Hidden Truths

Posted on 01 Aug 2023 @ 5:40pm by Lieutenant JG Harper Matthews & Captain Jonathan Reynolds & Lieutenant C'Tora Kuroka

Mission: R&R - Styx Outpost 2
Location: Sickbay
Timeline: R&R Day 2
2797 words - 5.6 OF Standard Post Measure

ON:

Jon squeezed Harpers hand as they walked into Sickbay. He knew exactly how nervous she was about this appointment.

There was resistance. Her feet put a stop to her moving forward and there was a tug as Jon stopped just in front of her, Harper's hand still very much in his. "Can we just go back? I think I've changed my mind." she hesitated for the first time in her life.

She had always been so sure of herself. Her abilities, where she came from and who saw was as a person. This could be the visit to sickbay that changed all those things she thought she knew, and for the first time... she was scared.

"We can just pretend I never found this out? Maybe the Doctor could alter my memory so I forget?" she was grasping as straws but still she did not want to move forward.

"Baby," Jon said gently. "It is all going to be okay. There is nothing that your DNA being slightly different can change between us or your position here. Or even who you are. You are who you are my love."

Harper nodded. He was right, in fact he was right more often than she'd probably admit. It had been strange, since the interaction with Methalina she'd been feeling that she understood people a bit better. It was almost as if her empathic senses had changed, that she could actually feel what others did.

"I guess you are right." Harper replied. "I suppose finding out I'm another species doesn't change what my life has been... just maybe where it's going to go." she thought out loud.

C'Tora had just finished doing his monthly inventory and submitted the resupply order to Starfleet so it would be waiting for them when they docked at their next port of call. He had just pulled his lunch from the replicator and sat down to enjoy his meal.

The doors swooshed and both Harper and Jon walked in. A lovely person in blue walked up to them and they asked to see a doctor.

C'Tora heard someone ask to see a doctor., He hurriedly gulped down his lunch in a few bites and stuck his head out of his office door. " Hello, everything all right out here? "
He asked with a curious tone in his voice.

"Doc how are you?" Jon said in greeting squeezing Harpers hand who he could still sense nervous.

C'Tora cocked his head to the side a bit. " I'm doing just fine. " He said as he eyed the pair and could smell the nervousness. " Please step into my office, Now is this a social call or a medical visit? " He asked. " Can I get you something to drink while we determine the best way that I may assist you? "

Harper smiled a little, although it may have seemed somewhat of a grimace by appearance. "Medical visit..." she replied. "I wish it was a social one, then I wouldn't feel as nervous as I do now." she laughed a little awkwardly. "No, nothing to drink. I just need you to scan me, like deep dive scan me. Get right into my DNA and see if you see anything off, anything that would show different from Human." she half asked, half stated.

"And I'm here to support," Jon said seriously.

C'Tora chuckled. " I don't see why anyone aboard this ship would be nervous coming into Sickbay. " He turned to Jonathan. " Captain, when it comes to support for ones friends and shipmate, then support is always welcome. " He stated with a genuine warm smile.

" Alright Lieutenant Matthews, hop up onto the biobed and we'll start your requested scan of you at this time and just relax and we'll be done with this as soon as we can. I am curious though. For what reason are you requesting a deep DNA scan? That is done during your Bi-annual physical, I've got your last one up on the monitor and I will compare it against the one we are about to run. Do you suspect something to be amiss? " He asked.

"This might sound strange, and I'm probably making more of this than I need to. I feel different." she admitted. "Since meeting Methalina, and experiencing what I can only call as a vivid immersive vision or memory from another, I've felt a little 'detached' from myself. She told me I wasn't Human..." she let that hang as the doctor listened. "I don't understand how that can be when I'm sure that if I wasn't Human I'd have known about that by now..."

" Now just lay back and relax. " Said C'Tora. Computer, begin level three diagnostics of cellular structure for Harper Matthews. " He turned his attention back to Harper. This shouldn't take more then five minutes and we'll get you underway and back to your normal everyday routine. " He said with a grin.

