Chapter Five
That very night, Tammy was resting in her quarters reading a book, she had a cup of tea by her nightstand and she was curled up in the bed with her covers. She was about to turn the page when her nightstand console beeped. She sighed and put the book down by her side, and reached for the button on the nightstand.
"Yes, how may I help you?" asked Tammy tiredly.
"I'm sorry to interrupt your night off Tammy, but this is an emergency. We need you down in Medic Bay right away." informed the night duty nurse in an urgent tone.
"Very well, I'll be there shortly, Dr. Livingston out." acknowledged Tammy as she hurriedly got dressed and ran out the door.
Several minutes later, she entered Medic Bay only to see several of the nurses talking in a very upset tone. All the while, she wondered what has them very worried. She walked up to the crowd and wondered who the patient was. She was stunned to find a very critical injured Jaret with a knife wound on his chest. She immediately got down to business. Grabbing a tricorder from the nearest nurse, she scanned Jaret. She was dismayed to find that the wound penetrated the left lung resulting in a collapsed lung but the wound narrowly missed his heart all together. Another thing that worried her was all the bleeding going on in his chest. She double-checked to make sure there were no scratches and no tears on the aorta or on the heart itself.
"Okay, let's get him into surgery now, we need to run him on some saline to keep his pressure up and get him on oxygen too, his levels are compromised. Let's get that lung repaired. Let's move it people!" ordered Tammy as she whirled around and headed to her office to contact the bridge in private.
The room of nurses fluttered to action on Tammy's orders and started to prep him and themselves for surgery. Some of the nurses fled to the operating room to prep the operating room for the surgery with the required tools to help their captain. Tammy saw a select few of them prepping themselves by getting into their gowns. One of the nurses stayed behind was waiting for Tammy so she can help her get into her gown. The rest of the group wheeled Jaret into the operating room. Tammy was pleased to see the group working together very well. She had selected the best people for the right jobs.
As soon as she reached her office, Tammy touched her combadge, "Medic Bay to Bridge."
"Yes, this is the bridge, Lt. Mark Allaway speaking."
"I want you to wake Lt. Dyck and Commander Livingston up. We have a situation here. The Captain has been seriously injured and is currently being wheeled into the operating room. He was attacked with a knife. May I suggest that someone head to his quarters and see if they can find any forensic evidence of the attacker? I'm on my way to repair the captain's lung." informed Tammy hurriedly.
"Aye ma'am, good luck" responded Lt. Allaway.
She flung off her robe onto the chair before stepping out of the office. Tammy muttered to herself and was helped into her gown by the remaining nurse and headed into the operating room. It was going to be another long night for her. Since finding the Galaxy, she have been very busy proving to herself and others that she chose the right position as a CMO. It's not fun, but it is challenging and it requires her to be on call 24/7.
Meanwhile, Ryan was peacefully asleep when he was woken up by an urgent call from the bridge. Ryan mumbled something along the lines that he was not on duty and why would they even consider waking him up in the middle of the night! He did his shift and wanted to catch up on some needed sleep.
"Yes, this is Ryan. Who is calling me at this time of the night?!" asked Ryan who glared at his nightstand console.
"Sir, my apologies. I was just informed by Dr. Livingston that Capt. Pieper is being rushed into emergency surgery due to him being attacked in his quarters I believe. I didn't get all the details from her as she was in a hurry." Informed the voice through the comnlink.
"Okay, is David awake?" asked Ryan as he suddenly woke up upon hearing that Jaret was attacked in his own quarters. It was not a good thing, especially since Jaret's room is on the same deck as his as well on Tammy's deck.
"Yes sir, and David is on its way with a security team. You will no doubt run into him when you leave your room." Signed off the officer.
"Great, just great, why does things happen to me? I'm always stuck in command when something like this happen to Jaret." muttered Ryan as he finished getting dressed and made his way out of the door. He ran into it because he forgot that prior to going to bed last night, he locked the door. A string of curses escaped his mouth as his left hand fumbled with the buttons on the side of the door to unlock it. Then the door swished open to reveal David on the other side with a wince on his face. Ryan glared at him as he rubbed his nose and shook his head and stormed towards the nearest turbolift to head to the bridge.
David watched him go his way and looked ahead of himself for his team was already assembled and standing outside the captain's quarters with their phasers. They were waiting for David to arrive.
