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 <BOOKMARK:Chapter28>
 <fs x-large>**Chapter 28: The Closed Fist**</fs><wrap lo right>[[archives:do_no_harm#top|Top]]</wrap>\\ \\
+**Location: Main Bridge, deck 1, USS Republic**
+Kim Roth looked to the viewer with a grim satisfaction as she watched a spread of three photon torpedoes slam into the shields and defractive armor that protected the Dominion ship in battle. Zoe Beauvais had done her job well, and the torpedoes hit home. Unfortunately, Kim Roth hadn't counted on the fact that the Jem'Hadar onboard the remaining attack ship would be modulating their own shield frequencies to counter any tactical, or technical advantage that the Federation might have.
+The photon torpedoes hit home, but it wasn't enough, and in Republic's wounded condition, the cycling of the torpedo systems was slowed to a crawl. At this point, Roth wasn't sure how long it would take to get another shot, or if she'd even have the opportunity to fire again.
+"Tactical. Status of target?" Roth called out crisply.
+Zoe Beauvais checked her Tactical display and relayed its grim news. "Torpedoes hit, Captain, but damage to the attacker is...minimal. Their shields are at seventy-two percent. Armor unaffected."
+"Damn it." Roth hissed. If she could get through the shields, then the torpedoes themselves would make short work of the attack ship, but with the shields in place, that wasn't at all likely. The mood on the bridge was already tense enough when the turbo-lift to the bridge opened.
+As she looked around the chaos of the bridge, the turbo-lift at the back of the deck opened, revealing Shannon Harris, tending to the body of John Carter, who moaned and rolled over onto his back, revealing a sizable cut across his forehead.
+//"Sickbay to bridge!"// Saal Yezbeck's voice was over the intercom.
+"Bridge, Go." Roth answered, though she sounded very much in a hurry.
+//"Captain, we've got wounded filling up our beds quickly. We need Doctor Harris down here."//
+"Negative, doctor", she answered, looking toward the downed form of John Carter. As she might have expected, Shannon Harris had all ready "rezzed" into existence to tend to the ship's Executive Officer, though Roth had other concerns on her mind. "We've got damage reports coming in, and Harris is the best interface we have with the ship's computer right now. We need her talents up here for the moment. Roth out."
+Roth immediately looked to the ship's EMH/Pediatrician. "Doctor Harris? Is the XO all right?"
+Shannon finished running her medical tricorder over the gash in Carter's head and looked up. "He could use a dermal regenerator," she commented, "But yes, he should be fine."
+"Good." Roth said coolly. "I need you to synch to the computer and find out what's still working. Most of our interface panels are out of commission."
+Harris blinked. "I appreciate that ma'am, but shouldn't I... ?"
+"Now. Doctor. I have to know if the ship's going to go critical, or if we're leaking atmosphere, or god knows what!"
+Harris nodded, though she didn't like the thought of having to ignore patients. She could see that the welfare of the ship itself might well be paramount at the moment. "Aye, Ma'am."
+A moment later, she whisked out of existence, her consciousness now divided between understanding the ship's condition, and one particular patient in the arboretum.
+"Attacker, coming around again!" Beauvais called out from Tactical, as charged polaron bursts from the Jem'Hadar ship filled the main viewer.
+"Conn! Evasive! Zee plus twenty, Now!"
+\\
+\\
+\\
+**Location: Arboretum, deck 7, USS Republic**
+The Republic shook from the latest blow snuffing out the lights in the arboretum. It was a few seconds before the emergency lighting kicked in, casting the normally peaceful setting in a decidedly sinister light. The violent jarring motion sent Morganth to his knees.
+Near the main entrance to the arboretum, there was a faint whisking of photons as Shannon Harris looked around her environment. She'd tried to re-route herself to sickbay, despite the Captain's orders, and somehow ended up back down in the ship's green space. In the red, emergency lighting, she stood slowly and called out. "Hello! Is anyone here?"
