<USS Avalon> Talea Experiences Breakthrough

"Talea Experiences Breakthrough"
by
Captain Skyler (XO, /USS Avalon/)
Moreya (C/Sci, /USS Avalon/)
Lieutenant K'etrall (Acting C/Eng, /USS Avalon/)
Doctor Alexis Cazook (AMO, /USS Avalon/)

Bridge
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Shortly after the cryptic remark by Walker, Talea, still worried, reported for shift right on time. She settled into Ops, scanning the status board by reflex, noticing several yellows amongst the green lights. One glaring red was there as well, and she dispatched messages to all three sections to alert them that they had error conditions showing on the Bridge displays. Her notice to the section that had the flashing red went quietly vehement after the crewman, used to being able to slack off, smarted off at her.
With a sense of relief, she saw Walker come onto the Bridge shortly after she did. Within an hour and a half, however, she noticed she was getting a steadily-increasing headache that her normal pain-control methods wasn't damping at all. Since Skyler's away party to the Avalon-B had not returned, she stood, then signaled Walker with hand-signs that he needed to be on alert, only for him to dash off the Bridge in response to something she'd not heard across the Bridge's expanse.
With the away team still away, K'etrall decided to wander up to the bridge and see what was going on. She had sent Ensign Teryn so she was free for awhile. As she walked onto the bridge she saw Talea. She walked over to her at OPS, "How are you doing Ensign? Everything okay?" ~Are you experiencing any problems I should be aware of?~
With K'etrall so close, Talea heard her telepathic send, and it startled her, while also intensifying the headache. "Lieutenant K'etrall, ma'am . . . I've a severe headache that has no apparent cause, and," she swallowed nervously, "I need some help to see if it's what I'm afraid it is."
Gently placing her hand on Talea's shoulder, K'etrall extended her shields as Walker had taught her. As soon as she touched Talea, she immediately felt her pain. Pain that radiated throughout her head. She gasped sharply as the pain engulfed her momentarily, then she did the best she could to push it to the back of her mind. She attempted to block out everything except helping Talea. ~Is this helping . . . at . . . all?~ It took everything she had to send her comment.
Talea blinked as the pain began to subside soon after she felt shields engulf her. "Oh, bother! It is what I was afraid of." She then nodded as she understood the send. "Yes. It's helping, but it's only going to get worse unless Walker returns swiftly!" She explained, "He's quite powerful, as are most of his Clan, in the mental arts."
With her free hand, K'etrall tapped her combadge. "Sergeant Walker, return to the bridge immediately. That is an order." As the most senior officer aboard, she had the ability and the power to 0rder someone to the Bridge. She would deal with the after effects, if any, later.
Walker acknowledged and teleported to directly behind Talea, engulfing both in his shields. The relief was so intense that Talea gasped. Just as the shield firmed, her hazel eyes went wide as the power of the impressions, because her abilities had come back fully, even filtered through both layers of shields, almost overwhelmed her.
Shuddering as she fought to recover, Talea whispered, "Too close. Too powerful." She then, despite her resolve not to, crumpled to the deck, unconscious, Walker barely missing the catch.
K'etrall felt the addition of Walker's shields, but dared not remove her own. The added strength of his shields relieved some of the pain she felt, yet when Talea fell, she felt a sudden break in their contact. This caused her to stumble and grab onto the Ops console to avoid falling. Taking deep breaths to try and calm herself, she tried to pull herself together. It wasn't working as she hoped it would. Before passing out, she managed to call a medical emergency.
Alexis was in Sickbay when she heard the call. "Bridge, this is Cazook! I am on my way." Grabbing her emergency medkit she ran out of Sickbay and down to the nearest lift. Upon entering she spoke hurriedly, "Bridge." She waited quite impatiently as the lift seemed to be moving slower than normal. She wondered what was going on even though she had her suspicions. Something was most likely going on with Talea.
Much to her annoyance, the lift paused and the doors opened to admit another passenger -- the Science Officer, who had just returned from the Avalon-B.
Moreya looked at Alexis, reading the woman's expression. "I'm sorry, Doctor -- I seem to have interrupted an urgent trip to the Bridge. What's the trouble?"
