Butch and Sundance

Posted on Wed Feb 14th, 2024 @ 2:31am by Ensign Sheldon Parsons & Lieutenant Axod Qo & Lieutenant Xex Wang & Lieutenant JG Leighton Romanowski

Mission: Stardust and Sin
Timeline: Mission Day 2 at 1941

[Corridorr]
[Hukatuse Tagumik]
[1941 Hours, immediately following 'Well Drinks']

As Sheldon had indicated, Hukatuse Tagumik's infirmary was not far from the Gravity Well bar. Whether that was accidental or by design, Xex could not say. The whole station had a haphazard feel to it, like it had been cobbled together without rhyme or reason, and yet, it seemed to function perfectly well. Certainly a place like the Gravity Well seemed ripe for producing injuries, and those injured parties would not have a long or convoluted trip to the infirmary. Once clear of the bar, it had taken the group only a few minutes to traverse a fairly straightforward path that had brought them to door slightly larger and more well-lit than the others along the corridor. What truly drew the eye though, was that the door was emblazoned in high-viz markings with a wide variety of symbols Xex assumed were synonymous with medical care. Certainly the only one he recognized was the medical cross; the others were as foreign as the station itself. Nevertheless, they left no doubt as to the facility's function.

Nearing the door, Xex slowed, motioning for his companions to do the same. "Alright gents, before we go in, a word of caution. We don't know anything about medical practice here-- it might be difficult to get this Doctor Zamayah to divulge any information about their patients. I know I would be pretty dubious about a large group of unknown people asking about someone I only just patched up. We'll need to take it easy," he warned. Gray eyes roaming the group, he tapped the blunt ends of his fingers against his upper lip before coming to a decision. "Leighton, Doctor Qo, perhaps you'd best take the lead-- you two seem disarming enough," he flashed a grin at them, although it didn't entirely lighten the concern that had settled over him since learning of Kaldri's injury. "Sheldon and I can hang back. Perhaps see what some covert scans can get us?" Xex lifted his brows at the engineer in question, patting his own thigh pocket wherein his tricorder had remained thus far.

"Of-of course, Doctor," Sheldon said, looking relieved at the idea of hanging back. He was, after all, an engineer and not at all skilled in the realms of talking to people or convincing them to divulge protected information. His specialties lied in scanning and working with tech, so he let the People-people do people while he, instead, did as the Doctor had suggested. The tricorder in his pocket -- set for passive scanning even while closed -- softly trilled via vibration against his leg instead of audible warbles, indicating scans were in progress. The results of said scans were fed to Shelly's PADD, which was innocuous enough to be looking at while wandering around without drawing too much suspicion. I'm getting better at subterfuge, he thought to himself as he reviewed the data.

Qo nodded his understanding. "Sounds good boss." He took couple calming breaths, centring his thought on the task at hand. The Doosodarian looked over to Romanowski, hoping that they would suddenly develop the ability to communicate with each other telepathically. No avail. He relented, and lowered his voice directing it towards Leighton, "So what's the play? Good cop bad cop? or..." He smiled to himself at his use of an old Human trope.

Leighton looked towards the façade of the infirmary, before looking back over at Qo. "Well, since your the doctor between the two of us, perhaps you should be the one asking all the questions," he said before giving a slight smile, "Which would make you the good cop."

Axod nodded. He always knew he could rely on charm, and hoped that the 'good cop' routine would be enough to get the information they needed.

Leighton followed the Doosodarian across the short walk before they crossed the threshold into the infirmary. There were two things readily apparent when they entered: the first being the stark contrast from the outside station. The inside closely matched the outside station environment. The amalgamation of equipment that was jammed into the area was impressive. The air smelled of disinfectants, and the interior was obviously cleaner than the rest of the station, but large bundles of cables could be seen in various locations. The second was the sheer number of people in the waiting area. Various species with injuries to varying degrees sat waiting in a line to get scene by the medical staff who wore identical white uniforms.

Leighton looked over at Qo, "Perhaps there is a 'physicians only' line we can use?"

Chuckling, Axod stepped up to one of the white clad staffers. "Sorry to bother you when you're clearly very busy," He began, the medical worker moved away from him as he spoke, attending to another patient "I wondered if you might point us in the direction of Doctor Zamaya." The Doosodarian man put on his most charming smile and pushed his red hair back with his left hand. His loose top hung lazily from his shoulders as he leaned down slightly to speak to her.

