ANGEL IN FLIGHT

This story is part one of the “Unsung Heroes” series, I am planning to write up. It deals with Non-player characters, or characters whose players does not write stories. The series will eventually include stories about Dr. David McFly, T’Laya, Horace Harkness, Will Dekker and Dmitri Gagarin. If you have any other ideas for unsung heroes, drop me a line at [email protected] . Feedback is of course always welcome…

 

Disclaimer: Paramount owns all things trek. The characters belong to me and/or my role-playing group. The story is mine, however.

 

The sky was blue. More blue than he had seen on any other world. The air was so sweet, you felt like you could survive on it as your only nourishment - and there were in fact lifeforms on this world, that did just that. He filled his powerful lungs with it, let it into every fiber of his body.

He looked towards the horizon, his eyes attuned to the special climatical conditions on this world. He could see for hundreds of miles, if he concentrated. In front of him was the enormous plain of T' vhiuis. It spanned almost an entire continent, was as barren as a desert (although it looked fertile enough, with the green grass-like fungus covering the ground like a carpet) and completely deserted. No Seraphim sat foot on the plain. They flew over it.

He was sitting on the "pilgrim's resting point", the last rock formation before the plain began. All the travels across the plain began from this point. It was a tradition for the pilgrim to sit here, warm up his or her wings and mentally prepare for the extreme physical challenge of crossing the plain.

He sat crouched on the rock, his white wings stretched out to their maximum size. He was methodically flexing and relaxing his muscles to warm them up. Then, when he finally felt ready, he stood, spread his wings - and flew.

As he left the ground, he felt the usual rush of ecstasy, but he only allowed  himself to enjoy it for a second or two. He had to save the energy for the trip.

Instead, he let his thoughts flow freely. The was what he was supposed to do on this trip.

 

This flight was traditional for all Seraphim, when they came of age. He had put it off for years, as he needed time to prepare for his studies. His parents had been crushed, when he announced, that he would not be crossing the plain on his 25th birthday. His father had almost thrown him out of the house, but his mother and sister had intervened. He had spent another uncomfortable year in his fathers house, before dropping another bomb on his family - he wished to leave the planet and explore the universe.

This had meant his excommunication from his fathers house. They had parted in anger, almost coming to blows in fact. His father had shouted, that if he left the house, he was never to come back. David had only hesitated for a few seconds, before he had told his father: "That is your choice - and not mine!"

He had kissed his mother and sister, packed his few belongings - and left the house. He did not look back a single time.

No Seraphim had ever left the planet, so it had been hard work securing passage on a ship passing by. When he finally found a ride, the ship turned out to be a Ferengi trading vessel, and the captain had immediately seen the potential in the 2 meter tall angelic looking young man with the body of a Greek statue. The Ferengi named him David, since he looked like an expensive statue from Earth. He found it acceptable, since his real name was a sound so special that only his own people was able to produce it, let alone hear it. David seemed as good a name as any.

He had been very young, and very naive. He had believed the Ferengi Captain, when he had told him about how the universe worked. He had displayed his physical strength at demand, acted as flying courier, a bodyguard, a lookout and even once as a male gigolo. That, however, had been the end of it. He had left the terrified woman in her hotel room, and flew out into the night on Sestus 4 , naked and confused - but determined not to be used anymore.

 

He began to feel the strain in his wings, only a little. But it would soon become worse.

 

No one had ever determined, exactly how the Seraphim were able to fly. Even though their wings both looked and felt as the driving force, they were able to fly in a vacuum, which seemed to imply some other force at work as well. To David, it had always felt like the wings were essential, even though he had tried flying without them once or twice. He had heard it referred to as "bumblebee-syndrome". Nobody had told the Seraphim that they could not fly without their wings - therefore they did it.

Once, a Ferengi scientist had asked him to participate in some experiments to determine his maximum speed and endurance. He had agreed, mostly to find out himself.

As it were, his top "cruising speed", to use a space faring term, was 150 kilometers an hour, with 220 as his maximum speed. He could fly for 8 hours before landing, but felt exhausted after 7 hours.

