Fic: Observations, Ch 197
Dr. McCoy came out of surgery. Nurse Chapel was still inside.
Scotty was in a cell in the brig. A few moments before the medical team had materialized, he had abruptly come out of his trance-like stupor. The first thing he had seen was me, attempting to control some of the bleeding from Nyota's wounds.
He had not realized he held the knife until he dropped it in his haste to come to her side. The sight of his face as he looked down on at his hands, his clothing, covered in red-
Put it from my mind. It does nothing to dwell on the memory.
He recalled nothing. There is a complete gap in his memory from the time the fog set in to the time he woke.
It is clear that he is not guilty, nor will he be held responsible for his actions. However, if he has been possessed, it is likely he poses a danger to others and to himself. I ordered Scotty to the brig and he went without argument.
It was a logical decision.
“How are they, Doc?” Sulu asked, face grim.
“Nyota’s all right. I don’t think there’ll be any lasting damage. She should be up an about in ten days or so.”
A pause. No one desired to ask.
“And the keptan?”
Leonard shook his head.
“He’s stable. Major damage to the liver, three punctures in his lungs, barely missed his heart and major arteries, thank God. It-whatever the goddamn hell it was-mostly went after his gut. Intestines’re a mess. I didn’t even know where to begin stitching things back together.”
“But he’ll make it, right?”
“Yeah. He’ll make it. He’s one lucky bastard,” Leonard scrubbed at his face and sat down gracelessly. “This is cutting it too damn close. I keep waiting and wondering, if the day’ll come when he runs outta luck.”
Silence.
“Keptan does not need luck. He is already hafing Kirk-force.”
“Pasha don’t. Not now.”
“Why not now? Da, it is terrifying i da, mozhet buit on bui pogib, no on perezhil. Maybe he could haf been dying today, but he is not. He is surwiwing, and that is all that counts. Keptan has not run out of luck because only luck he is needing is to be liwing. And liwing s’nami. With us.”
“Maybe you’re right, Pavel. But sometimes it gets to a man, the way the universe grinds and grinds and grinds on an inexorable wheel. Why Jim? Why Scotty? Why now? Why us?”
“A thousand questions you cannot be answering. There is no point in playing Dostoevsky, doctor. Nyet prichina.”
“Well let me play Dostoevsky! I aint like y’all. When I feel something, I express it and I aint makin any apologies for it. It’s who I am and it just comes outta me like water.”
“Guys, calm down,” Sulu stepped between Pavel and Leonard. “It gave us a scare is all.”
A pause.
“I’m not sayin that Jim’s gonna die,” Leonard said, voice quiet. “I don’t believe that he’s run outta luck either. But it doesn’t feel like that right now. It feels like fear and piss right now. But that’s okay.”
There was a hard glint in Pavel’s eyes.
“Y’all avoid emotions and strong feelings like acknowledging them’s some kinda weakness. Let me tell you this-especially you,” he pointed at Pavel. “It’s not.”
“It is not weakness, and it is not strength.”
“Come on, guys. Give it up. We’ve all got different ways of dealing.”
“And this is mine. You want to know why me and Jim’re best friends? Because he can take it-he doesn’t freak out when I have my freakouts, and he lets me have them. Y’all don’t think I know what it does for morale? I’ll stuff my emotions in a box when we get to the bridge but right now, I’m among friends.”
I gripped Leonard’s shoulder, then released. Something seemed to unwind inside him.
“Prognosis, doctor?” I asked.
“You want the truth?”
“When I have not?”
“I can think of a few times,” he said, tired smile at the corners of his mouth. “All right-truth’s the truth. Jim’s in a bad way. He’ll live, but it’s too early to tell how he’ll recover.”
“And Scotty?” Sulu asked quietly.
“He hurt himself? Why didn’t anyone tell me-goddamnit-!”
“No no no, I mean,” Sulu tapped his head. “Is he gonna be okay?”
“Who the hell knows.”
“Ewerything is going to be fine. Vsyo budet horosho.”
“Do you think whatever’s possessing Scotty’s gonna lash out again? Couldn’t he harm himself?”
