Love Is a Peculiar Thing 3/3

Posted on Wed Feb 6th, 2019 @ 8:26pm by Lieutenant Commander Mnhei'sahe Dox & Lieutenant Asa Dael

Mission: Earthly Visitation
Location: Mars
Timeline: After Part 2

The goons must have heard the beeps and came bursting through the door in the process of drawing stun weapons from their waist holsters. Virildi acted before Asa could even think, swirling fiercely and filling the entire room with a green mist. There was a slight suction felt and a whooshing noise as the glass and thumbtacks holding the posters on the wall were sucked into the maelstrom of Virildi’s wrath.

An impression formed in Asa’s mind of ducking and covering, and the doctor was quick to comply. As soon as Asa was on the ground, they heard the screams as the thumbtacks and glass was thrown into and through the goon’s bodies, spraying blood all over Asa’s prone form and painting the walls in a disturbing pattern. One of them croaked out that he could not breathe, and Asa hazarded a peek to see Virildi filling both goon’s mouths and nostrils with a highly concentrated mist while the debris filed whirled around, slicing through muscle and artery. With a final squelching noise, both goons fell to the ground.

Death by a thousand cuts indeed Asa thought, surveying the thousands of lacerations covering the goons form.

Doctor Asa Dael, I thank you for freeing me, how then shall we proceed? Virildi sent to Asa’s recovering mind.

I….I don’t know. We have to get out of here. They are going to sell us to some kind of collector….and I don’t think that will go well for either of us. Can you be diffuse enough to be invisible to human eyes? Asa inquired.

Virildi seemed to think on this for a moment, then responded If I am diffuse, I cannot do what I just did. In truth, being concentrated for so long as exhausted me.

It was then Asa noticed that Virildi was not the same solid green sphere they had first seen, but now flecks of white showed throughout, as if dust had become embedded in their essence. Virildi was also swirling dramatically slower, as if lethargic from a huge effort expended.

Fear not, my friend,Asa replied,I will find us a way. If you can be diffuse and act as a scout, that will help me act in the physical realm for us both. Would you like to try?

I can do this. I will go and scout the way

A feeling of gratitude was conveyed in the response, and an embrace as if that of a warm hug was sent through their link before Virildi stretched themself, becoming nothing more than a faint swath of green slithering along the floor. Asa watched as their friend exited the room, went rapidly down the hallway, and disappeared. Not wanting to be found, Asa crouched behind the doorway, hypos in hand, and waited for what felt like an eternity for Virildi to return.

The comms on the goons bodies crackled as Jake called to the two dead men, apparently named Heathcliff and Aaron, and Asa’s heart froze. Jake became inpatient at the other end of the comms and said he was on the way to “show them how to do their jobs”.

Come on Virildi, please come back Asa thought desperately.

It was at that moment that Virildi came rushing back, now back in their green sphere and moving at an incredible rate of speed. Before Asa could inquire as to what Virildi found, their mind flooded with an image of the abandoned hospital. Asa could see the hallways that had become impassable to foot traffic, the corridors with more ruffians occupying them, and a hallway leading to an antiquated communications room, filled with blinking lights indicating the systems were still operational.

Of course! Asa thought, These old hospitals didn’t have systemic comms offworld, but there was a central hub near the heart of every hospital. If we can just make it down these corridors, I can call for help! Virildi, can you join with my, physically I mean? If you can hide within my body, I can shield you from being captured.

Asa felt a sense of assent, followed by an image of gratitude as Vrildi's sphere merged and melted onto Asa's form. Once joined, Asa felt....complete. As if some long missing piece has been found, and with a knowledge that they need never be alone again, if only things could stay this way. They also knew it couldn't last. Such perfect peace was unsustainable, and the doctor had business to attend to. Releasing the sensation with regret, Asa set off towards the hall.

