16
Yimar eluded her and took away the drug delivery tube. This was not good. She was just a kid and, even though the alien woman was lying in a hospital bed, she was still the stronger of the two of them. "I hope this is worth it," she said.
"Worth it." parroted the woman.
=/\=
It was after normal working hours, but Deb Haddon and Brian Delacroix were working anyway. The Empress had ordered the senior staff to the Bridge and, with no internal communications working, they were forced to go out and knock on doors.
"This is boring." Deb complained. "We still can't find Tucker."
"Should switch the lights off, turn on an ultraviolet. I bet he glows." Delacroix joked. "Say, um, once we're done with this, ya wanna ...?"
"I'm with Masterson," she said, cutting him off. "Where the hell is Tucker? The Old Man, easy. In his room. Dr. Morgan, in Sick Bay like he was supposed to be. Empress and Mayweather already on the Bridge. So where the hell is Tucker?"
"We didn't look there," Brian said, indicating the Empress's quarters.
"We're not supposed to go in there after Jun's gone to sleep. No one's allowed to wake him." Deb pointed out.
"Hmm. We better knock anyway."
=/\=
It was a few hours later.
"Thank you for coming to dinner, Dr. Baden," Polloria said, sitting down.
"Ah, this does look good." The doctor said, "And how are you children?"
"Uh, fine," Yimar said, "Chelben, wait for prayers."
"Father, may I lead the prayers?" Treve asked.
"Of course."
"Thank you, Lo, for this bountiful spread. Thank you, Abic, for the drinks. Thank you, Fep, for the table. Thank you, Ub, for staying away."
Everyone nodded and they started eating.
"Doctor, how is it going?"
"Well, it's going well," he said, "This alien has an interesting brain configuration. A lot about some strange things, a lot of memory devoted to things like protein and something called cilantro."
Treve smiled. "The alien is a food preparer."
"Yes, she even showed Treve how to use a knife and fork." Chawev said, indicating with his own fork. "A good way to bring her in close and get better readings. You did well, my son."
"Well, I support the main purpose here," Treve said.
"What's that?" Yimar asked, looking up from helping Chelben cut a slice of a large purple vegetable.
"Yimar, all aliens are inferior to us," Polloria said, "And this is how we understand that better. They come here and we pluck one of them out and bring them here for a few days of study."
"Well, there's more to it than that." Chawev added. "We position our sensors so that we know when a ship carrying a new species is coming. And for a few days before they get here, we use those big dishes – remember seeing those when we went to Point Abic last year?"
"Yes, Father. They were huge." Yimar agreed.
"Yes, that's right. Well, those dishes emit a certain complex series of waves. You can't see or feel them or hear them. And neither can the aliens. But it affects a few of them and whichever one is most affected is our best candidate. And then when they come closer to our system, we make contact, go on their ship, and then we transport away our candidate for a few days of study."
"Does that hurt them?" Yimar asked.
"It doesn't hurt to be transported," Treve said carefully.
"That's true," Polloria said, "Then we wipe their memories temporarily and see how quickly they can relearn them. And while they're in such a state, we can access everything they know."
"Does, does that hurt?" Yimar asked, a little scared.
"They're aliens. They're inferior. It doesn't matter whether it hurts them." Polloria stated. "Finish your dinner."
"Y-yes, Polloria."
"And I told you, you need to start getting used to calling me Mother."
=/\=
The senior officers had reassembled in the main conference room. Captain Archer began. "Well, I don't need to tell everyone here that we've got a situation. What's our status? Travis?"
"We've got Impulse and nothing else. And the controls are frozen, it's like they're locked in place. I can't change course; it just keeps going through the predefined pattern."
"Communications?" asked Jonathan.
"We can't talk to anyone but ourselves," Hoshi said.
"Tactical?" asked the Captain.
"Targeting array is completely offline. No phasers. Torpedo bays are fused." Malcolm stated. "It wasn't like that before; that might have been some sort of an earlier oversight, but it's that way now."
"Transportation?" Jonathan asked.
"Transporter is operational but I can't input coordinates." Tucker said, "Shuttles exist but those bay doors are fused as well."
"Where are we on repairs?" Jonathan asked.