At the Bridge, Ryan was busy pacing the floor. He hated waiting and of course, in the span of 2 days, he was back to his habit. This job is creating more difficulty then he thought and he couldn't understand who would harm Jaret. He hated be anxious once again and before he could do some more pacing, he looked at Lt. Allaway.
"I want you to head to Medic Bay, talk to the remaining nurses to get some answers. I'll look in the internal sensors to see if I can find anything." Ordered Ryan as he made up his mind to do something rather than waiting.
Lt. Allaway nodded and left the bridge only to stop because Lisa showed up in the turbolift with a very worried look. He was wondering how Lisa knew to be here but it wasn't his job to worry about that. He had his orders, so he step aside to let Lisa on the bridge and he stepped inside the turbolift. Once the door closed, Lisa looked around and saw that Ryan was at David's station looking through the sensors logs to see if anything made any sense.
"Have you heard anything?" asked a worried Lisa.
Upon hearing Lisa's voice, Ryan shook his head no and went back to work tiredly. Lisa walked to him and put her hands on his shoulders, "Is there anything I can do to help?", asked Lisa.
Ryan looked up at Lisa and nodded, "Would you please go over this sensors logs while I go over the computer records that it recorded by the medical sensors. I need to know how bad it is."
"Who would do this?" whispered Lisa softly as she took over looking the sensors logs from Ryan. Ryan went to another station and sat down to read the medical logs.
"I don't know I don't understand myself. I have never even considered an attack on one of us by someone on board this ship. I sure hope David comes back. I need some news, good or bad. I can't stand waiting like this." muttered Ryan angrily.
An half an hour passed, and David finally arrived on the bridge. He found Ryan and Lisa sitting down. They noticed that his face was masked with a fierce grimace. Ryan saw the look and his shoulders sagged in the chair. Lisa put her hand on his shoulders, trying to soothe him.
"I've looked over every square inch of the Captain's quarters and we couldn't find anything. No shred of evidence of our attacker or of the weapon used. But based on what the nurses who was on duty when Jaret first arrived at Medic Bay, she said that Jaret was conscious and told her that he was attacked by a knife and it happened in his quarters. He managed to get that much information out before he collapsed. I'm sorry, I wish I had better news but that is all we have to go on until Jaret wakes up and tells us who attacked him. I hate the thought that someone on board this ship went as far at to attack him and even as far to kill him if that is their intent." informed David tiredly.
Ryan motioned for David and Lisa to follow him into the Ready Room and left Lt. Allaway again in charge of the bridge. Once inside, Ryan sat down in front of the desk and nodded to David and Lisa to take their seats. The two of them thankfully sat down. Lisa sat down on the chair nearest to Ryan while David too the couch and heaved himself on it. His shoulders sagged as he slouched. He rubbed his eyes tiredly before he spoke, "What's up Ryan, why did you drag us here?" query David.
"Just didn't want the night shift duty officers to overhear us. Lisa, what is the potential of a Romulan spy on board here?" asked Ryan bluntly.
"Excuse me? You think this attack was by a double agent and one that was working with the Romulan Empire? Who could it be? I mean, beside me, I'm the only one not from Earth originally. Who would wantonly volunteer to be a spy for the Romulans?" replied Lisa shocked.
David was very shocked at that question and he perked up a bit. His shoulders protesting as he sat up and looked to Ryan for an answer, "Why would you ask that?"
"I'm trying to look at this at all possible angles and not blindly rule anything out." pointed out Ryan tiredly.
"I guess it could be possible but then again it all boils down to Jaret telling us who the attacker was. I wish we knew how the surgery is going." sighed Lisa sadly.
"I know, so do I, but we don't have much choice, we have to wait." Replied Ryan as he stifled another act of yawning.
Suddenly the door beeped to let them know that someone was requesting permission to enter the room.
"Enter." allowed Ryan as he leaned back in the chair and rubbed his tired eyes.
The door opened and entered a tired but relieved Tammy. She had shadows under her eyes as a sign of exhaustion.
"Tammy? How's Jaret?" asked David hopefully as he moved over to make room on the couch and offered the space to her.
