Shock and Awe - Part One

Posted on Mon Feb 24th, 2020 @ 5:02pm by Commander Tressa Brislan-Antilles & Fleet Captain Torilla Yamaguchi

Mission: Mission 14: Rage Rage Rage Against the Dying of the Light
Location: Various Locations - Starbase 400
Timeline: 1030Hrs - June 20th, 2390

The main entrance opened as in came a rather tall and broadly build woman, she looked around, a smile appearing on her face before moving over to the main desk. "Hey."

"Can I help you Commander?" an Andorian shen with breathtakingly lovely looks inquired with a smile.

"Yes, actually, I'm here to see Doctor Brislan, I had a little issue and I wanted to make sure all was well.."

Ensign Wol'Estra Sh'Leetaraa nodded. "Yep. I see you here, you're expected and.." she frowned as she read the note. "Doctor Brislan is just seeing a patient at present but I will page her to let her know your here. says 'page me whenever Torilla arrives.'." the Andorian frowned. "Is this an emergency?"

"No. I just wanted to make sure all was well because I'm feeling tired and low on energy most of the time... I wanted to make sure everything was alright."

The Andorian Shen smiled at the larger woman. "That explains the note. fair enough. If you'd kindly take a seat over there, I'll let the Doctor know you've arrived."

"Thank you." Torilla turned and went over to the chairs as indicted, then she sat down, she then plucked a holozine, the twenty forth century version of a magazine as she began to read.

Tressa saw the call appear on her terminal. She left her office and went to the main desk.

"Torilla, what brings you here? Not feeling well?" she asked, picking up the duty nurse's padd.

"I wanted to make sure all was well with my impending little one... I decided to take the morning and get it looked at." she deliberately did not refer to her unborn by gender.

"I see, I'm sorry I didn't see it on the daily roster. Let's go into Exam Four," the doctor said, leading the way. When the door closed behind them Tressa moved the bio bed lower for the pregnant Commander. "Tell me, are you in any pain today?"

Torilla sat down on the biobed as she paused. "No... its more that I'm tired." she commented softly. "I never had that before with my other children."

"I think that tired is a reasonable state for a mother-to-be," Tressa said with a reassuring smile. "Can you lie back for me? We'll do a full scan today."

Torilla raised an eyebrow. "Tressa. I'm not made of glass.." she then smiled to take the bite out of her statement as she proceeded to lie backwards on the bed. "Other then being tired, I'm also more hungry... that can't be right...... can it?

"You may be overanalyzing things, Torilla," Tressa said. "Computer, full musculoskeletal, neuro, cardio, and natal scan."

"Scanning, Doctor."

"So, tired, hungry, any muscle weakness? Increased sensitivity?"

"More or less yes." she answered. "No muscle weakness... I'm still as strong and fit as ever before." Torilla answered with a confused look on her face. "I don't get it... other then I'm getting old."

The doctor was watching the monitor as the scan results appeared.

"Interesting..."

Torilla turned her head as she raised an eyebrow, clearly waiting.

Tressa looked at the prone woman. "Well, you are lying down... Torilla, you are pregnant with twins."

Torilla blinked. "Wait... what?" she paused. "Tressa... twins you say?"

"Computer, lower torso to five hundred percent."

The small image on the monitor suddenly filled a third of the wall next to the bed. The doctor pointed to two clearly delineated shapes nestled together. "Say hello," she said softly.

Torilla looked at them as she paused. "That's unbelievable." she whispered. "Doctor... do you have any idea what will happen when news of this gets out?"

Tressa shook her head 'no' and her eyes darted to the vital's monitor. Torilla's blood pressure had risen.

Torilla regarded the doctor with a strange look, part fear, part hatred and part contempt as she explained in quiet tones. "No Halanan has had as many children as me in two centuries... and no twins for almost six centuries.." her shock was overwhelming, she breathed in and then out, then she swallowed. "I can only imagine what the Halanan government will say when news of this reaches them.... they may have exiled me but... they do watch me..." she shifted her gaze from her unborn to the Doctor. "Can you tell their genders?"

"They are still very small, but I think so, yes," Tressa said, her smile gone. "Are you in danger?"

"No.. the Halanan Government will want to know why I am able to have so many children... since the average Halanan female only has one, maybe two... I'm on four and five."

"But you don't live there, is it a population issue?" the doctor asked, clearly confused.

Torilla regarded Tressa with an unusual look. "The Halanan government will want to know what makes me so special.... my species is facing its own destruction.... our numbers have been declining for centuries now, damage to our genetic codes.... I inherited those same toxic genes.. they know what they are yet they won't remove them from the gene pool." she explained. "My family united behind me in outrage over my exile.... but just because I'm
exiled doesn't mean the Halanan government is simply content to ignore me, they have caused me issues in the past."

"Torilla," Tressa began, her voice low and soft. "You can choose to end the pregnancy. It is very early on, if you want to do so you must do it very soon."