章節 35: Heroes and Demons: Part Two
Chapter 37: Heroes and Demons: Part Two.
(Time: Two hours later.)
Bini Filters POV
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"Me?" The Doctor repeated in disbelief. Believe me, I am in the same boat. They expect us...the Doctor and I, to save Harry, Chakotay, and Tuvok.
"A hologram can't be converted into energy. It already is energy. You're the perfect choice." Tom insisted as Janeway, B'Elanna, Tom, and Kes stood in sickbay with us. I stepped forward, grabbing the "crowd's" attention.
"Why do I have to go with him?" I asked in an annoyed tone.
"Because the Doctor might need back up. This is just a last chance scenario." The Captain explained.
"How do you intend to transfer me out of Sickbay?"
"We'll have to modify your data stream protocols and imaging systems. But the fact that you're going to the holodeck simplifies things. The projection systems are already in place there." B'Elanna explained behind us.
"And we're going to give you complete control over your magnetic containment field. You'll be able to make yourself solid or let the matter pass through you at will. Nothing on the holodeck will be able to touch you unless you want it to." The Captain added on.
"I see." He muttered.
"Think of this as your first away mission, Doctor. I can understand your hesitation. But there are three lives at stake, and you have the best chance of anyone on this ship to save them. Do you understand that?"
"Yes."
"Good. Your job is to find the photonic energy surge and scan it closely. We need all the data we can get. You'll have to interact with the characters in the holonovel, so make sure you're familiar with the Beowulf story. Your circuit modifications will be finished in three hours, and Bini, as mentioned before is there to help beam you two out in case you are attacked."
"Yes, Captain." we both replied.
"Computer, access full text of ancient Earth epic Beowulf including the historical annotation and cultural references." The Doctor ordered the computer as the Captain, B'Elanna and Tom all left sickbay.
"Data compilation in progress." The computer replied as we entered into his office and Kes stood at the doorway.
"Doctor?"
"Ah, Kes. Come in. I don't know how long I'll be gone, but my absence is no reason to suspend your studies. How are you doing with the protein synthesis text?" He asked, giving her, his undivided attention.
"I finished it yesterday."
"Good. Then you may as well start learning how to operate the base-pair sequencer. You'll find the manual in the technical database. Was there something else?"
"There's something bothering you." Kes stated as she approached him. I backed away from them, letting them have what looks to be a moment.
"Not at all. Now if you'll excuse me, I have a great deal of preparation to do." The Doctor snapped at her and sat down at his desk, swiftly turning on his computer.
"You're nervous about this mission, aren't you?" She concluded. I scoffed and rolled my eyes, a hologram? Being nervous? Please, this guy is not nervous!
"Nervous?" The Doctor repeated with haste. "I can perform emergency surgery without getting nervous. I can make life-or-death decisions about patients without getting nervous. What makes you think I'm nervous?"
"Those things are familiar to you. You've been programmed to do them but, this is different, isn't it?"
"I can describe every detail of every piece of equipment in this Sickbay from biobed to neurostimulator, but I've never even seen a sky or a forest, let alone Vikings and monsters. I can't afford to fail but I don't know what to expect in that holodeck." The Doctor admitted.
"It's the holodeck! Not a real planet!" I argued. Kes shot me a "Not helping." glare and stepped closer to the Doctor.
"You've been telling me that you deserve to be treated like a member of the crew. Well, here's your chance. And I can tell you that none of the crew knows exactly what to expect when they go on an away mission. Doctor, have you chosen a name for yourself yet?"
"I have narrowed the list to three possibilities." He replied.
"Then let me suggest you choose one before you go. It might help you feel more like a Starfleet officer." Kes suggested.
"You may be right. I'll give it some thought. And Kes, thank you."
"Good luck." She said. I pulled up a chair and sat on the opposite side of his desk with a joyful smirk.
"Names, huh? Care to tell?" I asked with a side eye. He looked up at me with annoyance.
