Taking out the Rubbish

Posted on Mon Apr 1st, 2019 @ 6:45am by Lieutenant JG Gallia Norris
Edited on on Sun Apr 28th, 2019 @ 10:46am

Mission: Season 2: Episode 3: Determination is not always a good thing
Location: Field Hospital
Timeline: after "Engineering Under Fire"
2510 words - 5 OF Standard Post Measure

Gallia and Anje came into the field hospital for what they hoped would be the very last time, Anje supporting Gallia as Gallia dragged Dunphy with the pistol still leveled at his head, “Hey, can we get a doctor here?” The Scot called out, “This one’s got a bullet in ‘im and I wouldnae want him to be injured when we hang his sorry bum.”

Anje had to fight a laugh and, though she’d remind Gallia later that the Federation no longer had a death penalty, she was enjoying watching Quinton Dunphy squirm. She managed to get him onto a nearby table by herself, as Gallia couldn’t help much hopping on one leg, “Okay, get cozy, asshole, Doc will be here to see you soon.”

“Piss off, bitch.” Dunphy snarled, he had nothing to say to them, confident as he was that he’d be walking out of there sooner than anyone in that lot realized.

“Charming to the last.” Anje laughed, finally finding a nurse to come over and take the suspect’s vitals.

Julia came along and looked Gallia over. “You look like you’ve come down the side of a roof in the ways of our ancestors, before ladders were invented.” She figured she’d be pretty much on the money with that assumption. “Did all go well, otherwise?”

“Aye.” Gallia nodded, “Home Guard was rescuing hostages, gun went down…”

“But not before a charity rescue ship was destroyed with all hands and, according to preliminary numbers anyway, thirty four refugees.” Anje reported, “Looks like a total of fifty six dead.”

Dunphy laughed so hard he snorted, “That’s ‘ow ya send a message.” He taunted, “Better put me count up two from that, since I left them two traitor bitches lying there leakin’ on my carpet.”

“Fifty-six?” Julia’s eyes went wide. “On account of this sorry excuse for a human being?” She shook her head. “There’s no punishment in the universe fitting the crime. But at least we’ve been able to stabilise the two girls. They’ll need some TLC but they’re going to be fine.”

“Ya dinnae say!” Gallia said excitedly, “Do ya know what that means, Mr. Dunphy, sir? They’ll live to testify against ya in court! Now ain’t that grand?”

“Right.” Dunphy laughed, “There ain’t gonna be no trial, you stupid whore. I’m walkin’ outta here right soon, got me? An’ there ain’t a bloody thing any of you lot can do about it.” He forced himself up onto his backside, “An’ when I take some time to regroup, I’m gonna track you down and shut your bitch mouth good an’ permanent, you got me? That little shrimp with ya, too. An’ don’t ya think for a second I’m gonna forget about Baldie. I’ll see ya all again, real soon.”

“Would anyone care if I just shot this bastard?” Gallia asked, very serious, “Got four rounds left in the cylinder here…”

“Chill, Gallia.” Anje said, turning to Julia, “Doctor, shouldn’t we sedate this patient to remove that bullet from his leg?”

“I can remove the bullet”, Julia said. “But I don’t think we should waste any of our already low supply of anaesthetics on him, do you?”

“Look, from a personal point of view, I totally agree with you.” Anje began, “Honestly, I would happily stand on his wound just to hear the piece of garbage scream, but we’ve got to follow the law to the letter here, otherwise we risk giving him an opening to squirm off the hook. If you’re low on sedatives, I can replicate some for you, but we’re not giving this guy any chance to get away with what he did to Liorga.”

Julia nodded. “I understand your position.” Then she grinned at Anje. “Fortunately, I’m not in law enforcement, or any kind of government employ. So I can just refuse to help him and it won’t help his case even a little.” She knelt down beside Gallia. “But I can make the pain stop in your ankle, if you like?”

“Aye.” Gallia nodded, “That would be lovely. Oh, and can we get a look at my ribs, too? I hit fair hard when I fell.”

“You just made the list, too, bitch.” Dunphy sneered, “An’ you’re dumb enough to do it on my home turf. I know you, Julia, I know about your husband an’ your snivelin’ brat son. I might just focus on them, let you live with it.”

“I’m not afraid of you”, Julia said dismissively.

