Devastation of the Zyte Colony - Part 3

Posted on Sat Aug 31st, 2024 @ 9:00pm by Lieutenant Inara Ziro & Captain James Phoenix & Commander Oscar Vladinchi & Master Chief Petty Officer Evelyn Bailey

2,766 words; about a 14 minute read

Mission: Untested
Location: Zyte Colony; On Planet; USS Horizon
Tags: Zyte Colony, Inara Ziro, Oscar Vladinchi, Sh'rythok Tetho, sickbay,

Last time, on Devastation of the Zyte Colony - Part 2:

The Commander seemed to be stabilizing. His dose of hyronalin was actually starting to take effect now that he was out of direct exposure. But her... maybe all the exertion of dragging him there was exasperating her symptoms? Maybe it was less effective on her physiology? She wished there was a real doctor around...

"Hey..." Whispered the ghost of Inara's past. "Don't worry about that right now. Just rest." She could feel his hand on her cheek.

"But... the mission-"

"You finished the mission, Ina." Elliot looked down on her on the shore of an island that didn't exist in a city lightyears away. She was lying on a picnic blanket, staring up at his big dumb grin as the sun set behind him. "You did great!"

She closed her eyes, listening to the songs of the city and the gentle waves hitting the harbor across from their little fictitious haven. What a great place for a nap.

Oscar sat up in an instant as the drugs took full effect. He then swiveled to grab Inara - perhaps out of shock at his current situation, being in an unfamiliar place. Inara looked half gone, a cross between living and dead, and the panic in the Commanders tone as he spoke was palpable.

"Lieutenant!" he shouted as he shook her gently. "Lieutenant! Are you okay?!"

The Iotian stirred with a groan. Bleary eyed, she looked up, into the distance. She could hear the faint echoes of Captain Hatfield practicing his guitar again. Elliot stared daggers at Oscar.

"This guy again." He said with contempt, waving his ephemeral arm unnoticed through the Commander's head. "Doesn't he know you've done enough?"

"Just..." Inara mumbled, "Just let me sleep... just a bit longer..." Keeping her eyes open made her head throb.

And now for the continuation:

[ON]

==Office of Planetary Defense==

"No, no, no!" Oscar demanded, almost a shout. "You can't give in, Inara! We're too close to safety! Listen to me, you need to fight it!"

_{Inara... Inara....}

Inaaara!

She was surrounded by ash and steel. Distant sirens echoed at the edge of hearing like ghosts. The picnic blanket was filthy. Inara finally looked up to see whose lap she was lying in, and saw the face of her Andorian frenemy.

"What are you doing, Starfleet?" Tetho grilled her with an icy disapproval Inara didn't realize she had missed. "You have work. To do."

"Finished.. mission" Inara groaned, "The Governor..."

"Fuck the Governor." Tetho put down her whining with unwavering conviction. "This is the mission."

She felt something grab her hand and turned her head. That throbbing in her skull was back.

It was Elliot. He was lying on the ground next to her. Eyes empty. His face burned from the explosion. Silently pleading with her to stay. To rest with him. Suddenly, it didn't seem so inviting.

"He loved you. But he's gone. Whatever that is, isn't him. Are you going to let it drag you down with it?"

"You need to fight it!"

With a start, the Iotian awoke. Whole body aching with an acrid metallic tinge burned into her tongue and in the back of her throat. She found herself slumped against the wall. Her arm was extended, holding onto Ell.. to thin air beside her.. No. Elliot is gone. She didn't want to think about whatever that was...

Oscar's hands were on her shoulders, gently shaking her awake. She didn't have the energy to move her head to face him. She was fighting now to stay conscious. She looked sideways toward him. Eyes wide with fear, shifting color wildly as a tear ran down her cheek, turning pink as it passed over the stranger's dried blood still on her face.

"C.. Commander?" She asked, wondering if he was real. If she was going to die...

Recognition was seen in the Iotian's eyes. Vladinchi's expression softened as he saw it. He firmly, but gently, gripped her. Hoping the physical act alone was enough to keep her in the present from ... where ever she had been.

"Yes, yes, it's me," Oscar said. "It's me. We're safe, Inara. It's okay now. I need you to stay with me."

Inara's bleary gaze turned toward the apparition behind the commander, who looked at her with such contempt. Her Elliot. Cutting through the pain and exhaustion and nausea, his hatred hurt more than anything she had gone through that day.

But it was wrong... She could see now that he was.. wrong. Something in his eyes wasn't right. It wasn't him. It wasn't even human.

Instinct overriding, Inara shut her eyes fast, ignoring the sting of her tears. With what little strength she could muster, she reached up a shaking hand and grabbed the arm holding her shoulder and squeezed. Unseeing, she could feel Elliot's gaze on her.

