Deep Space Nine: Bajoran Space
Stardate: 53310.8
Dee reclined in a chair next to the dabo pit in Quark's Bar and Grill. She casually swirled a nearly empty glass of Saurian Brandy. Phil and Katie sat at the table across marveling at her alcohol tolerance. They had been drinking for nearly three hours and Dee still showed no signs of slowing down. Even more remarkably, they had not paid for a single drink. Apparently, the locals now considered them to be heroes. It was idea that made Katie and Phil pretty uncomfortable, but Dee seemed to be using this as an opportunity to destroy her liver while keeping her wallet safe.
"Here we go," Quark, the Ferengi bartender, said hauling over another tray with a bottle of red liquid and three fresh glasses. "Compliments of those fine Bajoran gentlemen over there." He pointed to the far end of the bar where a cluster of Bajoran officers raised their glasses. Dee jovially returned the salute with her glass and smiled.
"Thank you, Sweetie," Dee said as Quark placed the items on the table in front of them. She reached up and gently brushed his giant right ear before dropping a slip of gold-pressed latinum into his lapel pocket. Phil and Katie both nearly gagged, though they weren't sure if it was a result of Dee's interaction with Quark or the amount of booze they had both consumed.
Quark literally shivered before walking away with his empty tray.
"If all Starfleet officers were like you, I might actually consider moving to the Federation…" he mumbled.
"What the hell, Dee?" Phil said.
"What, Sab?" she simpered innocently.
"Why do you lead that disgusting little Ferengi on like that?" Katie said pushing the glass away from her.
"When, mama's in a good mood, everyone's in a good mood," Dee said leaning forward. Dee grabbed the bottle Quark left and poured herself another glass. She offered to pour two more, but Katie and Phil both waved their hands. "Suit yourselves," she taking a sip.
"What's next for you, Dee?" Katie asked.
"Well, since you asked, Fleetie…and I've had enough booze to answer you honestly…I don't know." The way she responded made Phil nervous.
"What are you talking about, Dee?" he asked.
"I think this was my last wild ride, Sab. The secret's bound to get out sooner or later, but the Pike isn't going back out after it's serviced. It's headed to the mothball fleet. A few of the pilots are headed to the Kirk, but I'm not one of them."
"So you mean?" Katie asked nervously.
"I'm out of a job!" Dee said reaching over and grabbing a shot of whiskey left over from a previous round and quickly knocking it back.
"My God, Dee, I'm so sorry," Phil said in disbelief.
"Don't be," she said with a playful smile. "I'll head back to Starfleet Command and ride a desk for a year or two till an instructor slot opens up at Top Gun. Then I'll be right back in the cockpit. Don't worry, the stars haven't seen the last of me." Dee then shrugged her shoulders. "And even if they have, I'm glad I went out guns blazing next to you two." She leaned in even closer. "I hope this isn't the booze talking, but I'm really starting to see the appeal of what you guys do. What you could accomplish as a crew, working together to fight that starship. It was beautiful to watch."
"Thank you, Asha," Katie smiled.
"And you two…" Dee continued pointing a finger at the pair. "Don't you screw this up!"
"What?" Phil and Katie said simultaneously.
"This," Dee said waving her finger back and forth between the two of them. "This love thing you got going on. I've never seen you so happy, Sab, and Fleetie, you seem a hell of lot happier than when I first met you. I can only assume it's because of this asshole," she pointed at Phil. "No offense, Sab."
"None taken…" he muttered.
"He's doing something right by you."
Katie grinned.
"We'll do what we can."
"You better."
"Shit," Katie said looking down at her watch. "I'm gonna be late meeting the captain back on the ship."
"Go," Phil said as she got up. "Hey!" he said before she left. Katie smiled, bent over, and gave him a quick kiss. Katie ran off towards the upper docking pylons leaving Dee and Phil alone.
"Are you sure you're going to be alright flying a desk? I know you, Asha, and that's not you."
"I don't know…" she looking down at table.
"You want me to put in a good word with Captain Tigranian? We could use a good pilot on the helm during the night shift."
Dee laughed.
"F**k you, Sab."
"Had to ask," he smiled.
"You're my brother," she said. "I love you."
"Terrors of the stars, Dee," he said holding out a hand. She reached out and grabbed his wrist.
"Lancers for life, Sab."
****
Alex and Annabeth walked through the door of the Vulcan restaurant on the promenade. Bashir had a table in the far corner and waved at them. Alex waved back. She adjusted her dress as they walked over.