"It's no problem, Lieutenant. In fact, I may need your assistance. I believe that the medical emergency on the bridge has something to do with Ensign Erridim. Your help may be needed, if you are able and willing. She is going to need to be shielded or else she is going to suffer intense psionic overload."
On the Bridge, Talea roused and groggily sat up, holding onto the console's legs to keep from toppling. She knew where she was on one level, but not on a very conscious one. The room seemed to be spinning, too, and that was annoying her. As the lift stopped, both Moreya and Alexis exited onto the bridge. Alexis noticed K'etrall on the floor and ran to her while Moreya made her way to Talea.
"Relax, Talea," Moreya said, dropping to kneel beside the stricken Regellian. "I am Moreya. I can ease your pain, if you will trust me." Talea recognized the other from the one time she'd met her. "I . . . I'm not really in pain now." This wasn't precisely true, but she was enervated. The shock of the situation was beginning to set in, too, and that really bothered her. "Just don't hurt yourself helping me. We've got enough injured here as 'tis." She then put a hand, still shaking, to her forehead.
"You are in shock," the Deltan said gently, "and need to relax so your body can re-integrate your awakened mind." Folding her legs underneath herself, she offered her arms to Talea. "Lie back a little, against me," she said. "Don't worry . . . I will not let myself come to harm."
Talea chuckled softly. "I've heard that before." She did, however, follow the Deltan's request, after noticing with a little detachment that she wasn't being affected by Moreya's pheromones. She didn't look at Walker, not wanting to embarrass him if he were being affected.
With the away team back, Skyler returned to the bridge after seeing Tavi back to their quarters. Upon her arrival, she found her Chief Engineer on the floor, the OPS officer leaning against the Science officer. Sergeant Walker was also helping Talea. Walking with a fast step, she made her way to Moreya and Talea. "I take it your abilities have returned? I'm so sorry I wasn't here to shield you. Is there anything I can do to help at this point?"
Talea sighed, visibly trying to recover still. "It wasn't your fault, Captain. To be quite honest, I'd not expected my abilities to," she winced in discomfort, "return quite this way or so soon. The power of it actually caused me to pass out." This last was in tones of intense shame.
"Hush, dear Talea," Moreya murmured in her ear, so softly no other could hear. Now that she was in physical contact, she could feel the woman's maelstrom of emotions, made worse by the abrupt recovery of her psychic faculty. 'Damn stasis fields ought to be banned', she thought, very privately. 'For this much grief they cause.' Aloud, but again only so Talea could hear, she said, "Let it all go. Let go that fear and shame that wraps your soul like a cocoon. Let the butterfly go free." At the same time, she adjusted both her mental faculties and her pheromonal release, focusing on calm and relaxation.
Alexis took out her tricorder and scanned K'etrall, who was barely conscious. According to the scan, she was in a state of mild shock, most likely brought on by her attempt to help shield Talea. Taking out a hypo, she dialed in a mild analgesic for the pain and something to help her with the shock. "Lieutenant K'etrall, you are going to be fine. Just relax, and once you are stable, I will transfer you to Sickbay. Do you understand me?"
Lying on the floor, K'etrall felt the medication that had been administered flow through her system. It didn't completely ease the pain, but it helped. Trying to get up was another story. She felt weaker than she had expected. Of course, it didn't help that she was still suffering from the headache from the night before. Opening her eyes, she looked at Alexis. "Yes, Doctor, I understand you. I may be slightly incapacitated at the moment, but I have not lost my mind. How is Ensign Erridim doing?"
Talea chuckled softly. Although she also would need rest, hers would, perforce, be in her shielded quarters. Her abilities were back, yes, but until she had the strength to raise her own shields, she was in intense danger. "I will recover relatively quickly once we deal with the fact I'm nearly in shock from the incident. Food and rest, I expect, will correct." She gently touched K'etrall and hummed a single, deep note. At least, it was deep for a woman. The effect of the note, which had lasted for fifteen seconds, was a lessening of the Lieutenant's headache, to just barely noticeable, and Talea grinned at both the Doctor and K'etrall's looks of astonishment. Her senses told her that there wasn't enough energy on the Bridge to finish what she'd started, however. "Consider it partial payment for what you have done for me, Lieutenant, ma'am. I owe you far more." She then blushed as Walker sent her a sharp caution about overextending herself, and fell silent, knowing he was right.
