Star Trek: The Predicament About Demons

16

The next forty-eight hours seemed to go by very slowly for Leonard.

One more day until their arrival.

The Jackdaw's remaining crew struggled in getting tasks done. Most of them were left multitasking and taking after those now absent—some carried on compliantly; some were resentful, even. And as much as the medical staff (mostly Leonard) disliked everyone being overburdened, there was no room for complaining. They had to do the best they could to keep the ship operational until they got to Earth.

Engineering had a few of the yellow shirts assisting with the ship's systems and operations—the little things that some could only do. Transporter rooms were un-operational until further notice. (It was soon after the hellhounds that they encountered an ion storm, rendering them navigationally blind as well.) It was a pain for Scotty to get them operational again for the hundredth time. Navigation—controlled by Lieutenant Chekov—was fully functioning with the help of Mr. Scott. It seemed to Leonard that, after this, Scotty would for sure need a well-deserved break.

Now, they all sat in the briefing room once again. No one had spoken a word since arriving. Then, one by one, the captain asked for reports and updates.

Uhura was first, reporting on communications: "Comms are back to full function, but so far no word from Starfleet." She shook her head with an apologetic look. "I tried all the channels and they seem to be working perfectly! But for some reason, I can't get anything but static as a response."

Jim tapped a finger on the table repeatedly, his lips pursed in thought. "Did Scotty take a look at it?"

"Nothing, sir." The engineer shook his head.

"He's playing with us." Benny chimed in. "Valliant. He's doing this on purpose."

Leonard cursed under his breath. "What about the state of the ship? Can we still move?"

"Aye," Scotty nodded. "I checked every nook and cranny; she's as operational as any other ship moving about in this Galaxy. The warp core wasn't even touched, but the inertial dampeners were, as you say, bitten into. But we managed to fix it."

Jim nodded his head in approval. "Thank you, Scotty. Chekov, what do you have?"

"I have charted a course for Earth. If there are no delays, we can be there in sixteen hours."

"Thank you. Bones!" Jim's eyes met Leonard's. "What's the status for Sickbay?"

"Well," the man scratched the back of his neck. "Most of the beds are filled up with either seriously injured or unconscious officers. The rest we sent away to their quarters with orders to check in now and then. A handful has concussions and will need better medical attention once we reach Earth.

"But, considering the situation with communications with Starfleet being messed with, I don't know how else we can be able to give them a heads up."

"For now we all have to do our best with the resources we have already." The blond sighs. "Benny, do you have any plans on defeating Valliant?"

She stood by the door, leaning back against the wall with her arms crossed. She shook her head solemnly. "Not yet—I haven't been given a chance since the hellhounds."

The captain nodded again. "Well, if anyone has suggestions, I'm all ears." He then looked pointedly at the Supernatural fanatic. The others followed his gaze.

Chekov pointed at himself. "Me, sir?"

He nodded.

The ensign hummed. "Maybe if we had Devil's Traps or Hex Bags we could do some damage—trap him, maybe kill him if we're lucky. Oh! Or some kind of demon-killing knife!"

Leonard looked to benny. "Do you know if we have any materials for those?"

"I brought some things with me from my place in Yorktown. I could check to see if there's anything that I can do with those." She offered with a shrug of her shoulders.

"Great! Look through those and then let us know." Jim stood from his chair and so did the others, taking that as a sign that the briefing was over for now. Everyone began to file out of the room one by one and headed into their respective directions. As for Leonard, he was going to follow Jim when Benny stopped him. And just when he was going to see with Jim of why he seemed so out of it.

"We need to talk." She said in a low whisper. Leonard watched after Jim a moment longer before sighing. He stepped away from the entrance and let the door slide closed.

"What is it, Benny?" He asked, perturbed.

"I'm sorry for parading on your almost-flirting session, but this is important." Oh, how Leonard could already tell this was going to go south.

"Sorry. What is it?" He asked more softly.

"Uhm..." Benny hesitated before saying slowly, "I know what we have to do to get rid of Valliant."