"I've got a crew devoted to Communications." Tripp said, "Unless you want 'em working on something else. Frankly, since we're just kind of locked into what looks like an infinite loop, we could technically throw almost everyone at repairs. Don't need a pilot, don't need Tactical, don't need Communications. We're nothing without our machines and devices, Captain."
"That is a logical course of action," said T'Pol.
"Agreed. Now, what about our other problem?"
"Captain, if I may." Malcolm began. "Hoshi and I, it was perhaps incorrect of us to do this without permission, but we felt – or at least I did – a bit guilty about the incident with Ensign O'Day's PADD message being read."
"And ...?" asked Jonathan.
"Well, we – it was my idea, so any blame should fall on my head alone – we decided to ..."
"It was my idea, too." Hoshi piped up.
"What idea is this?" asked the Captain.
"We made contact. With Hayes," Malcolm said.
"How?" asked Tripp.
"We wrote back to him," Hoshi said, "And he's written back."
"What is this correspondence achieving?" asked Dr. Phlox.
"Can't tell," Malcolm said, "Here, I'll read what he wrote:
'Malcolm, Hoshi and Jenn,'"
"Jenn?" asked T'Pol. "Is that Ensign Crossman?"
"Yes. We figured she'd want to be in on it. And we, we needed access into their quarters for this to work," Hoshi said.
"Could you finish reading the note?" Jonathan asked.
"Yes, sir, of course." Malcolm read on.
'I tried that Directed Dreaming like Hoshi recommended. And I think it worked, but I can't really tell. I just saw a lot of white. Maybe a white room, I don't know. The other thing was the smell. It was like the stuff they used to use in my old school to clean the carpets. Didn't hear any sounds, don't know if I was anywhere near Lili. Will try again tonight.
– DJH'
"That stuff is vile." Tucker said, "It's sodium- and sulphur-based and it reeks until it dries." he explained.
"I remember that," Travis said, "Nobody ever came to my schoolroom early because the disinfectant reeked so badly."
"Uh, this trip down Memory Lane is all well and good," Jonathan said, "but what is it telling us? And, Lieutenant – next time, come to me with your plans. I don't disagree with this but I am still concerned about trusting Hayes at all."
"His observations could be faulty or not even present," Phlox agreed. "It would be rather convenient for him if he is the one who has the Ensign, and is merely working to throw us off the, the scent, as it were."
"Maybe she's at a school," Hoshi said.
"Are there other places where such a disinfectant would be in widespread use?" T'Pol inquired.
"Yes," Phlox said, "Hospitals."
=/\=
Dinner finished, Polloria pushed Yimar and Chelben out of the room so that she and the three men could talk.
"Do you think Yimar understands the second purpose?" Treve asked.
"Probably not," Polloria said, "What good would it do to tell a fourteen-year-old child of our politics?"
"She may understand more than we think." Chawev said, "But the specifics would likely be troubling to her. I mean, she knows that a High Priestess must voluntarily designate her successor. She also knows that her mother is the High Priestess and that her mother is very ill. She is well aware that this alien – despite how we have dressed and tattooed her – is not her mother."
"I just perform surgery," Dr. Baden said, "Tell me, how will the rest of it work?"
"We are going to have the Festival of Lo and Abic in two days. We will bring the alien out, and say she is Yipran. Only the closest of the close will realize it isn't my wife. After all, Yipran has been ill for years. We have publicly prayed for her health for half a decade."
"And the alien will point to me as her successor," Polloria said.
"Yes, of course," Baden said, "And then what?"
"Well, as you know, normally we would just return the alien. We did that with the Klingon we plucked, with the Andorian and the Vulcan. Things didn't work out so well with that – what was that other one called?" Chawev asked.
"Ferengi." Treve reminded him.
"Yes, yes, nasty little grasping folk. Where was I? Oh yes, the endgame. We would return the alien but it's not so simple. It needs to be obvious that Yipran has died before Polloria can take her place. So we will need to publicly eliminate the alien."
"And of the real Yipran? Won't that become messy and inconvenient?" Baden asked.
"Only if her existence is revealed. She stays in the Main Hospital, patient #116. In perpetuity, if need be. Declared dead. No family. No friends. No visitors other than you, Baden."
"Father, it is still wrong. Whatever, whatever problems you had with Mother, I, I don't know if I can condone any of this."
