'Return to Sender' Pt 2

Posted on Fri Mar 28th, 2025 @ 5:11pm by Commander Shr'Nesh Karadis & Lieutenant Commander Kevin Kilbane & Commander Alec Hunter & Lieutenant Commander Isabelle Savette & Lieutenant Commander Shoniara T'ghann-Dex. Doctor

2,678 words; about a 13 minute read

Mission: Voices of the past
Location: Planet Side/USS Blackeagle
Timeline: Current.

[Planet side]

In the medical facility Alec's combadge buzzed softly as it played a short message from the Eagle. He briefly turned away from Isabelle as he spoke softly. "Away team alive, Situation serious but stable." After sending it, he turned back to Isabelle.

Shon was beginning to sweat, the instrumentation the colonists had was complicated and, of course new to her. She had encoded changes to Isabelle’s dna that would, supposedly render the augmentations in her friends body inert. Now the most delicate part of her surgery would begin as Shon attempted the dna methylation in the parietal lobe of Isabelle’s brain. She was immune to the sound of the missiles falling around them, and, for a moment she thought of Finchley and the fact that she wanted to be with him. She heard her breath still as she made the necessary changes. This was all she could do as she closed. She turned to Alec. “That’s it, all I can do for her. When she wakes she will either be without her brains ability to use her augmentations although they will remain inert in her body. The Borg nanites are already helping in her healing.

Alec had remained right at Isabelle's side while Shon worked. He held Isabelle's hand and whispered encouragements to her. When Shon had announced she was finished he let out a breath he hadn't realized he was holding. "Thank you Dex for everything." He looked at the sleeping Isabelle, "Come back to us, to me Isabelle."

Turning now to the unconscious Kara she noticed most of the medical staff had left.

Isabelle remained unconscious, her body needing the time to adjust to its new norm.

Shon now turned to Kara who lay, asleep in the bed. She was close to exhaustion the concentration now getting to the human side of her. She began the first part of the surgery and had begun to second guess herself, she had not been surprised that Kara had opted to keep her augmentations but, as Shon knew she had been unable to remove the nanites from Isabelle just, make them compliant. The surgical procedure went on and on, every nanite she found moved and replicated. Then....a borg rose appeared and folded out on Kara's face. Shon gasped. "Nothing is happening, I am just accelerating the process." The nanites then reached Kara's brain and Shon knew she was lost. "I wanted to remove your augments, I AM SUPPOSED TO DO NO HARM" she shouted as the nanites and augmented dna fought for control. More Borg nodules appeared and the warnings blared, then, suddenly it was all over. Kara was dead and Shon had killed her. She looked at the calm face of the dead woman and looked at Alec "help me" she whispered and keeled over, her Vulcan mind forcing her into unconsciousness to protect her.

"Shon!" Alec yelled as she fell over into unconsciousness. He reacted quickly. lifting her up and getting her into a medical bed. Her pulse was good and strong, and her breathing was deep and regular. He looked at Isabelle who still asleep. his gaze shifted to Kara, and he wasn't sure if she was asleep or not. her face was serene, peaceful. All Alec could do was watch and monitor Isabelle and Shon and pray they would both be alright.

Shon came back to consciousness slowly and painfully. Her eyes opened and she stood unsteadily holding Alec's arm. "You hurt yourself" she said her fingers touching the dried blood over the cut on his forehead. "Any news from the ship?" she asked.

"I'm alright Shon. I am more concerned about Isabelle and yourself. "Yes, short messages. Kilbane is coming in a shuttle." Alec replied simply.

" I would like to take Kara's body back for an autopsy but first Commander I must hand myself over for an investigation into the death of Kara Munroe?"

Alec shook his head vigorously from side to side. "Absolutely not Shon. "You didn't kill Kara and I will hear no more kind of that talk. Your duty is to take care of and trnd to Isabelle. To I make myself clear?"

"Yes, of course, you know I will Alec but however I did infect Kara with the nanites so I did commit murder." she turned away checking on her charge.

[USS Blackeagle, bridge]
Kilbane received the reply back from Alec, turned to Karadis and said, "They're alive but their situation is serious but stable. I don't know what that means, but I would hazard a guess that they've been caught up in the missile attack so possibly needing some kind of medical attention. Something is still wrong though, we can't account for the reason we're unable to beam them up, and in my view that's them being held against their will. We need to get down there and see first hand what's happening."

