The Barking Chain - Part II

Posted on Sun Jul 12th, 2015 @ 8:28pm by Lieutenant Commander William Harding M.D. & Lieutenant Commander Ophelia Payne & Lieutenant Riley Sukotav & Ensign Six of Ten & Lieutenant Commander Michael Darwin & Ensign Reva Madhava

Mission: Further Challenges
Location: Piper Medical Center

Will and Ophelia stood in one of the private rooms where Reva now lay on the biobed. Will looked at the readings and nodded. “Not bad if I do say so myself. She shouldn’t suffer any lingering effects and will be back up and around in a couple of days. Alrighty,Ophelia, wake her up.”

Ophelia nodded and pressed a hypospray to Reva’s neck. “Should be just a few seconds,” she replied.

"Ugh...," Reva squeezed her eyes shut tighter then slowly roused and looked around. Relief that she was in sickbay showed on her features until she caught sight of Harding standing near her. "Suresh," she said.

“No, Dr. Harding.” He smiled down at her. “I can understand the mistake though, give my dashing good looks. How are you feeling?”

"Sleepy. Otherwise, good." She nodded. "I meant Suresh did this. There were two of them."

“Security wants to speak to you as soon as you feel able,” Will informed her. “I want you to stay in overnight and you can go home tomorrow. The good news is that all your injuries are fixed and everything’s perfectly normal. Lt. Sukotav is here but he will have to wait till Darwin has seen you. You understand, I hope?”

"I do, Doctor," she admitted, though she wasn't happy about it being Darwin who would ask the questions. "Don't suppose I could sleep first then see Darwin? No, that would be unfair to Riley."

“He seems to think it’s a matter of some urgency.” Will patted her hand in a fatherly gesture. “I’ll send him in but call if you need us for anything. I’ll let Riley know you’re awake and everything’s fine.” He turned and exited the room with Ophelia behind him.

Darwin caught the Doc as he came out. "She's okay?"

Will nodded. “I repaired everything and she is as good as new. She’s just awakened and she might tire quickly, just fair warning. What is she doing, Darwin? Surely she got the usual ‘beware the Pit’ speech?”

Darwin rubbed his face in frustration. "Oh, she's gotten it. Several times. I've threatened to toss her in the brig, turn Gilroy loose on her... but there's an attractive nuisance down there who calls to her like a Siren." He looked at Will. "Seyla."

Will frowned at Darwin. “What’s Seyla got to do with all this?”

"Seyla's been teaching Reva about being Orion," Darwin said slowly. "She's gone so far as to lace Reva with her pheromones and send her out in public."

“I see. How deep does this rabbit hole go, Darwin?” Will kept his tone carefully neutral but he was far from happy about what he was hearing.

"She's been letting Reva use her quarters and has been teaching her about her business, too." Darwin looked past Harding to where Riley was waiting. "I'd hazard a guess that she's looking to replace herself, since she's no longer up for sale."

“Surely this concerns security now, since Reva’s an officer? I understand the idea of off-duty choices but this incident clearly shows this young woman is walking a dangerous path. She mentioned Suresh when she woke up. What’s he got to do with it?”

"Reva has a friend, Six, the former Borg? who is now dating Suresh. Six quit the Fleet to be with him and... Reva hasn't liked Suresh from the moment she met him. This just makes it worse. He's suspect number one in this beating; gotta say, Will, Seyla is suspect number two." For Darwin, the reverse was actually the truth, but he couldn't tell Harding that.

“I didn’t think this one was that sort.” Will had dropped his voice so only Darwin would hear. “Nor Seyla either. Strange situation all around, but I’ll let you get in and do your job. Let me know if I can be of any help in your investigation.” Will didn’t mention it but he intended to do a little prodding of his own...when a certain green-skinned woman got home later.

"Thanks, Doc." Darwin entered Reva's room and closed the door behind him. He stared at her for a long moment, long enough that she shifted uncomfortably on the bed. "Now do you believe me that the Pit is no place for someone like you?"

"There were two of them one had a weapon... I think a hand spanner," she said, wincing as she recalled how it felt getting hit with it.

"No doubt. Keeps 'em from roughing up their hands." He shook his head and stepped up to her bedside. "Your Chief has been notified, as has Riley, so you're going to get lectured several times over. I'll just remind you that this could have been worse, Reva. Instead of being Suresh's goons, or more likely, Seyla's, they could have been those two slavers."

"Seyla?" She scoffed. "She wouldn't do this. She wouldn't hurt me."

"Reva...," he sighed. "Stay out of the Pit. Stop going to Saturnalia. Just stop. You're not part of that life. You have a Fleet career, for the time being at least. Keep going the way you are, though, and you'll find yourself out of the Fleet like Six. Seyla does not have your best interests in mind."