+Morgath muttered unintelligibly. With the last blast he had hit his head and fallen down on all fours. As he realized what had happened, he struggled to his feet like a crazed man. In a calculated mad dash he carefully secured his plant. He didn't want the plant to be harmed; it was his child. It wasn't until things were secured that Talloc registered that someone had called out.
+Shannon saw the blur of motion as Morganth came out of the shadows in the reddened room. "Sure... there had to be someone down here. Wait... Morganth? What?" Shannon blinked again to make certain of what she was seeing. Morganth was a civilian, so that explained why she hadn't detected a comm. signal, but he should have been evacuated as soon as red alert sounded. "Morganth? What are you still doing down here?"
+Morgath started as he heard the pediatrician's voice pierce the red-bathed room. "I guess I did it again. I sometimes get so involved in my work that the outside world fades away . . . a strength or weakness of mine." He muttered something to himself about failed relationships because of the ability. It was evident that he still wasn't fully aware of the situation.
+Morganth Talloc was a civilian in every meaning of the word; he preferred time with his work and plants and had no desire to explore anything except what was in front of him. Shannon regarded the man with some skepticism. Even though the Ship's Counselor seemed fine with it now, it wasn't that long ago that Morganth had psionically attacked Tolkath. Thankfully, Shannon had been there, and her holographic nature had come in handy. She wondered if now, it wasn't happening again.
+"It's all right, Morganth." She assured him, as she stepped toward a small rocky outcropping. She sat down, hoping that her ersatz patient might take the hint. "Does the counselor know you're down here?"
+Morganth looked around dazed. Suddenly, he seemed to snap back into his surroundings. His senses were being overloaded with emotion all around him, fear, and controlled panic filled the air. "He told me to return to my quarters, but . . . I got distracted, had to make sure my plant was secured . . . What happened? What is happening?"
+Shannon did her best to try and calm Morganth's agitation. "The ship's been attacked." She looked back toward the door, locked down now, thanks to the ship's red alert status. "Our Vorta guest wasn't as infallible as she thought."
+Talloc's face went pale. It was as if he had seen death itself. "Uh . . . uh . . ." He muttered something unintelligible. Dr. Harris could tell something was dreadfully wrong as she watched Morganth stutter and trip over his words like a drunken sailor top-side in a hurricane. Suddenly it all burst out. "Where is Reittan? Do you know where he is? Is he alone? I someone with him? Is he ok?"
+Harris focused on Morganth, noting that his eyes had seemed to come alive with laser-like focus. "Morganth, please. Try to relax."
+"I know you have the ability to read his vitals . . . what's his brain activity like right now?? Is it at normal levels?"
+Shannon held up her hand. "Calm down, Morganth." She asked. "He's on the bridge, with the Captain." Shannon closed her eyes for a moment to communicate with the ship's computer, which she essentially was. "His bio-readings are all in the green. Is there some reason they shouldn't be?"
+Morganth sighed a breath of relief, and began to speak but stopped mid-breath. He eyed the Doctor carefully. "Is our conversation going to be recorded?"
+Shannon almost chuckled. She could see how, in his more lucid moments, Morganth could really be quite charming. "Not... if you don't want it to be, though I will retain a perfect memory of it. There's nothing I can do about that I'm afraid."
+Morganth made a decision, one he knew may save his friend in the future. He again began then paused. For a Talloc their word was their bond. Morganth was a better friend to Reittan than they both led on. They had grown up together, for the amount of time Reittan was on Betazed. He knew information about the Counselor that took an admiral's clearance to get.
+He had promised his friend and friend's family that he wouldn't share this information with any person; which is where he got his loop-hole. Dr. Shannon Harris wasn't a living person per se.  "He was different from the day he was born," he began as if finally getting some big secret off his shoulders.  "We have to start at beginning to understand it all."  Morganth began, "the Council of Houses nearly forbade his mother and father from procreating, if that was possible."
+Shannon nodded in understanding, then made her way to one of the many convenient benches in the arboretum. Better, she reasoned, to keep Morganth talking, than scheming a way to get out of the safest part of the ship.
