Mikali sh'Shar - Clean and White, Part III

[David Adams]

(( Spaceport, Yarista, Palanon, Tyrellian system ))

With her pants soaked below the knees from disgusting toilet water, her sleeve torn off and her mood completely ruined, Mikali sh'Shar stormed through the Yarista spaceport toward the departure point for her shuttle.

Stupid addict snorting in the bathroom. Stupid customer service drone. Stupid inhaler. Stupid spaceport, stupid planet, stupid system, stupid sector, stupid quadrant, stupid galaxy, stupid universe, stupid--

Vaala: Hello, Mikali!

Stupid Klingon.

Vaala, the only one of the three who had somehow managed to keep her commission, beamed like pure sunlight as she came up to Mikali, her medical bag slung over her shoulder, her palpable nervousness hidden behind a mask of insipid cheerfulness. Some way behind her, almost in the distance, Rael was chatting with a service attendant about some matter.

sh'Shar could only look up, and up some more, at the giant Klingon woman. Nearly seven feet tall, Vaala towered over even the tallest person, making her a foot taller or more than most crowd. For someone who had mostly served amongst Humans and grown up among Ferengi, and who was only five foot something herself, Mikali couldn't help but be frustrated at the audacity of someone being so much taller than her.

Vaala: We didn't get a chance to catch up. ::she stuck out her enormous hand:: It's lovely to s-see you again, Miss sh'Shar.

Mikali slapped her hand into Vaala's, squeezing roughly.

sh'Shar: Yeah. How're you doing, shortstack?

Vaala: Owie! ::she pulled her hand back, rubbing it ruefully:: Hah, hah... I am well. I'm still studying, you know, for counselling, but I want--I've been helping out Miss Rael. I'm still reading though, still learning!

It seemed like nothing could make that woman stop smiling.

sh'Shar: Hah. Books are for nerds. 

Vaala said nothing, squirming uncomfortably. Mikali gloated in her victory, taking a step toward the Klingon. Vaala stepped back. Mikali stepped closer. Vaala stepped back again.

The cycle was broken as Rael wheeled up, nodding toward both of them.

Rael: sh'Shar.

Mikali tossed her hair dismissively.

sh'Shar: Rael. You still suck. 

Safine just rolled her eyes.

Rael: Charming. I'm going to really enjoy sharing residence on a giant metal can floating through space with you.

sh'Shar had no idea where she would be quartered. Somewhere far away from Rael, certainly, if all went well. And she hoped it would.

sh'Shar: Shouldn't you be waiting by the gate like good little peons, always early for stuff?

Vaala: Oh, we were going there, yes yes. ::she jostled the bag, bringing it around to her front:: We just heard there was a medical emergency. I'm still registered as a nurse, so I wanted to see if I could help out. Peppers! I just hate it when people are hurt, you know?

Of course Vaala the goody-too-shoes would drop everything and run to help a total stranger.

sh'Shar: Ugh, it's fine, you're too late. It's already sorted. ::she jerked a thumb over her shoulder:: Restroom's that way by the way, in case you don't believe me.

Vaala's eyes widened curiously.

Vaala: Wait, "restroom"? Did you know about that? How?

Rael spoke up, her tone firm, almost accusatory.

Rael: What happened to your sleeve, Mikali? And how did you get so wet?

Mikali laughed and leaned down toward the wheelchair-bound Trill.

sh'Shar: Oh, that is not an appropriate question to ask, lady.

Rael didn't laugh. Vaala didn't laugh.

Rael: The report said there was an Andorian female found consuming Ketracel in the restroom. ::her eyes narrowed:: And you're telling me that this wasn't you?

For once in her life, Mikali was falsely accused of something she actually did not do. Her face turned dark, Navy blue, her eyes bugging out.

sh'Shar: W-what? It wasn't me, it was some other loser! A zhen! I'm a shen, we're different. And I cleaned her up, called the staff, did all the right things! I only went in there to clean up my sleeve because that arsehole on the ship slobbered on it! I'm the good guy here!

Rael, seemingly utterly unconvinced, rested her hands on her wheels.

Rael: Semantics of Andorian reproductive nature aside, you're telling me that there just happened to be another Andorian female at this random spaceport that you just happened to be travelling through, and that female just happened to be using the same drug you used to use, and you just happened to be in the same place at the same time, randomly passing through, and while there you just happened to get covered in water and lose a sleeve--after a long spaceflight where you couldn't possibly treat yourself to a little sniff, so might be a bit desperate and dumb--and that person in the report is not really you, and you definitely didn't escape from their custody ripping your sleeve in the process, and all of this is just a giant coincidence.