With a light hand on Parsons' back, Xex steered them into the well-marked door behind the good-cop-bad-cop pair, letting Sheldon focus on his PADD while he took in the infirmary's atmosphere which was considerably busier than he had been hoping for. In fact, they had to step hastily out of the way of an amphibian-looking alien whose neck pulsed quickly-- too quickly to Xex's untutored eye-- and whose color could only generously be described as 'gray.' He wondered what ailed the poor being and only with some difficulty managed to jerk his attention back to the infirmary itself. Although fairly well-appointed, it definitely shared the cobbled-together look of the greater station, as though that biobed and this diagnostic suite had been scavenged from separate lives before their installation here. Hell, they probably had been.

A quick once-over of the waiting patients assured him Kaldri was not among them-- although Xex had thought it unlikely she would still be at the infirmary, and knowing what he did of her, even less likely she had returned for follow-up treatment, he could not help but look for her. "Hope forever blooms," he muttered under his breath, sounding as thought he were quoting something. His visual scan did not turn up the Kazon woman, but it did snag on an unusual bit of equipment and, like a moth to flame, he found himself drawn toward it, as his curious mind began making and rejecting theories about its use.

Leighton had watched the nurse, if that's what she was, walk away to another patient ignoring Axod's question before giving him a glance and wry smile. "Perhaps she didn't hear you," he offerd before he scanned the room and spotted someone who seemed to have nurses coming to him the most. "Perhaps that's him," Leighton asked as he pointed to the man.

Axod crossed towards the man Leighton indicated. "Excuse me, my partner and I were hoping to find Doctor Zamaya, he may have treated a friend of our recently, who we've lost track of." The Doosodarian man was sure to keep his voice even and his face friendly. "That wouldn't happen to be you would it?"

"That is negative/not correct/flawed," the alien in question responded. Like many on Hukatuse, this particular person was from an aquatic species of some kind; large gills waved like palm fronds on his neck, collecting the hydrogen from the air it needed to breathe. Holding a display device -- and furiously entering information into it -- the alien didn't even look up at Axod as it replied. "Doctor Zamaya is currently in a procedure. It is doubtful/unclear/dubious that she can help with your lost friend. You'll have to wait for her to..."

"Oh, no waiting needed," came another voice, this one somehow both playfully husky and world-weary all at the same time. "Just finished up, Ponjo. They're cleaning up Bay 2 now if you want to triage the next patient in." The owner of the voice was a woman dressed in what passed for surgical scrubs on Hukatuse. Unlike the various nurses working in the small facility, though, her scrubs were royal purple in color. She wore a matching cap to restrain her hair and a large surgical mask in cool-blue covered a good portion of her face. The woman's eyes, though, were perfectly visible: they looked upon the Starfleeters with interest as her triage nurse moved off to re-fill Bay 2 with a new patient.

"I'm Doctor Zamaya," the woman said, dipping her head in greeting. "Did I hear something about a lost friend?" Reaching up -- keen to take advantage of a little downtime between patients -- the doctor removed her cap. Revealed was a mostly-bald head that almost looked as if it'd been badly burned. Various shades of pink, red, and pallid white blotted her marred and melty skin. Here and there patches of wispy hair grew and cascaded down to rest on the doctor's shoulders. And when Zamaya reached up to pull down her mask, the full truth of her race became immediately apparent. The doctor stared back at Axod and the others from behind a face that had been grafted over her own. The nightmarish realities of the Phage savaged the doctor's visage as she regarded Leighton and Qo with interest.

"V-Vidiian," Parsons stammered, suddenly stepping backwards at the sight of the Doctor. Unlike the advance team, he was still hanging back, surreptitiously scanning. But Xex was close to where he was standing and likely would have heard Shelly swearing under his breath.

Judging by the speed with which Xex's head jerked up from the odd-looking equipment, he certainly had heard Parsons' hushed exclamation. He put out an absent hand to touch Parsons' back, stopping the engineer from backing straight into a processing cubby that was currently spinning at high speed. Most of his attention however, was on the Vidiian in question. His expression was not one of fear or disgust though, but rather of rapt fascination. "So it is," he agreed with the engineer, his quiet voice suffused with excitement, "what luck, no?" Only a desire not to distract Zamaya's attention from their crewmates kept Xex from rushing forward to meet her himself. Sternly, he forced himself to glance at Sheldon's PADD screen. They were, after all, here for Kaldri. "Anything of note?" he asked, with a nod toward the PADD, more to distract himself than to distract the distraught ensign.

