Andorian Of The Past

Posted on Wed Sep 4th, 2019 @ 5:10am by Lieutenant Kylian Linwood & Lieutenant Thavus th’Koruh & Lieutenant Commander Seleya & Lieutenant Aeryn Vinia & Fleet Admiral Donatella Figueroa

Mission: S01E04 The Outpost Has Eyes
Location: Sickbay
Timeline: After "Rock Bottom"

ON:

Kylian Linwood hovered around the stasis chamber, watching the readings carefully. There had been a tiny fluctuation in them while they were transferring the chamber's power from the downed Andorian vessel and the Musashi. He was concerned that there had been damage to the chamber's occupant. Of course, he wasn't reading any damage and the chamber itself seemed to be functioning fine and yet, he still worried and still had tons of questions. Ninety four years! Ninety four years this stasis chamber had been functioning. At least as far as Kylian could tell, or anyone else for that matter. The engineers that had looked at the chamber hadn't seen or learned on any of the technology, it was all so out of date that they had to make special power hookups for it.

How? The young doctor wondered. How was it even possible? And what would he be like? Would he be able to adapt to his surroundings? A lot had changed in that amount of time. From what the engineers told him, this chamber was activated the same year that the United Federation of Planets became a thing. Did this Andorian even know? Would he wake and be their friend? Or would he still believe that Andoria was at war with Vulcan? So many questions.

Seleya walked in. "Doctor Linwood. How is the patient doing? Have you checked to make sure that the tears in is cardiac tissue have repaired? If so, we need to finish the final phase of treatment before we can wake him."

Nurse Vinia walked in reading a PADD, quietly listening to the conversation occuring around the Andorian in the final stages of being woken from Cryo. It would be interesting to see if the Andorian suffered from the same hallucinations that humans did when they were thawed in that time period.

"The repairs just finished, Doctor Seleya," Kylian responded. "We might have to keep an eye on him in the future though. It left scarring on his right ventricle. It doesn't seem to be impeding his heart function though. Andorian's are so weird..." He chuckled. "No disrespect... but they're really more like giant humanoid bugs. I mean the open circulatory system... the tougher skin. The antenna... You know, they say that the Andorian's use their antenna to see in color. That their actual eyes don't contain the rods and cones part of the eye, like ours do, instead they're in these." He didn't touch the frozen Andorian's antenna, but he did point. "They also use them to express emotion... I hear they're very sensitive." He chuckled, peering at their frozen friend. "What did the captain say about waking him up?"

"His waking will be slow," she said. "As for the antenna, they are interesting and they do grow back when they are ripped off." She saw his expression. "I had an Andorian roommate. They do however have special issues while they are growing back." She sighed. "That all said. I want them carefully wrapped for support. Nurse Vinia, prepare a sedative. We'll start the cryo shut down and we'll need to do this slow. I would say take eight hours, new sedative dose every two."

Kylian nodded, even though he wasn't really the one being addressed. He turned and gathered some soft gauze from a nearby cabinet and returned to the table. "Should I go ahead and wrap them now?" he asked, referring to the antenna. "Someone will have to stay with him to administer the dose... unless you'd like me to set up a biobed to do it."

"Yes, wrap them. Nurse," she said, addressing the head nurse. "You administer the doses. Doctor Linwood, I want a read out of how things are going. I will review the records of all the injuries to see if there is anything we should watch for while he is waking."

Kylian nodded. "Do you want me to start that now? So we have a baseline reading?" He was excited to being closer to finally waking the Andorian. He hoped that it would go easy for him, but he suspected that it wouldn't.

She gave a nod. "Of course." She was struck again at what a good CMO he would one day make. It would take some refining of his curiosity but he'd do just fine.

With her turquoise hair bright in the lights of sickbay, the nurse turned to mix the sedative, a milky almost blue color to match with his physiology. "On the off-chance he wakes up, and still thinks he's at war with Vulcan?"

Kylian chuckled. "Right? That would be bad. Especially when our doctor is Vulcan. Oh... I almost forgot. His name is Captain Thavus Casn th’Koruh and the ship was called the Aroth. I'm not sure what the name means. They found his name in the ship's manifest. I thought we should probably know it... before he wakes up."

Captain Donatella Figueroa had strode into Sickbay, catching the last few bits of commentary. "Our Andorian friend still 'sleeping' soundly?" she asked as she looked over and assessed the situation. "A Captain you said? We aren't close to Andoria nor Vulcan. I'm curious what he and his ship were doing this far out, and rather close to Klingon space nonetheless."

