Qel who?

Posted on Tue Oct 25th, 2022 @ 10:00pm by Lieutenant Commander Klarth & Lieutenant Commander Rayek trLhoell & Lieutenant JG S'Lace
Edited on on Wed Oct 26th, 2022 @ 4:54pm

3,219 words; about a 16 minute read

Mission: Into The Void
Location: Sickbay
Timeline: (sometime after the dimension jump)

That the Captain insisted Rayek get his injuries treated, only meant that she was concerned about his well-being. He knew that; but to the Romulan it seemed that if she didn't trust his judgement on his own self-care then how was she supposed to trust his decisions on anything else? He was so new to the ship, that he knew the rest of the crew would be watching him and judging his every action. Showing weakness was not something he wanted to present. Still an order was an order.

Rayek stepped into Sickbay and gave the room a quick glance over and noted the presence of Lieutenant Commander Arkyn laid out on a biobed. The Romulan waited to be approached by one of the staff.

"We should be fine," S'Lace said to a flustered crewman who had suffered a sprained ankle after the jump, "Doctor Klarth is quite experienced in these travels. I-"

She glanced up and took note of Rayek's arrival. She met his eyes and then nodded towards Klarth's office.

The Romulan inclined his head in acknowledgement before turning towards the office she had indicated. He stood in front of the door, letting it chime to announce his presence.

"Come in" said Klarth who was looking at a stack of data pads. He glanced up only long enough to see who it was and then started reading again. "Oh it's you, I was wondering when you'd drop by. Sit down a second... It must be some kind of law of bureaucracy that the worse off you are the more paperwork you end up doing and we're not exactly on a pleasure cruise on Risa, are we?" Klarth continued to look at and sign data pads, but he soon finished and gave Rayek his full attention. "So what brings you here? "

Rayek entered, moving far enough into the room so that the automatic doors swished closed behind him. His dark eyes looked over the room before settling on the Klingon seated at the CMO desk. Rayek ignored the offer to sit, standing instead in front of the Doctor's desk.

Rather than admit that he'd been ordered here by the Captain, Rayek chose to be proactive. "Starfleet protocol requires that all transferring personnel undergo a medical examination upon arrival at their new ship. As it seems, I will be with the Lionheart for the foreseeable future... and as your medical database likely does not have my record on file, it seemed prudent to have that done sooner rather than later."

Klarth stands up and starts scanning Rayek with a medical scanner. "Yes, I hope you don't mind if we are somewhat thorough with the medical exam. It's not often we get to examine time travelers and dimensional travelers. I am very interested to measure your residual omicron particles and see if I can detect any sort of phase shift in your molecules... but is that the only reason you're here? If I was in your position, stuck in an other dimension, I'd be trying to see who my potential allies were as well as potential enemies...There was some tension between us when we first met at the briefing. Have you come to feel me out some more? Have you come to fight?" Klarth looked around at the small size of the office and laughed to himself at the idea. "I've never had a fight in this office it might be fun, not much space to maneuver. But I'd probably spend three times as long cleaning up the mess and the blood so if you want to fight I'd rather do it somewhere else."

Rayek remained standing motionless as the Klingon, rather than direct him to an examination room, began his scan of him right there and then. He made no comment to Lieutenant Klarth's rambling about omicron particles and phase shifts.

However, the Klingon doctor's suggestion that he might have visited Sickbay for more than the simple medical treatment that the Captain ordered was a bit amusing to the Romulan - but only because a few years prior... and the Klingon would have been absolutely correct.

"That hadn't been my intent initially. We are both Starfleet officers after all. You were surprisingly level-headed during the briefing. And the Captain obviously has trust in you - that is sufficient for now for me to know."

"Indeed the Captain seems to trust you as well," said Klarth, "and I must admit you do not seem as self-serving and devious as most Romulans I have encountered."

It was wise of the Klingon to put in the qualifiers 'seem' and 'as most' in his statement, Rayek thought. The Romulan could easily think of several instances where his self-serving instincts had ostracized him from his Federation counterparts. He had been demoted from Command rank two separate times for exactly such self-serving reasons. Protecting his own rather than following Starfleet policy to the letter. The most recent demotion had been just prior to the Lionheart's arrival in his dimension, and had been signed off by his own Captain/wife, which was why he was currently ranked as only a Lieutenant and not his usually Commander rank, as befitting the First Officer role he'd held on the Amalthea formerly.

His actions had caused quite a bit of strife between him and Tess; but even so, Rayek wasn't certain if given the same situation again, that he wouldn't repeat his actions since they were intended to keep her, their son and the entire crew of the Amalthea safe from a known Tal'Shiar agent that had already killed one of the crew during an attempt to assassinate Rayek. Verlock, the Vulcan science officer had been killed - collateral damage in an attack aimed at him.

Rayek felt an 'eye for an eye' was an appropriate adage for the situation and had used his position as XO and Chief of Security to clear the brig where the culprit was being held in order to facilitate the deed. It was Tess, looking for her husband, that found him beating the assassin- his own brother - into unconsciousness. If left unchecked, Rayek knew he would have likely been incarcerated for murder.

