Star Trek RPG - Mission #6: "Marala"

[anthonydlangford]

Nathaniel wakes up and feels well rested. He needed the rest after the long trip to get to the Yorktown, not to mention everything that happened when he arrived on board. He has not slept long, just long enough. He has never required that much sleep anyway. Besides, it is time to get to his Sickbay and whip it into shape. From the little he saw when he was there earlier, there is a lot to take care of. He also wants to check on his patients and see how they are progressing, though he assumes they are progressing nicely.

After a quick bite: some fruit and a cup of coffee from the replicator, he dresses. As he stands in the mirror, he looks at his muscular figure well defined in the snug fitting blue Starfleet Medical uniform. He looks good, he thinks, even if he says so himself. But then, plenty of people, men and women has said the same ever since he was old enough to be aware of his handsome features. He only agrees with them. He still can not believe he was here on a starship, back in Starfleet. He never thought this day would come, especially not after he'd left in such a spectacular fashion. But he has no choice. He just hopes he finds what he is looking for after searching for so long. Part of him is tired of the search, especially after the past few years. But he could not, would not stop until he is done. He'd been asked to let this go and he refuses, even though his determination is costly. Nathaniel knows he is a stubborn man and he knows he got that from his father -- as much as he hates to admit it. They have little in common, but certainly share tenacity. Nathaniel figures if he gets something from his asshat of a parent, it might has well be that. It has served him well over the years and with what Nathaniel knows is ahead, would continue to do so.

He grabs his trusty Medikit, the one he'd had since his early days in Starfleet and leaves his quarters.

[Elendil's Heir]

Kylah wakes with a start in the Sickbay waiting room to hear an alarm sounding in the room next door - Rangin's room. She glances at the bulkhead chrono and sees that she's been dozing for about twenty minutes or so. A nurse bustles past her and enters Rangin's room. A few seconds later, Dr. T'Var appears and also goes in.

Guzman spots an empty picnic table under some shade trees not far away. "How about over there?" she asks.

Dr. Bennett finds the Yorktown's corridors to be not especially crowded at the moment. He realizes some of the crew is probably still on shore leave. He notices a good-looking man or two along his route to Sickbay.

[SidonianGal]

Nia thanks Luisa and plucks a totter from the box, then nods to both her companions' suggestions. "Looks like a pleasant place," she says as they walk over, taking little looks at Booker to see if he's as worn out as he sounds. What the hell did he do this morning that made him so atypically glum?

When they reach the picnic table, Nia decides to ask, as nonchalantly as possible, "So, how did you spend your morning, Book? Doesn't seem like it was very, um, shore-leavey."

[choie]

Jumping up, Kylah stares in the direction of Velir's room, her hands clenching and unclenching. The alarm sounds very bad, and the sudden activity makes her heart leap into her throat.

She is too late to ask Dr. T'Var what is wrong--the doctor moved too quickly. Anxiety buzzes through her and after a debate with herself--which she wins--she follows the Vulcan as far as the doorway, then stops to stare inside. With hands clasped tightly beneath her chin, she does not bother the medical staff, but she cannot help whispering to herself: "What is happening?"

[general_urko]

Graham's smile is more wan than happy.

"Well I guess I saved fucking Rangin's life, for what that's worth..."

He rubs his forehead. "Ah, sorry....Faisal had this idea to do orbital skydiving, which I did, and invited Ens. Kylah, and--well, aside from anything else, don't tell anybody, but I'm actually not so good with heights...Rangin blacked out or something and went into freefall, and I jumped in to get Yorktown to beam him out in motion, and Kylah lost her shit, and..."

He shakes his head. "I don't know what the two of you have been up to, but mucking out the local sewers probably would have been better than my morning." He sighs and offers a toast with a glass of lemonade. "But...this is nicer."

[Elendil's Heir]

Guzman's eyes widen but she raises her lemonade cup, too. "Wow, I had no idea. Sorry you had such a hard time. Is Mr. Rangin OK?"

The alarm is silenced and Kylah hears muted sounds inside the room. Soon a medtech enters the room, and Kylah has a glimpse for just a moment through the open door: Rangin on the bed, his eyes closed, the sheet tangled, as T'Var and the nurse hurriedly attend to him.

[general_urko]

Graham pauses a moment at Guzman's question, than smiles broadly and laughs out loud.