“You really need to shut up.” Anje informed Dunphy, “Or I’ll shut you up.”

“I’d like ta see that, shrimp-o.” Dunphy laughed harder, “I’d like ta see that indeed.”

“As you wish.” Anje replied with an exaggerated curtsey, then promptly placed a textbook Vulcan nerve pinch on the gloating thug, sending him to dreamland almost instantly.

“Makes you wonder what all has to go wrong to have someone turn out like that”, Julia said. She was wondering about the nature of evil, but now wasn’t the time to have a debate on it. She gave Gallia a local anaesthetic and went to work on her leg. “While you were gone, the announcement came through that we’re all going to be evacuated. Going to have to have a long talk with my family, about where we’ll go.”

“So the whole planet is uninhabitable now?” Anje asked, she had never figured the disaster would be so great in scope as to require that, ~Evacuating an entire planet, that hasn’t happened in over a century.~

“It willnae be permanent.” Gallia said surely, “Starfleet Corps of Engineers will get it right.”

“There’s a chance that we’ll go up like Praxis”, Julia said. “Though, that’s not been announced officially. If it were, everyone would demand to get off all at once, even if it’s safe enough for the next few months.”

Anje knew enough about Julia’s situation to know it was, to say the least, pretty dire if she had to return to the Federation proper; her medical license was gone, her job prospects limited, and she’d be out there with all her responsibilities, no way to make a living, and homeless, “Julia, I’d like to put you in touch with my Aunt.” Anje offered, “She might be able to help you get a fresh start. I know once we talk she’ll be willing.”

Julia shook her head. “Thank you, but no. My husband and I will go job-hunting, I’m sure we’ll find something soon enough.” From Julia’s point of view, those chances weren’t so bad. She might not have her medical licence, but she had years of experience as a lab technician, and her husband had a perfectly unblemished record as well. She wasn’t worried, provided they’d make it out soon enough.

“Okay, well, at least take the number, please.” Anje offered, whispering to Julia, “This isn’t charity, you earned this.”

“Who is this aunt o’ yours anyway, Anje?” Gallia asked as Julia tended to her wounds, “She’s pretty powerful, hey?”

“She’s a retired Fleet Admiral, now an Ambassador and, if the rumors are true, a Presidential candidate.” Anje replied, “So, yeah, she’s got some influence. She likes to use it to help the deserving.”

“But her influence is limited, I’m sure”, Julia said. “I mean, everyone’s power only goes so far. If you want to help, if she does, direct those resources towards the women you’ve just freed. They’ve got nothing. They haven’t got a family, or property, or even learnt a trade. They might not have earned help, but they certainly deserve it. I’ll be fine without, I don’t think they’ll be.”

“I’ll definitely tell her about that.” Anje nodded, “Keep the number anyway. Favor for me.”

Julia nodded. “I will. I appreciate the thought. I really do. I don’t want to come across as ungrateful.”

“I know.” Anje reassured her, “I didn’t think you were. I just wanted you to know that what you’ve done here for all of us is appreciated big time.”

“Right.” Gallia agreed, moving her ankle a bit, “Feels a good bit better.”

Julia wasn’t sure what to think about that. From where she was standing, she hadn’t done much. She’d come in as one of the wounded, and been recruited by Estelle to do some work, which she just so happened to be qualified for. But she wasn’t going to argue the point. “Want to go topless for a bit?” she asked Gallia, pointing to the regenerator she was holding.

Gallia removed her jacket and shirt, tossing them to the side, “Do your thing, doc.”

“And nobody’s thinking of taking a snapshot for the archives?” Estelle asked as she walked out of the surgical ward and joined the group, just when Julia started working to prevent the bruises from causing any more discomfort, which would otherwise only increase with time.

“Nah, you don’t do pics like that of an Engineer’s girlfriend.” Anje shook her head, “That’s how you wake up with a wastehose in your bunk.”

“Dinnae make me laugh.” Gallia protested, “I might break in half.”

“It’s good you’ve all come back mostly in one piece”, Estelle said. “Those two girls, they couldn’t have taken another hit.” Then she noticed the man on the bed. “Why isn’t he being looked after?”

“The Doctor is busy tending to Starfleet personnel.” Anje replied, not going to tell Estelle that Julia was ignoring Dunphy solely because he was a douche, “Injured military personnel get first priority when the wound isn’t life threatening.”

