Something right, something stupid

Posted on Wed Apr 1, 2020 @ 11:06pm by Lieutenant Nicole Anderson & Lieutenant JG Camille Lévesque PhD & Lieutenant JG Ardal King

3,006 words; about a 15 minute read

Mission: Nibiru
Location: Planetside
Timeline: Three hours after away mission

Though the shoulder and ribs had been fixed, King still wasn't moving as fast. However, he was moving. He left his quarters and made his way to the turbolift. "Deck 4," he said as he got into the car. He came out on all fours a minute later. For his kind, walking on two legs was a sign of aggression; the majority of humanoids didn't have a choice. He made his way down the corridor when he caught the scent of Doctors Anderson and Levesque, and ducked into the transporter room. Looking at the transporter operator, he said, "beam me to the surface."

The transporter operator answered, "I can't without prior authorization orders, and you aren't authorized to issue those."

With a lip curling, King said, "I have an order you can follow. In 40 seconds, the Chief Medical Officer will walk by this door. I want you to go out there and tell her I bit you."

The transporter operator looked at him with a confused expression, but being a non-com, stepped outside the door. King set the transporter to beam him to the surface. He didn't hide his location at all.

Nicole and Camille came around the curve of the corridor approximately thirty seconds later, hand in hand, chatting animatedly. As soon as they approached the crewman, he approached them. "Doctor Anderson? Doctor King ordered me to tell you that he bit me." Obviously, if King had bitten him, he would probably be dying, and that wasn't the case.

Nicole looked at Camille and raised an eyebrow. "He told you...to tell me...that he bit you....when he clearly hasn't," she said, looking the young man over. "Is this a prank?"

"No, ma'am," the chief said. "I think he wanted to access the transporter, but it shouldn't work for him, due to--"

"He's already overridden whatever you have in place," Nicole said, irritably, brushing past the man and into the now-empty transporter room. "Where did he go?" she said.

The technician checked the logs. "The surface, which I said he couldn't do, not too far from the original base camp. Looks to be near a river-wait!"

Nicole was already stepping onto the platform. "We don't have time to wait. Whatever he's up to, I'm not letting his recently repaired body take another near-death beating if I can help it. Beam me down." She looked at Camille. "I'll be back in time for dinner."

“Absolument non!” Camille followed Nicole onto the platform. “He’s my subordinate officer. I’m going too. If only to yell at him.” She looked to the Transporter Chief and gave the order before Nicole could interject. “Energize.”

A moment later, they were back in the forest.

On two legs, King was standing there, and he rarely ever stood up on two legs, "Welcome to the party." He could have hidden his beam down location easily, but he didn't. He had been a SRT Operator too long, "I see you both got my invitation." He came down on all fours and started to move away following his nose.

"What the hell is this about, Ardal?!" said Camille. She wasn't yelling, but there was force behind her voice. She wasn't happy with her Assistant Chief.

Turning around, walking over on all fours, "I messed things up. I need to fix them." He kept sniffing until they came up on the dying TRex. The beast hadn't made it very far after the fight. Examining the bitemarks and claw marks. Knowing they were scavenger bites, he had to scan it with a tricorder, then came back over to Camille and Nicole, and took off his backpack. Pulling out a misting bottle with a trigger, he offered it to Camille, "If the Compsognathus dinosaurs come back, spray this at them." What was in the bottle smelled horrible to someone with a normal sense of smell, because it was Synthetic Tyrannosaurus urine. The scavengers had been feeding on the big beast while it was dying, causing it to suffer, suffering that started with a chain of events that Ardal started. He went through his bag and set up a hypospray.

Nicole put her hand to her mouth, the stench somewhat overpowering and took a step back, trying not to retch.

Camille took her glasses off to scratch the bridge of her nose. "Ardal. What happened? Did you do this?" She had trouble keeping the rage from her voice.

Pointing to the claw mark gouges to the neck, "It went after a sleuth..." He paused, "A group of Bears. It killed their Alpha and several of the adults. I got between him and the cubs. Those gouges in the neck, at the jugular and carotid artery are mine. He went after cubs. When he and I were fighting, I saw a piece of Starfleet uniform in his teeth."

"That would be Penny's," Nicole moaned. Their entire mission was now ruined, and Penny's efforts null and void.

He handed her the tricorder which showed open bite and claw marks from a group of Compsognathus. "It went after cubs. If I hadn't had fought it, it wouldn't be dying. It would have been able to defend itself against scavengers. Hell, they probably wouldn't have gone near it." His voice wavered, quite frankly, he blamed himself. His people had laws about leaving animals to suffer.

"So you've royally screwed up and you're here to...what? Bury it?" Nicole said. *Please don't say eat it,* she thought.

Looking at Nicole, he said, "this isn't why I came down here. I happened to smell this after I got here. I can't leave this animal to suffer. I can't. It is forbidden by my people. If I can suture up the neck wound and some of the bites, it will increase its chance of survival."

