The Queen's Gambit

Posted on Sun Jul 8th, 2012 @ 8:55pm by Commander Oralia Zeferino & Captain Li Hawke

Mission: Sections of the Delta Quadrant
Location: South of the Equator/Varies

"C'mon, stand on yer legs 'dere, bud," Lemmy instructed Connor, trying to make him stand on his own instead of leaning on Lemmy. The guy was heavy.

The walk from the sonic shower, where Tater had tricked Lemmy into getting clean, hadn't taken long. Now the three of them were in Suresh's office, waiting for the criminal mastermind to show up. Lemmy wanted their guy to stand on his own for reasons other than the guy was heavy; he wanted to look about Suresh's office, maybe pick up an objet d'art or two that Suresh would never miss.

Connor continued to lean on him, obviously still in a daze after having been severely beaten. "What's going on?" he asked, fighting to keep his head up and wishing the nausea that was returning would go away. "Where are we..?" he had turned his head to look at Tater, squeezing his eyes for a moment at the pain that went through it. "Who are you guys?" His confusion deepening when he realized even more, his brows came together, and he looked away at nothing. "I don't know who I...who I am." He stuttered, turning his head towards Lemmy, "Do you know who I am?"

"Don't know nuttin' 'bout nuttin', nutter." He suddenly cackled then reached across Connor and smacked Tater on the arm, "Ha! Datz wut we shud call 'im. Nutter." Lemmy laughed again at his own wit. "Don't ev'n know 'is own name. Datz sad."

Tater shrugged. "Well, he did get quite a wallop. Though I heard somewhere that if they lose memory from getting hit, sometimes hitting them again will bring it back. Might be worth a try."

His head now hanging, Connor moved it from side to side, "No...no...don't do that."

"Oh? What are you now, a doctor?" Tater grinned over at Lemmy, but the smile faded as the door opened.

"Gentlemen, and I use that term loosely. What have you brought me?" Suresh stepped into the room, dressed in black, his piercing gaze on Connor. His tone made it clear he was not in the best of moods and he circled the trio, giving Connor the once over.

"'e t'aint one o'ors, Sury. Ee's too... clean," Lemmy glanced at the man with no name. "Kaint rem... rem'ber 'is name, so we'z callin' 'im Nutter." He beamed a sunny smile at Suresh.

Despite his mood, a slow smile spread over his face as he saw Connor's face finally. "Nutter. Seems fitting. And yes, he is too clean. Tell me, Nutter, does your girlfriend know you're down here?"

Blinking hard, twice, Connor tried to focus on the man's face. All he could really make out was that the guy was nearly bald, or had just trimmed his hair quite short. "Do you know me? I have a girlfriend?" Hope rose in him: someone knew him.

"I do, and yes you do." Suresh got right up in Connor's face and his next words were a hiss. "And I despise her. "

His head felt heavy and fuzzy, but he tried for another look at the man. "Huh... she's gotta be beautiful, then. And she probably threw you over for me, yeah?" He grinned then listed heavily to the left, making Lemmy complain.

"Hey! Stan' stret!" He pushed Connor as close to upright as he could then drew back and whupped the injured man on the back of the head.

Connor didn't even flinch. He didn't gasp or cry out. He simply went down, like the proverbial sack of potatoes. Lemmy yanked his hand back to his chest and looked at Suresh, horror-stricken.

"Well, I suppose now we see just how effective your suggestion to hit him again to restore his memory was, Tater." Suresh knelt down, checking for a pulse. It was weak and irregular, and when he checked Connor's eyes, he noted one pupil had grown large, the other a tiny pin prick. He stood and stepped back. "So much for the pawn. Get him out of here, dump him where the drones in gold will stumble upon him. Then you two take a couple of days to lay low. Get moving."

"Gotcha." Tater bent down to take one of Connor's arms. "Come on Lemmy."

They went and then did just what Suresh had told them to do.


* * Nondescript Corridor * *

"Eoh, boy, look at this," a burly Bolian wearing gold on his uniform gestured at someone stretched full-length along one wall. "Didn't even bother to find a blanket and pillow, this one."

"I'll wake him," Crewman Cooper said and leaned over to shake the guy's shoulder. When the guy limply spilled onto his back, he hopped back a step and looked at his older partner, who'd just gone a paler shade of blue.

The Bolian briefly called on his favorite deity then nearly shouted into his commbadge, "Transport! Emergency medical transport is needed from my location to Piper Medical!" He rushed forward, grabbing Cooper's uniform tunic and the shirt Connor McKinney was wearing just as a transporter beam caught hold of them.

* * Piper Medical * *

"Connor!" Oralia rushed into the surgical center's waiting room. Panic had set in - she'd been told Connor was here, but not his condition. Trying to convince herself he was fine, just fine, she caught hold of the first white-coated person she saw, "Connor McKinney? Where is he?"

The woman patted Oz's hand and said, "Have a seat over there and I'll get the doctor."

Be seated? No, Oz wasn't able to sit still. She tried to stand in one place, but ending up pacing.

What seemed like an eternity later, another white-coated person approached her. "Commander Zeferino, please, come with me." The man turned away and led Oz back into the warren of offices, exam rooms, labs and operating suites. When he came to a door and motioned for her to go in, she did, thinking it would be Connor she'd see.

It wasn't. "Where is Connor McKinney?", she demanded.

"Commander Zeferino, I am Dr. William Harding, the new CMO. Dr. McKinney is here, he was found in the lower levels by a Security patrol and brought here." Harding paused a moment. "From what I can piece together, he was attacked and took several blows to the head."

She already knew that much. It was her officers who'd found Connor, after all. "And?" Oz was on the verge of grabbing the man and shaking the answer out of him. Part of her anxiety eased, though: Connor was alive. Injured, perhaps, but alive.

"His records indicate a severe head injury some time back. There were certain after-effects that remained, and made any sort of repeat cranial injury extremely dangerous." Harding paused, he despised this part of his job intensely. "The injuries he received.....I'm sorry, Commander. We did everything possible, but it was too late."

For a brief moment, Oz peered at the Doctor, a quizzical look on her face. Then she went paler than pale and parroted his words, “Too late?” She couldn’t quite grasp what the Doctor meant; it was difficult focusing on him, too. Too late...? They did everything possible...? Oh god, Connor is dead. She couldn’t breath... couldn’t focus... the bottom of her world had just dropped out from under her. She tried to swallow, realized she shouldn’t be standing....

...and then realized that she wasn’t standing any longer. Nor could she feel her hands. Unsure why she was on the ground, with medical personnel suddenly converging on her, she held up her numb hands and said, “I’m fine. Really. Just need to stand up.” Her head swam and her body felt leaden when she tried to move. The lights went out for her a second time.


*********
Dr. Connor McKinney, Ph.D.
Down for the Count

Lemmy & Tater
Potato Heads

Suresh
Head Potato

Oralia Zeferino
Doubled Down

Dr. William Harding
CMO