's Log, supplemental - as the last of our crew and an influx of Federation refugees boards the Phoenix, we are almost ready to depart Limbo. Not all our shipmates will be making the voyage to Elandipole with us, and there are duties that no Starfleet captain ever wants to carry out...

******************************************

Location: USS Phoenix
Stardate: [2.15]0504.2105
Scene: Deck 2, outside CSciO's quarters


Michael Turlogh Kane touched the door buzzer to Solomon Arn's quarters and heard light footfalls in response to the door chime. [[Come in, it's open!]]

He stepped through the doors into a neat living area, replete with a couch and chairs around a transparent lounge table. Watercolour landscape paintings decorated the walls alongside framed certificates. In the anteroom to his left, he could see an unmade bed, the covers thrown haphazardly around, a religious symbol on the wall above it.

Dido Loftus appeared in the bedroom doorway, towelling her wet hands. She started in surprise. "Captain Kane! I wasn't expecting - I mean, Solomon's not here." She came into the living area and put the white towel down on the transparent lounge table. "He's in the Science Centre." She was looking at him carefully, and Kane watched with growing discomfort as she saw the look in his face. Her eyes flooded with awful worry. "What's wrong, Captain?"

Kane reached out and took her gently by the forearm, leading her to the couch. He sat down beside her. "Miss Loftus - "

"It's Arn," she said quickly. "Solomon and I got married on Limbo. We did it at a little wedding chapel on the Atria. Nobody knows." The panic was rising in her eyes, but she kept talking, trying to stave off the impending horror with words that tumbled into each other. "Is that what you're here to talk about? Do you want me to fetch Solomon? In the Science Centre?"

"I didn't know about your marriage," said Kane. He felt awful. He was about to tear this woman's life apart, to tell her that her husband was dead and gone and he wouldn't be coming back, to tell her that whatever memories she had of him were all that she was ever going to have from now on. There was no softening this blow. Her grief would be indescribable. "I don't have good news. Something terrible has happened."

The feelings came first. Response, before contact. Dido shook her head slowly. "No," she said definitely. "No, Captain Kane. Solomon is in the Science Centre. He's down there working in his laboratory. He'll be back soon. We got married the day before yesterday. He'll be back soon."

Kane hated the formality of it all. "Lieutenant Arn was waylaid and killed on Limbo earlier today by a criminal named Rawyvin Seth. He had left the ship to make contact with me in the Pit but never made it. I'm sorry, Dido, I'm truly sorry. Solomon is dead." His words were like acid. They made contact with her, and started to burn and seep their way inside her being, searing and scarring her whole life. "He's dead, Dido."

Her head had not stopped shaking slowly. It looked like a numbness had frozen her features into a mask of confusion. "It can't be," she said slowly. "You're joking with me. I saw him this morning. He was in the Science Centre. He can't be just gone. He wouldn't just leave me without a sign. People just don't go, not like that. Something happens first, you see it coming. Nobody just goes, Captain. They don't just go."

"I'm so sorry, Dido."

She pulled her arms away from his hand and sat on the couch. "You're not joking with me?"

Kane shook his head.

Dido nodded, a staggered motion of her neck. "Oh," she said dumbly. "Can I see him? What about Arn? Did you - "

"Lieutenant Arn's body is beyond our reach," said Kane again, loathing himself with every word. "I know nothing about the symbiont. I think it reasonably safe to say that its life has also come to an end."

"So he really is just gone?"

Kane nodded. "If there's anything I can do, contact me. Anything. You'll need help. It will be freely given, I swear it. If you like, I - "

"I think I need to absorb all this," said Dido suddenly. "Can I get back to you on that, Captain Kane?"

Kane nodded, unsure of what she was feeling. She wasn't looking at him, not really. Her eyes were too wide, too unfocused, and they kept flitting around the room as her thoughts and emotions rebounded around inside her head. The language she was using made him uneasy, too. He had thought she might have burst into tears or exploded into rage - that would have been better than this passive seeming acceptance of the terrible news he had brought.

He stood up uncertainly. "I'll always be available," he said again.

