Threshold
Posted on Jun 22, 2015 @ 3:01pm by Commander Jacob Crichton & Evangeline “Sedna” Montoya
Edited on on Jun 22, 2015 @ 3:02pm
Mission: The Lights of Hyperion
= Threshold =
(cont'd from "Crowd Control")
LOCATION: USS PHOENIX
SCENE: Sickbay
STARDATE: [2.15] 0622.1007
Montoya stirred. From his workstation nearby, Cade Foster raised his eyes to look at her, but otherwise did not move. As he watched, Montoya stirred again, groaned. Foster held perfectly still, his eyes fixed on her, waiting to see what the woman would do. Montoya suddenly tried to sit bolt upright, but she'd barely raised her head halfway off the biobed before the forcefield exploded into life against her forehead. She cried out in pain and fell back on the biobed. Foster smiled, stood up, and went to lean over her.
"Ah-ah-ah," he said, wagging a finger at her. "I wouldn't do that again. I was ordered to fix you, which I've technically already done. You crack your head open on that forcefield, I might just let you bleed out."
"Foster," Montoya scowled.
"Hi Montoya," Foster said, giving her a cheery wave. "Long time no see! I love what you've done to your hair! Befriend any murderers lately?"
"What happened?" she asked, ignoring the doctor's jibes. "Why am I in Sickbay?"
Foster stared at her for a moment, as if deciding exactly how much she deserved to know. Then he turned and walked away. Montoya tried to crane her neck to look at him, but the forcefield restraints made movement difficult. The best should could do was raise her head slightly, to stare down the length of her body at hm, her feet sticking up like the iron sights of a gun barrel.
"There was an explosion," Foster said, as he moved around sickbay. "Some kind of radiation event in your cell. You were thrown against the forcefield and knocked out. Got a pretty good dose of radiation, too."
"Am I going to die?"
"Yes," Foster said. "Alone, in a tiny cell, after many, many years of imprisonment."
"Enough of your bullshit!" Montoya shouted. She'd tried to sit up again, forgetting the restraints, and once more the forcefield stopped her. She cried out involuntarily at the pain.
"That field's running about 15% hotter than it needs to," Foster said, without turning to look at her. "Gives you a pretty good shock every time you hit it, which could be bad for your heart. As your medical professional, I have to advise you to cut that out."
"Go to hell," Montoya said, though the anger had left her voice.
"To answer your question, I have cured you of your radiation poisoning," Foster said. "Dermal regenerators have repaired the external damage, but if you keep headbutting that bug zapper, I can't promise they'll hold. There were some broken bones, which I've mended. You have also have a mild concussion."
Foster looked up suddenly, as if he'd just remembered something. Then he turned to look at her and gave her a wide, impish grin.
"I guess I should have mentioned that before you banged your head," he said. "Oops!"
"You can't treat me like this," Montoya said.
"All things considered, I think we're being more than fair," said Foster. "You plotted against us, aided a violent psychopath, and got a member of this crew killed. If it was up to me, we'd have left you behind on LIMBO. I'm sure the Black Stars wouldn't have bothered with patching up your broken bones."
"I was drugged!" Montoya said. "Seth... he *made* me--"
"Oh shut up," Foster cut her off roughly. "Take some responsibility for yourself."
Montoya scowled again, and didn't reply. Foster glanced over his shoulder at her, saw that she was no longer giving him the evil eye, and decided he'd won the conversation. He walked over to another biobed nearby, where the unconscious body of Tazell Lau was lying. Her face was badly bruised, and her front teeth had been smashed when her attackers had hit her with some kind of club. Foster examined her vital signs, and activated a control with incrementally increased her level of sedation. If Lau woke up, she'd be in a lot of pain. Better to keep her under until some of the damage could be repaired.
On the bed next to her lay Brian Tisdell, also unconscious. He'd been worked over pretty badly too. When they'd brought him him, he'd had three broken ribs and a broken arm, which Foster had already repaired. Both crewmen were lucky that they'd survived... if they'd been left at the mercy of the rioters in Cargo Bay 3, Foster didn't think they'd have lived to talk about it.
Foster checked Tisdell's vitals as well, then turned around to see that Montoya had turned her head to watch him. Her gaze shifted to the two wounded crewmen.
"What happened to them?" she asked.
"Doctor-patient confidentiality," Foster said. "None of your business."
"Looks like someone beat the shit out of them," Montoya said. "I take it I'm not the only sorry soul you rescued from that station."
Foster ignored her, did one last check on Tisdell and Tazell's medication levels, then returned to his desk. It was at an angle where Montoya couldn't watch him anymore, but Foster had a feeling she was still staring at the broken crewmen laying nearby.
Foster had just returned his attention to computer on his desk when the lights in the sickbay suddenly turned a foreboding yellow. A warning klaxon began to sound - not the ship's Red Alert, but no less jarring. Foster stood up, cursing under his breath, as he made his way around his desk and back over to the bio-beds.
[[Warning: elevated radiation levels detected,]] the computer reported. [[Evacuate Sickbay immediately.]]
