literature

The Prison Doctor - Part 2

Deviation Actions

Haunted-Mind's avatar
By
Published:
651 Views

Literature Text

    The climb back up the 30 levels was tiring as usual, but not as draining. Back on the top level, the guard let McCoy back into his room. He refused to think of it as a cell, knowing the conditions below his feet. The door closed behind him and literally shut out the world.
    “You’re back early today.” Sulu sat up on his bunk.
    “It was a light load. Only three dead.” McCoy walked to the sink on the wall and splashed water on his face. The mirror showed a smear of blood on his chin. He washed it off casually. “There was something new today though - a little boy with a broken arm. It felt good to actually help someone.” Thinking of Arkish made him remember the boy’s gift.  He opened the front pocket of the medical supply bag and saw a faint amber light. Once the pebble was out in the light, the glow was imperceptible. “He gave me this, almost like it was his way of paying me. He said it glowed when you held it up to the light. I thought he meant it was translucent, but it seems to have stored some energy.”
    Sulu took the pebble, cupped it in his hands and held it up to his eye. When he pulled it away, it seemed the light from the stone had transferred to his eyes. “Where did he get this?”
    “He just picked it up off of the ground.”
    “Do you think you can find more?”
    “Maybe. Why?”
    “I’ll have to do a test, but I think this is gorruthite.”  
    “Geology was never my strong suit.”
    “If I’m right, this tiny rock is pretty darn explosive.”
    McCoy’s eyes widened. “Explosive enough to blow a lock?”
    “Now you’ve got it,” Sulu said, grinning.
    “I’ll see if I can find more tomorrow.”

    The floor of the air shaft was littered with pebbles and chips of stone in every colour. Now McCoy knew why Arkish had picked up 15 or 20 just to find the one he really wanted. Sulu was holding onto the original just in case, but McCoy kinda wished he had it for comparison. The night before, Sulu had used some things from McCoy’s bag and their food trays to test the tiny rock. Shavings from it turned green in a mild acid, which seemed to make Sulu very happy. It would make McCoy very happy to find a large pile of it right in his path. He didn’t want to spend too much time searching in case a guard was actually watching. Wandering closer to the women’s building, he hoped to find more of the mineral where the boy had found it. He kicked some dirt around, flipping over several pebbles.
    “Hi, Leonard!”
    McCoy looked up, searching for the source of the tiny voice. A little hand waved outside a barred window on the third floor. “Hi, Arkish.”
    “Are you looking for more glowing rocks?”
    “Yeah, I showed that one to my friend and he wanted one, too.”
    “They’re the orange ones with the white swirls. I usually find them next to the blue ones with the green spots.”
    “Thanks, I’ll look for that.”
    Arkish disappeared from the window for a second. When he returned, he looked sad. “Sorry, I have to go. My mom is calling me.”
    McCoy waved and the boy left. ‘Usually, that kind of serendipity only happened in Grandpa’s tall tales,’ he thought. ‘Don’t think I’ll look around now though. All of that yelling probably drew too much attention.’ Curious faces already pressed against some of the windows. He turned and made his way into the hospital.

