Mind Trip

Posted on Sun Dec 6th, 2020 @ 10:50am by Captain Rhenora Kaylen & Commander Savar cha'Salik hei-Surak Talek-sen-deen & Lieutenant Anna S. Thesia M.D. & Lieutenant Aurora Vali

Mission: Healing of Minds

Mathias browsed the markets, perusing the different stalls and wares there. He had no intentions of paying for anything, more acquiring a certain piece of hardware that he had Intel was here. A telepathy device that had great powers, currently in the possession of a Vornick.

A short while later Mathias had the item stashed in a small bag on his bag and didn't stop until he had returned to his safe place. Carefully he unwrapped the device and searched for an on switch.

Aurora was taking some time to walk around the plethora of shops and stalls that were available, she wouldn’t get this chance again anytime soon so she’d set out to buy herself something nice. Plus she wanted some lingerie that Savar might like to see her in.

Seeing a nice quiet place to sit she took a break before a sudden and painful headache make her cringe. Next thing she knew she wasn’t in the marketplace anymore, at least not in her mind, she was inside a memory from her past with Savar. Their first night together, Savar was passionately kissing her neck, she could feel his kisses as they trailed lower, yet something wasn’t right. She tried to look at him but it wasn’t Savar, it was someone else!

Mathias closed his eyes, his victim picked and his hands firmly on the device. There was a jolt in his mind and the connection was made. He could riffle through memories and see through eyes. His victim was nearby and he indulged his evil pleasures first, accessing and messing with some sensitive memories before turning his attention to his task at hand. He had a list of key Starfleet personnel he wanted to target. Access codes, technical data, weapons blueprints were all on his agenda. If he could get control of the Liberty, he could take over this portion of the quadrant.

Alicia now stood in a blank space, nothingness surrounded her. She had no idea what was going on but she wasn’t willing to accept this. << Who are you? >> she concentrated hard. << I want you ... out of my head!! >>

Mathias smiled, a sadistic grin that could never mean good things. << comply, or shall we revisit some of your more unpleasant memories >> He sent back, trying to delve deeper into her mind to gain more control.

<< I will NOT comply! >> she tried putting up mental barriers around her mind to keep this invader out, she was hoping Savar could sense she was in distress through their bond.

Elese in the market Savar felt Aurora's surprise and outrage and hurried to where he hoped she would be.

Mathias paused, releasing the grip he had over the woman as she sought assistance from her mate. With more practice he felt he could dive deeper into the mind of his victims, to force them to comply with his demands. He still had to remain anonymous - so he could not be traced.

Aurora opened her eyes, finding herself back in the market. Her head was pounding and she felt a tickle as her nose started bleeding too. She sat waiting for it to stop, hoping Savar would find her.

Savar was in another part of the market, looking to buy some jumbo Vulcan mollusks and treat not only Aurora but himself as well. When he felt disorientation from Aurora and that in and of itself was unusual. He paid for the mollusks and went in search for his wife, having an idea where she would be.

After a few minutes he found her sitting on a bench. She looked glassy eyed. and he could see where her nose had been bleeding. ""Aurora, what happened?"

Aurora gave Savar a relieved look. “Someone ... violated my mind. Got inside my head.” She was still pinching her nose making sure her nosebleed had stopped. “I don’t know who he was, but he tried to bend me to his control.” She sighed. “I tried forcing him out, he only let me go because I called for you!”

Savar looked around the market and saw nothing out of the ordinary. "When we get back to the ship after you have been cleared by the doctor, I can show you ways to strengthen your mental barriers."

Around the corner, Anna was walking with Sarah, telling her. "Now I know a restaurant somewhere around here. I think it's a left and then a right turn... it's got traditional Vulcan cuisine made palatable for outsiders. That is, the plomeek soup for example has only ingredients that agree with alien digestive system, but the taste is true to the original." She was rambling, but she was always happy to share what she was excited about with anyone willing to listen, and failing that, a captive audience.

Sarah nodded as she walked with her new boss - happy that they were getting to know each other outside the walls of sickbay. It was always easier to work in a high pressure environment with someone you knew and understood.

"Really? I must admit my alien palate is somewhat very restrained" She admitted with a wry smile, always having been nervous about trying off-world food since a bad batch of 'gagh' ran through her internship placement with the all the unpleasant effects of a bad batch of worms.

"I like to try all kinds of exotic things", Anna said. "Probably also because I'm not worried so much about the side effects. But I trust the Vulcans to have suitable measures in place to ensure good quality of all they offer. Anything else would be illogical." Vulcans weren't necessarily fun most of the time, but nothing if not reliable.

"Unlike a bad batch of blood worms" Sarah paled at the memory, shuddering then forcing it from her mind. Not every species had the same...disregard for food hygiene that Klingons did. " I'm gonna trust you with my guts on that" She added.

