337: Distant Echoes: Part One

by Avery Breaux and Vol Tryst
80615.22
During If the Captain Ain't Happy

-=USS Serendipity=-

Breaux made his way down the corridor after a much needed meal break and headed back into Sickbay, he had several unusual cases that appeared to have crossed the line into the psychological realm. In light of that he'd summoned Vol and was certain that he would arrive momentarily...

Avery looked over the PADD charts of the three crew members that had come to him after having worked on the transporter system. They had reporter hearing voices, yet had not been in contact with anyone else in the course of their work, they had been completely alone.

Vol walked quickly, a booming sound coming from the floor with every step that he took towards Sickbay. The cheery mood he had been in since his full recovery had dwindled quickly in the past 18 hours. He was dressed in uniform, and was on his way to meet with Doctor Breaux, whom he hoped would lighten his mood by his presence alone. Of all the sessions he had yet conducted, Avery's had been one of the most amusing, and a laugh would be a good way to put an end to the Counselor's so far horrid day.

Having earned a PhD in Psychology and Psychiatrics only went so far with some of his patients, especially when they saw the pips on his collar. Lieutenants, and other officers of higher rank, would sometimes not see the point in entrusting their darker secrets to someone with not even a quarter of Starfleet experience. Vol was walking away from one very session.

Vol was mad at first, but that madness moved to frustration, the Counselor had missed an opportunity to show what he was made of when he was crippled during the last mission. If he hadn't been targeted like that, he may have had the chance to display his skills, instead he had been in Sickbay for the entire duration of the mission: suffering.

The Counselor shook his head, self-pity wouldn't get him anywhere. Vol had no intention to stay an Ensign forever, and if going up the ranks is what it took to earn some respect on the Sera, than he was more than happy to oblige. Before entering sickbay, he took in a deep breath and calmed his facial features, relaxing his jaw and eyebrows. The bone structure of his face was built in such away, that when Vol was angry, he looked nearly demonic. He didn't want to scare the Doctor.

Calmer now, Vol entered Sickbay and looked right at Avery as he raised his gaze to greet the Counselor with a smile.

"Glad you could make it Counselor."

"Not at all, you sought me out. What can I do you for?"

Vol noted the officers sitting on some of the med beds, and he couldn't help but counting some of their pips. At least one was of a higher rank than he, and Vol tried muffling the sigh that escaped his mouth.

Avery turned his back to the three patients and spoke in a low tone, "All three had been working on transporter one and long story short; each of them heard voices, yet no one was present in the transporter room with them. Apparently they heard them independently, but then as a unit as well. They questioned each other and confirmed what each had heard. They didn't know if they were subjected to some anomaly or some type of toxin. I show no physical trauma or reason for such behaviors, so I thought you should be here to consult with them."

The patients, two women, Ensigns, and one man, a Lieutenant, were awaiting the Counselor and they were engaged in small talk of sorts, still comparing notes on what had gone on.

Avery explained that the Lieutenant was named Hull, and the names of the women were DeBerry and Parent. Avery stepped aside and allowed Vol access to the patients. "Vol, I'll be here if I can help in any way. I'm going to update some reports, please feel free to call on me."

Vol nodded as he stared at the three conversing patients. All the officers were human, and as Avery stepped away from the Counselor, Vol was able to skim the minds of the three officers. Hull was headstrong, and quite sure of himself and stubborn. DeBerry was perhaps the most shaken of the three, as she was holding her hands together, and had a worried look on her face. Parent was the most calm of the three, but also the most uncertain, but from her Vol sensed the greatest desire to come to a sensible answer to what happened in the transporter room.

Vol took in a deep breath, let it out before striding casually next to the three. Hull leaned on the same medbed that Parent was now sitting cross-legged on, crossing his arms defiantly. DeBerry sat on the med bed next to the pair, her legs dangling off the end. Vol moved around DeBerry's bed, to sit with his back leaning against the wall, and his knee propped up closer to his chest. He looked casual, but the goal was to not appear menacing, and from here he had the three officers in sight.

"Good Afternoon." He said. "I hope I'm not imposing."

The two females blinked and glanced at each other, whereas the male stared intently at the Counselor.

"I'm sorry..." began DeBerry "...but, you are?"

"The Ship's Counselor." Stated Hull, in answer to the question.

"Ship's Counselor?" Asked DeBerry. "Why did the Doctor want us to talk to you?"

"So that he could Counsel us, maybe?" Shot Parent with a half smile. DeBerry lowered he head solemnly.

Vol nodded, and was about to speak until;

"More likely they think we're crazy." Said Hull, still not taking his eyes off of the Betazoid, and clearly not thinking that he was the least bit crazy.

"But we're not crazy! We heard what we heard." Claimed DeBerry now, obviously very sensitive at the moment for some reason.

"We all know that Beth." said calmly. "but-"

"Crazy or not..." Hull interrupted again. "...it was a bad idea for you to come here, Ensign."

"Why would you say that?" Vol remained calm, brushing off the attempt to get under his skin.

"Because now you've got what we've got."

"Oh c'mon Mark, that's ridiculous." DeBerry didn't sound all too convinced of her own statement.