"It's not like you could help me, Ensign. So no." He snapped, I shrugged and leaned back.
"Spoiled sport. Maybe that should be your new name."
"Can you just grab a padd and get to work already."
"Yes, sir."
---20 minutes---
The Doctor and I had finally reviewed enough about the situation to get at least a somewhat clear picture of what was going on and where ready to transport. I attached a phaser and tricorder onto my belt as the Doctor nervously paced, as Tom watched us curiously. He, then, tapped a few commands into the sickbay terminal and tapped his combadge.
"Paris to Janeway. We're ready for the transfer, Captain." He reported.
"Good. Go ahead." She acknowledged.
"How about you, Doctor? Are you ready?" Tom asked and the Doctor hesitantly nodded.
"Of course." He replied, then Tom looked at me.
"How about you, Bini."
"Ready. Let's get this over with." I snapped.
"I've already transported the Doctor's tricorder onto the holodeck. Engaging transfer circuits now." Tom reported and the Doctor shimmered out of the room. "Energizing Ensign Filters."
The transporter beam grabbed me and I reappeared in a dark lush forest with the only source of light was the full moon overhead. The Doctor stumbled around for a moment, picked up the tricorder and ran his hand along the tree bark in amazement. Right, it is the first time he has experienced this.
"Is everything all right, Doctor? Ensign Filters?" The Captain asked over the open channel and since the Doctor was the leader of the "mission", I let him answer.
"Yes. There were no problems with the transfer or transport. We're on our way." He reported.
"Acknowledged. Janeway out."
We started to move in silence and follow the dim light of the castle in the distance, when suddenly a spear flew past my face, barely missing me and thudded into the tree beside me. I screamed and swore in panic, then collapsed to the ground as my heart raced, causing the Doctor to look around in panic.
Then Freya, the king's daughter, who I barely read about in the story came through the forest with a determined look crossing her face. She is a pretty boring character...much like the other one's
"Speak as a friend or stand challenged." She roared. Honestly, it annoyed the hell outta me, I will admit as I scrambled back up in haste. "I am--"
"Yes, you're Freya, the king's daughter." The Doctor interrupted. "A female warrior is known as a Shieldmaiden."
"We have never met and yet you know my name? Are you a sorcerer?" She demanded, pointing the sharp spear she held closer to his neck and giving me a quick untrusting glance.
"Like hell he is." I muttered.
"No. It's simply that your reputation precedes you. A warrior of your skill. You're quite famous where I come from." He argued.
"I did not know that word of my deeds has carried to other lands. Tell me what you have heard." She demanded.
"Well, your battle with--"
"Scyld, the Gar-Dane?" She interrupted.
"It's practically legend. An incredible story."
"I burned his hall to the ground. There was nothing left but ashes." She roared happily.
"Charming." The Doctor and I replied sarcastically.
"And did you hear of my campaign against the Heatho-bards to the south? I fought them for--"
"I'd be delighted to hear all about it but I'm on an urgent mission of my own. I'm looking for Grendel."
"Only a warrior would seek that which others flee. What are your names?" She asked.
"I'm glad you asked. My name is Schweitzer. Doctor Schweitzer." The Doctor proudly announced. I leaned over and grabbed the Doctor's attention and started to whisper.
"That is a stupid name. Out of all the names in the world, you chose that? Where the hell did you pick a name like that from? Earth cooking?" I snapped. He glared down at me.
"You're one to speak. What type of name is Bini Filters anyway?" He snapped back.
"I will have you know that my middle name is Faustina. At least one part of my name - Is an ACTUAL name, Schweitzer." I barked.
"Schweitzer. A hero's name. What is yours little one?" Freya asked, interrupting our argument. I groaned internally and looked towards her.
"Bini Filters." I snapped. She smiled and nodded, then gestured us to follow her down the lush path.
"Come, I will take you to the king. The hall is not far from here." Freya said and lead us through the forest, stopping abruptly to pick up a few mushrooms, which she spun around with a big grin on her face and showed them to us.
