Do You Know?

Posted on 04 Feb 2019 @ 12:35am by Ensign Aidan Crehan & Master Chief Petty Officer Mila Rasputin
Edited on on 04 Feb 2019 @ 12:36am

2,725 words; about a 14 minute read

Mission: The Kalisa Conundrum
Location: Personal Quarters
Timeline: MD 1 || 1600 Hours

It had taken a few minutes for Mila to remember where her and Aidan's quarters were, but with the help of the computer, she found her way there. When she arrived, however, she found that she couldn't remember her access code. "I am being too tired for this," she muttered and simply hit the chime which would alert anyone inside that there was a visitor.

Inside, Chow perked up and looked at the door; his mistress was late but the replicator still dispenses his pistachios, yogurt and grapes for which he was grateful. Getting up from where he rested, he jumped to the back of the couch and hooted at Aidan before he pointed at the door.

Aidan pulled his head up from the back of the couch at the sound of the hooting monkey. He sat down for a quick rest and had dozed off. "Sure, sure, just a minute...monkey. Chow, sorry, Chow." He got up and went to the door, wondering who would be visiting. Upon opening it, he saw Mila and stepped to the side.

She smiled and then screamed when something small, furry and with a white face charged her happily hooting and making creeling noises. "What is name of hell is that?!" she exclaimed and nearly jumped into Aidan's arms.

Aidan reacted, ready to catch Mila if need be. Instead, he jumped back a little. "That is a monkey, my dear. And I think his name is Chow. But...he's not yours?"

"Chow?" Mila asked as the little simian looked up at her.

"Yes, Chow, you hairless biped," Chow told her, much to her shock, although Aidan would only hear a hoot and click.

"He..it..spoke to me!" she said and moved behind him.

Aidan looked from Mila to Chow and back to Mila. "Um, I do not know...what do you mean he spoke to you?" Aidan watched her move around.

"He did! He called me a hairless biped!" Mila yelled.

"Oh, now you forget your accent," Chow said as he watched her, still making monkey noises to Aidan's ears. "Or maybe I am one to be having bogus accent, da?"

"I do not fake my accent!" she protested.

Aidan listened to Chow hoot and chitter. And then, there was Mila. "I never said that you fake your accent, Mila. But all he did was hoot. He can't speak." Aidan paused. "At least as far as I know. We could always take him to Sickbay later and find out." Aidan was starting to wonder what was happening himself.

Mila backed away from Aidan and Chow. "You are being in it with him, are you not?" she accused.

Chow looked at Aidan and back to her. "Maybe. Maybe not. By the way, I see you got your accent back." He took a couple steps towards her, wondering why his mistress was acting weird.

"Keep away from me!" Mila screamed and ran into the bedroom.

"What...what just happened here?" He looked down at Chow and shrugged. "If you can talk like me, you are most certainly doing a great job hiding it. Why don't you go have some more grapes and yogurt. I shall go see what I can do with Mila." He turned to walk into the bedroom and then paused. Aidan looked back over his shoulder to Chow with a questioning look on his face.

For his part, Chow gave the monkey equivalent of a shrug and threw his paws in the air and chattered for a moment before pointing at the door.

In the bedroom, Mila hid behind the bed and had a boot in her hand holding it like a phaser. "Do not be bringing lying monkey in here!"

Aidan paused before entering. "I promise you that I do not have a lying monkey with me. Now will you please calm down and explain to me why my brother's fiance is hiding in my bedroom? You know, Chow probably belongs to him and I bet I was watching him."

"You are being in habit of watching lying monkey and I am to be marrying your bother?" she said in disbelief. "Nyet. You be probably being monkey in disguise!' She tossed the boot at him and dove under the bed.

Aidan wasn't quite as fast as he thought. The boot struck him in the gut and he doubled over momentarily. "Ouch! Wow, Sean is in for a real treat if he ever gets on your bad side. But you have nothing to worry about, your secret is safe with me. And I am no lying monkey! I have been called many things before, but never a lying monkey. But please come out. The last thing I want to happen is for Sean to come pick up Chow and find me wrestling you out from under my bed."

"I am betting you would love to wrestle me!" Mila called from under the bed. "You and monkey both! Do not be attempting to get me out, or I will be calling big brother!"

"Me and monkey both, huh? I do believe that can be arranged. You ran from him once, I would be willing to bet you'd run from him again! Send him under the bed and out the other side you'll come! Then big brother won't have to be called," said Aidan.

