The machine was
charging and Nelson was applying pads to Torres’ chest to prevent burns from
appearing. The engineer awoke and the Doctor sighed. “What’s going on?”
“We think we know
a way to stop you from trying to kill anybody else,” Murphy said first.
Torres’ eyes went
to the Captain and she nodded. “Nelson found little mechanical robots on your
nerves. They were what caused you to attack me. We believe short circuiting
them would stop a repeat.”
Torres nodded to
the defibrillator. “What’s that for?”
Now his eyes were on Nelson, waiting with
expectation for the Doctor to answer. Which he did, after sighing, again. “You
of all people should know what we mean by short circuit.”
Torres’ eyes went
wide and he shook his head, wriggling in his seat. “No, no, no, no. No. We are
not killing me.”
“It’ll only be for
a few seconds, a minute at most,” Murphy said.
“Hey!” Charlie
said, “Shut it Sergeant.” Then she turned softer eyes on Torres. “Either take
the shock or stay shackled. We can’t let you out. Just in case you decide to
attack somebody else.”
The man seemed
defeated. He ducked his head, darted his eyes from left to right and back again
then bit his lip with a slow nod. “Okay,” he finally said. His eyes lifted to
settle on Nelson’s. “Do it.”
Nelson nodded,
holding back a sigh as he lifted the paddles that were now charged, at maximum,
and turned to the engineer. His brows rose as he asked, “You sure?”
Torres nodded,
pinched his eyes shut and curled his fingers into fists. Nelson offered Charlie
one last look before he pressed the paddles to the gel sheets. Torres flinched.
Nelson sighed. Then he pushed the buttons and Torres’ body jerked up. Then it
fell down. Nelson watched the heart monitor that was hooked up to the man and
let his ears listen for the ping from the defibrillator to be ready then
pressed it to the man’s chest. His body jerked again.
But the screen was
still flat lining. “Charging,” Nelson muttered more to himself then the others.
Another ping. Another shock. Still nothing. “No,” the Doctor muttered as
the fifth shock received the same response. “Don’t you dare,” he growled. The
paddles were back on Torres’ chest, delivering their sixth shock.
Charlie had been
counting the seconds, could hear them tick by in her head, marking the second
minute of death. Come on, she thought, her teeth biting the inside of
her lower lip.
Nelson was varying
between the paddles and chest compressions to coax the man out of death’s
hands. “If there is,” Nelson said between compressions, “One way, I’m going, to
let you, die, it is, not like, this!” He stepped back, watched the
screen and growled at the flat line.
“Evan,” Charlie
drawled out in a whisper. “Get your spidery ass back here now.”
“Come on!” Nelson
yelled as he grabbed the paddles again. He turned, placed them against Torres’
chest and there was a beep. He lifted his eyes to the screen and saw a pulse. The
paddles were gone, the cart pushed away as his hands worked on making sure
Torres hadn’t suffered from the death. “How you feeling man?”
He spluttered for
a few seconds before he coughed and nodded, “How long was I dead for?”
Charlie and Nelson
exchanged a couple of glances before she dropped the news, “Over two less than
three.”
“Holy fuck,” Torres
dragged out.
“Fuck indeed,”
Nelson said, waving a penlight in one eye then the next. “I’d say you’re fine
now. How’s the rest of you feel?”
“My chest’s sore.”
The Doctor nodded.
“You did have a thousand volts of electricity applied to it.” There was a smirk
to his words and he patted Torres on the shoulder. “Rest. I want another x-ray
before I let you go.” He turned and stepped as close as he could to Charlie’s
bed to whisper angrily, “Don’t you dare make me do that again.”
She tilted her head
forward once. “I won’t. I promise.” After a moment, just as he turned, ready to
leave, she grabbed his arm and dragged him back. “I’m sorry for putting you
through that. Honestly, and I’m sorry for what happened. But thank you.”