"But you've condoned plenty of it already, Treve," Polloria said, "Why get morally squeamish now?"
"I – Polloria – I was a child when you, you came into our lives and Mother became ill. I have done my best to accept you. And I am, I am glad that Mother will not actually be killed, although if she were at all conscious it might be something she'd wish. But killing this alien? Cannot we put her back as we usually do?"
"You never saw it," Baden said. He was older than everyone, including Chawev. "But I did. When there is no High Priestess, there is chaos. The people are – we are the best species in the universe but many of our people are foolishly superstitious. They want to believe in an unbroken chain of High Priestesses of Lo, served by faithful First Ministers dedicated to Abic. The succession law exists to fulfill that very purpose. And it also exists to keep potential successors from simply killing an installed High Priestess. But the whole system falls apart if the High Priestess dies unexpectedly. And this situation – where the High Priestess is comatose – has never happened before."
"So Mother will never, ever recover?" Treve asked.
"No. Her body will probably live on for a few more years and then it will be worn out and the fading life will finally end," Baden said.
"It was fortunate that the humans came along when they did." Chawev said, "We could have waited longer, I suppose. But this opportunity has been truly stellar. As if this alien were tailor-made for this very purpose. Almost a pity we can't trot her out for some other purposes before elimination."
=/\=
"So, everyone's got their marching orders," Jonathan said, "And Malcolm, give me a few minutes. I have a letter of my own I wish to write."
"By all means, sir."
Jonathan began typing on his own PADD:
'Hayes,
You know I can't reveal much about our situation and I expect you can't say too much about how things are going on your end, either. All we can think of is to check public institutions. Follow your nose. Keep us informed.
– J. Archer'
=/\=
The senior officers were assembled on the Bridge, except for Tucker. Haddon and Delacroix walked in with him, late.
"Nice of you to drop by." Hoshi snarled.
"You won't believe where we found him!" Delacroix crowed. Tucker glared.
"Never mind that," said Hoshi. "What's our status?"
"No warp drive. No control over Impulse." Tripp said, "No transporter. No targeting array. Can't get torpedo or shuttle bays open. All communications are dead, even inside the ship."
"Repairs?" The Empress asked.
"Having no working sensors now, it's even harder to tell if we're making any sort of progress." Tripp said, "I need bodies to fix it all."
Delacroix giggled at the sound of the word bodies. Haddon poked him in the ribs to silence him.
"Take whoever you need. And don't dawdle. Now, what about Crossman?"
"No sign," Doug said, "And no good way to look or mount a first strike. I can assemble a strike force and get it ready, but we'd be all dressed up with no place to go."
"Hold off for now," said the Empress. "Double shifts starting tomorrow, everyone. And everyone is on repair detail. Get the overnight crew in here. Dismissed."
=/\=
"So, we're agreed?" asked Polloria, after clearing the dishes.
"Yes," said Chawev. "Once you have been designated as the successor, we kill that alien. That beast is hazardous. Next time, I might not have fast enough reflexes."
"You have good enough reflexes," Polloria said, grabbing at him.
17
Doug could smell it again, even before he could see it.
Fumes. Smoke. Polluted. Awful.
He fought off sneezing. Sneezing in a dream? He pondered that for a split second. No stranger than anything else that had happened during the past week or so.
He walked through white fog and shadows. "I can't find you." he finally said, in exasperation.
"I can't find you." came her voice.
"Talk to me!" he yelled joyfully. "Talk!"
"Talk?"
"Yes, talk. Tell me about, about pasta and, and Titan and blue dresses and baseball. Just, just talk to me and let me find you!"
"Blue. Dresses?"
"Yes! Just speak, babble, it doesn't even have to be coherent." he could tell he was closer but something was off.
"Bab, babble," she said cautiously. "I, I, Yipran."
It was less foggy, and less white. It was ... silvery.
"Hmm? One more sentence. A few more steps."
"Awake. Four. Friend."
"No, you're sleeping," he said, reaching a silvery shape. It was a curtain. He parted it.
She was – at least, it seemed to be her – lying in a bed. Large tubes in both arms. Unfamiliar monitoring equipment behind her. Arms were, strange, wearing long patterned sleeves.