"You would not dare!" she hissed and looked around for something to throw at him, but there was nothing under the bed. "Sergei! Sergei, get him!" she called out, which attracted Chow's attention once more. The little Capuchin came scampering in and being tiny, went right under the bed. "Da?" he asked, causing Mila to scream and scramble backwards.

Aidan watched Chow scamper by and then under the bed. The El Aurian then fell to the wall laughing when he saw the slender woman clawing her way from under the bed. "See, I told you," he said between fits of laughter. "Oh my, I just don't know how you're going to live with him. And Sean, too." Aidan went into the bedroom. "So, the first hurdle is complete. You're no longer under the bed. Now to get you out of here. Come," he said holding out a hand. "If you hurry, we might be able to shut Chow in here. And then you'll be safe."

"Stay away! Keep him away from me!" Mila warned them then stopped and looked really confused and pale. "Aidan?" she asked with uncertainty in her voice. "What is happening?"

Aidan was still propped against the wall when a wave severe vertigo hit him. Rather than feeling like the room was spinning around in circles, it appeared to be rotating clockwise and then counterclockwise. And the clockwise and then counterclockwise. Back and forth again and again. No longer able to even lean, he fell to his hands and knees. "I...I don't know, Mila," he said. "But I have never like this before." He crawled over to the bed and pulled himself up so that he was laying on his back, eyes closed.

The little monkey looked at Mila, then at Aidan, shrugged and headed back to the yogurt he had left unfinished. Mila looked at Aidan on the bed and her mind went blank right before she passed out.

"Mila?" he said. "Mila?" Aidan opened his eyes and rolled over. He put his hand on her shoulder and gently shook it. With the vertigo slowly fading, he pulled up enough to kiss her cheek. "Mila?"

She remained unresponsive, but her heartbeat was strong and her breathing steady, but she was just unconscious.

She didn't move. Aidan leaned his cheek next to her mouth and felt the warmth of her breath. He then placed his ear to her chest and heard her heart beating. He rolled over and crawled up the bed to where his combadge was laying and tapped it. "Ensign Crehan to Sickbay. I have a medical emergency in my quarters. Mila, er, Senior Chief Rasputin is passed out and I am in no condition to carry her there."

"I'm on it," Dr. John Smith- a tall, lanky fellow with great hair- told the other available doctors before grabbing a medkit and heading out the door.

It wasn't long before he found the correct quarters and pressed the chime.

Aidan heard the chime sound. He rolled off the bed and steadied himself along the walls as he made his way to the doors. He tapped the controls to open the doors and then propped himself against the wall. The walk there had helped him slightly regain his footing and equilibrium.

"Hallo, I'm the Doctor," John announced, entering the quarters. "John Smith, that is. Someone is passed out? I'm assuming she's in the bedroom," he continued, heading in that direction. "Ah, yes!" He quickly took a tridorder out of his medkit and began scanning her. "There's a very nasty bacteria going around. Dr. Kij has been giving us all antibiotics and hyronalin, if you can believe it. Now all we've got to do is to is to figure out where the radiation and bacteria are coming from and we can get rid of it. Oh, that reminds me." He took out a hyposyringe already loaded with an empty phial and took a blood sample. He quickly plugged the sample into the tricorder and waited. "Quite probably she's got the same thing everyone else has. I'm feeling a bit better. At least now I can think straight. Ish. Straight-ish. Anyway, what was happening before she passed out? Or did you just find her like this?"

The young El-Aurian hadn't met many of the medical staff yet, but this mas a was talker. He followed him into the bedroom and sat on the edge of the bed. "None of that sounds good at all, Doctor. Bacteria, radiation...it is no wonder that we are feeling the way we do. But no, I did not find her like this. As best as I can remember, I had to let her in. Then there was something about Chow speaking words and me being a monkey in disguise The I said something about her being my brother's fiance. Doctor," said Aidan, rubbing his face, "I have no brother."

"No brother?" asked the Doctor with an incredulity he would use if it had been suggested that he dance naked on the bar in Talons. "But, that's... wait! We're moving on to delusions and halucinations it seems. Ah!" he exclaimed as his tricoder beeped. "Yes, it seems she's got the bacteria, too. Well, first thing's first," he added, loading a phial of antibiotic in his hypospray and pressing it to Mila's neck. "I'm pretty sure you've got it, too, but we should probably check."

