"Rampaging Targs"

[Col. C.E. Harper 0]

Lt. Col. T'Loren Day stepped into security, realizing that she hadn't had opportunity to visit the office much--she spent most of her time dealing with Marine matters. But now she was the XO, and everything was a Marine matter, especially now that half the crew jumped ship, and Medusa was in the brig. She had a feeling that this was not going to be pretty, especially after hearing the scuttlebutt about the incident between Harper and JoNs. (What had that fuzzball been thinking?!) Taking a deep breath, Paradox stepped into the brig area.

 

Harper was just beginning to stir again, lifting her head from the cell floor. Apparently the security officers had not wasted time getting her onto the bunk; not that it was much softer than the floor. She put a hand to her temple in an attempt to contain the small targ that was clearly rampaging through her cranium, and blinked blearily through the forcefield at Day.

 

T'Loren crouched down, facing her friend and superior. Some could call this mutiny. "Charlie? How are you feeling?" Perhaps the effects making her crazy were wearing off... hey, she could hope, couldn't she?

 

"Like I've been shocked, trapped in my own brig, shot... and oh yes, let's not forget clawed by my chief of security, who seems to be helping my second-in-command commit mutiny,” Harper growled, sitting up carefully. "What's gotten into you?"

 

"Oh, nothing much. Just dealing with half of the crew abandoning ship, one marine committing an unprovoked attack, a doctor wanted to attack her own patient... Hell, might as well add mutiny, if that's what you want to call it. But considering that you were trying to leave the ship...that would have left me in command anyways, so I guess you can't call it mutiny, can you?"

 

Medusa blinked once, then pressed the heels of her hands against her temples again. "I had to... get out..."

 

T'Loren tried to reach out mentally, to suppress Harper's aggressiveness, and help her extract any useful information. It was difficult, to say the least, especially since she wasn't in physical contact. Boy, was she going to have a headache later. "Get out... off the ship? To go where? Do you know?"

 

"Out!" Harper snapped. "Just out... out, away... away from..." She struggled for a moment, trying to think clearly, although the targ was now doing a polka with several of its offspring.

 

"Charlie. I need your help. Half the crew is gone. The only humans left on board are you and Melissa. Some transported off, some were taken off. We need to find them, but... where to start. Anything you can tell me... or let me help you remember... We can't just abandon them. We can't. I won't."

 

The hands dropped away and the colonel's head jerked up. She fixed Day with a fierce glare. "Can't run the ship with your little band of mutineers?" she spat. "Why keep me here, Paradox? Worried I would come back and reclaim my ship? Little gods, just being in the same room with you traitors makes me itch..." She rubbed her arms, shuddering, and muttered, "Have to get out..."

 

T'Loren shook her head, "I can't let you go... I'm sorry, but you're the only link we have at the moment to find the rest of the crew. We can run the ship without them, but I won't abandon my friends. And we're keeping you in here to keep you from harming anyone... including yourself for that matter. You'll find that the security officers did a thorough search this time. Your other weapons and blades have been removed."

 

"Damn you!" Harper shouted, jumping up. Almost immediately, she sat again, groaning, and put her head in her hands. "That... thing. It's responsible for this."

 

Her head tilted to one side, "What thing?"

 

"The energy being. It's corrupted you all."

 

T'Loren shook her head, "No, I don't think so. If so, why only the humans, or the half-blood humans? ...well, except Kairi. I don't think Shadow has personally had contact with that many, for that matter. No, it's something else... something we haven't thought of yet. It's going to require a medical work-up, I think... Though I suppose you're not likely to cooperate for that, are you?" Medusa shot her a baleful glare worthy of her namesake. "I also have to wonder if there is any way of suppressing those violent tendencies of yours... But I doubt you're interested in that, either. Do you like feeling this way, Charlotte?"

 

"I feel fine!" Harper protested. To herself, she muttered, "Aside from the amazing tap-dancing targ team, anyway." Shaking that thought away, she informed Day, "It's the rest of you that have gone odd -- you've turned craven on me. Did you mutiny because you lost your taste for combat, Colonel?" She put a mocking lilt on the rank, coupled with a sneer.

 

"I told you already, Colonel, that you can't call it mutiny if you were abandoning your post like a bloody coward. I'm not the one that's craven... you are. And it galls your soul."

 

"I was getting away from you mutineers!" Harper protested. "If not for that shadow-being, the loyal crew and I would be making plans to take back this ship right now!"

 

T'Loren shrugged, "We hadn't 'mutinied' at that point, remember. Now then, how about we see if we can get through to you... We can go the medical route first or start with the mental route. You have a preference?"

 

Harper flashed an evil grin at Day. "You want to come in here and muck around in my brain? Come and try it."

 

Paradox smiled. "You forget I'm half Vulcan... I can best you in raw strength any day of the week, Medusa. So, if that's your call... " She stepped towards the field separating the two of them.

 

"Oh, given that I've been shocked and stunned at least twice today, I've no doubt," Harper replied without getting up. "But are you sure you want to come visiting? It's not a pretty place in here." That wicked grin remained, as reminiscent of a predator baring fangs as an omnivoric primate could manage.