"Sleeping?" she asked.
"Yes, Lili. You may not believe it, but you are sleeping." he came closer.
"Believe," she said tentatively, then looked at him quizzically. "Who – who are you?"
=/\=
Treve really didn't want to be there alone, late at night, babysitting a hazardous alien. Still, he had his studies with him. Might as well be productive. History. Philosophy. Nothing too exciting but not too bad. The life of a future diplomat, he thought to himself. A diplomat to inferiors.
The alien stirred.
"Oh, you're up," he said.
"Up." she parroted.
"Yes." he came closer for a look. "You must be very old. Your hair is so long. And no calloo any more, too, just bare extremities when we plucked you."
"Calloo?"
"Yes, calloo. It's what those patterns on your arms and legs are called. Once they're gone, you're close to dying. Doesn't matter what from – you're ancient if you have no calloo."
"Ancient?"
"Yes. Like you. You're very old. But still strong. Odd," he said, coming even closer.
She grabbed at him, which surprised him. "Old?" she asked.
"Yes. You. You are old," he said, but he didn't make a move to take her hand away.
She smiled at him. "Not. Not old."
"Hmm. Maybe not. I don't even know if you humans have calloo. Doesn't matter. I wonder what else is true of your anatomy," he said, beginning to enjoy her grip on him.
"Anatomy," she said, smiling. She pulled her thin hospital shift up.
"Oh," he said, looking down at her. "You may not be able to speak much, but you don't seem to have forgotten this." he bent over for a closer inspection. She then grabbed his bald head and kissed him.
"What?" she asked.
"What do I want to do? Is that what you are asking?"
"Yes."
"I," he smiled, "I am a bit flattered, I admit. I have not been with a woman. Not an alien and not a Calafan. And I'm tempted to find out just what sex with you would be like."
"Sex," she said, licking her lips. "Like."
This time he initiated the kiss. "I, I should tell you. When we, we Calafans, uh, mate –"
"Mate."
"Yes, when we, when we mate, my, uh, my climax, it takes a while. Everything swells up so that I can release as much, uh, sperm as possible. Things might be – at least that is my understanding – might become sticky. Or, or tight."
"Tight," she said, hands all over him now, clutching at his clothes to get them off.
=/\=
Doug was stricken. "It's, it's me. It's Doug. Your Doug."
"Doug."
He was very close, and reached for her. She shrank back.
=/\=
MacKenzie was ambling through the halls. Sure the Empress wanted him in for repair work. Ugh. How dull.
He spied a lone female. "Haddon!"
"Yeah?"
"Busy?"
"Everyone's busy. I'm just getting off shift, finally." she complained.
"Wanna get off another way?"
"I'm with Masterson." she pointed out.
"Haddon, until Crossman is back, you'll be, uh, otherwise engaged every night. Up for it?"
She looked around and weighed her options, then followed him to his quarters.
=/\=
"Don't, don't be afraid of me. Please, please, don't be afraid," Doug said.
"I, I don't, don't ..." her voice trailed off.
"I don't know what's happening with you," he said gently. "You, you seem sick or hurt somehow. You're in some sort of a hospital, I think. And you don't seem to know me. But I know you. And, and, I will not harm you."
"I, I don't know you," she said, voice trembling.
"And you don't seem to know yourself, either. You, you are Lili O'Day. You can cook and you can laugh and you are, you are, uh, responsible for me becoming, well, becoming sane," he said.
"Laugh?"
"Let me, let me touch you," he said softly. "Just, please. I've waited so long."
She closed her eyes and braced herself. "God," he said, "what did they do to you?" He reached closer. Several centimeters away, a spark leapt from his hand to her arm. She jumped and cried out incoherently. "Oh my God. I am so, so sorry. I, God, I've made a mess of it. I, I never, never meant to hurt you."
She looked up. "Like, like stones."
"You, you remember something," he said quietly.
"Steak."
"Yep." he took her hand and the sparking stopped. "I'm going to get you out of here."
=/\=
Treve and the alien woman were done and he was contemplating another round. "That was delicious," he said to her.
"Delicious."
"Yes, well, I wish I knew your real name, but I'm afraid I don't. And I can't go around calling you by my own mother's name, even if everyone else is going to."
