Bridge

The Damascus regained speed back to warp 5 but could still not regain specific systems. The automatic report system to Starfleet would have been alerted most likely them is missing in action. However, the senior crew already considered the predicament they were in wouldn’t give Starfleet the space to send any ship out to do a search and rescue for any missing Starfleet vessel that was now operating in Delta Quadrant. 

They were still a few days out. Even with the regain of the new warp speed, it would take them at least four days to get back to Markonian station. The relief did reach the bridge crew when operations announced they were out of Devore Imperium’s newly expanded area. They were out of the danger zone, but the tension was still there, seeing how vulnerable the ship was. 

“We are still fourrr days out. If Commanderrr Valerrrio can repairrr the engines more, then we can be back sooner” K’Nala announced, seeing the calculations of the navigational system. “We arrre pretty much on clearrr courrrse, I don’t see any prrroblems right now with the vectorrr we are going at right now” 

“Stop butting in on the workload of Commander Valerio, Ensign” Rami spoke, shaking his head as he swiped another report away. “The man has enough on his mind keeping us in one piece as it is” He looked up at the Caitian pilot. “Focus on your own work and get us back home. If you feel you are not up to that, please dismiss yourself from active duty and let someone else do it?” He looked back at the console.

Some were looking at each other at the sudden harsh words from Rami. K’Nala had turned around and was surprised by this impulsive act of harshness and felt the preying eyes of everyone around her, even though command had praised her for her work. Being shot down by another senior member was harsh to hear “I didn’t mean it like that ….” She stuttered a bit to get the words out, trying to avoid eye contact.

Rolling his eyes, “Then you should reconsider your words more carefully, Ensign. We are on a timed schedule. People are tired, wounded, and grieving over the people we have lost during this mission. Consider their feelings before you speak out of turn again” Rami didn’t even look at the young ensign. 

“yes….yes sirrr” K’Nala felt her lower lip shake and looked insecure downwards, trying to keep herself together. She balds her hand feeling her eyes watery from this unsettling conversation “I am sorrry” She mutters. 

Before Rami could speak, Silina walked into the bridge from the Captain’s ready room and felt the heavy tension on the bridge by merely looking around. Silina’s eyes stopped at K’Nala “Care to explain why there is such a hostile atmosphere here?” Raising her hands slightly as an indication of being unknowing.

Before K’Nala spoke up, Rami quickly answered, “Nothing is going on, Silina, slight discussion on the bridge while performing our duties” Rami didn’t even bother to look at the commander. “We will have shields back on 57% by the latest reports. Commander Valerio has been outstanding in doing his job in recovering our systems to the required standards in protecting our ship” 

Silina narrowed her eyes while looking at Rami and then at K’Nala, who was on the verge of collapsing and cry a river of tears. “Ensign, what did you and Lieutenant Shew speak off?” She crossed her arms over each other.

“As I said, it was nothing to worry about…” Rami looked at Silina, who saw her right hand up. “Excuse me?” 

“I would like you to be quiet, Lieutenant Shew. I will deal with you in a second” Silina’s eyes looked cold at Rami and then back at the Ensign, who still was looking down. “Ensign?” 

Taking a deep breath and looking at the Commander with a few sniffs trying to hold in tears, “Nothing is going on Commanderrr. I was merrrely overstating my position on the brrridge” K’nala placed her hands over each other “I would like to be excuse forrr my duty at the brrridge ma’am” 

The bridge officers kept to their work, but even Silina noticed something had happened as she looked at a sergeant “Sergeant, what happened here? Please spare me the good talk of staying on someone’s good side. Because I can guarantee you that you will not like it to be on my bad side. What happened here” 

The man looked nervously from Rami to K’Nala and then back at Silina. “Ensign K’Nala expressed that we had reached warp 5 and if Commander Valerio managed to keep up the work, we could achieve higher and be home quicker. Lieutenant Shew pointed out that this is unacceptable behavior as Commander Valerio is busy enough with the work currently happening and asked Ensign K’Nala to keep her opinions of others’ work to herself. Commander” He briefly nodded.

“Ensign K’Nala, you are excuse of the bridge, walk it off and report back within the hour. Sergeant, take her spot” Silina’s eyes remained unchanged from the cold glare as the crew made the required changes. K’Nala gave Silina a nod and walked to the turbolift to exit the bridge “Lieutenant Shew, Captain’s ready room. Now” She turned around and walked into the ready room.

Rami doubted the order for a second, but he shrugged it off and followed Silina into the ready room. When the door closed behind him, he looked at Silina. “What is the deal here, Silina? I got enough work to do?” He was on edge, and everything showed it. 