Feeling the pain lessen, K'etrall was grateful. Although it wasn't all gone, it was much better. "Thank you, Ensign. You owe me nothing. I'm just glad I could be of help." With K'etrall unable to rise on her own power yet, Alexis beamed the two of them to Sickbay, helped the Klingon woman to a biobed and hooked up the scanner. She also injected her with another dose of pain medication. As the sedative along with the pain medication took effect, K'etrall was able to relax a little. She was still in shock and would most likely remain in Sickbay for a few hours. Alexis continued to monitor her vitals.
Back on the bridge, Moreya said, "I will go, unless you wish me to stay. At this point, your friend can take far better care of you than I." ~/Don't be afraid to let him/,~ she added in a direct thought she knew Talea could now read.
Talea's energy levels were very low and it was all she could do to simply stay conscious. She knew she needed help and food, and both swiftly, yet the Captain had made it clear during her first shift that on-duty personnel were not permitted to depart the Bridge. It was a giant problem. If she left, got food and came back, she'd get fussed at or reprimanded. If she didn't leave and tried to soldier on, she'd pass out . . . and get fussed at and/or reprimanded. She closed her eyes in confusion, not seeing any way to avoid censure, no matter what she did.
"Moreya, I need help of another sort." She blushed furiously, which caused her skin to darken to nearly black. "I'm very weak. I have a feeling that my abilities unlocking like they did used up a lot of energy. Energy I must recover quickly, or I will pass out. Ideas?" She was grimly controlling her breathing now, trying to keep the full extent of her exhaustion from being known by that particular sign.
Moreya concentrated, sending a small flow of energy to Talea. "Go to your quarters. This is a unique circumstance, and no one will fault you for taking the rest of your shift to rest. If anyone questions, they may take it up with Doctor Cazook or with me." Seeing the discomfort that Talea was in, Skyler moved closer. "Ensign, I suggest you do as the Lieutenant suggested. You are relieved of duty until cleared by Doctor Cazook. You will not be reprimanded or punished. This was nothing of your own willful doing. You need to regain your strength before you will be of use to us." ~You have no need to fear me or any reprimands from myself or anyone else. I hope soon you will learn to trust me and believe me.~ "Ensign, you are hereby ordered to report to Sickbay or your quarters whichever is best for you. Sergeant Walker, if you would be so kind as to escort Ensign Erridim, I would appreciate it."
Talea sent, ~Thank you, ma'am. My concern was based on your words during my first full day here, when you said that Bridge crew on duty were not permitted to leave until end of shift. My apologies, as that concern did translate into fear in this circumstance.~
Turning, Skyler looked at Moreya, "Do I come across as that mean or strict that I wouldn't take another person's situation under consideration? I don't understand?" Frustrated, she returned to her seat in the center of the Bridge and thought about all that had happened.
Talea sent the Captain in a tone of chagrin and renewed shame, ~And thank you. I do trust you. It will just take some time for me to adjust. This, like my first full day aboard, has been a very traumatic day thus far.~
~/I understand. Sometimes I may come across as hard or something. If you ever have a question, just ask. Don't assume anything. I would never keep an ill person on duty. I will be more patient if you will be more patient and understanding with me.~/ 
//
Talea answered, even her mental voice becoming weakened, ~I understand, ma'am. And thank you.~
Walker continued to escort and steady Talea as they went toward the turbolift. Once the doors closed, he called out urgently, "Sickbay." In response, the turbolift seemingly dropped out from under them, it was descending so quickly. Talea simply collapsed against him, fighting for consciousness as her body threatened to go into full shock.
Moreya waited until the Regellians had left the bridge before stepping up close to the Captain's seat and answering her question. "I suspect you know far more detail about the Ensign's background than I," she said, softly. "But that background has left her bound by fear, to the point where sometimes, reason is irrelevant. To let go of the fear is her struggle; to understand it will be yours."

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