"Name?"
"Yes. You, you have a name. And so does everything else. Like, like here." he pointed to her left hand. "Correct hand. And the other one is the incorrect hand."
"Correct?"
"Yes. Correct and incorrect, both sides. And here," he took her hand. "Thumb." he kissed it. "Ub finger." he kissed her index finger. "Fep finger." he kissed the middle finger. "Abic finger." he kissed her ring finger. "And Lo finger." he kissed her pinky.
She leaned over and kissed his arm. "Calloo."
"Yes, that's right. But I don't really have much in the way of calloo yet. I wish I could ask you how old you are. I suspect you're younger than you appear to be, but there's no way of confirming that, not really." He touched her lips and she smiled at him.
"You are a naughty alien," he said, "I have no basis of comparison, of course. I, I, one thing that can happen when we Calafans mate is, we pair bond very strongly. I didn't think that was possible with an alien. It's not supposed to be."
"Bond," she said, "Pair."
"Do you want to have another go?"
"Yes!" she said.
While they were kissing, the door opened.
=/\=
"How?" she asked.
"That's, uh, to be determined."
She shook her head, shaking off cobwebs. "I, oh, where am I?"
"I wish I knew," Doug said, "You'll need to gather the clues yourself. I can only see whatever you can see."
She looked at him intently. "I, I think I may know you. But I can't place you."
=/\=
"Treve!" It was Dr. Baden.
"Oh, my!" Treve sprang to his feet. He covered himself with his right hand.
"Incorrect hand!" the alien woman pointed and giggled.
"What have you done?" Baden asked.
"I, I, isn't it obvious?"
"Yes, but with an inferior? Treve, this is an old military tactic. It's a weapon in an arsenal."
"It was what we both wanted," Treve said.
"Inferiors don't give consent. They can't. Their minds can't wrap around it. Get dressed."
Treve didn't have to be told twice. "Doctor, uh, doctor, I'm so sorry. Please, please don't tell my father or Polloria. Please."
"Allow me to explain this to you." The doctor said, once Treve was dressed. "Actually, not in here. Come with me." They walked into the next room. "Treve, that is an alien. They are no more sentient than the animals in the streams and the fields, that we use for our food. You cannot do such things and not expect there to be consequences."
"I, I know. I don't know what came over me."
"The Festival of Ub and Fep is tomorrow. No time to really do anything about this until after that. And the alien will be eliminated by then," Baden said.
"Y-yes, sir."
"Don't tell me you've pair bonded."
"N-no, sir."
"You'd best not have. Polloria doesn't want any complications."
=/\=
Doug smiled at her. "That's something, at least. I, I don't want to give you too much, too soon."
"Is there, is there a lot?"
"Yes," he said, thumb caressing her fingers. "There is a lot. There's everything."
"Are we, uh, are we together?"
"Kind of. It's a lot to explain." He sat down on the side of her bed. "You and I aren't even awake right now, which is even crazier. But you and I, we, uh, it's very special."
"Are you in the room with me?"
"No, not, not really. And I don't even know where the room is. Do you, do you have any clues?"
"There is a doctor. At least I think he is one. And children."
"Children?"
"Yes. They are, they are my children."
"No. They aren't. You're being sold a bill of goods."
"A, a what?"
"Um, you're being lied to," Doug said, "Anything else?"
"It smells bad. Like cleaning solution, I think. And there is, there is my, he says he is, my, my husband. Am I, uh, having an affair with you?"
Doug smiled. "It's not like that." He felt the tug of morning. "I'm going to wake up soon. And the connection will be broken until we both fall asleep again. I know that makes no sense and I don't have the time to explain it right now. I can tell you're recovering but I think you'd better make it look like you aren't. I think if they think you're a lot better, they'll try to figure out why. And then they might cut this connection off again somehow."
"I, I can't pretend to understand," she said, "I'm not even sure I can trust you, but you seem warm and, and I don't know. There is just something."
"Yes, there is definitely something," he said, "I would like to kiss you but I don't want to alarm or upset you in any way. But I can't help telling you that that's what I want to do."
She smiled at him. "I, I feel like I barely know myself. But I feel I am a loyal person. Whether I am loyal to this, to my husband, or to you, I cannot tell."