Mathias took a few moments, his own head reeling from the pressure of delving into someone else's mind without training or any kind of mental defences. It was draining work but he felt the first attempt was positive for him. Her had determined his first victim to be half Vulcan and so had a firm grasp on both emotion and logic. Maybe his next attempt would have to be on a different species.

Back in the alley Aurora slowly got to her feet, holding onto Savar’s arm for stability. Her head was pounding. “Take me back to the ship.” She offered a smile as she looked at Savar.

Back out in the street they were mere steps from Anna and Sarah when Aurora’s mental exertion took its toll and she collapsed at Savar’s feet.

"Aurora!" Sarah shouted in concern as they came across their shipmate in a bad way. With Anna right behind her she quickly moved to the half Vulcan and tried to ascertain what was going on.

"Aurora, tell us what's happened?" She asked gently, noting the bleeding nose and the very pale complexion. She looked at Savar with a question in her eyes.

Aurora looked up at Sarah. “Someone violated my mind ... tried to control me.” She looked at Savar then back at Sarah. “I’ll be alright, I just ... need to rest.”

"Aurora is not alright." Savar replied firmly. "I felt disorientation in her mind and when I found her, her nose was bleeding and she was glassy eyed. She told me what she has just told you. That someone invaded her mind and tried to control her."

"This is not what I had in mind when I said 'go to Vulcan and get some rest'", Anna remarked, though it was obvious she was just annoyed with this having happened to Aurora. "Aurora, let's get you to sickbay, I'll do a complete neurological scan." She hoped there wouldn't be any permanent damage. Injuries to the brain and to the mind, those were bloody hard to treat. "We must alert the authorities."

Sarah nodded in agreeance, assisting Anna where she could whilst running a mental checklist herself on what they would need to look for " If there's someone who's attacking people telepathically - how do we find them?" She asked, Vulcans were touch telepaths, there were very few races who were full telepaths. Was Aurora targeted because of her mixed ancestry?

Aurora looked at Savar. “Savar ... he was strong, very strong! But I got the impression he didn’t really know what he was doing. He’s dangerous! And he isn’t done.”

Sarah tapped her commbadge - "Wilson to Liberty, 4 to beam directly to sickbay" She said, making a mental note to inform the Captain once they had beamed back on board.

Their arrival in Sickbay couldn’t have been better timed as Aurora finally collapsed into complete unconsciousness.

Anna picked her up and lifted her onto the primary biobed, switching it on. "Savar, can you please remain here to be on hand when she regains consciousness?" She loaded cortical analeptic into the hypospray and injected Aurora with it, as a means of stabilising her brain function. "There's no brain haemorrhage, that's the good news. The nosebleed is entirely incidental, a sign of stress." She proceeded to treat and clean the nosebleed, while speaking to Savar. "When she comes to, she'll need you. Through your bonding, you're the best qualified to help her if she is confused, especially if she is scared, which she'll very likely be."

~ A little while later ~

Aurora awoke with a start, raising her head before putting it down again as she saw Savar. “Imzadi ...” She held out her hand feeling safer now she was in Sickbay. Her head was pounding thanks to the whole experience. She closed her eyes again, trying to focus on rest but her grip remained firmly on Savar’s hand until she drifted off again.

"She'll need rest now", Anna said. "I'm not sure we'll be able to press her for details for quite some time." She frowned. "This isn't supposed to happen, on Vulcan of all places. Do you know who we should contact about this, Savar?"

"The Captain will need to know, as will the authorities on Vulcan. If there's a telepathic predator out there they could target anyone" Sarah said sagely, stepping back from the biobed now that Aurora was stable again.

Savar looked to the sleeping Aurora before his attention returned to Anna and Sarah. "The Chief Administrator for Law Enforcement should be notified." He answered.

"Sarah, please tell the skipper what's happened, and include Savar's recommendation", Anna said. Usually, this would be either her or Savar's job, but Anna needed Savar to help her. "Savar, can you reach out to Aurora's mind, see if there is any immediate distress that you might be able to address through your bond?"

"Yes Doctor" Sarah answered as she stepped away from the biobed. Finding the Captain if said Captain was on leave could be interesting. Hopefully she would be on the ship somewhere. With a nod, the MO headed out of sickbay.

Aurora’s mind was active even though she slept, not so much a nightmare but visions of what had occurred. She stirred slightly in her sleep as her brain tried to make sense of it all.

Savar did as Anna asked, gently, lightly reaching out to Aurora's mind and searching for any distress. He found no distress, just shock and confusion at how this could have happened. After a thorough check he withdrew and addressed Anna. "I found no sign of distress with Aurora's mind. Rather I discovered, shock and confusion, disbelief at how this could have happened."

"That is good... circumstances permitting, of course", Anna responded. At least there was no physical damage, and that meant the chances of Aurora making a full recovery were good. "I see no tissue damage, we'll just have to wait and see when she'll recover. The medicine I gave her will aid her nerve tissue to regenerate neurotransmitters and allow them to absorb and process more energy, speeding the recovery process."