“I have alerted security to that possibility. They have him on continuous watch. If he attempts to harm himself, we will be notified immediately.”
“This mission’s gonna go sideways in a big way. I need a drink.”
“Nyet. It will not. This is the Enterprise. It will not.”
Pavel was holding himself so stiffly it seemed he would snap.
Sulu moved to put a hand on his shoulder, but Pavel sidestepped him and turned away from us. Hikaru was about to go to him, but Leonard made a motion to leave him alone.
“Peter,” he mouthed and gave a significant look.
Sulu’s brows furrowed. He shook his head and moved closer to Leonard.
“Pavel told me once-he was high as a kite going into surgery-that Jim sometimes reminded him of his brother. There was a huge age difference between them and Peter died in that firefight when Pavel was young.”
“Yeah,” Sulu paused. “Yeah, that makes sense. And Scotty practically adopted him into the Engineering Department.”
“So give him some space. I probably should’ve kept my mouth shut.”
“Nah. You needed to get that off your chest. It’s fine.”
Leonard turned to me.
“You haven’t said anything. Do I need M’Benga to sic a psych exam on you?”
“I am fine.”
“You always say that, and it’s never true.”
“Has it ever occurred to you, doctor, that I say it not because it accurately reflects my physical or emotional state, but because I cannot afford to be anything else but fine at this moment?”
“A twisted form of positive reinforcement.”
“Perhaps. The fact remains that three senior officers are currently incapacitated, two of whom occupy the top three positions in the chain of command. The Enterprise cannot afford a fourth.”
“You’re gonna get to the bottom of this and set it to rights. You always do.”
There was a confidence in his voice, an assurance that startled me. What I found-perhaps it should not be surprising, but I had never anticipated it. Leonard McCoy has a deep faith in me, that I will see to my duty and execute it without fail.
Hikaru nodded.
“What do you need us to do?”
Red blood and Jim lying on the ground, Nyota beside him. Scotty with that expressionless face.
We have faced worse threats. I have faced worse threats.
I straightened and adopted perfect military posture.
“I am naming you acting First Officer. The investigation will begin immediately. Lt. Chekov, I am naming you acting Science Officer. Find out whatever you can about psychic entities that manifest as fog, mist, or any such variation, and if there have been similar incidents in the past on this planet or in the Federation.
“Lt. Sulu, for all intents and purposes, you will deal with the officials of Argelius and the legal complications. The entity that possessed Scotty also killed one of the natives and they desire to try him according to their traditions. Find out what those traditions entail, give me a clear report of their expectations. As I am the only eyewitness, I cannot participate in the negotiations of the proceedings. I will contact Lt. Shaw and speak to Number One.”
“What about Scotty?”
“I will speak with him. Dr. McCoy, if you could send M’Benga to the Argelius coroner’s office, so that we might receive an independent report of the dancer’s cause of death.”
“Right on it.”
“Are there any questions? Shore leave is revoked for all crewmembers until it is confirmed that the planet is secure. Lt. Sulu, organize security teams with Lt. Giotto. Lt. Chekov, notify the transporter room and the communications station. All crewmembers are ordered to report back to the ship. Have Lt. Bequest debrief everyone. Dismissed.”
“Wait, Spock,” Leonard motioned.
I indicated that Sulu and Chekov should go ahead to their duties. They left Sickbay.
“Yes?”
“If you want a moment with them-they’re still anesthetized, but I thought you might-”
I shook my head.
“You are able to express your emotions in a way that does not totally overwhelm you. Vulcans are different. I cannot-”
The sight of Jim and Nyota, so much red and Scotty, standing blank, then the realization, the dawning and kroykah. Now is not the time.
Now is not the time.
“It’s fine,” Leonard gripped my shoulder. “Do what you need to do.”
--
“You’re sure of what you saw?” Lt. Shaw asked.
“Yes.”
“It’s still problematic.”
“Vulcans have an eidetic memory, it cannot be argued that trauma distorted my recollection.”