+"Reittan's father's family is one of the few lines of Vulcans that can use telepathic powers beyond touch. Add that to a Betazoid's genetics, and no one knew what would happen.  They were scared," Morganth spat.
+"Sounds like a difficult combination. I always wondered about Tolkath's heritage. Vulcan and Betazed is an odd mix."
+"My mother always said it was a perfect balance for Reittan; Reason and emotion all balled up into one." Talloc chucked slightly as another shudder rocked the Republic, once again, Morganth was back in his dissociated world, responding only to the Doctor.
+Shannon leaned forward. "Don't worry about the ship, Morganth. This is one of the safest places we could be. Tell me more about how you and Tolkath became friends?"
+"Oh . . . we were neighbors. We were born a few months apart. I am the oldest." He continued. "Our mothers were best friends as they grew up. I was always told to stick up for him, because he was different." Talloc continued, "at least I did my best while he was on Betazed."
+"I'm sure you did. Was your childhood difficult?"
+"Not really. I grew up in the second house of Betazed. Where life was often politics. Between us and the Tolkath's I think we had someone from every party, every committee." He winked at the doctor. "Perhaps that was just a SMALL over-exaggeration." The Betazed smiled again and continued. "I grew up a normal life. I learned to love plants when my friend Reittan was gone to Vulcan . . . they had more feeling and kindness than many of the people around me. At least it seemed that way."
+Shannon fought her programming to turn away from Morganth. She had to remind herself, 'keep him talking, keep him calm,' "That's an interesting point of view."
+Morganth looked at the being focusing him. "I can't read your thoughts, but I'm not crazy if that's what you are wondering." His comment was pointed, but not entirely hostile. "I'm not as fragile as many believe me to be." He smirked, "At least not mentally."
+Again, Shannon held up a hand, to dismiss the 'patient's' concerns. "No, no. Not at all. It's a heavy burden. Being responsible for someone else."
+"I was able to take out quite a few of the Dominion when they took over Betazed you know. I was a hero back home. A... hero."
+"You were on Betazed during the attack? I had no idea. I've heard the fighting was intense; house-to-house in some cases. Is that true?"
+"Yes . . . I hated it, every minute of it. Having to use our gift as a weapon for war. To grab every dark emotion, to light up every pain receptor within a being... to drive them mad . . . I hated it, and yet we did it to survive. And here we are, once again, here we are being attacked, even during a time of "peace" by the monsters.  Talloc flickered again . . . "How's Reittan? Is it possible that you can keep an eye on his brain? Let me know if it lights up?"
+"We're fine, here. Tell me more about Tolkath. I know he's a gifted empath, but the authorities were clearly worried about more. Correct?" Shannon thought about Morganth's request. "I can... monitor his pulse, blood pressure, and adrenaline levels. Will that do for now?"
+"Yes," Morganth acquiesced. He sighed and began again. "They were preparing him to send him off to the 'special school' for those with overdeveloped pre-fontal cortexes when his Paternal Grandparent's stepped in and took him to Vulcan. He scared a lot of kids and parents because of his ability. He was Rei-rei the crazy guy. He got into a lot of trouble. So they shipped him of to Vulcan to 'De-emotionalize' him.  He did learn to control things better. In fact it helped him hone his powers and he was able to return to school, getting his degrees in nothing other than telepathic studies." He paused. "That's the reason I'm concerned about him right now."
+Shannon looked on skeptically. "You say he scared a lot of people with his ability. What exactly was it?"
+"On earth they used to have a thing called a blow-horn, his grams called it." He cocked his head to the side, trying to recall in more detail. "He could go up to someone and show loud enough into your mind to be compared to someone shouting into a blow-horn held up next to your ear. Sometimes when he'd get mad, it'd happen. I'd have to calm him down at school until his parents got there."
+"Hmm... " Shannon blinked, using the moment to recall the public version of Counselor Tolkath's file. "There's nothing in his file about being that powerful" She offered. "Perhaps Vulcan was the best place for him? He seems to have learned quit a bit of control."
