Data's Journey | By : K_nz Category: Star Trek > The Next Generation Views: 1351 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 1 |
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Data arrived at Sick Bay to find Neara wailing and thrashing in pain. She was in constraints with an IV in her arm which was administering an Ahmrian blue fluid. Data assumed it was her emergency blood supply.
The sound of her wails triggered an intense panic in him – a new feeling which, under the circumstances, he wished he did not have. He was finding it difficult to keep it contained enough to function.
There were nurses on either side of the bed, so Data raced to the top and cupped Neara’s head in his hands. “I am here now Neara. I am here,” he attempted to comfort her. Her wails continued and he stood there in petrified helplessness.
“Data… Data!” Dr Crusher yelled. “I need your help.” Crusher’s words broke through his incapacitating panic, and he went over to help her.
Crusher was holding a screen with a woman’s face looking out at them, “I’m trying to talk to the Ahmriana Prime Healer, but she doesn’t know much English. Neara’s translated when we’ve been discussing Ahmriana physiology, but she obviously can’t help us now. Can you help us?”
“Yes, although I may not know the Ahmrian names for medical terms. It may take me a bit longer to translate those,” Data explained.
“Alright. Let her know I’ve given Neara an IV of the blood we drew from her last month. That improved her vital signs and woke her, but she’s in incredible pain. I’ve given her every pain medication we have but nothing’s working. What should I do now to help her?” Crusher asked.
Data relayed the information and waited for the response. “You will need Deanna Troi who has been doing harmonic healing for Neara.”
Crusher stopped Data and hailed her, “Crusher to Troi, I need you in Sick Bay immediately.”
Troi was on the bridge and hurriedly went to the turbolift.
Data continued, “You will need an additional five people. It would be best if one had a very low voice.”
Crusher hailed again, “Crusher to Worf, I need you in Sick Bay immediately.”
He left his station and joined Troi in the lift. “One moment,” Picard had them wait. “Number One, I’m going to see what’s happening. You have the bridge,” and he got into the lift.
Data proceeded, “It would be best if the voices went up the scale, so the Prime Healer suggests three females, one of them being Counselor Troi, and three males. The lowest voice will need to be at her feet, Counselor Troi should be at her head, the two females should be on either side of the chest area, one closer to her shoulder and the other closer to her solar plexus. The two males should be on either side of the lower body, one by her hip and the other by her knee. They should be staggered in a zigzag pattern. They will need to sing a specific harmonic – the Prime Healer will send a recording to us. She says you may play this recording as well, just place it above or on her solar plexus, although it will not have the required potency. It is only for additional support.
“There is a way to help Neara with her pain, but it requires singing several tones at once, some of them outside human range.”
From Crusher’s study of Ahmriana physiology, she knew of their staggering vocal range. A typical Ahmriana had a range of over six hundred tones and could sing many of them at once. Neara’s ability was far greater, she had a range of over fifteen thousand tones and could apparently sing all of them at once, although she had never had reason to do so.
“I may be able to help Neara with this at a future point, but I would need to redesign my voice box to accommodate the required range. The Prime Healer says the best and fastest way we can help her is to sing the harmonic she will send us,” Data instructed.
Crusher mulled it over, “Nurse Ogawa can help. And there’s me, so we have enough females. There’s Worf, and you…” Just then Troi, Worf, and Picard entered Sick Bay. “… and it looks like we have our third.”
While Data had been relating instructions, the Prime Healer recorded Ahmriana singing the required harmonic. She sent it to Data with further instructions.
“Counselor Troi,” Data directed, “you will need to begin your healing as you normally do, but instead of singing into her chakras, you will sing the note I give you into her third eye area. Worf, you will need to stand at Neara’s feet and sing into the soles, but keep your head aligned with Counselor Troi’s so there is a straight path for the harmonic.” Data instructed the others where and how they needed to stand, how they were to sing their notes, and then sang everyone their respective tone.
Deanna began by touching Neara’s feet, then her head, then she went back down to her feet and drew her arms up Neara’s body, spreading them wide and making a circle three times. Then she went to her head and placed her mouth five centimeters above it. She looked at Worf. He lined his vision up with Deanna’s and put his head very close to Neara’s feet. The rest leaned over Neara’s body, Deanna nodded and they began to sing. They sang until their breath ran out and then sang their notes twice more. Data then assigned them the next notes in the progression. They sang these three times, and so on with each tone Data allotted them.
With each harmonic they sang, Neara’s wailing became softer, until it was a whimper. Finally, she stopped whimpering altogether and her breathing deepened. She appeared to be sleeping. Twenty minutes later, they began singing the final tone, and Neara started glowing the palest blue.
