“Just how many regulations do you intend on breaking, Lieutenant Fowler?”  Captain Helena Dread had more or less dragged the Chief Science Officer into her ready room when she presented the plan’s beginnings.

Fowler scowled but quickly erased the look from her face when Dread’s face rippled at the sight.  She was tired, and the voice of Vocast burned every nerve ending she had left.  She walked past her captain and threw herself onto the couch, “I can’t think straight, Captain Dread.  When the idea came to my mind, I didn’t think…”

Helena didn’t let her finish, “Lieutenant Fowler – if you can’t perform your duties as Chief Science Officer, you must make that clear.  Not understanding the limits of how telepathy works is a serious failure.  I don’t want Vocast in your head any more than you do, but I cannot afford to have an officer unable to perform her duties.”

“You are being unfair, Captain Dread.”

Dread took a step back.  The voice coming from Fowler was another voice.  “Vocast?”

“It is I.  Fowler is…pushed to the side.  She is unhappy about me doing this.  But I cannot allow you to minimize her because of my effect on her.”

“Then stop having an effect on her.”  Dread put up a hand. “I know you don’t know how to get out of her head, but you’ve got ages of knowledge and power within you. You have to know how to share the space and spare her the indignities.”

“Indignities?”

Dread shook her head at the creature inside Fowler, “Between myself, the XO, and Doctor Reid – we’ve had multiple calls on the hour about her erratic behavior talking to someone – you – and giving everyone she walks by cause for concern.  She is a member of the senior staff, Vocast…and she’s not acting like one…and certainly unable to perform like one at the moment.”

“What will occur if I am unable to share the space?”  Fowler’s face was blank as the creature spoke through her, unnerving Dread.

“I will have to remove her from active duty and place her under guard. You have to understand – you’ve now shown me you can take control of one of my officers.  I cannot ignore this.”

“I can motivate you against the pursuit of that line of thinking.  I control Sadie Fowler.  I can bring great harm to her.  My understanding of human beings is that you are…emotional.”  The head of Fowler cocked to the side, “I do not wish to exercise such actions against her, but I must be able to see and hear what is going on with this mission.”

Helena felt her fists balling up, fighting to keep her tone even and controlled.  “You wouldn’t dare.  Fowler is your only connection…you lose her…you’re back to your planet.”

“I can still see beyond, Captain Dread.  I merely wish to have access to the situation as it develops.”

Dread tapped her badge, “Doctor Reid, to my ready room – on the double.”  She returned to face Vocast’s presence in Fowler, “I’m beginning to see why the Dominion developed a healthy fear of you.”

“They did not listen to me. They paid the price.”

The door to the ready room flew open as Jordan Reid stepped in, her face filled with worry. Dread quickly filled her in, and she said, “So we’re currently speaking with Vocast.”

“Hello.”

Jordan was already walking around Sadie, scanning with a medical tricorder.  “Her vitals are heightened.  Her body is under significant stress – if this keeps up, we’re going to have to start worrying about short-term damage in the next five hours…after that, we’re looking at permanent injuries.”  Reid turned on Vocast, “What is your problem?”

“My problem?”

She stepped closer to Fowler’s body, “You have all the power in the universe…you can see just about everything…and then when you scare the crap out of us with your puppet routine, you wonder why we’re suddenly so upset.  For someone who’s studied humans for as long as you say you have…you must have missed the chapter on ‘How to Win Friends and Influence People’ because you are coming up short, Vocast.”

Dread warned, “Doctor…”

Jordan shook her head. “No, captain. I want an answer. You don’t threaten to hurt my friend and expect me just to do whatever you want.  I have to put her back together after you’ve done whatever the hell it is you’re doing now.  You don’t get to break us like toys because we made you mad.”

“You make a compelling argument, Doctor Reid.”

“I sure do, damn you.  If you want to keep using her and us – you’re going to have to learn to handle your feelings when we push back on your demands.  You want to find out who created her?  And why does she have pieces of you in her?  We’re the only game in town, and we read that chapter.  We play in the deep end of the pool, Vocast.  If you’re going to have us as allies at the end of this, you’re going to have to learn to swim in here with the rest of us.”  She glanced at her CO and winced at the smoldering glare she was receiving from Dread.  “I make no apologies, Captain.  I have an oath to my patient.”

“Your doctor is not afraid of me, Captain Dread.”  Fowler’s head turned to stare at Reid, “Why is that?”

Reid answered, “We don’t get the luxury of knowing when our time will end, Vocast.  I’d rather take a stand for someone and fight to save them to the last breath than back down.  It’s not who I am.”

“You did not come to this on your own.”

Reid held Vocast’s gaze, “I had to learn the hard way. I’ll never make that mistake again.”

“I will yield.  I must reflect on what I have done here.  Hearing your words has…caused me concern.”

With that, Fowler gasped and collapsed, groaning,  “Oh, it hurts…like, I got the shit kicked out of me.  Oh, hell.”

Dread tapped her badge, “Medical team with bio bed—emergency transport to my ready room.”  Seconds later, a team appeared, and Reid quickly helped Fowler onto the bed before the woman passed out. The medical team hustled her out of the room and on the way to sickbay.

The room was quiet until Reid spoke, “You gonna fire me, Captain?”

Helena leaned against her desk, “No.  I don’t fire people for saving our collective asses.  I had forgotten about the rebellious streak they mentioned in your dossier.”  She gave the chief medical officer an appreciative nod, “You found us a way to keep Fowler alive.  I’ll take that over an insubordination charge any day of the week.”

Dread’s badge beeped, “Captain, we’ve got a possible position on our target.”

“On my way.”