by -=/\=- Zanh Liis
80923.13
Following The Luck of the Irish
-=Inside The Farm=-
80923.13
Following The Luck of the Irish
-=Inside The Farm=-
The doors of the commandeered turbolift opened to reveal level 6C, and Blane exited first.
He looked around quickly and determined the corridor was, for the moment, clear. He was grateful for this small favor of fortune and did not want to waste a moment pondering it.
"Which way?" He directed his question toward their ever-more-reluctant Klaestron tour guide, who merely shrugged.
"I don't know," Atien felt completely useless at this point, and wondered if she was only going to slow these people down. It was apparent that they were professionals, at whatever it was they really did for a living. Perhaps...
"Dane!" Zanh gasped suddenly, as she saw Cristiane at the opposite end of the corridor. He was carrying something that seemed to be growing heavier by the moment, judging by his posture. What that thing was exactly, from this distance, she could barely tell. It looked almost, but not entirely, human.
"Captain!" Dane's strength was renewed at the sight of most of the rest of the Away Team, and he quickened his pace. "I've got him!"
"And we've got you." A security patrol suddenly surrounded Dane, weapons aimed at his head. "Put the patient down."
"That patient is a member of my family," Zanh shouted, drawing the attention of the lead security guard. She displayed her weapon, and, suddenly turned it upon a fear-frozen Atien.
"Sorry," Liis whispered as she took hold of Atien's arm, twisting it behind her and causing the Klaestron woman to cry out in pain. "He's ours, and she's yours. I think an exchange is in order."
"We don't negotiate with criminals." The man declared. "You have no right to be in this facility, it's private property and you're guilty of breaking, entering and resisting arrest."
"I haven't resisted anything yet!" Dane objected, as the man pushed the phaser up harder against his temple.
"Who will ever know?" The guard smirked.
A slow squeal pierced the air, and a door at the end of the corridor by Dane creaked slowly open. Phaser still in hand, Dabin Reece popped his head out and then pulled back quickly, dodging phaser fire from one of the other guards.
"Hey! Everybody, check it out! They said they were willing to hear our complaints, but now they're ready to just start shooting everybody to shut us up! I call no way!"
He'd decided it best to bring his new-found minions down from plain sight on the roof, just in case the low- hovering shuttles that had begun to circle overhead contained people with any unkind intentions.
*If ever there was an award given for the ability to incite to riot,* Zanh Liis thought with amazement, *Dabin Reece would be the runaway winner with no true competition in the field.*
"Not going to shoot me, I'm going home!" A deep voice bellowed in outrage, as a gigantic man clad in only a hospital gown raced forward suddenly from behind Reece. He charged the guard closest to him.
He was followed by a good-sized crowd of people, also dressed in gowns; and they did just as the first had done, taking it upon themselves to fight for their freedom hand to hand.
"Oh...my...god." Landry Steele could only gape at the sight in awe. "So...many...half naked...people..."
The angry mob swiftly took control of the security detachment, then turned towards their ad hoc leader, Reece.
"What do you want us to do with these?" Several people waved their newly acquired weapons proudly.
"Just, um. okay, watch where you're putting that will you? Hang on to those a second and don't shoot any of my friends over there. You'll know them because they're, you know, fully dressed." Reece explained. Then he caught sight of Steele and qualified the statement. "Mostly."
"Reece, report!" Zanh insisted.
"Local law enforcement should be breaking down the doors any minute, Liisy! Then these tin soldiers will get what's comin' to 'em!" He declared with satisfaction.
Zanh Liis had, by this point, released her hold on Atien and looked at her apologetically.
"I don't know if you can believe me," she offered, "but I had no intention of ever shooting you."
Liis and TC hurried over to Dane and the captain, upon seeing Carrick was indeed still alive, sank to the ground, overcome with relief.
"Here," she instructed, "Dane, put him down here."
Dane laid the still confused and combative O'Sullivan beside her on the floor. Liis slowly lifted his head, placing it gently upon her leg to support it.