The animal was weak and losing blood. King put down the medkit he'd procured and got a micro suture and dermal regenerator out. His backpack was well prepared, and he began on the worst of the wounds, starting with the neck wound. "My people may be more different than others understand. I allowed you to know where I was going. If I was going to cover up what I did, I wouldn't have led you this way. I would have just gone around, but I can't let this suffer." He watched the animals eyes start to refocus. "Let me know when the blood pressure goes up." He sutured the major wounds. This handheld device wasn't designed for this kind of usage, but he was using it for that. He went to the damaged Achilles tendons next.

Nicole walked up and grabbed his arm, snatching the tools out of his hand. "Before i rip your damn head off, step back," she snarled.

(Tag)

"I don't give a damn what your culture demands, or what you see as your responsibility. Don't you ever take my equipment off the ship without permission and you cannot, I repeat, cannot perform surgery without proper precautions. Just count yourself damn lucky you aren't in my--" she paused, realizing she was plunging headlong into awkward territory, "--department."

She tapped her combadge. "Anderson to Sickbay. I need a F.L.A.S.K. beamed down to my location immediately, along with something to deliver a large enough dose of tranquilizer to bring down...well...a T-rex."

"Yes, Doctor," Nurse Mirina said, and then there was a short pause. "Are you needing that for an actu--"

"Just send it down, Ensign," Nicole said, her voice still angry.

"Yes, Doctor," the nurse said, and the channel closed. A few moments later, the transporter took effect and a small case appeared in front of Nicole. She opened it and pulled out an injection gun, affixing a vial to it and walking carefully towards the t-rex. She found an exposed piece of flesh and injected the T-rex quickly, completely emptying the large vial, giving it enough to keep it under for the rest of the procedure.

She grumbled in Rigellian under her breath as she approached some of the worse wounds, with an occasional "git" or "bollocks" slipping out. She scanned the animal, taking more DNA samples and calibrating a heavy-duty dermasealer. She held it against the wounds near the jugular, the energy sparking from it stitching the flesh together slowly, sealing the wounds. She worked slowly, but methodically, not wanting the animal to wake up with them there. She gave it another injection to stimulate red blood cell production, replacing some of what it lost. As she scanned again, she was pleased to see the creature's heart rate and blood pressure rising. She tossed a dermal regenerator back to King. "Work on the small wounds and scrapes," she said.

King climbed over and got the claw marks and gouges along the spinal column. He was having trouble getting the vertebrae to stay so he could repair the muscle around it. He stuck his fist in between the vertebrae to create a temporary spacer until he could get the knitting process to start.

Nicole finished the last of the mortal wounds and scanned it quickly for any other fatal problems. Most of its body was healing and its heartbeat was slow and steady. "All right, let's get ready to wake it. We need to put some distance between us and it."

“Merci, Nicole,” Camille said, still unable to look at Ardal without anger in her eyes.

Ardal met the anger in her eyes he felt bad that he disappointed her. He had a very successful career as a SRT Security and Intelligence Support in Starfleet. She had given him a chance to use his degrees. He came from a culture that prided hard work, violence, honor, and family before all things. Humans rarely understood, but he didn't hold it against them.

Nicole packed up the surgical box and reloaded the injector. She pressed it to the dinosaur's neck and then quickly stepped back, grabbing the box and pulling it with her. She tapped her combadge, instructing the transporter room to beam it back up. When it disappeared, she ran for the trees pulling Camille with her.

King came over to Nicole. "There is no honor in hiding ones mistakes, only in the attempt to make it right. I have witnesses that know I messed up and put an effort into fixing it."

"Lovely, shut up," Nicole hissed. The beast snorted and got to its feet, opening its mouth wide with a yawn. It pawed at the ground with its foot, took a few wobbly steps, and finally walked off, slowly, weakly, but alive.

Once it was in the distance, Nicole breathed a sigh of relief.

King turned and walked off towards the group of bears that were still by the river. "I will submit myself for disciplinary action after I'm done setting right the damage."

"Freeze, Lieutenant!" Nicole ordered. "Not another step until you explain what you're about to do."

“I still need to know why you attacked the T. rex to begin with,” Camille interrupted. “Tell me, Ardal, to the best of your knowledge, is it best for a predator to hunt the strongest members of a prey species? Or the weakest? As a hunter yourself, do you see a food source with a damaged leg and say ‘Oh! Poor thing! I best wait for one who can defend itself from me!’ How do you think these bears hunt, Ardal? To they kill the weak or the young? Or do the animals in nature have codes of ethics?” She was seething. She could understand wanting to defend a sentient being, but they were in nature and Ardal had no right to interfere with Darwinism in practice.