"He's fine, but he will need some time to recover from his attack. Any news on the forensic part?" asked Tammy as she rejected David's offer of sitting down. She knew if she sat down she'll fall asleep in an instant. It was only one thirty in the morning and yet it feels as if she's been up for over 24 hours.
"I'm sorry doc but nothing showed up. We searched high and low but we got nothing. We will just have to wait for Jaret to wake up and tell us what happened. How long do you estimate before we can talk to him?" informed David? Tammy groaned out loud and looked at Ryan with a pleading look on her face.
"I'm sorry Tammy, but David's right, Jaret is all we have to go on. How long?" admitted Ryan.
"I would recommend a full day but knowing how limited we are on this, I will see if he wakes up by this afternoon on his own at the latest. If he doesn't wake up by then, I'll have to risk it by waking him up one way or the other. What he really needs is rest, this was a horrible but traumatic attack. It's not a good idea to push his body to its limit and it might make it worse. I know you're right David but my concern is for my patient first. I understand that might raise some conflict but for now, I'll work with you regarding your investigation." sighed Tammy.
"Okay, now that's settled, I'm heading back to bed for some sleep; I may suggest the same for the rest of you. David, you have battle drills in the morning, get some rest, that's an order. Lisa and Tammy, go to bed. I'll see you all later in good time." yawned Ryan weakly as he got up from the table and started his way on walking out.
David, Tammy and Lisa soon followed suit and exited the room and went their way back to their quarters. Lt. Allaway nodding to each of them as they made their way to the turbolift for some much needed sleep. It would be a long wait but long it will be.
The very same day, it was noon when Tammy could finally wake Jaret up. He never woke up on his own, so she had to wake him up. At the same time, she didn't want to risk his heath for this but knew that David and Ryan were waiting for some answers. Time was of the essence. Once she injected some drug to wake him up, she waited and watched his life signs on the monitor above the bed on the wall. Once Jaret opened his eyes, the others could noticed that he looked pretty pale and groggy looking. David and Ryan were standing next to both sides of the bed and waited patiently.
Jaret looked around in half sleepy closed eyes and noticed three blurry figures standing next to his bed. Once he rubbed his eyes to wake him further up he noticed three pairs of worried faces. When he put his hands down, he winced in pain as he tried to remember what the last thing he did was. It took awhile but then he recalled the attack very clearly. He looked down and touched his chest and tried to sit up. Before Jaret could sit up, Tammy rushed to him so she can prevent him from sitting up and spoke softly, "Easy now, you just had major surgery to repair that punctured lung. You are okay but you need to take it easy. Are you in the mood to talk to David and Ryan?"
Jaret looked up and asked Tammy, "Am I going to live?"
Tammy laughed lightly, "Yes you are, for a long time barring anymore attempts on your life."
Tammy stood back and let David approach Jaret while Ryan was on the other side with a worried look on his face. He looked at his sister just to be sure that things were going to be okay.
"He'll be fine, just don't keep him up. I'll be in my office and if you guys need anything, holler." Tammy smiled weakly as she knew she couldn't reassure Ryan just yet. It was too soon to tell.
"Jaret, I know you feel tired but we need to know some things." interrupted David as he looked across the bed to Ryan's face. He nodded and paid his attention back to Jaret.
Jaret leaned back in his bed and took a deep breath and started slowly to recall what has happened to him.
The next day arrived. David was doing some hand to hand combat with his officers on the holodeck. This was to be a training exercise as the program intended it to be, but everyone on board needs this experience due to the fact that soon, they will face up to the Romulan and they don't know how they fight.
David threw his opponent down on the mat and the guy winced in pain. He sighed, "I'm sorry Duncan. I have a bit of too much on my mind."
Duncan rubbed his arms before he extended his hands up to David, "What's up sir?"
David took Duncan's hands and helped him off the floor, "Nothing or everything I suppose. It goes with being a senior officer.
"I see sir. Shall I continue this exercises with someone else?" asked Duncan.
"No, head to Medic Bay to get that shoulder of yours looked at. If Dr. Livingston asks why, send her in my direction. I know I've been a bit rough on all of you as of lately." Apologized David to the room full of officers. They all looked at him with a deep concern and a deep understanding of him. They all knew what they were getting themselves into.
"Okay, everyone, head to your quarters and to your shifts." Ordered a voice from behind David.
David turned around and saw Ryan leaning on the wall grinning at him.
