Dot's Diner
Sabaqwa's face was intently watching everything he did with the intensity of a brilliant scientist about to mix the final chemical of an all important, life changing elixir. Little did he know that this would indeed be a matter of a life changing experience. Just not in the way he had intended.
There had been so many requests in the last few months for variations on the famous potentially explosive drink he'd learned to make, that he'd decided to finally do just that. And late in the night, well after Dot's Diner was empty, seemed the perfect time to delve into the complexities of mixing, when his nerves were calm and nothing was going on to distract him.
"There!" he whispered, his tounge caught on the side of his tooth and his eyes squinted, looking levelly into the flask with a triumphant glare, as the last drop of Venillian thormaothelienoxidoline dripped into the flask.
From two decks up and down and in all directions, the Pretoria felt and heard a low thudding 'boom!'.
The Bridge
The boom lit up lights all over the OPS and navigation stations. Reports were popping up on several boards all at once, several departments reporting both minor power losses and requesting information on the seeming explosion.
"Report!" Snapped Commander Khetrha, her eyes wide and her teeth bared, expecting the worst.
The two ensigns began tapping in tracking, analysis and confirmation codes as fast as their fingers could fly. At last, they looked at each other with a wide eyed expression of wonderment.
"Report immediately." Khetrha growled deeply, not even close to being patient enough for the two ensigns to gaze at each other in amazement.
"Commander, there's been a minor explosion in Dot's Diner." said one ensign with an audible gulp.
"Damage report." Commander Khetrha drolled slowly and consideringly.
"No damage Sir, the explosion seems to be localised to the diner itself. No structural loss, no casualties, no injuries. Dot's Diner seems to be without power, and some small power outages around the diner that have recovered full power now."
Commander Khetrha cocked her head sideways and looked at the two in wonderment, then stooped over to tap some things into the console nearest to her. She stood up straight and rumbled in a deep, dark growling tone.
"Ensign, come with me, Jacobsen, you have the con."
The ensign looked slightly frightened as he stood up, the draconic Commander intimidated him enough any day of the week. Now he had to figure out how the two of them were going to fit together in a tight little turbolift without his stepping on her tail, or in any other way angering the already unhappy Mahri Commander.
back at Dot's Diner
Sabaqwa could not see, his face, fur and entire body was frizzled and soot covered, most of his fur singed away. And Dot's was filled from ceiling to floor, wall to wall, with a stinking, deep, dark black smoke, the consistency of a very heavy mist.
He waved his clawed hands in all directions trying to fan the messy smoke out of his path to the doors. But there was just no inducing the stuff to move. It hung to him like a forlorn puppy needing a home.
Sabaqwa stumbled over chairs, falling through a table he didn't see, and managed to scrape his shin very sharply on some object he hoped direly wasn't some unseen customer who'd been sleeping in a corner somewhere.
Eventually, he feels and half sees the doors to Dot's, the glowing lights that were normally quite bright, were now only popping on and off in sputters. As he stood there, waiting for the doors to sigh open, he realised that they were just not going to budge.
"No power?" he screeches in loathing and fear, pulling uselessly on the doors with his claws.
Suddenly, the doors open, and the smoke begins to pour out into the corridor beyond. Sabaqwa starts to dart out and into the clear air of the corridor when he runs into something that knocks him backwards and onto his rear. Sabaqwa looks up through the terrible smoke and sees the one most dreaded thing he can imagine. Commander Khetrha looming in the swirling smoke, backlit by the very few working lights in the corridor, her hands on her hips and a definitely menacing snarl in her throat.
"Sabaqwa Isth, the tiny Quadarite bartender. I should have known you caused this."
Sabaqwa begins to splutter and back up on the floor, trying to scoot himself as far from the Mahri as he can, "I-I-I can explain Commander ...y-y-you see, it was that drink you and Captain Stryker like so much.. the-the-the explosive one..."
Commander Khetrha leans over him, her face and hot fangs only inches from his whiskers, "Well, little Quadarite, I've waited a long time to have an excuse to airlock you. Now that the Captain seems to have amnesia, I'm sure he won't miss you. Now, come with me little bartender, we have some business to attend to."
"But, but..but!" Sab whimpers in a panick, as Khetrha lifts him by the scruff of his sooty, neck and drags him off. Little does he know she intends to take him straight to Kiya to deal with.
The Pretoria - various locations
At Kel'N'agh's guidance, the Aspects began to spread out through the ship - quite literally.