"You know.." he shakes his head, chuckling. "I have no idea." He clears his throat and shrugs. "I mean, I know he didn't crater onto the surface, and I know he got to Sickbay and I guess you know, nothing uh, terminal happened while I was there..." He sighs. "Helluva thing, right? Guess that's why I'm in Security and not Medical."

He glances from Guzman to Nia. "You kinda get trained to face down the crisis or threat in front of your face and trust Medical-or Helm, or Nav--to deal with the stuff where they're the experts."

[anthonydlangford]

As Bennett makes his way through the corridors of the Yorktown he flashes his signature smile at the attractive men that capture his notice. And with the intriguing looks he got back, it would seem he has a shared interest with some of them. This post wasn't going to be so bad after all, Nathaniel thought. But as he approaches Sickbay, he hears the alarm. He wonders what the hell is going on. Had one of his patients taken a sudden turn?

[choie]

The door's brief reveal of Velir is enough to turn her blood to ice in her veins. She drops her hands from their prayerful position and clenches them into fists at her side. Otherwise she stands still, too numb to move from her spot.

There is nothing she can do for him. Even if she could reach out telepathically--a skill she has only found success with when dealing with someone to whom she is very close, very attuned--the interference from the others in the area would be far too strong for her to discern anything from an unconscious man.

Please let him be all right. I will do anything, I will humble myself and forgive him anything, if he will just recover

[SidonianGal]

Nia absorbs Graham's news, taken aback that not only was he doing something so dangerous, but he was apparently doing it with both Rangin and Kylah. That must've been some rocky trip, she thinks to herself. She knows how Graham reviles Rangin, so if he saved his life, that shows a man who's able to do his duty despite his personal feelings.

Unless he sabotaged Rangin himself, Nia thinks--but not at all seriously. "It's lucky you were there, then," she says with a raised eyebrow. "Was this a big group? I mean, I suppose there weren't any medical crew with you?"

Part of her wonders why he asked Kylah to go instead of her. Again she stifles the impulse to ask. She's not supposed to be so proprietary toward men; what's setting off this bizarre twist of annoyance? It's not even aimed at him, but at Kylah... but the less said about that, the better.

"Either way, I'm really glad you made it safely, and I hope he's okay. Sure he will be, thanks to you. Never thought i'd say that," she adds in a murmur meant just for Booker, which she muffles using her raised glass of lemonade. Not bad; sweet but sour, too. She's swallowed worse. "How're your peppered whatchamacallits?"

[general_urko]

Graham chuckles. "Uh, ok, I guess." He sips his lemonade. "Didn't mean to be a downer...Mahmoud, Faisal - not sure if you known him, Luisa--we served together in the past." He smiles wanly at Nia. "He had this skydiving idea, and I--well I figured I'd say yes for old time's sake, and that Kylah could use a pick me up of some kind, just be less....isolated from other people. Good people. Anyway, not the best idea I guess. There were a few of us from Yorktown but nobody Medical." He shrugs. "Guide said everything was supposed to be foolproof, but--apparently not."

He takes a deep breath. "Shoulda just asked this nice lady on a date," he says, looking Nia in the eyes. "Sorry to get mushy, Guzman."

[Elendil's Heir]

Bennett arrives in Sickbay just after the alarm is silenced, and sees the same young woman in Communications red there, still looking about as upset as when he last saw her.

Guzman says, "No apology necessary, really... but I do think you'd have had a nicer time down here."

Graham's communicator beeps.

[general_urko]

"Ah, excuse me," Graham says, checking his communicator.

[Elendil's Heir]

"Mr. Graham? This is Cmdr. Vargas," Graham hears. "Sorry to interrupt your shore leave. Would you be able to return to the ship in, say, half an hour? I think I have some good news for you."

[general_urko]

Graham replies in the affirmative. When he's done, he's smiling incredulously. "That was Vargas, of all people. He says he has some 'good news' for me." He shakes his head, chuckling. "Of all people to be bearing good news at all, but to me? Maybe it's 'I don't hate your guts and I'm not trying to have you transferred to a garbage barge at the edge of space."

He frowns. "Looks like I've got to head up in 30, though."

[anthonydlangford]

Nathaniel sees the overwrought, overemotional woman standing outside of Sickbay, looking as pathetic as she had a few hours ago. He wonders how someone could stay so high strung all the time. But he suspects she is high strung just making an breakfast order from the replicator. However, the alarm he’d heard no doubt had a lot to do with her current state. She must be upset about Rangin. Or rather more upset.

