trans_9 | "OW! That so totally hurts!" -- Charles Xavier

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"OW! That so totally hurts!" -- Charles Xavier

The battle against the Ohm raged on, and the casualties on the ground were mounting. Injured crew members got emergency treatment in the field, which largely amounted to patching them up so they wouldn't die sometime within the next fifteen minutes. After that, they were quickly picked up by shuttle and brought back to the ship, where they were sent to a medbay that was getting progressively more crowded.

The situation was growing increasingly dire, to the point that Stacy activated one of the AI's to help out.

"Please state the nature of the medical emergency."

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"I'll not bother Kang for a while." Just to be on the safe side. Jamie's got a sneaking suspicion, though, that there likely won't be any weapons training for a short while to give the crew a chance to heal. If he's wrong, then he'll deal with it at that point.

"So how does your bending work on Stacy, then? There's no moon here. And what does this bloodbending do, besides freeze Ohm in place?"

That actually seems like it would be a handy thing. Although...the word 'bloodbending' is causing his superstitious side to flare up a little. He adds, "It sounds very dangerous."

"Good. I think he's stewing at the moment, so it would be a bad idea. I think we all took the Ohm's about-face pretty hard. With all the fights we've had, this so our first loss. Well, as people on the ship, anyway."

Not hers, not when there was B Sing Se and the day of the eclipse to think about.

"My bending works fine on Stacy so long as there is water: its when the moon is actually around that bending can be deliberately effected. If there is a moon, a full one, my powers are enhanced, but when there's an eclipse, our strength is reduced to nothing."

With the mention of bloodbending, Katara cleared her throat. "Bloodbending is the bending of the water within you: so more than just freezing the Ohm in place, I can have them attack each other by controlling their movements. I did that actually. And yes, it is dangerous, because cruel people can use it to hurt and torture others. The person who taught me this bending, she was like that, but I found out too late. She...kind of forced me to learn bloodbending by using it on me and having my friends attack me and each other."

She gets a little sullen. This was not her favorite subject.

Not Jamie's first loss, either, by a long shot. Unlike Culloden, though, the people who he fought alongside have made it through the battle. Still, he nods in agreement, and his voice is a little quiet when he replies.

"Aye."

As Katara describes bloodbending, he looks troubled. It's a combination of the explanation of the bending and the fact that it was something Katara clearly didn't want to do - but was still forced to learn. He doesn't blame her for getting sullen, and he's feeling a wee bit guilty for asking the question.

"I'm sorry. I didn't realize it was as bad as all that."

"Yes." Both of them are probably still a little reflective about what had happened and what they had to do next. For one thing, she was sure that she would see Jamie at Kang's the moment he and Ronan started training again.

"No," Katara said, "I didn't want to learn it like that. It was a very horrible way, but because I learned it, it helps me now. I can only use it during the full moon, and I won't ever use it lightly. It helped me during that fight, and that will be the only time I'll ever do it: if its absolutely needed. I've only misused bloodbending once, and it will never happen again."

Katara would be absolutely correct in that - on both fronts. Providing, of course, he hasn't actually wound up with a serious concussion, since that would mean he would have to be medically excused for a while. Frowning, Jamie puts that thought aside and re-focuses on the blood-bending conversation.

He's feeling rather pessimistic at the moment, given how the battle went, and the fact that he does have a headache (at the least), he's also not feeling particularly inclined to hold that pessimism back.

"Aye, well. It still seems dangerous to me. What if someone took ye over and made ye use that against your friends again?"

Katara definitely didn't like the look of pain Jamie was trying to stifle, though it was very likely that Jamie himself wasn't sure of the extent of his injuries. Katara didn't think she should continue healing until the EMH had a look over of Jamie and could tell for certain what was the matter with him.

That was a good point, one that Katara had actually thought about before. "That was why I wanted to get to that Yeerk. The presence of an alien that could take over your body and mind was something I was really afraid of, but I'm a little less worried now. It can only happen during a full moon, and the alien would have to know that ad try to take me then. At this point, I think my friends would know me from a fake. Besides, I broke away from it once, who says I can't do it again?"

He may not be aware of the extent of his injuries, but given that he's made no moves to actually leave the medbay yet, he's likely quite aware that there's something still not fixed. Well, either that or he's unwilling to risk the wrath of Katara for taking off before he's gotten checked out. Possibly a little bit of both.

"Aye," he agrees. "To be honest, I didn't understand why the crew was so split over the Yeerk at the time, but knowing now what it does..." He would normally shake his head here, but that type of motion doesn't help the ache much. He settles for a very minimal version of the movement instead.

"Well, I can understand why people would not want it on board. I've dealt with creatures that can take over your mind before. It's not very pleasant. If anyone could break through something like that, though, I think it would be ye."

He was pretty right about that: there was no way that Katara was going to risk Jamie getting more injured then he was without a thorough check by the doctor. She had enough things to feel guilty about, Jamie getting more hurt than he was was something on the top of the list.

"It wasn't something I really wanted to do at the time," Katara said. "I don't kill things, but when I heard about what it was able to go, I was really concerned with what it would do to the crew, and to me. I had already been manipulated before, the idea of something doing that with my mind was scary."

She smiled. "Thanks. The scary thing is, there is someone who is infested by one on the ship right now. I know there's a few people who know about it now, but I still think its something to be wary of."

Jamie's eyes widen a bit at that, and he stares at Katara for a long moment. It's rather obvious by the reaction that he hasn't actually heard of this yet. He swallows heavily. "I thought the only Yeerk left was in that stasis-thing."