The Gahenn Val's purpose in any Encounter, was to determine whether the target species was intelligent. Being able to build a civilization or ships that could traverse the vast distances between the stars was not evidence of intelligence for the Gehenn Val. They judged a species to be 'intelligent', only, if they had the capacity for humour. Only a truly intelligent being had that ability.
One of the Aspects -Tax'ne's - moved rapidy through one of the Pretoria's corridor walls and began tracing a route along the hidden ODN conduits till it came to the interior of the Main Computer Core. It raced through the LCARS, devouring the data at a tremendous speed. As each new piece of data was absorbed, the Aspect 'transmitted' its knowledge to the others of its kind. Within a few minutes, all the Aspects had an understanding of the Encounter targets language and technological capabilities.
Tax'ne's Aspect moved out of the LCARS and headed for a Replicator unit that was being acsessed by one of the ships inhabitants.
Kiya spoke, "Capracian Coffee, black, 120 degrees fahrenheit. Double strength."
The Aspect blocked the command before it could be acted upon. It could 'see' the creature through the Replicator's interface panel. It watched Kiya intently, trying to understand the expressions that crossed - the data that these were a Binary Gendered race flowed through the Aspect - 'her' face.
Three times the being asked for a beverage, and each time the Aspect prevented the unit from complying. Tax'ne's Aspect, using the Universal Translator protocols and Crew Manifest to identify the female, configured the Replicator to emit words in the creatures language.
"I heard you doctor, go make it yourself!"
More expressions flitted around the females face. and once more she spoke.
"I will say this one more time. Coffee. Black. 120 degrees fahrenheit. Double strength!"
This time, the Aspect gave the female what she requested and sent a stream of the hot liquid over the womans body. It watched intently as Kiya's hand slapped her Combadge.
"Engineering, please send a crew to Sickbay. I am about to disassemble one of your replicators. Piece by infinite piece."
The Aspect listened intently to the sound of the womans voice and the content of her words, and after a little deliberation, concluded that this target definately do NOT display any sign of possessing a sense of humour.
After a moment, Tax'ne's Aspect moved away to find a new subject, leaving Kiya to stare at the Replicator with a malevolent expression.
Latenight Shift, Sickbay
Demi had been aware of some things going on in Sickbay, most notably was the incident the CMO had encountered with the replicator, and a dourly angry Kiya Black Wolf exiting Sickbay for her quarters to change.
Demi had also maintained a close check on the condition of Lt. Thomas Black Wolf, who was still held alive and securely in the Cryo Stasis Chamber. And she'd decided that this was the best time to disengage herself from the auto lock of the diagnostics routine and rematerialize.
In only a few millionths of a second, the holographic form of Demi Hernandez rematerialized into Sickbay's quiet and dimly lit main deck. Only five members of the medical staff were milling around doing the nightly maintenance and routine systems checks, supply orders and rotations that the third shift usually were busy with at this time of 'night'.
All was quiet and peaceful. A great difference from the calamities of earlier in the day, when the Captain had tried to take her and half of Sickbay apart with his bare claws.
Demi looked around and noted there were still three biobeds in disrepair, the guts of the various sized beds laying in boxes, still awaiting engineering crewmembers to reassemble and test them. She sighed and shook her head, pondering just how much damage a fear and amnesia-crazed Edenian could do in just a few bats of an eyelash.
She walked over to the back of Sickbay and found the one biobed she figured Kiya Black Wolf would be least likely to check. There were just no other people right now onboard the Pretoria who were far enough along in their pregnancies to need the uses of the maternity ward. She readied the biobed and birthing chamber for Tiko's arrival from Cryo Stasis, pulled the curtain around to make the area as private as possible, and stood back to look her preparations over.
Satisfied that all was as ready as it ever could be, she transported herself into her hundreds of millions of coded matrixes, and rematerialized in the Cryo Stasis Chamber at the side of a still comatose Thomas Black Wolf. His body was covered in a healthy green slime of cryo jell, and despite his deteriorating condition, seemed to be as healthy as could be expected in a state of stasis and the ravages of a trite parasite infection.
She walked to the nearby console and began to tap in her final codes, sequencing the cryo stasis protocols to stand down and to begin preparing his body for reanimation. With those preparations finally done to perfection, Demi instructed the medical transporter to rematerialize Tiko on the bed she'd chosen in the maternity ward.