Taking a deep breath as she leans on the desk of her Captain. She turned around. “First, I am your senior officer on board this ship and even the previous command. So address me with the respect of one? Do not ever call me by my first name while on duty” She raised her hand and shook her head the moment Rami wanted to speak up. “Oh boy, don’t dare right now. I am not finished” Seeing Rami back off, looking at her with questionable eyes. “Secondly, I care for every damn single person in that room and this ship to know the freaking burden of command to see when you need to shut up. From a medical point of view, this crew is on the verge of collapsing, and you being a smart ass doesn’t help”

Looking dryly at Silina, “Are you done?” Rami then spoke with some annoyance in his voice, “Because I have every damn right to speak my mind on that bridge. I am the Chief Security Officer, and sorry to say it, but you are not doing your job correctly” 

Making a fist with her hands and trying to remain calm, “I hope you didn’t just lecture me on my performance there, Lieutenant” She wanted to get it out calmly as possible. “But last time I checked, you are speaking to the Executive Officer of this ship. The second in command of this ship. The f*cking right hand of the Captain” She raised her voice. “You do not debate my orders on the bridge ever! You did it once, you did it twice, and this might be your strike if you continue” 

“Did I hurt your feelings…Commander” Putting a heavy tone on the rank name, Rami felt unjustified and cornered by this. “I can take this up with the Captain when she is ready to get back into command. It might be better for her to be back in that chair. Because every single time you messed it up and froze only to have Sazra save your sorry ass” 

“Get the f*ck out. You are dismissed from your duties until further notice. Lieutenant” She points then to the exit. “Dismissed” 

Some hesitation came from Rami, but he just nodded to her “I am excused from my duties and shall report to my quarters until further notice.” He confirmed the order that was given to him as he walked out of the ready room to let Silina alone. 

Taking a few deep breaths as Silina leans on the desk. “Bloody brat that he is” Placing her hand on her face to let sink in the situation that has started “I need to report this to Sazra. I have no idea how to deal with this situation. But everything seems to be on the verge of exploding any second” She leaned forward. “You shouldn’t have formulated so directly, Rami….. I also have feelings, you know,” Silina muttered and pushed herself from the desk, walking out of the office. 

Sickbay

“Doctor, I am doing fine. I don’t hear any voices or see any illusions in front of me.” Sazra confirmed once again, looking at Kossaal, who was still inspecting her.“ I am wonderful, I feel good, and I can return to duty” She tried her best to convince her doctor to let her finally go. 

Kossaal hums a few times. “Well, I don’t tend to agree with that statement. You were exposed various times to the blood dilithium. You have shown behavioral changes and could communicate with a telepathic being that overloaded your brain more than once.” He looked at the data coming from the tricorder and shrugged “But the diagnosis states you are indeed fine….still, I want to keep a close eye on you” 

“See, I can go back to duty” Sazra pointed it out, seeing Kossaal only shaking his head. “Come on, doc” 

“I believe you should listen to your doctor” Silina walked in and stopped at Sazra’s bed. “His medical expertise is now your core attention of orders. He is the one that can clear you back for duty” She looked at Kossaal “What is the status of our patient?” 

Sazra rolled her eyes. “Come on, now I got two doctors against me?” She wanted to throw a tantrum but slowly shook her head in defeat. 

Giving another hum as he checked the panel, “The brain recovery is going well. Most of the overloaded sections have returned to normal standards. She might experience some headaches over time, but in the end, she needs rest like most of the crew, it seems” Kossaal looked at his side to the Commander “We are getting complaints of over hours being the new way on the ship. People do need sleep, Commander” 

“Tell me about it….I am trying to shuffle with the shifts as I can, but it seems that rest is not in for it” Silina shrugged, crossing her arms while thinking.

Adrián now also walked into the sickbay. “Over hours is sadly the new norm for our engineers. I dislike it as much as you all lads do, but we need to keep this ship together” Adrián spoke with a specific tone of regret in his voice as he came to a halt at the Captain’s bed. “What’s up, Captain? You look like you lost another battle against your nemesis…the doctors” He points at Silina and Kossaal with a grin on his face.

“Shut up…I think I still have some blood dilithium effect in me to beat your ass” Sazra’s eyes narrowed, looking at Adrián and then at Silina. “What happened?” She asked out of the blue.

Letting out a sigh, “Rami…he has been acting out of line against my orders since we got out of that grid. I dismissed him a second ago from his duties after a heavily loaded discussion on the bridge against K’Nala” Silina shrugged, remembering the whole ordeal.

“Could the blood dilithium affect Bajorans also?” Adrián was curious if it did or not.

Shaking his head, “No, data has not shown any divided behavior from Bajorans. I am monitoring the crew now more closely after such heavy exposure to whatever was happening out there” Kossaal explained, looking at his PADD. “It can be the complaints that are piling up about being overworked. I got no clear evidence that his species is sensitive to behavior changes of long exposure to stress” 

“Whatever it might be, you acted correctly to dismiss him,” Sazra said calmly. “You both have been doing outstanding in taking care of the ship. But as far as I can give out orders, Adrián, please get your engineers to work in shifts now and give them the required space to recover their stamina. If they are out of commission because of fatigue, we have bigger problems. Silina, this also counts for you. Let Rami steam off before he returns back to duty” Sazra thinks for a second. “Let Adrián handle Rami after he is cooled down. The two have known each other longer and worked closely over time. I would want to do so, but a certain person won’t release me from my medical position right now” 

“That is a very keen observation, Captain” Kossaal said without looking at her and focusing on the PADD.