Nails dug into Oscar's arm as Inara's hearts beat faster and her breath quickened and rattled, her body on the verge of total collapse. She felt not-Elliot's hands hover an inch above her face. He could take her away. All he needed was for her to let go for just a moment. Just... one... moment..

Her breath slowed down. Her grip relaxed.

But neither stopped.

She felt her hearts return dutifully to their proper rhythm. Through watery eyes, the Iotian blinked into the dusty light of the concrete chamber of the Office of Planetary Defense. She was alone with a man she had known for a day, but who she had gone through hell with already.

They were sitting in the only partially-shielded building in the vicinity of an antimatter core meltdown, ready to die any second. But at least it was real, she thought, as she rested her head against his shoulder. At least it was real.

And in a shimmer of blue light, they disappeared.

==Hole In Wall==

Making their way to the reactor, the amount of radiation was getting stronger. "Holy shit! Evelyn, we can't shut it down. All we can do is slow the spread and we are gonna glow after this", Richelle said. They started to seal the places that they could but the rads were still climbing to higher numbers. Richelle started to feel the effects, "Come on Evelyn, let's get outta here PDQ. I don't wanna die in this damn wall", she added, crawling slowly out of the wall, Evelyn right on her heels already loosing strength.

=/\= Captain Phoenix, Richelle here...have only been able....*draws a ragged breath*...to slow the leak down. Unable to seal... completely. Need...to completely evac.... survivors. Don't let us...die for...", Richelle passes out=/\=

Evelyn, who was almost done herself, nearly tripped over Richelle. She was trying to conserve her own breath which wasn't working all that well. She stumbled before the actualization that Richelle had dropped hit her. She was starting to become delirious. She attempted to crouch down to pick up Richelle, but she fell. Everything was hurting.

She sluggishly pushed herself off he ground before making a second attempt to pick up the Chief Engineer. She carefully crouched down and lifted up Richelle, and put her into a fireman's carry which only caused everything else to hurt more. She began to slowly move towards the exit, which felt like an eternity.

Back on the Horizon, Captain sat quietly in the chair. His officers were calling out readouts and anything they could gather from the reactor. It wasn't much. Having heard Richelle's call. "Ops can you get our folks out of there?"

"The transporter chief has a lock on Commander Vladinich and Lieutenant Ziro, but not Master Chief Bailey and Commander Sorenson."

James cursed. "How big is the blast radius?"

"Two square miles sir" the ops officer's face went dark.

He stood up. "Send out an evacuation warning to those still in the city. Warm up the transporter PADDs, we're going to put them through a massive stress test, Notify the Stras, that we need their assistance with evac."

=/\=Phoenix to Bailey, we don't have a lock on you or the Commander, I need you to get out of there=/\=

=/\="Trying sir" Evelyn struggled, I think... we are... close=/\= she said as she stumbled without falling. They were roughly 500 feet from the exit.

"Lieutenant?" James looked at the operations officer.

"We are evacuating as many as we can via the transporters. Commander Vladinchi and Lieutenant Ziro have been transported to sickbay, and are under quarantine."

"Very well" do you think it is safe to send any of our craft?"

"I'd advise against it sir, at least for the city center. We don't know how it will affect our shuttles."

"Send them to just outside the radius. We need to take the risk."

"Aye Captain."

Back on the surface, Evelyn still had another 200 feet to go. She was slowing down. Carrying another officer on her back didn't help any. She tried to focus on one thing at a time. The Chief of Boat focused on the exit which was now visible at the other edge of the corridor. She just had the carry the Commander there. 100 feet to go.

She struggled again nearly falling over. Regaining her balance and making sure Richelle was secured, she continued. 50 feet. Then 25 and 10. Before she knew it, she was through the entrance.

"Captain I have a lock on Commander Sorenson and Chief Bailey!"

"Transport them to sickbay under quarantine" he ordered.

In seconds, Richelle and Evelyn were whisked away in the all familiar Starfleet blue transporter hue.

==Sickbay; USS Horizon==

Oscar awoke on a biobed. He groaned as he held his head. He tried to lift himself, but a nurse held him down. He grunted in protest, but relented when he let out a long sigh.

"Is everyone okay?" was all he managed.

The nurse looked hopeful as she replied.

"We managed to beam out two individuals nearest the reactor meltdown area, as well as find the Governor and some other individuals. Yourself and Lieutenant Ziro were among the first to beam out, however."

Vladinchi nodded. "Good," he managed, feeling a raspy throat coming on. "Good."

The nearest medical bed chimed a force field field away, where Inara laid unconscious. A tiny blinking device attached to her forehead indicated she was undergoing neural regeneration, a clear do not disturb sign as any.

Clearer still was the red perimeter hologram around her bed with radiation warnings flashing around her. Hovering above the Lieutenant, a miniature medical DOT finished its work, hoovering up the ionizing rays. Briefly, the hologram flashed green before disappearing with a hiss, and the particle barrier sizzled away.

