Stranded
Chapter 9
"When you want to help people, you don't need no language,
it'll all be written on your face."
Tamuna Tsertsvadze
Uhura almost dropped her tea cup and she started coughing to hide her shock.
"Nyota..." Alarik made to get up, Nyota waved him down. "I'm fine Alarik. Tea went down the wrong pipe." She breathed deeply trying to calm her racing heartbeat. She stood. "Why don't we go to my bedroom and you can connect the heater. The doctor may wake at any time and need me."
"Yes, let me do that for you, then I will be in my way to the market. Doranna or I will bring you the food later this afternoon, Nyota. Please give the doctor our greetings and our sincere desire for his recovery."
"I will. Thank you, Alarik. I appreciate all your help," she led him to her bedroom and showed him where the connectors were. He made fast work of it, his deft hands sure and quick. He turned on the heater and instant warmth came from it."
"Wonderful, Alarik! Thank you so much! Now both the doctor and I will be warm tonight." She led him to the front door. "I'll see you or Doranna later, and thank you again."
She saw him out, closed the front door gently and locked it. Nyota sat on the sofa and put her head in her hands. She had to think! What to do, she wondered in agitation. The girl Alarik had described had been wearing the bracelet and necklace known to every Starfleet Officer throughout the quadrant as jewelry that marked the wearer an Orion slave. Once it was put on the slave, it could not be removed by ordinary means. Rescued slaves had to have Star Fleet engineers remove them...remove them with extreme caution. Inside the bracelet and necklace were electrodes that the slavers activated remotely to keep the slaves under control. Setting them off could result in the electrocution of the wearer.
The slave had probably been sent as an advance scout to determine if the village was suitable for a raid. How many more scouts had been sent, she wondered, to the other small towns and villages of Sarena? Scouting had to be a slow and methodical process, subtle enough not to attract attention or create suspicion. One or two scouts at a time, sent to towns and villages far enough apart from each other so tales of too many strangers didn't attract undue attention.
How much information had the Syndicate already acquired from the scouts? It had been weeks since the scout who came to Torreón had come and gone. A sense of urgency rose in her. She'd have to report this to Jim. See if there was anything he could do from his end. Maybe there was another Starfleet ship in the area, closer than Enterprise, even a smaller well armed ship would do. A Starfleet ship who would make its presence known might be enough of a deterrent to the Syndicate, at least for a time.
The Orion slave ships steered clear of Starfleet when at all possible. There had been too many times when Fleet ships had tangled with the Orion pirates, chased them across the quadrant, engaged them in battle, and the Orion vessels invariably lost. All slaves on the ship were rescued, the pirates arrested, their slave ships destroyed.
Uhura looked at the chronometer. It was time to check on Leonard. If he was awake and feeling better she would talk this over with him.
Nyota went to the kitchen to make a fresh cup of tea for him. Tomorrow she would see about getting some fresh fruit. There were peach, apple and citrus-like fruits here, maybe make him a drink similar to orange juice or lemonade filled with vitamin C. Carrying the tea to the bedroom, she saw that Len was just beginning to wake. He had slept for an hour and a half and she hoped the rest had done him good. She set the tea down and looked at the IV bag. It was almost empty. She would have to disconnect it soon.
"Len, you've had a good long nap," she said, shaking him gently. She smiled down at him as his blue eyes opened, "and the IV is almost empty. I think it's time to unplug it and take out the needle. What do you think?"
Leonard blinked up at her a few times, then coming fully awake he looked at the bag and nodded. "Yeah, it's best to disconnect if it's empty. I'm hoping I won't need another bag if I keep drinkin'. Help me sit up, Nyota. It will be easier to disconnect and remove the needle if I'm sittin'."
She helped him sit, put the pillows behind him, and took his hand in hers. Very gently she disconnected the needle from the tube. "Shall I remove the tape now, Len?"
"Yes, carefully so you don't move the needle. Then I'll help you pull the needle out."
The tape came off easily and, once more, Len put his hand over hers as he helped her pull out the needle from his forearm. Nyota was ready with an alcohol wipe and a band aid she'd brought from the surgery.
"There's a small needle disposal case in my bag, Ny. We don't throw unprotected needles in garbage containers, too dangerous." He picked up the tricorder from the table, flicked it on, and ran it across his head. "My temp is 38.0, it's holding steady with the antipyretic. It hasn't gone down, but it's not gone up either, so that's good. It's the same as last time we took it. Please jot it down, Ny. Geoff will want to know."
