Lieutenant Ras El'Heem - Have you heard the tragedy of Ohnari the Wise?

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Ras El'Heem

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Oct 14, 2025, 11:40:50 PM10/14/25

to USS Khitomer – StarBase 118 Star Trek PBEM RPG

((Isolation Room Three, Main Sickbay, USS Khitomer))

The Chaos of the last twenty minutes had onset so quickly it felt rehearsed. One of the travelers appearing in front of them collapsed on the floor alongside a security officer who was more clueless than they were, and then a flurry of movement as she was stabilized, just to be carted off again. When he got to the Sickbay annex, the silence of the room folded back on itself in an eerie manner that Ras didn’t trust. It had the quality of an interrogation room in an old Terran police station. The walls were threateningly isolating but portrayed themselves as unassuming, and trouble lurked just outside. He figured, at this rate, he’d sleep eighteen hours straight once he finally laid his head down; assuming the images of what was coming didn’t fester in his dreams and keep him half awake, half haunted.

The small spare “office” had never suited him. Somehow lacking the sterility of the rest of Sickbay while also too cramped and full of ghosts of his former post. It made Ras miss his old office, he shared it with Othin but the troll of a woman was never one to coop herself up and he volunteered to do her paperwork if it meant she’d spend less time in there. Somehow he’d been spending more time there than in the labs since his transfer to science.

The stack of PADDs on the holotable seemed to sneer at him. Each one a dead end, filled with simulations and models that only confirmed his hypothesis, and it wasn’t the kind of hypothesis he wanted to be true. Ras leaned against the table and exhaled an exaggerated sigh, more out of exhaustion than frustration, though he wasn’t sure anymore where one ended and the other began.

El’Heem: So you think Tori has the answers then? Because as of now, I sure don’t.

Matthews: Response

Clearly there were touchy subjects that needed to be addressed before they’d be able to move on and solve the problem they were ordered to solve. The Kressari looked up and out of the transparent door that separated them from the rest of sickbay and spied Talia through the door of isolation room three, speaking words he couldn’t hear but could somehow feel in their weight. He caught Richard’s eye and gave a nod towards the door.

El’Heem: Looks like we’re up.

Matthews: Response

Ras took the initiative and stepped into the hall just as Talia did.

Ohnari: Ensign Matthews, Tori is stable for now, go on in, Ras? A moment please?

Matthews: Response

Again, Ras just nodded to Richard. The lack of sleep was making him chatty, clearly and the hush atmosphere and secrets whispered on everyone’s lips made that little hallway feel like an emergency ward in the small hours of the night. He watched Richard slip into Tori’s room and then turned back to Talia, crossing his arms.

Ohnari: ::inhaling deeply, bending over slightly, on finger aloft:: One Sec...::working through a minor hyperventilation, she nodded once and then stood:: I am fully aware my ability to be completely objective is just basically shot to shit. Well aware. ::pausing:: I...what I mean is...::her wide grey eyes reflected the tears she stubbornly refused to let slip:: I am authorizing you to check me. Professionally. I realize I am asking a lot. You have your own department and orders...but you can be objective. And you've worked with me long enough....I just need you to be my objectivity gauge....please?

The former doctor rocked on his heels, looking to the floor and sucking air through his teeth.

El'Heem: ::nearly whispering:: Talia. Half the shifts senior officers are compromised. I don’t think anyone can ask-

She didn’t cut him off but the way she looked at him made him feel like the only answer he should give was a stoic affirmative.

Ohnari: I want to prevent the catastrophic loss of life...just as badly as everyone else. I don't want anyone thinking a call I made was for a selfish purpose that would be at the cost of the greater good. Easy for me to say, right now, standing in this hallway.

El'Heem: ::clicking his teeth while continuing to rock:: Yea- Yes. Chief. Of course. ::stopping and looking her in the eyes:: who else is going to check you on your terrible stitching?

His eyes flashed a sympathetic cerulean and he looked away sheepishly knowing this time, no amount of humor was going to feel appropriate. Her hug almost caught him off guard but he was used to how the Haliian showed her affection by then. He returned the embrace with one arm and wobbled his head.

El’Heem: Alright. Alrightttt. Some of us have a future to save. ::chuckling, dryly::

Ohnari: ::muffled:: Thank you. ::releasing him and shaking herself:: Ok, now you go and get all the info from Tori that you can so we can prevent all out war without the mass genocide part, and I'll....send Othin to Amelia for a bone marrow sample. ::rubbing her forehead:: And...have her take one from me, for Kael...my son...in the next room. Waiting.

There wasn’t anything to say. The implications of having to do either of those things had Ras wishing he could shoulder the burden for her, but it was one of the unique tragedies of Starfleet to suffer such a plague. Ras turned unceremoniously and cracked the door just enough to hear Richard talking to Tori.

Matthews: Response

He stopped and tapped his forehead against the side of the door to try and ease the tension in his head then stepped into the room quietly. He couldn’t see it before but it was clear as day now, Tori was a Semara. For a moment it almost looked like Amelia herself was laying in that bed. Small and frail. He swallowed and slipped his hands into his pockets as he hung back by the door.

Tori: Hello, Ras. :: Beat :: I was just trying to convince the Ensign I'm not a threat. Seemed like a good place to start. Did I succeed at all?

Ras looked down as he walked forward to stand beside Richard and then met her eyes.

El'Heem: Your…Amelia can hold her own despite her size. ::pausing:: how are you feeling?

Matthews: Response

He tilted his head and resisted the urge to roll his eyes. The situation was almost too delicate for Richard but he was already here and Ras figured the man’s bedside manner had to be infamous by the time Tori was born.

Tori: Well, I'm awake and lucid now. We should talk before Talia comes back in here with a plan to replace the more irradiated half of me with a mech-suit. :: A weird little grin :: What do you want to know?

Something in her comment stirred a faint flutter in his chest and sent a pulse that slipped down the arm to his prosthetic hand. He flexed it in his pocked until the misaligned lunate clicked softly back into place. The sound small but it anchored him. Ras chewed his lip as he watched her, unsure whether it was her comment or the intent that uneased him more.

Matthews: Response

Ras stepped forward and gripped the end of the biobed with both hands.

El'Heem: Indeed. ::hesitating:: Coming back here…time travel…::long pause:: how did you crack it?

Tori’s eyes seemed drawn to the slightly miscolored limb at the end of his right arm and he followed her gaze to it.