"I don't think both of us should go, I need to stay here and keep things in order till Bird is up and about, ready to take his place back on the bridge" Karadis replied.

"Ok then, I'll go down" Kilbane answered, "but I'm taking a shuttle so we have a different way of getting out rather than rely on unblocking whatever it is that's stopping us beaming out."

"Good idea, go, I'll get you a landing site close to where Birds team originally beamed down to" Karadis said.

Kilbane nodded, then turned and walked off. Karadis then went to the console Kilbane had sent his radio message from and sent one of her own, "Kilbane on way, using shuttle, give us your location."

In the medical facility, Alec's combadge buzzed again as Karadis's message about Kilbane using a shuttle to reach them came through. "Medical building, " He sent back.

Shon was glad to see that Isabelle had responded well to the removal of the augmentations. Her Borg nanites had increased so Shon was watching carefully for any physical signs of Borg regeneration. She was still sleeping and Shon wanted to have her back safe in sickbay before she woke. Making the decision she injected her with a small amount of Mirtazine. “Commander I am keeping Isabelle asleep for a while longer.” She did not mention Kara but she was determined to take her body back to the ‘Eagle’. She sat down exhausted and closed her eyes. Her mind switched to Finchley, she wanted, needed to be there with him.

Isabelle wasn’t asleep for long, her currently more active nanites were doing a good job of fighting off the Mirtazine that was in her system. She slowly started to stir opening her eyes she offered Alec a smile. “Hey, what did I miss?”

Alec had been watching over Isabelle and when she stirred and opened her eyes smiling at him, it was the most beautiful sight he had ever seen, and he would remember it for the rest of his days. "Isabelle!" His voice warm and relieved at seeing her awake. "How do you feel? No, don't get up. Rest" He turned his head, "Shon! Isabelle is awake."

An exhausted Shon moved over to Isabelle her scanner already working. "How are you feeling?" she asked as she assessed the condition and location of the Counsellor's nanites.

“I feel… okay. Tired but okay” Isabelle offered a warmer smile. “Thank you Shon.”

"your nanites are working overtime to help you. I think this might indicate a closer bond with them and so......" Shon stopped looking over at Kara, "Yes, of course........" she left Isabelle and walked over to the dead woman and took her hand.

[Shuttle]

Kilbane guided the shuttle to it's landing site, and as soon as it touched down he was up out of his seat and making ready to move out. He'd already mapped his route into the medical area where the away team was, so taking a phaser, he headed out. Thankfully, because of the bombing of the area, he met few people, and those he saw he avoided, hiding where he could and waiting till they passed. Soon, he was inside the main complex not far from where the team were currently situated. Again, though this time he was more surprised, there were few people he saw as he moved around, but they were more preoccupied with what was happening to their complex which made it easier for him to avoid detection. Shortly afterwards, he arrived outside the doors to the medical room, so setting himself, he entered quietly. There weren't many casualties, or medical staff, so it was easy for him to pick out Commander Hunter. He was ignored by the medical staff who passed him, they must have assumed he was just another of the complex personnel who were there to be 'fixed up'. Making his way to Alec, he was glad to also see Isabelle and Shon were still there, and when he got to them he said, "This place looks like a war zone unsurprisingly, how is everyone doing?"

"Good to see you, Commander." Alec greeted Kilbane. "I think I can safely say we all have had better days."

Shon looked up from Isabelle to see Kilbane. "Have you come to rescue us?" she asked remembering to try to stay professional whilst looking sweat stained, dishevelled and bloody. There are four of us. Three walking and one body"

"That was the plan" Kilbane simply replied.

Shon nodded, “Thank you for that Commander.”

"I wouldn't thank me just yet" Kilbane replied, "There's no knowing how this battle between these two peoples will play out. Right now there's a lull, but it may kick off again."

“It most likely will” Isabelle offered from where she lay. “There’s a civil war going on here, it’s not going to end easily.”

TAG?


[USS Blackeagle, bridge]

"Sir, we're picking up heat blooms not far from where Commander Kilbane touched down, they're very similar to the blooms we detected before, but from the other continent" Owens reported.

"Show me on the main viewer" Karadis answered.

Owns soon had the main viewer showing what he had on his smaller screen.

"SHIT!" Karadis exclaimed, "They're going to send back a retaliatory strike, using similar style missiles."

She rushed over to the Science station, fortunately, Kilbane had left the radio communication setting open, so she began sending a message through COMM's.