"Look, fortune is with us. Atuta, a most powerful plant." She commented. The Doctor and I leaned forward and examined it.
"What exactly are you going to do with it?" I asked. She opened a pouch on her and slipped the mushrooms inside.
"We brew the Atuta into a broth which we drink before the battle. It brings on the spirit of the bear and gives us the strength to swing our swords."
"It's more likely to bring on profuse sweating, convulsions and acute delirium. This is an amonita muscaria, a fungus common to sub-arctic climates and, let me assure you, quite poisonous." The Doctor chimed in. Freya rolled her eyes and kept ongoing.
"Yes, but those it does not kill it makes strong. A most hardy plant. Are you a master of herb lore?" She asked.
"In a way, I suppose I am." The Doctor said, puffing up his chest as I could practically sense his ego being boosted as we kept ongoing.
"You are truly a man of many talents, Lord Schweitzer. Your people must value you greatly."
"You would think so." He mumbled and looked towards me. I shot my tongue out in defiance and skipped forward. We entered into a clearing where the castle sat. Freya pushed two huge doors open into the castle's great hall and we all entered into the building.
"Hail, Lord Hrothgar! I have brought new friends, Schweitzer, who has come to destroy Grendel, and Filters. Greet them well." She announced, catching the attention of the room.
"I would bid you welcome to my hall, but the days of glad tidings are gone from this place." The lord announced back with nods of agreement from others in the room.
"I'm sorry to hear that, but with your permission, sir, I'd like to stay here tonight and wait for Grendel." The Doctor announced.
"To what purpose?" The aide announced next to the lord with distrust. "To raise false hopes again, as have others before you? Leave us alone in our misery."
"I'm afraid I can't do that. I have a mission." The Doctor replied and I stepped forward.
"Not to mention that if you don't let anyone help you, you are all screwed anyway." I barked.
"Your names means nothing to me. There are no songs of your deeds nor stories of the battles you have fought. Who are you to believe you can slay Grendel?" The aide barked at us. Who the hell is this guy to tell us what or what not we can't do!
"Shut your god damn mouth-" I yelled but the Doctor grabbed me by my mouth and dragged me back a few steps and let go, giving me a slight shove to stand next to Freya.
"Ignore my...assistant harsh words. She is immature. I'm simply a warrior. I'm only concerned with Grendel. I have no quarrel with you."
"Indeed you do. And if you will fight Grendel, then you will first prove your worth to me. Defend yourself!" The aide snapped and grabbed his sword. Freya quickly drew her own, it was a heavy two-handed blade and handed it to the Doctor.
"Fate be with you." She whispered and backed away. Some of the "warriors" at the big table in front of us laughed as the aide moved closer and swung his sword at the Doctor, which barely missed him.
"If this is your best, then you should thank me. Grendel would destroy you with far greater ease than I." He growled. The Doctor rolled his eyes and placed the sword on the nearest bench.
"This is absurd."
"So be it
The aide's swing went straight through the Doctor and the sword hits the floor, hurting his wrist. He fell to his knees in pain.
"You might want to put some ice on that. It'll take down the swelling." The Doctor snarkly replied.
"Our time of deliverance is at hand. We have been given a new champion, one whom weapons cannot hurt! The one who will destroy Grendel and end our suffering! All hail the hero! All hail Schweitzer!" Freya chanted, followed by the others. I groaned and shook my head. He is never going to get over this.
Next thing I know, we were shoved to the table and handed huge sticks of meat, the lord wobbled from his throne and sat beside the Doctor and Freya sat beside me, giving the Doctor adoring eyes.
"Eat. Eat." he insisted and we shared a look before picking up our...chunck of meat that quite frankly looked burned.
What...Um...What is it?" I asked.
"Elk. When I built this hall, the forest ran thick with them. But today, the game's more scarce. Enjoy it, Lord Schweitzer. It is a great delicacy in our land." He insisted. The Doctor but into it and took a chunk and swallowed awkwardly. He hasn't really eaten before so this must be new to him also.