"Son of a bitch," Foster cured again. He went over to a storage locker, opened it, and grabbed a pair of hyposprays. He started to close the locker, then thought better of it and grabbed two more. He closed the locker and went over to where Tisdell and Tazell were laying.
"Foster," Montoya said from behind him. "What's going on?"
"Shut up," Foster said. He pressed one of the hyposprays into Tazell's arm, then another. She started to stir almost immediately, and weak groans of pain puffed out from her dry lips. Foster nodded, then turned and gave Tisdell the same treatment, with similar results.
"Foster!" Montoya said again, but he ignored her. He leaned over Tazell, whose eyes had started to flutter open. Her lips were drown down in a grimace, and she moaned again more loudly.
"You're in Sickbay," Foster said. "You were attacked. I know it hurts, I've given you something for the pain but I need you to wake up now."
Tazell groaned, but nodded to show she understood. Foster turned and gave Tisdell the same talk. As the injured crewmen sat up shakily, Foster looked up. A shimmering aurora had appeared, so big that it almost filled the whole room. It's incandescent golden tendrils wafted lazily out, one of them getting so close it actually triggered the forcefield around Montoya's biobed.
"Foster!" Montoya cried. From where he was standing, Foster could make out most of her expression. Her eyes had gone wide with fear, and even though there was nowhere to go, she looked like she was trying to lean away from the golden light as it fell around her gently. The forcefield was a permanent, shimmering blue bubble around her biobed, as the light shifted and seemed to inch closer to her.
[[Warning: elevated radiation levels detected,]] the computer reported again. [[Evacuate Sickbay immediately.]]
"Get up," Foster said, hurrying Tazell and Tisdell to their feet. They were unsteady, but Foster guided their hands to the wall nearby to give them something to anchor themselves with. They stepped around the golden aurora, Foster never taking his eyes off it.
"Foster!" Montoya screamed. "You can't leave me here!"
Foster stopped in place. He frowned. Montoya was right. Whatever way he felt about her, and what she had done, the cantankerous doctor realized he didn't have it in him to just leave her behind. He shouted for Tazell and Tisdell to head for the door, then turned and went back for Montoya.
The Amaterasu shifted and drifted, but its movements seemed to be made with no reference to Foster's. Foster kept against the wall, creeping by, waiting for one of those golden tendrils to shoot out and strike him, but they never did. Whatever the thing was, its "attention" (if it could be that) seemed to be focused on the forcefield around Montoya's biobed. Though Foster could discern no clear intention on the Amaterasu's part, it seemed to be probing the field like a curious animal.
"What the hell is it doing?" Montoya asked.
"Maybe it remembers you from the brig," Foster suggested. "Maybe it wants to finish the job."
"That *isn't* funny!"
"It's a little funny," Foster said. He'd finally reached the console he'd be aiming for, and quickly deactivated the forcefield. The blue bubble disappeared, but the Amaterasu didn't seem to react. It continued to drift aimlessly, it's golden tendrils no longer inhibited by the field and now free to gently caress the surface of the biobed. Montoya slid aside, avoiding the tendrils, and rushed over to where Foster was standing. Together, they crept along the wall back towards the door as the Aurora continued to shine, seemingly indifferent to them.
[[Warning: elevated radiation levels detected. Evacuate Sickbay immediately.]]
"We're not gonna get out of here and drop dead of radiation poisoning, are we?" Montoya asked.
"There are supplies," Foster said. "We pulled them aside in case they were needed in the cargo bay. Once we get to them--"
Foster didn't get a chance to finish his sentence. Montoya balled her fists together and brought them down hard against the back of the doctor's head. He went sprawling, hitting a workstation before sliding off to land hard on the floor of Sickbay. Montoya tensed, ready to jump on him again if he moved, but it looked like he'd been knocked unconscious by the blow or the fall. Montoya gave a savage smile, then stepped over his body to head for the door.
"Good riddance, you old son of a bitch," she said.
[[Warning: elevated radiation levels detected,]] came the computer's voice again. [[Evacuate Sickbay immediately.]]
Now it was Montoya's turn to stop at the threshold of Sickbay. She turned around, looked at the shifting, shimmering Amaterasu, then down at the unconscious form of Cade Foster. She frowned.
"Shit."
Not quite knowing why, Montoya stepped forward, hooked her arms underneath Foster's armpits, and dragged him to the door. Sickbay's door hissed open, and Montoya dragged Foster out into the corridor. Tazell and Tisdell were both there, leaning heavily against the wall, their eyes unfocused. They didn't even seem to notice her. Montoya dragged Foster to lean up against the wall in a sitting position, then looked over at them.
"He needs radiation treatment," she said. "We all do, probably."
Tisdell looked to be the most aware. His eyes focused on hers, and he nodded weakly. Montoya returned the nod, then stood up and jogged down the corridor. She needed radiation treatment too, she knew, and she needed her freedom. It wouldn't take long for them to find her -- though, from the state of those two crewmen back there, Montoya had a feeling that Captain Kane might have more to worry about just now. Foster had mentioned supplies pulled aside for people in the cargo bay.
Montoya knew where she was headed next.
=[/\]=
Shawn Putnam
a.k.a.
Jake Crichton
Chief Engineering Officer
USS PHOENIX
