Jhalib Ekal, "Traveler's condition."

[Deliera Jay]

((Deck 6))

::Jhalib Ekal was not in a fit state, and he knew it the second he'd gotten onto Eporue station in 2395. If he thought his condition had been bad when he'd made his first couple of jumps back to this year, it was significantly worse now. His breathing felt stuttered, like he had to retrain himself *how* to breathe on the way to the Veritas. He was cold to touch yet sweating, unfocused, his chest ached in ways he'd not experienced since he'd spent almost two weeks in a hospital on Betazed.

::Noree, that particular hospitalization had been nearly twenty odd years ago. Idly, he wondered if the place would still be standing.::

::Now, however, the man was being escorted to the Veritas Sickbay, brown hair plastered to his forehead thanks to his cold sweat. If they managed to sort out what was happening to him, he was likely going to beg for a sonic shower.

::If it wasn't for his mother at his elbow making sure he was still upright, he wasn't sure he'd have made it ten steps forward.::

::Even *that* was a weird thought. The first time he'd run into this iteration of Sky Blake, he'd been excited by the prospect of time travel, to the point of fault. He'd been eager to run into her, to see her in her prime, having lost her to her to a stroke many years prior to his 'traveling'. Now, having learned what could happen as a result of such encounters, he was on the fence as to whether he actively wanted her help in particular.::

::Then there was G'var behind him, the second most intimidating woman he'd ever met in his *lifetime*. She'd made an impression when he was a child, one that had apparently lasted well into his adulthood, because he still flinched whenever she made what he thought was an odd movement behind him.::

G'var: My apologizes Mr. Ekal if any of my previous actions caused you any discomfort or fear. I was simply protecting the Captain from any harm and did not know about your past interactions.

::That was an interesting opinion to have of his time with Rahman. He'd spent about five to ten minutes with her, asking about the event that was about to happen.::
 
Ekal: It's . . . it's fine. You're doing your job.

Blake: Speaking of jobs, you said you're looking for temporal asylum?

Ekal: It's important. I have to talk with Rahman.

G'var: Response?

Ekal: It's complicated.

Blake: I don't know where you come from, but I'm fairly certain there's no such thing as "temporal asylum" today.

Ekal: You're right. But there will be. Just . . . not yet.

::How coincidental would it be if he had actually been the focal point for the formation of temporal asylum protocols, yet didn't know it? He nearly laughed at the thought. Nearly.::

G'var: Response?

Ekal: Like I said, it's-

::He stumbled, a leg giving out as they rounded the corner to Sickbay, caught by his mother before he planted into the deck.::

::He couldn't tell whether his heart was beating too slowly, or too fast, but whatever it was, it was making him whoozy. He was sluggish, limbs not really responsive to what he wanted them to do.::

::Jhalib Ekal was practically a ready-made corpse walking.::

::The two women hefted him upright, and he gave them a nod of thanks.::

Blake: Come on. We're almost to Sickbay.

G'var: Response?

((Sickbay))

::With the Veritas officers' help, Jhalib was brought into the ship's sickbay, to the waiting medical staff.

::And immediately, he realized that something was wrong with this time. At first he thought it was strange to hear Mei'konda over the com, calling from the Montreal, but now he had confirmation something was out of order standing in front of him.::

DeVeau: Hello, I’m Alora.

::Alora DeVeau was a medical *researcher* aboard the Veritas. At least, that'd always been his interpretation of the vessel's records. That she was here, waiting with a tricorder to see him, made little sense for this time of day.

::Sufficed to say, he was expecting someone else to have been in her place.::

DeVeau: Would you please have a seat?

::When she motioned to the biobed, he complied fairly easily, habitually responding to most requests from medical officers. But he was still confused.::

Ekal:::to himself.:: You've got a tricorder.

::And there was an alarm klaxon ringing in his head. The second she hit him with that tricorder, she'd know *exactly* who he actually was, and that he was definitely not a Rigelian as he'd so far claimed to others of this timeline.::

::Problematic when there was three other people in the room.::

del Vedova/G’var: Responses?

DeVeau: It’s all standard procedure.  We just need to check you, make sure everything’s fine.  Make sure you haven’t brought a plague to doom us all.  You know, the usual.

del Vedova: Response?