    Sulu was pacing when McCoy finally got back to their room. The younger man clearly had a lot to say and a lot of energy to deliver it with. All the doctor wanted to do was collapse into his bunk.
    “Wow, you look cheerful,” Sulu said dryly.
    “When do I ever look cheerful?”
    Sulu laughed. “Good point. Guess you had a rough day.”
    McCoy dropped onto the edge of his bunk and squeezed his forehead with one hand. “It would have been an easy one. Just one death to deal with. But as I was climbing back up, a fight broke out. A cell divided against itself - four on two. When the guards tried to break it up, all six inmates turned on them. I guess that was their plan all along. By the time I got there, there were ten men on the floor. Three of the inmates were already dead, one had a pretty nasty head wound and the other two were out cold. But they made me treat the guards first. They had some cuts and bruises. One guy had a sprained wrist. By the time I finished with them, the guy with the head wound had died. At least the other two survived.” McCoy fixed Sulu with a ghastly stare. “I don’t care what sentence these people are given when they’re brought in here. They’re all here until death comes for them.”
    “I’m sorry, Bones.”
    “You've got nothing to be sorry about. Unless you’re about to tell me we’re not getting out of here before I end up having to perform autopsies on my friends.”
    Sulu started his pacing again. “Well, for that I have good news and bad news. The bad news is that Starfleet isn’t coming to bust us out anytime soon.”
    “How on Earth do you know that?”
    “That’s part of the good news. I found a loose panel in the shower and was able to make a tiny crack through the wall into the cell next to us. Scotty and Uhura are over there. It seems they’ve given Uhura a job like they did with you. She’s their liaison with the Federation.”
    “That makes sense.”
    “And gives us eyes and ears in their command center. She says that even though the Ibriq were the aggressors in this situation, the Federation doesn’t want to upset them. They want to find a diplomatic solution.”
    “Great. We really will be here forever.”
    “Not necessarily. Uhura isn’t at the top of her field for nothing. She was able to slip a coded message into her last communication. Starfleet Command isn’t strictly ordering us to try to escape but they do have a ship nearby and they did promise to appease the diplomats if we succeed.”
    “And if we fail?”
    “Then they’ll deny knowledge of our intentions and try going back to negotiations.”
    “Assuming any of us will be left to be freed.”
    “Sometimes I think you actually try to be a buzz kill.”
    “Nah, it’s just a natural talent.” The ghost of a smile flickered across McCoy’s face.
    “Everyone has to be good at something, I suppose. Which reminds me - you were supposed to practice your geology today.”
    “Oh, right. I did manage to find a few more pieces. I had to get a little help though. Arkish saw me and yelled tips out the window.”
    “So you cheated?”
    “Just following my captain’s example. Don’t tell him I said that. He’ll think I look up to him or something.”
    “Your secret is safe with me.”
    “And these are safer with you.” Pulling three more pebbles out of his bag, McCoy handed them to Sulu. “Arkish’s yelling drew a lot of attention so I didn’t get much chance to search today, but at least I know what I’m looking for now.”

    The next morning, McCoy got a bit of a shock when he reached the floor of the air shaft. About 40 children ranging in age from two to twelve were running and playing under the supervision of five sour-looking guards. The sight of so much life in such a dismal place would normally have pleased him, but they literally stood between him and his chance of escape.
    Suddenly, a tiny finger poked him from behind. “Found you!”
    “He wasn’t exactly hiding, Arkish.”
    Turning, McCoy found himself surrounded. Arkish stood in the center of a motley group: a Kreshar girl, a Varn boy and two boys of a species McCoy had never seen.
    Positively beaming, Arkish said, “I told these guys you came out here every day, but they didn’t believe me.”
    “It’s only been three days since we met.”
    “I know, but that was three days in a row. The guards only let us out three times a month.”
    “If we’re lucky,” said the girl, who turned out to be the owner of the no-nonsense voice that had spoken before.
    “What’s your name?” McCoy asked.
    “Gavi.”
    Taking the hint, Arkish pointed first to the two blue skinned boys and then to the gray skinned Varn. “That is Rennian and his brother Mator and that is Lentay.”
    McCoy raised a surprised eyebrow when he recognized the last name as the boy who broke Arkish’s arm.
    “Are you really a doctor?” Rennian asked.
    “Yup.”
    “You should show him your finger, Lentay,” Gavi said.
    “I don’t want to.” Lentay dug his hands deeper into his pockets
    “But he fixed my arm like it was magic. It didn’t even hurt a little.” There was no trace of resentment in Arkish’s statement, only concern for the other boy.
    Lentay kicked the dirt for a minute before finally pulling his hands out of his pockets. A middle finger on his right hand was bent at an odd angle under a massive bruise. McCoy crouched down, took it gently and started to work. Like many bullies, Lentay turned out to be less brave than he wanted people to believe. He flinched every time his finger was touched. Even after a dose of pain blocker, he flinched once, expecting the pain, but finally relaxed when he felt none. “Well, your finger isn’t broken. It’s just out of joint. Does it hurt now when I move it?” Lentay shook his head. “Okay, now I’m gonna have to straighten this out. It’s gonna make a nasty noise so I want you to try not to think about it. Think about something that makes you happy.” Continuing to ramble in a soft monotone, McCoy worked quickly and smoothly. A gentle pop was barely audible over his voice and the laughter of the other children. “There, you should be able to bend it normally now.”
    Lentay tried it slowly at first, then clenched and unclenched his fist repeatedly. “Um, thanks,” he said with a shy smile.
    Before McCoy could reply, a guard-shaped shadow fell over them. A hand shot out and shoved McCoy’s shoulder, knocking him from his precarious crouching position into the dirt. “Get to your work, human,” the Ibriq grunted.
    Brushing dust from his clothes, McCoy stood as tall as he could. He was a good six inches taller than the guard, though that didn’t seem to phase the alien. “I was already working. Maybe you don’t consider it important for this boy to be able to use all 12 of his fingers, but I do.”
    The guard’s eyes flicked toward Lentay who was slowly backing away. Then, with no wind up, it landed a stiff blow to the doctor’s stomach.
    Gasping for breath, McCoy bent double, his clinical mind wondering if the Ibriq had known to aim for the solar plexus or if he had just gotten lucky. The guard’s scaly hand clamped onto the back of his neck. It’s wheezing breath was hot in is ear.
    “Be thankful I’m not allowed to carry a weapon right now. If I were, you would be dead. Now go to work.” With one last rough shove, the guard released him and chased the children away.
    ‘If I were Jim, I’d turn around and pop that guy in the chin,’ McCoy thought as he straightened slowly and started toward the hospital building. ‘With my luck, I’d end up with a dislocated finger just like that kid.’