Right on cue, Lt. Thomas Black Wolf rematerialized onto the maternity biobed, still covered in the green, living cryo jell, quite naked and as medically stable as he could be made. Demi materialized to his bedside only seconds after him, and she draped him with a sheet to protect his privacy, the coma he was still in making him as inert as Kiya's PADDs had been a few hours before.
Once Demi had completed a few more notations and preparations, post Tiko's cryo stasis transferal, she pulled the privacy curtain a little more around his biobed, ensuring his complete privacy. Satisfied that she'd gotten this far with no hitches in her plan to get the man healthy and back on his feet, she walked from the quiet maternity ward to the CMO's office to complete a few more reports that had stacked up.
Sickbay was as quiet as a funeral parlour, and that was the way Demi liked it. She smiled happily to herself and seated herself at the desk, her work cut out for her. It was during these moments she was able to research with great abandon, as she simultaneously performed her duties and logged reports for the 1st shift rotation. Nothing was more tranquil than a nearly empty Sickbay at 03:40 hours in the morning.
As Demi got to work, she began to hum a soft rendition of a Lindian symphony. It was her favorite, and she didn't have to listen to the typical criticism this habit tended to instigate, as the place was so darned quiet and serene.
Sickbay - 03:40 hours
Lt. Thomas Black Wolf lay on a biobed, his inert body casting a greenish light on the sheet that covered him. His body lived, but was nearing its limits of survival. The trite infestation that ravaged it was exacting a mortal toll.
As Demi Hernandez worked in the CMO's office she was oblivious of her surroundings.
Above Thomas Black Wolf's biobed, a small, apple-sized ball of blue-white light emerged from the ceilling. It dropped quickly to within a few inches of Thomas's head and floated there for a minute or so.
Onboard the Nal Phess, the Primus sent a communication to the Aspects that ALL subjects were to be tested. Aspects had no names, but they did have identities. They were, after all, living beings; a third gender of the Gahenn Val. This one was partnered with Shi'gos, an Ascendant Engineer. It watched intently as its Aspect acknowledged Kel'N'agh's direction.
Slowly, the sphere of light, suspended above the Lieutenant's face, began to flatten and lengthen. As it did so, fine lines of crimson and deep, electric blue, shot through and around its interior. After a few moments, the sphere of living energy had transformed into a thin, translucent film, in the shape of Thomas Black Wolf. Individual sparks of light could be seen sparkling within the luminescent miasma.
Slowly, the glowing man-shaped sheet of energy settled on, and within the comatose Lieutenant.
For some reason, that she could not define, Demi felt compelled to cast a glance in the direction of Black Wolf's curtained bed. There was nothing apparent to captivate her eye, and she dismissed her reaction as her continuing concern for the man's wellbeing.
The Aspect flowed out to encompass every cell of Thomas Black Wolf's body. The subject had to be conscious for assessment, but this being was not capable of conscious thought, its body was under attack by a foreign existence. The Aspect concentrated on the infection.
Although it did not know what the trite parasite was, it determined that it was preventing the being's immune system from responding properly; interfering with Wolf's HLA, cell surface proteins that are critical for activation of immune responses. Thomas Black Wolf was dying because his body was being prevented from healing itself.
Shi'gos's Aspect moved into every cell of Wolf's body, and altered the genetic structure of the trite parasite. It caused the trite to turn off its telomere sequence that allowed it to replicate. The trite died at the moment it tried to reproduce.
Within an hour, Thomas Black Wolf's body was almost back to normal.
The Aspect placed a thought, or perhaps, compulsion would be a better description, in the Lieutenant's mind, and as weak as he was, Wolf sat up and and opened his eyes.
Demi sat engrossed, till a small movement caught the corner of her eye. She turned her head, and witnessed the spectacle of Thomas Black Wolf, standing in the doorway, in all his naked glory, wearing the sheet she had draped over him, as an impromptue tu-tu.
"Now, you are a pretty sight, lass, wilst thou do me the regard of a dance?"
With that, Lt. Thomas Black Wolf, stood on 'point', extended his arms as though he was going to fly and pirroueted into the middle of Sickbay.
Sickbay
"Now, you are a pretty sight, lass, wilst thou do me the regard of a dance?"
For a moment longer in response time parameters than normal for the EMH, Demi sat thunderstruck. She could not believe her eyes, nor the auditory and visual data that seemed to be fooling her otherwise exquisitely defined senses; Lt. Thomas Yazzy Black Wolf was up and dancing through the main deck of Sickbay.
"Sickbay to Commander Khetrha, report immediately to Sickbay please."