Ekal: My name's Jhalib Ekal.

del Vedova: Response?

Ekal: I understand. But, since I'm now your patient, I'm *begging* you, as a matter patient confidentiality, for not only my personal privacy but the temporal prime directive - my identity, and my race, can't be disclosed to anyone onboard this ship anymore than it already has.

::That excluded Captain Rahman by obvious protocol, but the request was still there. It wasn't that he *wanted* to hide away from everyone and be deliberately cryptic - his brown eyes, wide and alert with desperation despite his currently pale and hindered physical condition was surely evidence of that much - more that it was he wanted to sort out this incoming disaster as quickly and smoothly as possible. If people knew who he really was, things might go *significantly* slower with endless questions that he could have avoided. Some of the rules and guidelines that initially governed the Temporal Integrity Commission still have purpose.::

::The second she started a tricorder scan of him, both she and every other medical professional aboard this ship with access to medical logs would be instantly aware that he was not only *smothered* in chronometric radiation, but that Jhalib Ekal was, in fact, a 100 year old Ayden Blake.

::He was the only son of Skyleena Blake - the blonde haired, emerald eyed woman currently standing in this very room with her arms crossed, watching over the scene like a parent who had just escorted someone elses offspring away from the scene of a shuttle accident, a sense of sympathy and pity practically burned across her eyes. She was still at the stage where her marriage rings were on her hand, the one on her thumb currently being twirled around while she was in thought, and Jhalib was glad that he'd made the decision to remove his own rings (two of which, she'd given to him) lest she inadvertently recognize them.

::She looked concerned - nowhere near as stressed as how he remembered her being, which was nice to see, to be perfectly honest - but not as concerned as she would be if she found out the truth.::

::Now that he was in this situation, he was glad he shared very few physical characteristics with his mother, but nearly all of them with his father Sabor - whom next to none of those aboard this ship had met. Only his Brekkian nose ridge came from her side of the family, but Sky missed that feature entirely. He couldn't say the same about his attitude, though - Eislas complained endlessly that he sounded "exactly like your mother".::

del Vedova/DeVeau: Response?

Ekal:::nodding:: Okay.

G'var/DeVeau/del Vedova: Response?

::With someone's help, the bag strapped to his back was removed, leaving his shoulders aching. With ginger hands, he removed the brace around his left forearm.::

Ekal: This is a CRI brace - a chronometric radiation interspatial transporter. Please be careful with it.

::He handed it to G'var.::

G'var/DeVeau/del Vedova: Response?

Ekal: It's not capable of anything right now. It's still got a single dose of radiation left, but the site-to-site has burnt out. Until it's repaired, it's not useful at all. Once this is all sorted, I will need it back.

G'var: Response?

Ekal: I used this to get to 2395 from my native time two days ago. I think I'm still suffering from chronometric radiation.

DeVeau/del Vedova: Response?

Ekal: Single time exposures are generally fine, but serious repeat exposures seem to cause complications for any person . . . ::He trailed off, glancing at Blake.:: Do you need to be here?

::The woman looked surprised by him addressing her, suddenly taken out of her thoughts. If she was here, if she heard exactly what he was experiencing, the chance was she'd recognize it straight away. He didn't remember how bad his situation was when he was a child, but the less of a risk he had of exposing *himself*, the better.

::And he *really* needed medical support right now, the man thankful he was still conscious.::

::Blake hesitated, but spoke to his comfort.::

Blake: For security's sake, Ensign G'var must remain.

::Better than nothing. G'var wasn't as knowledgeable about his kid self as his mother, that was for certain.::

Ekal: Fair enough.

G'var: Response?

::With a nod to the others, she circled out of Sickbay, leaving attention back to Ekal, who had let his chin hit his chest in relief.::

DeVeau: Response?

Ekal: I'm a hybrid. I've had medical complications since I was a kid - but the CRI has made my condition worse with repeat uses. Generally I start suffering from oxygen deprivation that I manage with an O2 breather - it's not as effective as what it used to be.

DeVea/del Vedova: Response?


Tbc . . .

Jhalib Ekal
C238803SB0