Chapter 10 - Inmates, Part 4
The prison corridor had been silent for at least half an hour. Kirk sat, leaning sideways against the bunk bed post, straining to hear any small sound, any sound of footsteps approaching. He felt empty, had to focus on the dread to stay in the present.
Graham paced, one step every two seconds, marking time. She was back in her element again, moving like a predator. Kirk reminded himself that he'd warned Lt. Nangana, the Hampton's security chief. Any oddness in his or Graham's behavior could lead to action on his part, just out of an excess of care. Could. The shuttle was due in less than two hours. Dr. Adams would have to come for them soon.
Kirk rubbed his neck, forced down the undue alarm filling his core at the idea of being in the treatment room again, yearning for Adams's voice to fill the aching void the machine opened up. He exhaled, long and slow, moved through his memories. The only gap was his sudden overwhelming desire for Nurse Noel, which had eased with her lack of presence. Kirk worried what he would do when he saw her again. His primary duty was to Graham, and he might fall down on that, reacting to Noel's conditions instead. Maybe that was somehow Adams's plan.
Graham paced back, still perfectly marking time. Kirk found it soothing enough he wanted to close his eyes. The lights in the cell, in the entire suite, failed without a sound. The enclosing darkness was punctuated by the glow of the forcefield emitters at the posts beside each cell. The faces in the suite were lit from below, stark and eerie.
Kirk stood and went to the field, walked along to see into the outside corridor which was lit only by crimson emergency lights barely revealing the corridor's details. Shouting echoed down the corridor. The other inmates expressing dismay, horror and celebration at the same time, replacing light with noise. Adams had said everything always needed to be the same, day to day, minute to minute, to keep them calm.
Kirk looked around for anything that could be a weapon. Of course there was nothing. He leaned as close to the field as he dared, let it sizzle his hair. They were safe in here, but he didn't want to be in here.
"What do you make of this, sir?" Kirk asked Graham.
She came up beside him. "I'll take anything."
Kirk looked around at their cell mates. At least some of them had to be engineers. "How long before the emitters fail, do you think?"
Zuram looked to the oldest of his crew who simply stared at Kirk in return.
Kirk said, "Has this happened before?"
Heads shook.
"Let's hope it's Noel's doing," Graham said.
The shouting and a disconcerting throaty gurgling filtered into their cell, surging louder in a chorus before dipping in volume for a time.
Graham swore. "Based on the sounds out there, some cell fields have failed. But I don't think these emitters are going to go down as quickly. Based on our label, we are in the highest security cell. Power will keep shunting to us until the last."
Kirk turned back to Zuram. Glanced at Graham. "I'm going to tell them-"
Sounds rose from the corridor. Footsteps and figures rushed by in the direction away from the reception area. The shouting increased. Guards went by on their heels. Kirk skipped explaining to Graham, said in Vulcan, "No killing, just incapacitation. Can you accept that limitation?"
Zuram stared at Kirk.
"Please," Kirk said. "We have only one enemy here. The others-"
A figure in red with a flash of white hair stumbled by in the direction of reception, and went out of sight again.
"Doctor Van Gelder!" Kirk called out. "Doctor Van Gelder. We can help you."
The uneven footsteps stopped. The other banging nearby quieted. Other figures ran by.
Kirk listened, shuffled along the forcefield closer to the outer door, but where his view wasn't as good. He said loudly, "Doctor Van Gelder, graduate of Hunan Colony University, 2244, worked in Mexico City for twenty years. Assigned to Tantalus Colony April 4th, 2266. Promoted to director, August 20th, 2268."
Kirk breathed heavily, willed the man to come back. A figure in a red orderly's jumper lurched into the doorway opening, demented face set alight by the green force bars.
"Put your hand on the sensor," Kirk said. "You aren't officially an inmate according to the colony records. Go on, Doctor."
"He's not?" Graham said.
"They'd have to explain things to change his status. Things they don't want to explain."
Van Gelder straightened proudly, placed his hand on the sensor as if he did it every day. The bars fizzled out.
"In here, Doctor," Kirk said. "The other sensor over here."
On Kirk's left, the Vulcans gathered at the field. Kirk resisted glancing at them. He had no choice but to trust Zuram, had to hope that Kirk and Graham being his ticket off Tantalus V was enough to make him behave.
Van Gelder stood rigid at the panel on a stalk in the middle of the room. His body began vibrating. "I am . . ." He forced the words out. "I was . . . " He violently shook his head.
Graham said, "Doctor Van Gelder. Hi, I'm Commander Graham. Of the USS Hampton. I'm on the wrong side of the forcefield. Look at me."
Van Gelder stood straighter, tilted his rough skinned face backwards.
"I need to be on the other side of the forcefield, Doctor," Graham said. "I'm Starfleet Personnel."
Van Gelder tilted his head back farther, emitted a horrible groaning noise that broke into sobs.
"Put your hand on the sensor, Doctor," Kirk said. "Then we can assist you. We're both with Starfleet." Kirk pulled at the front of his uniform. "See."
Van Gelder fell to his knees clutching his side below his heart. He continued to exhale each tortured breath with a horrible rasping sound.
