Recovery

Posted on Wed Nov 25th, 2020 @ 6:44pm by Lieutenant Commander Nicholas Coleman & Lieutenant Alekela illm Meaho'ōla & Lieutenant JG Matthew Plumeri

3,402 words; about a 17 minute read

Mission: Episode 108 – Tragedies, Fortunes, and an Endgame
Location: Planet Mendek
Timeline: MD0-0600

ON:


EARLY MORNING ON MENDAK - AN ENCAMPMENT OF THOLIANS

There were two Tholian guards here. Honestly one would have been enough. Both Starfleet officers were just about "all in" at the claws of the Tholians. It was ar more disconcerting to be questioned aboard a Tholian ship. Bright lights, it was hot and the air was definitely canned. That's where the Tholians took Matt an hour ago. Now, in the light of a transporter beam his outline appeared. Tholian transportation technology was...different. Because their bodies were totally different, so was their transporters. The things Federation folks took for granted just weren't thought of by the Tholians. If Matthew survived the next few hours he would describe the transport cycle thusly, "It was feeling like you were being shit out of a coal furnace. It felt like your skin was first peeled off then the feeling of being poured out like molten glass back into your skin. You just hoped all your bits and pieces made it at the same time."

Plumeri materialized a few feet from Larken. He collapsed onto the dirt in front of the Tholian guards. There were burn marks on either side of his temples. He had been beaten. He was bleeding and was going into shock. He said to Larken, with great effort, "You know....what? I.....really don't...like....Tholians."

Larken looked over at Plumeri and said, "Yeah....neither do....I. Too hot....for my....tastes. But, at least.....we're back....in space....so, we.....can get.....back....home."

Four brick packs of water were tossed to them. Each was about a gallon of water. With great pain and effort Matt looked at the water pack and realized what is was. His vision was blurry beyond a meter but he could see a humanoid outline of someone who wasn't a Tholian. "It's water; drink it before you and your commrade expire."

Matt opened the brick and smelled it.

"It's not poisoned if that's what you're thinking" the figure said in Federation standard. He had a Cardassian accent. Crisp and cultured.

Matthew took a drink. The water burned his lips and parched throat. Then, greedily, he drank more and more. He stopped himself and checked on Larken. Matt handed the water brick to him and helped him drink. The Tholian guards kept an eye on the whole proceedings. Matt looked for another water brick, opened it and drank more.

"Don't drink too much all at one time. Remember that exalted Starfleet training of yours?" Then, the figure spoke to him in Fontalan, "Tu e il tuo compagno di bordo siete nei guai. Tu mi capisci?" (You and your shipmate are in a lot of trouble. You understand me?)

Matt answered back in Standard, "How...?"

"How do I know your language? I'm something of a linguist. Ancient languages are my speciality though. Lucky for you I just happened to be in the neighborhood. I'm afraid that the Tholians aren't much interested in our kind of life. Flesh and blood don't you know?" The figure was coming into focus as he stepped closer. He was a Cardassian alright. That pale grey skin of his and his facial features were unmistakable. "How do you feel?" the Cardassian asked.

Matt answered, "Never been better. Who are you?"

"Ebok Letni is my name. You probably don't remember me but I was at the last Council on Ancient and Alien Civilizations. You were there giving a whitepaper lecture on the Morae civilization. I thought it was well done. For someone who has never been to Morae I mean. On the other hand, I have been to Morae and I can tell you that seeing it in person is such a different perspective."

As the exchange was happening, Larken had been looking at the floor, not understanding the exchange. He had taken a few languages at the academy, but not Fontalan. However, when he looked up, he saw a face he hadn't seen since he was a child on Betazed during the Dominion War.

"Don't let this madman feed you lies, Lieutenant. While his name is Ebok Letni, he's no councilman I've ever seen. He worked with Dr. Crell Moset during the Bajoran occupation and the occupation of Betazed during the Dominion War. He's a war criminal, who lobotomized so many of my own people," Larken said, letting out all the anger he had for the man who took his grandfather's life.

Plumeri looked at Larken and then at the stranger, "Moset? The Fostassa virus?" Matt asked rhetorically. His brain was foggy from the beating and he tried to put the pieces together. He said, "Moset?"