"I will. I'm trying to write everything down to report to Geoffrey. How are you feeling, Len? Any better?" She asked, her dark eyes hopeful.
The doctor sighed. "Wish I could say yes, but not really. Still feel real weak and I'm already tired of being in this bed."
"Hmm." Nyota thought for a minute. "Would you like to sit on the sofa for a while? A little change of scenery? I can help you walk to the living room, and the fire is still lit in there, so it'll be warm enough for you."
Leonard's blue eyes lightened. "I'd like that. A change of scene would be great. Thing is, I'm not used to inactivity," he confessed. "Never have been good about doin' nothin'. Even as a kid, my mama said I was up and down like a yo-yo."
"I know, Len," Nyota smiled at him. "On the ship, you're never still. Even on the bridge standing behind the Captain, you bounce up and down on your toes. We all get a kick out of it, including the Captain." Her lips twitched, trying not to laugh.
"I do?"
"Yes, you really do, we all think it's cute," Nyota grinned openly now.
Leonard's cheeks pinked. "I didn't realize I did that," he admitted ruefully. "Surprised Spock's never mentioned it to me, or Jim neither," he added.
Nyota just grinned at him. "They probably think it's cute too, just like the rest of us."
Leonard snorted. "Don't think Spock even knows the meanin' of the word cute," he grumbled.
Nyota laughed. "Nonsense! Mr. Spock has quite an extensive vocabulary. Now then, let's get you ready for the sofa." She gave him his robe and helped him put it on; she also made sure he put his feet into his slippers. The bedroom stone floors were notoriously cold and she doubted that had changed even with the heater. She grabbed his pillow and quilt and helped him stand, holding tightly to his forearm. "Ready? We'll take it very slowly, Len."
They walked haltingly into the living room and Leonard suddenly stopped walking. "Please open the door, Ny, I'd like to see what kind of day it is out there. Seems a long time since yesterday when we went for our walk."
She looked at him dubiously. "It won't tire you too much?"
"The door is just a few more steps, and I'd like to see some real daylight, darlin'. You can hold on to me a while more if it'll make you feel better. After being cooped up in that flying tin can for so long, it's been a pleasure for me to be outside every day, with sunlight, grass, flowers, and fresh air. It's one of the things I've enjoyed about being here, the feel of real sunlight on my body. We Georgia boys love the sun shine."
Nyota tossed the bed pillow and quilt on the sofa, and walked him slowly to the front door. "Don't let Jim hear you call his lady a tin can, Len," Nyota admonished him mock sternly, opening the front door. "You know how he feels about that ship."
Leonard chuckled. "Wouldn't dare. The man sure loves that star ship!" They stopped at the screen door. "It looks like a real beautiful day, out there." Leonard stood gazing out at the brilliant sunshine, up to the clear cerulean sky for a few minutes then turned to Nyota. "Ny, darlin', why don't you help me settle on the sofa, bring me my padd so I can catch up on some journals, and you can go for a walk and get some fresh air. It would do you good."
Nyota looked at him aghast. "And leave you here alone? Not on your life, Leonard McCoy! Jim and Geoff would have my head on a platter if I left you here by yourself. Absolutely not! Now then, you've stood here long enough, to the sofa with you, young man."
Leonard snorted at the 'young man', but shuffled along obediently.
"I'll go get your reading padd, make you another cup of tea with honey and fix you a small snack. Sounds good?"
"That does sound good." Leonard agreed. "I'll catch up on my journals." He gave a deep sigh as he settled in the sofa.
Nyota placed the quilt over his legs and looked anxiously at him. "Did the walk tire you out?"
"A bit," he admitted. "That's a mite worrisome. This extreme fatigue is not normal for the Levodian flu, especially because I received the vaccine. So I'm pretty sure this is a mutation I picked up from someone here," he added, thinking. He was deep in clinical Doctor mode, assessing his own symptoms and how they were manifesting. "And, I believe it happened fairly recently, I got this probably from someone who was asymptomatic, because I don't recall treatin' anyone with these kind of symptoms."
"Len, I need to tell you something that Alarik shared with me." Uhura sat down in the arm chair and pulled it bit closer to him. She'd left the front door open to let in the sun light with only the screen door closed and locked. If anyone came to the door they could easily hear their conversation.