Had he taken a turn for the worse? Everything seemed okay before Nathaniel had left. He would have never gone to his quarters otherwise. The last thing Nathaniel needs is to lose a patient. He did not like anybody dying on his watch and he thinks darkly, it wasn’t a good look for the new doctor.

His concerns are confirmed as he walks into Sickbay and sees T’Var and a nurse in Rangin’s room.

He rushes in. “What is going on? What the hell happened?”

[choie]

The tall figure of the new doctor whooshes past Kylah with a vaguely disapproving aura she can sense almost immediately. She steps back--not wanting to be in his way, since he has surely arrived to help Velir--and just watches in silence as he enters the room. It is difficult to refrain from blurting her angry suspicion that if this person had actually listened to her, Velir would not be surrounded by alarms and medical staff rushing to his side.

But she just digs her nails into the palms of her hands. She hopes Dr. T'Var will not defer too much to this newcomer. She has been here longer, and knows Velir's medical history far better than he does. What about Dr. Bucci, will he be back? And where is Dr. Villa?

Too tense to sit, Kylah remains behind the closed door, quiet and small and very frightened.

[SidonianGal]

Nia's reaction to hearing Vargas's name is instinctively wary, but that smile on Book's face is pretty genuine, and she can't help but smile back. And she chuckles at his dark take on what Vargas might consider 'good news,' because... yeah. That's Nia's impression of the guy too. He's not exactly Nia's biggest fan, either. Hell, it wouldn't completely shock her if Vargas is dragging Booker back up to the ship just to piss Nia off.

Probably not true, of course. And she wants Booker to get some good news, whatever it is. So either way, she won't be pissed off. "Just a half-hour? Well, shoot," she says, pouting in light disappointment while her eyes sparkle mischievously at Booker. "We could get a lot done in thirty minutes, but not with three of us. Too much choreography involved." Her arm slips around his elbow, and she does the same with Luisa's. "So let's just stroll, enjoy the lemonade, and imagine what Cmdr. Vargas could possibly have to say that anyone would be happy to hear. Maybe he's fast-tracking those retirement plans?"

[Elendil's Heir]

Dr. T'Var says calmly, "Mr. Rangin appears to have suffered some kind of seizure. It came without warning and I am as yet not entirely sure why it happened. I am conducting a full neurological scan now." Rangin is unconscious and his expression is pained; his Sickbay garb and bedsheets are dishevelled. The readings on the biosigns display above his bed are indeed puzzling to Bennett.

Guzman laughs and, having finished her snack, walks contentedly arm-in-arm with Onn and Graham.

[SidonianGal]

Nia enjoys strolling with her friend and her... whatever she should call Booker. Boyfriend? The term seems absurd for a pair who've lived at least seventy-five years, combined. "Lover" isn't accurate either, even if Nia didn't think the word somewhat, well, icky. Eh, who needs a label.

"So I can sense you'd rather not talk about whatever the hell went on up there, but I'm curious. If you hate heights--and can I just say, you chose an interesting career path, flying on a starship where we might be many light years away from the nearest solid ground--if you hate it so much, how did Mahmoud manage to convince you to go orbital skydiving?" Nia grins wickedly at him. "I might wanna get a few pointers from him on making a strong-willed guy like Booker Graham do stuff he wouldn't wouldn't do."

[general_urko]

Graham closes his eyes a moment, conscious of Nia's hand, but also the fact both hands are embraced, like walking with Lizzy on one side and..Jane. Jane on the other.

For once, the fact that he can't believe anything but the fact that Jane's dead and gone forever is a small mercy - he doesn't need to feel guilty for enjoying Nia's presence. No jealous ghosts. No eternal souls.

Would it be more like...the family he hoped to have if it were Kylah's hand instead of Guzman's on the other side...

For fuck's sake, what are you, Booker, a total idiot?

He gives Nia's hand a gentle squeeze before he answers her question.

"Ah, I guess it's kind of stupid, basically." He shakes his head and smiles. "Me and Faisal go way back, so once I opened the door to doing...something...I was kind of stuck with liviing down a lifetie of ribbing if I backed out." He chuckles. "Of course I guess if I were faster on my feet to come up with an excuse other than 'heights scare the shit out of me,' that would have worked too."