Parsons -- with some difficulty -- pulled his attention away from The Vidiian and focused it on his PADD instead. The readings were feeding into it, information scrolling across the screen as he and Xex watched: The analysis of the DNA scan he'd been running had, sadly, turned up no signs of Kazon DNA. But also of note was the absence of any DNA older than 16 hours, meaning the staff there probably worked hard to sterilize the Infirmary at regular intervals.

"No dice," Shelly said with a slight sigh, letting the Doctor peruse the analysis on his own. "But that doesn't mean she wasn't here. Just that no traces of her DNA are currently present," the engineer appended.

Xex hummed deep in his throat, agreeing. "Believe it or not that is actually a good sign," he said, flicking through a few more of the datapoints before nodding and dismissing the PADD. "Speaks to the professionalism of the sterilization in here," he explained absently, "C'mon, it looks like they've got her attention." With that, he jerked his head toward the other two and began to sidle closer.

Leighton had noted Doctor Zamaya’s features and recognized her as Vidiian. He hid his reaction, remembering the briefing on the species he had received. “We’ got separated from our friend down in the market, and we heard that she may have been past here,” Leighton offered as he gave a slight smile. He hoped the story might seem plausible given the huge amount of people on the station.

Qo nodded as if to silently confirm his companion's story and eagerly watched the Vidiian doctor while awaiting her response. Ax had read all the required texts about the Vidiians, their culture, details of the Phage. It was a fascinating subject, one that he was very interested in.Still, he couldn't pretend not to suspect that Doctor Zamaya may have harvested organs from Kaldri while 'treating' her.

"It's a big station. Easy to get separated, certainly," Zamaya nodded. "It sounded like you thought I might have treated her recently?" A grafted eyebrow rose in curiosity as the Vidiian studied the features of Leighton and Qo. Something seemed off but she couldn't quite put her -- well, someone else's -- finger on it. "Perhaps you could tell me when she might have come through. I see lots of patients each day but I might remember her, if she had reason to stand out. Otherwise," she pointed to a nearby computer terminal, "we can check the records and see what we have. But I should warn you," her eyes turned serious, "friend or no, I respect my patients' privacy. I won't be able to give you sensitive information about tests or treatment plans..."

Axod nodded, he of course understood that confidentiality was a foundation of the medical field. "She probably would've been in in the last few days, a Kazon woman, we think she may have had some ummm... knife wounds." He tried not to sound as though they were the perpetrators of the violence against her, though he was sure that thought would cross the Doctor's mind.

"At least that's what we heard," Leighton added trying to assuage the Vidiian's thoughts. "She's a close friend of ours. We've been looking for her since we got seperated, then we started hearing these rumors and," he said before trailing off and giving a smile towards the doctor. "We wont ask about sensitive information, we just want to find her and make sure she is ok."

"I did see her, yes," Zamaya nodded, needing no time to review her recollections or use the computer. "I remember her well because she's the first Kazon I've seen in here in quite some time. That," she shrugged, "and because she's only the fifth person Corzo's knifed up this week. But listen, if you're close friends," the doctor's eyes narrowed slightly, that "something's off" feeling intensifying, "are you not in contact via communication devices? Seems a little strange that you'd need a Doctor she saw to help track her down." Folding her arms over her chest, her entire face seemed to lift in expectancy as she waited for an answer: an honest answer. Clearly, she wasn't some dimwitted patron in a bar: Zamaya knew something was fishy here, and it wasn't the aquiline aliens who inhabited much of Hukatuse.

Parsons gulped again, witnessing the exchange with Xex by his side. They'd approached closer but weren't near enough to engage in the conversation directly, though they could certainly hear just fine. Whispering to the silver-skinned man, Shelly said, "She sees right through them. Butch and Sundance are doing their best but..." he trailed off in worry.

Xex made a shushing gesture with his hands, palm down. "Give it a minute..." he advised the anxious ensign, but had rocked forward on the balls of his feet anyway, clearly ready to step in should the situation need to go from 'concerned friends' to a 'doctor to doctor' chat.

"We would be, if she had her comm device with her." Axod answered cooly, barely missing a beat. He shook his head feigning disappointment. "Typical that she would forget it, and then end up in some kind of trouble. Believe me we wouldn't have bothered you if we had any way to reach her otherwise." He kept his eyes neutral, but trained on the doctor.

Leighton nodded in agreement before offering a slight smile. Axod's explanation had been good, but he could tell by the doctor's expression she wasn't fully buying their story. He just hoped that maybe Parsons could find something on his tricorder while they waited, otherwise if the doctor refused to give them any information they would be stuck between a rock and a hard place.