Normally, the trip across the plain took 9 1/2 hours. That meant, he had to push himself far beyond anything, he had ever tried before.

 

He had arrived on Earth with no real expectation of what he wanted to do with his life. He only knew, he did not want to be a test subject - or a gigolo.

When he arrived, he walked around the streets of San Francisco, admiring the size of the city. The cities on Seraph were small villages, with 100-200 inhabitants living in houses clinging to the mountains.. He had never believed a city could be so large and confusing. He was glad, he at least had taken the time to learned to speak Federation Standard - otherwise, the confusion would have been even greater.

While walking around, David found himself on the Golden Gate bridge, looking at the water far below him. Amazed by the sight, he almost did not hear the scream from the people around him. But when a falling body suddenly flew past him, his reflexes kicked in. His wings snapped out, as he threw himself into the air, after the falling person.

There was a gasp from the people on the bridge as he flew towards the faller and the water. David pushed himself to the maximum, accelerating faster than ever before. The falling body came closer and closer, until he almost could touch the flailing scarf, the person had around the neck.

Then, just before they hit the water, David reached the faller. He grabbed hold, and twisted his body to put it between the falling body and the water. He just had time to fold the wings in, before they hit the water.

Even though his body was tough and he was prepared for the impact, it should have killed him. As it was, it knocked him unconscious for a few seconds - nothing more. The body in his arms wass protected from the worst of the impact - but there was still the fact that theyy were under water to worry about.

When David's senses returned, he spread the wings out, and pushed upwards. It only took two beats of them to get them to the surface.

As they broke the surface, David felt the body in his arms go limb. He looked down, and saw what he feared:

In his arms was a young woman, maybe 18 or 20 years old. She had long, blond hair, full red lips and a skin as pale as marble. Her eyes were closed, and her head lulled. He did not have time to feel her pulse, but he was betting there was none.

He raised higher into the air, aiming for the point on the bridge where he had been standing only a moment ago. As he approached the ledge, people moved away, giving him room to land.

He touched down, folded his wings together and gently placed the girl on the ground.

Somebody began calling out for a doctor, others for emergency transport. The voices became a blur to David, as he kneeled down besides the girl.

David's father had been a healer. So had many other men in the family. Only a few families had the gift of curing diseases and helping the sick. That had been an even greater loss for his family - his excommunication meant that one of the longest living healer families would be cut off. His sister did not have the gift, and he had never found out, whether he had it or not.

Now, as he knelt down, he prayed to the gods of his people, to any gods that would hear him, to give him the gift of healing. He took the girls hand in his, put his other hand above her heart, and whispered: "Live!"

He felt something, like a surge of power in his muscles pass through his arm. Something like a blue light pulsated between his fingertips for a second, and then vanished. He felt dizzy and weak.

The girl coughed. Water spilled from her lips, and she twitched on the ground.

A man broke from the crowd. He was the oldest man, David had ever seen - he was so wrinkled, you could hardly ssee the face behind all the wrinkles. His eyes were dark and piercing, though - they reminded David of his grandfather. The old man was wearing a black and blue uniform, and carrying what looked like a small gray suitcase. He knelt down next to David, rolled the girl over on her side and opened the little suitcase. He pulled out a mall tube-like devise and held it against the girls neck. It made a hissing sound.

The uniformed man looked at David.

"That was one hell of a stunt, young man", he said, while pulling out a device that made beeping sounds.

"I...I had to get her!", David replied, a little confused.

"She'll be fine. Mostly thanks to you. What the hell was that you did with your hands? My tricorder is reading some strange energy emissions from you."

"I healed her. I never knew I had the gift until now. What is a tricorder?"

"This is a tricorder." The man held up the small, beeping device. "This gift...is it something you know more about? Starfleet would most assuredly be very interested in hearing more about it."

"My father said, it comes from the gods."

"The gods? Dammit, I'm a doctor, not a theologist. But I would be very interested in..."

The girl coughed again, and tried to sit up.

"Easy, young lady. You took a very nasty fall."