He pauses and clears his throat. "Uh, by the way, you two, I always kinda assumed the people who, you known, fly and navigate the ship and all that are so large and in charge that I can assume standing on deck whatever is like solid ground...if, uh, that's not how you feel, maybe, uh, not tell me."

[Elendil's Heir]

Guzman says thoughtfully, "When I'm aboard ship it seems pretty solid, but if you really think about it, well... you realize just how fragile it is... just how little tritanium and O2 there is between you and hard vacuum. That's why it's nice to go dirtside now and then. You know?"

[SidonianGal]

"Exactly," Nia says, but pats Booker's hand reassuringly. "But if it helps, I can promise you that when Lu and I are behind our stations, you are on solid ground. I can't necessarily say the same for all Nav/Helm partners..."

She laughs, biting back the surprising instinct to snark about Cecilia or Ben--surprising because cattiness is usually beneath Nia. Besides, knowing Book, any such crack would only trigger his old-school gallantry, leading him to rise to the other woman's defense.

"...No, no, just kidding. We're all Starfleet's best. You're in good hands." She lets her fingers caress Booker's in a touch that's warm, gentle--but full of promise. Damn, she hopes she can get him alone sometime soon. "So before things went, um, south, did you have any moments of enjoyment up there?"

[anthonydlangford]

"When in the hell were you going to let me know what is going on with my patient?" Nathaniel grumbles. "I should have been notified immediately, not just walk in here and find out."

And that really bothers Nathaniel. He hates to be caught off guard. And he was. He'd only admit this begrudgingly to himself, but he is genuinely surprised by this development. Rangin should be well on the road to recovery. Nathaniel isn't sure if this was caused by the accident that brought Rangin here or if it had anything to do with his past medical issues, the ones that weird woman has been rambling about. Maybe it is something Nathaniel needs to look into? Rangin's seizure seems to have stabilized for the moment, but Nathaniel is not planning to wait for another one -- or something worse to take place.

"So besides the scan," Nathaniel asks pointedly. "What else have you done that I should know about?"

[general_urko]

Graham smiles. "I thought of you before we jumped off the stupid thing," he replies to Nia. "And I told some guy who looked scared shitless sotto voce that I've fought Klingons hand-to-hand and wasn't so keen on heights either, so he shoudn't feel like any less of a man if he bagged out." He shrugs. "Earned my karma points for the day, at least. Maybe the universe sprinkled some pixie dust on old "Good News" Vargas..."

[Elendil's Heir]

Guzman laughs. "Never heard him called that, I have to admit. Not sure it's going to stick, either."

Time passes with the three shipmates happily talking and laughing together, but soon Graham realizes he should return to the ship.

Dr. T'Var raises an eyebrow and says, unruffled, "It just happened, and I thought you were off-duty. It is not the custom aboard the Yorktown to... claim patients that way. The duty MO is responsible for all patients in Sickbay during his or her watch." She looks at and then sets down a medical scanner, and makes an adjustment on the bed's biosigns monitor. "I have administered 2 CCs of Cordrazine as a stimulant and 5 CCs of Letrivol as a synaptic stabilizer. The patient is unconscious but no longer in seizure, and the neurological scan is nearly complete."

[choie]

After some time on her feet, alert for any sound or stray emotion she might pick up, Kylah feels a wave of exhaustion that arrives with a chill down her spine. She hugs herself and takes some deep breaths. Her flushed face, rapidly beating heart, and weakness could be from thirst or fear--or both. She does not want to bother about the former and unfortunately can do nothing about the latter.

Kylah's longing gaze slips repeatedly toward the seat where she took her nap, but she forces it away. If she sits down, she might doze off as she did before. Instead, she pushes herself from the corner and paces a few steps back and forth in hope that moving will keep her eyes open. Please, please, let someone tell me what is happening.

[SidonianGal]

Nia lets her arms slip through her friends' elbows, releasing them. As charming as it might be to be beamed up as a cheerful ménage à trois, she's not entirely sure that's a look that works for Ensign Booker Graham. And Lu is by far the most, well, traditional, of Nia's friends; not the sort to be amused by polyamorous rumors.

Besides, if Lu really does have a thing for a certain massive sweetheart of a Security officer, Nia certainly doesn't the aforementioned rumors to harm Luisa's chances where Double-T is concerned.