Sazra shrugged at that comment but took a deep breath. “Anyway, the other problem I have stuck in my head is my interaction with the creature. The Blood Crystalline Entity did invade my mind various times to get a connection working. That is my presumption, at least. Thought in one of the interactions, the entity showed concern with the radiation of the blood dilithium” 

Blinking a few times his eyes. “Concerns? What was the entity concerned with?” Adrián tried to follow the story as best as possible but had a hard time understanding how it was even possible for Sazra to make a connection with such a creature in the first place.

“The entity stated that the blood dilithium was making a noise, but not one. More the one” Sazra remembers how she saw so many people appear in her mind around her. “It showed me what it was trying to decypher for itself. It stated that it heard many voices, and when I asked for elaboration, it showed many people. They were Brenari” Sazra saw the pain and sorrow in their eyes. 

“Brenari?” Silina looked surprised at that information. “Are they not the ones that live at the borders of the Devore Imperium? Starfleet report stated that they are turned into slaves because of the Devore’s hatred against them?” Silina looked up for a second. “Are you saying that the entity hears the Brenari screaming from the blood dilithium?” Her eyes got redirected to Sazra.

“An interesting observation,” Kossaal finally looked up from his PADD. “It is known that the unethical of what the Brenari has to suffer under the iron fist of the Devore Imperium ruling. They are quite the savage, if not barbarians, regarding the Brenari. Another few reports stated the Brenari being killed just because of them being telepathic” 

Nodding to their analytic observation and dissection of what she told them “I tend to agree with you. I know that what the entity showed me is now a mere illusion. But we are in no position to go into an all-out war with these people either. Starfleet doesn’t have the material for it, and their ships are in way better position than ours” Sazra leans back on her pillow. “But doctor…” It caught Kossaal attention to look at his Captain. “Is it even possible, and this is a theory? That the Brenari are being massed killed and their psychic powers released into space to effect the friction of spatial reality?” 

He thought about it for a moment. “Not really. The idea itself is far-fetched in medical terms. On the flip side, we have limited information on the biological readings from any Brenari, so I actually can’t say for sure. But if we go for the theoretical side of things, the Brenari would affect their surroundings in reacting to telepathic interference. Meaning they should be quite strong, read your mind, and such. Then you need a few thousand if not millions of Brenari to release such energy in a brief amount of time” 

Sazra struggled with that theory and looked at Adrián and Silina, who both realized what this could mean. “If this would fit the bill, are we talking about the Devore Imperium performing genocide over the Brenari?” Silina said what everyone was thinking “We can’t turn our backs on this”

“We actually can, as I said. Starfleet is in no position to do anything or even confirm these claims. What is the ETA until we reach Markonian Outpost?” Sazra looked at Silina back, who was still struggling with the whole idea that was just put on the table “Commander?”

Silina snaps out of her train though “Uhh yea four days at warp 5 that we have no in our engines. Long-range communication is still out…”

“Not for long, if I can get things going as I am right now. We should have those systems back soon. But it will be another day until we are in range to get to the Markonian Outpost communication grid to get it working” Adrián pointed out. “I am trying to get all the juice out of the engines. But I presume we have to get the ship to a shipyard to get her fixed up. We might have to replace the whole left nano cell” 

Nodding to them both, “Alright, you got your orders from earlier. So get this ship back home in one piece” Sazra was not sure they could handle it right now with all the stress that was happening. 

“And get some rest, don’t make me use my medical powers on you both” Kossaal said with narrowed eyes looking at Adrián and Silina. “If any of you drop out, I got this one here that will jump out of this bed to get back to work. Don’t give her a reason to go back to work, alright?” 

Seeing Sazra grin from her bed “I know she is trying to find an excuse to get out of this bed. But don’t worry, we got this,” Silina pats Sazra on her leg with a grin on her face. “I will get some rest soon. I got to deal with a sad kitty” She walked off.

“And I guess I have to deal with some more systems and a hot head” Adrián shrugged at that and just walked away while nodding to himself.

Sazra wanted to get up and help them so badly. “And you get some rest, or I will revoke your command until we reach Markonian Outpost” Kossaal pushed her back and resumed his duties of wounded people that needed his attention. 

Her crew was suffering quite badly under the current conditions. Their captain could not resume her duties due to her medical problems. But while it was not showing, Sazra’s mind was already trying to piece together the issues together to understand the blood dilithium and its sudden appearance. She softly bites her thumb “Genocide” She mutters to herself.