Kylian nodded. "Yeah. Maybe, they were exploring?" he offered. "The asteroid does have some weird magnetic pull things... maybe they got too close and it pulled them in? Although, it did sort of look like they were attacked by something or someone. All those scorch marks all over the hull definitely looked like weapon's fire."

"I have some suspicions," replied the captain. "Hopefully, our friend here will soon be able to answer some of the questions that we all have... myself included," she noted. Fig immediately looked at both Seleya and Vinia. "Once you have both given your approval for visitors of course," added Captain Figueroa cautiously. She always walked on eggshells in Sickbay. Maybe because of how Doctor Hill and she would sometimes get into it, or perhaps because she knew that they did not come onto her Bridge and bark orders at her.

Sickbay was pretty much the one place aboard a Captain's starship in which they did not feel in command. In fact, they really weren't. For most matters, the captain could give orders, but if it came to the medical care and well being of the crew or a patient, lines could be drawn in the sand, and the Chief Medical Officer became the king of the hill.

Seleya gave a nod. "I do not believe it will take long. I do have a suggestion though. Perhaps it be best if Linwood is the first face the Andorian captain sees. Vulcans were not very tolerated during his time and he might not be willing to speak as much if I were present. Plus, it would not be good for his stress level."

"Yes," replied Fig simply and gave a nod to Aeryn. "We've discussed several things and it does sound like a Vulcan face may not be the best for him to take to. Linwood would be fine, and I'm sure Shras would be happy to come in at any time to help sooth the patient with an Andorian face."

Kylian's eyebrows shot up, in surprise, not that he didn't understand their choice, but there were other Human's working in Sickbay. He was actually quite pleased and proud of himself. Carefully, he wrapped both of the Andorian's antennae with a light gauze. He tried very hard not to wrap them too tight, but wrap them tight enough to give them support. "I can speak Andorian... but I'm not sure I will know his dialect. There are older forms that I'm not wholly familiar with," he offered.

Seleya caught Linwood's eye. "You will do fine. The effort you make trying I am sure he will appreciate. Nurse Vinia, we will need your counseling abilities to help him cope. I have faith that both of you will exceed the expectations of the day."

Kylian smiled warmly at the Vulcan. "Thank you Doctor. I will do my best not to disappoint. Are we ready to give thawing our Andorian popsicle a try?" he asked.

"By all means." She headed out.

Kylian took a deep breath, nodded to Nurse Vinia and tapped the button that would begin the process of thawing and waking the Andorian. It was hard to wait and just watch. Kylian had a million questions and was sure that those around him had a million more.

The Andorian slowly began to regain his more natural coloring. From a icy blue to a deeper, almost sky, blue. It wasn't long after that, that he began to reach a more normal body temperature. Kylian kept an eye on the readouts coming from the machines that the Andorian was hooked up to. He found himself a little nervous again. He might be about to speak to an Andorian that was almost 100 years old and he wasn't even sure what he should say.

Captain Donatella Figueroa waited as patiently as she could though patience was not one of her strongest assets, but rather a 'virtue' she strived for. The waking of an Andorian who had been placed into stasis for so long, having missed so much was a brazen decision. She knew that there would be supporters of her decision among the admiralty in Starfleet's top brass and yet for every supporter she might have, there would be someone unsettled or downright furious over her command decision. She was taking more than a small risk. This Andorian had missed the birth of the Federation and many years that followed it.

Kylian leaned anxiously over the patient. Captain Thavus Casn th’Koruh. The intern repeated the name over and over in his head, trying to get the pronunciation perfect. It wouldn't do to mess up the man's name after all that time in stasis. "Should be any moment now..." he said, to everyone and no one. Should he call him "Captain"? Suddenly, Kylian panicked, unsure of what to do. He lifted his gaze from the Andorian and looked wildly around the room for a moment. He knew from studying Andorians that he wouldn't use the first name... that was given to him by his family. The middle name was most likely the name he went by, but that seemed inappropriate for a first meeting. Captain th'Koruh it was. It was also a mouthful. Kylian took a deep breath and looked back down at the Andorian.

Casn had been listening. It was hard to distinguish exactly what was going on. His Human had never been all that good to begin with. He had tried to open one eye, but the brightness in the room was overwhelming and he had closed it again to give himself time to acclimate. They must have been found. He wondered how many had survived of the command crew that had gone into stasis. He was glad to be awake again, but he was not so thrilled to be among Humans. He wondered how long he should lay there before he let them know he was awake. Finally, tired of the boy leaning over him breathing on him, he opened his eyes for a moment and coughed a little. He shut them again almost immedately and tried to find his voice. His throat was dry and sore and the words came out raspy and broken. "Too bright..." he choked in Andorian.