Zamaya considered Axod's explanation for a moment. Through the skin grafted atop her Phage-ravaged face, it was somewhat difficult to decipher what the Doctor might be thinking from her facial expressions alone. "I see," was all she said, the gears her in mind turning over and over as they chewed over the answer given. The explanation must have been enough to mollify Zamaya's concerns because, suddenly, the Doctor nodded and then moved over to the work station she'd previously gestured to.

Xex, who had been focused intently on the doctor's face as though intense scrutiny would allow him to decipher the foreign movements of her grafted features, relaxed when she moved, easing his weight back on his heels. He lifted his brows at Parsons but was too distracted for a full 'I toldja so.' Everything about the woman's body language now screamed 'helpful' so Xex motioned Parsons to stay put and began to ease toward the back for the infirmary. Too many of them grouped around the Vidiian and her terminal would be suspicious, and he certainly did not intend to leave without satisfying his gnawing curiosity at the rest of the medical gear she had amassed on this hidden station.

"Alright then," Zamaya said, offering Qo and Leighton a slight smile, "let's see what I've got on your friend. While I do remember her coming in for treatment, I've seen a lot of patients over the last few days. Helps to refresh myself on the details."

The workstation Zamaya used was situated atop a wheeled stand meant to move the computer wherever needed within the confines of the room. The Doctor adjusted the stand's height down from the previous user's so that she could better tap the controls and read the display. It took several long moments for her to pull the records from Kaldri's visit and, as she reviewed them, Zamaya suddenly tensed.

"I think I know why you haven't heard from your friend," the Doctor said, her crestfallen look unmistakeable even behind the face grafted atop her own. "I did treat her for several lacerations from the knife fight with Corzo. Patched her up well myself but another patient came in who was in much worse shape. I handed your friend over to one of the techs to finish up and scrubbed in with my other patient. I'd assumed," Zamaya went on, "that Kaldri had simply gone about her business afterward. But according to the tech's notes...that was not the case."

"It seems," the Doctor said somberly, "your friend was wanted by the station authorities. I don't know what she did or why they wanted her," Zamaya explained, "but the Enforcers apparently caught up to her here. They led her outside to discuss whatever it was and, at that point, my tech logged it and moved on. I'm afraid I don't have much more information to offer. Except," her eyes narrowed as an idea struck, "maybe this. Hold on," the Doctor instructed, again tap-tap-tapping at the controls of the terminal. "Ah," she said, nodding and then gesturing Qo and Leighton closer to the screen. On it was video playback of the area in front of the Infirmary, with various people coming and going.

"We've had some issues with break-ins around here after hours. Hence," Zamaya explained, "we installed some security monitors outside awhile back. They're visual only -- sorry," she frowned, "but if I dialed this up correctly, we should see your friend coming out with the Enforcers any moment now."

After a few seconds of additional footage, it happened: the clumpy, crusted hair of a Kazon female came into view as Kaldri herself was led out of the Infirmary by two Enforcers. They held her at the elbows near the bottom of the screen before dragging her further into the camera's viewing angle. Standing almost dead center now, the footage showed the woman arguing with the Enforcers before they forcibly grabbed her wrists, pulled them behind her, and slapped on restraint cuffs. The Enforcers then led Kaldri -- who seemed not at all willing to go peaceably -- out of the camera frame.

The carefully composed calm that Axod had been skillfully plastering on his face since arriving on the station slowly fell and he shot a look of concern to Leighton. This was a more complication, to an already hectic situation. He returned his gaze to the Doctor. "Do you happen to know where the Enforcers usually take people they arrest?" He asked earnestly.

Leighton also held a look of concern as he waited for the doctor's response. But they now had proof that they were on the right trail as he looked again to the monitor at the frozen image on the screen. He wondered why the Enforcers had arrested her, but given her reaction it was possible that those Enforcers were not really officers. It' wouldn't be too hard to fake being a member of station security.

“Oh,” Zamaya said off-handedly, but not unkindly, “she would have been taken to the Ho--”

Anything else the doctor had been about to say was lost in a confusion of voices from the small infirmary's entrance. “--can't just barge in here, you know that, Mo!” one of Zamaya's techs was protesting. “Just because you're--” the tech cut off with a softly sighed, “Oh.”

Qo looked away from the doctor and towards the hullabaloo at the entrance. He couldn't be certain what was going on in the chaos, but it held his focus nonetheless.