Turning and looking at Camille and Nicole, "It went after a Sleuth of Bears. It killed their alpha. It killed several members of the Sleuth. It went after the Cubs. They looked too much like my own kind." He closed his eyes. "I had an emotional reaction and I interfered. I couldn't let them die. I couldn't let human Cubs die. I couldn't let Cubs that look like my kind die. By interfering and getting them to go up river, I declared myself alpha. I'm going to make sure that title is taken from me. The alpha goes through every territory in the Sleuth. The alpha backs them up in fights. If the alpha is male, he breeds the unmated females. If there is no alpha, it will fuck up their social structure for an entire season, if they recover at all." He opened his eyes. "I am going to start a fight and lose." The emphasis was on lose because he would intentionally throw the fight.

"They looked like your kind, so you interfered," Camille repeated. "Ardal...this isn't the same thing. You attacked an animal to save others. It isn't the equivalent of saving humans. It's the equivalent of saving chimpanzees, and I would have given you an order to stand down if it were chimpanzees." She sighed and looked away. "You're going to lose the title of Alpha. Let's hope it's the only title you lose today."

Adal looked at her, "Check the comm log. Fighting a TRex was not my first choice. I tried to have it beamed away. Hell, it wasn't even my second choice. You're right, despite the Cubs looking exactly like my kind's Cubs, they aren't. I made an emotional decision in the heat of the moment. I am prepared to accept disciplinary action." There was more to this in his eyes.

"I did check the comm logs," Camille replied. "You tried to beam it ten meters into the ocean. Whether to piss it off or test the theory that they were good swimmers, I'm not sure. But yes, you will accept disciplinary actions when we're done. In the meantime, we may as well try to fix your damage."

It was at least a kilometer hike, when they got there, "Genetically speaking, Earth bears and Al'hmatti are closer than humans and chimpanzees. Social structure and dynamic is similar." He took off his pack and pulled out a hypospray and, before Nicole could shout an objection, applied it to his leg. The sound was evident with a hiss. He tossed the hypospray to Nicole, who caught it, glaring daggers at him. He had pumped himself with tranquilizers, the kind that would slow his heart rate, and make him smell like death. He made his way to the group. There was a series of barks from the members. They came over to sniff him and he laid a barrage of strikes against their heads. He roared at them and then circled like a predator about to attack. One of the boars stood on his hind legs and roared at Ardal.

The tranquilizer was slowing him down. He was still gauging his strikes, pulling them, and making sure he was close enough to get hit. A scientist would know what was happening. It didn't take long, he was down, the other Bear bit him on the shoulder, in an act of Dominance. Ardal clenched his fist until his claws made his hand bleed. A massive paw came down on the back of his head. Facedown in the water, they rolled him over. They sniffed him and the new Alpha roared and they started to move down river.

Nicole stared at Ardal, arms folded, jaw set, refusing to go near. She glanced at Camille.

Camille had been entranced by the display. She was furious at Ardal for making it necessary, but watching a fight for dominance among a social group of bears, even when one of the fighters was staging it, was fascinating. When it was over, she looked at Nicole and met her eyes. "I think it's probably over."

"Fine,* she huffed, taking a tricorder from his stolen goods and approaching slowly. She scanned him head to toe, standing out of range of his clenched fists and his claws. "He's alive," she said, trying not to sound disappointed. "More paperwork for us."

The fist unclenched. After a few moments, the fingers started moving. Ardal heard the tricorder, "Doctor, I smell bad."

"C'est vrai," Camille answered plainly.

"Yes," she said, then walked back to Camille and upwind. As Ardal turned over and sat up, Nicole tapped her combadge and folded her arms. "Anderson to Brig," she said.

"Kincaid here," the security ensign said.

"Lieutenant King is on his way to you. Please ensure he gets a sonic shower," Nicole said.

"Yes, Ma'am," Kincaid said.

Nicole tapped her combadge again. Anderson to transporter room two. "Lock onto Lieutenant King's signal and beam him to the brig."

"Yes, Ma'am," the technician said.

Nicole looked Ardal in the eye. "We'll see you shortly."

"Don't think this is over," Camille added.

Beaming away, he knew the procedure. He stripped down for the sonic shower. They took all of his gear. He knew that the Doctor would discover that the equipment he was using was listed in his inventory. The shower barely helped; he was creating the smell through his pores and would until his body finished processing the toxin and the tranquilizers. He had used it to appear close to death to the bears. He put on a clean uniform and got patted down, making sure he had nothing. He laid down on the bedding area. "The forcefield needs to be at level 8 or higher. Check species traits for housing my kind." The brig personnel changed the environmental set up in the cell. No longer a clean environment, no above human strength or regeneration.

Kincaid finally stepped out to the replicator and came back with a breathing mask on to cover his mouth, nose and eyes, then stayed at his post, wishing he could have a normal day.

Looking at him, "I have nasal hypersensitivity. I can also tell I'm not as strong." He could smell himself far worse than Kincaid could.

 

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