    Locking the door of the cremator behind the last body, McCoy sighed heavily then dropped into the only chair in the room. There had been another fight overnight, this time in the women’s building. Six were dead, three of them children who likely got in the way, and one an unborn infant. He was just able to save the mother. That and fixing Lentay’s finger were the brightest points of his day. He hadn’t had a chance to ask how the boy had injured his finger, though he wondered if perhaps he had been close to the fight. He hoped it was something that simple. McCoy stood and walked to the small window, stretching the kinks out of his back. Work that would only have taken a couple of hours on the Enterprise with its stocked sickbay and top-notch staff had taken him all day alone. It was dark outside except for the lights above the doors to the buildings. The children had been rushed inside when the light began to fade, which it did earlier than normal sunset due to the depth of the pit.
    McCoy wandered toward the door and tapped the control to turn out the lights. Temporarily blind until his eyes adjusted, he groped for the door handle. Stepping outside, he immediately slipped on what felt like a pile of marbles. He looked down and in the dim light saw a loose mound of faintly glowing rocks. Arkish and his friends had been busy. They had no idea they had just given him the ability to leave them behind. He scooped up the gorruthite and dropped the pebbles into the pocket of his bag. A few of them made a metallic clink as they fell in. McCoy sifted through them and drew out his silvery Starfleet arrowhead insignia. He had held onto it when the guards made him change out of his uniform, a piece of identification should the worst happen. It was a small thing, but to a boy who considered a feather a treasure, it might be the nicest thing he would ever own. Tearing off a corner of his robe, McCoy attached the pin to the fabric, hoping Arkish would make the connection. He buried it in the dirt, leaving a scrap of fabric exposed, then set a few of the blue-green pebbles and a tiny piece of gorruthite on top. “I hope you find this and understand.”

    “Okay, Scotty says we’ll need at least 15 grams of this stuff to blow a lock like that.” Sulu sorted through the pieces of gorruthite on his palm. “I’d guess these big ones are a little over 10 grams. Assuming they split the seven of us into three pairs and one individual, that’s four cell doors we’ll need to pop. There are at least 100 grams here, so that gives us extra for any locked doors we come across in the hallways. Though I’m hoping we can get a key. The first bang will likely bring a guard or two to investigate.”
    “Let’s hope there’s only one to deal with because I don’t know how ready I am to ’take out’ a guard.”
    “We’ll have to split up no matter what to cover the doors at either end of the corridor.”
    McCoy looked horrified for a second before asking, “If it would take 15 grams of that stuff to open a lock, how much d’ya think it would take to weld one shut?”
    “You mean damage it enough to make it inoperable? It wouldn’t take much. Not bad, Doctor.”
    McCoy shrugged. “Just like surgery: clamp off the small bleeds so you can focus on the big one. I‘ll be the clamp and let you be the scalpel.”
    Sulu laughed. “Well, that’s one way to look at tactics.” Reaching under the mattress on his bunk, Sulu pulled out a bundle of wires. “I took apart a few lights in the bathroom. I figure we can rig these up to one of your medical devices and use that like a battery to deliver an electrical pulse and trigger the explosion.”
    McCoy dumped his bag out on Sulu’s bunk. “You’ve got a few choices here. Not sure which will be easier to take apart.”
    “I’m still amazed they let you keep all of this.”
    “Me, too. They must have been desperate to get rid of the doctor they had before. Of course, they had to pay him.”

