Time Trek, Chapter 11

Sarnel and Keenan had been released from sickbay early the following morning. Sarnel had recovered quickly from Riley's phaser stun, but M'Benga was a little concerned that the young man was approaching his first Pon Farr, so he gave him a shot to slow it down. Masters, who had returned to sickbay to check on Astrid, cheerfully escorted them back to their guest quarters.

Sarnel had requested Rihan's dagger, explaining to Masters who translated his words that if he had it in his possession, there would be less danger from her. What he didn't tell them was that he was fed up with the way the remaining criminals had treated these good people. The humans had saved all of their lives, and he felt that someone who saved another's life deserved better treatment. Sarnel sorely hoped that his newfound friends were not telepathic. He had a hunch they weren't, but there was a good chance that the one named Spock could pick up on his true feelings about his ex bond-mate. Sarnel also felt it was illogical for Rihan to continue to exist. She was clearly insane, and the only way to stop her from hurting any more people was to put her out of her misery.

***

McCoy was astonished and a little concerned about M'Benga's state of mind that morning. It was apparent that the doctor had stayed up all night tending to Rihan. The Romulan woman, even when unconscious, looked foreboding and menacing. When asked why he was working so hard to save her, M'Benga explained that perhaps if they all continued to be kind to her and her people, then maybe they would start to be a little nicer to them. McCoy thought that his attitude was laudible, but his reasoning was reckless. The chief medical officer watched him as he lifted her eyelids. The alien woman was stirring. Suddenly, M'Benga smiled wickedly, rolled up his sleeves, and glanced back at McCoy.

"This is revenge, sir!"

With that, he slapped the woman hard across the face. McCoy couldn't believe his eyes. Another slap, this time so hard Bones could see green finger marks on her now angry face. Without warning, her eyes snapped open and her hands flew to the doctor's throat. She squeezed and was satisfied with his reaction. M'Benga gasped and flailed, unable to breathe. McCoy, seeing that the Romulan was damaging his esophagus, attempted to free him from her vice-like grasp without success. Rihan was standing now. M'Benga lost consciousness and slumped to the floor. McCoy, recovering, grabbed a nearby hypo, unsure and uncaring of its contents, and tried to press it into her arm. She effortlessly knocked it out of his hand and shoved him head first into a bulkhead. She quickly exited sickbay.

McCoy regained his senses a few minutes later and Chapel helped him to his feet.

"Christine, inform the captain that Rihan is at large again, and then go to the dispensary and fill that hypo on the floor with sedatives for the more high-strung patients. The last thing we need around here is a coronary."

"Understood, sir." Chapel responded dutifully, quickly heading towards the nearest wall intercom. She thought Bones looked pretty haggard. It was no small wonder. All these deaths and injuries had kept this whole department hopping during the last day or so. As the intruder alert alarm sounded, she heard the captain's authoritative voice informing the rest of the crew about Rihan's escape.

***

Astrid heard the alert, but no long felt it necessary to needlessly put herself in danger. She stayed put in her quarters, now frightened and tense. This was no longer fun anymore. She began to pace. It was then that she saw something made of stone, partially hidden under her bed. Pausing, she knelt and touched it. Her eyes widened with recognition and her emotions ranged from wonder to astonishment. It was the thought projector! Masters must have hidden it under there when Astrid was recovering from the knife wound. Gingerly and reverently, the Trekker slid it out and picked it up in disbelief. What now? How was she going to keep the Romulan woman from guessing its location? Keenan knew that Vulcanians were very perceptive, and were able to pick up on strong emotions like fear. Astrid had to keep it away from the Romulans, so, in the future, Captain Picard would be locating pieces of it among many different star systems. Carefully, Astrid put it back where she found it, of course, placing it out of sight. She just hoped that Rihan wouldn't pick up on her vibes.

***

Christine Chapel froze as she observed Rihan heading away from her, moving like a panther on the prowl. She had just exited the dispensary with a filled hypo of sedatives. Realizing in a moment that she had not been seen, the nurse decided to follow the alien, setting the hypo in her hand for a Vulcan dose. Chapel shadowed her for a time, trying her best to keep out of sight. At last, she was close enough to get in a good shot.

Rihan spun and glared at her balefully. Horrified, Chapel froze again. Rihan took one look at the instrument in her hand and knew what the nurse was planning to do. She lunged towards the terrified human woman and grabbed her wrist, squeezing until she heard the sounds of bones shattering. Chapel yelped in pain and sank to her knees. The hypo clattered to the deck and was now directly between them. She made a grab for it with her uninjured hand, but Rihan was quicker. The last thing Christine heard was the hiss as the hypo discharged….

***

Rihan sensed that the thought device was nearby, picking up on Keenan's fear. However, she chose the wrong quarters, bursting in on a very startled Finney instead. Jame started but kept her wits about her. She backed up to her desk and switched on the intercom to the bridge.

"Captain! Help! Rihan is—!"

The Romulan woman, without a word, grasped the sides of her head roughly and began a forced meld. The pain was excruciating, and Finney screamed in agony. She felt her thoughts merging with the alien's. Rihan wanted to know where something was. Images of the thought device appeared in her mind's eye. She tried to tell the Romulan that she didn't know where it was, which was the truth, but the woman didn't believe her. She probed deeper, and Jame could feel her consciousness ebbing. There was another sharp pain and everything went black.

Sarnel heard the scream and dashed into Finney's quarters, brandishing the dagger. He gasped when he saw what Rihan was doing, and then plunged the weapon into her side, piercing her heart. Rihan pivoted in astonishment, gasped his name, and then dropped dead.

Sarnel heard running footsteps as he withdrew the blood-stained dagger from Rihan's body.

McCoy knelt and took her pulse.

"She's dead, Jim."

