Narcosis: Chapter 5
By Piper
See Chapter 1 for disclaimer and other story notes.
~*~
In med-bay, Hoshi and Malcolm were having a deep, meaningful conversation. Or rather she was conversing and he was nodding a lot, acting polite but clearly distracted. Drawing the man into conversation was not turning out to be easy.
Captain Archer had asked her to keep Malcolm company, at least while Trip was hunting down West and Thomas. She had been advised against bringing up any violent topics or the incident on the bridge, and was basically trying to make small talk. At some point she had brought up Commander Tucker, and then gone from there to the mating habits of Xyrillians.
As long as Malcolm was calm and semi-responsive she was sticking with what worked. Because truthfully, his attack on the Captain had frightened her and she was still apprehensive now. She certainly didn't want to provoke a repeat performance.
She was about to run out of Xyrillian facts when the call came through. Dr. Phlox was needed immediately in engineering. Hoshi didn't know exactly what was going on, but she had a feeling that it involved one of the ensigns who had been with Malcolm.
Dr. Phlox, who somehow never seemed rattled by anything, calmly but briskly made for the doorway. He turned to her before he left. "Ensign, remember that the guards are right outside if you need them. I'll be back shortly."
Then he was gone. Hoshi looked from the empty doorway back to Malcolm. He was watching her, looking at her for more than a few seconds for the first time since she'd entered med-bay. She gave him a nervous smile. "So…what do you think that's all about?"
"Probably just a paper cut," he shrugged as if he couldn't care less. A moment later he added, "Or maybe someone died."
Whoa. The smile froze on her face, but her eyes went wide. "Uh…well, I'm sure it's nothing that serious," she finally stammered.
"I wouldn't be so sure," he stated simply.
Okay, she was definitely getting uncomfortable here. Thinking it better to be safe than sorry, she decided to get the guards. As she changed the subject, she stood as nonchalantly as possible and started to edge towards the door. "So, how do you feel about the Klingons?"
It was the first thing that came to her, but it may have been the wrong subject choice. "I think their war-mentality is a very healthy outlook on life," he replied, a definite cold tone in his voice.
Suddenly he stood and crossed the short distance between them, grabbing her wrist in a vice-like grip. She flinched. Her heart trip-hammered as she looked into his face, suddenly only a few inches from her own. The man in front of her was hardly one she recognized as her friend and fellow officer.
"Where are you going?" came the icy voice.
"Nowhere," she stammered. When he said nothing and didn't ease his grip, she gathered her courage and opened her mouth to scream for the guards. She never got that far.
A hand clamped across her mouth and she was hauled roughly back to the middle of the room. As she tried uselessly to fight he reached to a nearby supply cart. She was about to bite his hand when she felt the unmistakable prick of a needle in her arm.
Ensign Hoshi Sato fell to the floor, unconscious.
~*~
Eric West was also still unconscious, but at least he was taking breaths on his own again. Phlox had arrived a few minutes earlier and was coordinating the rescue effort with a two-man medical team. Captain Archer came running in a few minutes after the doctor as Trip was pulling Eli away from his brother's side.
Jonathan took in the scene and then made for Commander Tucker. He noticed that Trip kept a hand on Eli; it was quite possibly the only thing holding the ensign up. "Trip," he called as he got close, "What happened here?"
Trip seemed a little out of sorts, taking a long moment to respond. "Eric decided to do a repeat of Malcolm's performance, only on a grander scale."
The Captain took note of the guards, the distressed crewman, and the unconscious ensign. The ensign's brother and the chief engineer didn't look all that great either. "He threatened someone?"
"He took a hostage, sir. We had to take him down," one of the nearby guards offered.
"Take him down?" he repeated, wanting clarification. "You just stunned him, right?"
"Yeah," Trip took the conversation back. "But then he had a seizure and…we had to do CPR."
Jonathan mentally filled in the words he'd avoided. Eric had stopped breathing; his heart had stopped. He'd clinically died right there on the floor. Archer tried to work through this new addition to the nightmare in his head as he turned to Phlox. "Will he be all right?"
"I really can't tell you yet, Captain. I need to get him to med-bay."
The Captain nodded. "Go." Then he turned back to Trip. "What about Ensign Thomas?"
He shook his head. "I haven't even looked for her yet, Cap'n."
"Alright." He turned his attention to Eli, who was quite possibly in shock beside Trip. "West." He waited until Eli focused on him. "You can go with your brother, but stay out of the doctor's way. Understood?"
Eli nodded. Archer motioned to one of the guards, asking him to be sure that Eli got to med-bay and was looked after. As they walked off, he turned back to Trip. He needed to get his slightly rattled friend out of this scene and give him something to occupy him. He'd stick with him, just in case. No telling what they would have to deal with when they found Chelsea.
"Let's go find Ensign Thomas."
~*~
Ensign Cutler had joined Phlox and the med-team on their way to med-bay. After a quiet request from the doctor she had taken Eli from the guard and was discreetly performing her own medical check. As they trailed behind the stretcher holding his brother, she prompted him to talk and gauged his own mental state and proximity to shock.