"You'll need to be careful, remember that. Please don't let them think you're more recovered. You've got to go back to just saying a few random words." He kissed her hand. "The best hand. I couldn't resist." He got up.
"Will you be back?"
"Count on it."
He disappeared into the mist and, before he awoke, he typed out his findings.
18
Jenny couldn't sleep. She got up and saw the flashing PADD. A message. Okay. But it was still early.
'Captain Archer,
I know she's alive and in a hospital. She's got something wrong, it's like brain damage. I don't really know. She said there were children in the hospital. I think they may have been visiting her. And I am a little a lot concerned that the connection may be fading a bit. I think we need to work more quickly.
– DJH'
"What are you doing up, Doug?" she asked the empty room. "It's not time to get up yet."
There was a chime at the door. She threw a sweatshirt on over her sleeping clothes. "Uh, come on in."
"Oh, uh, Ensign. Sorry 'bout this." It was Tripp Tucker. "And I know it's the middle of the night and all, but I, I was thinking. Something isn't adding up here. Um, I can come back in the morning."
She yawned. "No, that's okay. Inspiration strikes when you least expect it. So, uh, what brings you here?"
"Well I was thinking. The connection always seems to happen when she's asleep. And when Hayes is asleep, too. So I'm thinking, there's possibly some place in this system where we are whenever the connection opens."
"Did you find it? And, uh, why are you here?" Jenny asked.
"I'm getting to that, sorry. Anyway, I found, we seem to hook around the second-largest planet right around bedtime for anyone on regular shift. 'Course people get into bed at different times, and they fall asleep whenever their bodies let them. But it seemed like too big of a coincidence to just dismiss it."
"And?"
"And the other place is right here. It's her bed. She doesn't, um, sleep walk, does she? 'Cause if she does, my theory's shot to hell."
"No. Talking, not walking."
"Oh? Huh, interesting. Sautéing instructions at night?"
Jenny smiled. "A bit, um, earthier than that usually."
"Oh, yes. Er, shouldn't have asked that." Tripp said, "Moving right along. As you can see, what I have here is a sensor and a recorder. We'll stick 'em under and see what happens."
"Uh, that's all well and good, but he seems to think the connection is breaking." she showed him the PADD.
"Huh, well that's no good. We'll go Old School then, and just poke around." Tripp got down on all fours and looked around the bed.
Jenny followed suit, on the other side. "What are we looking for?"
"Anything, I dunno, weird."
"Well, the mattress is kinda hard." she pointed out.
"Hmm." he straightened up and sat down tentatively. "Harder side is the left. Huh." He grabbed at the sheets. "Help me with these."
They took the sheets off the bed and then lifted the mattress. "Well, will you look at that." Tripp said.
"What am I looking at?"
"Right there. There was a small hole. And it was filled and stitched up."
"Somebody came in here and did this? The Calafans?" Jenny asked.
"Probably not, but it's possible. Here, touch that." he indicated the filled hole.
"It's not fabric. It's, it's like metal."
"Yeah. It's like someone was too lazy or cheap to cut out a piece of an unused mattress so they just soldered something together, stuck it in, sewed over it and hoped no one would ever notice it."
"We need to tell the Captain," Jenny said.
"Tell him, too." Tripp indicated the PADD.
=/\=
A little pacing in his quarters was not calming Doug down. It was early. Why did the break happen early? "That's the second time this has happened. Am I losing contact?" he asked the room.
He put his face in his hands and rubbed his weary eyes. "Stones. Rocks in my head if I screw this up."
The bed seemed harder than usual. It was difficult to get comfortable. "The last thing I need is insomnia."
He lay back again and went through his usual pre-sleep calming ritual – thinking of Ganymede, Springtime. Before he'd started school.
=/\=
Lili laid in her bed at the hospital. It didn't feel right. The bed just seemed to be too soft. She got up tentatively. "These will have to go." she whispered, removing the big tubes from her arms. She bled a little bit it wasn't severe. "Don't suppose I can ask anyone around here for a bandage."
Cautiously, she opened the door. 208. She made a mental note and started to walk down a corridor, hiding in doorways when anyone was coming.
She walked down a ramp and that seemed to move her down one story. Calafans were coming. She tried one door, then another. Finally, one worked. She pushed in.