Kylian jumped when the Andorian coughed. "Oh! Hello there..." he tried, in Andorian as well. "Welcome back! Oh! Too bright. One moment." He held up a finger, just in case his accent was wrong and the Andorian didn't understand. "Computer reduce lighting 50%."

The lights dimmed immediately, much to Casn's relief. He narrowed his eyes at the physician, or he assumed he was. The symbol on the Human's chest was unfamiliar to him. Had he been picked up by pirates? His eyes started to travel around the room slowly. There was no way that any pirate ship would look like this. Before he could really start to think about that the Human started up again.

Kylian was grinning, totally excited that the Andorian was awake. "I'm sure you're thirsty. I assure you that you are safe. Would you like some water?" Kylian offered Casn a cup of water. The Andorian sniffed it and then drank, slowly at first and then handed Kylian back an empty cup. "Do you know who you are?"

Casn snorted. "Of course I know who am I. My question is, who are you? I don't know that... symbol." He pointed to the Starfleet emblem on Kylian's uniform. "Did you find my ship?" He started to look around again. "How many of my..." Before he could finish his gaze landed on Captain Figueroa. Now, this was the person he needed to speak to. "Ah Captain..."

Kylian looked over his shoulder at Captain Figueroa, still grinning. "He recognizes your rank. I'm going to fix the translator." He looked back at the Andorian. "I will inject you with this and you will be able to understand... all. No matter what we are speaking. Is that good?"

Casn snorted again. The boy had answered none of his questions, but understanding everyone definitely sounded good. It seemed the only person that spoke Andorian on the ship was not all that good at it. He nodded. "Yes, translator?"

Kylian nodded and made the injection. "There we go, that should be much better. Can you understand what I'm saying to you?"

Casn nodded again. "I will speak with your Captain..."

"And she will speak with you," replied Fig as she approached the Andorian. "Captain Figueroa of the Fed-" She was about to say Federation, but given when he was from she stopped herself. "Of the starship Musashi. I'm sorry to have to inform you, but you were the only survivor of your ship, Sir," she said solemnly. "You seemed to have crash-landed on an asteroid, and far away from Andoria might I add," she added with aroused intrigue.

The Andorian took a deep breath and let it out slowly. He closed his eyes and shook his head, wrinkling his nose for a moment and whispering to himself, perhaps a prayer of some sort. "All hands?" He knew what he had heard, but he asked anyway. Mostly just to say it out loud. "They were good men, Captain. Musashi? I have not heard of this ship." He opened his eyes again and leveled a look at Fig. "What is this symbol that you wear?" He pointed to the Starfleet emblem again.

"All hands," she restated with a grim look and solemn expression. Her tone said it all. She was sorrowful for the loss of life, but kept distant from her emotions. "My starship doesn't have much of a legacy behind it," she said with a half-truth. It sure the hell isn't the Enterprise, she thought. "But she's a fine vessel. I'm part of what you may know as Earth's Starfleet, though the uniforms we wear may be unfamiliar to you. I'm afraid your little stasis nap was a bit longer than you may have intended. We were lucky to stumble upon your signal and Human curiosity got the better of us. I don't think the Andorians would have had much luck in finding you this far away from Andoria."

Casn eyed the Human Captain uneasily. He was starting to get the feeling that he might be in for some bad news, aside from the already bad news that the remaining officers aboard his ship were also dead. He took a deep breath again, his eyes narrowing slightly and his brow furrowing. It was at this moment that he seemed to figure out that his antenna were wrapped with gauze. He gasped and reached up, concerned that they were wrapped due to injury. "Can... can we remove this stuff? I can't... I can't think..." He started to try and remove the gauze himself. "We were exploring. I think I recall something about a Starfleet..."

Kylian jumped forward and tried to help him. There were several moments of frustration between the two while Kylian and Casn struggled in each other's way for several moment. "Just let me!" Kylian finally said, a little more forcefully then he intended, but it had the right results and caused the Andorian to drop his hands out of the way so that the medical intern could remove the gauze quickly and carefully.

"Sir, I do not know exactly what you recall, but Starfleet and your people had a history of encounters and sometimes confrontation, especially including the Vulcans if my memory is accurate. Eventually, our three species and a fourth, the Tellarites created the Coalition of Planets in 2155. We had a long history together and we endured a war with a species known as the Romulans," said Fig as she proceeded carefully. "Does any of that spark anything in your memory?"

Casn was more worried about his antenna, but once they were unwrapped he seemed much more comfortable. "Thank you..." he said softly to Kylian. "Oh yes... the Coalition." His grin was slow and a little bit wicked. "And yes... I've spent my time shooting down Human ships and Vulcan ships. My people were in negotiations with yours when we had our little encounter out there. I take it that meeting went well?"

