Five Lights

Posted on Mar 27, 2016 @ 2:44am by Lieutenant Eve Dalziel & Thomas Varn
Edited on on Mar 27, 2016 @ 2:44am

Mission: Fortress: Earth

“Five Lights”
(Continued from “Dreams of Genocide”)

=/\=

Location: Varn’s mind
SD: Unknown
Scene: Unknown

There were lights, they were bright lights, there were five, there were five bright lights. They would dance they would play, they would scamper away; but, today of all days when they came there were three and three would be all there would be. The question that lingered continuously was not where the others had gone or even where could they be, the question at hand was why the number three. All time and space, in this new dull place, only allowed the question to be why the number three.

The sounds were familiar yet distant as if almost too for his ears to hear, or was it his mind to fully comprehend, he couldn’t tell any more. Music seemed to fill the air, or was that the beeping again, but whatever it was it served as comfort. Thomas hadn’t seen anyone, at least to his current memory he hadn’t but all things were as if an oil painting had sprung to life and replaced reality.

The focus of everyone in sickbay had been on those that were injured and not the scientific curiosity that was a resurrected winged individual lying on a biobed. For the moment, he was well under control with enough sedatives in his system to kill a normal human, Thomas remained quiet as he floated in and out of normal thought. In those infrequent moments where his mind had clarity but failed to transmit to his vocal chords, Thomas would find himself screaming at the five bright lights that tormented him for the moment. He only asked one question, which teared as his psyche and soul, WHO AM I?!


=/\=

Location: USS PHOENIX
SD: 2.160321.0008
Scene: Sickbay, Foster’s Office

“Good morning Sunshine,” Cade Foster said way too cheerfully. Eve did a double take as she handed him some coffee.

“You’re scaring me a little,” The Counsellor said, a thin veil of fatigue dulling her amusement.

“How are you feeling?” He stared at her with icy blue eyes that seemed to diagnose her condition without a response, even though he had asked for one.

“Better, I guess.”

“Any lingering pain, nausea, imbalance?”

“No- Just tired.” She glanced down into her coffee, which normally would have been welcoming to her, and realizing she was lying a bit about the nausea.

“Why so serious?”

She looked up at him, her silvery eyes guarded. “Because I was given a job to do, and then there’s the threat of Kass busting my chops, or possibly my ass if I don’t complete it to the Captain’s satisfaction. Remember?”

“You and Kass are friends. Relax.”

Eve shot him a doubtful look. She had a good rapport with the older woman, but she wasn’t sure they were at the stage to start trading cookie recipes. “Friends don’t let friends disobey the Captain.”

Foster sat behind his desk and put his feet up. “You’re no fun,” he said petulantly.

“For fuck’s sake- Have I ever been?”

The CMO winked. “That’s my girl.”

Lieutenant Dalziel smiled ruefully. “So… do you have test results? Because I’m ready for some good news.”

Cade rubbed his hands together. “Then my dear lady, you might be in luck.”

“I had better be, otherwise I’m going to wipe that smile off of your face.”

“You’re decidedly cranky. Is it opposite day?”

“Cut the crap, Cade. What did you find?”

He handed her a PADD. “He’s one hundred percent pure Thomas Varn. From the twinkle in his toes to the tips of his glorious wings.”

She scanned the information. “So, Conniston didn’t sneak any special ingredients in there?”

“Not biologically anyway. But as you realize, this doesn’t explain his behavior.”

Eve shrugged. “It doesn’t exactly un-explain it either.”

Cade had a sobering look on his face. “I get it- He was still working though some issues before he was killed. This version of him is from the Limbo mission, not our trip through the Hyperion Expanse.”

“Then we’re not even back at square one- we’re behind square one.”

“Behind the eight ball. And trying to avoid a section eight. He’s all yours, kid.”

“Are you trying to be encouraging?”

“No. I’m trying to get you out of my office.”

“Thanks… a lot.” She placed the PADD on his desk, turned tail, and entered the Sickbay proper.


=/\=

Scene: Sickbay

Eve knew that most dismissed the job of Counsellor as pedestrian. There was no need or desire to try and change anyone’s mind; that left more for her to do. The mind, in all its iterations, was a fascinating thing. It was a place where one could go on a million journeys without moving a millimeter, and where one could die a thousand deaths without losing a breath. Each new insight was its own universe to her.

She approached the reborn man, surprised that he was awake. But at the moment his eyes stared blankly ahead, his face in a neutral expression. Breakfast had been brought to him, but he hadn’t eaten much of it.

A couple of Marines were standing sentinel over the recovering arrival. Massimo and Jager, who looked a bit like Mutt and Jeff, kept themselves at a discreet distance; they were close enough to provide support but far enough away to keep anyone from being claustrophobic.

“Thomas?” She stood at the foot of his bed, and her voice wavered involuntarily. He only emoted a placid nature, but she knew there was a great deal more to him than that.

His pupils slowly moved to where they were trained on the dark-haired Counsellor.