She nodded. "Thank you, Captain Kane. Goodbye."

Kane set his jaw in resignation. The moment passed. He moved through the doors back into the ship. Behind him, in the Arn quarters, death settled into a new home.

******************************************

Scene: Phoenix docking bay


Jake Crichton watched as the refugees continued to stream on board the ship. The ship's sensors were scanning everyone who came aboard for weapons or contraband, and so far there had been nothing, but not having the time to make background checks on each person here made Jake a little uneasy. Although predominantly Humans, there were representatives from almost all major races in the Federation here, both in family groups and alone.

But they were all residents of Limbo, and nobody came to Limbo if they could help it. Maybe some of these people were stranded travellers, merchants tied up with red tape, or even slumming tourists who wanted to see what the galaxy's underbelly looked like, far from the sterile shining cities of the core worlds. Maybe, Jake mused, they were all wanted criminals, who had fled from Federation justice and were now being forced at Tella Yavin's gunpoint back in that direction.

[[Jos to Crichton. Report, Commander.]]

"We have over three thousand souls on board according to the sensor data," said Jake. "We've tied in the sensors with descriptions of criminals on the run, but nothing has turned up yet. Give the ability of people to surgically alter themselves - "

[[Nobody can change their physiology, Commander Crichton. Just ask Selyara.]]

"I hope you're right, sir, I really do." Jake watched a couple of rough-looking characters pass by the sensor screen and join the lines of people being divided toward temporary quarters. The cargo bays were filling up fast - if the influx didn't diminish soon, there would be people sleeping in corridors and any empty room. A security nightmare.

[[There are only twenty-seven minutes left before Tella Yavin's deadline passes. Will we have everyone aboard by that time?]]

Jake looked out into the street, through the security gates where the line of desperate people snaked back as far as he could see. Several Black Stars watched them, fingering their blaster rifles. His heart sank. "No, sir. It's impossible."

The Andorian on the bridge paused. [[Understood, Commander. Bridge out.]]

Jake checked the chronometer. Twenty-six minutes now.

*********************************************

Scene: Captain's ready room


Kane had made it back to the bridge, leaving Dido alone with her thoughts, only to find Eve Dalziel waiting for him. He bristled - counselors were a necessary evil aboard a starship, but Kane was wary of anyone who could exercise power of judgement over the sanity of someone else.

He beckoned her to follow him into his ready room. Merak's communicator stud still lay on his desk next to the computer monitor, and for a moment he thought of the War Hawk and Admiral Radaik. The Romulans were also evacuating their own people from Limbo, and Admiral Radaik was preparing to deliver everything the Phoenix had on the Neo-Essentialists to their Senate. Hopefully, the fact that they were being manipulated (and not for the first time) by a third party would halt the Romulan onslaught into Federation space. With Admiral Radaik sailed all hopes of peace.

Kane slumped down in his seat and regarded Eve Dalziel. She looked on edge, and for a moment Kane wondered what she really looked like. The melting of her Cardassian features, the smoothing of her bones and skin into Human norms. Even her gray alien skin had been flushed to Human pink, but it couldn't tamper with her soul.

You know all about that conflict, he reminded himself. "What can I do for you, Counselor?" asked, motioning to the seat on the opposite side of the desk. "If we could keep this to the point as much as possible, please - we'll be casting off very soon."

"It's Selyara, Captain. She's awake, and asking to talk to you."

Kane frowned. "Already? I thought the anesthezine would have kept her under a lot longer." He shook his head."Her mental state?"

"She spent most of her time trying to cajole Cade to let her out of stasis or demanding your presence," Eve said evenly. "Her tactics kept changing. One minute she was the helpless victim, the next the entitled mastermind."

"Do you have a psychological analysis at this stage?"

The counselor leaned in and rubbed her forehead. Kane could see how tired she was and felt bad, but the same fatigue was being felt by all the senior officers. Just a little longer to go. "She hasn’t trusted anyone in years," said Eve. "She still considers her imprisonment a wrongful punishment for her actions against the Federation. She seems to have used this experience as grounds for her actions while on the run. I initially categorized her as a sociopath, but given her high level of planning and organization as she has continued her activities on the outside, she may have developed more psychopathic tendencies. Paranoid schizophrenia may be present, although since a lot of people have been chasing her, those feelings are somewhat well placed."