Virildi planted a map in Asa’s mind, veering through corridors that could be traversed by both parties and attempting to avoid any physical life forms they could encounter. The two had made it ¾ of the way to the communications room without raising any alarm when Asa suddenly heard the booming voice of Jake bellowing down the hallway.

“YOU!!!!” he screamed, locking eyes on to Asa and Virildi as they ran, “You killed my men!”

The scream was followed by the unfamiliar sound of gunfire, and Asa felt their side scream in pain as a bullet penetrated their flesh. Staggering, Asa paused to apply pressure and was surprised at the amount of blood. Without stopping to turn back, Asa darted into another hallway, out of Jake’s line of sight, and allowed Virildi to guide them to run to the communications room. It was a struggling affair, and Asa felt their body begin to wear out from trauma and shock, but managed to push through to the communications room, trailing blood behind them.

Once inside, Asa spared a moment to barricade the doors quickly with chairs scattered around the room. It might not yield much time, but every second counted. Vrildi took the opportunity to extricate from Asa's body, leaving them both with a feeling of isolation and loss. Seeing Virildi hovering uncertainly, Asa reached out to initiate their mental link.

Virildi, will you come with me? If I can get someone to beam me out of here, will you come with me?

No, Asa Dael, Virildi replied, I have expended much energy in being diffuse and concentrated today, and I grow tired of humanoids after today. Humanoids always deal with my kind in anger and destruction, I can sense they have much growth to do before I will be amongst them again. You, Asa Dael, have shown me kindness though. I would like to see you again. I sense you are long lived. I need to roam the gas clouds of the universe and recover my strength. I would like to meet you 300 Terran years from this day. Will you return to the cave where we met in 300 years? I would very much like to join my molecules in our dance again

Humbled by Virildi’s trust, Asa simply nodded yes, feeling their eyes fill with tears. I…I didn’t even think to tell you to run Virildi, I’m so sorry. You should have made your escape as soon as I freed you, thank you for staying and helping me. I will see you in 300 years from this day. Travel well and rest safely, my friend

Wordlessly, Virildi sent images of gratitude and friendship, of chosing to help Asa, and of joy that they met. The green sphere floated over and enveloped Asa completely, a gentle hug of parting combined with a sharing of emotion. Their grief and sadness echoed one another’s, as well as the beauty they saw in each other. Breaking the contact, Virildi swiftly fled the room.

Tears and blood flowing freely, Asa went to the comms and entered the hailing frequency for Hera personnel to communicate with the ship, “Emergency, Emergency, this is Lieutenant Junior Grade Doctor Asa Dael, I have been kidnapped and I am currently being held hostage somewhere on Mars. I need emergency beam out. Please reply.”

In the middle of Asa’s hail, the door started to open to a screaming Jake and the two other goons. The pitiful barricade Dael had made only obstructed the strong men briefly, and soon enough they had descended upon Asa. Jake backhanded them, knocking the doctor to the ground, and the two goons both delivered a few quick kicks to the doctors wounded abdomen until Jake told them to stop.

He knelt down and wrenched Asa’s head back, revealing a rapidly blackening eye, and tracked their neck with a blade drawn from his boot, drawing small amounts of blood as he went.

“Well child, you are getting to be more trouble than you are worth. Where is your friend?” he sneered.

Asa glared at him, refusing to speak.

“Child,” Jake said, in an almost parental tone, “Tell me, don’t make me have to hurt you. You are all alone out here. No one is coming to rescue you. There’s just you,” he said, slicing into Asa’s chest, “and me. Now, I’ll ask again, Where. Is. The. Gas. Creature.”

“You’re wrong,” Asa replied. “I’m not alone, and I’m not a child. You idiot, you just kidnapped a member of Starfleet.”

Jake recoiled as if bitten from the words. He stood quickly, brushing off his hands and turned to the other two goons. “I was right, not worth the trouble. Kill them.”

Sentence pronounced, he strode off, exiting the room as the goons descended. Asa braced for the worst and desperately hoped their call for help had been heard.