The old doctor helped the girl to sit up. She looked at David with amazement.

"You're...you're an angel. You saved me. Why?"

David looked back at her, a little confused.

"You fell. I had to save you."

"I didn't fall. I jumped. I was committing suicide."

The old doctor mumbled something, and slowly got to his feet.

"Why would you...commit suicide?", David asked.

"You know...the funny thing is...I don't know anymore. I feel like...like some kind of light is inside me...burning away all that I was sad about. Did you do that?"

"I healed you."

At that moment, two men in green and black uniforms showed up with a stretcher. The old doctor gave them a few commands, and they lifted the girl onto the stretcher.

She looked up at David, with eyes very large and blue.

"What's your name?", she asked David.

"My name is David. What is yours?"

"Melanie. Melanie Zuchovsky. Thank you, David."

The medics lifted her up, and they vanished in a shower of blue sparks. David had seen the transporter effect often enough on the Ferengi vessel, so he was not startled.

The old doctor stayed behind. He looked at David, and stretched out his hand.

"Young man, allow me to introduce myself. My name is Leonard McCoy, Starfleet chief surgeon. I hear, your name is David."

"That's right."

"David, I'd like you to accompany me to Starfleet Medical. I would like to give you an examination. I'd like to find out a little more about you - why you recovered so quickly after hitting the water at that speed, how you returned miss Zuchovsky to life...that sort of thing. Would you allow that?"

David looked at the old man. Somehow, he felt a closeness to the old man, that he had not felt since his childhood visits to his grandfather.

"All right."

McCoy put his hand on David's shoulder, and tapped the little gold insignia on his chest.

"Admiral McCoy to transporter control. 2 to beam to Starfleet Medical!"

 

A burning sensation had appeared in his shoulder muscles. He could feel the fatigue, but he was only halfway there. To quit now was impossible.

 

David had spent the next year as a combined guest, colleague and research subject with Doctor McCoy. He had built a close friendship with the old man, close enough to surprise both of them. David even went so far as to mould his name after McCoy, taking the name "McFly". The name had started as a joke with some of McCoy's co-workers, but David liked it and wore it with pride.

Most of the research made on him, he had McCoy withhold for the time being. The Federation was not ready for the Seraphim - and the Seraphim was definitely not ready for the Federation.

David had continued his studies with McCoy, becoming a part of the Vulcan exchange program. Thereby, he could with good right serve with McCoy, learning all the tricks from the old master.

McCoy, unfortunately, began getting worse. He was over 145 years old - and he looked like it - but up until now, he had still been able to walk. Now, he was first put in a life support chair, and later in an exoskeleton that allowed him to move a little more freely than the chair, but also made him "feel like a damn Borg!". Finally, he had been chained to a hospital bed.

David had offered to use his healing power on him, but McCoy had waved him off with a tired hand.

"David, I'm to old for healing. Save it for the young. I'm 147 now, and that's older than God ever meant man to live. I've seen too many of my friends wither and die - or simply die. Jim, for one thing. My father, my daughter, Sulu, Chekov, Uhura, Chapel...they're all gone. Scotty's still out there, hopping around in that little shuttle of his. And of course, Spock is here too. Nothing could rid me of that green blooded son of a bitch. Not even death could. I've already tried that."

"But don't you want to stop feeling pain?", David had asked.

"I've felt pain for a long time, David. You get used to it in time. Did you know, my father was named David as well?"

"No, Bones. I did not."

"He was. Damn fine fella, too. He died in pain as well. I killed him, by turning off his life support systems. he asked me to do it. He BEGGED me to do it. Now, you listen here, David: If there ever comes a time, where I beg you to take my life - you'll do it. Do you understand?"

"Bones, I wouldn't..."

"DO YOU UNDERSTAND!!!"

McCoy's hand had gripped around David's wrist. The old man was stronger than he looked, and David quickly nodded. McCoy let go, and sank back into his pillows.

"Get out of here, David. I need some sleep. Getting exited exhausts me these days."

