Subject: Grail: "Last Look Back"-`Yet another flashback'
<<U.S.S. Boyd, 6 months earlier>> Vincent walked through the doors and found himself in the battlebridge. The revolving lights bathed his face and uniform in a deep rose
color. The ringing in his ears wasn't as bad in here as in the halls, but
that problem was replaced by the the looks from the crew.
The Captain, an older gentleman with a handlebar mustache and a
British accent, turned to address the young Lt(jg.). The look on the
Captain's face as he turned away from the monitor gave every hint that a
British expression could give that he wasn't pleased with the situation at
hand (Which meant that Rogers still couldn't tell what was on the
Captain's mind). The Captain began to speak.
"Lieutenant junior grade Vincent Rogers, it has been perceived
that you have some explaining to do."
"Sir?"
"It seems that our computer navigational system has lead us off
course and into Romulan space. Now, it also seems that there was only one
entry of someone accessing the navigational program between the beginning
of our voyage and now. Would you happen to know who that might be?"
Vincent's gulp echoed in his mind as he took in every word the
captain was saying. Knowing the answer good and well, yet afraid of the
implications it would bring, he couldn't open his mouth to speak. Nodding
his head was all that he could do.
"And, who might that have been?"
"M-me, sir."
The captain folded up his arms and looked at the monitor in front
of the bridge. Turning his head, Vincent noticed for the first time the
face of a Romulan woman looking at him through the monitor. She looked
fair to Vincent, but the gleam of anger in her eyes and the way she held a
snarl on her face was enough to extinguish any flame he could possibly
have for her.
"Now, Subcommander Thalissa was kind enough to offer a few of her
ships to escort us to the Romulan border. There, we will rendevous with
another ship where you will be taken back to Starfleet to await trial.
Oh, and don't touch anything on the way out. It would be unfortunate for
all of us if you were to sabotage anything else."
Two security crewmembers grabbed Vincent by either arm and lead
him away. As they walked out the door, Vincent heard the Romulan woman
offering the captain advice on what to do with their "saboteur". Being
escorted down the hall, with all eyes glaring at him, was more than enough
punishment than he could handle at this point.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
<<Sickbay, Stardrive section>>
Vincent slowly attempted to open his eyes, but the bright lights
forced him to close them again. After a few moments, he gathered up the
courage and opened his eyes again. This time, the light wasn't so bad,
especially through the hazy film he was looking through. Blinking helped
remove the film, but the appearance of the place didn't approve.
Looking around, he found himself in Sickbay. Trying to shift his
arm, he found himself unable to move. Looking down, he saw blinking light
on the motion restraint field placed around him. Examing hmself further,
he noticed his hands were wrapped up in some sort of sealant, his head had
something wrapped around it, and some goo over most of his arms and chest.
He also saw a small patch where his commbadge should have been. Looking
down at the bandage, his mind kicked into gear. *Oh, great. They found
it. I am going to be in SO much hot water for this one.*
As if on cue, the nurse stationed there walked up to his bed.
With a pleasant smile, the male nurse ran a tricorder over Vincent's body,
pausing over the injured portions of his body longer than usual.
Appearing satisfied with the results, the man closed up the tricorder and
allowed his smile to fall upon Vincent.
"Hello. My name is Eric, and I am the nurse on call. Is there
anything I can get for you?"
Vincent looked the man over. The guy didn't look very strong.
Perhaps that was why the nurse was in medicine. Looking down at his
bandages, Vincent cleared his throat.
"Could you tell me what happened to me?"
Eric looked down at his padd and began tapping a few places on the
screen. Speaking in a voice so monotonal that it could be used in place
of anesthetic, Eric read from the charts.
"You had severe 3rd degree burns on your hands and knees, as well
as second and third degree burns on your arms and chest. Your comm-badge
melted and we had to remove it from your skin. It also seems you had a
rather serious concussion. You must have encountered some serious
fighting to come back with these wounds."
Vincent let out a barely perceptable sigh. When his hands healed,
he was going to wrap them around Frobo's neck and strangle the blueness
out of him. Mentally changing the subject, Vincent looked over at the
motion restraint device and cocked an eyebrow.
"What's that machine for?"
"That is the motion restraint field generator. It seems when we
tried to anesthetize you, you fell into a violent seizure, and needed
restraint. The anesthetic field should have worked without side effects,
so it only leaves the hypothesis of a chemical interacting improperly in
your system. Are you currently taking any medication not listed in our
records, Mr. Rogers?"
Rogers closed his eyes. He wasn't expecting the finger to be
pointed at him this way. He was expecting someone to grill him on the
improper use of medications. Vincent expected the nurse to get in his
face and whisper in his ear that he knew a little secret. He expected the
nurse to walk to the door and let security wheel him to a cell or
something. Anything, but such an open-ended question as this.
"No," Vincent replied. The nurse nodded and looked down, writing
down something in his PADD before looking up.
"Since you are awake, it is safe to assume that you will be fit
for cell reconstruction. You will be transported to the operating room
shortly, as soon as the current patient is stabilized. Oh, and if you
need me, call me with this badge. I will be right on the other side of
this door."
Vincent sat there in silence as the nurse placed the badge in his
lap and walked away. For the next few minutes, he sat there thinking over
the situation, trying to decide whether that Eric fellow knew of his dirty
little secret.
Thinking it over, Vincent promised himself that if he managed to
get through this without anyone finding out, he was going to stop taking
the verbocain...after the first bottle was empty.
Yeoman 1st Class Vincent Rogers
Mess Hall Cook
U.S.S. Grail
--Ken Doman