Bugs, Phasers, and Trauma, oh my!

Posted on Sat Sep 1st, 2012 @ 4:10pm by Commander Oralia Zeferino & Ensign Ian Bren & Lieutenant Eric Edwards

Mission: Sections of the Delta Quadrant
Location: Science/Botany Lab

* * *Science/Gardening Bay* * *

Another night had passed and the only traumatic thing about it had been the large amount of intestinal gas Ian had passed during the night. The two guards on duty had quietly moved to the living room to be away from the more-than-slightly-toxic smell. In the morning, one of them had advised Ian he should change his diet. Neither security officer was willing to say exactly why Ian should change his diet.

Unsure about the advice from the security officers, Ian was happy to see Eric again. His school-boy crush on the man was fading, though he certainly didn’t mind being paired with the handsome hunk during the day. E’tarna minded that he was, but... well... she’d get over it, he figured.

Today, instead of being trapped in his quarters all day, Ian went to work - he needed to, his flowers needed tending and he’d impressed upon Oralia the fact that he needed to hand-pollinate certain flowers or else some of his work would have to be re-started. Oz had relented and told him he could play in his dirt.

Thus it was that he was wrist deep in a mound of soil, happily digging a new hole in the dirt to transplant one of his daisy plants. Humming tunelessly, to a song he didn’t even know, he nodded and muttered, “Got that, Etan..., I know.” Etan, the drunk who’d stabbed himself in a drunken stupor, was trying to educate Ian on the proper way to transplant a plant.

At this point, roughly fifty-two hours into his new entityship, Ian was already starting to sort out which memories belonged to which past host. Bren’s first host’s memories were easy to recognize; they carried a particular patina, almost a nostalgic feel. It was clear Bren had enjoyed being in that Host. Etan’s and Natalia’s, however, were a muddled pair. Both had given Bren a less than easy ride; both had ended badly.

“That’s all in the past, now, buddy. We’re together... another couple days, it’ll be permanent, til death do us part, to quote the human’s wedding ritual,” Ian kept muttering to himself.

The quiet of the area that served as a greenhouse was warm and damp, as befitted the plants that thrived there. The only thing that broke the silence was the soft hum of the air filtration and a faint buzz from the overhead lights.

Glancing up, Ian found something new to mutter about: the blasted noise from the light. “Have to get Engineering in here, fix that. No, Etan, we’re not going to be an electrician. Really. Jeez...,” he went back to digging in the soft loam, stopping to rub a bead of sweat from his brow. In place of the sweat, he left a smudge of black dirt. Just a few more minutes of work and the spot was ready for the daisy. He pulled it closer, cracked the temporary pot it was in and started working the roots loose. This was a Gerbera, which, rumor had it, was the Security Chief’s favorite flower. Ian knew that now... how’d he know? He stopped to think about it, then realized: Doctor McKinney had told Natalia that random tidbit.

Smiling, Ian re-focused on his work and suddenly shrieked like a little boy. Right there, in the roots of the daisy plant, was the largest lavafly he’d ever seen. Still shrieking, he flung the plant away - and it hit Eric right in the chest. “It’s a biter! If it bites me! It’ll kill us! Kill it! Kill it!”

Eric had reacted first with adrenaline at Ian shrieking and then at a projectile heading in his direction, but then he just sighed as the root bulb left dirt all over the front of his uniform. Looking down into the hole Ian was rapidly backpedaling from, he half-chuckled.

“Really? It’s a bug, and not even three inches long. You think you’d be used to them, playing in the dirt,” he said, simultaneously reaching forward to squash the interloper.

The interloper, unsettled and very threatened by the churning and tossing and now a large thing coming towards it, reared up and leaped onto the approaching appendage. In a flash, it sunk fangs into the soft flesh and injected a highly painful venom. On its normal prey, the venom would paralyze the prey; on a humanoid? Only Sickbay could tell what would happen.

“It’s a lavafly! Those aren’t supposed to be in here,” Ian was still shouting. “They’re venomous! Do you know what happens if I get bitten? Augh!” Ian was quite aware that the bug’s venom would cause all sorts of problems for him - the biggest of which was kill both him and Bren.