 

"I'm sure it's not, but as I said, you're really the only clue we've got. Computer, drop forcefield for a five second count," she said, preparing to enter.

 

"Step into my parlor..." Medusa murmured, leaning back on her hands.

 

T'Loren quickly stepped into the cell, waiting until the field reestablished before moving to sit beside Harper.

 

Charlie favored her with a long, assessing look, then flashed that grin again. "And now what, Paradox? 'My mind to your mind'," she intoned eerily, waggling her fingers in the air. "Ha!"

 

T'Loren smirked, "Not necessary... I'm only half Vulcan." She reached out and touched Harper on the wrist, initiating contact.

 

She flinched; it felt like ice water splashed on her skin where Day touched her. A scowl crossed her face; why was she putting up with this?

 

T'Loren was suddenly glad that her father had pressed her into studying the Vulcan techniques of emotional control. Those lessons kicked in, saving her from a quick route to insanity in Harper's maelstrom of violent emotions. Her first step was to dampen those emotions, to try to lock them away. But something was fundamentally not right. Every time she though she had a block in place, they broke through somewhere else.

 

Harper struggled to ride the waves of emotion. One moment she felt calm, if somewhat restless, and the next she wanted nothing more than to shove Day aside, or perhaps punch her right in her serene Vulcan face. Then it felt like a smothering blanket was tossed over her; she fought against it, and the cycle began anew. "What are you doing?" she whispered, wide-eyed.

 

This was tiring! "I am attempting to restore a more normal balance of emotion. However, something is actively causing your violent emotions." Her voice was flat, Vulcan-logic tone that T'Loren rarely used with those she knew well. It was an indication that she had shut off her own emotions. Finally, she felt success, if only briefly... "There. It won't hold long... a couple minutes at most. Now, what do you remember? Where were you trying to go?"

 

She shook her head. "Just... away." Squinting in concentration, Harper struggled to remember more. "I remember... I was with Troll in the holodeck, and..."

 

Paradox shook her own head. "I see it... There's nothing there beyond the imperative. Dang it... I hope we can find them. Charlie, I'm sorry for this, for whatever it's worth. We'll find a solution."

 

"There was a ship?" Medusa asked, clutching at the memory as it surfaced. "Someone mentioned a ship."

 

T'Loren nodded. "They beamed off all of the human crew, except you and Melissa. They even took several half-humans. Then they went to warp."

 

"You tracked them?"

 

"We're trying. We're a little short staffed, though. And their warp signature seems to fade fast, but we'll find them... somehow."

 

Harper nodded. "Good," she said, and smiled. "And then we'll kill them."

 

"You humans and your violence.” Day sighed. "When this thing breaks, you'll probably think it was a trick. But try to remember that I am your friend. And I feel it my duty to protect you from yourself... even if it means turning you over to the vampires in Sickbay."

 

"If it'll get me out of here," Medusa sighed, waving a hand at the cell, "and back on duty... I really could go for some time on the holodeck, Paradox. I promise to play nice with the crew... even the spook."

 

T'Loren smiled, wondering if Harper would realize after the fact that the entire conversation went on in their heads. To an outside observer, they had been sitting mutely the whole time, though with the occasional smile. She could feel the strain in the block. It wasn’t going to hold much longer. Something was really actively increasing the chemicals causing the violent thoughts. She sighed, withdrew her hand breaking the connection, and stood up. "I'm sorry for the headache you'll have. I'm sure it won't be any consolation that I'll have one too..."

 

Harper blinked up at her. "You mean you've brought another targ?"

 

"I'll tell the doctors to dope you up good. Computer, drop forcefield for five seconds.” She quickly stepped out, then turned to face Harper. "I'll have someone come by shortly to take you down to Sickbay."

 

"You're certain I can't go to the rifle range instead?" Charlie asked. "I really, really want to shoot something."

 

Paradox nodded, "You probably want to shoot me."

 

She considered that. "Well, you're on the list," she admitted. "But the spook's higher. And the aliens that took my crew."

 

"We'll go shoot each other in the holodeck when this is all over... and after we shoot the aliens. As for Shadow, I wouldn't bother. He'd probably like it. Now, lay down. That block is going to break any second, and you probably don’t want to be sitting up when it does."

 

"Couldn't possibly feel any worse," Harper muttered, but she flopped backwards anyway, stretching her arms over her head and blinking up at the ceiling lights. "Send down some hydrocortilene, will you?"

 

"Whatever the EMH says you can have..." T'Loren rocked on her heels slightly as the full weight of the headache came crashing down. She thought she was going to retch, though that would only make it hurt worse.

 

The ceiling lights suddenly felt like they were stabbing her retinas. Harper screwed up her face against the blast of pain. "Damn, Paradox," she gasped, "Now I really do want to shoot you."

 

Day just stood there, still afraid to move for fear of falling over. "And you probably hate me again now too." She reached up for her comm badge, "Sickbay, this is Day. Send a medtech down immediately with two doses of something for a telepath headache." Tapping again she cut the channel, then spoke again, "Computer, dim lights to 10%."

 

Some of the red glare faded from her still-closed eyes. "Oooo... that's better." Now if she could just remember how to move, she might be able to get a few punches in...