"Orders, Captain?" Blane inquired.
"See if you can figure out the source of the dampening field that is jamming the comm," Liis instructed. "Signal the ship. We need to get the hell out of here before people start asking questions I have no intention of answering."
"Understood."
Before he could search very far, the large man in the gown hurried forward. "I know exactly where the computer controls are," he asserted. "They're on this level, because the fewest number of employees are allowed access here. If you have enough firepower, you can likely take the main control unit out, drop the field and contact your people."
Reece gestured for those who were armed to follow him, Blane, and the man he had now christened, simply, "Big Dude."
"This way." The man indicated, leading on.
Zanh Liis sat in silence, unable to take her eyes off of Carrick.
*There is no way that anyone could possibly question paternity,* she thought, as she looked into younger, more innocent versions of the O'Sullivan blue eyes she knew so well.
Carrick struggled to focus upon her face and raised a heavy, uncoordinated hand toward her.
"You. Bajoran. Who the bloody hell are ya anyhow?"
"A friend." Liis answered softly, placing his hand down upon his chest. "Your father sent me."
"Why do people keep tellin' me that, yeah? Why would you bother with me?" He drifted again toward unconsciousness, and Liis leaned closer, whispering in his ear. "
"Because, he's been the steady hand for us all at one point or another in the past," she explained. "It's our turn to be that for you now."
Atien slowly knelt down beside Zanh, reaching out to touch Carrick's face.
"I'm sorry," she whispered, as he recoiled from her touch. "If I'd known what they were really going to do to you, I would have gotten you out of here myself, I swear it."
"If you're truly sorry about what has happened here, Atien, then you will speak out." Zanh replied, as the rest of the crowd of ambulatory patients took up position at either end of the corridors, mobilizing on their own to secure the level until they were certain they could negotiate with people who could actually help them.
"Tell the truth about what happened here, and know that the UFP can offer you protection, and relocation, if you choose to participate in the official investigation that they will demand the moment I tip them off to what has happened here," Zanh continued.
"You're...Starfleet?" Atien's mouth fell open.
Reece opened his lips to speak, the words 'damned right, Toots!' poised on the tip of his tongue. Zanh quickly shot him a look, and he thought better of making reply.
"I don't know what you're talking about, young woman. I see no Starfleet uniforms here." Liis shrugged.
A moment later, TC Blane returned, jogging quickly up to his crew mates.
"The ship is ready to beam us aboard immediately, Captain," he advised, happy to be leaving Klaestron behind them. "First the two of you to Sickbay, directly."
"Thank you, Thomas. Whenever they're ready." She nodded to the mysterious young Atien. "Thank you, for your help. I wish you luck."
"You can thank me by keeping him safe," Atien whispered, touching Carrick's hair gently before reluctantly stepping back. "Please?"
Zanh's eyes conveyed the solemn promise to the smitten young lady that she would.
"Energize." Blane commanded the Serendipity's awaiting transporter operator.
"Thank you all," Zanh added, gratefully acknowledging her crew with a salute. Seconds later in a shimmer of light, she and Carrick were gone.
"Is she going to be all right, if," Dane looked at the floor, shuffling his boots against it and creating scuffs in the highly polished surface. "If he doesn't,"
"One thing at a time, Ensign," Blane cut him off, not wanting to entertain an answer to that question himself, until absolutely forced to. "Ready to go everyone?"
"Yeeyyyeeeeessssss," Landry groaned. "I will never, ever wear stockings or heels again, I can assure you."
"They can pinch something awful, can't they?" Reece replied without thinking, channeling the knowledge of past hosts and drawing a sideways glance from everyone present.
"Hey, if you've been a woman once, you never forget these things."
-----------------------------------
-=/\=- Zanh Liis
Commanding Officer
USS Serendipity NCC-2012
-=/\=- Zanh Liis
Commanding Officer
USS Serendipity NCC-2012