Ebok Letni smiled slightly, "I am he. I found it...expedient to change my name in professional circles. One can move around Academia so much more easily this way."

Plumeri put it together now, "Crell Moset...exobiologist. What are you doing out here anyway?"

Now discovered, Moset dropped the charade, "Since you know my true identity; the Tholians have engaged me to assist them with some exo-archaelogical research into their genetic makeup. It seems as if you arrived at a particularly bad time too. But, perhaps you can help? It would appear that you and your colleagues have stumbled upon a rather unsettling historical and past genetic anomaly that the Tholian Empire does not want known. You can understand that I'm sure. You are part Human after all aren't you Lieutenant? That makes you somewhat of a primate, an ape, background? And your Fontalan heritage is nothing to write about either is it now? A rather furry tree-dwelling carnivore if I'm not mistaken?"

Matthew was too tired to argue with Moset. And Moset was here for another reason. "Yeah, well, what can this monkey do you for you...doctor?"

"We know you activated the archival gem resonator. Where is the librarian? It would have been a rather curious looking gemstone. Where is it?" Moset asked with a sinister tone to his voice. He looked over to Larken, "Bajoran? How sweet. If you don't help me the Tholians can be rather nasty in their treament of prisoners I'm afraid."

"Can't even get the species right, can you spoonhead?" Larken said as he looked up and anyone could see that he didn't have the ridges on his nose. He had the large black eyes native to those of Batazed, which meant that they were also very good at telepathic manipulation.

Larken knew that, in order to stay alive, he would have to use his telepathy to his advantage. The Cardassians and Tholians could have been unaware that the Endeavor wasn't out there or that they didn't have another vessel for escape. So, Larken decided to try and get them back onto the planet with some food to live off of.

"The information is back on our runabout. Yellowstone-Class runabout, but it's hidden away in the mountains of the northern mountains, near to where we were found. We'd need to go down and get it," Larken said, hoping that Moset would be the one to go over to a companel and scan the planet. However, it wasn't him. It was one of the Tholians and they made a thorough scan of the planet, finding no ships other than the ones that remained from the Cardassians.

Once they found that there was no ship left, Moset came over and said, "What were you thinking about doing? Trying some telepathic manipulation on me? Did you really think that would work on someone who experimented on your pathetic species? Take this one to my lab and have it prepped in the next 15 minutes. I'll be there in a few."

With that, Larken was dragged out of the one room and taken to Moset's personal lab onboard.

Matthew protested, calling out after them to stop and leave the younger man alone. One of the Tholian guards said something to him and then was about to strike Plumeri with his exoskeleton environment suit hand when the other Tholian guard stopped him. Moset said to the Tholian guards, "That's right. We need them alive for a little bit longer. I don't want them injured and then no use to us." Moset looked at Matt and said, "Give him something to eat from the emergency rations. I'll be back shortly." With that, Moset left the area and Matt could hear the faint sound of a transporter cycle.


== AN HOUR LATER ==

Plumeri drank every water brick they tossed to him. His kidneys ached and he knew that he was dangerosuly dehydrated. He ate some rations that he was sure could be used for masonry projects later on. But, his stomach stopped groaning and he could think clearly. It had been a while since Laken had been removed and Plumero wondered and worried about him. Another puzzlement was why Moset had mistaken a Betazoid for a Bajoran? While he thought about that, he decided to remove the gemstone from his pants. He carefully allowed the gemstone to drop down the pants leg and onto the dirt floor. Making sure that the Tholian guards did not see him, he then pressed the stone into the loose dirt enough to cover it. Matt had been lucky up until now that the Tholians and Moset had been prudes and not searched everywhere or stripped him of his uniform. Rather then press his luck, he thought this was best.

Suddenly, there was movement in the next room. The Tholians seemed to be packing everything up and moving out. "Wait? Hey?! Where's my friend? Where's Larken?!" Matthew called out.

They didn't pay a bit of attention to what you said as they continued to pack up their equipment to be beamed up to their ships. They waited until Doctor Moset came back into the room and he didn't have me in tow. He smiled and said, "Well, it's your lucky day. The Tholians couldn't find anything of use on the planet and thus, they want to keep moving. They don't want your precious Federation to figure out that we're holding Federation members hostage until we can get the information that they wanted. So, we're taking you with us and we're going to get the information either the easy way or the hard way. Ready to leave the planet?"

