[Sickbay, USS Charon]
Ambassador Lamont slowly opened his eyes. In doing so he noticed they felt impossibly heavy. For the moment he could only manage to maintain a small open gap of vision. Attempting to focus in he bright lights he could make out nothing but an endless sea of white intermixed with splotches of other blurred colors. His mind, normally a well oiled and ordered mechanism, was as slow as a snail unable to fully process what he was seeing. His consciousness screamed internally at the biological machine that was his body. The impassioned pleas went unheard. With the gears of his mind slowed beyond compare, Lamont simply relented and relaxed. His eyes closed and his consciousness retreated back into darkness.
[ Sometime Later ]
“Ambassador. Ambassador Lamont.”
A voice cut through a dense layer of cobwebs slowly reaching him. His consciousness, awakened by the sound, took hold of the voice and scrambled to reply.
“Ambassador?”
With his conscious and subconscious selves beating on the controls the machinery slowly came to life around them. His eyes opened. A cool breath filled his lungs. Sounds took shape within his ears.
“There you are”, a friendly voice said leaning over him.
Lamont struggled for a moment to make sense of everything, but eventually the engines of his mind fell back into normal operations. The confusion that hung about him evaporated and the world around him again snapped back into focus as he gazed up at a nurse.
“You gave us a bit of a scare there. How do you feel?”
Words seemed to take some effort, but with a few seconds of time the attempt was successful.
“Tired”, Lamont answered.
“That’s to be expected”, the nurse cheerfully replied. “We’ve had you sedated for a few hours to monitor your condition. The effects of the drugs should quickly pass now that you are awake.”
“What happened”, he asked his memory a fragmented jumble of information that he was unable to access.
“You collapsed on the transporter pad after a meeting aboard a Romulan vessel.”
Lamont could hardly believe the nurse’s words. “Collapsed? The cause?”
The nurse went about monitoring Lamont’s vitals. “Stress, over work perhaps? It appears you may have been pushing yourself too hard Ambassador. We did not detect any physiological problems. You are in good health, however, I believe the doctor may speak with you about your eating and sleep habits.”
“That doesn’t answer my question.”
“It appears you suffered from hyperventilation which caused you to lose consciousness. This may have been precipitated by some event that caused you some stress. According to the captain, you had a rather heated exchange aboard the Romulan ship. It is possible that high stress and anxiety may have contributed to the event. This is fairly common ambassador, especially among those in your profession. It is not unheard of for diplomats in high stress positions to develop similar types of conditions.”
Lamont was not happy with the assessment. “What is the treatment?”
“Treatment? Rest, exercise, proper nutrition, and perhaps a break from the rigors of duty. You are a healthy man Ambassador. You have nothing to worry about. We want to run a few additional tests, but you should be up and out of sickbay quickly once those are complete.”
Lamont was about to respond when something stuck in his throat preventing him from taking a breath. His chest suddenly felt as if it were being crushed by unimaginable pressures. He tried to speak, but all that came out was the faintest of whimpers. As if a floodgate had been opened, a torrent of white hot emotion suddenly poured into him. He felt as though the earth had fractured beneath his feet and he had fallen into a pool of molten magma wholly engulfed by its intense heat.
His memory of the Romulan ship was suddenly forced upon him. He could see the Romulan Riov, his hand hitting her face, and the green disruptor beam piercing her chest. A single word suddenly rang out in his head like a chorus of church bells sounding an alarm. “Neodyne.”
The nurse nearby suddenly frowned as the ambassador’s vitals suddenly spiked. She quickly grabbed a tricorder as the man’s blood pressure elevated, his heart beat rapidly increased, and his brain activity sky rocketed. Grabbing a hypo she quickly loaded it with an appropriate vial and pressed its cool tip into the ambassador’s neck.
A few moments later, as the tranquilizers took effect, Lamont’s breathing slowed, his brain activity stabilized as did his heart and blood pressure. The weight on his chest lifted, but did not disappear entirely.
“Ambassador, are you still with me?”
Lamont nodded as beads of sweat rolled down his face. “Aye”, he responded with ragged breath.
“How do you feel?”
“Anxious”, was all he could think of to say.
“Indeed. Your condition seems to be tied to recent events. I surmise the doctor will want you to speak to a counselor to help you overcome that which appears to be troubling you. For now, rest easy. I’ll be back later to check on you. If you require anything just call.”
The nurse collected the tricorder taking a final note of Lamont’s readings before turning to leave.
“There is one thing”, Lamont quickly said his voice shaky and uncertain.
“I wish to speak with the captain. The matter is quite urgent. Could you see to it she gets the message?”
“I will ensure your request is delivered. Now rest ambassador.” With those words she left Lamont.
“My God what have I done”, Lamont whispered to himself as his body shivered in reaction to stress and raw emotions. The drugs were keeping him sane for the moment, but without them he feared they would again overwhelm him. He couldn’t continue onward with the knowledge of what he had done. How could he? There was only one solution to this problem and only the captain could help him answer for his transgressions.
[ To Be Continued…]