Mikali stared slack-jawed. She had a thousand comebacks to being justifiably accused of something but nothing for when she was actually innocent. She fumed, her antenna spasming on top of her head, muscles tightening. She felt like clocking that stupid Trill in her stupid dumb face.

sh'Shar: Yes.

Rael emitted a soft, low groan.

Rael: You know you won't be able to do this on the Gorkon, right? If they catch you with that junk they will throw you into the brig, and I will happily stand guard. ::she sighed exhaustedly:: But hey, you swear it wasn't you.

Mikali glowered, her face scrunching up in anger.

sh'Shar: It. Wasn't. Me. You believe me, don't you, Vaala?

Vaala said nothing, her eyes full of sadness and pity.

Well.

Rael exhaled, then clapped her hands briefly.

Rael: Okay. So it wasn't you. If that's the case, then you wouldn't mind if Vaala gives you a brief wave over with her medical tricorder. Just to make sure you didn't accidentally slip, trip, fall and get a lungful of powdered Ketracel through a contrived series of ridiculous events, each more unbelievable than the last.

Mikali jabbed a finger toward each of them in turn.

sh'Shar: Fine! You know what? Fine. Fine! Yeah. Let's do it. Go for it! Scan away!

Vaala fumbled with her bag, retrieving and opening an oversized medical tricorder with those big dumb massive fingers of hers. She removed the attachment, waving it near sh'Shar's head.

sh'Shar: Hurry up!

After a moment, the instrument chirp-warbled happily. Vaala smiled a big, warm smile.

Vaala: I'm not detecting any chemicals of any sort in her lungs, bloodstream, or digestive tract.

Almost on cue, a floating biobed with the Andorian zhen on it floated by, attended to by a pair of civilian medical techs. All three pairs of eyes followed the bed as it slipped back into the crowd.

Rael: You're sure.

Vaala: Yep! ::she packed away her instrument back into her back:: This kinda stuff is easily detectable, but aside from a few molecules of the stuff on her clothes, she's clean. Looks like Mikali wasn't lying.

sh'Shar's blood ran cold, her skin itching suddenly, her heart pounding in her chest. The inhaler had spilled out onto the ground. She hadn't worn gloves. It was a powder...

The colour drained out of her face.

sh'Shar: It's... on my clothes? On my skin?

Vaala: Only trace amounts, barely a few molecules. Exactly as if you had touched someone who, themselves, had contact with it. ::she giggled lightly:: Miss Rael and I probably have the same amount on us, just from being near you! It's okay, it doesn't mean anything. You did the right thing.

Ice pumped through her veins. Such a tiny amount couldn't possibly have any effect, but she knew powdered Ketracel could be absorbed, over time, through the skin...

She needed a shower. She felt dirty. Filthy. Covered in the stuff. She could sense tiny particles of the stuff wiggling their way past her blue skin, into her bloodstream.

Computer: Shuttle USS Diana is preparing to launch. All passengers please report to Gate 41 for departure.

Vaala: ::brightly:: That's us. Come on, let's go.

Safine didn't go for a second, instead smiling up at Mikali.

Rael: I'm sorry, sh'Shar. I was wrong.

Mikali brushed off her arms, an involuntary shudder running up her spine. The idea of being coated in the stuff... it creeped her out, even if it wasn't anywhere near an effective amount for a dose. The very notion made her skin turn into Andorian gooseflesh.

sh'Shar: Whatever.

Rael: I know you're angry, and you have a right to be, but I'm proud of you. You did the right thing today.

sh'Shar: Whatever. ::muttering:: Let's just go.

The three of them went to their gate, embarked through the long tunnel, bundling themselves onto the cramped shuttle with the other passengers. Vaala, the most energetic of them all, took three plastic dinosaurs out of her medical bag, playing with them like dolls, reenacting some terribly morbid scene where the baby Brontosaurus's mother was killed by a Sharptooth.

Mikali just sat in her seat, antenna drooping down to the sides of her head, idly rubbing her arms and counting down the seconds until she could have a shower and finally get clean again.

--

Lieutenant (j.g.) (ret) Mikali sh'Shar

Civilian

simmed by

Ensign Serren Tan

Security/Tactical

USS Gorkon

O238704AT0