"This Zone...it could quite literally be the death of us in so many ways," said Aidan. "Please, check." He moved closer to the Doctor so that he could be injected after the scan. "Will the antibiotic work quickly?" he asked pointing down to Mila. "Will she regain consciousness or will we need to be admitted?"

Mila's eyes fluttered open and she gasped for air, then looked around before she noticed she was on the floor and Aidan was looking down at her and some man in a teal uniform. "What is being happening?" she asked.

"Oh, hallo!" said John gently. "You gave us quite a fright. But, I've given you some medicine and was about to give you another kind as well. How are you feeling?" he asked as he readied his hypo with hyronalin.

"Like I am eating bowl of stupid," the Russian woman said. "Do you know that I was thinking that Chow was talking to me?"

"Talking!" exclaimed John. "Was he really? That's extraordinary! What was he saying?"

"How am I to know?" Mila asked as she sat up and pushed herself to her feet. "Am I looking like I am speaking monkey?"

“Aw!” replied John, looking genuinely disappointed. “I always wondered what monkeys talk about. Anyway, I’ve got one more dose of medicine for you here and then you should start feeling better.” He held up the hypospray for her to see; some people had become combative when presented with someone pressing things to their neck and he intended to avoid that.

"Hallucinations aside," said Aidan. "Will this take care of it completely or will we need a follow-up visit for additional treatments?"

"That is a good question," replied John, pressing the hypo to Mila's neck once more. He then turned to Aiden and pressed it to his neck before swapping out the phial for the antibiotic again. "We're still not sure where this has come from, so I suppose we'll all probably have to have more treatments before this is all said and done. But, we will definitely let you know if and when that's necessary. One more for you," he said, pressing the hypo to Aiden's neck. "And you two should start feeling more normal in a bit. I think. It's all still a bit fuzzy."

"Da, I am thanking you," Mila said as she rubbed her forehead. "Is feeling like being drunk, but you are being the liquid."

Aidan nodded and sat down on the edge of the bed after the administration of the next treatment. "Yes, thank you, Doctor. Though I would use the word 'fuzzy' to describe what has recently happened as well as my memory. And yes, quite like intoxication."

"Yes," agreed John, tapping his hypo against his chin thoughtfully. "Yes, that is an accurate description, isn't it? I sort of feel like I've had a couple shots of something strong. Anyway, if there is nothing else, I should get back to Sick Bay. We're bound to have everyone and their brothers in. Well, not your brother, as you've just said you haven't got one. And not mine as I haven't got one either. Unless you count Harry, of course, but we're not blood related, you see. We're not even the same race! Still, he's the closest thing to a brother I've ever had. Maybe my sister. Have you got a sister? Wait! No! Hang on. I... think I've just got distracted again. Where was I? Oh, yes, heading back to sick bay. Unless you needed anything else, of course."

"I am being good," the russian woman said. "Aidan?"

Aidan dipped his head slightly. "I am good, as well. Thank you, Doctor." He wouldn't have minded spending more time with this particular doctor. Though probably not in a professional setting. He seemed an interesting man and one that Aidan would like to talk, and listen, to. Over two hundred years of meeting different species and he had yet to come across a human like this one.

"In that case, be sure to alert medical if you have any adverse reactions," John said, packing up his medkit once more. "Also, if symptoms return, come to Sick Bay immediately. With a little bit of luck, though, we'll all be all right." He gave them both a little grin and lazy solute and then was gone.

When the Medical officer left, Mila looked at Aidan and a curious Chow who peeked his head around the corner. She made a kissing sound at him and the tiny Capuchin came running and jumped into her arms. "I am sorry for thinking you are accusing me of faking accent, Chow. I am knowing you would never do such thing." She turned her attention to Aidan. "I am sincerely hoping that no more of this is happening. I am not liking the feeling of not knowing."

"Agreed," said Aidan, moving nearer to Mila and Chow. "Not knowing what's happening to us. Not knowing what's happening outside the ship. Not knowing if we will even make out of this Zone alive and in sound mind. It is not a feeling I am well acquainted with."

"Da," Mila said. "For now, let us be getting something to eat and settle in for evening."

"I like the sound of that, my dear." Aidan reached for her hand and continued, "What can I replicate for you tonight?"

"Let us just get cheeseburgers and fries," she said. "Then we can be enjoying night."

"I like that idea very much," said Aidan. "Very much."

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