Before they're beamed up, she also leans in toward Booker and murmurs in his ear: "As soon as you're done with Vargas--assuming he's not sending you on some secret planetside mission--I'm claiming you as mine until one of us is on watch." She smiles, her lips just brushing his soft earlobe as she whispers, "We'll decide just how I stake that claim later. That sound good to you, Book?"

[anthonydlangford]

“I’m not claiming anything,” Nathaniel says pointedly. “It’s just a matter of knowing what’s going on in my Sickbay, which I should always be kept abreast of. I care about all the patients here, but I treated this man. I guess its hard for you to understand, but it’s only natural and some might say even human to have a special interest in his condition. As for customs aboard the Yorktown, this is my Sickbay. And here, I make the rules.”

[Elendil's Heir]

Dr. T'Var says, "Indeed. The Chief Medical Officer will, I am sure, be interested to learn that."

"Learn what?" asks a short, spiky-haired older woman in Medical blue, just entering the room. She notices Bennett at once, smiles and sticks out her hand. "Ah, you must be Dr. Bennett! Welcome aboard. I'm Dr. Miriam Villa. Sorry I wasn't here to greet you earlier."

[anthonydlangford]

“Thats okay.” Nathaniel says, as he shakes the woman’s hand. “Its been an eventful morning... for all of us.”

[general_urko]

"Yes ma'am," Graham says sotto voce--almost a growl--in reply to Nia before requesting beam-up.

[Elendil's Heir]

"Thanks," says the CMO. "Now what was I supposed to learn?"

Chief Nguyen asks if anyone else wishes to beam up with Graham.

[SidonianGal]

Nia enjoys the little ripple of pleasurable anticipation brought by Graham's very willing, and very masculine, response. "I'm ready," she says to Nguyen, while looking Booker straight in the eye. Then she turns to Luisa with a quite different friendly expression. "Unless you want to see more sights down here for a bit. What do you think, Lu?"

[choie]

Kylah turns around quickly when she hears the Sickbay doors open, but she barely has time to register the newly arrived crewmember before the older woman passes her by without a word, entering Velir's room.

Dr. Villa. Finally. Kylah sighs, relieved to see the Yorktown's chief medical officer, whom Kylah respects a great deal. And yet... Kylah's lungs hitch mid-exhale. Is this good news or bad? Does this mean Velir's case is even more serious than she suspected?

[general_urko]

Unless otherwise interrupted, Graham clears his throat as he recognizes a certain look in Nia's eyes, and requests either 2 or 3 to beam up, depending on their colleague's response.

[Elendil's Heir]

Guzman thinks for a moment. "Nah, I 'spose I'm ready to head back, too. This has been fun, though - thanks for letting me tag along."

Chief Nguyen says over the subspace channel, "Three to beam up, acknowledged. Stand by." You hear the growing whine of the transporter effect, see the park dissolve into static before your eyes, and in moments rematerialize on the platform of the Yorktown's Transporter Room 1. "Welcome back," the little Vietnamese man says.

Dr. Villa turns right to Bennett and asks again, her eyes dancing, "What was I supposed to learn?"

Dr. T'Var says nothing but watches with evident interest.

[anthonydlangford]

“Honestly, so far I’m the one getting the education.” Nathaniel glares at T’Var, who seems to want to stir things up. “I’m learning all the reasons why I left Starfleet. And it’s only taken a few hours.”

[Elendil's Heir]

T'Var raises her eyebrow again but holds her peace. Bennett can almost hear her thinking, That's not what you said before the CMO came in the room.

Dr. Villa says, "Really? I'm sorry to hear that. What happened?"

[SidonianGal]

Nia clucks her tongue at Luisa's humility and gives her friend a one-armed hug. "Don't be silly, if anyone was tagging along, it was Booker--but we'll forgive him just this once. Especially since he's now stuck going from such a pleasant outing to... well, who-knows-what?" She casts a sideways grin at Graham, then nods to Nguyen."Thanks, Chief! Are you gonna get some time dirtside? Seems like you've more than done your duty on this watch."

[choie]

Kylah gathers her will power to stop moving so frenetically and sits back down, hugging herself. She must take some comfort in knowing that three professional, highly capable doctors are by Velir's side, focusing the full force of their combined experience and skill to help their patient.

[general_urko]

Graham says quick goodbyes and makes his way to see Vargas - straightening his clothes out on the way so he at least doesn't look rumpled.