'Retaliatory strike being sent, try to stop it'

[Planet side]

Kilbane's COMM badge buzzed and he got Karadis' message.

"Bollocks!" he said quietly, then looked at Alec, "We must try and stop them from firing the missiles back, otherwise this is going to escalate."

"Damn fools." Alec muttered, "We've got to abort the launch or failing that detonate the missiles prematurely. Find a working computer console." He thought of something "Can the Eagle target the missiles as they launch and detonate them where they won't do any harm?"

"We scanned the area around the entire complex when the away team beamed down, there's some kind of jamming system they use, that's why some of the team couldn't originally beam out" Kilbane replied.

"Are we working on ways to override, disable this system?" Alec asked.

"Karadis has taken command back on the ship, I would think that's her priority" Kilbane replied.

Shon noted that the rest of the augment medical team had left and the conversation between Alec and Kilbane drifted away from her. Through the hole in the ceiling she looked up into a blue sky feeling the breeze and smelling the smoke rising from the now ruined complex. She went to Kara, the woman looked so serene and Shon felt a visceral pain of failure and disappointment in herself. She had thought that, as a physician she was invincible. she had saved Finchley, saved Isabelle and now in order to save her friend and colleague she had infected and failed to save Kara. "I am so sorry Kara," she whispered as she placed her COMM on the dead woman’s body.

Shon was on the cusp of physician burnout something she had seen in another time, but Oliad had been gone for many years. A life cut short by burnout, depression, emotional disturbance and suicide from the Golden Gate Bridge. She turned and looked at Alec, Isabelle and Kilbane with dispassionate eyes her Vulcan side taking over in order to continue the mission.

"Why don't we just destroy the complex, surely that would obliterate the missiles. I know where the control room is, I saw what looked like it through an open door when we were brought here?"

"The control room for the missiles is in the medical facility?" Alec questioned. He looked at Shon, "Lead the way."

"I don't have a problem with trying to destroy the control room to stop the missiles being fired" Kilbane replied, "and as hard as this is to believe coming from me, if we destroy the complex, we may kill others with it."

"If anyone saw the building is a rotunda, everything is under the same roof. The door I saw opening was down a long corridor and there appeared to be a bank of consoles and most of the people have left, gone, run away. Listen it was just an idea anyway. Why not kill a few more people while we are at it!" Shon said sharply.

"Because that's indiscriminate killing" Kilbane replied equally as sharply. "I have no problem killing anyone who attacks us, or those who are helping them, but to randomly kill people without knowing, even I draw the line there."

"Enough you two. We need to find the control room and stop the missiles before this world descends to total war where there will be no winners." Alec declared firmly.

Kilbane turned to say something acerbic to Hunter, but then held his tongue. Instead, he simply threw Shon a glaring stare then left the medical room believing he knew where to find the control room. This wasn't the time or the place for Shon to be snippy with him, and he would let her know his full feelings in time, she had no idea what she'd just suggested, but being a Senior Staff member she would need to be reminded that such suggestions could be catastrophic.

Outside the room, he was once again amazed at how few people there were around, and those who were still there were hurrying to find shelter or get out of the complex while they still could. He made his way some hundred feet or so down one of the corridors and came to a doorway he thought sounded like the one Shon had spoken about earlier. He flattened himself against the wall, took a breath and quickly looked through the doorway down the corridor, nobody was in view.

"Well Kevin" he said to himself quietly, "nothing ventured, nothing gained", and he slipped through the doorway, easing himself down one wall.

Alec watched as Kilbane slipped out the door. "He looked to Isabelle, "Can you walk? Do you need assistance?" He asked then looked over at Shon. "We can't stay here, let's get after Kilbane before we lose him."

Shon stood still looking at Alec but not seeing him, she was reliving the moment she had injected Kara with Isabelle’s nanites. No one had made the connection between what she had said and the coming complete breakdown of the Vulcan human hybrid as she would never have suggested the killing of innocents. You go, I will stay with Kara. Isabelle you will be fine.” Shon sat down waiting for the fire to rain down.

Isabelle offered Alec a nod. “I’m fine, I can walk,” she turned to Shon. “No, you’re coming with us Shon” Isabelle gave her friend a defiant look. “Kara’s gone, there’s nothing you can do for her now, besides she’d have been more concerned with you saving me. You did what you had to do at the time, if you stay here you could be killed.”

TBC

 

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