And 54 million kilometers away, it was being received on board a small but powerfully retrofitted J-type ship called the Khallianen. The ship, parked in Earth Space Dock, gifted to the newly minted Baroness of the Artan Pirate family and Asa's shipmate and friend, Lieutenant Mnhei'sahe Dox.

From the back cargo hold, Dox heard her ships comm system bleep on as the signal came across. She had spend the last few hours stocking the ship with some personal items she had gotten from her quarters on the Hera. Clothes, some diagnostic equipment for repairs and upgrades, and the Romulan disruptor she had acquired from an auction with the Captain over a month ago.

"...the hell. Computer, repeat message!" Dox shouted as she ran from the back of the ship towards the helm, still wearing the tight black tank top and green military pants and boots she fell asleep in the night before. The red-headed Romulan had set he ships comm signal to pick up Starfleet communication frequencies. However, the computer let out a loud, awkward failure message and did not obey her orders.

She had been working on the ships computer systems and remembered that the last owner was a Romulan pilot, and repeated herself in Rihan. "Computer, replay message NOW!"

With a chirp, it complied this time.

=^="Emergency, Emergency, this is Lieutenant Junior Grade Doctor Asa Dael, I have been kidnapped and I am currently being held hostage somewhere on Mars. I need emergency beam out. Please reply.”=^=

"HNAVE!" Dox cursed in Rihan as she began feverishly flipping switches and powering up her little ship. "Dock control, this is the Khallianen in dock K-90-x23. Release docking clamps, begin exiting procedure immediately!" She yelled to the comm system.

Dox's mind raced. Several senior crew including Rita Paris were still scattered on Earth for shore leave and curiously out of communication and the Hera was parked in the Asteroid belt further away from Mars. Frustrated and ready to move, she yelled back to the comm system. "DOCK CONTROL, CONFIRM!"

After a few seconds, Dock control confirmed and released the Khallianen's docking clamps as the exterior doors began to slowly open. "Okay, baby. Time for your maiden voyage."

Pulling the small but powerfully ship from the dock, Dox sped faster then regulations out of the still opening door into space. Whipping around, Dox set the coordinates for Mars at the ships maximum safe cruising speed between planets in the same system and took off with a shot.

Once en route, she switched her comm channel to the secret frequency to contact the Hera. "Lieutenant Dox to U.S.S. Hera. Please respond. Have received a distress message from Doctor Dael on Mars. I'm en route and in need of assistance. Sending my coordinates and the received message. Please respond!"

After a few seconds, the comm system chirped back. "Hera to Dox. Captain Telvan and Commander Paris are unavailable. Forwarding your message to Lieutenant Commander Thex. Please stand by."

In the cockpit of her ship, Dox shouted back, "Stand by, my ass. I'm going, coordinates sent. Send whatever backup you can with medical assistance." As the Khallianen roared closer to Mars.

The two goons were closing on Asa, fists raised and a hellish glint in their eyes. Doctor Dael was determined to die on their feet, and took comfort that Vrildi had made an escape.

Staggering upright, Asa flashed an insolent grin at the goons and waited for the inevitable blows.

But instead of blows, a glimmering flash of green light swirrled in between Asa and the two goons as Mnhei'sahe Dox materialized into the room, disruptor drawn forcing the two to step back.

"You two know these don't have a stun setting, right?" The angry young Romulan hissed. Then, stepping back, Dox glanced over her shoulder to look at her friend. "Asa, are you... oh my God."

"It's only mostly my blood," Asa replied wryly. "Gentlemen, I would yield if I were you. Your opponent now was trained by a kolinhar master and pirate queen, and she doesnt look to be in a good mood."

Asa's tone was dark as they stood leaning against the wall, one hand applying pressure to the bullet wound in their side. As Dox surveyed Asa's injuries, goon 4 saw an opportunity and raced forward, kicking high and knocking the disruptor from Dox's hands.