+"If you'd notice Doctor," he offered, almost as if he were aware of her actions on some instinctive level, "there isn't much in his file about him at all." He shifted his weight slightly, leaning forward on the rock that had served as his perch. "Admiral Janeway, a family friend, had it all sealed off. I think one might still have to go through her office to get the full picture... and yes, he did learn a lot of control. That's the reason he could fend me off when I was without any inhibitions. Remember? I killed people with this." Morganth tapped his index finger against his right temple.
+"I... see." She looked the man over, yet again. "So... you watched over Tolkath, but what about you? What did you do after the war? And how did you end up on Deep Space Nine?"
+"Well, after the war, I followed my family and became a diplomat for a while, and just kept up with my plants. Reittan's family had mentioned that he was serving onboard the Republic, and offered me passage to the station so that I could see him. I of course said yes, as it'd been some time since our last visit, so we got on the Republic, I got distracted by a beautiful girl. They got off; I didn't and so after going nearly mad, here we are. More adventure in a short amount of time than I ever could have expected."
+Shannon took a chance as she considered what to do next. "And, it was a plant toxin that caused you to attack Tolkath, and the others. Is that correct? Some sort of thorn?"
+"You know, that was strange?" He tilted his head again. "It was unsettling. I was going off pure impulse. Right and wrong didn't exist any more for me. Luckily Reittan was there to push back." Morganth smiled, a look of genuine appreciation on his face. "He saved me this time."
+"Lucky, indeed. But, it's really not that simple, is it?"
+"You mean why do I keep asking about him so incessantly?"
+Shannon nodded.
+"Do you remember something I said to Reittan when I was at the peak of the madness . . . about not having to see anyone anymore to use my telepathic powers?"
+"I remember," Shannon offered. "I was there," She said, coolly.
+"Ah... so you were. Well, the truth is that I think Reitan's there too. In the right circumstances, his powers could be... unpredictable."
+Shannon's expression turned grave as she registered a sudden elevation in Tolkath's pulse, respiration and blood pressure. "Just what do you mean... unpredictable?"
+\\
+\\
+\\
+**Location: Main bridge, deck 1, USS Republic**
+In the time it took for the ship's photon torpedoes to cycle back up to fire, the Dominion attack ship had made two more passes. Each time, Republic had managed to roll up on her side, exposing the still-functioning Ventral Shield Array to the incoming fire. But the shields were dropping. Soon, they would fail, or Republic wouldn't be able to maneuver correctly, perhaps both. It was Kim Roth's considered opinion that she was out of options.
+"Ops," she said firmly. "Hail that ship. I want to see them." She turned her head exchanging a glance with Reittan Tolkath, who had spent the time during Republic's engagement with the remaining attack craft sitting to the captain's left. Preparing.
+"Captain," he said quietly. "I don't think that will be necessary."
+Roth nodded. "Do it."
+Reittan inhaled deeply, subconsciously drawing on hate, fear, lust, impatience, and jealousy... every negative emotion he could think of, using the influx of emotion to super-charge his body's functions. He could hear and feel his pulse throbbing in his head, the thrum and boom of his heart like the drum on a battlefield, spurring him to action. He was finally free to revel in his natural state...that thing that for so long he'd had to keep locked down, controlled, stifled, and all it wanted to do was breathe...exist...be.
+Reittan's dark emotions were like a ravenous animal, finally allowed to hunt after years of hunger. In his mind's eye, Reittan saw the people around him as warm, bright shadows...like looking at a view-screen with the color filter up to high. To him, as in fact to most Betazeds, he could sense a sentient's mind-glow long before seeing them. In a sense then, distance didn't matter. It was only an idea, a concept that his hunting dog could ignore, because he'd caught the scent. The beast would not be denied. Finally, it would feast, and on the attacking Dominion ship, three mind-glows, however dim, were snuffed out.
+At the Tactical position, Zoe blinked as one particularly annoying red indicator turned green. "Captain! Attacker's shield's are...they're down!"
