Title: The Man, Part Four
Stardate: Unknown
Location: Elsewhere
Setting: Sickbay
Chronology: Concurrent with https://usseagle2185.tripod.com/rbwomzb2.html
The man in Sickbay had a head injury and was having trouble thinking. The
blurry vision only added to the confusion.
"You're blind, Commander," the doctor repeated, watching the man carefully.
From the lack of reaction the prisoner gave it did not seem likely that it
had sunk in.
"Blind..Commander?" the man repeated back oddly. He knew that most people
who were blind were not totally blind, that they could discern some light
and darkness, but it was not being pronounced blind that confused him most.
In the pit of his stomach, the large growing feeling that something was out
of place - no seriously wrong - beyond any injuries he might have, began
to swell and grow within his being.
The man tugged on his sleeve and felt it. Nothing was there. Then he looked
for his collar and ran his hand along his shoulders. No clue was there either.
It seemed liked some kind of pajamas without markings.
"Where am I?" the man asked.
"You're in Sickbay," the CMO said.
"Why?" the man asked.
"What is the last thing that you remember?" the CMO demanded, ignoring the
question.
The man paused trying hard to remember, but another stab of pain from his
head, kept him from remembering anything clearly, were it possible. He grabbed
his head again and doubled over. "I.. I don't know," he stammered.
"You had a serious head injury. We had to do surgery," he explained.
The man paused. "I do not understand," he said.
The doctor rubbed his head. It had been a long shift and he was ordered to
move out all the patients soon to free up the Sickbay in case a large number
of prisoners came in suddenly. They were planning another attack as soon
as they found a certain small ship. It wasn't where they knew it should be,
but they had something more besides the advantage of history to find it.
They had been able to get one of their small experimental, cloaked ships
to follow it and a spy onboard it. It would be only a matter of time before
either reported in.
"You will remember sooner or later, Commander," the CMO said ominously with
his deep voice.
"Commander?" the man asked.
"Lieutenant Commander to be precise," the doctor said, watching his reaction
carefully.
The man just stared out blankly and confused. He blinked his eyes.
"Surely, you can't expect me to believe that you do not know that you are
not LCDR Nicholas Wei," the voice said.
"I..I ...Where am I?" the man said, not knowing if he was or was not the
person the doctor named, but thinking it best not to say anything either
way.
"I ask the questions," the CMO said. "Where were you going in your ship?"
it asked.
"I.. I don't know.." the man said.
"Where did you hide it?" the CMO asked.
The man stared blankly ahead again. It was easy to tell he was confused and
that none of this was making sense to him.
The doctor decided to not waste time waiting for an answer and tried another
tactic. "We tractored in some wreckage from your ship. We are going to be
able to retrieve your computer core," he said, trying to set things up for
an interrogation later and make the prisoner feel that they would learn the
information anyway so there would be no use in not telling.
"Ship?" the man said confused. He didn't remember a ship. ~Was I on a ship?~
he wondered. ~What ship?~
"Don't play that dumb with me, Commander. It is not going to work," the voice
of the CMO said.
A different voice piped up. It was muted and distant somehow. "He really
doesn't remember, sir," the young woman said at the other end of the large
room.
"Can he fake that?" the older doctor asked her.
"I don't think so, sir. He's human and it takes a lot of specialized training
to even get close to pulling off a deception of that level of difficulty.
I've only heard of a half dozen who can," she replied.
"Very well. Let me know when he does," the doctor replied.
"Yes, sir," she said, hating that she was forced to work in this terrible
place.
~And let me know,~ thought the man, confused by everything. He had no idea
where he was in time or space or anywhere in the galaxies or who he was or
even who they thought he was.
"Yes, sir," she replied exhausted. She did not notice that the prisoner said
something to her in thought and not speech.
The CMO thought nothing of the repetition of her reply to him. The young
woman always seemed very odd to him, even for a genetically engineered
telepath.