“Since when do we…” Estelle started.

“He’s the bastard responsible for all this”, Julia said. “Came in here still trying to threaten everybody with retribution. He killed almost sixty people.”

“Oh”, Estelle said. Since he was unconscious, that’s all she said. “Please, carry on. I’ll be… uhm, refilling some medicine… I mean, coffee. Yes, coffee is good.” She turned to leave.

Gallia jumped up from the table and pulled her shirt back on, following closely behind Estelle as she tucked the Webley back into its equally ancient holster, “Shoulda just pulled the trigger. Been done with the whole damn thing…”

“Maybe”, Estelle said. “It looks like he’s irredeemably evil, doesn’t it?”

“I didnae see a bit a good in ‘im.” Gallia agreed, “Hopefully we can turn him over soon enough, get him out of our lives forever.”

“Agreed. I certainly don’t trust myself around him”, Estelle said. With Liorga back safe and sound, she had a better grip on her emotions again. She was no longer in panic mode. But it didn’t mean everything was forgiven.

Anje turned back to Julia, “Can we get him out of here now?” She asked; the sooner Julia extracted the bullet and cleaned up the wound, the sooner she could send Dunphy on to someone who would put him away for a long, long time.

“Yes, sure”, Julia said. “He’s in no danger and the wound will eventually close on its own. Go ahead, take him.”

“Doctor, there’s a bullet in this man’s leg.” Anje stated, she knew where Julia was coming from, she understood, but she had regulations she had to follow, “Are you going to treat him or not?”

“Will it make your life easier if I do?” Julia asked.

“It will expedite things greatly for me, yes.” Anje replied, she still had to file an after action report, turn Dunphy over to security, and figure out why the Hell the Nightingale hadn’t received the warning signal.

“Very well”, Julia said, turning to the man with obvious disgust. She plucked the bullet out of his leg with a pair of tweezers and looked at it. “Funny, I’d have thought something like this would go straight through. I’d love to run a few tests while he’s still here, shoot him a few more times?” But while she said this, she closed up the wound. He’d be walking with a limp, unless someone in jail, or later in prison, would do follow-up work on him. That, however, suited Julia just fine.

“Don’t tempt me.” Anje laughed, “I’m sure my bosses would not be onboard with that. Though, yeah, tempting.” As soon as Julia cleaned out the wound and sealed it up, Anje would find out who was taking jurisdiction and let them have the son of a bitch.

“Okay, time to clear out the rubbish”, Julia said as she got back to her feet. “Who should I give this to?” She held up the bullet. “As a reminder some people are only good for the very satisfying ‘thump’ they make when they hit the floor?”

“I guess I should bag that up, it’s evidence technically.” Anje shrugged, getting a small plastic bag for Julia to drop the bullet into. Once she’d done so, Anje beamed it to Elysium for security to catalogue it as they needed, “So, once he’s cleaned up I can send him over to Home Guard and let them contain him until we decide who gets him.”

“Are you sure it’s not better to lock him up on your ship?” Julia asked. “Though, I suppose, the Colonel will likely want a word with him.”

“That’s what I’m expecting.” Anje nodded, “No doubt Starfleet will eventually get jurisdiction, but for right now I know we’re all better off not getting into a tug of war with the locals.”

~Maybe Colonel vel-Cro will do him in?~ Julia thought. “Yes, let’s let her have him. He’s fit to travel, and might leak only from natural orifices once he learns he’ll spend time with the Colonel.”

“Right.” Anje nodded, motioning for the two Home Guards standing watch to come take him, “Take him to the shielded holding area, contact Col. vel-Cro and Capt. Anderson, they can handle the initial interrogations.”

“Gladly”, the elderly woman said. She proceeded to tie his hands behind his back, to make sure he wasn’t going to put up any resistance. “Can you wake him the way you put him to sleep? I don’t want to have to drag him behind us.”

“Not quite that same way, no.” Anje shook her head, then swiftly slapped Dunphy across the face to wake him up, “Go with them. See you in about a hundred years.”

Dunphy spat at her, then taunted, “I’ll see you much sooner than you think.” He laughed, “And I’ll never spend a night in jail.”

“Whatever.” Anje shook her head, she wasn’t about to indulge him.

-Off