The Doctor only
nodded stiffly before he retook his arm and moved away from her. Charlie sighed
in relief, let her head fall against the pillow and closed her eyes.
Sokoloff and Hunter stared at the screen. A video
transmission was awaiting them and neither one of them wanted to open it. The
stamp that attached itself to transmissions to allow the receiving ship to
identify who was calling them, it was the Command insignia. “Well,” Hunter
said, “We’re fucked.”
The
Russian held a hand up to the screen, “Are you not going to answer?”
Hunter laughed, “Ha! No! I avoid politics like that.”
Hunter laughed, “Ha! No! I avoid politics like that.”
“So I should get Zach?” Sokoloff didn’t wait
for an answer, just tapped the internal comms and said, “Zach to bridge, Zach
to bridge, we have an incoming transmission.”
Then she opened
the video message looked up to the face of a young looking Captain. Too young
in her opinion. “My name is Captain Grey of the ship Titan. I wish to
speak to your Captain on behalf of Command.”
“They’re on their
way,” the pilot spoke, “Let me put you on hold.” She muted and dead screened Titan,
a useful tool that allowed bridges and ships to confer with its crew before it
made a decision for everyone.
Zach stumbled onto
the bridge, having ran, and looked up at the frozen image of Grey. “Who’s he?”
“Captain Grey of
the Titan.” Hunter said. “He’s on hold.”
Zach narrowed his
eyes, “Shouldn’t you be the one answering him, seeing as how you’re the next in
charge.”
Hunter held her
hands up, palms forward, “Not the politics. Captain knows that.”
“You’re acting
Captain. Next ranked. Grow a pair.”
“If it’s so easy
why don’t you grow a pair?”
Sokoloff sighed,
shook her head and turned in her seat. “Both of you have no balls. One of you,
answer now.”
“Pull it up!” came
a familiar voice from the door and three sets of eyes turned to see their
Captain being carried along by Torres and Nelson. They helped her to the Captain’s
chair and she sighed as she slouched into it, holding her chest as she did so. The
three eyes were still on her and she glared at them, “Who’s the boy scout?”
“Captain Grey of Titan,”
Sokoloff said just before she let the video transmission continue.
“Ah, Captain O’Donnell
I believe?”
She eyed him
suspiciously for several seconds before she nodded, “Captain Grey. Command send
you?”
Grey gave a slight
smile. “Yes. You see, when they discovered a sudden spike in heat and
radiation well, they got interested. So they sent us through to look.”
Out of the corner
of her eye she could see Hunter and Sokoloff both shaking their heads. She was
glad that neither of them were in video range since it had been shifted to
focus on her. “Well, you must have some pretty fast engines. Faster than mine”
Grey chuckled. “To
which ship are you referencing? This hunk of junk or your designated ship
Valhalla?”
“Both actually. I’d
like to lay claim to both. What better way to prove to be a capable Captain
then command two ships at the same time?”
Grey quirked one
brow at her and she wondered what thought had just crossed his mind. “You
must prepare for an emergency docking sequence Captain. Direct orders from
Command.”
The atmosphere in
the bridge changed and Charlie hid it well. “Direct orders? Well,” she could
feel the sarcasm slathering up each word as she spoke, “Who am I to disagree
with direct orders?”
Now Grey was
frowning. “I don’t like your tone Captain.”
“We were given
orders that you would be waiting for us on the other side of the belt. Even if
you were, which is doubtful, there is no way you caught up to us in that short
space of time.” She pressed her hands to the arms of the chair and pushed
herself up. Nelson and Torres stepped forward, ready to steady her. But she
waved them off with a subtle shake of the head. Her eyes turned and snapped
themselves on Grey. “So you listen to me you lying sack of shit. I’ve had
enough bullshit being fed to me over these two days to last me a lifetime. I am
not going to put up with your crap too. So tell me, Captain to Captain,
honestly, what the fuck are you and your crew doing out here?”
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