"Ryan, what brings you down here?" asked a surprised David as he grabbed his towel off the bench and watched the group of officers leave the holodeck. He joined Ryan and turned around, "Computer, save and end program."
The computer chirped in reply. The room full of exercise equipment disappeared to a room that was empty and dark with some light. David turned back to Ryan and waited for him to answer him back. Once they exited the holodeck, as the door closed by him Ryan finally spoke, "I didn't want to say anything in front of everyone, the last thing I want to do is disobey Jaret's orders."
David turned to him, "I don't like this idea of his in the first place Ryan, and I wish Jaret would trust my people and me to do the job right in the first place. I don't want him in any more harms way then now."
"I know, but he is the captain and he does have a reason for it." Ryan grinned foolishly.
"Well, he doesn't have to pull rank with us! I hate when he does that." David bristled in frustration.
"I know you don't like it but it is out of our hands. We were ordered to stay away from him and from the situation till the time came. We know he has issues to take care of and I don't blame him one bit, but look at it this way David, if it was you or me that was injured like that and we know who our attacker is, would you rather take care of it yourself or allow someone else to do it?" asked Ryan as he stepped in front of David in the hallway.
David refused to look at Ryan but he just stood there, thinking about Ryan's question. After several minutes went by, Ryan was waiting patiently for David's reply. David looked up and said, "Okay, you have a point. I hate when you do that!"
Ryan smiled at him once more, "I'm sorry David, really I am but even I don't like this as well you do, but for the moment, I trust Jaret. I don't have much of a choice."
"Ryan, David!" called out a voice.
Ryan and David turned their attention to the voice that called their names out only to find Tressa heading her way. One look at her made them concerned with what she has to say next, "Tressa, what do we owe the pleasure of your company?" smiled Ryan.
"Nice try Ryan, but I have something I should bring up to you. You do know there are rumors going on that Jaret is dead and I have talked to some of the crew who are expressing doubts about weather the mission should continue." Tressa informed them.
"I think we need to address this with Jaret right now Ryan. Lets head to Medic Bay shall we?" admitted David with a sigh.
"Okay, let's get going. I hate going there." Ryan loudly grumbled as he motioned for Tressa and David to go ahead.
"You just don't like going to Medic Bay because your sister is there and she really doesn't like Jaret's idea at all." David snickered as he led the way to the nearest turbolift.
"Shut up." Ryan growled.
It was several minutes later when Tammy was fussing over Jaret on the bio bed that she heard Ryan, David, and Tressa walk in. She turned to them, "What do you want now!?"
"Tammy!" chastises Tressa.
"I'm sorry, but Jaret is being one very testy patient here and I'm on my last nerves with him." Tammy apologized as she stormed to her office.
David looked at Tressa with a look of pity on his face, "Sorry Tressa, I think you have the hardest job today out of all of us."
"Well, I guess I have to earn my keep somehow. You two talk to him about what I've told you and plan this accordingly. I'm going to go and try my best to calm Tammy down. Tell Jaret to take it easy on her, she was really worried about him yesterday, all of us were." Tressa nodded so she stepped aside and followed Tammy who was in her office fuming mad.
Ryan walked up to Jaret's bed and pulled up a chair for him and David, "We need to talk Jaret. There are already rumors that you're dead and some of the crew is expressing concerns about the mission."
David sat down once he saw that Tressa made it to Tammy's office with no worse for wear, "What do you want us to do?"
Jaret looked at them and sighed, "Announce to everyone that I'm dead and that the mission will go on as planned. You will take the rank of captain at my last request. Say whatever you can to make sure that my attacker believes there is no evidence that was found that would lead to an arrest of any kind."
"That makes sense; lull the person down, which really is going to suck later." David agreed as he shook his head. His hand went to rub his forehead as he tried to think of anything else he should bring up.
"Do it now Ryan. You two, go to the bridge. I'll get Tammy to input into the computer my fake "Death" certificate to back up your announcement." Jaret suggested.
"Okay, David, head back to your quarters, and meet me on the bridge. I'm going to grab Tressa. We might as well make this as "formal" as possible. Typically the Captain is supposed to do the ceremony but I think I'll grab Tressa instead. Make a big show of this right?" Ryan agreed.
"Good, that will get the ball rolling." Jaret nodded in understanding.
