Medical Mystery PT 4
Posted on Sun Feb 15th, 2026 @ 12:12pm by Lieutenant JG Rowan Hale & Captain Rhenora Kaylen & Commander Savar cha'Salik hei-Surak Talek-sen-deen & Lieutenant Commander Aurora Vali & Lieutenant JG Olivia Voight & Ensign Kitiuas Thenis ie-Jia'anKahr & Commander Jennifer Baldric & Lieutenant Sarah Wilson
815 words; about a 4 minute read
Mission:
Beholder
Location: Sickbay
Timeline: Following Medical Mystery PT 3
The CMO didn't elaborate further. Not yet. He glanced over to Aurora, not yielding control but synchronizing.
“If you would like,” he added quietly, returning his focus to Batel, “we can proceed in stages. You choose the pace. But I will monitor your physiology and call a pause if your system overloads.”
A boundary. Clear. Medical.
“You are not alone in this,” he finished. “But we will not overwhelm you.”
Damned doctors and their protocols. Her own CMO aboard the Cayuga had been just as stringent.
"I understand. You say temporal stasis, like a pause in time? Temporal mechanics wasn't commonly understood in her time. "Spock mentioned cause and effect, that these can be reversed. You're saying time can stop as well? Or just me... within time?" Her words sought understanding of her new place in space and time.
Rowan let the question hang for half a breath before responding. "Temporal stasis is the simplest approximation," he said evenly. "From your perspective, time did not pass in a linear way. From ours, it did."
He stepped closer to the biobed, deliberately reclaiming the focal point. “But this is where I slow us down,” he added calmly.
He adjusted the biobed's readout so Batel could see it if she chose.
“Your neural activity is climbing again. That’s not unexpected. But if we pivot into theoretical temporal mechanics, you will exhaust yourself before you reach the part that actually matters to you.”
His gaze stayed level with hers.
“You were not outside time. You were sustained within it. Contained. Maintained. Preserved.” A beat. “That distinction matters later. Not now.”
He softened the edge just slightly. “For now, the only truth you need is this: the universe moved forward. You did not. And you survived.”
A quiet boundary settled in the room.
“We can discuss how,” he finished. “But not at the expense of your stability.”
Batel nodded, fatigue starting to dwell in her mind and her bones again. Ordinarily, a cup of strong coffee would get her a good few hours more. Did they even have coffee anymore? She could still smell the broth nearby and was reminded that she hadn't eaten properly in what seemed like forever. Her abdomen was still sore from when Gamble had struck her with the dark energy, or was that hunger pain? Sensation began to blur again.
Olivia stepped back over to where she had placed the cart with the broth on it and poured a little more into a new cup. She then grabbed one of the lids for the cup before stepping over to Batel. "Are you up for trying a little more broth?" Olivia asked.
Batel nodded, sagging against the biobed and closing her eyes for a moment. It was a lot to take in, but she had so many questions — a gnawing need to understand her reality.
Olivia patiently waited for Batel to take the time she needed, for she could tell that things were overwhelming to some degree for her. "You will get all the answers you want in time, Captain," Olivia softly said. "You just need to give your body some time to adjust and recover. Everyone here wants to ensure that you are safe and well."
Rowan watched Batel’s eyelids lower, the tremor finally easing from her pulse.
“That’s enough for now,” he said quietly, more to the room than to her.
He adjusted the biobed field, lowering environmental stimuli by a fraction.
“Counsellor, we pause here.”
He then turned to Olivia, without looking away from the monitors:
“Half a cup. Then we let her sleep.”
Marie accepted the broth, aided by a straw, and was determined to feed herself despite her waning strength. She finished what had been offered, and her eyes slid closed of their own accord, her body reasserting its need to rest and heal.
Rowan remained where he was until Batel’s breathing deepened. He watched the neural trace settle. Watched the micro-spikes taper into something steadier.
“Sleep is the first intervention she hasn’t resisted,” he said quietly.
He dimmed the biobed’s peripheral display, letting the room soften with it.
“We’ll reconvene when she wakes,” he said, turning to Aurora. “Preferably in the morning cycle. I’d like her first full conversation about this to be deliberate. Not reactive.” He paused briefly. “If she surfaces before then, I’ll contact you.”
It wasn’t delegation. It was coordination.
His gaze shifted to Olivia.
“Lieutenant,” he said calmly, “you’ve been covering extended rotation. Complete the Captain’s monitoring and stand down. I’ll remain.”
He returned his attention to the biobed, adjusting the containment field one final increment.
“No further cognitive stimulus tonight,” he added to the room. “Now we give her space to integrate.”
The hum of Sickbay settled into a steady rhythm.
“We move forward,” Rowan said softly, almost to himself, “tomorrow.”
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