Rayek had been told repeatedly he was fortunate that he'd been stopped. Rayek wasn't sure. He knew his brother was dangerous.

Moving on from these depressing thoughts, Rayek made a show of glancing about the CMO's office before smiling towards the Klingon and responded to the notion of a fight. "Any mess made would be your own doing. I could likely drop you where you stand with minimal effort."

Klarth began laughing deeply and gives Rayek a playful slap on the back, "Now, you really must promise me we can do some sparring sessions." Klarth points to and rubs his belly. "I admit I'm not in perfect shape, it's all this Federation food. Have you ever had mozzarella sticks? By Kahless' hand they do not have such indulgences on Klingon ships."

The playful slap earned a wince from the Romulan as it jarred Rayek's wound unintentionally. He nodded at the Klarth's request to do sparring together. "I would enjoy that - after my wound has healed fully," he stipulated as the Klingon doctor began to make excuses for his paunch.

Rayek fully understood the comparison between Klingon and Federation food, and how that would contribute to a less than perfect body.
In response to Klarth's question about the mozzerella sticks, Rayek nodded. "Yes, I have. I actually mistakenly tried my hand at cooking them once, thinking to give my wife a taste of home... only to be informed afterwards that they are not true Italian food."

Rayek, realizing the assumption that might be made by the Klingon doctor, added a bit of personal information for clarity. "My wife, Tess, though Ba'ku, was adopted when she was young and raised on Earth by an Italian family."

"Well you are just full of surprises" said Klarth... Klarth began to look at his injuries "As I assumed, looks like S'Lace did a fine job with these, you just need time for them to heal."

Rayek nodded at the physician's assessment of his wounds. "That is good to know."

He paused then a moment, wondering if it was best to be upfront with this crew about his telepathic abilities. Rayek was very much aware that not only had he traveled back in time but also across dimensions. From what Captain Hadenbeer had told them when she was trapped in his time and dimension, their history was quite similar. In which case, in 2380, the Romulan Empire was still reeling in the aftermath of the decimation of the Senate by Shinzon. There would still be a lot of distrust by the Federation towards Romulans.

However, if he were to attempt to hide his ability and it was discovered, that distrust would only be amplified. Best he get that out of the way now. "And yes, I am - as you say - full of surprises. One of which, I should disclose to you and at least the senior staff - the Captain already knows. I am a telepath. It is not a common trait among my people but it does seem to follow the males in my family."

Klarth seemed a bit taken aback. "how strong a telepath are we talking? Are you reading my thoughts right now?"

Rayek chuckled at the Klingon's questions. "My range is rather limited." He admitted, answering the doctor's questions in order. "It tends to be line-of-sight and within 50m max. I've been trained in Mind Meld techniques for deeper mental searches after I had inadvertently contracted Pa'nar from an infected individual - but physical contact for just surface thoughts is not necessary. And no, I am not reading your thoughts currently. Though I could easily and you would never know, unless you yourself are telepathic."

Klarth's first thought was again of battle, "This would really be an advantage in combat. Have you ever read a persona's mind while fighting to anticipate his moves?"

Klarth thought about it and then said, "This is a serious advantage, I become more and more relieved that we appear to be comrades in arms rather than opponents."

An intriguing notion, but one that Rayek didn't think was possible; at least not at his current level of ability. "The concentration required to search through an opponents mind while in combat would make that action far less useful than one might suspect."

Then Klarth did a quick look to make sure it didn't look like anyone in sickbay was coming into his office anytime soon and leaned in close to Rayek and said. "Have you read any of the other senior staff? If Commander R'elle still wants to have Hadenbeer thrown in the brig, do you think anyone will support her? We have to make sure that doesn't happen."

The fact that the doctor leaned in close in a conspiratorial manner had Rayek leaning in also, in case the Klingon chose to whisper as well. The Romulan had a strong inkling as to what the topic was going to be about - the Captain; and he wasn't off the mark. The Klingon's questions - however well intended towards the Captain, whom he respected - irritated Rayek. His ability only ever seemed to evoke two sentiments in people - concern and opportunism. In the span of less than two minutes, the Klingon had displayed both.

"Seriously doctor? Do I look foolish enough to state I have an telepathic ability and then follow that up with a statement that could have me arrested?" He smirked. "No, I have not. While I understand your concern regarding Captain Hadenbeer, I have no intention of sullying my ability in that manner again. If you wish to know who supports the Captain it is best to look to people's actions, rather than their inner thoughts."

"I didn't even know about your telepathy a minute ago." said Klarth. "That reminds me of an old Klingon phrase, Don't show me a phaser if you're not willing to use it." Then Klarth smiled and said "Actually I have a story to tell about this too, it's about an Nychterídian not unlike our own nocturnal Dr. Oneiric. Once there was an Nychterídian born with eyes that could see well in the daytime and the night. The doctors and his parents thought it was a miracle, but one night there was a crash in his room and his father found his older brother bend over the crib about to stab his baby brother's eyes with a sharp knife. "Why are you doing this?" he asked him as he desperately tried to wrestle with his son and disarm him. "He might try and cheat at cards!" the older brother shouted.

