Quest for Answers

Posted on Tue Aug 13th, 2024 @ 8:34pm by Lieutenant JG Toareth Rouen (née Darqa) & Lieutenant JG Jasmine Brooks

1,934 words; about a 10 minute read

Mission: Fortuna
Location: Science Lab
Timeline: Current

Two questions were ruling Toareth's mind. One was why she felt so familiar with Amelia only after having just met the woman. The second was something Toareth had given up on discovering long ago, but, seeing as how a migraine was, at the moment, tormenting her, that question was suddenly shot back to the forefront of her priorities.

She heard nothing as she stepped about the corridors. Heard nothing of anyone happening by, any greetings, etc. All she heard was the ringing in her ears. A sharp pinch behind and above her right eye, deep inside her brain kept that eye flinching and her palm pressed against her head as though rubbing it would make the pain go away. Thankfully her equilibrium was not thrown off to the point to reduce her into a fetal position on the floor. She was able to remain upright and press onward. She nodded to people as she passed by and showed a hand that all was well, or would be well soon. There was no need for any medics.

This migraine was certainly a Category 3; was painful but not debilitating. It also was lasting a long time. Already a minute long though it felt almost an eternity. Thankfully, she was already on the way to the Science Lab to ask for any theories on her other question. Now she would see, against the greatest of odds, if this science officer might had some unheard of clue or theory as to these migraines.

The doors to the Science Lab opened invitingly and Toareth stumbled in. "I'm OK," she said. "I'm OK," she repeated in case the personnel on duty had said anything of concern. Toareth still could not hear anything beyond the ringing in her ears, she could at least see, through her untwitching eye, the single personnel working. "I'll be fine." The pinch bit down on her brain again. "Just...a moment."

Although the new comer had stated she was alright, Jasmine was already on her way to see if they needed any assistance. "Hey, you ok there? Need me to call sickbay? You don't look too peachy there, my dear." She asked in a soft and reassuring voice.

"No Sick Bay," Toareth said as she stood straight, powering through the rest of her migraine. It had started to wane, so she knew its end was near, for the next 30 hours at least. "Lieutenant Toareth Darqa," then she remembered that she's married, "...er...Rouen, acting Chief Medical Officer. Sorry for that display. Migraines," she said as she pointed to her head, "irritating things."

"Surely sickbay would the best place for you." Brooks reiterated. "I'm Jasmine Brooks by the way."

With that introduction, Toareth figured, hoped, first name basis was acceptable with her. "Jasmine," she said with a nod. The pain of her migraine was waning; the pinch in her brain easing up. "Believe me, Sick Bay knows of these migraines. I've a log, cataloguing them...every 30 hours or so...for the past 80 years. There is a novel of information but no answers as to why or why the medication I take seems to be the only thing that helps." She was shaking her head, believing this to be a waste of time. The concern was certainly there already however. "Medical professionals in the Alpha and Beta Quadrants have scanned me and looked at my notes." She was shaking her head. "No one can come up with an answer." This was like playing darts with a dart board an AU away. "Perhaps a new set of eyes, from someone unfamiliar with my case, can shed some form of light, a lumen at least.'

Jasmine listened intently to the doctor as she explained her situation. Nodding occasionally as she understood what was being said. Her eyes widened with surprise as the doctor finished. "Me? You want me to take a look at your migraines?" She asked wanting to be absolutely clear on what she had been told.

Toareth nodded. "Well, I came here for another reason but this shot to the forefront. So..." and she nodded again. "There are no answers in Sick Bay and medical 'professionals'," she used the term loosely, "cannot find answers. Perhaps Science can. I will submit myself to whatever you have in mind, no matter how invasive. Just...no lobotomy."

Brooks thought for a moment as she started to mentally list scientific scans which could be used on the human brain. "There's a few we could try but these aren't designed for intrusive medical scams. I mean, they're safe but not sure if they'll detect anything that a medical scanner would."

"Doctors, myself included, also do not understand why the medication I take, phalmectin, seems to be the only thing to stave off my migraines. It is a memory inhibitor you see. Which is why I keep the dosage low and use it only when I feel I absolutely need it. But phalmectin is not known to help with migraines and has not proven beneficial to anyone else who has ever taken it for a migraine. Whatever it is you are not sure about...an answer or a clue at least could be hiding there somewhere."

Jasmine considered what she had been told. "Perhaps it's something not physically wrong with you but mentally wrong? Something in your mind is causing the problem. Have you been involved in anything extreme which could cause this type of mental scaring? Tramatic life experience? Bad break up with a former partner?"