"What's up with you, Babe?" Annabeth whispered in her ear.
"I'm just not sure we're doing the right thing. He's an amazing physician and he's going through a rough time. I don't want to hurt him even more."
"Don't worry about him. She's a big girl and knows what she's doing. The rest is up to him," Annabeth said quickly cutting herself off as they entered Bashir's earshot.
He jumped up and pulled out two chairs for them. They both smiled as they took their seats.
"Sorry we're late, Julian," Alex said. "We had a few things to take care of on the Pershing."
"Oh, it's quite alright," Bashir said. "I'm just glad that we still decided to have dinner. I don't get to have many professional discussions either."
"I suppose that's the result of having so few medical personnel in Starfleet," Alex replied nervously looking towards the door. Bashir looked a little puzzled, but Annabeth quickly interjected.
"I promised Alex I would behave myself, even if I have no idea what you two are talking about," Annabeth said.
"Well, Ma'am. I promise not to make things too technical," Bashir said motioning towards a server.
A female Vulcan waitress approached the table, politely bowed and poured three glasses of Altair water.
"Oh, may we have another glass?" Annabeth said. "There will be someone else joining us."
"As you wish," the Vulcan said completely dispassionately as she walked back to grab the flatware.
"Someone else joining us?" Bashir said raising an eyebrow.
"I hope you don't mind, Julian," Annabeth said. "We said were eating at a Vulcan restaurant, and she told us how long it had been since she had something that really tasted like home. We just couldn't say no."
"Oh, there she is," Alex said very excited. "T'les!"
Bashir looked towards the door to see a striking Vulcan woman in a long satin dress stroll into the restaurant. Her long black hair, normally in a tight bun on top of her head, hung down over her shoulders. She moved with graceful purpose towards them and Bashir nearly tripped over his feet as he jumped up to greet her.
"I'm…I'm so glad to meet you," he said awkwardly grabbing another chair from a vacant table.
"It is agreeable to make your acquaintance as well, Doctor," T'les replied. "I am very much looking forward to hearing your opinions on Vulcan cuisine."
"Well, I'm not really a connoisseur, but I do know a little bit," he said still stammering over his words.
"We shall see," T'les replied flashing him only the slightest of glances.
"Ice queen routine. Bold move," Alex whispered into her wife's ear.
"Told you she knew what she was doing…" Annabeth whispered back.
****
Katie took a deep breath and rang the chime on the captain's door. When he first explained what he wanted to try, she was a little taken aback, but he assured her that he thought it would ease her trauma, insomnia, and anxiety. Phil wasn't too happy either, but reluctantly agreed. He was desperate to find anything that could help her.
The doors parted and Katie nearly ran into Laria making a dash for the corridor.
"I'm sorry, L," Katie said.
"It's ok," she said balancing a satchel on her shoulder. "It's just I'm trying to catch the red eye shuttle to Bajor. I've got some business to take care of."
"Are you sure you should be travelling in your condition?" Katie asked with concern.
Laria was recovering rapidly from her injuries, but she still looked a little pale.
"Don't bother, Katie," Tigranian's voice came from inside the darkened quarters. "She refuses to listen to reason."
"I will be fine, Daniel!" Laria said with a little annoyance. "Besides, this is for both us!"
"I don't see why you can't do it over subspace. He already said he would be happy to."
Laria rolled her eyes.
"Goodbye, Daniel!" she said blowing a kiss back inside. "Be sure you take care of Katie."
"I will…" he grumbled back. "Love you, too."
Laria turned back towards Katie and grinned.
"Are you ready?"
"I'm not sure…" Katie said, still quite nervous. She couldn't help but feel she was somehow intruding where she didn't belong.
"Don't worry, I feel amazing when he does it with me. It's like your body is charged with electricity. Just be sure he warms up his hands first, it can be a little uncomfortable otherwise." Katie blushed, but before she could say anything Laria was running back to the station.
"Alright, Katie," Tigranian called out to her. "Please come in."
"I can't believe I'm doing this. I can't believe I'm doing this…" Katie repeated to herself over and over again as she stepped inside. Tigranian had dimmed the lights to almost black. She jumped as the doors quickly sealed behind her. The only illumination came from a few candles scattered around the room.
"It's alright," Tigranian said walking towards her. "There's nothing to be nervous about. I do this with Laria all the time."
"I know," Katie said.
"Are you ready?"
"Yes, Sir."