“SON OF A--” Eric shouted, reflexively batting the insect off his arm with his free hand, even as he felt pain roar through his arm like fire. Grunting, he made to finish it beneath his boot, muttering to Ian through gritted teeth. “I am acutely aware of what it would do to you NOW. It bit me.”

Ian wasn’t done shrieking and that was because the lavafly - correction: lavaflies - were seemingly crawling out of the woodwork. Make that: out of the dirt. The daisy’s root bulb was crawling with the things; some took flight, others skittered across the floor. Ian stood there, frozen in fear.

With his right arm rapidly swelling, Eric had to reach for his phaser southpaw, which was more than a little awkward as he tried to lower the intensity setting and widen the beam. Firing towards the largest group of lavaflies he could see, he hoped to incapacitate a few of them, even as he shoved Ian towards the door.

“There are an awful lot of them for something that isn’t supposed to be here,” the Lieutenant complained. “Come on, get moving,” he added with a pointed shove. “I don’t want another bite.”

Stumbling, Ian let Eric shove him towards the door, then out the door. Once the door was closed, he started to heave a sigh of relief, but then screamed, again, “There’s one on me! Oh gods! Eric! Get it off! Getitoff!”

Swinging the phaser more like a bludgeon, Eric tried to swat the offending insect off of his charge... not trying as hard as he really should have to not hit Ian in the process.

“Getitoff! Getitt... OW!” Ian complained and stared, open-mouthed, at Eric. “You hit me!” He suddenly pointed at Eric’s wrist, where the lavafly tenaciously clung.

Eric swung his arm again, this time into the bulkhead nearest them, crushing the bug between his arm and the wall but not before it too managed to sink venomous fangs into his skin. He stood very still for a moment, his arm still pressed to the wall and rife with pain, before he spoke in the calmest, most measured tone he could manage, which was still a failure.

“Computer, seal the botany labs, Security authorization Edwards Five-Five-Beta-Charlie. And get Ops down here to clean out these god. damn. bugs.”

As both Ian and Eric were involved with Eric’s passenger, and Eric’s orders, neither saw the tip of the phaser that came to bear upon them from the corridor junction just behind them. Just as the button was pressed, one last escapee lavafly landed on the hand of the shooter and bit in. The shot went wide, and what might have been a lethal shot cut across the back of Eric’s thighs. There was a muffled cry of pain, then nothing more as whoever had been there took off.

It was Eric’s turn to scream as he went to his knees and then crumpled onto his side in the corridor. “Security to Botany!” he bellowed at the computer. Somehow his rage was the only thing preventing the pain from overwhelming him, and leaving him in tears. “Emergency site to site transport, Ensign Bren to Security.” He forced one eye open, to look up at Ian. “Find Darwin, Gilroy or Oz. I don’t want anyone else.”

“Eric!” Everything had happened so fast and the klaxons announcing weapons fire were so loud, Ian was stunned into inaction (not that he’d been in action) and could only scream his savior’s name as the transporter beams locked onto him and whisked him away.

Seconds later, four more transporter beams left behind Darwin, Oralia and two other officers. “Edwards,” Oz addressed him, as the other three fanned out, looking for threats, “What the hell just happened?”

“Bugs in there,” Eric managed, “freaked Ian right the hell out... distracted us. Shooter went that way,” he tried to nudge his head, but succeeded only in making his body hurt more. The venom was spreading. “Never saw him. Sent Ian to Security.”

“Yeah, we got him there. He’s fine. Darwin, shut those alarms off,” Oralia ordered then called for another site-to-site, this time to get Eric to Sickbay. “Harding will take care of you, Edwards. I’ll alert Norval.”

“Thanks,” he muttered, “I think I’m going to pass out now.”

“You do that,” Oralia patted his shoulder and stepped back to let the transporter take him away. Turning, she looked at the three officers; each shook his head in turn: the shooter was nowhere to be found. “Lovely. Let’s get Ops down here to clean up the bugs, then see if the bugs were more than crazy random happenstance.”

______________________
Lieutenant (J.G.) Eric Edwards
Maimed

Ensign Ian Bren
The Screamer

Lt.Commander Oralia Zeferino