"Great Bird," Graham muttered.
"I. Will. Not. Obey." Van Gelder rubbed one hand over his face violently while clutching his side with the other. "Not. Obey. The. Pain." He tipped backwards on his knees, laughing out sobs, then choking. He caught himself and curled forward. "Not. Obey."
He fell, but reached out an arm for the sensor panel and the forcefields came down on all the cells in the suite.
Kirk and Graham rushed out. Van Gelder lay on the floor on his side, not moving or breathing.
"Ah, hell," Graham crouched beside him, turned him onto his back.
"Pick him up." Kirk looked to their companions. He pointed to one, said in Vulcan. "You on the end. I need help carrying him."
Zuram was still in the cell standing beside the young male.
Kirk and the burly Vulcan hefted Van Gelder's body. Kirk said to Zuram, "We'll come back for the others. I promise. We have to go. Now."
"You issuing commands?" Graham said.
Kirk flushed. "I think they're the ones you'd be giving. If that's any consolation."
"We're taking him, why?"
"We need him."
The red emergency lights were the only remaining illumination. Graham dipped her head out into the corridor and back in.
"To the left three guards visible. Right's clear. At least one guard down. Two on the left are forty meters down. They are busy. Let's go."
They jogged down the corridor, stopped at the controls for the closed interlock which still glowed in the dimness. Kirk gestured for the nearest Vulcan to take over carrying Van Gelder's legs, put Van Gelder's hand on the sensor, but it honked, rejecting his ID.
"Damn."
Graham said, "It says, life sensor error. That could be no pulse detected."
"Hold his hand on the sensor, sir," Kirk said to Graham.
Kirk pressed himself close to Van Gelder's chest, reached around his suspended body and began compressing his ribcage once a second, using his entire upper body strength to do so.
The console chirped and the first door of the interlock opened.
"Well. My hells," Graham said. "Everyone in."
They burst out low at the last door of the interlock. Beyond, there were three guards waiting. Zuram led the charge, barrelled through two of them, arms wide and immutable, before getting stunned and tumbling into a heap. Another Vulcan beside Kirk fell, also stunned. The guards were overwhelmed, neck pinched, thrown down. Kirk suffered a glare from the oldest Vulcan, presumably for limiting his options.
"You can always kill someone later," Kirk said to him. He bent to scoop up stun guns and handed one to the Vulcan. "Lots tougher to undo killing someone."
The Vulcan followed Kirk as he checked doorways. Stayed at his back, providing cover. Power was still on here in the personnel areas.
"Logical. For a human."
"I do try."
At the treatment room, Kirk slowed. Noel was in the chair and the device was running but no one was at the controls. Kirk violently switched the controls off.
"Everyone spread out," Graham said, slipping through. "Cover me, Kirk."
Kirk wanted to swear at her. His implanted love and now concern had surged again. He bit his lips and stood in the doorway, stun gun at ready while Graham checked Noel. Kirk strained to hear what was happening behind him. A staff member stuck his head out from the personnel dorms section and was stunned. He dropped so that he blocked the automatic doors from closing.
One Vulcan tilted his head in Kirk's direction. Said to another, "He has made us weak. I told you humans would do that."
"The human machine did that. I cannot bear not obeying."
"Everyone stay alert," Kirk said. "You can blame me later."
Kirk said over his shoulder. "She alive?"
"Not really." Graham came forward with Noel's arm around her shoulder, holding her up. She hung non-responsive there, eyes glazed.
Kirk closed his mouth. Swallowed hard. "Where is Adams I wonder. With your permission, sir, I'll check the facilities room."
"Go on. Realize he's likely armed to kill."
Kirk was pissed enough by Noel's state to hope for that. It would excuse a lot of violence.
The facilities room was empty. Kirk pushed the primary electrical emergency switch up again. He then found the communications panel and, after some haggling, got a connection to the Federation listening station, which forwarded his connection to earth without asking if that was what he wanted.
Kirk leaned heavily on the panel as he talked. He identified himself, and summarized the situation. He requested technical help, described the panel for the planetary force field and waited while someone obtained the codes to override the security on it. Beside the communications panel, the alarm board showed the security on the escape hatches had been disabled. It could be a false flag, but it seemed likely Adams had gone out that way.
Kirk went to the door, called out to Graham what his status was. She shouted back that he should wait on the comm. That things were under control.
Kirk worried about the inmates running loose. He now hoped the guards managed to do their jobs.
"Tantalus Colony," the radio burst with a new voice. "This is Administrative Control. Do you copy?"
"This is Tantalus Colony, Kirk here."
"I have codes and I am awaiting bypass authorization via Starfleet Security."
"We'd like to use the transporter, if possible. There is a full break out here and we need a lot of personnel brought down as fast as possible. Waiting four and a half hours for the shuttle is not possible."
"Understood. Stand by."
Little aches were prodding in Kirk's shoulders, in his side. His smashed hand felt stiff and hot. The adrenaline rush was going to wear off soon.
Kirk followed the instructions, brought the shields down. He dialled in the ship's transmitter, got a very surprised comm on the bridge.