=/\=
Doug was in the hospital again, but by himself. "Is anybody there?" he called out.
"Anybody." came a woman's echoing voice. A familiar voice.
"Jennifer?"
=/\=
"And that's when we realized we'd better tell you." Tripp said. He and Jenny were in the Captain's Ready Room.
Jenny was glad that she'd gotten her uniform on at least. "Uh, what do you think about the possibility that we're under a time crunch now, sir?" she asked.
"Maybe so." Captain Archer allowed. "Delaying isn't getting us anywhere. So, Tripp, what say you?"
"I think we're going about it only partly right, Cap'n, if I may say so myself. Getting Communications up is fine, and it follows protocol. But we should be getting transport up as more of a priority. Because I'm willing to bet dollars to doughnuts that she's on that second-biggest planet somewhere."
"They could have hundreds of hospitals. And the children? What of them?" Jonathan inquired.
"There are probably a few million children there," Jenny pointed out.
"Yes, but the First Minister – didn't he say he had kids?" Tripp asked.
"To quote the Commander, 'That seems logical.'" Jenny said.
"Agreed. Now, here, one more message for our man inside," Jonathan took the PADD for a few minutes. "Get back here, early morning."
=/\=
This hospital room was different. The walls were red, not white, but it still had the awful smell.
Doug walked in. "Jennifer. Jennifer."
"Who?" she asked. Her arms were covered with coppery scrollwork patterns.
"You. You're Jennifer," he said, "Do you have any idea where this is?"
"Where this is." she parroted.
"You've got it worse than Lili does," Doug muttered under his breath. "Well, here goes nothing."
He took her hand. No spark. He dropped it quickly. "Anything?" he asked, searching her hazel eyes.
"Anything." she parroted, and then vanished.
=/\=
"And I tell you, Treve, they are still our inferiors," Dr. Baden pointed out.
"Yes, yes, I know that," Treve said, "But these are people with warp capabilities. Even if we allow for our own personal prejudices and thoughts, we also have to allow for them having technological intelligence."
"And other kinds of intelligence?" Baden asked. "Treve, I will not tell your father or Polloria and we will consider this matter closed. You are a young man and just trying to experience life. But it should have been with a Calafan woman." he scolded. They walked into Jennifer's room.
"Ah, you're awake. Big day today. Festival of Ub and Fep," Baden said.
"Treve!" she smiled. "I, I, I."
"See? Inferior," Baden said.
"What are you trying to say?" Treve asked.
"J-Jennifer."
"I wonder what that means," Treve said.
"Probably nothing." Baden replied. "Here, we will need to dress her for Point Abic today. You've seen her naked. You may as well assist."
=/\=
Lili looked around the room. Tons of machinery, most of it very loud. And a shrunken woman in a bed. There were tubes in her arms and her legs, which were covered with fading silvery scrollwork.
Lili tentatively sat on the bed. There was no one else there. "I'm sorry, I don't mean to intrude. I, I know who I am. Or at least I think I do. I don't think you can say the same."
The woman in the bed said nothing.
=/\=
Doug's dream was changing, the walls were changing, turning from red to white. "Lili!" he called out.
He was able to glide through halls and down a ramp, seeing unfamiliar parts of the hospital. There was an ajar door. He stopped in front of it. "116." he read.
He pushed in and saw Lili sitting at a bedside. He called her name again, but she didn't turn around. He came closer. "Can you hear me?"
There was no reaction. "God, don't let this be the last of it," he said. He put his hand out but couldn't make physical contact.
Independent of his touch, Lili got up. "I'd better go now," she said to the shrunken woman. She pushed open the door and was accosted by doctors.
Doug felt himself pulled away, almost waking. "Probably really waking up now." he whispered. There was the PADD, as expected. He clicked it on.
'Hayes,
Check the second-largest planet. And the First Minister, assuming he has a counterpart on your side. Let us know what you get.
– J. Archer'
Doug typed back.
'Captain,
Things are changing. I don't know how long I can sustain this. It's a big hospital, looks to be state of the art. Morgan Phlox would know. It's not her room, but check this one anyway once you're here: 116. I'll help as long as I can.
- DJH'
The general alarm went off, and he woke that morning for good.