by Dabin Reece
81129.0200
After Child’s Play
-=Lethus IV=-
81129.0200
After Child’s Play
-=Lethus IV=-
“Look! Up in the sky!”
“It’s a bird!”
“It’s a shuttle!”
“It’s the probe!”
The Starfleet issue probe streaked across the sky towards their location, before rapidly slowing and dropping as gently as could be at their feet. Dengar approached the probe, tapped a few buttons on the casing, and the lid popped open.
“And you didn’t even need Kellyn to boot it across the planet for you.” Reece said.
Rada grabbed the emitter, stood up, and activated the LMH program.
“What in the name of pigs in a blanket.” McKay stammered as he looked around. One moment he was on the bridge talking to Salvek, and the next he was on the planet below. “He shot me down here in a probe? Now wait just a damn minute.”
“Doctor we’d love to discuss the ethics of Salvek’s decision with you, but Lair Kellyn needs you, now.” Dengar shoved the medkit into McKay’s hands and pointed towards the trench.
“Oh we’ll be discussing the ethics. I am a living intelligent being. I wouldn’t conk him on the head and cram him into a probe. Zanh Liis will hear of this don’t you worry your pretty little head about it Mr. Dengar.” McKay ran the tricorder over Lair Kellyn’s wound and shook his head. “Dermal regenerator please.”
Reece handed him the tool from the medkit, and he began sealing the wound.
“She needs surgery to repair the lung tissue but that will have to wait,” McKay said. “Also, she needs a donation of blood.”
“Take it! Take it all!” Reece declared heroically, thrusting out his arm and shutting his eyes.
“You and I both know you aren’t a matching donor Commander Reece, so you can stop playing hero,” McKay rolled his eyes.
“I know, but if I was a match, you could take it all.” Kellyn’s still body came to life, as he arm swung up and smacked Reece upside the head.
“Hey, now what is that?!” Dabin protested.
“I can still hear you, you know.” Kellyn’s words were slurred but clear enough to be made out.
“All right, I need you to simmer young lady,” McKay warned, as he scanned the others for a matching blood type.
“Lady?” Reece scoffed. “Have you ever heard her try to repair anything? She could make an android blush.”
Kellyn smacked him again, and Dabin gladly accepted the blow, knowing that if she were angry enough to hit him, it meant she would stay conscious if nothing else.
“Congratulations Commander Blane! You are our lucky winner, and I’m as happy as a vampire during a solar eclipse.”
Blane left his perch on the edge of the trench, and held out his arm.
“Take what you need,” he said simply. McKay pressed the hypo to Blane, extracting the blood into a long vile attached. He then moved to press the hypo to Kellyn to inject the blood into her stream.
“WAIT!” Reece yelled, grabbing McKay’s arm.
“I’ve done this before son,” Dalton said, exasperated. Reece snatched the hypo, held the blood up to the sun, and shook it slightly.
“What is he doing?” Hok asked, whispering to Dengar. Rada simply shook his head.
“Boy don’t take this wrong way but you’re acting like the one that needs medical treatment.”
Satisfied, Reece handed the hypo back to McKay. “Ok,” Dabin glared at Blane. “He’s not a Changeling, for now.”
Kellyn smacked him again, this time rolling Reece over onto his back. McKay pressed the hypo to her arm and gave her the donation.
”She’s stable for now, can we get her any place more comfortable?”
“I’m fine,” Kellyn mumbled.
“We’re about half a kilometer from the construction camp,” Hok said. “Maybe we can find assistance there.”
“I’m willing to bet the Romulans made sure we’ll be finding no help there,” Blane had seen the smoke rising from the camp in the distance, and was sure there was no one left alive.
“I have a suggestion, Commander.” Rada spoke up. “There’s still plenty of power left in the probe’s cells. I can modify the propulsion systems on it to double as an antigrav gurney. We can move her that way.”
“Be my guest,” Blane said.
Hok and Rada modified the probe, while Reece, McKay and Blane patched Kellyn up as best they could to be moved. Once ready, all five men lifter her carefully, and laid her atop Rada’s makeshift “gurney”. Rada stood by the probe, working the controls to move it about.
“Hey Kellyn, how about a story while we walk?” Reece asked.
“No.”
“Good! Once upon a time there was a Vulcan. The Vulcan was a strong, dignified and handsome man who loved his wife very much. One day the wife went on an Away Team with her friend, a Trill. Let’s call him, Damien. Anyway, the wife, let’s call her Kelly, got hurt really bad. The Vulcan, who went by Saul, got really mad that Damien let Kelly get hurt, so he went all ancient pre-Surak on Damien’s ass and cut him with some big, like, blade thingie.”
“I like this story,” Kellyn mumbled with a grin.
“So the moral of the story is, Kelly needed to be strong, and get better quick, so Damien didn’t get cut with the blade thingie.”
“Mmph.” Was all Kellyn said.
Reece pulled McKay aside, away from the rest of the group. “So be straight with me, how bad is it really?”
“It is as bad as I said it was. She’s stable for now but she needs surgery to repair her damaged lung tissue. You and I both know she does not have the healthiest lungs to begin with.”
Dabin nodded, understanding. All he could do was hope the Romulans had left something behind that Rada Dengar could use as a communications device to call for help. Either that, or the Salvek would run down the Romulan, retrieve Arie, and double back here before it was too late for Lair Kellyn.
As the group approached the camp, they discovered the Romulans had left little behind. Hok and Blane volunteered for the grim task of finding blankets, tarps, or anything else that could be used to cover the dead. Dengar and Reece searched for any devices that were still functioning that could be of use, and McKay took Kellyn to one of the empty bunks in the barracks where he could set her down on a clean bed.
Reece managed to find several rations into the food service area, but the replicator was completely vaporized by the Romulans. If nothing else they would have clean water and protein bars for a few days.
Rada flagged him down, as Dabin left the cafeteria to deliver the rations to McKay.
“Look at all this,” Rada held out his arms, which were laden down with all sorts of medical supplies. “There’s a whole tent of this stuff back there. Should help McKay keep Kellyn going a bit longer. I’m going to search the tool storage bay next.”
“I’ll help you, let’s drop these off first,” Dabin and Rada made their deliver to McKay, who immediately tore open a water container and began to drip it into Lair Kellyn’s mouth.
“Thank you all, so much.” Lair Kellyn managed to get out between sips. Dabin was used to her being the energy and fire in every room she was in. It pained him to see her like this. He did not dare ask how much of the conversation with the ship she had or had not heard. She was in enough physical pain as it was, he only hoped she was unaware of what had happened to Arie. Knowing Kellyn, if she had heard anything, she would keep her mouth shut. She could be accused of being many things, but a whiner was not one of them.
Dabin and Rada headed out for the tool storage bay, but just as they were about to enter, Blane and Hok exited.
“We were finished so we wanted to help you search for supplies. How about this? Subspace wave pulse drill, is it not?” Hok handed the device to Rada.
“Sure is. Uses tightly compressed subspace signals to break apart rocks below the surface prior to excavation.”
“I like the word subspace!” Reece said with a smile. “Tell me we can use this to send a communications signal somehow?”
“I’ll need an hour or two, but yeah, I think I can do it.” Rada said. “With any luck Starfleet with have the cavalry here by dinner.”
********************
Dabin Reece
Chief Science Officer
USS Serendipity NCC-2012
Dabin Reece
Chief Science Officer
USS Serendipity NCC-2012