“No, that’s not it. You didn’t actually see what happened. What you describe is fog and screams, the captain disappearing and the appearance of Scotty afterwards. That doesn’t immediately imply possession, not from a legal standpoint. For all we know he could be acting on some deeply submerged subconscious desires.”
“Lt. Shaw, I know Mr. Scott. He is not capable of conceiving of such an act.”
“I trust your judgment on this, but people are capable of doing a lot of things, Commander. Trust me on that.”
“You do not know Lt. Commander Scott. He would not attack Lt. Uhura in such a manner.”
She shook her head.
“I know I promised Jim that I would fight for the crew as much as possible, but I don’t know if I can win this one, Commander. Assault, manslaughter. Stabbing one person dozens of times-that’s not the sort of crime that can be let go.”
“Is there no way charges can be dropped?”
“The parties involved have no choice in that. Only the Federation can drop charges in a case like this, and I don’t know if they will. Montgomery Scott has a record-”
“All of them were pranks, meant as a form of humor.”
“His psychological charts aren’t normal. They show some obsessive tendencies-”
“He is devoted to his work.”
“I also don’t like the fact that you are still acting captain. By protocol, you should have handed the investigation off to another officer.”
“Lt. Sulu is managing the investigation planetside-”
“And he reports to you.”
“All senior officers are involved in this case, lieutenant. I will not give up command, I know what I saw. The strange appearance and disappearance of the fog, the fact that the dancer was nowhere in our radius yet appeared at the scene of the crime-it indicates some other entity involved.”
“You already have a theory and you are going to gather evidence to support that theory. That is not how investigation works and you know it. You can’t claim to be unbiased in this situation, Commander.”
“I never claimed objectivity.”
Lt. Shaw’s eyes widened.
Unspoken between us hung the words ‘emotional compromise’.
The silence stretched.
“I-,” she looked straight at me. “I’m going to pretend I didn’t hear that.”
I nodded.
“I don’t know what to say, Commander. I’ll do what I can.”
“Thank you.”
“I’ll notify you if I find anything.”
“Understood. Spock out.”
--
“You are certain that is what you saw?”
“Yes. No. I don’t know. I don’t know Spock! Oh god. Oh god!” Scotty put his head in his hands, trembling. “Is she okay? Is Jim okay? Oh god. The blood.”
I gripped Scotty’s arms.
“They will make a full recovery. Dr. McCoy is confident of their condition. Scotty.”
He shook his head, face screwed up in an indescribable expression of horror, grief.
“I will find out what did this. You are not at fault. Mr. Scott, do you understand? You are not at fault. I know that Jim and Nyota would never blame you.”
“No. No, the knife in my hands. I woke up and the knife in my hands. Oh god. And their blood. The blood, oh god-”
He broke down, almost falling to his knees.
“Scotty-” I kept my grip on him. “Scotty-”
“Oh god the blood oh god the blood,” he gasped, sobbing. “I don’t remember anything. It’s all blank.”
“Scotty, do not blame yourself-”
“All blank all blank oh god the blood” broken breaths heaving breaths
And that feeling returning, the oily malice of the fog, faint crying laughing crying laughter buzzing
I let go of my grip on him and stepped back.
“Scotty-”
He could not hear me.
Crying mixed with
“The blood the blood and more red yes red red RED!”
Laughter.
“Red red ripping red rip redding the ages of cold collecting gathering the ages of searching”
Mad laughter.
“Gold. Gold red red gold god kill rip red”
“Montgomery Scott. Montgomery Scott,” I tried to reach him, mind rapidly calculating possibilities and considering hypotheses.
This is not Montgomery Scott staring at me from those eyes.
“Release him. Whatever you are, release him, or I will forcibly remove you.”
Steeling my mind, raising my shields and centering myself.
Scotty wavered in place. He gasped, coughed and for a moment the familiar light of his eyes returned.
I went to him and held him up.
“Spock?” he asked, voice raw. “I just blacked-”
And suddenly, gripping my arms, madness raging in his eyes, infected, screaming and screaming
“RED RED RED RED RED RED JACK JILL JIM JAMES JAMES KIRK”
Inundated with fog and screams
“I remember you! I REMEMBER YOU!”