David shook his head and was muttering something under his breath when he got up from his chair and walked out of Medic Bay. Tressa and Tammy finally came out of the office.
"I figure you would plan something like this. I've already had a fake "Death" certificate ready just in case. Do you want me to finalize it now?" asked Tammy.
"Do it, and Tressa, go with Ryan, but before you, you have to get something." Jaret spoke softly as he reached over to his night table's drawer and pulled it open. Once he got what he need he turned back to Tressa and handed her a small black box, "This would make it very convincingly to everyone."
Tressa stepped forward and took the small box from him and followed Ryan out of Medic Bay. Tammy then stepped forward and punched in a few commands on the wall console. Jaret's life signs flat lined and she spoke up to the computer, "Time of Death: 1400 hours, stardate 9103.29, and cause of death: knife would to left lung. He was unable to recover from surgery due to loss of blood and shock. Patient name is Capt. Jaret Liam Pieper."
"Entry noted, any further information required?"
"Not at this time. Jaret, I hope you know what you're doing on this. I'm going to beam you back to your quarters and have it sealed. You can't be caught walking around the ship if you're dead." Tammy pointed out.
"I understand Tammy. Thanks for your help though, and I'm sorry if I've been giving you a rough time. It's just been hard enough for me to deal with the fact that I was attacked and well, left to die." Jaret said with some concern in his voice.
"Jaret, you need to talk to Tressa later, when you have time. I know it's not possible at the moment but you know she is worried about your mental and emotional health. You're fine physically but other than that…you need to get your feelings out before it drives you insane." Tammy pointed out to Jaret as she walked over to another console and waved her hand on it.
Before Jaret could reply to her, the whirling sound of the transporter activated and beamed Jaret back to his room. His mouth was seen to open but no sound came out. Tammy smiled, "Okay, let's get this going. Medic Bay to Bridge."
Back on the Bridge, Lisa was in command, "Bridge here, Tammy what is it?"
"I regret to inform you that Capt. Jaret Pieper has died. He didn't recover from his injuries or from the surgery. We tried our best. Ryan and David have been informed of it and will be shortly on the bridge to make the ship wide announcement. It's officially noted in the ships records." Tammy announced through the comlink.
Lisa's face fell as she heard that news. It felt like someone kicked her in the guts. Now she knows why Ryan has been away from the Bridge since the attack. He was spending time with Jaret in the hopes he would survive. She knew what was coming next. Then she heard the turbolift doors swish open to reveal Ryan and Tressa with a somber look on their face. Lisa got up from her chair but before she could take her station Ryan gestured her to stay put. By the time he got to her side, Tressa was holding a small black box.
"Lt. Allaway, would you please open the comlink for a ship wide announcement." Asked Ryan.
The officer at the security station nodded as he punched in some buttons to open the ship wide comlink. He then nodded again to inform Ryan that it was open and ready.
"Attention crew of the Galaxy. It is with a great sorrow that I am to announce the death of Capt. Jaret Pieper. He passed away today at 1400 hours at the result of his injuries and was unable to recover enough to survive. I know that this will come to a great shock to you all, but we will keep going on. This is what we came out to do, despite the risks it presents to us all. As of today, I hereby take the rank of Captain and Lt. Cmdr. Lisa Crusher is hereby promoted to the rank of Commander. Lt. David Dyck is promoted to Lieutenant Commander." Ryan announced as he struggled to keep his stoic mask on his face intact.
Tressa stepped forward, and opened the box; there were the two solid circles that will replace Ryan's half circles to indicate a change of rank. She took his old ones off his uniform and placed the new ones. She looked up at him, "Captain Ryan Livingston, do you promise to uphold the honor of your new rank?"
Ryan winced at that question as he hated being so formal in front of everyone, "Yes I do."
Tressa stepped back and took her seat next to the Captain's chair. Ryan turned around and nodded to Lt. Allaway to shut down the ship wide comlink. His shoulders sagged as he sat down in the chair. He grimaced inwardly because he knew he was really in a rough place now.
"I'm sorry Ryan, this is not easy but I'm sure with that announcement, we will continue to forge ahead. I'm sure the rest of the crew will agree to it." Lisa spoke sadly.
Ryan looked at her and sighed again. It was going to be yet another long day. How long will this farce last?