Matt looked up at Larkin and then Moset and asked, "What happened to you Moset? Have you fallen so far that you need to resort to torture and interogation to get what you want? Whatever happened to that Cardassian arrogance that no one can resist our logic?"

Moset scoffed, "It's alive and well thank you. On your feet Lieutenant. Time's a wasting" the Cardassian doctor said. As Moset pulled Matthew to his feet, the gemstone, the "librarian" fell to the ground.

"What's this?" Moset asked. "Why, I do believe this is what we're looking for?" He held the gemstone and turned it over in the light. "It would seem that hiding it on your person has failed Lieutenant? I congratulate you though. Who would have guessed that the Tholians would be so prudish?"

Moset called to the Tholian gurad, the one that appeared to be in charge and showed him the gemstone. The Tholian eyed is and then asked Moset a question. Moset grinned and then said, "Yes, I agree, we have all that we need. No sense in keeping them alive any longer."

However, before anyone could move, one of the Tholian guards came over to Moset and motioned towards a device that looked as though it served two purposes, as a tricorder and a communication device. He handed it over to Moset and he exaimed the device before giving it back. A look of worry came across his face before saying, "Looks as though your little Federation friends have come to the rescue. The USS Avenger ring a bell? Intrepid-Class?"

Matt answered with attitude, "We call them the cavalry; you can call them your ass-kickers. You're not going to get away with this Moset. If you keep that gemstone you will always be looking over your shoulder for Starfleet Intel on your ass. And, if you leave it here and the Tholians discover you have betrayed them? Well, you're just as screwed. You picked the wrong horse on this one Moset." Matt was tired, exhausted and mentally fatigued. Every muscle hurt, but there was hope now. Hope of a rescue.

Moset raised his hand, as though he was about to say something, but the ship shook instead and knocked him to his feet. The gem that was found on the planet fell out of his hand and was knocked across the corridor he was in. Within a few seconds, the forcefield came down and two combadge was beamed in. It began chirping and the voice of Commander Coleman came through.

"Coleman to away team. Plumeri, Larken? Can you two hear me?" Coleman said, trying to reach the last two of his away team that were taken hostage as prisoner of war.

"Commander! We're here!" Plumeri called out. A Tholian reported and Moset understood that the shields had failed and would need time to reinitialize. Getting up from the floor, Moset opened a side panel, a weapons locker and retrieved a hand disruptor and fired at the two science officers. But the forcefield protected them. Moset increased the power to the weapon and fired again. This time the forcefield sputtered. Matt was in no shape to move fast, but he went for the gemstone as quickly as he could. A kind of staggered crawl. Moset fired again and the forcefield collapsed. Moset aimed for Larken and hit him directly in the chest. Matthew had just reached the gemstone and grabbed it in his hand. Turning to see Larken being hit with disruptor fire. "No!" he cried. Reaching for one of the two commbadges, Plumeri put his arms around the kid and shouted to Coleman, "Now Commander! Beam us out now!"

USS Avenger--Bridge

Coleman was sitting in the Command Chair on the Bridge of the Avenger. The newest USS Endeavor wasn't due to arrive for several weeks, so he was given the option to take out the USS Avenger to find the two missing crew-members that he had to leave behind on Planet Mendek.

When the ship came into range, they began their scans and noticed a Tholian Frigate in orbit of the planet. Scans indicated that there were several more Tholian ships that recently had left orbit. However, they weren't in sensor range and the Frigate was an even match for the Avenger.

Coleman had used the timing of coming out of warp to his advantage. He ordered the helmsman to bring the ship out of warp right out on top of the Tholian ship and ordered the Tactical Officer to fire as soon as they were free to fire.

The Tholians were caught off guard. It gave them a chance to find their people as well and beam to relative safety. Scans indicated that the two Starfleet Officers were in a holding cell, but they were hurt. The scans showed there was a variance within the holding cell's forcefield of .0021 and Coleman told the Transporter room to stand by.

Taking off his own combadge, as well as one of the junior officer's combadge, he laid them on a console and told the Transporter Chief to beam them into the cell holding Plumeri and Larken. Once the cycle was complete, he had them open a channel.

