Elsewhere
─•~:~•─
Kayla opened her eyes, and the first thing she felt was a massive headache. Sometimes she got headaches, usually after hard tests with Miss Kailyex during history studies. When that happened, Miss Evelyn would bring her a glass of ice water and rub a spot on her neck, and the headache would go away.
But when Kayla looked around, she wasn't in the library, and she realized Miss Evelyn wouldn't be bringing her a glass of ice water either. She was in a room, somewhere, but not in her house at Palisade Manor. It might have been a hospital room somewhere. There were medical computers on her left, Synthco Systems MediScan Mk9 if she remembered Computer Studies, and bright white hospital lights above her.
Kayla sat up slowly and looked around the room some more. She was on a hospital bed, with white sheets and blankets. There were no windows, but there was a sliding holo-display that alternated between a picture of a green field, and white mountains like her house. On her right arm was an intravenous injection tube, taped down to the back of her right hand. Kayla hadn't gotten far enough in Medicine studies to know what she was getting in the IV tube, but she traced the tube back to a rack behind her bed and read the label on the pouch.
I don't know what ambiplasma infuser is, but the other part is saline. Saline is just sodium chloride and water, she thought to herself.
Very gently, Kayla lifted the medical tape and took out the needle of the iv tube from the back of her hand. It hurt a little coming out, but she was incredibly careful not to cry out.
She wasn't sure if the enemies who attacked her house were still around.
After replacing the white medical tape over the injection site, Kayla climbed off the bed and looked around the room. She found the magic cap sitting on top of a drawer. After quickly putting the cap back on, she went through each of the drawers but didn't find anything useful. Some medical supplies, bandages, needles, and other things, but no communicators or anything else useful. Miss Rain always taught Kayla to take a careful look around every new place that she went to, and to make a list of everything she saw in her head. Even if the medical stuff wasn't immediately helpful, it might come in use later.
After looking around, Kayla found the door. There was no panel on her side to open it but looking carefully along the frame she saw a redundant power junction in the corner about a meter away from the door. Legal Studies had taught her that Federation Building Codes required that doors—even doors that locked on the outside only—have a safety switch in a power junction. If she could open the panel, Kayla would be able to get the door open.
There wasn't an obvious access point visible, So Kayla had to feel her way around the wall. When she put her hand against the surface, Kayla was suddenly overwhelmed. Every sensation in her body screamed out at once, and even though she thought she should scream too, she didn't. In fact, Kayla felt calmer and more at peace than she ever had in her life. And for a reason she couldn't understand, she was feeling much smarter.
Kayla felt the pressure of the release switch through the metal, and with exactly three pounds of force, pushed it with the palm of her hand to open the access panel. Once the panel swung open to her left, she quickly stood and peaked at the row of isolinear chips inside the power junction. Sometimes during computer classes, Kayla had troubles remembering which chips did which function.
But this time – and she couldn't explain why – she had no problems. She pulled yellow thirteen and blue six out, and the door instantly slid open. Kayla turned and ran out the door, but again, something felt different.
She had to concentrate, but she could hear voices in the hall from further away than Kayla could usually hear things. She listened closely and heard two men speaking to each other.
You're sure this course will work correctly? I don't need to remind you what happened with the last subject, said the first voice.
Don't insult me like that, Gold. I've had fifteen years to refine the infusion process. Just look at this chart, the second voice said to Gold, while Kayla thought he might be handing over a PADD.
Whoa! Very impressive Doctor, Gold said.
I'm glad you think so. As you can see, the serotonin enhancements are off the chart with this subject. The white blood cell replacements are almost thirty times more effective than our previous series. The subject's muscle growth, adrenaline enhancements, cognitive recall functions, even her hair growth, are well past expectations even with the first infusions. And, thanks to our new telepath division, we'll have none of those pesky independent thought patterns to deal with this time, said the Doctor.
I'm sorry I ever doubted you. When can you start the second infusion series? Gold asked.
I'd like a few more hours to make sure there's no counter indications, and she'll need the rest. We can probably start again tomorrow. The Doctor replied, as the two men began walking away from where Kayla was.
Kayla suddenly grew scared. The IV tube in her arm was obviously doing something to her. She had to get out of here, and hopefully she would be somewhere Miss Rain could find her.