After a few minutes she decided that he was upset—and understandably so—but that he was okay physically. It was at about that point as they were nearing med-bay that the entire procession suddenly stopped.
"What's going on?" she asked, trying to see around the others.
No one took the time to answer her, but she found out soon enough. The two security officers who had been assigned to guard Lt. Reed were unconscious on the floor.
The guard who was accompanying them drew his weapon and stepped cautiously through what she could now see were open doors. The rest of them waited in the hallway. Cutler bent to check the nearest guard. "He's okay; he's just been stunned," she announced a moment later.
The guard inside called out shortly, "It's clear. But you've got another patient in here."
As Phlox ordered the others to bring Eric in, Cutler went ahead. She wasn't all that surprised that the patient wasn't Reed; he was conspicuously absent. She rushed to Hoshi's side, immediately checking for a pulse. It was slow, but steady. "She's alive."
Dr. Phlox nodded, relief in his eyes. "Take care of her, Ensign. Someone see to the officers outside, please," he requested as he turned his attention back to his most critical patient.
Eli was standing in the middle of the room, looking lost. "West," Cutler called. "Come and help me with Ensign Sato." He snapped out of his trance and did as she asked.
The two of them had just managed to get her up to a bed when Sub Commander T'Pol entered. She glanced around, then went over to the doctor. "What happened here? And where is Lt. Reed?"
~*~
They didn't really expect to find Thomas in her quarters, but it was the logical place to start.
The Captain knocked. "Ensign, it's Captain Archer. Open up, please."
No response.
He tried one more time, then nodded to the security officer beside him. "Open it."
It took a few minutes. Jonathan used that time to study Trip. He could see the day's events taking their toll. "You holding up okay?" he asked.
"I'm peachy, Cap'n," he responded quietly.
Jon knew it was a lie; at the very least the man was exhausted, but the answer was so typically Trip that he couldn't help but smile. "When this is all over, I'll give you some real time off," he promised.
"Can I sleep late?"
He chuckled. "As late as you want, Trip." That earned him a grin from his friend. But both of their expressions turned serious again as the officer managed to get the door open. "Give me your weapon," he instructed. The younger man did as he was told, allowing his Captain to enter the room first.
Jonathan cautiously went forward. He scanned the room quickly, eyes quickly coming to rest on the scene on the floor.
At first all that he saw was that the mirror was broken, glass shards were everywhere, and Ensign Thomas was lying in the middle of it. She looked to be unconscious. It wasn't until he was beside her on his knees a few seconds later that he realized the full extent of the damage.
Her wrists were slit.
Pools of blood surrounded her lower arms; her face was ghostly pale from the lack of blood in her body. Her eyes were open, unseeing. Archer swallowed hard, pushing back his forming nausea at the sight. He reached to take a pulse, but he knew long before he touched her that there wouldn't be one. She was dead.
Behind him, he heard a gagging sound. He turned, having momentarily forgotten that he wasn't alone. The security officer was checking the rest of the room, but he had turned a few shades paler. Meanwhile Trip had apparently had his fill of horrible sights for the day. He had slapped a hand over his mouth and turned away, heading blindly for the trash can on the other side of the room.
Jonathan winced in sympathy. He turned back to Chelsea, studying her for a moment. This was the daughter of a Starfleet officer he truly respected—someone who was also a friend. He reached out with a slightly trembling hand to close her eyes, then bowed his head.
Then he pushed himself to his feet. There was little he could do for her now. "Ensign, secure the hallway please," he addressed the security officer. Then he headed over to Trip, who he could help. His chief engineer was crouched over the basket, but he wasn't actually throwing up. It was just dry heaves intermixed with quick, shallow breaths.
The Captain knelt beside his friend and began to rub his back softly. "Easy, Trip. Take some deep breaths for me."
Trip obeyed the gentle command. After a few moments he was able to sit up straight and make eye contact. "Sorry. I'm okay," he said weakly, but his pale complexion and trembling voice betrayed his words.
"Don't apologize." He would have said more, probably something about understanding how hard Trip had fought to save Eric and that the shock of finding Chelsea dead so shortly after would have thrown anyone off balance. But they were interrupted before he got the chance.
"Captain," came T'Pol's voice through the intercom.
Archer cast a last glance at Trip and squeezed his shoulder before getting up and crossing to the door. "Yes?"
"We have another problem. Lieutenant Reed is missing."
He stared at the intercom in disbelief. "Missing?! How exactly did that happen?"
"He attacked Ensign Sato and the guards and disappeared from the medical bay."
Jonathan took a deep breath, scrubbing a hand over his face. This day just kept getting worse and worse. "Any serious injuries?"
There was a hesitation, then, "I believe they will all recover. Did you find Ensign Thomas?"
He looked back to the gruesome scene, then said succinctly; "Thomas is dead. We need to find Malcolm, and we need to find him now."
~*~
To Be Continued