From: Shawn _ (alamo_nate_at_yahoo.com)
Date: Wed Sep 03 2008 - 00:10:59 PDT
=Brainstorm=
(cont'd from "Pretty Lights")
LOCATION: Crichton's Mind
SCENE: Abyss
STARDATE: [2.8]0902.1124
His mind was burning up, an inferno of images that he couldn't understand, flashes of sensory information that he experienced, and yet he knew they were not *his* memories, that something was being done to him. Of course, he was only dimly aware of *himself* at all... the man he was seemed like a vague impression, a fading memory that he clung to desperately because it seemed important to do so (though he already couldn't remember why).
And then there were the voices.
Thousands... *millions* of them, shouting at him, in a language that he had never heard before but somehow recognized, like each phrases' meaning was on the tip of his tongue but he could never quite remember what it meant. And the voices, it seemed, could *sense* his lack of understanding, and it angered them. They grew louder, more frustrated, ready to tear his mind apart to make him understand.
He screamed, or tried to. But he found he couldn't remember how.
And the voices only grew louder...
-------------------------------------------
LOCATION: GATEWAY Station
SCENE: Sickbay
"If his heart rate gets much higher, he's going to go into cardiac arrest," Grace Poe said. She turned, snatched a hypospray off the nearby table, and pressed it to Jacob Crichton's arm as he lay convulsing on a bio-bed. The instrument made the requisite "hiss!", and Crichton's convulsions slowed, then stopped. Grace waved her medical tricorder over the unconscious engineer's body, and frowned.
"His heart rate is still incredibly elevated, even with the sedatives," she said. "You said you just found him this way?"
"That's right," Thomas Varn nodded. "I left him alone with the samples when I came here to consult with you. When I came back, he was on the floor, unconscious. And his eyes were-"
Grace nodded. His eyes were closed, but she had checked them earlier- Crichton's eyes were glowing bright green. She had no idea what it meant- it didn't sound like any symptom she'd ever heard of.
"What could it be, doctor?" Commander MacNeil asked. "Some kind of virus?"
"Not one that shows up on any of the tests I've run," Grace sighed. "I think we should consider the possibility that those samples did this to him."
"They were still under the forcefield when I found him," Varn scowled. "If they affected him even with the defenses in place, then the entire station could be in danger."
"We need to get them off the station," Grace said. "We need to beam them back to the Dominion ship, or out into space, or just vaporize them."
"We have no idea what triggered them," Varn said. "Exposing them to any type of energy might trigger a reaction powerful enough to affect all of GATEWAY. So far, they've only affected Crichton, and he was in close proximity at the time."
"What's your recommendation, lieutenant?" MacNeil asked.
"I say we leave them where they are," Varn said. "If I can examine them further, it's possible I can find a way to reverse their effect on Crichton."
"Alright," Kate nodded. "Do it. And be careful- I don't want you to end up on a bio-bed right next to him. Did any of the escapees have any information about the language on the tablets?"
"The Ferengi," Varn nodded. "I haven't had a chance to speak with him yet."
"I'll have him sent to the lab," MacNeil said. Varn nodded and strode quickly out.
Kate turned to Grace.
"Watch him, Grace," she said. "If his condition worsens, notify me."
"I will," Grace nodded. "I want you to know, I've requested a consult."
Kate raised an eyebrow. "Who?"
"Cade Foster."
"Isn't he on BAJOR with Daisy?" Kate asked.
"He is," Grace nodded. "He also happens to be here on the station."
"His double," Kate realized. "Good. Maybe the two of you can figure out some way to snap him out of his this."
"My ears are burning," came a voice from the door. Kate and Grace both turned, to see the familiar face of Cade Foster looking in on them. He gave them both a polite smile, then his eyes focused on Crichton lying unconscious on the biobed and gave a slight frown.
"Darn," he said. "When I heard Jake Crichton was dying, I was hoping you meant the one with the eyepatch."
---------------------------------------------------------
SCENE: CO's Ready Room
TIME INDEX: 20 minutes later
Melin was escorted into the room at phaserpoint, his wrists bound together in front of him, but he still managed to smile at Kate in a way that suggested they had bumped into each other while taking a walk in the arboretum.
"Commander," the Vorta said. "A pleasure to see you, even if it must be under these circumstances."
"I take it that means you've heard what's happened to our Chief Engineer," Kate said.
"I have," Melin said, his expression sorrowful. "And I'm afraid I must disappoint you. I don't know anything about it."
"Really?" Kate asked, raising an eyebrow. "Right now, the evidence suggests that the devices you brought with you are responsible for his current condition. And you say you don't know anything about it?"
"I'm afraid not," Melin shook his head. "But then, I am not an archaeologist. Understand that I didn't have an abundance of time when I made the decision to flee. Those artifacts were the only ones I could gain access to. You understand."
"*You* understand something, Melin," Kate said, her tone angry. "If I find any indication that you or the Dominion were responsible for this, I promise that you *will* pay for it."
She turned away from him now and started for the chair behind the CO's desk.
"Take him to the brig," she ordered without looking back at him.
=================================================================
Shawn Putnam
a.k.a.
Jacob Crichton, Lieutenant
Chief of Engineering
GATEWAY Station, GS-2
From HyperNews_at_youth.net
This archive was generated by hypermail 2.1.5 : Wed Nov 19 2008 - 03:10:57 PST