One Hell Of A Night - Part I
Posted on Mon Mar 7th, 2016 @ 12:42am by Captain Li Hawke & Maxym Balasz & Lieutenant Commander Michael Darwin & Senior Chief Petty Officer Edana
Mission:
Further Challenges
Location: Archadia III / VIP Quarters
* Archadia, Intel Cottage *
Sleep hadn’t come easily for Darwin. He’d done his best to wear out Edana, and himself, but then found the bed uncomfortable for sleeping, particularly with Ed draped over him. Plus, Ed had started to chatter at him about gossip from the Pit. He’d attempted to quiet her again, using the method he’d told Li about, inadvertently via his thoughts, but he hadn’t been able to seal the deal and Ed had started to talk again. This time, she’d been assuring him that ‘things like this happen to guys all the time’ and that he was ‘probably just too tired’.
He got up and went for a run.
As he had alternately walked and run, he’d run the gamut of emotions, from anger straight through to love. This last was aimed at... he pondered on it as he walked, and realized the love was for the guy, Maxym. He was feeling Li’s emotions. Was she feeling his? If so, he could only imagine her frustration; he knew his own.
He thought of Sakkath, too. He’d been trying not to upset Li or impose his own grief on her and hadn’t yet allowed his grief to surface. During his run, it did, triggering random memories of the man. Every single memory was of Sakkath’s honor, intelligence and rare but stunningly on-point wit. He’d sat on the side of the trail till his crying had passed.
A while later, he returned to the cottage and showered before slipping between the sheets next to Edana. He did his best not to wake her and was successful. He lay still for a moment then settled in and finally slept.
* Morning *
The bed was completely wrong, as were the smells in the room. He shifted and was suddenly completely awake. In an efficient move, he first stood then attacked the woman in the bed, hauling her out of it. He demanded of her, “Who are you and where is she who is my wife?”
Edana yelped in surprise as she felt hands on her and instinct took over. She broke the hold on and had rolled back across the bed before she was fully away. Now she stood on the opposite side of it from Darwin and rubbed her eyes, trying to make some sense of what he had said.
“Uh...what?”
“She who is my wife, where is she? Who are you, Orion?”, he demanded again.
For the thousandth time, Ed wished had telepathy so she could hop into his mind and see what the hell was going on. She decided to start with the basics since apparently Darwin was suffering from a psychotic break. Or something.
“Darwin, just calm down.” Her voice was low and soothing. “Was it a bad dream? Are you awake?” Perhaps he was sleepwalking she now thought.
“I am Commander Sakkath, Chief of Operations on Starbase 900,” he said, looking around the room. “Unless this is a holosuite, it appears that we are not on the Station. Have you abducted Lieutenant Darwin as well?” He caught sight of a mirror and pointed at it. “I see him in the window there.”
Ed’s eyes couldn’t have opened wider if they had been pried. She now understood how a cartoon figure’s eyes could bug out of his head. The only thing missing here was the sound effect. Ok think, Ed, she admonished herself. You’ve been in worse situations. That thought made her want to laugh, it was so absurd.
“That is a mirror, sweetheart. That man in there, Darwin, is you. You and I are down here on assignment for a few days. That’s all. No one has abducted anyone.” She still hadn’t moved.
He moved to look into the mirror again and made a few motions. His control slipped and he shouted, “What have you done to me? Who are you?” Belatedly, he realized he was naked. He’d been in bed, naked, with a similarly naked Orion. He grabbed a robe hanging nearby; it wrapped around him, though the arms and chest were tight and the hem was barely mid-thigh on him.
“Oh shit,” she murmured. The first thought that popped to mind was Li and the intimacy with Darwin. Had something happened? She’d never heard of anything like this but something was terribly wrong. “I’ve seen it before,” she commented regarding his apparent modesty.
He frowned at her. “Where is she who is my wife?” He turned partly away from Ed and shouted, “Li!” To Ed, he said, “If you have harmed her, I will end you.” He went out into the living room.
