Chapter 11
He avoided her the whole day – or was she avoiding him?
She poured her heart out to Willy while drinking replicated Whiskey (for a week's replicator ration) and started to cry while he tried to make heads and tails of her story. He knew of nobody who had ever had something with a Vulcan, he seemed to be shocked and fascinated by it.
When she awoke with a hangover the next morning she didn't fully remember how many details she had told him and was partly glad about that.
But this day the project ended and she changed to work in astrometrics again. Working for Seven – 'The Borg Queen of Efficiency', what was how her staff called her secretly, was at least a good distraction and she didn't encounter Vorik daily like in engineering, so no awkward moments and politely dancing around each other on tiptoes.
When Neelix proposed that he'll prepare a party for the Bajoran Gratitude festival, her mood improved slightly.
It was weird though, she still had the feeling that this strange telepathic connection hasn't been severed completely. When she had to shortly go to engineering to discuss some data with Torres she felt like she could sense his presence a few stations next to her, but maybe she was just imagining things when she saw him standing there...
When she walked by sickbay after her shift she paused - and then entered.
'Ah, Ensign, what's the nature of the medical emergency?' the doctor chimed in a good mood.
'No emergency, doctor, I...' she paused 'was just wondering if you could scan my brain.'
'Do you experience any dizziness or pain, Ensign?'
'No, actually,' she mumbled, 'I just wanted to make sure everything is okay.'
The doctor raised his eyebrows.
'Is there any reason for concern?' he asked while scanning her with a tricorder. 'Hmm...' he continued, 'there are some unusual activities in your limbic system and some cortical regions...please lie down, I'll conduct a full scan.'
The head scanning unit closed over her as she was lying on the medical bed and the doctor continued with more 'hmms'.
'Did you have any telepathic contact with a member of a telepathic species in the last couple of hours?' he asked.
'Yes, Vulcan' she said flat out.
'I see.' the doctor answered.
'When did the contact occur exactly?' he asked.
'Four days ago' she answered.
'Four days ago?' the doctor replied alarmed.
'Yes, what's wrong, doctor?' she asked.
'Ensign' the doctor replied, 'in most cases there's a similar kind of brain activity in a non-telepathic species right after a Vulcan mind meld, but it usually disappears during maximal two or three hours afterwards. Your readings would be unusually high for right after a mind meld, but you're telling me the telepathic contact occurred four days ago.'
She looked puzzled.
'Who did the mind meld and what did you try to accomplish?' he asked - then something seemed to dawn to him, 'has it been Vorik?'
She nodded.
'That explains it,' he replied.
'Why, is something wrong with Vorik?' she asked.
'No, but my guess is that he didn't do the kind of mind meld I have in my medical data base.' the doctor said in a tone that indicated that Celes made a very interesting patient today.
She looked at him puzzled.
'I didn't know there are different types of mind melds. Why don't you have them all on file?' she asked.
'Because Vulcans are very private about some of their practices.' he answered looking her directly in the eye, 'can you please describe the mind meld for me, Ensign?'
'He first put the fingertips of his right hand on the left side of my face, but then he quickly changed position and had both of his hands under my chin' she answered, trying to keep her tone as neutral as possible.
'Hmm...' he said, 'Ensign, there isn't much I can do about it for now, but I'd like you to wear a cortical monitor for 24 hours, then we'll see how this develops. If you experience any dizziness or headache I can give you something.' He placed a cortical monitor below her left ear.
'Um, doctor' she said, 'I don't have any pain or dizziness, but I have the feeling that this mind meld is still somewhat there, that there's still some telepathic connection between Vorik and me.'
'How does that feeling manifests itself, Ensign?' he asked.
'It's hard to explain, but when I'm in his vicinity I feel his presence sort of and I feel like I could read his mind.' she said.
'That's interesting, how does the feeling to read his mind express itself?' he asked.
'Well, I feel feelings which aren't mine, but his' she tries to explain, 'but then I'm not sure if I really did or just imagined it.'
'That would explain these readings,' the doctor concluded, 'there is probably still a telepathic connection between you. Must have been a hell of a mind meld' he added smirking.
But Celes didn't seem to find that funny, 'is there any way to break that connection?'
He considered her seriously 'not that I know of, Ensign, but we should observe this for a while before looking for any medical options of intervention'. He paused, 'Ensign, did this happen against your will?' he asked concerned.
'No,' she answered shaking her head, 'but things haven't worked out...and I didn't know that there would be this kind of lasting effect...'
He sighed, 'which is why you should get permission from your medical officer before assuming intimate relations with a member of another species' he replied stressing every word.
She pursed her lips.
'Ensign' he said exasperated, 'I'm no counselor, but have you tried to talk to Vorik about this?'
She sighed. 'How do you talk to a Vulcan about your feelings?'
'Well,' he answered, 'you may have a point. As I said, I'm no counselor. - And quite glad about that I might add...'
'Thank you, doctor' she said before he could babble on further, 'I'll see you again tomorrow.