He doesn't like the idea that there's more Yeerk out there at all, and makes a mental note to talk to the Doctor about it at some point. He came up with something to help against the Cybermen - he could come up with something to help against the Yeerk. He hopes. "Who is it?"

She shook her head. "I thought that too: in fact, that was primarily the reason I was against imprisoning the Yeerk. If we ever got another one, it was possible he might want to free that other one, right? Even if it has no intentions to do that, its still one more Yeerk on the ship controlling someone. Can we just sit back and let that happen?"

Though the situation was even more delicate than that, and that was what she was going to have to inform Jamie. "The person who's housing it is named Tom. I know about that because I talked with his brother, Jake. I've spoken to Ax before, who's referred to a 'Prince Jake' when I first got on the ship. I'm guessing he and Tom have only just arrived. But that's another issue we're going to have to deal with."

"Well, no, of course no..." Jamie breaks off as Katara continues and the name sinks in. He knows he hasn't met all the crew, and that there's a possibility that there's more than one Tom, but he's not at all sure.

"D-did ye say his name was Tom? Uh...ye wouldn't happen to know his last name, would ye?"

He's really hoping it's not 'Berenson'. That would be...not good.

Oh. That wasn't good. How did Jamie already knows his name if he didn't know that he was a Yeerk? This didn't sound like it was going to be great when Katara told him.

"Actually, yes it is," Katara replied. "He is infested by the Yeerk Iniss 335. Jake said so himself, and I know from talking to Ax before that Jake is a pretty reliable source. He wouldn't lie about this.

"Have you met Tom?"

Jamie's rather alarmed expression answers the question even before the words come out of his mouth. "Och, no."

He closes his eyes briefly as he mentally kicks himself a half-dozen times or so before sighs heavily and answers the question. "Aye, I met him. It must have been right after he popped. He mentioned being dragged out of that meeting thing we do so I told him about stuff on the ship."

His voice is quite earnest - and a touch anxious - as he adds, "He seemed perfectly normal! A little disbelieving about some of the stuff that's happened to us, but...normal."

Katara nodded. "That's the point isn't it, and our biggest worry. The Yeerk doesn't seem different from any of us. If it was, then we would be able to detect it easily and there would be no worry. But it isn't, so we have to be vigilant. I never met Tom: the only reason I know about the Yeerk is because his brother Jake mentioned it on the network."

She sighed. "It isn't anyone's fault. The Yeerk are a tricky sort of alien. Hopefully the security team are already aware of what's going on there."

"Aye, hopefully," Jamie says - but he doesn't sound convinced. He lapses into silence for a few moments, trying to remember what, exactly, he told Tom. Most of it wasn't anything that couldn't have been gathered from other sources, but he knows the Doctor did come up in the conversation. Jamie doesn't think it was anything that was a cause to worry, but...

He lets out a sigh and rubs at the back of his neck. He's only going to get his thoughts going in circles at this rate. Nothing really he can do about it right at this moment, anyway. He can't help wondering something else as well - and rather than the previous inner thoughts, he says this one out loud.

"I wonder...do ye think there's more than one Yeerk on board, then? I mean, in one of the other crew."

Katara could see that Jamie was far from easy: in fact, he looked pretty frantic, and she couldn't blame him. She never thought that one of the Yeerks would actually trick a friend of hers, and that angered her. She would have to make sure that the proper channels could take care of Tom.

"Honestly Jamie, it could be possible. The best thing to do in that situation would be to watch to see who his friends are. That way, we'll be sure to find out if that person is infested by a Yeerk. The last thing we need is a panic on the ship over the Yeerk again."

He's not quite up to frantic - frantic would mean he'd be clutching at Katara, and he's not done that yet. However, he's definitely uneasy about the whole thing.

"Aye, you're right. It's probably the best thing to do." Ooh, but his head is pounding. He grimaces, his forehead creasing in pain, and he brings his hand forward to rub at the bridge of his nose, only to stop and look at his grime and goop covered fingers. He sighs.

"I think I'll have to do that later, though. Hey, Katara, do ye think ye could see if ye can find me a wee bit of cloth or something I can use to clean some of this stuff off?"

"That's what I say to myself, and have to remind myself," Katara admitted. "It really wasn't easy, finding out we have a Yeerk on the ship. Brought back a lot of bad memories, ones from my world and the whole way people reacted to me going after it. I can't blame them, but it was far from one of my favorite times on the ship. When Jake talked about what happened to his brother, it definitely bothered me."

In more ways than one.

"I can do better than that," Katara said, and brought her pouch out. "Waterbender, remember, and we happen to be surrounded by water." She brought the water from her pouch out and had Jamie cup his hands, then moved her own in a circular motion. A minute later his hands were clean, but the water she used was not. She brought it back into the pouch, but it wasn't going to stay long, not when she had to heal others with the same water. She'd replace it in a minute.

"Better?"

"Thank ye," Jamie replies tiredly, and this time he does rub at the bridge of his nose. He closes his eyes for a moment while he does so, then lets them open again. While he's grateful that Katara was there to help him, he is still quite worn out, and is starting to feel less like talking.

"Katara?" he asks, managing a small smile for her. "If ye don't mind, I think I'd just like to rest a wee bit until they can look at my head. Besides, I've probably kept ye long enough as it is."

Katara smiled. "Hey, I was glad to help. But you are right: there are other people that probably need my help. I'll go see if you;re okay later. Rest well, Jamie."

And with that, she started her rounds on looking for more injured.

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"OW! That so totally hurts!" -- Charles Xavier

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