Plea of temporary insanity

Posted on Sat Jun 28th, 2025 @ 10:00pm by Lieutenant Adrianna Baciami & Lieutenant Commander Oscar McDonald MD & Jynx

1,054 words; about a 5 minute read

Mission: Stars Around the Well

Adrianna felt very uneasy. It felt like someone or something was watching them, even on the shuttle. She stood in the doorway, her back to MacDonald and Jynx, as if keeping watch. Whilst she worried for her future husband, friends and crew, the Italian was more focused on their stowaway and keeping them, the doctor and herself alive. It felt odd to be on a StarFleet shuttle, not undercover, but still with a weapon drawn. "How is she?" Adrianna asked over her shoulder, still keeping her wyes on the metaphoric horizon, waiting for the rest of the crew to arrive. Sure, she'd checked in, but it didnt mean she was about to worry them all by saying about Jynx being there too.

Taking some comfort in knowing the lieutenant was keeping watch - McDonald had focused on their young stowaway. Unable to shake the very real fear the teenager seemed to have for them, it had seemed raw. Genuine. When questioned on her status, McDonald sighed in frustration. "I wish I could say for certain. These readings make no sense... some there one minute and gone the next. What did she mean? Why was she so certain we were in danger here? And why hide herself to follow us into the danger?"

He didn't expect answers, he just wanted to voice his many questions aloud for the universe to hear. Sometimes, such methods help you make those leaps in logic and really, what was the harm?

"I mean the only logical explanation is that she has been here before... but I assume you did not find her in this... whatever this area of space is. It was aboard a cargo ship adrift in normal space, yes?"

Adrianna listened before thinking it over, "not here, no, but it was in a dead zone. We were in a similar situation. Drifting without power in a mini Bermuda Triangle like this. The ship in question had been with us at the time. It was a third that pushed us in there and had double crossed the two of us. Deadzones around Freecloud are common though. Most are man made. Easy place to store bodies and thing you don't want to be found ever again. There are a few natural ones. The captain would know whether we were in a natural one or not-- Adams. We managed to limp out of it to make the call to Fleet. So, potentially it'll be on their records too."

“Did you ever find out what happened to the crew? Not that they deserved any kind of mercy but…” he guessed he did not need to finish that sentence. He had little patience for those who sought to cause harm, especially to children.

"They were meeting with the same buyers we were," Adrianna replied, "we dropped warp just as their ship started spiralling into the deadzone. It was clear that it was our buyer who'd put them there. Made us more cautious when handing over our cargo-- I think it was an artefact, I don't remember. But, we handed it over and they refused to pay. We managed to escape back to our ship but they blew us out the water. When we started salvaging parts to get home to Freecloud, all crew had been killed. Nothing bloodthirsty, but before we got the kids out, we stacked the bodies in an office."

“Odd, no? Why kill everyone else but not the children? A sudden attack of conscience? Or were the children too well hidden?” His musings were purely hypothetical of course. There were likely to be no answers. Yet he suspected it was not the latter - otherwise why would Jynx have risked so much to sneak aboard and try to warn them?

He sighed as he continued his scans, “these readings are off the charts. I need her sickbay but for now…” he loaded a hypospray, “some sedation. Ease the strain on her body and ensure first officers can’t ask questions which may end up with her kicked off the ship.”

"I mean, they were well hidden," Adrianna replied, "they may not have known. It's not to say the crew knew either though. We never got a straight answer from the children. They were all too willing to go along with the story we gave them when I stayed behind to ensure they got to a Fleet ship. We said to pretend that I was an orphanage owner or something. They all went along with it without question. A bit too well. I had to follow their narrative. Almost blew my cover, let alone my actual undercover mission. Still, I wouldn't have changed a thing. Although, looking back, I perhaps wouldn't have--"

Adrianna paused as the call came through about the team returning to the ship, "Baciami here. Already on board, sir. I'll keep an eye out for you. The doctor is already with a patient."

She looked back at the doctor, "we have maybe 5 minutes to get our story straight-- what do we say about Jynx being here?"

“Psychosis caused by unknown head trauma?” McDonald suggested. “The old temporary insanity plea.”

Adrianna nodded, "deal."

The query of a survivor came back from Fang and she simply replied, "We'll explain when you're back," Adrianna sighed, "it's-- not a member of crew from this broken ship."

She looked back at the doctor and nodded, ensuring the comm was off before speaking, "I suppose the ship did take quite the tumble when we first got pulled I to this black hole." Adrianna paused, "do you think Jynx will be ok?" There was something maternal in her question, and tone.

“Children, even the ones who hate to be considered as such, are very resilient. Her readings are stable so I will keep her sedated for a while longer to let her heal. I have a feeling once we get away from here she will improve but time will tell.”

Adrianna tried to not smile, but she could feel a maternal pull to Jynx because of their history. Instead of responding properly, she simply nodded. "So, probably hit her head when we ended up in the deadzone, with it, she had a bit of insanity and ended up here," she repeated just as she heard footsteps approaching the shuttle, "merde. Ok. We have this."

 

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