The Tornado Sojourns – Chapter 11 – The Awakening

 

As Malena sat beside Zerrad’s bed she was very relieved that he was on the mend but after her three day vigil in sickbay she was

All too conscious of the fact that she had shown her hand to the rest of the crew in regard to her feelings for him and there was no putting the genie back in the bottle.

The Tornado was about three days out when Terrell Vorton decided it was time to bring his patient out of his medically induced coma.

So he sent Malena out of sickbay so he could slowly reduce his sedation.

“But I could stay and help” she said

“You need to go and eat something, freshen up and change so that when he wakes up he sees you at your best” he said

“You do know that I’m an Obgaron shapeshifter and the freshening up thing doesn’t really work for me” Malena pointed out

“Yes but you can eat and you can change” Terrell said “So go”

She reluctantly agreed and as she left the sickbay she realized just how hungry she was so she headed straight for the mess room and she got there just as Asti was leaving and tantalizing smells escaped through the open door making her mouth water and she hoped Bagg would have something inside to satisfy her appetite and she was not disappointed.

 

“So what’s the passenger’s story?” she asked as she wiped her mouth on her napkin and Bagg filled her in with the little information he had managed to glean from her over scones and coffee.

“So is she running away from her past or running towards her future?” Malena asked

“A little of both I think” Bagg replied enigmatically but the nuance of his reply went unnoticed as Malena’s mind had wandered back to sickbay.

“So todays the day” he said

“What?” she exclaimed

“Isn’t the Doc waking the patient today” he asked

“Yes” she replied suspiciously

“So there will soon come a moment when you will no longer be holding the hand of an unconscious man” he pointed out “and he might well question why the co-pilot of the Tornado is keeping vigil at his bedside and holding his hand”

“I know but…” she began

“It’s obvious to all of us how you feel about him” Bagg said “And you can’t undo that”

“I know that” she said and sighed

“So have you thought of what you will say to him when he wakes?”

“I have thought of little else” she replied “Although at first I didn’t even dare hope he would wake up, and then I have run the scenarios through my head until my ears bleed”

“I know, from what the Captain has said, that he has feelings for you too” Bagg said “if that helps”

“Thanks but I already knew that” she said “it’s not the disposition of his feelings that concerns me, it’s more complicated than that”

“It always is” he said philosophically

“So what are you going to do?”

“I’m going to go and hold his hand and watch him wake up” she replied

 

When Malena Endia arrived in sickbay wearing her smartest outfit she found the Healer, Terrell Vorton, at Zerrad’s bedside and he turned to look at her as she entered and smiled

“Perfect timing” he said “He should come round in the next few minutes”

“What will he think?” she asked “When he finds me here”

“He we think he’s in heaven” he replied and she sat in her familiar chair and leant forward and took his hand in hers and stared intensely at his face looking for signs of consciousness.

It was almost ten minutes before his eyes betrayed signs of REM and then the corners of his mouth twitched, but that was all that happened for a full five minutes until the moment his eyes fully opened and they looked straight at her before flicking down to his hand and back to her face and then he smiled and she returned that smile with interest.

While this was going on Terrell tended to him and when he was satisfied all was well he left them alone.

“How long have I been here?” he asked

“Five days” she replied

“And how long have you been here with me?” he asked

“Five days” she replied

“Does that mean what I hope it means?” Zerrad asked hopefully

“It means that I nearly lost you” she responded and they sat in silence while they contemplated the implications of what had been said until he broke the silence.

“You’re lovely”

“You know that this isn’t me” Malena said “this is just the form I took, of a 27 year old human that I met on a remote mining colony when I first entered Legion space, and that was more than 20 years ago, so I don’t look like this, and the person that I touched in order to look like this is twenty years older now and no longer looks like this herself and is probably a grandmother by now”

“You’re still lovely” he repeated

“But you haven’t seen what I really look like” Malena pointed out

“Then show me” he said

“No one has seen me as an Obgaronian for 20 years” she said

“It’s ok, you don’t have to” Zerrad said

“No I want to” she said and got up and walked over to lock the door, then she walked into the adjoining cubicle and undressed.

 

As an Obgaronian shape shifter she could transform at will but she could only shift into a being she had touched.

Only the briefest moment was required and then it was in her memory banks and could be recalled when required.

She could also manipulate that memory and add or subtract from it, for example in her everyday life she chose to take the form of a 27 year old human girl, but she chose to be the human girl and wear clothes on that form, but it wasn’t necessary, she just preferred it that way which was why she needed to undress before she revealed her true self to Zerrad.

And when she had done so she emerged again this time in her natural Mercurial form of liquid silver glass which was very pleasing to the eye.

“This is me” she said and his jaw dropped.

“Wow” was all he could manage to say and then after a minute or so she slipped back into the cubicle and the brunette came out and walked over and unlocked the door.

“So now you know who I really am” she said

“When I said I thought you were lovely, I wasn’t revering to the beautiful brunette outer shell, I meant you’re lovely, inside”

Zerrad said and she returned to her place at his bedside.

“So you’re not put off now you’ve seen what I am?” Malena asked

“Of course not” he said earnestly

“But are you sure about us?” Malena asked

“It’s what I’ve dreamed of” he replied

“But you know we can’t….. couple?” she said

“It’s physically impossible”

“I don’t care about that” Zerrad said

“I can feel you and hold you and that’s all I need”

Malena smiled, then let go of his hand and climbed onto the bed and lay down beside him. 

 

About ten minutes later Terrell returned to the sickbay with Lyris in tow and found the couple asleep, Zerrad had his arm around her and Malena had her head on his chest.

“Well that’s a shocker” Lyris said