“It’s Eve, remember?”

He nodded, slack jawed. “Yes, I do.”

She pulled up a stool next to his bed, and sat down. “Do you know where you are?”

Eve’s question came to him through a fog of confusion. Of course he knew where he was; he just wasn’t sure he could believe *who* he was.“The PHOENIX. Sickbay, to be exact.”

“How do you feel?”

He looked down into his clenched hands. “I can’t answer that.”

“Why not?”

He shook his head listlessly. “Because I don’t know, okay? I don’t know what to think, I don’t know what to feel.”

“There aren’t any right answers,” she intoned compassionately. “You’ve been through a lot.”

“That’s an understatement.”

“I know this may be difficult for you, but I wanted to talk about what happened on the Annabelle’s Lament.”

“The pirate ship, right?”

“You could call it that.”

“I remember, I helped Barnes beam up from the planet’s surface. And then... I woke up here.”

She didn’t correct Varn on James Barton’s identity. There would be plenty of time for that. “You don’t recall anything in between?”

He shook his head. “No.”

A small flash appeared in Thomas mind as if it struggled to repair and replace the missing information it so craved and desired to find. For a moment, a fraction of a second it was as if a small storm front had moved upon his mind; but, quickly dissipated as fast as it appeared. His eyes seemed to become focused and soften as the realization set in that something happened that he, something drastic enough that he could not remember and warranted a visit from the new counselor aboard the ship.

“I did something did I?”

It was her turn to stare. A part of her wanted to simply tell him what he did and gauge his reaction to it. But the more she spoke to Varn, the more patchy and disconnected his memory seemed. It might be better for his psyche to do the extra work and remember the events on his own.

Eve did her best to appear unconcerned. “It’s not important. You lost consciousness during our escape from Lavenza II. It’s probably too soon to expect your memories to be intact.”

Varn’s brow was downturned in thought. Whatever happened must have been important for some reason. But all he could reach to was an unsettling emptiness. “I’m sorry.”

“You don’t need to apologize. I’m here to help you, not browbeat you.”

“I know. Well, I think I know.”

“Do you have any questions?”

“Why am I being guarded?”

Eve sighed gently. She didn’t want to alarm the man with the swiss cheese brain but she didn’t exactly want to lie, either. “You’ve been… disoriented at times since your arrival. It’s for protection.”

Thomas Varn examined the pale woman closely. Her words were stilted, and concerned. But it was impossible for him to decide where her concerns lay. And who was protecting who from who or what? It made him almost dizzy to try and comprehend. He wanted to ask her, but wasn’t up to facing the answer he might hear. Two Marines weren’t enough to protect him from the crew. But they were enough to protect the crew from him. Then, under the strain, his mind tangented. “Oh, I forgot. You’re Cardassian, right?” He said it like he had just found the prize in a box of Cracker Jack.

“Yes.”

“Why did you choose to pass yourself off as Human?”

Any other time these questions would be a relief, but somehow it just put her more on edge. “I identify as Human. I was raised in a mostly Human environment.”

“Your parents were Starfleet.”

“That’s right.”

“I’ve always thought of Starfleet as place where everyone was welcome.”

“Tell that to Admiral Edgerton.” Where was he going with this? “Besides, as an Intel officer, I was expected to be able to blend in under all types of conditions. To fly under the radar. To hide in plain sight.”

“More like just plain hiding. You should be proud of your diversity.”

Eve looked puzzled. This wasn’t a tack that Varn would normally take. “Are you saying you would now embrace your enhancements?”

“They were forced on me. Your natural genetics were not. Maybe you have a point, though.”

“You helped us escape. I’m not sure we would have otherwise.”

“Starfleet officers don’t give up,” he said quietly. “None of you would have, whether I had been there or not. I mean, I was, I was dead, and you still carried on.” He turned slightly away from her. Was this a second chance at life, or a machination only to cause extra torture and pain to a dead man? “I can’t talk any more… Eve.”

She stood up and touched his arm. “I understand, Thomas. Thank you for letting me.”

Varn chuckled, in spite of the circumstances. “I’m in a hospital bed under guard. It wasn’t much of a choice.”

Eve had the grace to look embarrassed. “I’ll see you again soon,” she offered, and he gave a look of agreement through a clouded expression.

It wasn’t until she stepped out into the corridor that Eve was able to take a deep breath, trying to shake off the creepiness. She still believed that life was sacred, however it came into being. She wanted to believe the life in that biobed was that of Thomas Varn. His responses, his demeanor didn’t exactly line up with the man they had known before. She closed her eyes and could see the two Jakes on the bridge of the LAMENT, the same man of two alternate universes. There were distinct similarities and appalling differences. No, this Thomas A. Varn was not the same man they had lost months ago. But exactly who was he?