With a satisfied chirp, the little robot flew off to its next patient across the crowded sickbay, leaving its previous charge to her rest.

Oscar Vladinchi groaned as he sat up, the aftereffects of the radiation exposure still weighing heavily on him. The nurse tried to gently push him back down, but he shook his head, waving her off. He needed to see for himself that everyone was safe.

His eyes scanned the crowded sickbay until they landed on the unconscious form of Lieutenant Inara Ziro, surrounded by the red perimeter hologram indicating radiation. He watched as a medical DOT finished its work and flew off, the hologram flashing green before disappearing. She looked so vulnerable, lying there with the neural regeneration device attached to her forehead.

"Commander," the nurse began cautiously, "you need to rest. You've been through a lot."

Oscar nodded but didn't lie back down. "I know, but I need to make sure everyone's accounted for. Lieutenant Ziro—she's stable?"

"She..." The nurse hesitated, her words considered carefully. "She is stable, yes. But we don't know much about her physiology. There may be some neurological damage we can't repair."

Another beep and the fizzle of a force field heralded the release of the DOT's next patient as the little bot happily flew to yet another charge on the busiest day of its existence. Its charge, a young Andorian woman in a tank top slid off her bio-bed and hurried over to where Lieutenant Ziro lied unconscious. She shot a weary glance at the commander as she passed by before turning her attention back to Inara, gently taking her hand.

Oscar watched with a deep sense of concern as the young Andorian woman approached Lieutenant Ziro. His gaze shifted back to the nurse, his expression serious.

"Please keep me updated on her condition," Oscar requested, his voice hoarse but determined. "If there's anything I can do to help, let me know."

He took a deep breath and gingerly lowered himself back onto the biobed, his body protesting against the movement. His mind was racing, processing the events that had unfolded and the implications for everyone involved. The weight of the radiation exposure and the near-catastrophe weighed heavily on him, but his primary focus was on the safety and recovery of his crew.

Oscar's thoughts drifted to the other members of their team—Richelle and Evelyn. He hoped they were recovering well. It had been a brutal mission, and despite the victory, the toll it had taken on them was evident.

As he rested, he allowed himself a moment of reflection. The loss and the close calls had shaken him, but seeing his crew safe, even if injured, was a small comfort. He was grateful for their resilience and bravery. They had faced impossible odds and survived.

He glanced over at the Andorian, who was now carefully monitoring Inara's condition. "How are things looking with her?" he asked, his tone softening as he tried to mask the exhaustion in his voice. "Is there anything else we should be concerned about?"

He kept a close watch, wanting to ensure that Inara, and indeed all his crew, would recover fully from this harrowing ordeal. The mission was over, but the consequences and the path to recovery were just beginning.

"It's too early to tell, Commander." The nurse said, solemnly. "Her people are refusing access to their medical database. We're positive we can repair the human-analogous tissue. But her visual cortex is something completely alien to us. It will take time to see how she's been affected."

Behind the nurse, the woman holding Inara's hand squeezed harder, her antennae twitching uncomfortably as she eavesdropped on the conversation.

Commander Oscar Vladinchi remained silent for a moment, his mind processing the nurse's words. He could see the concern in her eyes, and it mirrored his own. The fact that Inara's people were refusing access to their medical database was frustrating, but he understood the complexities of interspecies cooperation. Still, it left them at a disadvantage, unable to fully assess or treat the extent of her injuries.

He watched the Andorian woman, her grip tightening on Inara's hand, her antennae betraying her emotions. The bond between them was clear, and Oscar felt a pang of guilt that he hadn't been able to do more to protect his crew.

Finally, he spoke, his voice measured and tinged with the weariness of the day's events. "I understand. We'll do everything we can with the resources we have. Just... keep me informed. If there's any change in her condition, anything at all, I want to know."

He turned his gaze back to the ceiling, his body still protesting every movement. The weight of command was heavy, and today it felt particularly crushing. But he had to stay strong—for Inara, for the rest of his team, and for the mission that had brought them to the brink of disaster.

Oscar closed his eyes, forcing himself to rest, knowing that recovery would take time. But in the back of his mind, the thought lingered—how many more of these close calls could they survive? And what would the next one cost them?

As exhaustion finally began to pull him into a restless sleep, he hoped that when he awoke, there would be good news waiting. That Inara would open her eyes, that Richelle and Evelyn would be on the mend, and that they could all begin to heal from the devastation they had just endured.

But for now, all he could do was wait—and hope.

[OFF]

Commander Oscar Vladinchi
Executive Officer
USS Horizon

&

Lieutenant Inara Ziro
Assistant Chief Security Officer
USS Horizon

 

RSS Feed