"Coleman to away team. Plumeri, Larken? Can you two hear me?" Coleman said, trying to reach the last two of his away team that were taken hostage as prisoner of war.

The voice of Plumeri came over and said that they were there. Moments later, he heard Plumeri yell for a beam out and Coleman ordered the Chief to beam them both directly to sickbay. Once onboard, Coleman ordered Helm to take them out of there with their Quantum Slipstream Drive.

Within moments, they were taken away and headed back to Starbase 400. Once they were off, he gave the conn to one of his junior officers and told them to let them know if there were any issues before hopping onto the Turbolift and heading down to Sickbay.

USS Avenger--Sickbay

It took mere moments to get down to Sickbay from the bridge. As he walked in, he saw that Larken had been hit by a distruptor and that the Medical Staff had begun working on his wounds. He saw Plumeri and walked over to him, saying, "Report, Mister Plumeri?"

Matthew was obviously distressed. A pouch of liquid electrolytes and water was handed to him and he was sucking one down. Larken and Plumeri were dirty, dusty, smelly and wounded. Larken in far worse shape. Matt was so grateful to be on board a Federation ship. He was sitting on a biobed refusing to lie down as he watched the medical team working on the kid. "Captain Coleman" Plumeri managed. He cleared his sore throat and said, "I knew you'd come." Plumeri opened his hand and revealed a large yellowish gemstone about the size of a lime. "This here is what the Tholians wanted to destroy. It contains a holographic librarian, a representation of the knowledge that is encoded in the gem. It is activated and projected through a harmonic resonator. Probably of some religious or cultural significance. Captain, I need to see Sykes. Janelle Sykes? Is she onboard?"

Coleman looked at Plumeri and asked, "Why are you asking for Sykes? Is there something she has that might help with the information you found on Mendek?"

Plumeri nodded, "Yes, yes....she might. She was working on a theory that the glyphs we found were a language. It might be more than that. A language within a language...the duality, the triad, a quadratic of meaning. Layer upon layer upon layer of meaning and context. They encoded all of it. Their whole language, their whole culture and society. That's why the Tholians want it so bad. It's not just the knowledge. It's who they really are and what they became. What they are capable of. The Tholians have forgotten all of it. Get Sykes please. She has been working...she....she...." Matt faded and then momentarily blacked out. He almost felll forward off the edge of the biobed in Commander Coleman hadn't been standing in front of him. A medical team member came over and assisted and helped lay him back on the bed.

That's when the marks on either side of his skull, near the temples were visible. Evidence of Tholian mental torture and electro-shock. An attempt to fry an organic lifeforms brain. Matt murmurerd and called for Sykes, "...have to....tell you....Sykes....hurry...have to tell you...."

The medical person said, "I think he's had quite enough Captain. He should be sedated and allowed to rest."

Coleman gently grasped the shoulders of Plumeri and said, "If Sykes is onboard, I'll definitely send her down to talk to you. Otherwise, we can talk to her when we get back onto the Starbase. Okay?"

As he let go of Plumeri, Coleman looked over at the medical officer and asked, "What's their prognosis?"

"We're working on Larken. We will see what happens after his surgery. As for Plumeri, he just needs fluids and sleep. So, I'm going to have to ask you to leave and let Lieutenant Plumeri sleep," the ship's Physician said as she was shooing Coleman outside the door.

Coleman walked out of the door and the doctor came over to Plumeri. "As for you, you need to sleep. Do you understand? I'll let you know how Larken does when he comes out of surgery, okay?" the doctor says, laying Plumeri down.

Healing would take time. For now, the doctor's words comforted Matt. He laid back against the biobed as his dirty uniform was cut away and removed. His wounds were attended to and someone pressed a cool, moist washcloth to his face and wiped away the dirt and the abuse. A hypospray he felt pressed against his bare neck. The hiss and then, a slipping away into quiet sleep.

[OFF:]

LTJG. Matthew Plumeri
Science Officer/Historian
Starbase 400

&

Lieutenant Commander Nicholas Coleman
Chief Science Officer/Commanding Officer
Starbase 400/USS Endeavour-A

&

Lieutenant Alekela illm Meaho'ola
Medical Officer
Starbase 400

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