Kane nodded calmly, but his mind was whirling. If Selyara was mentally incapacitated through some sort of insanity, then she might not be able to assist in exposing the Neo-Essentialists in Starfleet. The goal had not yet been reached. "How would you suggest she be approached?"

Eve shrugged. "With a taser whip?"

"You could have said 'carefully', Counselor."

"Neither answer is particularly helpful," Eve admitted. "As you can imagine, it won't be easy to convince her to help us. She's become used to working alone, and now we're asking her to be part of a team again. We're asking her to freely share her knowledge and abilities, which she sees as her gift and her leverage against being exploited. She was drugged, and now she's been confined. Her distrust for us is strong.”

Kane thought for a moment before speaking, wondering how to frame his next words. "Selyara and I have some... shared history."

"Yes, I know. You served together on the Century and the Discovery."

Kane shook his head. "I don't just mean that. We had feelings for one another. Nothing ever came of them. I'm hoping she might be more favourably disposed towards me." He looked her in her Cardassian eyes. "That information is confidential, Lieutenant."

If Eve was surprised, she didn't show it. "Understood, Captain. She also knows of the end of Rawyvin Seth. Her reaction to that was strong. Additionally, the fact that you were responsible might be a bargaining chip. Selyara let you get close enough to sedate her?"

"I think she was surprised to see me, which gave me an opening, but yes."

The counselor gave him a fretful look. "That could be a problem."

"In what way? She's aboard, isn't she?" He said it with defiance. And I’m still alive and Drake is dead, he thought. To hell with fate and prophecies.

"Selyara's duplicity is such that I can’t tell if the fact that you got close enough to sedate her was a momentary lapse of judgement on her part, a mistake, one of the last pieces of sentimentality that her frozen heart has left, or simply a ploy to access a unique pool of brains to suck dry and a ship to steal."

Kane was frowning again. "She can’t fly the ship by herself."

"No, but how many of us could she take out before either being killed herself or intimidating the remaining ones to do her bidding? It would be a waste of resources- of lives - in either case."

Kane thought of the thousands of weary and frightened refugees spilling onto the ship. A feast for a mind-eater. "I'll keep that in mind," he said. "That's all, Counselor."

Eve got up to leave.

"Wait," said Kane, remembering. "I have a favour to ask, Counselor. I just told Dido Loftus, Solomon Arn's partner, of his death on Limbo."

"How did she take it?"

"I don't know," Kane said honestly. "She seemed almost unfeeling once the initial shock had passed. She's not Starfleet, so you're under no obligation, but we have so many civilians aboard now. Do you think you could talk to her, make sure she is able to recover?"

Eve nodded. "I'll look into it."

"Thank you, Counselor. Dismissed." Kane watched her leave, gave her a minute to get into the turbolift, and got up himself. It was time to meet Selyara again.

**************************************

Scene: Sickbay


Sickbay was as bit of a mess, and Kane thought it better not to disturb Cade while he was working. Rolling his eyes at Kassandra's hideous attempt at an Irish accent, he crossed the floor and warily approached Selyara's biobed. The blue fizz of the forcefield still hung over her like a shroud.

She lay inert on the bed, eyes closed, chest barely moving. Cade had reversed her surgical alterations, taken out the Romulan forehead ridges and restored her almost-Human face. She looked natural now, but Kane realised with a chill that it was still someone he could barely recognize. Everything about her was lean, stringy, all sharp angles and harsh lines. Her lips were cruel, her body was covered in black ink in linear geometric tattoos. The decade in the Jaros stockade had killed the woman he knew. Now there was a stranger before him.

Her eyes flew open as she became aware of his presence over her. Her pupils dilated and she focused her attention like a phaser, and he saw that she recognised him.