Leighton had heard the increasing volume just a bit earlier that had started near the entrance. As those new individuals had pushed their way through, Leighton had taken a step back to make way while surreptitiously placing his hands in his jacket pockets to grip the small phaser he had. He gave a concerned glance towards Zamaya as her attention had been pulled away. He glanced back towards the crowd and spotted Xex through the gaggle of people.

Xex paused, his fingers dangerously close to an esoteric piece of machinery cleverly fit into the bulkhead near the back of the infirmary. He craned his neck, just able to catch a glimpse of an intimidating group of beings, well armored compared to the rest of the station's inhabitants and patrons, clearly organized into some sort of formation, clogging the entrance to the infirmary-- beings outfitted uncannily like the Enforcers in Zayama's video. Intrigued, he began to edge back closer to the entrance and as he stepped up to Parsons murmured, “Be ready.”

Ready for what? Xex did not expand, possibly because he did not know. All he did know was that they were now trapped in the infirmary by a group of well-armored individuals, and he did not like it. Nor did he like the tension in the armored group; it spoke of plans gone awry and nerves strung tight.

Sheldon had looked up from his tricorder display as the commotion began, eyes then meeting Xex's as the doctor stepped up to him. Be ready? he questioned wildly, his eyes going wide. Against those giant hulking people armed to the teeth while he only had a knife and a small hand phaser? He visibly gulped down his fear and then nodded to Xex. "I'll do my best," the engineer promise.

“Yeah,” came the dry voice from one of the armored beings near the front of the group, “Oh. He gonna live or what?”

The tech huffed in frustration. “Gimme a sec,” he said, and the entire group rippled and parted as he elbowed his way closer to whatever it was they held in their center.

Closer now, Xex pushed onto tip-toe to see what it was they were talking about, catching sight of a gravgurney, a figure strapped to its surface.

A wash of cold dropped Xex back flat-footed. Verdant Orion skin was hard to miss, and it had also not been much in evidence on the station so far. Xex swallowed and steeled himself before pushing past Parsons and toward the group of Enforcers. If he was wrong, no harm done. If he was right...

“This one too,” the woman at the front of the Enforcers said, jerking her head to her squad who brought forward another figure, this one at least mobile. Xex almost missed a stride, recognizing the well-battered but unmistakable features of one Lieutenant Cross.

“Seriously Mo,” the tech said as he began unstrapping the still form on the gurney, maneuvering the surface so that he could pull down some equipment and start it up. Xex's quick glance confirmed it was a diagnostic, “Your timing sucks.”

Mo, the woman apparently in charge of the Enforcers, shot the tech a grin. “We'll keep that in mind next time,” she said, her voice still dry. “In the meantime, make sure he doesn't cack it? The Gov wants them all alive enough to leave.”

Turning back to her squad, she gave a nod, and then raised her voice, “You're all free to go,” she said, “Just make sure I don't see you again.” As the Enforcers began to step back out into the corridor, it was clear she was speaking to yet more Sojourners: Ratthi and Marwol were left like flotsam in the Enforcers' wake.

Xex was barely able to register their presence; his eyes had been drawn inexorably to the diagnostic the tech had pulled down and set over the still figure on the gurney; unmistakably Timmoz, now he had a clear view of the Orion. While many of the infirmary's features were difficult to understand, lost amongst their cobbled-together nature, the diagnostic display was actually fairly straightforward, and it painted a stark picture of the Orion's injuries.

Drawn as inexorably as he himself had been, Zamaya stepped up to the diagnostic gently shifting Xex out of the way as though she didn't even register him as a living being, frowning in that odd doubled way necessitated by her grafted features. Clearing his throat, Xex said, “I am a physician, and this man is from my ship. I can help,” he added.

Zamaya did not immediately answer, listening to the report her tech was giving her, her eyes scanning over the diagnostic data. Finally, she turned to Xex and said, her tone flat, “How fortuitous that you are here.” Xex was hard put not to wince at the censure in that flat tone. She continued, “That is hardly an explanation for your snooping, but I shall not spit on Chance, if that is what has brought you here. He may well have need of your help, if he is to return to your ship as the Governor wants.”

“Phaelen,” Zamaya said, nodding to the tech who had originally received the Enforcers, “See to the rest of them. Especially her.” With a nod at Cross, and a sidelong glance at Xex, Zamaya returned her attention to the gurney.

“It's time to get to work.”


=/\= A joint post by... =/\=

Ensign Sheldon Parsons
Engineering Officer

Doctor Xex Wang
Chief Medical Officer

Lieutenant Axod Qo
Chief Counselor

Lieutenant JG Leighton Romanowski
Operations Officer

Doctor Zamaya
Hukatuse Head Physician