After two minutes the computer beeped for attention and C'Tora went to check. As he looked at the monitor, his whiskers pulled back, his ears flattened and tail froze in mid swing. " Computer, erect level three force field around biobed six and increase diagnostic level to five. It appears we have an anomaly attached to your DNA, I have erected a force field as a precaution until we know what it is. This might take a little longer then i previously stated. "

The sudden erection of the forcefield and quick detachment from Jon made Harper's heart skip a beat. Usually she was fearless but right not she felt more helpless than anything. She couldn't fight this, couldn't stop it with a fist or a phaser. "What is it, doctor?" Harper asked knowing he'd say he didn't know until the scan was completed, still she asked anyway.

The was a strange emanation of worry, of concern from C'Tora that Harper found strange to even sense at all with his back to her. It was latent, not very powerful a feeling but kind of like a subconscious intuition. She looked at Jon, a frown appearing on his face at the situation as it had now unfolded.

After several minutes of fussing over the controls on the bio bed C'Tora began to feel less worried, but more perplexed and wondered why? " It seems you have nanite markers attached to you DNA, Some are still active but others have began to degrade and fail. " He looked towards the ceiling. " Computer, disengage the Force field on bio bed six. " The field shimmered and dropped.

" I'm sorry if I scared you, but we have nanites of unknown origins and match nothing we have in the federation database. I had to rule out that it was a threat to you or the ship before I dropped the force field. I am sorry if I scared you. " He apologized. " The interesting thing is that your DNA now reads as El Aurian. You will be happy to know that you are within normal parameters of health for an El Aurian of your age. The remaining DNA markers are beginning to degrade and we'll need to keep an eye on it until it is stable. Come in anytime you feel off and we'll check it out. " Said the Caitian Doctor.

"I'm El Aurian..." Harper said quietly as she looked down at her knees. Her mind was blown. To her very core her identity rocked. She had so many questions, most of which no-one would be able to answer in this room.

What about her parents? Did they know? How did she come to Earth? Why was she hidden away? Who were her biological parents? So many questions and that was just the tip of them...

"Is there any type of signature that would point me in to who put DNA markers in me?" Harper asked.

C'Tora studied the monitor and checked the readings. "Well I do have one of the DNA markers that has a strange symbol on it and giving off a faint power signature. Hmmm....I'm going to try to to maneuver it for a better look at it. " C'tora worked the controls to get a better look at the symbol hoping to find something that would help them understand what is going on. " Blast it all!! " The Caitian doctor looked unhappy. " The unit I was looking at deactivated. It must have been damaged or matched a shut down command. " C'Tora checked the readings once again. The shutdown of your markers is beginning to cascade and I am reading no side effects. Let me know if you feel strangely. "

"Someone's gone to great lengths to hide who you are for some reason if you ask me," Jon said.

C'Tora looked to Jonathan. " The big question is who and why? " He said with a note of curiousness in his voice. " Why hide it at all? And for what purpose? Why would anyone go to such lengths to make you believe that your human? It makes no sense at all.. "

C'Tora looked back Harper. Your DNA Markers are shutting off one by one. And they should all be deactivated within the next ten to fifteen minutes and we should know much more by then."

Harper looked at the image taken of the symbol and cocked her head. There was a strange familiarity with it but for what reason she had no idea, she was confident she'd never seen it before. It looked almost artistic, as if someone had taken the time to draw the symbol on each of the markers. Foolish she knew but still a strange smirk formed on her face.

C'Tora watched her facial expressions and was curious when she smiled. " Lieutenant Matthews your smiling. Is this something you've seen before or recognize? If so, then let me know. It might be a clue as to what is going on. " Stated the Caitian Doctor hoping it might lead to an explanation to the current events. " The current rate of failure of the DNA tags is at fifty percent. How are you feeling? " He asked as he turned his attention back to the monitor.

"Volvaric..." Harper muttered in as if in a trance before blinking not even realising she had said it. "No, I don't think I've seen it." she answered not realising the word she had just said.

"I'm wondering. Would you like me to contact the El Aurian ambassador. I know theres a couple floating around the fleet. Maybe they could provide some information?" Jon suggested.

C'Tora pondered for a minute. " Captain, I think that would be a wise move. Please contact an El Aurian ambassador, even via sub space channels could be helpful and could have insight that we don't in this situation. In the meantime I'm going to run this symbol on the DNA marker through the library computer and see what it can tell us. "

"I feel... strange. Like I can 'feel' more." she didn't know how to describe the onset of empathic abilities. They usually began to manifest in El Aurians in younger ages, some as early as teenage years for Humans, some as late as 30s. Harper began to cry for no reason, tears streaming down her face. She hadn't realised at all until she saw Jon look at her. "What?" she asked.