Ed hastily threw on her tank top and shorts and followed him out. “Computer, lock doors and open only on my voice command.” She gave her code and the computer beeped. She didn’t really want to be locked in with a man Darwin’s size who thought he was a Vulcan but without the control, but better than him running off.
“No one has harmed anyone.” She did a quick mental run-through of anything weapon-like in the cottage. She knew better than to touch him at the moment. There was no way she could take him down. “You sit down and I’ll get to the bottom of this.”
He approached her, his anger mounting and obvious on his face. “You have not answered my questions. What game is this, Orion?” She evaded him and he dodged around the coffee table, his fingers just grazing her arm.
She sprinted back out of the living room and into the bedroom. Darwin might be stronger, but Ed was faster. She tapped the panel to close the door and locked it. “Computer! Open a channel the Captain Li Hawke immediately. Emergency!”
* Max’s Quarters *
Li had fallen asleep almost immediately upon stretching out in Max’s spare room. Her sleep was plagued with unsettling dreams, however. Through them moved Darwin, first down on Archadia, then in her own quarters. His face kept shifting, however. One moment he was Darwin, the next Sakkath. ‘Where is she?’ she could hear Sakkath demanding of...someone. There was a flash of green skin, then the scene shifted, and Darwin was looking in a mirror. She felt the unexplainable urge to slam her fist through it, to shatter it completely. ‘Where is she???” he demanded once more and now Li felt raw fear. He was reaching out, grabbing at someone and she cried out.
“No!” In her dream, Darwin seemed to turn as if he heard her. “I’m here….” she murmured. “It’s alright….I’m here….”
Her agitation roused Maxym, despite the early hour; the fear she was emitting had him out of his bed and in her bedroom in a flash. “Li! What’s going--” He was interrupted by a beep from the computer.
=^= Edana to Li! =^= In her agitation, she had dispensed with ranks. =^= It’s an emergency. There’s something wrong with Darwin! =^=
Max blinked. “Is he on a rampage, heading for my quarters? Isn’t he on the planet?”
Edana was silent for a moment. =^= Who is this? Where is Li? =^=
“She’s right here. Li?” Max shook her slightly. “Answer her. I’ll go call security. Where are you?”
=^= Intel outpost on Archadia. It’s Darwin. He thinks he is….well he thinks he is Sakkath. =^=
Li stirred, scrambled to awaken. She had sensed Edana’s voice and finally managed to escape the dream. Now she answered. “Ed? What’s happening?” Even before she finished the question, she realized she could feel Darwin’s emotions as clearly as she ever had Sakkath’s. “Ohhhhh no.”
Max, halfway to the bedroom door, stopped and looked back at her, his eyes wide. “You connected,” he whispered and went to the other room to call Security. They’d need to call the medical center and have the man transported to a secure cell.
“We’ll have him transported up immediately Ed. Don’t worry, I’ll take care of it. Keep him in that house. We’ll have him out in two minutes. Li out.” The channel closed and Li was instantly in motion. She only had the dress she’d worn earlier and pulled it on in a hurry. She ran her fingers through her hair and dashed out to find Max.
He was just finishing up with Security, or trying to, “Yes, your Commander Darwin is having a medical emergency on the planet. He needs to be transported out and into a cell in sickbay. Surely you people have those on this Station?”
=^=Are you there with Darwin, sir?=^=
“No! Just. Beam. Him. Up!” Max glanced at Li and gestured at the screen. “Would you tell them?”
Li stepped in front of the screen and began to give orders, including the exact coordinates of the cottage. “Transport him to Sickbay and make sure he is behind a containment field immediately. Get Edana out of there too, no containment field. We’re on our way.” Finally the point was made and Security signed off. “Get dressed, if you’re coming with me.”
Max hopped to, grabbing pants, shirt and shoes before hurrying after Li.
To Be Continued...
*************
Lt. Commander Michael Darwin
SCPO Edana
Captain Li Hawke
Ambassador Maym Balasz