    Ten minutes later, Sulu was tucking a dermal regenerator under the mattress of McCoy’s bunk, hoping to protect it from the explosion so they could reuse it. “We should be all set. You go get in the bathroom and get ready to close the door behind me. I’ve set this thing to pulse every 20 seconds, so once I tuck in the wires, we’ll have to be pretty quick.”
    “If I didn’t know better, I’d think I was rooming with the Russian kid.”
    “This would probably be more efficient if Chekov had built it, but it should get the job done.”
    Clapping Sulu on the shoulder, McCoy stood and started toward the back of the room. “I’ll let Scotty and Uhura know we’re ready.” Once Uhura assured him they were ready too, the doctor got in position behind the door.
    “Alright, after the next pulse, I’ll set the wires,” Sulu said.
    McCoy had time for one deep breath before Sulu jammed the wires into the lock and ran toward him. The bathroom door shut and they were in the dark, waiting. McCoy counted the seconds, but when he reached 20 and nothing happened, he was afraid they had failed. He started the count again and when he reached four, a sharp bang sounded on the other side of the door. He and Sulu ran out to check the damage. The lock wasn’t just open, it was gone.
    Sulu looked at McCoy wide-eyed. “That was more energetic than I expected. Better use the smallest piece to gum up that hall door.”
    “Right!” McCoy ran into the hall and to the door just to the right of the cell. His surgeon’s hands steady, he dropped a tiny piece of gorruthite into the lock. He touched a partially dismantled hypospray to the metal and flicked the control. This bang was much smaller, but instantaneous. McCoy blinked light spots out of his eyes and covered his right ear which should have been ringing but was silent. His hand came away bloody. ’Perfect, ruptured the eardrum,’ he thought. He looked up at the door handle just in time to see it shake as someone on the other side tried to open it. It didn’t budge. Smiling smugly, he looked up to tell Sulu the good news and saw the pilot ducking under the punches from two Ibriq. “Oh, great,” he muttered and charged down the hall before he could talk himself out of it. One of the guards had grabbed Sulu’s arms from behind and was holding him while the other guard drew back his fist. McCoy wrapped his arm around the restraining guard’s neck and squeezed. The alien released Sulu and backed quickly against the wall. McCoy was crushed but held on in the way only a life or death situation could make him do. The guard dug his elbow into his attacker’s ribs a few times, each blow weaker than the last, before finally giving in to unconsciousness. McCoy held him a moment longer to be sure he wasn’t faking, then dropped him to the floor.
    Sulu was already sorting through the pockets of his attacker’s uniform. “I thought you weren’t ready to take out a guard.”
    “Turns out you don’t have to be ready, only motivated.”
    “I appreciate it.” Pulling a knife and a key card off of the guard’s belt, Sulu handed the key to McCoy. “I’ll cover the door while you break the others out.”
    McCoy looked down the short hall with six doors. “I’ll start with Scotty and Uhura since we know what’s behind that door. Cross your fingers and hope I don’t open something more dangerous.” Imitating the guards who let him back into his cell at night, the doctor touched the key card to the lock, pressed a nearly invisible button on the side of the handle, and pulled the door open.
    “It’s about time. What’ave you be doin’ for the last 10 minutes?”
    “You’re welcome.”
    Scotty brushed past McCoy and ran to help Sulu. Uhura walked out and laid a gentle hand on McCoy’s shoulder. “Scotty managed to break through our bathroom wall the way Sulu did, so we know Chekov and Spock are next door.”
    McCoy nodded and led the way to the next cell. When the door opened, Chekov emerged first and cleared the way for Spock and Uhura to reunite. “So, Chekov, how are you at playing the shell game?” McCoy asked.
    “Sir?”
    “Never mind. Don’t suppose you got to see which cell they put the captain in.”
    “I didn’t, but I could make an educated guess.”
    “Be my guest.”
    “And be quick about it, lad. We need to get moving,” Scotty said, mirroring Sulu flanking the door.
    “Ze guards brought me in zis door, so if we consider zis ze front, zey probably filled ze cells from back to front, so I say zat one.” Chekov took off toward the cell across from McCoy and Sulu’s ruined door.
    McCoy opened the door and was nearly bowled over by Kirk, who came out ready to swing. He pulled up short and a broad grin split his face. “Bones! Chekov! I heard that explosion and didn’t know what to expect. What on Earth are you wearing?”
    McCoy shook his head. “I’ll explain later, when we’re not escaping form an alien prison.”
    They joined the others clustered around the door. “So, now what?” Chekov asked.
    “Uhura, you’ve been to the command center, right?” Sulu asked. She nodded. “If you can lead us there, we can get a signal out to the ship you said Starfleet was going to station nearby. Unless you have another idea, Captain.”
    “Sounds good to me, Sulu. I’ve clearly been left out of the loop here, probably on purpose. Lead on, Uhura.”

