Runner Up 2 20209.14

Future’s Image by Frensa Geran

© 2002 by Federation Space and the author pen named Frensa Geran

Once Guran regained her footing from the fall, she looked up slowly, her eyes wide with fear. There, Gregan, a tall, dirty and smelly Klingon warrior, breathed deeply. Under the light, cast only from a hole in the ceiling, Guran saw Gregan look up and roar like a tiger.

"Patach! Do you actually think your scronny woman figure can challenge the bulk of a Klingon master like me? Prepare for a world of pain you foolish girl!!”

His words rippled in Guran’s mind, sending chills down her spine. Gregan charged at Guran with enormous speed, sending dust flying behind him. His Bat’leth in front of him, like goat horns.

Guran’s fear held her in place as the mighty warrior charged towards her. She knew it was the end, she didn’t know how, but it was. As if on cue, the bat’leth jabbed into her side, right through her body, sending an electric feeling throughout. It was momentary bliss, followed by excruciating pain. All the Klingon did was smile widely, as Guran’s vision faded into a white light….

2 Days Prior

“ …and so I said to him, no you idiot, the plasma manifolds on! But it was too late and his face was as black as coal!” Guran said to a group of friends.

“That’s classic of Richard, always in a hurry.” Said one of her friends.

Guran was having a nice dinner, or should I say a large dinner in 10-Forward that night, socializing with her friends about work. It was a common tradition on Friday nights after a hard week of hectic jobs. Guran was the funny girl of the group, always telling jokes and smiling. Her blue Andorian skin radiated every time she did.

“Guys, I gotta tell ya, I’m exhausted. Johnson had me working double shifts for the peace conference on Romulus. I’d rather go to Risa.” Guran said, sighing. “So I better go, thanks for dinner guys.”

Guran stood up, smiling as usual and bowed to her friends as she spoke. 10-Foreward was practically a madhouse on account of Friday. Harry, the barkeeper, was about to go crazy as person after person kept on coming. It was hard to get through the people towards the door, but she made it. As she walked down the corridor, she wobbled slightly.

Romulan Ale, why, why Romulan Ale!?

Guran’s smile faded quickly once she was in the turbolift, she was about to fall asleep. And she would’ve if it weren’t for the hiss of the opening doors.

Getting up felt like walking with led in her boots, the 5 meter walk to her room felt like 5 miles. At one point she even walked into someone else’s quarters.

Finally finding hers, she immediately fell on her bed, without getting up for a few minutes. She walked over to her sink as dipped her hands into it, splashing water on her face. She changed her clothes, groaning the whole time, then walked over to her bed.

As she sat on her bed, it seemed to tilt against her. Whatever it was it wasn’t there before.

“Computer, Lights.” She whispered.

Her eyes widened and her antenna stiffed up as she glare at the figure on her bed. It was a Klingon man, leaning on the other end of the bed. She screamed in horror as,,m he turned to her, with a wide smile. Her first thought was to run, but she needed to tell Security.

“GURAN TO SECURITY, INTRUDER ALERT, THERES A KLINGON HERE, HE’S ON MY BED, PLEASE HELP!”

Guran ran quickly ran into her sonic shower, and closed the door. She began to cry, which she did often in times of crisis. At one time, on one of her hiking trips, she was caught in a snow cave for 3 days. To her, this was exactly like that, the smell of death around the corner. It wasn’t until the storm passed that she could contact anyone.

Once the Security Team arrived, Guran’s feelings felt as if they had just been rescued from a mountain. But something was off to her; she sensed confusion from them, as if nothing was there. She was not telepathic or empathic but her antenna sensed things like fear. Not unlike the animals of Earth.

A Doctor that had come with the group, had walked into her bathroom, calling her name out. Guran did not know who this woman was, but she sounded friendly. She crawled out of the shower and greeted her.

“Thank God you are here, did you find the Klingon?” Guran asked.

The Doctor looked puzzled and her mouth was thinking of something to say.

“Well, Miss Guran, we didn’t find any Klingon, do you know where you found it?” The Female Doctor asked.

Guran then had a confused expression. Her face looked almost insulted.

“What are you talking about, he’s on the bed right….”

Guran couldn’t finish her sentence once she walked into her bedroom. It was empty. No cell tissue or any sign that there was a 7’0 foot Klingon on her bed. Guran’s eyes were as wide, staring at nothing. She turned around in awe, trying to look for the Klingon. But with no success, Guran could not stand to be wrong, a flaw of herself.

“But I’m telling you he was there, honest!” She yelled.

The Doctor looked worried and pulled out a Tricorder to scan her.

As she did, her face turned from worry into shock.

“Miss Guran, I’m detecting something I didn’t find in your last Physical. There appears to be some kind of neuron imbalance in your brain. Appears to be caused by, …an unknown form of radiation. There’s activity but no source. How can that be?” She pondered. “I’ll take you to sickbay, and by the way, I’m Doctor Jill Riviera.”

Jill smiled at Guran and they both walked out the door towards Sickbay. Luckily it was on the same deck and Guran was glad, Romulan Ale last long in your system.