“We need to do this six times daily until she glows the proper color, which you will recognize Counselor Troi,” Data stated.
“If we’re going to do this six times a day, this table will need to be raised. My back is killing me!” Picard exclaimed.
“I’ll treat everyone’s back pain. And I will raise the table in the future,” Crusher assured. Data had not even considered the issue, given the fact he did not experience back pain. He appreciated what they had done for Neara all the more.
“Captain, I need to take Neara to Ahmria for further healing. They can do more for her than we can,” Data explained. “Their Prime Healer informed me they can get to us faster than we can get to Ahmria if we meet them on the Masana moon. That is four days’ travel at warp five, whereas Ahmria would take twelve days at warp nine to reach. Would it be possible…”
“Of course Data,” Picard cut him off and hailed the bridge. “Picard to Riker, lay in a course to the Masana moon, warp seven.”
“Thank you Captain,” Data gratefully acknowledged.
Data stayed with Neara in Sick Bay, he did not leave her side. She remained unconscious for eighteen hours, during which time they had done three more harmonic healings. The crew had since gone off to sleep, and Data had lain beside Neara on the bed, gently touching her and stroking her hair.
Her eyes slowly opened, and she saw Data there. “Ka’lee, are you OK?” she asked, her mouth dry.
“I should ask you that. You have been unconscious for eighteen hours,” Data imparted.
“Eighteen hours… I know you do not lie to me, and yet it is strange. I do not feel the need to pee,” Neara mused.
“They have means of emptying a person’s bladder if they are unconscious or incapacitated. They just emptied yours,” Data explained.
Sick Bay was darkened, and Neara asked, “Where is everyone?”
“It is seven in the morning,” Data informed her. “They will be on duty in an hour. There is minimal staff at present, but I shall let Dr Crusher know you are awake.”
He went to tap his badge when Neara stopped him, “No, I will be fine until she arrives. Let her sleep. I need to talk to you.” She asked for some water, and Data held the cup for her as she sucked it dry through the straw. She turned on her side, gingerly and with his help, to face him, “Is this your body, or did you put yourself into Lore’s body? The last thing I remember is your body lying on the table and Lore shaking me. I must have blacked out.”
Data explained they did not place his core memory into the ship’s computer, but rather, used his dream program in order to fool Lore into thinking his plans had succeeded. The collar was beamed into space and Lore deactivated and disassembled.
“Thank you for the delay,” Data acknowledged. “It allowed us to formulate a plan of action. I have been wondering, though… how did you get from the hallway to the transporter room with Lore so quickly?”
“I do not remember everything, I was in such pain. Perhaps I used my telekinesis to work the equipment and transport within the ship. I just knew I needed to get away – off the ship,” Neara obfuscated.
“And the bubble of energy with the blue lightning surrounding you – what was that?” Data questioned.
“It is a protective sphere, like Ahmria has around it. It was not raised in time and could not keep him out, because Lore is too similar to you,” Neara explained.
Data had a multitude of questions regarding how her sphere worked, but Neara was very weak. There would be plenty of time to ask her about it later. He went on.
“The Ahmriana Prime Healer said we should take you to Ahmria. We will meet your people on the Masana moon. We will go to Ahmria from there,” Data detailed.
In recounting events to the Prime Healer, she had suggested Ahmria as a place to heal Data’s brother. She felt confident they could repair his damage and bring about a change in his being. Starfleet had wanted Lore for study, but as Lore’s only relative, Data felt it was for him to decide. The Prime Healer offered if in thirty years they could not improve Lore’s being, then Starfleet should try and help him. Data decided this was for the best and explained to Neara why they would be taking Lore with them to Ahmria.
He also related the emotion chip had fused inside Lore. It was unusable to him now.
Neara stroked Data’s cheek, her hand trembling slightly from the exertion, “Are you very disappointed about the chip?”
“Somewhat, but not very, since I have begun experiencing emotions with you,” he confided. “Although my father was brilliant, I would be concerned the chip would affect me the same way it did Lore. Having emotions that have grown from my own neural net, my own being, seems a superior means of acquiring them.”
“I am glad you think so,” Neara said as she cuddled into his chest.
“I had another emotion,” Data conveyed, “a feeling of panic over your condition. You were wailing in uncontrollable pain.”
Neara looked up at him, “I am sorry. I do not want you to have unpleasant emotions. Lore was just so very angry – so full of hate – it felt like knives cutting into me. It opened my psi wound.”
“You never talk of what caused this wound. Would you like to talk about it now?” Data asked.
“No, I do not like to talk about it. I am very tired,” Neara said and buried her face in his chest. Data was curious, but knew from past experience that Neara would not discuss it. He thought it best to leave it alone and comfort her. He gently stroked her hair until she fell asleep.
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