As the disruptor flew from her hands, Dox's eyes went wide as she burned the image of Asa into her mind. In an instant, a lifetime of training in the Romulan martial art of Llaekh-ae'rl, translated as 'laughing murder" kicked in without thought as her vision went green with rage.

With a roar, the stout Romulan pilot shot forward fast enough to catch the thugs leg while it was still in the air, tucking her shoulder under as she crossed her arms tight over his knee.

"ASA! GRAB THE DISRUPTOR!" Dox roared as she quickly dropped her full, nearly 300 pounds down to a single knee pulling hard down and forward, draging the goon with her as his own one snapped loudly under the pressure.

The massive man let out a wild scream in pain as Dox kept moving, twisting on her hips to grind his joint painfully against itself as the first thug fell over towards the other, who had stepped slightly out of the way to attack.

Turning towards the disruptor and allowing themself to succumb to gravity, Asa dropped to their knees and sctabbled forward on hands and knees until they reached the weapon. With anfinal lunge, Asa grabbed the weapon and rolled over to try to aim.

Standing up, Dox barely made a sound and charged the significantly larger man, who swing wildly. Dox swerved, but still took the punch to her face. But in an instant, the attacker learned that she had ran into a punch on purpose.

Spinning with the hit, Dox rolled her back with the lunging punch and swung her own arm up and around his, forcing him off balance and under her center of gravity.

Lurching forward, the thing screamed "BITCH!" as Dox grabbed the back of his head with her free arm and put her full weight over his back, smashing his face into the ground as they fell.

Once on the ground, holding his one arm tight in place, Dox proceeded to pull his head forward and back into the ground repeatedly until he stopped resisting.

The thug was moaning on the ground, face gushing blood while the other thing squealed on the ground, writhing and grabbing his shattered knee as Dox stood up, her own green blood streamed down her own face from her cracked nose. She was breathing shallowly and her eyes looked glassed over as she turned to the door.

"Mnhei'sahe, are you ok? Is it time to go?" Asa asked in a small voice. They held the disruptor in unsteady, bleeding hands, and began to try to sit up without further injuring their side.

"Be careful, their leader is somewhere out there."

Turning slowly towards Asa, Dox simply muttered. "I know where he is." Then she reached into her pocked antd pulled out a small comm device from her ship. "Computer. Lock on the disruptor. Target from that location and beam Doctor Dael up now."

Suddenly, the same green swirl of energy surrounded Asa and in an instant, the injured El-Aurian had vanished. "I don't want you to see this, Asa." Dox said as she walked over to the thing with the broken leg.

She looked at him as he shuddered in pain, putting a finger to her lips and whispered, "Shhh." There was panic on his face as she reached back and yanked the boot off of his foot. In shock, he began to let out a scream before she swung the boot around quickly and rapped it across his jaw, knocking him out.

Standing up, she stepped through the thick door to where her ship's sensors had identified the leader's location.

Realizing what happened, Asa looked around at the unfamiliar ship.

Where the hell am I now? Asa thought. Then, seeing there was no imminent danger, Asa collapsed into the nearest seat and said, "Computer."

When there was no response, Asa closed their eyes, hoping Mnhei'sahe was safe and that she would soon be there.

Meanwhile, in the hospital down below, Dox walked into the hall with Jake, who was still holding the small knife, still wet with Asa's blood. She let out a breath that she had been holding to announce her presence as Jake spun around to see Dox, standing about ten feet away with her hands behind her back, holding the boot in her hands.

Sneering, Jake looked Mnhei'sahe up and down. Taking in her unique appearance he licked his lips and said, "My oh my, you are something special, aren't you? Human and what, Vulcan? No, Romulan. Not as exotic as your little friend, but I will still get a good price for you, fear not." Brandishing the knife openly he stalked towards Mnhei'sahe, leering more with each step.

In response, Dox simply cocked her head to the side and stared forward with a blank expression of low simmering rage. She shifted her eyes, watching Jake's shoulders as he moved.