Hearing that this could be a mental thing, made Toareth sigh internally. She did shift her weight to another foot but fought against the temptation to look away from Jasmine irritatingly. She did however speak up immediately and continue with Jasmine's list of possible traumatic experiences. "Watching my planet get destroyed when I was still a child? Watch my people die? Forced into cramped quarters with survivors aboard transports at triple capacity for about 30 of your Earth years? Nearly die because some yahoo flew us too close to that energy ribbon only the be rescued by the Enterprise-Bravo and then abandoned by my own people after arriving on Earth?" Too name a few. Toareth had more. A former love whom she knew would die far sooner than she. An attempt at augmentation to extend his life, only to be caught and imprisoned. Then to be recruited by Lynch into his section, have her criminal record erased and be told not to tell anyone about it. On top of all that, Toareth had, many times, used her medical skills for her own benefit; making people sick, possibly letting someone die, experiment on people and sometimes without them knowing. There was so much Toareth worked hard to hide, but none of the seemed to have been the cause of her migraines.

"These migraines started almost immediately upon being rescued by the Enterprise-Bravo. But no other El-Aurian survivor has these migraines. At least, not one has come forward detailing similar symptoms."

Jasemine's eyes widened as the Doctor reeled off all the devastation she had witnessed in her many years. "My apologies, I'm meant no disrespect, Doctor. I am merely trying to narrow down the causes for your migraines."

"Quite alright," she replied. "I too have spent years trying to narrow down the cause."

The science officer paused for a moment, like as if a penny had loosened in her brain and dropped. "The energy ribbon you encountered, the nexus, did you actually enter the ribbon yourself? From what I remember from the academy, it generally transported you to a place and time that felt comfortable to you."

"I admit, during the event, I did feel content and at peace, but...we were about to all die. I certainly do not want to die screaming in horror or in rage, but in a state of peace. I guess I kind of forced myself to feel that way. I have heard many stories of this Nexus thing we El-Aurians believe in, but never believed in it myself. I've been a doctor a long time and never once have I seen a soul or seen a place of such peace and contentment. If such a place exists...then I spit at it. Why should we exist here, in a place of pain and suffering when a paradise also exists but we have to risk being blown apart into atoms for the possibility of getting there. No thank you, I've not the stomach for superstition. To answer your question, no. I did not enter into any new plane of existence. But something must have happened there to start these migraines of mine. And since, phalmectin, a medication that is not even supposed to be for the treatment of migraines, is the only thing that works, perhaps you can find some kind of answer." Toareth did not need an answer straight away. The verse knew that she had already spent the better part of 80 years searching. What was but a few more?

"Masking the pain of the migraine seems counter productive and only a short term resolution." Brooks replied. "I'm wondering if you've had something transport from the Nexus into your body or even your brain, perhaps a parasite from the other plains of existence. Maybe you briefly touched on these during your experience."

Again with this Nexus business. Again with plains of existence. Toareth wanted to shrug and scoff, but, regardless of the reality and her perspective, Jasmine could have been on to something. Still, "I have had intrusive scans performed and no foreign material was ever found; no parasite has ever been detected." Toareth rolled her eyes at the thought of mentioning this, but, "the only person to have ever had anything that even resembled an answer was a religious leader on Trillius Prime. He said that I was missing something. And this was without performing any form of scan, at least, not one that I was aware of."

Brooks considered everything for a moment. "Have you considered that they might be something there but on a different plain of existence? It has been documented that there are life forms that live in these voids with a host and can go undetected."

"I have considered that and, I have surrendered myself to all kinds of invasive scans and tests. If there is a host that can go undetected, then it is the universe's finest at Hide & Seek. No one yet has been able to detect anything...anything out of the ordinary." Toareth was beginning to grow wearisome of the back and forth. Either have an idea for a way forward, or don't. "Again, I will surrender myself to whatever you have in mind, short of a lobotomy of course. And it does not have to be immediate. Once you are settled and prepared."

"Let me look at the Nexus stuff again and see if I can find something that has been missed. Just because the greatest minds have looked doesn't mean something has been over looked or dismissed without thorough investigation. May take a little bit of time but I'd like to help you if I can." Jasmine said with a warm smile.

"Thank you," said Toareth. "Do get back with me when you are ready or if you have any questions. I can provide you with contact frequencies of those who I know are still alive and are open to being contacted if you like."

'Even the religious yahoo on Trillius Prime,' Toareth thought and managed to keep those words silent.

"I shall avail myself whenever you need," Toareth finished.

 

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