"It is not." Hull's tone was authoritative. "Both my grandparents suffered through Rudellian fever, and it has all started with them hearing disembodied voices..."

As he spoke, he took his eyes off the Counselor to look definitively at his colleagues. Vol seized the moment to steal a glance from Doctor Breaux, who had been working around in the background. His eyes locked with Vol's for a split second, and Vol hopped he had heard Hull's last statement. Vol was mostly certain that Hull's hypothesis was false, and the slow shake of Avery's head confirmed that the Doctor shared his educated opinion. Breaux went so far as to offer,

"An interesting observation Lieutenant, but my initial scans showed no signs of such a fever. I called in the Counselor so that we can rule out mass delusions as a result of stress or some toxin. I've also asked Ops to check scans for anomalies in the area. I assure all of you that the Counselor and I only have your best interests at heart, and we have no intention of being judgmental." Breaux smiled at Vol. Vol returned his gaze back to the party in front of him.

"...and since it's contagious, I'm sure both the Counselor and the Doctor have contracted it. All because Breaux didn't listen to me when we first came in." Hull finished his speech, clearly he disapproved of the Sera's current Doctor, and likely of the Ship's Counselor as well. The Lieutenant was nothing if not, obstinate. Breaux listened to the slight and then offered,

"Lieutenant, I'm sure with your learned medical background you can appreciate the fact that I might have to sedate you in order to help us be able to treat you," Breaux looked over a PADD that he was working on, "...and hostility is not a symptom of Rudellian Fever, so you may have something else." Again Breaux smiled. Vol took a moment to scan the emotion of the party again. Parent took everything Hull said and launched it out the other ear as complete nonsense, whereas DeBerry became increasingly more fearful that she may have such a terrible illness. Still, there was something else.

"Ensign, may I call you Beth?" DeBerry seemed to wonder why she was being addressed directly, she rubbed her arm through her uniform and nodded.

"I wonder if you think something else may have happened, would you like to recount you own version of things?"

She began slowly, "We were working on the transporter, nothing major, just routine part exchanges to be followed by a diagnostic, and..." she paused and looked at her mates and then back to Vol, "...and then that's when I heard it..."

Vol allowed her to continue at her own pace.

She began again, "...it was a woman's voice. I thought it was engine hum at first, and didn't think the others noticed it, but when I looked up we were all staring at each other. The voice had said 'need emergency assistance.'" Beth's breath began to catch in her throat, and Vol sensed an intense emotion beginning to fester, but she tried desperately to keep her composure in front of her colleagues.

Vol sighed, looking at the other two officers for an instant. Neither had anyone more to add, although Hull was on the brink of disagreeing... but he held his tongue fast. Vol was mentally crossing out possibilities. He had scratched off the fever almost immediately, and delusions due to a toxin or poison was unlikely as, physically and emotionally none of the three showed any symptoms. Their thoughts were clear, concise, their own, and their pupils were normal, as was their breathing and other physical attributes.

"Tabling the Redullian fever theory for now, do either of you have hunch as what could have caused this?" This procured a chuckle from Parent, who evidently thought her half-serious theory was worthy of a laugh.

"Maybe it was a ghost." She wore a wide grin as she said it, attempting to deflate the tension with some humor. Beth DeBerry was not laughing however, her head, and her feelings, snapped up and fastened on parent. A look of pure shock on her face, but Vol sensed something else he may have expected.

"Oh c'mon Beth, I wasn't se---" Ensign Parent had started to say.

"What if it was?!" Beth retorted, but quickly gulped down the rest of her sentence. She looked at Vol, who just gazed at her with a neutral expression, nonjudgmental. Vol sensed a small twinge of hope in the mind of the officer, and the shame that had accompanied that hope before was being quickly shoved aside.

"I thought..." she continued in a much softer tone, lowering her gaze and pushing her brown hair behind her ear. "...I, I thought I recognized the voice."

Breaux turned and joined his crewmate's side. Avery gave a great deal of credence to realms we know very little about, his mind traveled to Marie Laveau, voodoo and the bayous of home.

"Particles...sound...memory...trapped in the transporter? Ghost or time machine, like watching a distant star go nova, and it's already happened, ages ago..."


"Yes!" Beth said, hopeful and almost excited. "Exactly! Why couldn't it have been Janine?"

Vol sideglanced Avery with very lazy eyes that that 'Now why'd you have to go and say something like that?' He knew that the Doctor hadn't intended to make things slightly more difficult, but tackling Beth's issues was tough enough without a Commanding officer, in any small way, agreeing with her.

"Your sister?" remarked Hull, scoffing at Beth. And they had thought his fever theory was 'ridiculous.'

"Yes." nodded DeBerry. She gulped as she looked at Vol, her mind much more open now than it was before. "I lost my sister when there was a transporter accident on her ship a year ago, and I, just think that maybe, she's come back to make sure I'm ok. To say goodbye, like she didn't have the chance when..." It was here that Beth stopped.

----------------------------
LT Cmdr Avery Breaux
CMO
USS Serendipity


and

Ensign Vol Tryst
Ship's Counselor
USS Serendipity NCC-2012