As he leared closer, she simply stood still, staring at him until he was only a few feet away.

"Oh, this is gonna be fun," Jake said, lunging forward with his knife slashing.

As the knife got closer, Dox moved far faster then her size made seem possible, swinging the boot down to bury the blade into the thick leather. Jake tried to pull the knife free as Dox twisted the boot pulling the knife free from his grip before tossing both far behind her.

Now the two stood, both disarmed, staring at each other.

"Enough of this. Would you just die already?" Jake snarled, hunching forward and charging at Dox in a linebacker stance.

In one quick move, Dox sidestepped slightly to her left while curling her fingers into a tight wedge on her left hand. With a loud roar, she lifted her full weight up as he lunged just past her and burried her hand deep into his right side just below his ribs and twisted.

As she struck the vagus nerve of the attackers liver, her let out a massive grunt of pain as the side of his body went limp and her flumped to the ground, gasping impossibly for breath.

Dox righted herself and stepped over the the boot and yanked the knife out calmly. "That was your liver. It doesn't work anymore."

With a grunt, Dox kicked him in the face to roll him on to his back as she brought her knee down onto his chest and put the knife up under the artery below his left ear. "The wonderful person you hurt is a doctor. They could help you if I let them. But I'm not going to let them do that for you. Would you like me too?"

But Jake could only gasp for air, clinging to consciousness as his skin took on a slightly yellow twinge. Dox's hands shuttered as the knife quivered in her hand. She wanted to slit his artery and watch him bleed, but instead she heard a voice in her head.

It was the voice of Rita Paris only a few days ago, upon learning of Dox's appointment as an Artan Baroness. "I'm happy for you, just make sure that you never arrive at divided loyalties. Since the pirates are considered privateers by the Federation, apparently they are okay with it- which means that being Starfleet and being a pirate should be easily accommodated, as neither is in conflict with the other. But when you are on pirate business you are still held accountable as a Starfleet officer, and I'd wager visa-versa. So enjoy yourself, and I suspect you will have some epic adventures, just always keep one eye to that point, if you will."

After a brief pause, she dropped the knife, tucked her hand behind Jake's back, tucked her hand into his side and twisted again. Instantly, Jake let out a massive breath and screamed.

Stepping up, Dox pulled the comm out of her pocket. "You'll live. Computer, one to beam."

In a shimmer, Dox vanished in a swirl of lights reappearing seconds later on the deck of her small ship. Out the window, she could see a Starfleet runabout, the Selune from the Hera. "Computer, drop shields." She said in Rihan.

"This is Lieutenant Dox, preparing to beam Lieutenant Dael to your position. There are three hostiles, incapacitated on the surface. Send a team to collect them. Commander Paris and the Captain are going to want to have words with them."

Then Dox turned to the chair where Asa was limply flopped and the tension she had been holding released as she began to calm down from the rage she had been mainlining. "Asa, honey. You're okay. We're gonna get you help."

"Please don't leave me," Asa sobbed, "Its, its been a really bad day. Did they hurt you? Let me see your nose, you are bleeding," Asa rambled, trying to sit up. It was much easier to focus on Mnhei'sahe than allow themself to feel the pain and emptiness within. Asa knew they were injured, but being powerless to fix it, was desperately focusing elsewhere.

Taking Asa's hand in her own, Dox squeezed it as she spoke, leaning in close. "Shh... I'm okay, honey. I won't leave you. I promise. But we need to get you home, okay."

Leaning back, with tears welling in in her eyes, Dox called out in Rihan. "Computer. Engines to neutral." Then she switched back to Terran English. "Dox to Runabout. Change of plans, we're both beaming over. Put my ship in tow and get us home."

Turning back to Asa, Dox tried to smile. "We're going home, honey." Then she put her arms gently over her injured friends shoulders in an extremely gentle hugs. "Two to beam out."

And in a glistening shimmer of pale blue sparkles, the two vanished.