"Well hello Mikey," she said, her voice cold and mocking. "Long time, no see. What brings you so far out of your way to visit little old me? Actually, let me answer that for you, before we're forced to embarrass ourselves telling lies and platitudes. You aren’t here for me, you're here for what I know."

"That's not true, Selyara," Kane said gently, treading softly until he had the measure of the woman in front of him. He said her name to remind her that he knew who she was, but it was apparently the wrong thing to say, because her lips curled in disgust.

"Eight years, Kane. Eight years I spent in the Jaros stockade, and not once did you come to see me. Even Maverick came, so guess who turned out to be the better man?" She was spitting the words at him. Kane knew they were designed to hurt him, and it worked. They hurt like hell. "So please, spare me your lies and this will all be less painful for all of us," Selyara snapped. "You want something from me, and that is the only reason that I’m here."

"What happened to you, Selyara?" Kane said softly, sadly, keeping his voice down. She wasn't the woman he remembered at all - the one who was kind, empathetic, trusting, the one who provided the crew with the emotional support he couldn't afford to provide as captain. When the gulf of command kept him from being human for his crew, she was the one that filled the gap. "How did you become so bitter, so angry at everyone and everything?"

Her mouth twitched as though he'd just slapped her in the face, but it was gone just as quickly as it appeared. Her lips clamped into a thin line and she came back with a verbal roundhouse. "I learned that from the best, didn't I, Mikey? What was it I said to you when I accepted the CO position on the Patriot?"

"I don't remember," Kane lied.

"Well, I do," she snapped, her eyes blazing. "I told you that I didn’t want to become you, or like you! Well mission accomplished, I guess, because you're still sitting in the center seat and I'm the boogeyman they send other monsters to kill. But then again, of the two of us, I'm the one that's never committed an act of mass murder!"

"That’s unfair and you know it." Kane kept his voice level with great effort. The tone in her voice and the expression on her face conveyed clearly to him that her words were designed to hurt him. “It's also beneath you. Now, I’m going to turn off the stasis field so you can sit up as a show of good faith. Can I trust you to behave accordingly?"

"I’m not an idiot, Mikey. Even if I were to kill you, I could hardly kill everyone on the ship before someone took me down. I'm not immortal,” she said dryly, closing her eyes contemplatively. "Besides, I need someone to fly this overpowered bit of compensation to civilisation."

"Good." Kane reached over to the control panel and pushed the button to power down the field. The blue forcefield fizzed and winked out. Selyara sat up and swung her feet over the side of the bed, but made no further moves towards him. From the other side of the room, Cade made a squawk of protest. Selyara turned her head and gave him a look that must have been pure poison, judging from the expression on the doctor’s face.

Kane sat down on the biobed beside her. It was the closest they had been in ten years. "Are you aware of the political situation in the Federation?" She seemed to have regained a measure of calm, and her expression conveyed amusement. "Of course you are," he continued. "Now I need you to hear me out, because this will sound far-fetched. The USS Pendragon is waiting for us in the Elandipole system. It has come backwards though time, from nineteen years in our future, in an attempt to destroy the Federation of that future. In their present, the Neo-Essentialists have turned the Federation into a fascist society that feeds off conflict and war. They came back in time to change history. One of their agents warned us about the rise of Admiral Edgerton, the leader of the Neo-Essentialists, and he told us that in future-history, you were a critical component in defeating them. You know everything about the Neo-Essentialists, Selyara. It's all stored in your head. With your help, we can expose their corruption, root them out of Starfleet - "

"You must think I'm an idiot." Selyara's voice was cold. "What I do know is that Edgerton is the reason you’re sitting center seat again, and that Edgerton is the one who set Rawyvin Seth on me. I will not be used by him or anyone again, and I have absolutely no reason to trust you."

Kane sighed and rubbed his head. He felt like they were going around and around in circles, and getting nowhere. He could talk until he was blue in the face, but she would never believe what he told her.

Suddenly, he reached forward and grabbed her hand. She looked startled and tried to snatch her hand back, but he slowly pulled her hand up to his cheek. When her palm touched his face, he let her go. She made no effort to take her hand away.