"Your crying Harper," he said pulling her towards him protectively. "Its all okay. We will figure this out more. You feel like... "he looked concerned. "Like Eddie when his abilities started to manifest. "Do do el-aurians have psi abilities?"

C'Tora watched Harper and the monitor and all the readings were within normal parameters with the exception of her Psi ability and was increasing sharply and at a steady pace. " Some El-aurians are noted for having some Psi ability, but sadly we don't have a lot of information regarding that aspect of the El-aurian people, I'll need to run some test and do a proper work up so we can better understand and be able to treat harper in the future. We'll try to get in an hour or two a week so as not to interfere with your duties or personal life any more then we have to, Is that acceptable to you Harper? "

"I'm, what?" Harper squirmed her arms up through Jon's and felt her face. It was a strange sensation to cry but have no feelings of sadness, or not enough to make her cry on her own. She listened to the doctors explanation of what was happening but in truth they seemed as lost in this as her. She knew very little of El Aurians herself, only passing stories and that one time in a bar she had met one who was trying to manipulate any loose lipped woman that would listen. "Yes, doctor that sounds fine with me." she looked at Jon and smiled a little.

" Sadly the El-aurian people have been a bit tight lipped on their biology for some reason. I am going to send a request to Starfleet medical and to the El-aurian consulate explaining that we need said information to care for an emerging El-aurian crew member so as to provide the best health care that we can provide for your well being. I can't imagine that they will turn down such a request. "

"I hope you're right. I mean if they get funny we have to assume they have an inkling as to why you had those things in your body masking you were el-aurian," Jon pondered.

"I guess we can only ask and see what happens." Harper shrugged a little as she wiped her face a little drier. "I'm as keen as anyone to find out why I've been lied to about my origin my entire life... oh my parents!" Now the panic was real. "They must have known! I don't want to ask them about this..."

"You may have to love. If your going to figure out this whole puzzle. It doesn't make them any less the parents who love you and brought you up though. Perhaps park that idea now. And when your ready speak to them," Jon suggested. He even had yet to meet Harpers parents.

So many thoughts began to rush through Harper's head. Panic was a main feeling she was going through, confusion, shame and sadness. Really, there was no positive feeling at all. However, she put on a smile forgetting that her boyfriend was a Betazoid and looked at the Doctor. "Can I go please? I think I need some time to process this..."

Jon looked at C'Tora. He could sense Harper was uncomfortable and just needed to escape and be in her own head.

" You do have a valid question. " Answered C'Tora. Why were you lied to and who did this to you? " C'tora glanced over at the vitals read out. " Your in no danger at this time and your vitals are normal. I would however ask you to wear this monitoring device in case your vitals enter a unstable reading that is dangerous to your health and have you beamed directly to sickbay. It will not set off any alarms if your working out or other activities. Only if your in danger. Other then that you are free to leave. " Said the Caitian Doctor. To many questions and not enough answers, and he didn't like that one bit and it showed in his face.

Jon kissed her cheek. "I'll catch up with you later. Take all the time you need from work."

" I'll cut you some temporary orders for medical leave with an open end return date. If you feel that you can return to work after you've done some soul searching or come to terms with this, then fine by me. As long as your not in pain or your vital signs don't spike that is. " He looked at the couple as they stood before them. " If that is all, I've got some research to do and make some demands for medical information. "

Harper nodded. "Okay." It was a simple, short answer but in truth all she felt capable of saying right now. Her head a powder keg of worry and doubt, of anger and shame, of fear and concern. She just wanted to lie face down and scream into her pillow. She wanted to be alone and she felt the eyes of the ship were on her even though it was just the doctor and Jon present. She felt strange... a once sure of herself, strong and independent woman now shook. Put on top of that her recent injury and conduct in the death of a fellow officer she was indeed falling apart she felt.

---

Lieutenant JG Harper Matthews
Chief Security/Tactical Officer
USS Andromeda

Captain Jonathan Reynolds
CO, USS Andromeda

Lieutenant C'Tora Kuroka
Chief Medical Officer
USS Andromeda