"It's quite good."
"We rarely hear stories of other lands. Honour us with a tale of your home to gladden our hearts." He insisted on us.
"We are not really storytellers." The Doctor insisted.
"Please, indulge us."
"Yes. Tell us a tale of your prowess in battle."
"Well, there was the time I managed to stop the spread of Paronisti measles before it became epidemic. For a while, things were touch-and-go. Six people came down with it. Fortunately, I was able to isolate the endoplasmic virus and replicate it in order to form an antibody. Even then, it wasn't altogether clear I could create an effective vaccine, but I worked at it for seventy-four hours straight and managed to create an inoculation that successfully protected the crew." The Doctor boasted.
"What type of backwards world are you living in? The only reason you figured it out was because the Captain had a theory about it. Why don't you add that into your little tale?" I argued.
"Oh really, and have you done anything amazing like...I don't know...saving an entire crew of 149 people recently? I don't think so."
"Actually I saved the Maquis from complete destruction. What have YOU done that compares to saving thousands of lives? Hmm?" I shot back. I didn't send info to the Maquis to have a hologram try to be better than me.
"You'll excuse me, my lord, if I take leave of this folly." The aide announced and left the main hall quickly.
"A truly unique tale. Come, Lord Schweitzer. Allow me to show you around my home. If you are in need of anything, please do not hesitate to ask." The Lord replied and everyone started to dissipate.
"All I need is to find Grendel."
"You're a true champion, always ready for the fight. Ah, perhaps you would like some mead to fortify yourself for the battle."
"No, thank you. I'm fine."
"Away! You're disturbing Lord Schweitzer! It was with that weapon I made my first kill. I was eleven years old."
"You killed someone when you were eleven?" The Doctor repeated. I tugged on his uniform as the lord went onto La la land, the Doctor looked down at me with annoyance.
"It is not that unbelievable that someone can kill another person at the age of 11."
"How would you know?" He hissed.
"Because I may have killed someone when I was 11...Perhaps 10." I admitted.
"Why would you kill someone at 11!?"
"Life was complicated. Ya know...complicated!"
���That's your excuse for ending someone's life?!"
"Well, it was a Cardassian-"
"That doesn't justify ending their life!"
"Well, it's a poor weapon," The lord's voice interrupted us. "I agree, but a token of my youth. You must have similar trophies from your own childhood." He said.
"I don't remember much about my childhood." The Doctor replied.
"Well, I'm certain you distinguished yourself in battle many times and did honour to your father." He insisted, before the Doctor could reply, the aide showed up again.
"My lord! It grows late. It is time to retire." He hollered across the hall.
"Always with you it is time to sleep. Perhaps you have forgotten that the work of a warrior is battle not rest. You would do well to learn from Lord Schweitzer. This was a beautiful hall once, before Grendel. You will make it so again. You have our thanks."
"I appreciate your faith in me, sire." The Doctor replied and another character came and helped the lord to his room, leaving us with his aide who looked ready to kill us as he stormed over.
"You may have deceived them with your tricks, but the king is old and desperate for hope, and the rest are just fools!" He hissed at us but aimed it at the Doctor as I was mostly ignored.
"You have nothing to worry about, Unferth. Once I'm done with Grendel, I'll be leaving." He insisted. Wait that's the aides name? Unferth. Oh that is worse than both of our name together, god his mother must have hated him.
"We shall see. The morning will prove if your deeds are as strong as your words."
Unferth spun around and left the room, suddenly we heard a clatter and Freya was near one of the fires near the back of the room with her armour resting beside her.
"The nights here are cold." She explained. "I wanted to make certain you were comfortable."
"I appreciate your concern. I thought everyone had gone to sleep." The Doctor replied softly.
"Sleep does not come easily in this place. Not anymore. I was taught the world would end in winter. First there would be a desperate cold, followed by a demon who would devour the sun. It has been long since we felt summer, and a demon does walk these halls."