"Yes, it went quite well," replied Fig with a small smile. "Andorians serve in Starfleet now. Vulcans too, and many other species. We had a terrible war with the Romulans, but the Coalition evolved into the United Federation of Planets in which Andoria was a founding member. I'm afraid I do have to inform you that you've been in stasis for a very long time. A lot has changed while you were in stasis."

Casn's eyes narrowed again and one antenna, the one on the right, started to spin slowly, showing his confusion. He was almost afraid to ask. "Federation of Planets. Interesting. I'm not sure I believe you, Captain, but please, enlighten me as to how long?" He looked around at the other people in the room. So this Federation included many worlds? They must have worked something out with the Vulcans. Casn also wondered how long he could have possibly stayed in stasis. Ten years? Maybe 12? How long were the stasis pods really good for anyway?

Seleya had been in the other room monitoring the readings. She had also been doing a bit of testing on the Andorian's blood drawn while in stasis. It revealed he was healthy other then the damage they fixed but also... She had to do the test again. Her excitement built.

She momentarily lost track of the conversation in the other room. Standing she forgot herself and entered the room that the captain was in. She stopped and stared at the Andorian. She could have cursed herself. She hadn't meant to show herself yet. "Oh... Hello. Welcome back," she said, hoping he didn't jump up and she wouldn't have to nerve pinch him... it was a skill she had, but took a while before it affected Andorians.

Casn did not jump up, but he raised his eyebrows and his antenna stopped spinning. They seemed to both suddenly focus on Seleya. "Oh," he said simply. "I see relations have indeed improved with the Vulcans. Let me guess... You're the doctor," he stated matter-of-factly. He actually expected to be right, considering her medical coat and rank. "Have you enjoyed prodding me with needles?" He grinned. It was hard to tell if he was being sarcastic or if he meant his comments.

"She didn't prod you with any needles, that was me," Aeryn quipped from the back corner of the room. She approached the bed where the Andorian lay, quite confident that he'd never seen a member of her species before. Folding her hands in the traditional manner of her people, she bowed slightly which allowed multilobed ears to quiver under vibrant blue hair. The single earring she was sporting at the base of her lowest lobe flashed brightly in the light.

Casn eyed Aeryn, unsure of what to make of her. She was correct in assuming that he had never seen one of her kind and he tipped his head back and forth, trying to decide what to make of her. "Ah... so you are the culprit. I hope this doesn't sound too rude, but what are you? I am totally unfamiliar with your species, I mean..." He sat forward a little and then sat back again, letting out a short breath of air. "Alright, I won't get up."

Captain Figueroa smiled. "With hair like that, you can always find our nurse easily," said the Captain. She held off on answering his earlier questions for a little while longer. "Aeryn is from a species known as Catullans. They are humanoid and have hair of various colors as humans do, but as you have noticed our nurse is a fine example of a Catullan with a more vibrant color. Her species are known for being excellent engineers, but Aeryn has chosen a career in medicine," explained the Captain. "When you are medically cleared, I'll show you around the ship and we can discuss more how much you've missed exactly."

"Interesting..." the Andorian responded. "I would like that very much, Captain. I'm afraid you might have to let me sleep for a little while though. Funny how you can be in stasis and wake up and still be tired. Is that normal?"

Kylian nodded. "It actually is rather common to be tired after stasis. Don't you worry. You'll feel right as rain soon. You just might have to be patient for a little bit. It might take a few sayd for you to feel better. You should get some sleep though."

Casn frowned at the young Human. He didn't want to go back to sleep, but he had to admit that his thoughts were starting to falter and not make any sense. He nodded. "Yes... sleep would be good. Although, I am also hungry."

Kylian grinned again. "We have you on some food now... or at least glucose. When you wake again we can try real food if you're feeling up to it. I don't want to rush that and make you sick."

Seleya hid her smile at Kylian. He would one day make a great CMO. "Perhaps he can have some Andorian tea. It will help settle his stomach and I have some of the herbs that will make a fresh batch." She looked at their guest. "Does that sound alright?"

Fig looked at the Andorian respectfully. "You're in good hands here in Sickbay," she said to Casn. "When you are ready, someone will be able to help you find me. Like any good Captain, I am usually on the Bridge," she said with a smile. "Unfortunately, I cannot stay. I have to get back to the Bridge. We're at a stand still with some rather hostile aliens."

"Tea... sounds lovely," the Andorian replied to Seleya with a little smile. He nodded to Fig. "Does their ship look like an insect? We encountered some rather hostile aliens as well. They had a weapon..." He closed his eyes for a moment, suddenly completely worn out. "The weapon they had made all of our systems fail..."