"I'll burn your mind to ashes," she whispered. "I'll turn you into a drooling imbecile."

"Despite what you can do, Selyara, I've never been afraid of you," Kane said, closing his eyes and waiting for the pain.

***********************************************

Scene: Bridge


Aerdan Jos stood at Byte's shoulder, watching the main viewer. The river of people showed no sign of stopping, and although the ship's crew were directing them into manageable columns that were, in turn, being fed into all available vacant spaces on the ship,they were simply running out of space.

"Population now aboard?" he asked Byte.

The android consulted its console. {{Now passing five thousand. Six minutes until deadline.}}

"That's enough," said the Andorian. "If we don't close up now, we'll not be able to detach in time. Jos to Crichton."

[[Go ahead.]]

Aerdan shared one final glance with Byte. "Close the docking bay, Commander, and report to Engineering for departure."

[[Sir, there's still a lot of people out here - ]]

"We were not going to save everyone, Commander Crichton. We never could. I'm sorry. Close the docking bay please."

There was resignation in Jake's voice. [[Understood.]]

*************************************************

Scene: Sickbay


Kane felt a strange sensation, like a gentle breeze tickling across his skull, and the hairs stood up on his neck and arms, and he knew that he was not alone in his own head.

He couldn't feel where she was rummaging, or what she was looking at, so he tried to relax and let it happen. It didn't work. The urge to make her see his point of view overrode any calmness he felt. He tried to think of all the things that had happened since Stonn had found him on Vulcan - the launch of the Discovery, the locating and revelations about what had happened aboard the Century, the exposing of the Discovery's crew as Neo-Essentialists, and the catastrophic moment when he pushed the button that fired the torpedo that made her splash fire in the void of space.

Images, feelings, all flashing by. A kaleidoscope of memories.

The public decloaking of the Century above Paris. The Board of Inquiry. The Neo-Essentialist takeover of the government. The activation of Project Phoenix. The assembling of a new crew, and the launch into infamy of a band of fugitives.

Dead shipmates, good and bad. Lex Calvari. Stonn. Bonnie Reardon. Solomon Arn. Rawyvin Seth's knife at his throat. The last betrayed expression on Drake's face. All the feelings that came with them.

He felt her hand lift from his cheek, and opened her eyes. Her expression had changed - gone were the cruel sneer and the angry eyes. Now Selyara looked altogether more uncertain.

"What did you see?" he asked.

She shook her head."I need time to think about it."

"We have a good counselor aboard," said Kane. "Her name is Eve Dalziel. Try to talk to her." He looked up as Cade approached them. "I have to get back to the bridge. Your patient is no longer to be confined under a forcefield, Doctor."

Cade nodded. "A few more tests to run and she'll be loose to do god-knows-what on the ship," he said cheerily.

Kane shared one final glance with Selyara before pulling himself away.

******************************************************

Scene: Docking Bay


Jake slapped his hand against the control station, and the forcefields appeared, cutting off those outside from boarding the ship. He had dreaded this moment, imagining all sorts of panic, of parents being separated from their children, of a general mass hysteria. A second button push began the lowering of the docking bay's bulkhead, a thick sheet of tritanium rolling inexorably down.

Outside the crowd's features changed. Hope was replaced with misery and fear and resignation as the bulkhead descended like a slow guillotine to sever the promise of safety. They started calling out, screaming, baying for held, but the forcefields rendered their cries inert, soaking them up like sponge.

As Jake watched, the bulkhead came down, blocking off the view outside, and when it crushed the gap, locking itself into place with a clunk, the bedlam inside began.

Leaving the crew to sort it out, Jake began to push his way through the crowd, bound for Engineering.

*************************************************

Scene: Bridge


The turbolift doors opened and Kane stepped back onto the bridge. Aerdan Jos rose from the command chair. "Report, Commander."

"The docking bay is secured. We have just over seven thousand souls on board. We are two minutes away from the deadline."

Kane nodded. "Once we launch, you will take command of the logistical situation regarding the refugees. Use whatever means are necessary to protect the security of the Phoenix. There's no telling what kind of people we have aboard, but if and until something negative happens, let's assume they are all genuine cases."