Without responding to the com signal, since she was only a few feet from entering Sickbay anyways, and still dragging the errant and sooty bartender by the scruff of the neck, Commander Khetrha strode smartly into Sickbay. The Commander froze in midstep, took one wide-eyed look at the pirouetting, half-naked form of Lt. Black Wolf, and her great, toothy jaw dropped open. Her wings flapping out once in undenyable shock.
Demi slid up silently to Khetrha and whispered, "What took you so long, Commander?" And looked up at the Mahri with a look of appreciative mirth.
"Well, I must commend you on your advances with Mr. Black Wolf's illness Demi. I admit my surprise." Khetrha stooped so that her head was quite close to Demi's ear, having totally forgotten about Sabaqwa, who was too afraid to look, still expecting to be airlocked as promised. He'd long ago covered both his eyes with his hands, choosing to experience his fate without benefit of any visual confirmations of doom.
"Demi?" whispered Khetrah, "Shouldn't the Lieutenant be in some form of clothing?"
"He wasn't supposed to be up as soon as this Commander, nor dancing. And though I appreciate your sentiments, I have had nothing with his awakening."
Khetrha stood back up to her towering heigth and stared back down at Demi in confusion.
"He is obviously up and.. well enough to dance. I do not comprehend, how can he be thusly and you not have anything to do with it?" Khetrha rumbled in a low growling trill of confusion.
Before Demi could answer, Thomas Black Wolf spun up to Commander Khetrha, grasped her clawed, draconic hand, and bowed deeply, his head near his knees, and his other hand and fingers in perfect position behind him, balancing his courtly bow. He stood up, his back perfectly straight and smiled up at Khetrha's completely baffled face.
"Milady, a fine example of stoic and beguiling beauty! Thou art a fine work of art, a melody of form! And whilst possessing a wild and untamed countenance, that I find most compelling and indeed intriguing, I must offer myself for your hand, thusly. Milady, so fragrant to my heart, wilst thou do me the regard of a dance?"
Thomas took another deep bow, only when he stood proud and debonairly before them all this time, the sheet tu-tu dropped lightly to the floor, revealing quite everything.
Sabaqwa Isth peeped from between his singed, furry fingers, having heard the whole thing, but not certain he could believe any of it.
"If this is some Apache custom ...I think I will pass, oh dear!" he squeaked.
And he slapped his furry hands tightly back over his eyes, hoping Commander Khetrha wasn't about to take up his offer for a dance. Especially with her grip still deeply sunk into his hyde!
The Corridor Outside Dot's Diner
Several engineering crewmembers had walked up to the scene bearing kits of tools and other needed items for the cleanup and repairs. Several had noticed the odd marks in the floor. And many were concocting colorful descriptions of what they surmised had happened. It was evident someone met with a bad end, by the looks of the sooty drag marks down the corridor leading to a turbolift.
Entering the diner, the power completely out, and the place still swirling in clouds of black, sticky and terrible smelling smoke, someone noticed an odd creature was cowaring in the corner near the doors.
"What the heck is that?" one engineer asked, as the form started to stand upright on it's enourmous hind legs.
The spikey creature turned it's all too impossible face towards them and seemed to want to speak. Several engineers backed up against the wall as the creature walked towards them, it's whiskers were ticklingly close to their noses.
"Lt. Krone, report to Dot's Diner! There's... there's a.. a... it's a.."
"Well, what is it?" asked Lt. Krone, quite perplexed.
"Well, it's a... a mansized hedgehog sir!"
Lt. Krone's mouth fell open, not a sound uttered from his mouth... quite yet.
Krone - Dot's Diner
The overly confuzed Lethean made his way down to the corridor outside Dot's Diner. There, he stepped inside past a few Officers and came to meet a giant Hedgehog.
"Uh?"
He quickly stepped back and pulled out his tricorder. But in doing so, was attacked by the creature. It lunged forward in curiosity, prompting Krone to leap back before it could touch him.
The Hedgehod lunged again and Krone this time leaped onto the Hedgehog and then jumped backwards out Dot's Diner.
There he was met by
Ensign Morane. "Sir! Are you okay?"
"I am fine,
Ensign. Just... battling a giant Hedgehog."
"Understood,
sir," Morane continued walking on without question.
The Hedgehog broke out the doors of Dot's Diner and ran for Krone. But Krone quickly picked up a broken piece of wall and shielded himself as the Hedgehog ran into him.
