Seek and ye shall find

Posted on Thu Apr 24th, 2025 @ 10:04am by Lieutenant Commander Callie Raven-Grayson & Commander Jonathan Grayson & Commander Samantha Howard & Lieutenant Commander Deanna Celes

2,101 words; about a 11 minute read

Mission: Genetic Purity
Location: Sickbay

The biobed Callie lay upon was registering normal life signs with one exception, Callie’s neural activity had almost dropped off the scale. Her conscious mind now practically shutdown, yet her paracortex was lit up like a Christmas tree. Somewhere deep down inside, Callie was hiding protecting herself from anymore trauma.

Dr Samantha Howard was concerned. Physical injuries she could treat, and had spent the last day doing with the rest of the away team, but psychological? That wad best left to the counselors. Problem was said counselor was the one unconscious. As unconscious patients don't tend to respond well to verbal therapy, she sent a message to Deanna and waited anxiously.

Deanna entered sickbay tentatively. Many of the original away team that had gone down to the planet had returned with severe injuries. While that wasn't her fault, and Sam had managed to save everyone, Deanna felt that she had made mistakes not being on that away mission, and again by not finding a way to bypass that shield to transport them up sooner. Looking around sickbay she saw all of the biobeds occupied, and Sam and her staff tending to the patients. She made her way over to Sam, "You asked to see me, Sam?"

"I did, I feel we will need your expertise with treating Callie" Sam nodded towards the counsellor. "Physically she's fine, however none of the standard revival techniques have worked. I fear she has some serious psychological trauma."

"When Betazoids encounter deep psychological trauma, especially if it were somehow telepathic in nature, we can fall into ourselves" Deanna replied thoughtfully. She looked at Jon, "Do you know if she dealt with any sort of telepathic trauma down there?"

"Goebbels had her strapped to a medical bed from what Ayana said before they were separated. So, I imagine Callie dealt with some severe telepathic trauma to be in this state." Jon replied, his eyes on Callie.

The readouts changed as Jon’s voice permeated the air, Callie was aware of his presence through their bond as husband and wife, yet she wasn’t sure if it was truly him or if Goebbels was still trying to fool her.

"Look!" Jon said pointing to the monitors. "Callie reacted to my voice." He turned to Deanna, "Deanna, I need you to help me get inside Callie's mind so I can bring her back."

Deanna looked concerned. "You understand what you are asking? This isn't like a mindmeld where you have some semblance of safety. Everyone involved in what you are proposing could be seriously harmed if something goes wrong. You don't want us to try anything else first?"

"Deanna, I'm sure Sam has tried all she knows to get Callie to 'wake' up without success. If we're going to get her back, I have to go into her mind, and you have to be the bridge to allow me access to it."

Deanna looked at Sam, "I won't do this without your approval Sam. You need to know, this will be dangerous, even if you monitor. And while I know we'll need to inform the captain, perhaps waiting until we have started might be best. Better to ask forgiveness than permission I believe the human proverb goes."

Sam hesitated, she'd done the mind bridge before years ago and had wound up second best and here were two offer friends asking her for permission to do it again. "I..." She stammered before pulling herself together. "I don't think we have a choice... conventional treatments aren't working"

"I agree Sam." Jon replied before speaking to Deanna, "Come on Deanna! We don't have a moment to waste if we want to bring Callie back to us."

Deanna nodded. "Alright, I guess we are going to do this then. I'll need a few minutes to prepare."


~ Inside Callie’s mind ~

The glade was picturesque, the wind gently blew, the sun shone brightly and sitting on the edge of the cliff overlooking the crystal blue waters was Callie. Her choice was almost simple, except it meant that if she chose to let herself fall, she would never awake again. Her thoughts were for Jon, and her children. She couldn’t bear leaving them, yet she had to protect them. She wouldn’t let Goebbels use her mind as a playing field.

Through the bond they shared Jon reached out to her, *Callie love, it's me Jon. Come back to us, come back to me. You are safe now. You are back aboard the Washington.*

Callie heard Jon’s voice, but she didn’t know if it was truly him or whether Goebbels was trying to fool her again. *How do I know…? Whether it’s truly you?* her voice echoed. *If it’s truly you, then you will know how to find me…*

Jon's voice floated back to her, "Let your love and trust in and for me be your guide. I'm coming Callie. I will be with you shortly.”

Deanna walked in. "I am going to have to make a connection with her first Jon. Once I have, I'll make a connection with you and then we'll see if we can bridge the connections. It won't be easy, and the deeper her trauma, the tougher this is going to be."

What awaited Jon was a path that would lead him through a maze, some of the memories would be true, others would lead him to nowhere. Only Jon would know which memories were truly right, and if he followed them, he would appear before her to bring her home.

"Deanna, I know. This is Callie. I'm ready to do what I need to do to bring her home safely. Make the connections."

Deanna smiled. Looking to Jon, "At least part of her wants to get out of this situation. As crazy as it might sound, that is a good sign. Let's get started."

"You are right Sam. Callie wants to come back; she is just afraid of being tricked again. Apparently, Goebbels got inside her head and was playing mind games with her. I need to go in and bring her back." Jon replied firmly.