Sickbay

Jill tapped a few buttons on the biobed, Guran laid there, half asleep and slightly snoring. It was an easy nap, even though the Sickbay lights were very bright. Jill spoke to other Medical Staff as they worked to find out a cause.

“OK, 2cc’s of Trimexaline.”

That lasted for sometime, Guran woke a few times during the hours, her head filled with blood. It was like jail, but you were being treated, not held. But that’s not what it felt like to Guran.

“Doctor Riviera, how much longer!?” Guran cried.

The Doctor looked over to her, her eyes kept on a pad, and tried to think of an estimate.

“First of all, call me Jill, and second, you may be here for awhile. But don’t worry, we’ll only have you laying down for a few more minutes.”

Those last words to Guran were like telling a child no more school. Heaven. She had finally made a new friend, so it was partially worth it. For the next few hours, Guran and Jill would chat, only to become better friends.

A Few Hours Later: Sickbay

“…yep, and so then Rick left me once more, as if I was some toy for his amusement, I’ve grown stronger, I’m trying to forget.” Spoke Jill, chatting away with Guran. Which would soon to be common occurrence between them. Despite the Chain of Command gap, it didn’t change a thing.

“Good news Miss. Guran, I’m fully done with the scans. But… sadly my results aren’t so much better than that of a tricorder. Still some kind of radiation, sending strange impulses through your brain, which could be the cause of your hallucination.”

Guran got up quickly, about to scream at the Doctor, then realizing their friendship.

“Jill, I’m telling you, I honestly saw a Klingon man, smiling at me. He was even real, seeing as how his weight was pushing against me. It can’t be just a hallucination!” Guran said.

Jill cocked her head slightly, trying to think of a reason to believe her.

“Well, the good new is I’m finding no other abnormal behavior in your brain tissue, which mean you’re not crazy, I’ll talk to the Captain about this, maybe he can think of something.”

Guran smiled at Jill, and nodded her head. It was her way of thanking someone. To her, “thank you” was too vocal. Someone could hate a birthday gift from her and just say “thank you.” It would be an empty remark. So finally she decided to smile and nod; you can’t fake a good smile.

“Well I’m going to 10-Forward, all I need right now is a good drink or two hehe, and a good night sleep. Thank you Jill, give me a shout if your ever not busy.”

And with that Guran left Sickbay, on her way to 10-Forward…

10-Forward 15 Minutes Later

After Guran’s terrible day in Sickbay, a pointless one I might add, all she needed was a good drink and a little open air, which was hard to come by on a starship.

Guran made her way in, seeing all the officers drinking and talking away, 10-Forward on the ship was safe haven from orders and work. A bar for anyone that had a hard day. And then there was Harry. He was the barkeeper of 10-Forward, the poor guy gets run ragged every Friday night. Guran always looked up from her Friday drink and see him sweating away as order after order came by.

Guran sat down at one of the many barstools and called out Harry’s name. Harry and Guran went a long way back. Harry went to Star Fleet Academy for a few years, but dropped out to become a simple barkeep. And Guran went on to graduate. Since there was no money, it didn’t make much of a difference to him. Besides, he got to meet more people.

“Hey Harry, I’ll take a Cardassian Ale with ice. And I’m telling you now, I need it.” Guran called out.

Harry looked up from making drinks for just a moment and saw Guran. His eyes lit up like a school boy’s at Christmas. He slowly walked over to her, handing drinks to the thirsty ensigns and lieutenants along the way.

“Hey Guran, so kind of you to drop by. Cardassian Ale eh? Coming right up.”

Guran smiled and nodded her head.

For the next few hours, Harry and Guran chatted away about their days. Guran almost bored Harry to death about the procedures in Sickbay…

Meanwhile on the Bridge

After examining Guran, Jill needed to inform the Captain, maybe, hopefully, there was something he knew. Jill knew the Captain for many years, and were at one time married, which made things difficult for social interaction. His name was John Yemen or Captain Yemen as everyone else knew him. Very few people knew his first name, or anything about him for that matter.

Jill stepped out of the turbolift and saw that the Bridge was almost completely empty besides the Captain and a few Bridge officers. John turned to see Jill walking up to him with her head down as if trying to think of something to say.

“Doctor, what can I do for you?” He said, his Irish accent completely clear. He wasn’t even born near Ireland but his Father was, passing along the trait.

Jill stepped forward, right in front of the view screen. She never liked talking to him, but she needed to ask.

“John, I need your help. You see, a patient of mine, Guran Guran..” She said but was cut off.

“Guran? Why she’s quite a fine officer. On our last away mission she was our medic, a real go getter. Now what were you saying?”

She just smiled, “Like I said, it appears she has some kind of neural disfunction. It has caused her to see things that aren’t there. Though she denies she is hallucinating. I was wondering If you knew anything about it?”

He was quite puzzled, putting his index finger above his lip and thumb on his cheek. “Well Jill, I can’t say I know. I’ve heard of hallucinating, but through a neural disfunction? Never.”