He had left, with a sinking feeling in his heart. When he got back to his apartment, there had been a call for him from Starfleet command.

"You are hereby requested and required to report for duty as Chief Medical Officer on the USS Ironheart at stardate 48219.1 Report to Captain Shirzina Kirix."

He had checked the personnel files on the crewmen on the ship. A lot of misfits - and a lot of interesting persons. He looked forward to it.

He had said his good-byes to McCoy and the few friends he had made in San Francisco - including Melanie Zuchovsky, who had become communications specialist in Starfleet Command - and packed his suitcases. His heart beat faster, as he transported on board for the first time - beginning a new chapter in his life.

 

Suddenly, a spasm shoot up through his left wing, He banked to the right, trying to let the other wing take most of the work of keeping him in the air. It didn't work. He was sinking fast.

He gritted his teeth together, and relaxed his muscles in the left wing. Slowly, the cramp subsided, and he began gaining altitude again. He breathed a sigh of relief.

 

Serving on the Ironheart had been everything he could ever wish for. Good friends, exiting adventures - and good leadership.

He saw at once, that something was up between the Captain and the first officer. There was something in the way they held their hands, when they talked on the bridge - like they wanted to hold hands but could not - and something in the looks, they sent each other. He found it most discreet not to say anything, but later found out everybody in the command crew had the inside scoop.

He had had a talk with the Holographic Councellor about it - since the Ironheart was not equipped with a councellor, they had been chosen as the beta test for the ECH - Emergency Councelling Hologram. The hologram had shaken his head and dismissed it.

"There is no regulation against it. It's somewhat frowned upon, but not illegal. So I see no reason to report it. They are both adults, and can work things out for themselves. If not, they know where to find me."

He had gotten quite attached to the hologram (which was modeled after the crew's old Councellor, George O'Donnell, and affectionately known as HoloGeorge), as well as the young Vulcan girl, T'Laya. As he was impervious to telepathy, she had used him as a sort of "pressure valve" while she had been in the grips of Ponn Farr, the Vulcan mating drive. She had found it very relaxing to have a friend she could touch without accidentally reading his or her thoughts, and they had remained friends ever since.

The captain of a Federation starship and the Chief Medical Officer had to have a special relationship, built on complete confidence. He had set out to forge one with Shirzina Kirix, but was surprised of what he found behind the surface of the normally confident captain.

Shirzina Kirix possessed substantial tactical knowledge, taken from her symbiot which had once resided inside a Starfleet admiral, and very good engineering skills. She was efficient, professional and unusually brave and bold. But her personal life was often a mess, and she had some very strange hobbies for a girl of her stature. Bath' Leth fighting, for instance. HoloGeorge had mentioned this to David an passant, and he had taken the liberty to check the holodeck program out for himself. Sure enough - fights so tough, a Klingon would think twice before entering into them. He had been very surprised, but also fascinated by the diversity in the woman.

When they one day talked about it, she told him about the thrill of the combat in words so alive, that he no longer worried about her. She was tougher that he had anticipated, and most surely able to take care of herself - on the holodeck or anywhere else.

 

Shortly after their experience with the Bodai Shin and the passage to the Void, David had received a communication from his father's house. His father was dying, and called for him. He immediately asked for shore leave, and took a runabout to his home.

His father lay in bed, his face pale and sweaty. His wings had lost most of their feathers and looked like the wings of a plucked chicken.

"So...you came back!", the old man rasped.

"You knew I would, Father".

"You are not my son anymore. You resigned that right many years ago, when you left your planet behind!"

"If I am not your son, why did you call me back?"

"Because I'm giving you the chance to restore some of our family's honor. Your sister could not stand the strain of flying over the great plain. If you don't make it, our family will be dishonored for 7 generations!"

"I am no longer in the family. You said so yourself."

"You are not my son, but you are still in this family, young man. And if there is even the slightest shred of honor in your chest, then you will cross the plain. I have spoken my piece - now, leave me."

David had left the room, and met his mother and sister in the corridor. While his mother went in to tend to his father, his sister pulled him aside.

"I failed the test."

”I know.”