Deanna focused her mind and began the telepathic bond with Callie. She could feel the defensive walls, the inner turmoil, the panic and fear. It took a few moments, but she managed to get in. It wasn't where she wanted to be, but perhaps seeing the recent memories might help her make the bond stronger as they proceeded. She watched solemnly at what had happened, and more to the point, she saw what caused the trauma. This would not be easy, but it could be done. Finally she heard Callie's voice, soft, meek even, almost distant. She latched on to it and slowly tried to bond with it.

Once she felt the bond was secure, she opened her eyes and looked at Jon, linking with him telepathically. She explained the situation as best she could to him over the link, even showing him what had happened, and then slowly bridged him into the link with Callie. *I can't hold this link very long. Work quickly. *

*I will." Jon promised as he set out to find the love of his life...Callie. He found himself on a path, a path that soon turned into a maze full of false memories, no doubt placed by Callie to prevent Goebbels from tampering with her mind. His progress was slow but steady as he saw her real memories of her first reporting on the Washington. The announcement and shock that they were still married. Adopting Harry and then Callie again when she was pregnant with twins and Shona and Steven were born. *Callie, my love. I'm here to bring you back. * He called to her.

Sam meanwhile had the three of them hooked up to biosensors and the readouts displayed on the screen nearby. A full suit of hypos and other medical equipment was also within arms reach.

With Jon having successfully made his way through her defensive maze Callie finally appeared in front of him. Her usual confident demeanor was replaced with one of uncertainty and fear. “Jon…It is you, isn’t it?”

Jon flashed his boyish smile as he stood in front of Callie. "It's me Callie. Come to bring you home. You're safe now sweetheart. No more hiding, nothing to be scared of. Harry, Shona and Steven all want to see their mother and I. I want my wife and best friend back by my side." He finished softly.

Callie moved closer before pausing, she couldn’t let her fears lead her into distrusting the man that she loved with all her heart. She reached out a hand touching his figure, the instant connection she felt to him reassured her this was truly Jon. “It is you! Take me home, please!”

Jon's eyes glistened in tears as Callie recognized him by touching him. He nodded happily at her. "It is me, Callie. I love you for all time." He extended his hands to her, "Take my hands so we can go home sweetheart."

Her trembling hands slowly reached out taking hold of Jon’s, her defences finally dropping to allow Deanna to help them both back with relative ease. Opening her eyes Callie’s gaze went to Deanna, offering a weak smile. “Thank you Deanna.”

Jon leaned over and kissed her softly. "Welcome back love." He whispered softly. He then looked to Deanna, "Thank you Deanna, Thank you very much." He added sincerely. He then turned to Sam, the Washington's CMO. "Thank you as well Sam, for your part in this little adventure." He added.

Sam removed the neural monitors off the three of them when their vitals stabilized, giving Deanna and Jon strict instructions to rest before turning her attention to Callie.

"You gave us a run for our money this time. I was fresh out of tricks this time." She said sagely, giving Callie's shoulder a squeeze.

Deanna leaned against a nearby biobed, "Sam, if you don't mind, I think I require a bit of your mothering, or at least a good medical once over. I'd suggest the same for Jon and Callie as well. Such telepathic endeavors hardly ever go completely smooth. The fatigue, especially for myself and Callie in our telepathic centers is beyond taxing."

"Take care of Callie and Deanna first Sam." Jon said as he slumped against a nearby bio bed for support.

“I’m not going anywhere fast” Callie offered Sam a smile. “Thank you for allowing this, and bringing me back. Right now I could use something to get rid of a headache.” She offered a weary, wry, smile.

Jon smiled at Callie's reply. "Just relax and take it slow Callie. We're not in a hurry to go anywhere."

"Deanna, up here. Jon, you're on the next one" Sam patted the nearby biobed and helped Deanna climb up. She activated the biobed sensor unit and set the display nearby to read out the results.

"Your brain activity and blood work are all over the place" Sam commented as she reached for a hypospray. "No water you're fatigued"

Jon did as Sam instructed and climbed onto the nearest bio bed and waited his turn to be examined by Sam.

Callie all the while hadn’t taken her eyes off Jon, right now he was the one thing keeping her reassured that all was as it should be again. Though she tried to fight it exhaustion soon took over as her eyes got heavy and she fell asleep.

"Callie!" Jon said in alarm as her eyes closed, and she slumped over. "Sam!" he called out as he jumped off the bed and rushed to Callie's side. "Is she alright?" He asked Sam.

Deanna sat on the biobed and then slumped over. Sam suddenly had multiple medical matters to tend to.

Seeing Deanna slump over. Jon got Callie on a bio bed making sure she couldn't roll or fall off before he moved Deanna. "Sam!" he shouted.

"Viviana!" Sam's sharp call could be heard anywhere in Sickbay and was indicative of a desperate situation. She went to Deanna and caught her before the betazoid could hit the deck. She had obviously missed something in the neural scans, or somehow the telepathic link was still active.

Activating the biobeds life support functions on both biobeds she could ensure they didn't deteriorate too rapidly before she could get a handle on the situation.

Viviana rushed over. Looking at the monitors, "You have to be joking. I think they are in a telepathic loop."


(TBC)

 

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