"What about Jame?" Kirk asked anxiously. McCoy went to her and took some tricorder readings. For a moment, he was silent. "Bones?"

"I'm sorry, Jim." Leonard said softly. "There's nothing I can do."

***

Astrid heard the scream and her blood ran cold. Terrified now, she hid behind her bed, shaking. Suddenly, she felt a tremendous sense of guilt. Was she the cause of whatever had happened to Finney? Would Rihan come and kill her? She was curious as to what happened, but could not bring herself out of her hiding place. Fear overrode everything.

McCoy quietly instructed the orderlies to take the corpses to the morgue. One of them explained that there was only room for one more, and that he would place Finney on an empty bed nearest the morgue. McCoy thought that was just fine, but told them to put a sheet over her to indicate that she was dead.

Spock was not so sure of Finney's demise. Sarnel wasn't, either. However, since they did not know human physiology too well, they decided to keep silent. It was fortuitous that Finney would not be placed with the corpses, if, indeed, she did come back to life. Spock then thought of Keenan, excused himself, and pushed her door buzzer.

Astrid jumped, and peeked over the bed at the door. The buzzer sounded again.

"Miss Keenan, are you uninjured?" Came Spock's query.

Sighing with relief, she stood and brushed herself off.

"Yes, Mr. Spock." She answered.

"May I enter? There is still a chance that a Romulan may have escaped through the air duct in the brig."

"Of course, sir!"

As he entered, she was tempted to give him a big Neelix hug, but restrained herself. She was more curious as to what happened. Spock sensed her concerns and answered them.

"It appears that Rihan killed Miss Finney. Do not fear, however. Sarnel killed her. I will take you to sickbay. It is—"

"The safest part of the ship." She finished for him.

"Precisely." He paused and studied her expression for a moment. It was one of puzzlement. "Is there something on your mind, Miss Keenan?"

"Yes, sir. A couple of things, in fact. Did I alert Rihan that the thought device was hidden in here?"

Spock raised an eyebrow.

"What is it doing in here?"

"I think Masters hid it while I was in sickbay."

"Interesting. What is the other thing on your mind?"

"First, please answer my question."

"I do not believe that your apprehension had anything to do with the attack and murder of Miss Finney."

"Spock, I can't believe she's dead! In fact, I don't think she should even be in this adventure. She was only in one epi—sir! How long ago was it that Captain Kirk was accused of murdering her father?"

"That was three years ago. Why?"

"I think the Guardian must have screwed up this timeline when it did itself in with my car. In the television series, it was only a matter of months. There is another reason why I don't think Finney is dead. The Vulcan—"

"Death Grip." Spock finished with an amazed look on his face. "Technically, there is no such thing as a Vulcan Death Grip." He added.

"I know. It is rather imprecise to call it that, since the victim is only 'dead' for a short time. I'm curious, sir. How long does one of those things last?"

"It varies with the individual. Anywhere from fifteen minutes to a half an hour."

"We'd better tell McCoy when we get to sickbay!"

"We shall."

***

Scott and Riley joyfully beamed the remaining Romulans out of the brig and down to Romulus. It was a fine piece of transporter work, and they were both very happy to get rid of the aliens. They were now off-duty, so they decided to head for sickbay to finally see how Rand was doing. Young Chekov had been released an hour before Rihan's demise, and was now at his new post on the bridge. On their way there, they discovered poor Chapel, still unconscious from the large dose of sedatives.

"Is she dead too?" Riley asked as Scott knelt to check her pulse.

"No, lad. Just unconscious. Let's get her in sickbay. Her heart rate is very low."

McCoy finally had a moment's respite from all the injuries and deaths. M'Benga was still unconscious, and lay on the same bed as the one that Rihan had been on. He was going to recover. His esophagus had been injured when the Romulan woman tried to choke him. Bones gasped and then sighed as Chapel was brought in.

"I was wondering where she went. What happened to her?"

"I don't know, Doctor. We found her near the dispensary."

"We found this beside her." Riley said, holding out the empty hypo.

"Oh, great! She tried to be a hero! Fine thing. I ask her to do one simple thing….Place her on the bed over there, Scotty."

***

Janice came out of a light slumber, feeling much better. She was still dizzy and her head still ached a little, but the rest she had received helped a great deal. She was delighted to see Scotty and Riley standing at her bedside.

"Hello, Sleeping Beauty." Riley greeted jokingly.

Janice grinned, and then grimaced with pain. She imagined that she looked a mess, but it was nice of him to say that. She looked around the room for a short time, but had to lay back down again when the room started to spin.

"Flattery will get you everywhere, sir."

Everything was quiet and serene around them; just the way McCoy planned it. She knew that he was probably extremely busy. Suddenly, she frowned with puzzlement. "Scotty, what is wrong with that overhead panel over there? That patient is dead, isn't she?"

Scott and Riley followed her gaze. Kevin saw movement. The body was covered with a sheet, but he and Scott both saw the chest rise and fall.

"Could the lass be alive?" Scott wondered aloud. The two men raced to the bed. Riley put an ear to Finney's chest.

"She is!" Riley crowed. "McCoy!!"

At that moment, Spock and Keenan walked through the door. They heard Riley in the next room. McCoy did too, and quickly followed them in.

"She's alive, sir!" Scotty said, amazed.

"I knew it!" Keenan cheered.

McCoy did a quick examination and couldn't believe the readouts. What he found was that there was no brain damage from lack of oxygen. However, Finney was not regaining consciousness.

"Why isn't she waking up?" McCoy wondered aloud.

"Try a physio-stimulator." Astrid suggested brightly.

McCoy did just that. Finney opened her eyes and gasped for air.

"What…happened to me?" She asked hoarsely.

"That will take some time to explain." McCoy answered, looking at Spock and their twenty-first century guest questioningly.