”Father tried to make the council let me try again. I told him, that I did not want to, and he...he just lost it. Are you back to stay?”

“No. My ship is waiting for me to return. But if it will help father, I will perform the flight.”

“Help father? He cannot be helped any longer.”

The voice of their mother made them both turn their heads.

“What do you mean, mother?”, David asked.

“Your father is beyond all help. The healer says, he will not live more than a few days longer. If you decide to fly, it will be for your own sake. Not his.”

David slowly nodded.

“I will do it for myself, for my sister, for you and for father. I will do it, because I should have done it long ago.”

He had left the house, and headed for the hills.

 

Now, he was in the air, 7 hours into the flight. His body was a tangled web of pain, his blood pumping in his ears. He felt exhausted, but he pushed on, determined to reach the other side of the plain.

In the horizon, he could see the first signs of mountains. They were far, far away – almost an impossible distance. How would he ever reach them?

He clenched his teeth again. His mouth tasted like iron. He spat, and saw blood in the spit. He wiped his mouth with one hand, and saw blood on that as well.

Think!, he muttered to himself, think of something else! It will seem shorter that way,

He let his mind wander again.

 

David had never experienced the sensation of romantic love. Although plenty of women (and men!) found him attractive, he never felt the same towards them. In his extremely short-lived carrier as a gigolo, he had been scared out of his mind by the raw passion displayed by some humans. He had never since met anyone as absorbed in desire as the woman he had run away from that night – and he was very happy about that – but he also had never felt that sensation himself. He knew, that the Seraphim was not incapable of feeling love and desire, not at all. In fact they were quite a romantic race. He had just never...gotten around to it.

Some of the crew of the Ironheart had found that a bit odd. He had been asked out on several dates, and had gone on quite a few – but it always ended with “Good night” in front of her cabin door. He had gotten quite a reputation as a gentleman amongst the woman – and as somewhat of a stiff amongst some of the men.

He had at one occasion had a conversation with Commander Christian about it, while he had a routine examination.

“Commander, I understand, that you used to be quite the ladies man. Is that right?”

“I suppose so. Who told you that.”

“Oh, I’ve heard a few roomers here and there. Let’s just say, I heard it on the grapevine. But it’s true?”

“Well...yes, I had a few relationships. That was before I met Shirzina. I had this running contest with Will Riker of the Enterprise to see, who could go out with most girls. He kept beating my by one or two. It must be that beard of his.”

“Quite. But if it not indiscreet of me to ask...did you sleep with them all?”

“What? No, of course not. Only the ones I cared enough about to...well, yeah, with most of them. Why do you ask?”

“I’ve heard, that some of the men on this ship has commented on my...sexual preferences...because I do not contribute to the gossip on this ship by sleeping with every other female officer. Have you heard those roomers?”

“Yeah, Doc...I’ve heard them. And don’t worry about it. As far as I’m concerned, you’re just a gentleman. That’s something to celebrate – not scorn.”

“Thank you, Fletch.”

“No problem. You want me to spread the word, that you slept with T’Laya? That might make them shut up.”

“I’ll be fine. Thanks anyway.”

After that, the gossiping about him had ceased. Maybe Christian had done something, maybe not. After all, it was not important what people thought of him – as long as they respected him.

 

Suddenly, his wings locked up. The pain brought him out of his thoughts, and he screamed with pain.

He fell like a rock, and waved his arms to make the muscles in his wings unlock.

The ground came closer with alarming speed. He anticipated, that he would hit in less than 3 seconds.

With all his willpower, he folded his wings out to horizontal position, so he could turn his fall into a controlled glide. A second before the impact, he managed to pull a little up. He looked ahead...

 

...and saw the rock formation of the mountains dead ahead. They were less than 100 meters away.

He tried to move his wings, but they were still frozen. He might as well have wooden planks attached to his shoulders.

With every muscle in his body screaming in pain, David reached over his head, and grabbed hold of his wings with his hands. Then, he began flapping them like a bat, using his hands to pull the wings into motion.