Jill just looked down again. She had always known the diagnosis, but this was beyond her.

“Well thank you anyway. I’ll just go to my Quarters. Maybe there’s something I missed in the Federation Library.” She said politely.

He looked a bit confused. “But Jill, we haven’t exactly been talking lately. I’d like to, maybe tonight?” He said, as nervous as a teenager.

All she did was shake her head and smile. That’s all he needed anyway.

Back in 10-Forward

“Well Guran, not to be rude, but I have a lot of work to do. Maybe we could go out to dinner though. Say, Friday?” Harry asked.

Guran’s blue Andorian skin turned red in the cheeks to the offer.

“Well that would be very nice. Come to my Quarters on Friday at eight o’clock.” She said skipping away to her quarters.

As she entered the turbolift, her dizziness increased dramatically.

“De-Deck 5.” She stuttered as she lay on the floor. The lift arrived and she stumbled out and in front of her doors. As they opened, her heart rose to her throat.

It was the Klingon! Not on her bed, but standing near the door, looking at her angrily. She ran as fast as she could away from her door and stopped just dead of the turbolift, tapping her commbadge.

“GURAN TO SECURITY, THERE’S A KLINGON IN MY QUARTERS AGAIN, I DON’T KNOW HOW HE GOT IN, JUST PLEASE HELP.” She said in a panic.

“Miss Guran, please do not enter your quarters, we’ll be there shortly.” A tough sounding man said over the comm.

Just as he had said, a few moments later a group of security officers came, but to once again find nothing. All they told her to do was to just get some rest. But that wasn’t very easy for her to do. Every sound, no matter how slight, made goose bumps spread across her in a shiver.

Meanwhile on the Bridge

“Captain, there is a Klingon Bird-of-Prey crossing the neutral zone on a course to a small planet. Shall I hail?” Lieutenant Richardson asked the captain.

John sighed, trying to let out some of his tension. With Jill, a peace conference, and an out of line species, he needed to.

“Yes, open hailing frequencies.” He said.

There popped up a quite disgruntled Klingon holding a piece of meat.

“What do you want Star Fleet!?” The man yelled.

The Captain tucked on his shirt and reviewed his opening sentence, the one he had to say in every meeting. “Greetings. I’m Captain Jonathan Yemen of the Starship Dredger, may I ask what your doing crossing the neutral zone?” He politely said.

The Klingon just tore off a piece of meat and belched.

“If you Human’s had half a brain, you’d know that according to the Khitomer Peace Accords, Star Fleet allows ships to pass the neutral zone and head only to the Gregur star system during the K’Jhak Festival.”

The Comm officer looked to the captain, “That is their heading sir..” He said.

Must of slept through that part of the Acadamy..

He thought and smiled.
“Of course. May I ask, what the festival is about?” His interest rose. He always enjoyed knowing about how other species spent their time.

“Let’s just say, it is a place of endings.” The Klingon said, ending the transmission.

“Helm, set course to the Gregur system, engage!” He yelled.

Maybe we can find Guran’s cure here..

The Next Day: Transporter room

The Captain had ordered Jill and Guran down to the festival, to find anything that may help. Guran never slept the whole night, but that’s what coffee was for.

“Guran, lets get going alright?” Jill yelled.

They both stepped on the pad and the blue haze surrounded every atom, sending them down to the metropolis below.

It was an all out parade. Confetti and stockings of all kinds filled the streets, as music and food covered the back rounds of the senses. To the right of a street were gift shops and medicine area’s, and two the left, a small domed stadium, covered in Klingon writings.

“Alright Guran, I’ll ask the merchants and medicine men. I want you to check in that building.” Jill ordered.

“Aye ma’am.” Guran replied and stepped into the building.

Inside, it smelled of Klingons and the sound of cheering and booing could be heard. There was stadium seating, with a small dirt pit in the center. As Guran tried to get through, she accidentally bumped a few Klingon watchers, who didn’t take kindly to women being there.

“Hey, you damn Andorian! How dare you bump me! I should throw you in that pit and have Gregan finish you! Hmm… I should!” He yelled, picking her up and throwing her down into the hard pit.

Once Guran regained her footing from the fall, she looked up slowly, her eyes wide with fear. There, Gregan, a tall, dirty and smelly Klingon warrior, breathed deeply. Under the light, cast only from a hole in the ceiling, Guran saw Gregan look up and roar like a tiger.

“Patach! Do you actually think your scrawny woman figure can challenge the bulk of a Klingon master like me? Prepare for a world of pain you foolish girl!!”

His words rippled in Guran’s mind, sending chills down her spine. Gregan charged at Guran with enormous speed, sending dust flying behind him. His Bat’leth in front of him, like goat horns.

Guran’s fear held her in place as the mighty warrior charged towards her. She knew it was the end, she didn’t know how, but it was. As if on cue, the bat’leth jabbed into her side, right through her body, sending an electric tension through her. It was momentary bliss, followed by excruciating pain. All the Klingon did was smile widely, as Guran’s vision faded into a white light….

The End.