─•~:~•─
Palisade Manor
Mountain Home, Idaho
Earth
Mark sat impatiently in the co-pilots chair as the Raptor pilot meandered his way in a north-east direction from Fishie HQ to Rain's house on Earth. It should have been a straight shot trip, but the nervous, Rookie, pilot was taking his time.
"I know, for a fact, that this pile of shit goes a lot fucking faster than this," Mark growled at the pilot, "Put the fucking pedal down already, Private."
"B-but sir," The Pilot started stammering, "Earth t-traffic laws say we're only supposed to- "
Mark cut him off and yelled back, "Full. Fucking. Power. Or you're fired. Clear?!"
The Pilot slammed the accelerator as hard as he could, and Mark was satisfied that someone was, at last, following instructions.
Seconds later, The Raptor touched down in Rain's front yard, and Mark stood and walked to the rear door as he shouted out orders, "The only friendlies are a Vulcan teacher, a Governess with white hair, a border collie, and Rain's little girl. Fucking ventilate anything else you see."
"Aye Overlord!" the twelve bootnecks from "Five Tribe" shouted back.
The rear loading door of the Raptor slammed into the grass, and Mark quickly ran out of the back with his borrowed XR-118A Carbine up and at the ready. Behind him, Five Tribe had armoured up and quickly spread themselves out into appropriate covering positions around the property. The first obvious signs that something was wrong was that Rain's front door had been blown open by a det-pack.
The man serving as the designated marksman for the thirteen-man section called out, "Perimeter clear!," while the rest of the squad stacked up at the foyer to prepare for the dynamic entry.
After making sure that his section was ready, Mark pivoted and began a brisk walking advance into the house, his carbine up and ready to engage targets. Five Tribe spread out behind and beside Mark, expertly covering every possible angle of attack.
The first thing Mark saw was Kayla's History Teacher, Kailyex, lying on the floor with a Starfleet Mk.8 Phaser-Compression rifle next to her. One armoured bootneck quickly secured the weapon, while Mark ran a wrist-comm scan over her. His eyes figured she had been dead for a while – probably from the six exit wounds in her back – but he still needed to confirm it.
"VSA," Mark said quietly. Five Tribe spread out through the lower floor and cleared each of the rooms in turn.
Satisfied, Mark began walking up the stairs, and even though it was tactically unsound to do so, he called out reassure his niece, "Kayla! It's Uncle Mark! You okay squirt?!"
From Kayla's bedroom, Comrose the Border Collie ran out and began barking wildly at Mark, jumping, and yelping as though she was trying to get his attention. Mark tried to calm the excitable dog as best he could.
"Hey! Settle down Comrose, it's me," He said, holding his hand over her head.
Comrose jumped up, forced her nose into his paw, and rush of images and emotions hit Mark's mind like a punch to the face.
In just seconds, he experienced an hour's worth of memories through Kaielyx's eyes. He watched as though it was him moving through her body, feeling the familiar nature of holding a phaser-compression rifle in his hands, firing at a target, and using his senses (as hers) to seek targets.
He felt the blistering, searing pain in his own body as the six phaser bolts slammed into Kailyex, stabbing into both hers and his own body like white hot knives in his back. And as the Vulcan tutor died, Mark felt his strength fading, while a single word hit his mind like a shot to his brain.
Remember
He was suddenly snapped back to reality by the DM screaming in his face, "Sir?! Are you alright?!"
Mark struggled to shake the experience of a translated mind-meld from his brain as he stood up beside the now calm Comrose, "Fuck…. god fucking damnit, she was telling the fucking truth, the lying bitch…"
Mark braced himself against a wall as he continued to try to regain his composure, "Where's the assault element from Sandhurst?"
The DM looked at his wrist-comm, "Just crossing the Atlantic now. They'll be over Idaho in about ten minutes, but we still need a vector."
Mark closed his eyes again and concentrated. The final words Alesha had spoken to him competed in his mind with the meld from Kailyex, and with a great deal of effort he was able to provide an answer to the DM, "Taber. About an hour east of where I grew up. Let's get back on the Raptor, I'll vector us in by hand"
As the section left Kayla's house and piled back into the Raptor, the DM asked again, "Shouldn't we tell the Major about this, sir?"
Mark sighed back, "She's got enough problems right now"