The ground came closer, closer still...and then, just before the green moss of the plain touched his naked chest, he started to rise a little.

He approached the rocks. He flapped the wings harder, using his last ounces of strength and stamina to move his arms. He heard somebody screaming, far away, and was only faintly aware that it was his own voice.

Then, the rocks were below him. He was across.

He let the wings go, and his flight immediately became a controlled fall. He barely had the time to raise his arms to protect his head, before he struck the rocks.

 

The pain was gigantic. The pain was the entire world. There was pain and darkness. And then he opened his eyes, and there was only pain.

He was still on the rock, overlooking the plateau. His body was bloody and covered in sweat and dirt. He tasted blood in his mouth and when he looked below his head, there was a substantial pool of blood in the dirt.

He slowly sat up, his head feeling like it was full of angry Altarian killer hornets. He was just about to shake his head to clear it, when the pain in it made him reconsider.

“How the hell do I get home from here?”, he asked in a horse voice.

“Offhand, I would say you could push your combadge. If you had brought one with you, that is.”

David turned his head after the voice. On a rock some 20 feet away sat T’Laya, looking as relaxed as a Vulcan could.

“What...are you doing here?”, he asked.

“Helping you out. We’ve been monitoring your progress on the sensors. When you landed here, and did not move for more than an hour, we assumed that something was wrong. The captain sent me to make sure you were all right.”

“I can’t go back to the ship. I have to go back to my father’s house. I have to tell him I passed the test.”

“And how does people usually go about returning home after this test?”

“They...fly. But usually, they wait for a week or more, until they can move again.”

“And your father had how long to live?”

“Less than a week. You have a point.”

“Then, let me help you.”

T’Laya crawled down, and put her arm around his waist. He winced, when she touched him.

She pulled out a medical tricorder and scanned him.

“You have several broken ribs and internal bleeding. You have to go to sickbay.”

“Who is the doctor here – you or me?”

“That is a pointless question. We both know the answer to that. The real question is: Who is not in a state of delirium and dehydration?”

“I have to return to the city. Then, I can go back to sickbay. Deal?”

“I suppose so.”

She touched her badge

“T’Laya to Ironheart. Site to site transport for two people to the doctor’s father’s house.”

They vanished in a shower of sparks.

 

David walked into his father’s room, and found both his mother and sister sitting by the bed.

“I’m glad you returned. I was so worried”, his mother said, “nut your father...he is going fast. He will probably never wake up again.”

David walked to the bed, and took his father’s hand.

“Father...I did it. I passed the test”, he whispered, as he held the hand tight. A small blue spark seemed to jump between the two men.

David watched, as his father slowly opened his eyes.

“You...have found...honor!”, his father whispered. Then, he looked at his mother and sister.

“Attend me, wife, daughter...son.”

They all joined hands, and took the dying mans hands in theirs. David’s father breathed one last, deep breath...and closed his eyes. There was a faint exhale, as the air left his lungs. It was not replaced.

David looked at his family. On Seraph, it was considered rude to cry at a deathbed, but David had spent too much time with humans. He had stood at far to many deathbeds with McCoy and seen the old man weep when some patient finally gave in to death. He had changed too much.

David’s eyes filled with tears. He turned away from his other and sister, and walked out of the room.

In the corridor, T’Laya waited for him. She looked at his tears, and handed him a handkerchief.

“Why did you leave? I am sure, your family needs your support in this time.”

“They don’t need me. I’m not one of them anymore. I’ve lived away from their rules and their customs too long. I’m more human than Seraphim now, T’Laya. The funny thing is – it doesn’t even pain me to say that.”

“Why should it?”

“I’ve spent my life wishing – on some level – that my father would allow me to come home again. Now, I know I would never fit in here again. It’s become too small for me.”

T’Laya put her hand on David’s naked arm. David was touched by the gesture – even though T’Laya could touch him without her telepathic powers making it uncomfortable, touching was still something she did vary rarely.

“David...let us go home.”

He nodded, and pulled out his combadge from the bag containing his clothing.

“McFly to Ironheart. Two to beam...home.”