Rayek quirked an eyebrow at the Klingon's comment. That his ability was being compared to a weapon was very much forefront in the Romulan's awareness. He listened to the Klingon's odd and disturbing fable. While the story's moral seemed to imply that he was being paranoid avoiding the use of the use of his ability, Rayek knew first hand the things he could do with his ability - and quite honestly people were correct to fear his intrusion.

"Ah, I see. Should I then start with you? Pick through your thoughts and dredge up your deepest darkest secrets - to see if in a moment of turmoil if you will stay loyal to Captain Hadenbeer? Is that how this 'phaser' is best used - turned on Starfleet's own?"

Klarth looked Rayek and suddenly looked very serious and said "Since you're so new here probably no one has told you this yet. But I was gone for some time because I had to regain my honor and how I lost it was I went too far in an interrogation so I understand probably better than anyone if you are reluctant to use an ability like telepathy because you are afraid of going to far or not knowing what is too far until it is too late."

The Romulan Starfleet officer shifted uncomfortably as he stood before the doctor. The Klingon was far closer to understanding him than Rayek had thought possible. "I'm fully aware, Doctor, of what it means to 'go too far' and I've sworn not to do so ever again. So pressuring me to do so for something that there are other means to gather the intel on will not work."

"Thank you for being honest and telling me you have such an ability," said Klarth. "And we wont speak of it again unless their is an extreme need for it...So with that behind us, how are we going to help the Captain?"

Rayek inclined his head slightly, glad that the Klingon was being reasonable in regards to his telepathy. Dr. Klarth's question however of how to help the Captain, Rayek didn't have an answer for presently. He opted to sit in the chair offered earlier as he considered the Klingon's question. "You know the crew better than I. How many do you feel will stand against her? Obviously, there is Lieutenant Commander R'elle and the Security Chief." Both had been quick to do their Starfleet duty to follow Admiral Janeway's orders. Rayek was curious why Elle hadn't transported them off the ship as well, when they made their stance known? Could it be that the ship felt they could be made to see reason?

Klarth sighed and said "I only came onboard fairly recently and all the senior staff is different from when I last served. I think the Captain kept getting rid of officers and getting new ones so no one found out about Elle....I talked to Lt. Commander Arkyn and he said he'll back the Captain, but he has a concussion so hopefully he doesn't change his mind when his head clears up...It's Sheppard in Engineering I'm worried about supporting R'elle. He seems like the type that only thinks about his warp core so I don't know what criteria he will use to judge the situation."

Rayek nodded at this information. The Romulan thought back to the briefing and mentally reviewed the meeting to determine which of the nameless officers present had been Sheppard. Obviously the engineer - Human male brown hair, brown eyes, narrow face. Rayek would recognize him if he encountered him again. "Hmm. Then I would suggest one of us, speaking with the man before tomorrow to determining his allegiance and perhaps sway him towards the Captain's corner."

"Are you volunteering?" Asked Klarth. "I worked with him a little bit, he seems like a by the book type, but easy to work with. I'd do it, but now that we're talking about it, I think I should try to talk to the Counselor. We seemed to get along well enough the other day, maybe I can get through to her..." Klarth hesitated and then added "Or I'll just upset her even more. Both have happened to me after talking to women." For some reason this thought seemed to delight Klarth and he smiled broadly, chuckled, and clapped Rayek on the back playfully.

Rayek quirked an eyebrow at the question. He didn't for a moment think that he would be the best individual to persuade anyone to do anything - given how new he was to the ship. The crew of this ship didn't know him at all and would be suspicious of his motivations. The doctor himself had pointed that out during the meeting earlier. Yet now the Klingon was asking if he would 'volunteer' to convince others to support the Captain. Before he could respond, the doctor continued on regaling him about his uncertain history with talking to women.

Rayek smirked - he understood that plenty! The Romulan couldn't count the number of times he'd had to apologize profusely to his wife for his insensitivity and lack of foresight. He tended to be overprotective and action-oriented, and had gained a name for breaking the rules in order to protect what he held dear. Tess was never approving of this.

His thoughts on how he'd disappointed his wife were interrupted when the Klingon clapped him on the back again. Rayek was able to contain his wince. Rayek recognized the Klingon doctor, who was well aware of the condition of his merely bandaged wound, was doing so on purpose to test him. Returning to the original question, Rayek nodded. "Yes. I'll see about speaking to the man, and leave the counselor to you."

Rayek stood and offered Dr. Klarth a respectful head bow. "If there is nothing else, I will leave you to your duties, Doctor."

Klarth turned around and looked back at the stack of data pads on his desk. Had it somehow grew while he was talking to the Romulan? He hoped it was just his imagination. "Yes, we must talk to the Captain about getting you some 'duties' too. They are so much fun." Klarth said sarcastically.

The Romulan regarded the doctor with a slight amused expression. "Unfortunately, I believe she already has something in mind for me." He bid good fortune or success to the doctor in his endeavors before taking his leave. "Qapla, Qel!"

Klarth smiled and said "Qapla!" to you too.

 

RSS Feed