"Ask your questions, Darwin," she said. He did, running her through the attack twice to get as many details as he could from her.

"You up for a visit from Riley?" He asked. When she nodded he left and found Riley in the waiting room. "She's awake, Lt. Sukotav. Go on in."

“Thanks, Darwin.” Riley stepped in and moved over to stand by her bed. He took her hand in his, giving it a gentle squeeze. “How are you feeling?”

"Sleepy, but I'm okay, Rye," she smiled slightly. "Modern medicine and all that. I'm sorry to worry you."

“Not like you attacked yourself but given what happened, please promise me you won’t go down there alone again?” He raised her hand to his lips to brush a gentle kiss to her fingers. “There’s just too much at stake.”

"I promise, Riley. Darwin said my career could be at risk if I don't stop seeing Seyla," she said and communicated her complicated feelings about that to him. "He also said that she might be the one who did this."

Riley let her know mentally that he understood but his confusion was evident. “Darwin has a point. If they were so hard on Six, they might be just as strict with you and start with the whole officer standards thing. But what reason would either have to do this?”

She looked chagrinned and passed him the memory of what she'd done in Saturnalia. "Suresh is known for taking revenge. I don't know why Darwin thinks Seyla would do this."

“He’ll get to the bottom of it, don’t worry.” Riley gave her a reassuring smile. “Dr. Harding said you’re staying in overnight. Do you want me to stay here with you?”

"I'd love that, though I don't think I'll be good company," she smiled and yawned as if to prove her point. "Can we have a double bed?"

“I doubt that.” He laughed and then leaned down to kiss her. “But I’ll be here whenever you wake up. Don’t worry, just rest.“ He paused a moment, suddenly hesitant. “Six came to wait while you were in surgery, Reva. She’s still here.”

"Oh." She was unsure how she felt about that. "Tell her to come in." She shifted in the bed, fluffing her pillow and drawing the sheets tighter about her.Tag“Okay, but take it easy and don’t talk too long. You’re barely awake as it is.” Riley smiled and let go of her hand. “I’ll be back in a little while.” He departed and a few minutes later, Six entered.

“Reva.” She sounded both tired and relieved. “I was terrified when I heard the news. Are you okay?”

"Yeah, I'm fine. Doctor Harding fixed me up good as new," she said. "The guys who did this were thinking about Suresh ordering them to do it. They used a hand spanner."

Six tried not to react to that but she couldn’t hide it completely. She was a little stuck. She knew it wasn’t Suresh but if she convinced Reva, would it come back to bite Suresh in the ass? She decided for the middle of the road approach.

“Why would he do that Reva?”

"Because I argued with him and dumped a drink on him. Look, I know, he's not the old Suresh, but he is Suresh and he's trying to establish himself as that. As the old one. He had to do this to show dominance. Not that I'm okay with it." She grimaced. "Very much not okay with it."

“I am going to find out. Trust me. I’m just so sorry this had to happen to you. Those people down there...they don’t play Reva. I can’t have this happen to you again. Please….” She slipped her hand into Reva’s. “Please be careful.”

"I promised Riley: no more going below the equator without someone with me. If we're going to get together, it'll need to be on the Promenade. At least for a while. And, hey, I am mad at Suresh about you, but this isn't your fault in any way."

Six nodded and her relief flooded through her and into Reva through their joined hands. “Yes...you and I...above the equator. Safer and a lot more fun. Once you’re out of here, there’s a place I want to take you and Riley to and you’ll love it. I promise.”

"I don't know about more fun, Six. I met a guy just before this happened... He's amazing," she grinned. "I doubt I'll run into someone like him at the Nexus." She yawned suddenly.

“This isn’t the Nexus.” Six grinned at her. “Who is it?”

"His name is Niro. He's an Enaran; he has this mental trick that... um...," she gave Six a bit of the memory from Iapetus. "I had to bite my lip to keep quiet," she laughed.

“Umm….that’s interesting.” Six stopped as Reva yawned again. “Okay, enough visitors. I’ll bar the door and you sleep. Riley said he’s staying so he’ll be in later. I’ll stay a while but if I’m gone when you wake up, call me as soon as you get home tomorrow.”

"I will, Six." Reva squeezed her hand. "I'll be fine." She watched Six leave then eased the bed back a bit and was soon fast asleep. Modern medicine, indeed.

************
Lt. M. Darwin
Lt. Ophelia Payne
Dr. William Harding
Lt. Riley Sukotav
Ensign Reva Madhava
Ensign Six of Ten