    “That was a bit too easy if you ask me.”
    “No one asked you,” McCoy snapped. He helped Scotty into a chair and double checked the make-shift bandage on the engineer's leg.
    Kirk ignored the quip. “Sulu and Chekov, keep an eye on the door. Spock, get into that computer and see what you can learn. Uhura, start working on that transmission.”
    “Already on it,” Uhura said, working a console.
    “How you feeling, Scotty?”
    “I’ll admit, I’ve been better, Captain. A bit drained, like a warp core low on dilithium.”
    “If you were a warp core leaking this badly, you’d have bigger problems than just being low on fuel. That knife clearly nicked an artery. Not the femoral one or you would be dead already, but it’s bad enough. Without my tools, the best I can do is put pressure on it.” McCoy looked up at Scotty’s face which was quickly turning white. “Make yourself useful, Jim. Hold pressure here while I see if there’s a med kit around.” Kirk traded places with McCoy and the doctor started searching the cabinets along the back wall. Most contained a disappointing array of administrative supplies. Slamming the last cabinet shut, McCoy just registered Kirk’s yell before everything went black.

    A soft beep drew McCoy up out of the dark. Opening his eyes, he found himself in a place both familiar and foreign: a starship sickbay, but not the Enterprise. The light level was set low to simulate night and allow patients to sleep. McCoy looked to his right and saw Scotty on the next bed, sound asleep but looking less like a living ghost. Wanting to check on his crewmate, he started to sit up, but a voice from his left stopped him.
    “I’d stay down if I were you. At least until I give you my all-clear.”
    The voice was familiar, as was the face. “Laura? I guess that means we’re on the Yorktown.”
    “Well, you’re memory is clearly intact. It’s been over a year since we had classes together at the Academy. How are you feeling?”
    “Pretty darn happy to be seeing the inside of a starship.”
    Dr. Laura Ingram smiled, her gray-green eyes twinkling. “I bet. I’ve yet to hear anything nice about the Ibriq.”
    “You certainly won’t hear it from me.”
    Before either doctor could say anything more, Kirk appeared beside Ingram. “Bones! Good to see you awake.”
    “You, too, Jim. Though I suppose I have to thank you for saving my butt. ‘Typical Bones’ useless in a fight.”
    “Nah, you weren’t useless. None of us even knew that access port was there until that guy popped up behind you and cracked you in the head.”
    “Oh, that makes me feel a lot better.”
    “And you’ll have to thank Chekov. He pulled you out of the way after a couple of guys trampled you.”
    “That might explain why my ribs hurt.”
    Ingram chimed in, setting down her scanner. “Your chest and back are a bit bruised, but nothing that won’t heal in a couple of days. Your head was in the worst shape. I had to put a couple pieces of your skull back together.”
    “Everyone else?”
    “As you probably know, Mr. Scott lost a lot of blood, but we got to him in time. His leg was relatively easy to repair but I want to keep him here until his blood levels even out. Other than that, Mr. Sulu had a broken wrist and the others had some cuts and bruises.”
    “Which means we’re all fine, Bones. You can stop worrying now,” Kirk said.
    “Don’t you know the old cliché? Doctors always make the worst patients.”
    “Well, you’re dressed like a patient now, so start acting like one. Which reminds me -- you still need to explain why you were wearing those goofy robes.”

********************

    “Veketh was right. The Starfleet officers did not disappoint us.” Second Warden Enjar poked a button on his console and restarted the video of the officers’ escape.
    Warden Denikar held a burnt out dermal regenerator in one hand and a bundle of charred wire in the other. “Yes, all we had to do was give them a little extra freedom and they showed us all the weak points in our system.”
The first part of this story was a dream that I had, so I wanted to keep it separate from this second part, which I came up with after I woke up. It is always fun working with the varied personalities of the Enterprise crew :)

Part 1 haunted-mind.deviantart.com/ar…
© 2014 - 2024 Haunted-Mind
Comments0
Join the community to add your comment. Already a deviant? Log In