Lightweight

Posted on Mon May 11th, 2020 @ 11:50pm by

Mission: Cruel Meridian
Location: Enroute to Sickbay
Timeline: MD 01/02 - Following "Casual Drinks"
1294 words - 2.6 OF Standard Post Measure

"How embarrassing," Jared shook his head in partial disbelief at his current predicament. Here he was being helped along by two of his fellow crew after causing a scene in the ship's lounge - not exactly a shining moment in his Starfleet career, but a career as long as his was full of less than stellar moments. Still, a honest self-diagnostic scan of his mental and physical faculties clashed with the severity of his apparent impairment, so he was more than happy to allow himself to be escorted to sickbay.

"Thank you for helping me, gentlemen. Two beers! What a chump," the ship's executive continued to badger himself. "I know you're probably not inclined to believe much of what I'm saying right now, but I don't think I'm that intoxicated. Regardless, thank you for your assistance."

“Don’t be silly, Commander. I remember being in a far worse state after a glass of Romulan ale. That was embarrassing!” Bert said with a chuckle as he kept the Majestic’s first officer up right.

"And here I had two," Lhaes chuckled, "come on commander. Perhaps that beer was spiked or contaminated, who knows." He looked to Herbert. "On three, let's get him onto the bed." He looked over his shoulder. "Doctor Stark! We need your assistance please.

"Stay put, yeah? Just rest here for a few minutes," Natasha said to the crewman she was currently attending. He was not paying attention down the hall and he slipped and fell hard. Nothing too bad, just needed a bit of rest.

She walked over to where Lhaes and the others were gathered and greeted them all. "Gentlemen, what can I do for you?"

"Hello again, doctor, hope all is well," Hanover began speaking from his seat on the edge of a biobed. "To make a long story short ma'am, I've had two drinks at a small social gathering this evening, but the effect on my motor functions does not quite seem to add up. I, uncharacteristically I might add, spilled my beer everywhere and required the assistance of Commander Sommers and Mister Barr to even make it here. So please, I'd like to make sure everything is copacetic."

She nodded. "That's very strange. Let's take a look on the scanner first, see what we can see," she said as she scanned him carefully. She looked at the readings and the corners of her mouth turned down, just a bit. "Your blood alcohol level is pretty low right now, definitely not high enough for this."

She looked up at him. "Has this happened a lot recently or is this the first time?"

"No, definitely the first time, especially with the next part I'm going to tell you. It's going to sound a bit odd, but have you ever had a situation where you felt like you could see yourself?" Jared explained, admittedly frustrated with how much like a rant his own explanation sounded. "Sort of like extreme deja vu, except you're seeing yourself instead of feeling like you're there yourself? Damn! I'm not explaining this well..."

As the doctor was talking to the XO, Lhaes had taken a few steps aside to afford them some privacy. He turned his back and stared out into main sickbay, then suddenly turned his head as his peripheral vision caught something. "Impossible," he breathed, taking a few steps forward. The spectre he saw was almost like looking into a mirror, it was dressed the same, moving the same, and coming towards him as he moved. But just as he got a clear visual, the spectre disappeared, leaving the Romulan stood frozen with a hand semi outstretched as if to point at it.

“You ok, Commander?” Barr asked hearing the man say something to no one in particular.

The Romulan jumped as he was spoken to, then turned. "No," he answered, "I'm not. I think I just saw a ghost."

“Ghost?” Barr replied, unsure as to whether the Commander was joking or not. “You feeling ok?” He asked.

"Spooked," Lhaes answered, then shook his head. "Sorry, wrong choice of words. I just saw myself...and it wasn't a reflection."

"That's exactly what I was trying to explain to Doctor Stark!" Hanover exclaimed suddenly, having overheard a portion of Lhaes' revelation. "I had some sort of apparition of myself in a very specific costume that I wore to a costume party a long time ago. It caught me so off-guard that I spilled my beer, may my father forgive me. I, uh, don't suppose this can be a coincidence, can it?"

"If you saw a ghost, and I did, then I have no doubt more have done the same." Slowly, Lhaes turned to the CMO. "Have there been more reports of such events?" he asked her. "Any incidents of people seeing themselves?"

"No, none that I've received so far," she said, shaking her head. She walked over to Lhaes with the scanner and held it to his head and asked both him and Hanover, "Is this happening often for either of you?"

Lhaes shook his head. "No I am not prone to seeing ghosts," he answered curtly, while holding still as she scanned him. "I don't feel out of the ordinary either and I'm pretty sure I haven't been poisoned. Because I've been on the wrong side of those plenty of times."

Barr shook his head, “I’m fine apart from a small headache which I think is down to tiredness.” He explained.

"Focus on the first officer," Lhaes said, waving her off, "get him back on his feet first."

"I echo Commander Sommers," Hanover nodded from nearby. "As we discussed a few days ago when I reported for duty doctor, there is what is frankly a remarkably low history of psychoses, apparitions, or hauntings for a man of my age - with the noticeable exception of my ex-wife. I feel fit for duty, and it's only out of an abundance of caution that I find myself here. However, I defer to your judgment doctor," he turned to faced the group. "Have either of you gentlemen encountered anything like before? Stories? Rumors from another crew?"

"I have a report that a child had an incident too," Lhaes offered, looking to the CMO. "The one living with Commander Murphy and his partner."

She nodded. "Yes, that was just as strange," she said, "I thought maybe stress, but if this is contagious, we may need to bring her back for a more thorough examination. In fact, I'd strongly recommend you all stay for a little while. I'm going to need to compare notes on all of this. And I think we'll definitely need to alert the captain."

"Understood doctor. Let's get to the bottom of this," Jared nodded, hiding his momentary frustration about not being able to sleep in his own bed. The realization that he wasn't the only member of crew experiencing similar symptoms both comforted and worried him. It was never fun to face an ailment alone, but the implications of a widespread malady affecting the crew sat fairly high up on the list of worst case scenarios in his book.

"Well, might as well settle in for a bit, eh gentlemen?"

Lhaes frowned; he certainly hadn't planned on staying in sickbay for the night. "I'll have to inform my wife that I'm not coming home tonight," he told them, "unless we're suddenly quarantined, in which case someone else is going to have to."

Barr raised an eyebrow, “Does this mean I’m staying too?”

"It's a slumber party!"

Groans, both audible and heavily implied, cascaded around sickbay.

---

Commander Jared Hanover
Executive Officer

Lieutenant Commander Lhaes Sommers
Chief Tactical/Security Officer

Herbert Barr
Mission Advisor

Lieutenant Natasha Stark
Chief Medical Officer