"Captain, I'm receiving reports of our first fatalities due to old age," Yilaan reported.
"Not surprising," the captain replied, sighing. His hair was now pure white, and his face was very wrinkled. "And they won't be the last either, I'm afraid. I'll bet we have a few infants we didn't know we had a few hours ago, however." Yilaan nodded and rubbed her temples. "What," the captain started to say, fumbling for words as well as breath. "What ails you Cecilia?"
"Younger Betazoids have more trouble keeping the flood of thoughts and emotions of those around them in check. I had forgotten how difficult it was for me at times. Sometimes strong feelings sort of force their way in, and it's giving me a hell of a headache," she responded. Physically, she'd regressed to that of a teenager in a matter of hours. Suddenly, her eyes widened, and she looked directly at the old man in front of her. "Captain? Sir, I.....," she said suddenly, letting her voice trail off.
"What? What's so wrong?" he asked.
She cocked her head to one side, and smiled faintly. "Nothing," she said at last, patting him on the shoulder as she stood up. "Nothing at all sir." She walked around the Bridge to the communications station where two crewmen were just putting their tools away. After conferring with them briefly, she leaned over the tactical station. "Communications now functional sir."
"Good, good!" the captain said, coughing. "Uh, well. Do what you need to do, Yilaan. I just need a little rest, that's all," the captain said, pausing often. He squirmed a bit and got more comfortable in his command chair. Yilaan walked around the tactical station to face the command chair; the captain was seated, his eyes closed. In a flash, however, his eyes reopened. "Damn things aren't recliners, that's for sure!" he said grouchily, referring to his chair. "Send out a distress signal. There's an off-chance someone might hear, even in this mess."
She smiled, "Right away, Captain."
"Ensign, are the scanners working yet?" he asked Ensign Gates at the navigational station. She didn't answer, so he repeated, "Ensign! Scanners!"
Hearing the agitation in Freeman's voice, Yilaan went over to check on Gates. After a moment, she frowned, "She's dead sir." Freeman shook his head in dismay.
Captain Mark Freeman tapped his comm-badge. "Captain to...," he started to say, then stopped, mouth agape, as the fore-starboard turbolift door opened. Yilaan turned and gasped. A young woman, a woman who was supposed to be young at that, emerged from the lift and smiled at her surprised crewmates, as she strode over to where the captain was sitting.
"Ensign Bradley of Security reporting for duty sir," she said confidently.
"But....," the captain stammered. "But...."
"...you don't look any different than before we entered this, whatever this is," Yilaan finished, gesturing at the viewscreen.
"My guess would be that it was because I had taken a blow to the head during a game of Parisi Squares, and was being held in stasis in Sickbay. I was released just now by someone I didn't recognize," she explained.
"Are you alright now?" Yilaan asked.
"I feel okay, so I guess so. The person who released me from stasis didn't seem to know what was going on, except that this morning he was twelve years old and now he was having to learn to shave."
With Ensign Bradley to keep an eye on the Bridge, Commander Yilaan began making rounds of the ship, checking on various crewmates to see how they fared, and to personally take charge of the repair operations. Captain Freeman refused to leave the Bridge, so Yilaan had gotten him a blanket as he had curled up in the command chair. Even now, she chuckled to herself about it, though she'd stop every time she'd remember that this wasn't a dream; it was really happening, and soon the captain would be dead, and she would be in an incubator like Reiv was now. She had just finished hearing a rousing tale from Jevor, who spent most of the time babbling incoherently. Every so often he had managed to say something funny, but those moments had been few and far between.
As much as she enjoyed her childhood, she wasn't relishing the thought of becoming a child again. She was keeping her mind constantly active as she walked down the hallways; thinking of all the complicated formulas and profound thoughts she'd been fed when she was in the Academy, trying to keep herself from succumbing to the degradation of her mind she knew was inevitable.
A sudden throb of a headache jerked her back to reality. Yilaan felt a wave of despair, as if someone very close by was.....her eyes opened wide and she took off at a run down the hallway. She arrived at Ivanovna's door and beeped it twice in quick succession. She was in the middle of ordering the computer to override the lock on Ivanovna's quarters when she heard Ivanovna faintly say, "Come in," and the door opened. Yilaan stepped into the darkened room, shaken by what she'd experienced in the hallway, and the dreadful feelings emanating from Lt. Ivanovna now. Seeing Katrina sitting up in bed, Yilaan said, "Katrina, you should lie down and get your rest."
In the dim light of the room, Yilaan could barely make out Ivanovna smiling broadly at her comment. "I'll be getting all the rest I need shortly," Ivanovna said in a quiet voice.
Yilaan went to Katrina's bedside and took her hand, kneeling on the floor next to her. "What do you mean by that?" With her free hand, Katrina produced an empty hypo-spray. "Did you empty this into yourself?" Yilaan screeched in terror after examining the device. "That much sedative will kill you!" Ivanovna cackled faintly as Yilaan let go of Ivanovna's hand and slapped her comm-badge, ordering a medical team to come to Ivanovna's quarters immediately. "Katrina, why did you do this?"
Katrina opened her eyes wide, instinctively, for she saw nothing, and hissed at Yilaan. "Because this," she began angrily, wringing her hands at Yilaan. "This is no way for a warrior to live! All weak and shriveled! Bed-ridden! It's my life anyway; if I can't live it the way I want, then there's no point. None!"
"There's always a point. Growing old isn't the end of the world, Katrina. There's still...," Yilaan tried to argue.
"Save me the pep talk, Commander," Katrina interrupted sharply, relaxing back into her pillows, and closing her eyes.
Yilaan took Ivanovna's hand in hers again, and squeezed it. Tears began to roll slowly down Yilaan's cheeks. "Good luck, my friend," she whispered. Ivanovna acknowledged her sentiment by squeezing Yilaan's hand in return. Just as the elderly medic arrived, Ivanovna passed away. Yilaan wept openly.
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