The Andorian nodded. "Understood."

{{Captain,}} said Byte at Ops, {we are being hailed. It is Tella Yavin.}}

Kane and Aerdan moved to the middle of the bridge. "On screen, Mister Byte."

The main viewer winked, and Tella Yavin's satanic features filled the screen. She was sitting at her desk in her Sanctum office, the spider returned to the centre of its web. She smiled, but it was the smile of a victor. {{Farewell, Captain Kane, and a safe journey to wherever your voyage takes you next.}}

Kane stepped forward "On behalf of the Federation, I ask that our citizens that remain behind on Limbo are treated fairly until we can recover them."

The pretence of a smile vanished from Tella Yavin's face. {{There is no Federation any more, Captain Kane. You're a fool if you cannot see that. The people who you have abandoned here - put them out of your mind. The galaxy has already forgotten them. And wherever you go, spread the word that there is only one mistress on Limbo.}} She cut the connection.

Kane turned to Aerdan. "Get us away from this place, Commander."

Aerdan nodded, moving to Russ's shoulder.

*************************************************

Scene: Outside


In the distance, the yellow sun Hammaker shone out into the long, cold night. Ringed by a thick asteroid belt and one space station, the Hammaker system had once been the dream of Federation amity with the Romulan Star Empire. Now, it is a cesspool of decay or crime, a freeport for the scum of the Triangle, and linchpin of a powerful new criminal empire that has the potential to expand beyond the boundaries of a single solar system.

The violet nacelles of the Phoenix flared into life, her gunmetal gray exterior glinting dully in the glow of the alien sun. On the other side of the decaying space station, the War Hawk was also detaching from her moorings. Both vessels seemed to regard one another before turning on their axes in opposite directions.

Nothing of Concordia was left, but Limbo remained. The War Hawk snapped into warp speed and disappeared, and a moment later, the Phoenix did the same.

Limbo remained.

***********************************************

Captain's Log, Supplemental - the violent events of our visit to Limbo have been resolved. Rawyvin Seth is dead and Selyara is aboard the ship. It is my hope that the coming days will help her to understand that we need her again, that there is still a place for her amongst us.

The refugees of Limbo have been berthed in whatever accommodations we could make for them. It is my hope that the voyage to Elandipole will be swift and smooth, that we can, from there, find new homes for these people. From their ranks we will look to secure ex-Starfleet personnel who might be able to assist us in running the ship, as our manpower is still critically low.

Our house is full of strangers and we leave dead friends behind on an alien shore. But we have gained new allies and a new chance at peace for the Federation.

Our voyage continues, and our story is not over.

***********************************************
***********************************************

NRPG: This is the last post in our third story, "Limbo". The Phoenix is leaving the Hammaker system bound for Elandipole, a voyage of several weeks. Now it's time to get back to shipboard life.

Except that won't be so easy. There are several thousand refugees aboard the ship, not all of whom are good souls. They need feeding, they need to be protected from each other, and (importantly) the Phoenix needs to be protected from them. But some of them may have skills we can use- we need engineers, damage control teams, pilots, some sort of security force, and people to help in sickbay. The potential for conflict exists (but the Phoenix's security systems are more than capable of stopping a riot or some such event).

Everyone should post about how your characters are re-adjusting to life on the ship. There are subplots to be explored, there are interactions to be made. In the meantime, it's time for some character-centric posting as we leave Limbo behind.

No backposting. Limbo is falling away behind us, and we have a present and a future to deal with.

The voyage to Elandipole will not be altogether peaceful. The events of the journey to Elandipole will be covered in our next story (as yet untitled), to begin soon.

In the meantime, MOAR POSTS! ;)

The scenes with Eve and Selyara were also written by Susan and Alix respectively.


Jerome McKee
the Soul of Michael Turlogh Kane
Commanding Officer
USS Phoenix


"He speaks an infinite deal of nothing!"
- Shakespeare's "The Merchant of Venice", Act 1, Scene 1.117

************************************************
************************************************