Krone with the Hedgehog slammed back into the wall of the corridor as the Hedgehog kept trying to run through him. Using the shield, Krone pushed back and knocked the Hedgehog away. He quickly studied the size and weight of the creature as it was ready to make another dive for him.
"I do not know what you are, but I apologize for this..." Krone threw down his wall piece and allowed the Hedgehog to run into him again. This time he grasped the creature, and linked minds into it. Currents of energy flowed from the back of his hands until the Hedgehog fell over unconscious.
Krone remained standing and shook his head. "I now understand this creature..." he said finally, "It likes to eat processed meat."
Sickbay - Another Aspect on events
Tax'ne's Aspect moved through the ship in search of another subject. As it travelled, it communicated with all the Aspects that meandered throughout the entire volume of the Pretoria's interior - learning and refining.
It eventually reached Sickbay. There were three beings in this compartment. One was unclothed and already under test, the other two had not been Encountered. There was also a third presence, a Uniform Entity. It was composed of discrete, generated energies and the light that emanated from it was designed to mimic a bipedal form. But it was not organic, and therefore, not a subject for Encounter.
Khetrha gave strict instructions to Demi that the slightly singed Sabaqwa Isth was NOT to leave Sickbay on pain of his death, and any deriliction of her charge would result in the EMH's reduction in rank, to the status of Abacus, With that, Khetrha left Sickbay. As she moved toward the exit, Thomas Black Wolf's parting words rang in her ears.
"I see thee my pretty, and mine own heart does sing out. Such are thee, this poor wretches eye's care not to drink in the light of this world, and all its raging splendour is blinded by the bright halo of thy countenance. My heart does burst apart for its longing of your presence"
With that final exultation, Tiko dropped to one knee, head bowed, and arms outstretched to Commander Khetrha's, rather hurridly, receding back.
Sabaqwa Isth, his hands now hanging limply by his side, turned to face Demi.
"Actually, if it's all the same to you, I would rather step out of the airlock...than dance."
Demi noted, for future reference, that Sabaqwa Isth's species was capable of turning their fur a very pale shade.
Khetrha was headed for Dot's Diner, the scene of the felines explosive actions. The Aspect followed...intrigued to see what this being would do...and what might be interesting for her to think next.
Rakurai Stryker - Turbolift
Stryker suddenly had a mischievious gleam in his eye, that Alice noticed right away.
Alice wrapped her arms around his waist and kissed him. He devoured her mouth with an urgent hunger. Alice responded in full force, her arms wrapped around his neck, fingers dancing over the back of his head, sending shivers of delight through his body, every inch of his body responding to her caresses.
"Halt lift." Stryker suddenly said. They continued kissing, half lying on the floor now when the comm activated, a female voice suddenly asked, "Sir. Is there an emergency in the turbolift ?"
"No Cadet." Stryker replied, pissed off. He recognized the voice, Kira Loisa Tierney. "Carry on." he practically screamed. There was a slight click as the comm deactivated.
After about two minutes wiothout interruption, eerie harp music started playing. "Carnival music." Alice said, perplexed.
Then the turbolift dropped, fast and out of control.
They didn't know how they got there. Or where they were. They quickly corrected their clothes.
Alice and Stryker found themselves sitting on their rear ends in an amusement park. They were the only ones there.
They saw a floating robot head with cat eyes and cat facial struture. They laughed uneasily. Their laughter faded as the Cat Thing approached them - revealing his true size, which is now quite large. The Cat Thing's purr deepens into a threatening growl. Alice looked at the thing, "You know what this means, don't you Honey ?"
"No. Except I hate clowns."
The Cat Thing roars like a Spidermind, revealing lots and lots of long, needle-like teeth. Alice and Strkyer just stand there, looking scared.
Alice and Stryker were running for their lives, "This is ridiculous!" Stryker complained.
The Cat Thing roared and gnashed his teeth. "Split up!" Alice told her husband.
A
duplicate of The Cat Thing appeared. Each Robot Cat Thing takes off
after them.
"Not you !" Alice shouted at the floating
Robot.
The Cat Things still roaring, and Stryker and Alice are still running. Their paths intersect. Alice tripped over Stryker, and both landed in a heap.
Alice putting on a Western hat she saw on the ground next oher, and speaking with a John Wayne accent "Well, that's not much of a plan, is it, pilgrim ?"
Stryker and Alice looked around, the floating Robot Cat Things were gone. The Carnival music was back, it sounds distorted, insane. Just then four clowns come out of a nearby tent.
"It can't be good." Stryker complained.