"Bug like is fairly accurate," replied Fig, but the mention of the weapon definitely confirmed it. "That weapon you mentioned is exactly what I am worried about. Time may have passed, but even our starship is vulnerable is to that weapon. We got a little taste of something, but they pulled their punch... a warning shot. They have one of my crew."

Casn opened his eyes again, looking at the captain seriously. "Forget your crew... get away from that ship, Captain. It might be your only chance. Whatever that weapon is, that they have, it's bad news. When I say it shut us down... it shut the whole ship down... Engineering, shields, weapons... life support. Instantly, we were adrift. Don't let it happen to you too."

"I cannot do that," she replied with a heaviness weighing on her shoulders. It was the burden of command. "I will follow through with abandoning ship should the need arise, but I cannot forget about my crew. It's not Starfleet's way, but I will not put the lives of my crew at risk for the life of one of their own. The Federation believes in diplomacy and peace. I'm not ready to give up on trying to explore that option with these... people."

"We tried too, Captain. They never responded," Casn confirmed. "We didn't start it. I know my people have a reputation for being aggressive, but I promise you, we were not the aggressors in this situation. I don't like leaving crew either, but one man compared to the loss of the entire ship... did you not just tell me I was they only survivor? Maybe they like Humans more than Andorians. I wish you luck." His sleepy gaze drifted to the Vulcan doctor again. "Don't worry your pretty head Doctor. I promise not to bite. My people have up that habit a long time ago." He chuckled softly then winced. "Ngh... laughing... not good, but I am a good patient. I will do as you ask." He closed his eyes again and lay back on the bed.

"Doubtful," she muttered under her breath. He had made valid points and the situation was not working out towards a peaceful closure. They still had EJ and they had fired a warning shot that with any more force could have easily damaged the Musashi if not entirely destroyed her starship. 'Donatella, stop skating on thin ice!' the words of her grandmother echoing from a distant past childhood. Of course, she did not listen to her grandmother's warnings then and ended up skating on the wrong patch of ice at the wrong time. The ice gave way, and a young Fig took a very icy cold plunge into a lake that nearly claimed her life.

Fig looked to Doctor Seleya. "Doctor, I suggest you contact Engineering and get the medical equipment you will need aboard a shuttle to take your patient mobile."

Seleya looked at the captain. "Mobile, ma'am? Are we going somewhere?"

Kylian was watching the Andorian carefully. "Do you think we can talk about this elsewhere and let him get some real rest? Sorry, I'm not trying to be rude."

Captain Figuera nodded though there wasn't much luxury aboard. "This won't take long," she said walking a few steps away from the Andorian. "We're at a standstill with a hostile alien vessel that appears to have Ensign O'Donoghue. They are heavily armed and have the potential of destroying us without much of an opportunity to mount a fight. I do not want to risk the lives of the crew. I'm on the verge of ordering that evacuation and ramming the alien vessel."

Kylian might have been distracted, but he wasn't deaf. He dropped the instrument he was using in surprise and had to pick it up and put it back for sterilization. He kept his mouth shut, worried that as the low man on the totem pole in the room he didn't really have an opinion. He looked back at the Andorian, who was completely asleep, hating to move him again, but knowing it wasn't life or death not to. "At least we won't have to put him back in stasis," he said out loud, not really meaning to.

"Indeed you will not, though that is ultimately Doctor Seleya's call to me. I'll be on the Bridge. Stand by for further announcements, I do not want to have to do this, but I do not believe we are going to have much choice in the matter," added Fig.

Kylian nodded. "Yes, Ma'am." His head was a whirl of questions. Was the enemy that bad? He hadn't been on the bridge for any of the initial attempted conversations. The Andorian had shed some light and it did sound rather impossible. They also had a Musashi crew member potentially hostage. By any means necessary, the quote from Sartre. Of course, Sartre wasn't speaking of alien races, he was talking about eradicating the practice of putting people into classes, but Kylian could definitely see how that concept could be applied here as well.

Seleya gave a nod as the Captain left. She turned to Kylian. "Prepare for medical evacuation procedure. If you look in the stock rooms there are three bins there. Those are emergency bins that have all we need in case. Please have them taken to the shuttle. Call the medical staff to my office."

Kylian nodded. "Yes, Ma'am!" He ran through his last checks on the sleeping Andorian and bolted to start on her orders. While he was prepping he stopped at his console to call the meeting of all of the medical staff as soon as possible. "All medical personnel please report to the medical office immediately. All medical staff, please report to the medical office immediately." He flipped off the com and headed for the emergency bins.

:OFF