"Good, now I need you to take your clothes off and lay face down on the bed."
Katie pulled her shirt over her head and was soon dressed in nothing but a sports bra and shorts. She walked over and slowly took her place on top of the captain's klongat skin.
"Try to relax," he said walking over to a cabinet in the corner. He came back carrying a large wooden box. As he knelt down over her, he saw her tense. "Katie, I said try to relax. This isn't going to work very well if you're wound up like a watch spring."
"Sorry, Sir. It's just my first time in this position with someone in my chain of command."
"Katie," Tigranian said with a chuckle. "Don't make it weird. This is purely professional."
He opened the lid of the box and removed two small metal dishes he placed on either side of her head.
"Traditional Klingon medicine is thousands of years old. It is based on the principle that the body and mind draw their strength from the soul. Physical and mental ailments are a result of an unbalanced energy flow from the spirit, and we're going to attempt to correct that imbalance. I can't guarantee that it'll replace all the prescriptions Alex has you on, but with some work, I think we can drastically cut down on your medication."
As he spoke to her, he pulled out a bundle of dark brown fluff that had been milled into a consistency as fine as raw cotton. He portioned out a small handful and expertly rolled it into two small spheres. He placed one in each metal bowl and set them alight with a candle from the nightstand. They slowly began to burn with an acrid smoke that stung Katie's nostrils.
"What is that?" she asked.
"QelVot weed," Tigranian answered. "It grows wild all over Qo'nos' northern hemisphere. The smoke it produces slows the heart rate and opens the blood vessels."
"It's not gonna cause me to fail a drug test, is it?" she asked sarcastically.
Tigranian chuckled as he pulled out a targ leather-bound book from the box.
"I haven't failed one yet…" he said flipping through the tome's yellowed pages.
Katie glanced over and saw a piece of parchment covered with hand written Klingon script. There was a drawing of a warrior covered with lines and dots than ran from his head down to his feet.
"Sir, is this really gonna work on me if I'm not Klingon? I mean, our anatomy is not exactly similar."
"It's similar enough," Tigranian said calmly. "As Alex can tell you, all humanoids share a basic anatomical structure. Now…" he said running a finger down the middle of Katie's bare back. She shivered as he gently stimulated the nerves running down her spine. "In Klingons, there is a meridian here that increases circulation to their third lung. You and I don't have that, but we do share this accu-point…here!" He jabbed his finger hard into her left lower back. She nearly jumped off the bed as a wave of pain shot through her, but then was immediately overcome with a warm tingling sensation all over her body.
"Whoah…" Katie said sinking deeper into the klongat fur.
"You see? It's not so bad," he said reaching back into the box. He pulled out five of the largest copper needles that Katie had ever seen. They looked more like roofing nails than medical instruments.
"What are you going to do with those!?" Katie asked tensing up again.
"Katie, you need to relax…" he said massaging her back again to calm her down. "But I am going to stick these in you."
"'Relax' he says as he's about to impale me with his grandmother's knitting set…"
"The way a Klingon stoically bears pain reflects greatly on her character," Tigranian said prepping the first needle.
"I'm not Klingon, Sir."
"You're more of a warrior than many Klingons I've met, so act like it," he said pulling her hair back. He started circling his finger over the spot where her neck joined her skull. "Now, you're going to feel a sharp prick when this goes in, but it'll pass very quickly. One…two…"
He didn't wait for three. Tigranian slammed the needle into her flesh. Katie tensed as a sharp burning sensation coursed through her body, but then immediately was overcome with the strangest feeling of euphoria she ever experienced. It was like her muscles were slowly melting into warm jelly.
She sighed in contentment.
"Oh God…" she muttered under her breath.
"See?" Tigranian said. She couldn't see his face, but could tell he was smiling.
Tigranian prepped the next needle and then inserted it behind her right knee. Katie's euphoria only increased…
****
Ninety minutes later, Katie stumbled back into her quarters. Phil was reading a book in bed. He looked up.
"Hey, how was it?" he asked nervously.
Katie stumbled over and collapsed on top of him. She rested her head on his chest and smiled as she heard his heart beating. He reached over to the nightstand and grabbed Katie's hypospray. It was already prepped with her nightly injection.
"Are you alright?" he asked in shock. She reached up and pushed the hypospray away. He lifted her chin so he could see her eyes. "Katie bug?"
"I…love…you…" was all she managed get out before losing consciousness.
That night, Katie experienced the deepest and most relaxing sleep she had in years…