U.S.S. Corsair - NX-011979
Nebula II Prototype
“Sic Parvis Magna”
(Greatness From Small Beginnings)
“The Key To Hell’s Gates – Part XIII”
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Slowly opening his eyes the world around him was a blurred mass of moving objects without detail. Voices filled his ears indistinct and unclear. He tried to move, but found himself unable to do little more than move his fingers. After several moments he slowly became aware of a dull pain which seemed to permeate every inch of his consciousness. The voices he could hear were becoming sharper as was his vision.
“He’s coming around sir”, someone nearby said. Ramius felt someone gently slap him on what felt like his face. “Captain, Captain Ramius.”
Taverain tried to answer, but only a soft moan escaped his lips. Several minutes passed as he drifted in and out of semi-consciousness until the haze around him slowly began to lift. His vision cleared and he found himself face up on his back. His eyesight was still blurred as he attempted to determine his location. All he could see were bright lights and endless white. Had he truly expired? Was this the ‘light’ that was always mentioned at the end of one’s life?
Such questions were dashed when a voice he instantly recognized cut through the air with a bitter English tone. “Nurse, give us some privacy”, the voice said. Ramius could hear someone leave, but his vision was still cloudy. Suddenly someone was leaning over him. Harsh hands pulled his eye lids apart, rather roughly, and shined a bright light into each of his eyes.
“Can you hear me Captain”, the voice asked.
“Yes”, Ramius answered his voice weak, but slightly above a whisper.
“What the bloody hell were you thinking”, Doctor Keith Durandal shouted at his patient abandoning any semblance of a bed side manner.
Ramius was still disoriented, but bits and pieces of the past were slowly coming back into focus in his mind. “Where am I”, Ramius asked.
“Sickbay, back aboard the Corsair”, the doctor angrily replied.
Reaching up, Ramius found he was barely able to move his arm. Eventually he gave up on the attempt as his hand fell back onto the blue sheets of his bed. “How long…”
“Seven hours. The marines were barely able to keep you alive while they attempted to regain contact with the ship. If they had been only a few minutes slower I highly doubt we would be having this conversation! I took me two hours of surgery to patch your sorry ass back together after your monumentally stupid stunt! If it weren’t for your body’s unusual properties and its ability to repair damage quickly you wouldn’t be here now. Damn you Ramius!”
“I did what had to be done doctor”, was the captain’s reply.
“Oh really? Did you give any consideration to your actions or are you just that dense? I wonder sometimes. Half the ship by now has heard of what transpired down there. You have an entire contingent of marines who are worshiping you as a hero, but at the same time believe I’m in here reanimating a modern day Frankenstein monster! I know you like to break the rules Ramius. You’ve been trouble your entire life. You’re a misfit, a renegade, and a rogue, but this time you went so far as to break even your own rules! You’ve spent a lifetime protecting the secrets in your blood and you’ve managed to destroy all of that work single handedly!”
“Are the marines at the doors to sickbay with pitchforks and torches, Dr. Frankenstein?” Ramius managed a weak smile despite a body that was throbbing in pain.
Durandal’s scowl grew more intense, but slowly it faded. There was just no sense lecturing Taverain Ramius. The man was a free spirit that rules could not tame. Sitting down on the bed the doctor ran a hand through his sandy blond hair. “You nearly died back there. You do realize that.”
“Yes”, Ramius answered. “However, if I hadn’t acted then everyone would have ended up dead.”
“I thought you said you would rather die than expose your secrets?”
“I said that however I am willing to sacrifice myself, not the lives of those under my command doctor.” There was a pause before Ramius continued. “The marines, how are they?”
“I’m not sure”, Durandal replied. “Major Britane beamed back down with a full platoon of men to recover the fallen shortly after returning to the Corsair. They have sense returned, but I cannot give you the insight you seek.”
“And the ship? How is the Corsair?”
“Perhaps you should speak with Commander Novada. I am not sure of our condition. The lights are still on and there is still air to breathe. I’m a doctor not an engineer.”