[Elendil's Heir]

Nguyen smiles and says, "Thank you, ma'am, but I already had my shore leave here."

Graham decides he looks presentable enough, and goes to Vargas's office. The First Officer is there with the Captain, who says, "Come in, Mr. Graham," and invites him to sit down. After a little small talk she says, "Mr. Vargas and I have been thinking a great deal about filling Mr. Collins's shoes. What would you say, Mr. Graham, to a promotion to Lt. JG and assignment as Assistant Chief of Security?"

[general_urko]

Graham looks from the Captain to Vargas and back. He opens and closes his mouth without speaking, completely taken aback.

He clears his throat. "Uh, thank you, ma'am. Sir. If I may speak freely--it's not something I was, ah, expecting." Graham shifts slightly in his chair. "If you think it's best for the Yorktown, I've done..." He pauses and grimaces slightly. "You've seen my record--I do know the job. But--I won't let you down...Captain, Commander," he adds with more confidence.

[Elendil's Heir]

"I know you didn't expect it," Singh says, smiling. "And you didn't even apply for the post, as some did. But your service to this ship since you came aboard has been exemplary, and we know from your record that you're up to the job. As you start up the promotion ladder a second time, if I may say, Cmdr. Vargas and I are both confident that your maturity and commitment to duty will stand you in good stead."

[anthonydlangford]

“The fact of the matter is that I have a reputation, one I’m sure you’re aware of.” Nathaniel says. “ I wouldn’t be bragging, quite frankly to say I’m very good at what I do, perhaps one of the best surgeons in and out if Starfleet. That is why I was given this post is it not?”

[SidonianGal]

After wishing the others in the transporter room a good afternoon--and 'good luck' to Graham in particular--Nia heads to her quarters. Her skin is thirsty for more water, and a shower before she and Booker get together seems like a good idea. A shower with Booker would be even better, of course. But after his meeting with Vargas, who knows what sort of mood he'll be in?

On the way to her quarters, she replays her memories of the day and, while at first she's all smiles, a little nagging doubt forms in her mind. She and Luisa completely forgot about Giya. Well, Giya ditched them first to be with that stranger, but... that's the point. He was a stranger. Sure, Giya's an adult and can handle herself. And yet, given her instinctual, overriding sex drive, she might not be the best judge of character. In fact it's entirely possible she didn't waste time judging the waiter's character at all.

Odds are everything's fine, but Nia's not gonna be content until she's checked in. Only a few meters from her quarters, she stops, pulls out her communicator, and taps out a brief message.

Hey, G. Just returned to the ship. Had a good time--you were missed, but I understand your priorities! Let me know how you're doing? -- NIA

She sends off the message and heads into her cabin, where she'll keep an ear out for any response and, in the meantime, strip bare for her shower.

[general_urko]

Graham stands and nods, respectfully. "Yes ma'am."

Well won't this be something to tell Nia...

And Lizzy? Maybe not. Why would she care...

He pauses a moment, then addresses Vargas. "Ah, if no one in Security has been assigned to take the lead on investigating what happened with Mr. Rangin today, I'll see to that now, sir, with your permission."

[Elendil's Heir]

Dr. Villa's mouth quirks into a smile and she says, "That doesn't really answer my question, but all right, have it your way, Doctor. Yes, your reputation certainly precedes you."

"Pardon me, ma'am," Dr. T'Var murmurs, slipping out of the room. Kylah sees her as she emerges.

Giya does not immediately respond to Onn's text.

Vargas says thoughtfully, "It's probably more of an Engineering matter than a Security one, but yes, please liaise with the Chief Engineer on that."

"Thank you, Mr. Graham," the Captain says, rising and shaking the newly-promoted officer's hand; Vargas does the same. "And again, congratulations. Carry on."

[choie]

The soft whooshing sound of the opening and closing door jerks Kylah's consciousness back to its alert state--it is only now that she realizes she nearly dozed off again. She sees the familiar tall figure of Dr. T'Var walking past.

At once she practically jumps to her feet. A mistake, because the sudden change in position causes a nauseating sense of vertigo, where the room appears to dip and swim. Flailing her arm a couple of times before it successfully reaches the wall, she leans against it for balance. But her focus remains on T'Var.

"What is happening?" she says, her voice weaker than expected, and she inhales deeply before trying again. "Please, Doctor, how is he?"