=/\=

Time Index: One Hour Later
Scene: Sickbay

=/\=

There were lights, there were bright lights, there were five bright lights and this time they danced and shine as if they taunted him with their freedom. Thomas’ eyes fixated upon them, his thought and will focused on pursuing them to the depths of the secret rendezvous they would depart upon when there would only be one, two, or three. The lingering screams of his subconscious echoed through the sea of vague voices, controlled through the sedatives and suppressed to the point where he was there in body alone. There she goes, the fifth and brightest light seemed to vanish midair, where did she go, where did she steal away from this hazy existence.

“We are ready doctor.”

“Fine, fine just make sure to shoot the winged chicken here and don’t turn my lovely thighs extra crispy,” Cade's voice echoed as he pressed a hypospray to Thomas’ neck.

There were bright lights, there were four, no three, no one. The lights had gone and with a force of a tidal wave pushing its ways down busy populated streets Thomas Varn’s cognitive mind returned in full force. Blinking slightly he watched the ceiling as if something once had his attention and focus placed upon this spot. There was a release of his muscles as the force field holding his body into place dissipated allowing him to sit up right.

“How long?”

Cade slowly scanned his body and checked the readings that began to flood the screens. The reluctance to acknowledge the resurrected man was present, in almost everyone, yet they could not outright ignore him.

“How long? Cade, for the…”

“Don’t, you don’t get to do that.”

“Do what?”

“Act as if we have history.”

“Excuse me?”

“You look like him, talk like him, and act like him for the most part; but, you’re no duck.”

“Then what am I?”
The doors to sickbay opened as more guards made their way adding two security officers to the two marines that were now guarding Thomas, or guarding the crew from Thomas. The faces were new, in fact several of the medical staff and the two marines faces were new. The reality had begun to set in, that time had passed and the ship was staffed.

“This is overkill.”

“Don’t complain to me, birdman part deux. These are here to ensure that once you are in your quarters that these two don’t have to kill you because you tried something on the way there.”

“Quarters, I’m going to my quarters?”

“Quarters yes, your quarters yes, the same as that you had before you decided to up go from original recipe to extra crispy with a gooey center, yes.”

“Before I, Cade what, how did I, he, how did…”

“Cade, now is not the time for that,” Eve’s voice cried out as she made her way quickly to Thomas’ bedside. Foster stared at her with indignance. How had she found out?

“Eve, what did he mean?”

“Thomas, now isn’t the time.”

“He has to find out sooner or later.”

“Shut it Cade. Now Thomas let's get you to those quarters.”

=/\=

Scene: Thomas’ Quarters

=/\=

“Thank you all, please wait outside.”

“Counselor, we have…”

“Outside.” She wasn’t as bulky or brutish as the officers guarding Varn, but she gave them a look that clearly communicated she wasn’t taking ‘no’ for an answer. They silently filed out.

Thomas looked around at the room running his hand across the empty table and shelves before taking a deep breath. He had truly been removed from this ship, there wasn’t even anything of his left to be put into the quarters that he had been given until someone decide to do something with him.

“The replicator is over here and has…”

“Counselor, thank you, I believe I can take it from here.”

“Thomas.”

His smile was forced and held together with all the mental strength he can muster; but, his mind felt as if a storm, a perfect storm of emotion and logic had collided against his own identity and desperately called out for him to be alone.

“Please, leave…”

Eve nodded her head in reluctant defeat before turning to the door stopping inches from the corridor, “i’m always available should you wish to talk.”

Thomas nodded his eyes fixed upon the space where the door had once occupied as if waiting, anticipating its return. As she stepped through the doorway and the door closed Eve winced slightly as Thomas began to scream and pounding could be heard on the deck plating. Jerking slightly as the marines began to move her from the door frame she held her hand up stopping them.

“Don’t go in there, if you value your lives let him finish but do not go in there, that’s an order.”

The raw boned form of Lars Jager frowned in protest. “Lieutenant, we have strict orders to keep him contained and not a threat to anyone. Silsby told us those are Captain’s orders.”

Eve dropped her hand, clenching it into a fist. “Allowing him to grieve in the privacy of his quarters isn’t endangering anyone, except maybe himself. If he does something violent after leaving them, then do what you have to. If anyone has an issue with that, they can speak to me. Understood?”

“Yes Ma’am.” The Nordic man fell to his position, the other Marines flanking him around Thomas’ door.

Dalziel put her hands on her hips. “If you will excuse me I need to have a little talk with our good Doctor Foster.”

The room was not dark; but, there were no bright lights only the glow of the hull and slipstream. A ambient light flickered in the dark desperately trying to cling to life after being delivered a devastating blow from the breakdown Thomas had experience. It’s flash and flickers danced upon the corner upon the features of the man that remained. If it were possible, and depending on the engineer it was, the light feared for its existence as in the dark corner it’s flashes held a monster at bay. A white winged monster. The lights were gone, the lights were away, but Thomas was here to stay.

“Computer, replicate covering Varn alpha three…”


=====================================================================================

Justin K. Owens
Thomas Varn
Recently Resurrected

and

Susan Ledbetter
Lieutenant Eve Dalziel
Cns
USS PHOENIX