"Freya, your world isn't coming to an end."
"Hmmm, that's debatable." I muttered but was ignored by the both of them.
"Perhaps not. But it has changed. Every night, the monster comes. And every day, our numbers are lessened and no one will speak of it. No one speaks of the fear that he will be next. Each meal become quieter than the last, and after time, we barely speak at all. Do you know what it is to be alone among many and unable to speak your fears?"
"I think I do."
"How do you survive?"
"I'm still learning how. I'm sure that's not very helpful."
"Sometimes I believe I can see the moment of my own death. It comes in battle, I think, my sword raised high. It is said that fate often spares a doomed warrior if his courage can prevail, but there have been days when I have felt my own courage falter, and then you came."
"I'm glad I could help." The Doctor chirped as Freya got up and stood before us. A bit too close to the Doctor.
"Perhaps I can help you. Before combat, it is most important to stay warm."
"Well, you've done an excellent job with the fire. I'm sure I'll-"
Suddenly, she jolted forward and planted a kiss on the Doctor, then slowly and pulled back and looked at our shocked faces...I think mine was more of a horrified vibe.
"Fire is not the only heat, Lord Schweitzer. You know where I sleep." She muttered and hurried off to another part of the castle. There was a moment of silence before I finally spoke.
"Geez, she wants to get laid with you! God she must be desperate!"
"Bini! Enough!" He barked. I sighed and started to pace out of boredom, suddenly, strange sounds started to emit from outside. We both pulled out our tricorders and stood a few meters in front of the grand hall's door. The Doctor tapped his combadge as the sound grew louder and louder.
"Holodeck to Bridge." He said.
"We're monitoring you." The Captain replies from the bridge, suddenly the door swung open, revealing a light making its way through, tendrils started to reach out towards us and we started to backaway.
"Captain, I'm picking up readings of photonic energy."
"I think we are looking at it!" I added.
"Captain, it's right in front of me. It's some kind of photonic energy formation." The Doctor said and suddenly it flew towards us, wrapping one of the things around his arm.
"Doctor! MOVE!" I yelled. "Emergency! Get us out of here!"
Suddenly, it reached out and grabbed me. I saw a look of horror pass across the Doctor's face as I was yanked towards the light. I crawled against the floor in a fruitless attempt at saving myself.
But, I knew it was too late once the Doctor shimmered away and the light engulfed my vision and my body felt like it was getting torn apart.
———
Tom Paris's POV
"Sickbay. Report." The Captain barked. The Doctor shimmered into sickbay...without Bini and with only half of one of his arms.
"Er, I have him, Captain, more or less. I think you'd better come take a look at this." I reported as the Doctor stared at his...arm. There was a moment of silence of the channel.
"Where is Ensign Filters?"
"I wasn't able to get her out. I am sorry Captain."
"It is alright Tom. We will be there soon. Janeway out."
—10 minutes later—
"How does it feel?" I asked as the Doctor moved his new arm around and B'Elanna confirmed that it was fully connected to his matrix and the Captain carefully watched him from the sidelines.
"Apparently, contact with photonic energy disrupted your magnetic cohesion, but we're still not sure if that's what happened to the others." The Captain concluded.
"Captain, take a look at this. The readings from the Doctor's tricorder when the energy surge made contact with him."
"They're showing a synaptic pattern. I wouldn't expect to see something like this in photonic energy. Is this the first time those patterns have shown up like this?"
"Yes, but it's the first time we've had clear readings from a moment of contact. I wonder if I could produce these same patterns in the samples we have in Engineering."
"If you can, you might be able to get more information about how photonic energy damaged the holodeck systems."
"I'm on it." B'Elanna chirped.
"I'll give you a hand." I said and followed her out of sickbay.
---End of Chapter 37. Next: Heroes and Demons: Part 3---
AN: Yep. I know. Another short chapter. I am working on making them longer like before but-Haha-I am lazy as hell.
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