+Roth looked at Tolkath, his jaw was set intensely...his breathing heavy, but even. She looked back at the main viewer, which showed the relative tactical position of the two ships that had been locked in combat much longer than Roth had liked. " Torpedo status?"
+Zoe checked the board again. "Two birds in the tubes Captain. Third online in...another eighteen seconds."
+Republic's Captain shook her head. "We'll just have to hope that two shots are enough. Fire at will, Tac."
+"Firing, Aye!"
+Two brilliant orange flares of anti-matter shot into view on the tactical plot, and it seemed for a moment that the entire bridge crew held their breath as they watched the warheads slam into the unshielded hull of the Dominion attacker. In seconds, the hostile ship blew apart, spinning off into two large pieces as the photon torpedoes did their bitter work.
+The fight was over. Republic was victorious, and only three, perhaps four of her passengers knew the reason why.
+\\
+\\
+\\
+**Location: Arboretum, deck 7, USS Republic**
+Shannon Harris shook her head. Seconds after registering the severe spike in Reitan Tolkath's vital signs, the agitation seemed to be gone. His physiology was returning to normal. "That's odd," she commented.
+Morganth looked wryly at his companion. He nodded, knowingly. "Back to normal, isn't he?"
+"Yes."
+"He's better than I thought," Morganth said. "I wonder if that's good or not?" Morganth looked away briefly, watching his foot trace figures in the dirt. "Thanks for keeping me company, doctor, but I think you can go now."
+\\
+\\
+\\
+**Location: Main bridge, deck 1, USS Republic**
+Yellow warning strips and indicators showed the change from red to yellow alert, but the damage was done. Though one of the attacking Dominion ships had been destroyed in the early going, the second ship had hit it's mark, landing what for all Kim Roth knew, was a death blow to Republic's drive systems. At the very least, there was severe damage done to the physical structure of the ship's warp helix and the port warp nacelle. Moving the ship through warp, she knew, would be a near impossibility.
+Her ship was stuck. The warp core was still producing power, but most of the ship's primary systems had been knocked off-line. Now, she was missing her First Officer and had a Vorta onboard who had nothing left to bargain with. "Tactical, dispatch Damage Control Teams, and have Narundi secure our prisoner."
+"Aye, Ma'am."
+Her use of the word prisoner reflected her change in attitude. She was, in the more familiar human vernacular, 'pissed'. Not only at Eris, for not being able to control her soldiers, but also herself, for falling into such a position in the first place. She looked over at Tolkath, whose deep breathing had become calmer since the destruction of the last Dominion ship. A few beats later, the Counselor's eyes opened and he straightened his dark duty tunic. Roth looked at her officer with an appraising eye, searching for anything out of place. Finding nothing, she decided to break the silence. "Are you all right, Counselor?"
+Tolkath let out a heavy sigh and straightened his posture. "I believe so, Captain," he answered.
+"Good. You'll let me know if that changes?"
+"Of course, Captain."
 ----
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 "You're speaking about her in present tense," observed Leon without answering the question. "That means she's alive?"
-John nodded affirmatively. "Doctor Yezbeck is now a bonafide miracle worker. His knowledge of bionics helped him save what was left of Athra's organics... something about 'reworking her cybernetics into a simplistic life support system', or something.  Honestly, it's gibberish to me, but he said he needed time to re-grow some her vital organs usng regen medicine, so he had to keep her in a stasis chamber in the trauma chamber.  Doctor Rhyda was able to regenerate portions of her brain that were affected by the virus. He said it was the most delicate surgery that he ever performed."
+John nodded affirmatively. "Doctor Yezbeck is now a bonafide miracle worker. His knowledge of bionics helped him save what was left of Athra's organics... something about 'reworking her cybernetics into a simplistic life support system'.  Honestly, it's gibberish to me, but he said he needed time to re-grow some her vital organs usng regen medicine, so he had to keep her in a stasis chamber in the trauma center.  Doctor Rhyda was able to regenerate portions of her brain that were affected by the virus. He said it was the most delicate surgery that he ever performed."
 "What's her prognosis?"

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