Ramius’s eyes suddenly opened wide. “Ballentine”, he whispered. “Did we get him?”
Durandal shook his head. “I’m afraid not. From the brief report I obtained from the marines they were unable to locate the doctor.”
Ramius attempted to sit up, but the doctor pushed his patient back down onto the bed. “Whoa Taverain. You aren’t going anywhere for sometime. You need rest.”
“He’s down there! We just aren’t looking hard enough!”
“Perhaps, but Commander Novada is looking into the matter. If the doctor is still there she will find him.”
“No, I must…”
Durandal forced Ramius back down this time with more force. “You must do nothing. As the chief medical officer aboard I am revoking your license as captain for the foreseeable future Ramius like it or not. I won’t have you killing yourself after I just spent the last few hours putting you back together on an operating table.”
Ramius nodded despite his objection and relaxed back into his pillows. He was hardly in a position to argue with the doctor at the moment. “Alright doctor. You win.”
“I’m glad you actually see things my way for once.” Standing the doctor made his way to the curtains that afforded Ramius some privacy in the ICU. “I’ll be back later to check on you. Until then captain I expect you to follow my orders for a change and get some rest.”
The doctor’s words had hardly left his lips as the Corsair rocked beneath his feet. The lights in sickbay faded and were replaced by flashing red strobes. The alert klaxon sounded and seconds later the voice of Commander Novada echoed throughout the ship. “ALL HANDS RED ALERT. BATTLESTATIONS!”
Durandal looked up toward the voice and then back toward Ramius who had somehow managed to pull himself up and nearly out of bed. The doctor raced to his patient’s side to put and end to his futile attempts to leave. Placing his hands on Ramius, Durandal was shocked to see his friend’s eyes locked with his with a dark intensity he had never before seen. Ramius’s gaze sent a fearful impulse through the doctor.
“You aren’t leaving”, Durandal shouted over the alarms despite his misgivings on opposing the captain’s will.
“Doctor, stand aside or I will force you to do so.”
“Ramius you are in no condition to leave sickbay!”
“Doctor, your concern is noted”, Taverain replied his voice weak and ragged as he struggled to stand, “however I must get to the bridge.”
“Captain, Taverain, it is most unwise to leave. You aren’t invincible! You need time to heal!”
“It is unwise to continue to argue with me”, Ramius replied undeterred. “You can help me to the bridge or else you can continue to remain in my way where I will be forced to jeopardize our long friendship doctor!”
Durandel held Ramius’s intense gaze for several seconds continuing to block the stubborn captain’s path. In Ramius’s condition, the doctor could probably take the man in a fight. Ramius was far too weak to offer much resistance, however if he did so, he knew that it would mean the end of their friendship. Ramius would never forgive him even if he was trying to protect the man’s life.
“You stubborn bastard” Keith muttered. “Let me help you.” Grabbing a nearby hypo, he quickly injected Ramius with a small dose of pain killers. Taking Ramius’s arm, he helped the captain put it over his neck and shoulders as they stood.
“For the record this is a terrible idea.”
“Noted”, Ramius answered with a tired, distant voice as they slowly made their way out of the ICU and toward the exit to sickbay.
The ship rocked as the two men struggled to maintain their balance.
“Why not let Commander Novada handle this”, Durandal pleaded one last time.
“No. This isn’t her fight. It’s mine and mine alone. The responsibility of keeping this crew alive falls to me. If the Corsair is destroyed then with it goes all hope of stopping NeoDyne’s ambitions.”
Durandal sighed. He said nothing and despite his oath to do no harm, bent his duty out of loyalty for his friend. Helping Ramius out into the hallway he quietly helped Ramius limp toward a turbolift to take them both to the bridge.
It appeared that fate was not permitting a halftime break for the Corsair or its captain. Durandal prayed that this latest calamity would not claim the life of the captain.
[ To Be Continued… ]
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Captain Taverain Ramius
Commanding Officer, USS Corsair
Commander Keith Durandal
Chief Medical Officer
