AN: Whooyeah, Chapter 2. Already. Go me!
Flames will be shot with a phaser until dead. ;)
Enjoy!
Chapter 2
"Until the end, Until this blood."
"You all right, Jolien?"
Jolien looked up and saw a concerned looking Lieutenant Wilson staring at her from behind the console in engineering where she was working at.
"Yeah...yeah, I'm fine." She replied, her voice seemed soft and distant even to her own ears. Wilson opened his mouth to say something, but on the same moment Johnson appeared from behind him.
"She's got a cold." She said and grinned at Jolien, who for some reason felt relieved when she said this. Wilson frowned and eyed Jolien suspiciously.
"A cold in the middle of space? You haven't gone sneaking down to the planet without me, have you?" He then smiled and nodded to Jolien.
"Get better soon." He said an turned around. Jolien nodded and returned her attention to her work. She didn't seem able to concentrate on anything longer than 10 seconds and her memories of last night were foggy. She noticed that Johnson was still standing beside her.
"I chased Wilson away for you, but you do look a lot paler than usual, Jo. Maybe you should go down to sickbay and have yourself examined?" She asked, Jolien turned to her, clearly irritated.
"No, I said I was fine! You sound like my mother!" She snapped and Johnson took a step back, a slightly hurt expression on her face. She stood there for a couple of seconds and then decided it was better to leave Jolien alone. So she turned and strode away. Shaking her head, Jolien didn't know why she had said that. Maybe it was better to go to sickbay and have herself examined. But for some reason or another she didn't want anybody to know anything about her, or what had happened last night.....What had happened last night?
While she was thinking she felt her headache return and decided it wouldn't be such a bad thing to ask Wilson if she could maybe take the day off and return to her quarters.
"12000 years ago? Your people have quite a history." Archer squinted his eyes against the sunlight as he looked up at the massive form of the giant building their 'tour guide' had lead them to. The aliens called themselves 'Lolanins' which meant something in one of their languages as 'diggers' ,Hoshi had told him. But he couldn't quite understand why they would call themselves diggers when they seemed to make a sport out of living as high as possible. How higher you lived, the more respect you got. Although, mister Terrindo had told them, it doesn't really matter as much in modern times as in the early days.
Terrindo nodded. "Yes, we are quite proud of our architecture." By now they had seen most of the city and the suns were high up in the sky. Archer felt a little hungry, and as if their guide had read his mind, Terrindo turned and nodded to the small group. "I think it's time to get our second meal, or as you people refer to it, I believe, Lonch?" The small man raised his voice a little at the end of the sentence and Trip grinned.
"Lunch." He said, and the small man's eyebrow twitched slightly. Trip still didn't know what exactly this gesture meant, but he wouldn't rest before he found out.
"Ah..My mistake." Terrindo said and looked down for a moment. Then he smiled brightly as he lead the small group towards a small restaurant ("The most gorgeous little cafe!" Hoshi would later have said) And they all sat down at one of the tables, close to the big round windows from which they could see the busy streets. Trip questioned the little guide about what exactly all the things on the menu were before he wanted to make his order, and Hoshi seemed to be fascinated by the big glowing fish-like creatures which slowly moved through the water behind them. They all winded up taking some kind of soup made of various vegetables which could be found here on the planet. Only Terrindo took a purple thing that vaguely looked like something you would maybe call a squid back on Earth. They all eyed it with distaste (Except for T'pol who carefully sipped her drink while she looked outside)
Jolien sat shivering on her bed in her quarters. Her hands clutched the blanket in which she had wrapped herself, and she feverishly looked around the room . She didn't feel good at all, her head was spinning and she didn't know how long she had been sitting here. She carefully got up and stumbled towards the comm. She hesitated a second before pressing the button.
Sal had just come off duty and had gone to her quarters to refresh herself a little before she would go to the mess hall. She was just about to leave when the comm. chirped and a soft voice came from the other side.
"He--Heras...t-to Lieutenant J-Johnson.."
Sal immediately whirled around and pressed the button.
"Is everything all right Jo?"
"Could you please come to my quarters, Sal, please?" This time she sounded little scared.
"Of course! I'm already on my way."
"T-thanks.."
Sal was already sprinting down the corridor and it wasn't long before she reached Jolien's quarters. When she entered the first thing she noticed was that the lights were dimmed. She ordered them on and immediately noticed a bundle of something laying on the ground.
"Jolien!" She kneeled down next to the figure and turned her around so she could see her face.. "Talk to me!......I'm calling sickbay." She reached out for the comm. but a hand shot out from underneath the blanket and stopped her.
"No, don't."
Sal studied her face and sat back down on the ground as Jolien slowly sat upright.
"I don't need a doctor."
"You don't look healthy...when was the last time you ate something?" Sal decided that she could maybe talk to her and convince her that she really did need a doctor. This time there was a strange flicker in Jolien's eyes.
"Aren't you hungry?" Johnson asked, and Jolien slowly nodded.
"Well I could bring you something from the mess hall..."
"You don't have to go." Jolien said and leaned forward. "There's no need.." Their eyes locked and for the first time Sal saw the strange glint, but too late.
Thanks for reading and reviews are always more than welcome! (They make my day)
