“So, he’s going to be okay?”

Raan stood by Allen’s bed in sickbay, his arms folded over his chest as he looked down at the unconscious form of his chief science officer.

“As far as I can tell for someone who’s had an alien entity stuffed in their head, yes,” Micheals, never one to mince her words, replied. “Whatever it was, it’s sent his neurotransmitter levels crazy.”

Raan slid her a sideways glance. “Layman’s terms, doc. I’m just a grunt sitting in the captain’s chair, remember?”

She grunted, muttering something that may or may not have been, ‘grunt, my ass.’

“What was that, doc?”

“Nothing, just clearing my throat. Okay, layman’s terms. The chemicals in his brain are on the fritz. Whatever that entity was, it stripped him of stuff that let him make decisions and ramped up all the feel good shi- the feel good ones.”

Raan nodded. “Okay, so he was high most of the time and not responsible for his actions?”

Micheals wrinkled her nose. It was a surprisingly cute expression on the no-nonsense doctor. “Yes and no. When he was under it’s control, he wasn’t in control. But… yeah, he was totally operating on happy-happy times there.”

Raan compressed his lips into a thin line. “And is it still in his head?”

“That. I have no idea,” Micheals said, moving around the bed and switching the display above Allen’s head.

Instead of a bodily scan, there were other readouts that Raan assumed were something to do with his brain functioning, given the image of a rotating brain on the left-hand side. He avoided looking at the eyes on stalks and concentrated on the other areas of the image. Several areas were lit up red.

“So far I’m working on stabilising his body chemistry and transmitters. But I’m not a telepath and we don’t have any way to monitor that in a patient who, as far as we knew, had no telepathic ability.”

“It’s not in there anymore,” Armstrong said as she joined them.

Raan looked down at the young woman. Since the Resolute had picked up the away teams and all the former Devore prisoners, the counselor had been patched up and looked like she’d managed to get at least a few hours sleep. He hoped she had, because he knew that she’d been back on duty when they’d transported the last of their refugees over to ships sent to either take them home or onwards to safety, places far from Devore reach.

“Are you sure?” he asked, a frown creasing his brow.

His species were as telepathic as a brick, so he was always a little in awe of those who had such abilities. Imagine being able to read minds, or know how someone was feeling.

The first struck him as dangerous, but the second… yeah, that might have helped him avoid landing in the divorce courts. Who knew some people were so weird about multiple marriages? His ex-wife, obviously. But he hadn’t known that at the time.

She nodded.

“I can’t feel it at all now. It was like something pressing against my mind all the time.”

Her expression softened as she looked at the unconscious man on the bed. “He’s been through hell,” she muttered, moving closer.

Raan had to admin, Allen looked a lot better than he had when the away team had brought him back from the surface, draped over Dayne’s shoulders. All the cuts and bruises were gone as was the gaunt look he’d had about him. Rather than looking like he’d walked out of a nightmare, he merely looked to be asleep.

“So Allen’s not in danger from it, nor is the ship?” Raan asked, needing to make sure. His primary duty was to make sure his crew weren’t in danger, even if the danger came from one of them. And the last thing he wanted to do was have a hitch-hiker like that tag along with them back to the alpha quadrant.

Armstrong shook her head. “I don’t think it meant to hurt him. And it definitely didn’t want to hurt anyone but the Devore. I think it let him go when the Devore were defeated. But…” she looked up, her expression a little unsure, almost like she expected to be refused. “I’ll stay with him until he wakes up, make sure he’s okay?”

Raan smiled, reaching up to squeeze her shoulder. “Thank you, Lieutenant, I’d appreciate that. Just make sure you get enough rest as well, okay?”

“Of course, sir.”

Smiling again, Raan turned to leave. He had other matters to attend to as the Resolute made its way back home with the rest of the fleet. Even though they hadn’t managed to aid much in the Blood Dilithium situation, he’d been relieved to discover the more science-capable members of the fleet had solved the mystery and they could return home.

He just had to hope that it was without a possessed science officer…