Kirk summarized the situation. "I can put Graham on. But get every member of security ready to beam down while I fetch her."
Kirk switched places with Graham. Noel had been put on a couch, unresponsive. She lay in the crook of the cushions staring straight ahead. Kirk sat beside her, wondering at the state of himself. He loved Spock like no one else. But here was nearly the same emotion, generated from nothing.
"I know I don't love you," Kirk said to her.
He stood up, checked the security of the area. The interlock to the cell block was still sealed. Beyond, far down the corridor, security was going suite to suite in a squad. The interlock would chirp if it was accessed and it required about twenty seconds to cycle. Enough warning time. On the floor at Kirk's feet, the stunned Vulcans were beginning to stir.
"You all right, Zuram?"
Zuram sat up, propped his arms on his knees. His neck was bent, his face drawn. "That is an illogical question for you to ask of one such as myself."
"Common enemies do make for bad allies," Kirk said.
"Weak and soft and slow of mind you may be. You are no fool, Human Kirk."
The sound of transport filled the reception area and eight red shirts arrived, phasers at ready.
Kirk rubbed his hair, resisted standing and pacing yet again. He was still locked up, but this time in one of the Hampton's sickbay isolation rooms. He reached over to pull the monitor screen toward himself. It showed the ship's status. He tried to review his personal messages. There must be one from Spock. Given the mission delay, possibly more than one.
The computer refused to acknowledge him and remained read only, stubbornly showing the default status screens. They were still orbiting Tantalus V and would be until a Federation relief ship arrived in twenty hours. Kirk felt acutely guilty about his still confused emotions. He needed to talk to Spock to relieve that emotion, to perhaps confess, perhaps to renew his feelings for Spock enough he wouldn't have to. He was going to have to suffer the bitter guilt until then.
Kirk pushed the monitor away. The door swished open and Graham stepped in, looking trim and neat again. She had a security crewmember with her.
"I need you, Official Advisor. Come on."
Kirk stood eagerly, followed her out. The sickbay bustled with activity, the beds full of the worst injured from the penal colony. The less critical were being cared for onsite. Kirk didn't see Noel.
"If you can resolve this one," Graham said as she stepped into the lift. "You have license to be as obnoxious to me as you like until we reach earth."
"What's happening?" Kirk said.
"Prisoner trouble. Zuram. Already stunned him once. CMO will sanction me if we do it again."
Kirk straightened his back, followed her to the brig with security trailing them. The shouting was audible even before the brig doors parted.
Zuram struck the force field of the cell, sending a rushing electrical hum and yellow flashes along the surface of it. He was ranting in a mix of Vulcan and Standard, throwing himself at the field. At the sight of Kirk he jerked to a halt, turned to them, stood hunched, chest heaving. His brows were angled and his black eyes shone, revealing untapped depths of violence still to burn.
Kirk stepped up to the field. The bulkhead panels at the back of the cell were dented, as were the permanent fixtures.
"Commander," Kirk said.
Zuram's head shook in small motions, back and forth. "I will not. Stand. Will not. Bear this," he said in Vulcan.
"Can someone fill me in?" Kirk turned to Graham.
"We took the youngest to sickbay. CMO insisted given his vital signs. That's when this started."
Kirk turned back to Zuram. "Commander. What's your charge's name?"
Zuram's face pinched. His brows lowered. "Zulan."
Kirk put himself in a Vulcan frame of mind. Thought of Sarek, tried to emulate his speech patterns, his high minded confidence. "Commander Zuram. I pledge to you that I will look after your charge as if he were my own. And I will bring him back to you as soon as that is possible. All right?"
Some of the tension left Zuram's arms. His brows failed to relax.
Kirk said, "I have no other duties. My sole purpose on this vessel is to see to your needs. Understand I take that very seriously."
"Your seriousness will not stop them."
"Stop them from what?"
Zuram looked away. "If you cannot bring him back as he was, do not bring him back."
"I will bring him back as he was. I promise. All right?"
Zuram's face grew dark again, but he nodded crookedly, shifted his gaze to a random spot to Kirk's right. "I do not believe you. But I must." His shoulders slumped.
Kirk turned to Graham, raised a brow, indicated with his head that he was finished here. The doors swished closed between them and the prisoners.
"Maybe I need to learn Vulcan," Graham said.
"He's rightfully worried about the young Vulcan."
"CMO said nephew based on the scans."
They stepped into the lift.
"How critical is he?" Kirk asked.
"CMO didn't have much hope, said his cells were shutting down. What'd you promise Zuram?"
"We have twenty hours holding in orbit," Kirk said. "Then an indeterminate time for the handoff to Relief. Then twenty seven to Vulcan. Commander, a Vulcan ship could get Healers here in six hours, maybe less. Can you make an urgent request?"
"You aren't already abusing your new license, are you?"
She stepped out of the lift. Turned when Kirk remained inside it with the security member.
"You have to go back to isolation, Kirk," Graham said. "You're a threat to the ship." She smiled, tilted her head. "You are always a threat to the ship. It seems."
"Touché."