"What is it, Ny?"
She lowered her voice. "When Alarik came to leave the heater, I asked him if he knew of or had heard about anyone who was ill, or if he'd seen any strangers in the village or the market place, a stranger who might have come to the office to see you."
"What did he say?"
Uhura repeated what Alarik had told her, about the young woman who had asked about an apothecary, how Alarik had noticed her slave collar and bracelet. How he'd given the woman directions to the apothecary's shop, but hadn't seen her since.
Leonard's eyes widened in alarm. "An Orion slave," he whispered. "Sent down here from a slave ship orbiting the planet. She was probably a reconnaissance slave sent to the village as a scout to gather Intel for a possible slave raid. How long ago was this, Nyota?"
"A few days before Alarik got sick, so ten weeks or so," she responded. "I think the girl wasn't feeling well, and wanted an Apothecary to acquire some meds. Whether she felt well enough to continue her scouting mission here or she went back to the ship because she felt ill is the big question. I've been thinking and wondering if I should question the Apothecary personally to find out more?"
"That might be a good idea. I think the fact that there hasn't been a slave raid is a good sign. It probably means she got real sick like me, so she wasn't able to finish her mission, or maybe didn't even get to start it. Especially if she felt as weak and lousy as I do. Slave or no slave she wouldn't have been able to do her spyin' around the village or take the chance of getting sicker and callin' attention to herself. I have a feeling she probably went back to the ship. Maybe," he added hopefully, "although as a physician, I hate to even say this, she passed the virus along to the rest of the ship's crew complement. If a lot of 'em got sick, that would certainly delay any further reconnaissance, for sure. They might've even left orbit, too sick to do much. So yeah, I think it's a good idea to question the Apothecary. Every bit of information we can gather to report back to Jim will be good. When you comm him later this evening you can fill him in on the girl Alarik talked with and what we think happened."
"Jim will be even more worried about getting back to us quickly. I'm just hoping he'll report this and check to see if there's another Starfleet ship closer to Sarena than Enterprise. Just the presence of a Starfleet ship close by would act as a deterrent," Nyota said. "The pirates haven't fared well engaging in battles with Starfleet ships," she added, "so they'd be leery of showing themselves or attempting a slave raid with a Starfleet ship close by."
Leonard sighed wearily. Nyota looked at him in concern.
He caught her glance. "No, Ny, I'm not feeling any more tired. Actually being out of my bedroom feels good. I'm just thinkin' what can two Fleet officers who are under cover do if there is a slave raid. Because no matter what, we cain't blow our cover, we cain't fight with our phasers, we cain't identify ourselves as Fleet officers, all because of the Prime Directive. Actually we'd have to hide ourselves as best we can, because it'd be real bad news for us to be taken as slaves. Jim would tear the entire sector apart lookin' for us, and nothin' the Admirals would say would deter him from doin' that, and you know Spock and the rest of the crew would follow him to hell and back no matter what."
Nyota nodded solemnly. Everything Len said was the absolute truth, the two of them were between a rock and a hard place. They could not identify themselves as Fleet officers, or use their phasers and comms in public, and they could not allow themselves to be taken as slaves.
"We have to figure out what to do, have a plan of some sort," Nyota said. "Sometimes I really hate the Prime Directive," she muttered.
"At one time or another we've all hated it. Jim the most. But he does his duty by it and so must we. It's the oath we took, darlin', and we must uphold it no matter what."
"We have to tell Jim and Spock everything and hope that Enterprise or another ship can get here before an Orion slave ship. That way they can intercept the pirates before they even arrive. And another thing. Any ship would have to stay in high orbit, not give themselves away. Jim, Hannity or Giotto could beam down, they were seen when we first arrived, and we could say they've come to pick us up to go home. Len," Nyota asked suddenly, thinking worse case scenarios. "Do you think they've sent slave scouts to other towns?"
"We have no way of knowin'. If no one on the slave ship got the virus, then I'd say yes. That they're just waitin' either for the rest of the Intel reports from their scouts in other towns or, they're waitin' for an opportune time for a big raid. If there was Levodian flu running through the ship, then I'd say no. If they got as sick as me, they didn't have the man power to send down any scouts."
"I hope that's what happened," she whispered.
