Peachy

Ringo.  Why did that name ring a bell?  Seated on the floor, Thunder looked her in the eyes.

Real observant.  Almost pitiful.  Either a bad joke... spoken perhaps with a bit of anti-human malice... or he wasn't the one who needed a doctor, and she needed her eyes checked.  Of course, what else could one expect from these... "people".  He had inhaled acrid noxocine gas from a ruptured conduit on the Tokyo's bridge.  Direct inhalation caused lung tissue breakdown if left untreated.  It also made his mouth dry – he felt like he had been eating cotton.

"Just... fine," he mustered.  "Peachy in fact.  Peachy keen.  Can't you tell?"  He smiled sarcastically, nodding.  "Thanks for asking."

He didn't know what came over him – why he was suddenly being a smart-ass.  He was normally never such a jerk.  The pressure was getting to him.  Dealing with this situation every day... the loss of his ship, his captain; his condition on top of it... being away from home for so long... And dealing with these... "people"... brought it out in him.  The pain actually made it easier: It gave him focus.

And Bartokian introductions... cripes.  A bunch of the bluebloods got together once.  It was like a geography lesson in every greeting.

There could have been one or more of several reasons she was really here.  Bartokians were supposed to be incapable of lying.  On the other hand, that could have been the ultimate lie.  'We'll tell everyone we can't lie, and if they believe it, well then, it's true.'  He wasn't quite ready to believe she was here for his own good... except, maybe, to preserve their data source, if they valued what he had to offer.  Maybe she came to gloat: A real thrill, getting to see another hated human suffer.  Had it been genuine altruism, it changed nothing.

"Paul Thunder," he returned the introduction.  "Rank, lieutenant; service number, 67T-9048."  One arm draped over upraised knees, he shut his eyes again and kneaded his pectorals, trying to soothe the burn inside his chest through a dirty, battered uniform.  "New Albany, Arcadia."

Blail glanced at mention of Arcadia.  Was it the same Arcadia?  And he was Starfleet?  "Fortunately, for you," he added.  "Or you might be in worse shape by now.  Tell your ti klec to be a little more suspicious in the future.  Bringing us on board?... Not smart.  Starfleet's been known to use bioweapons."

All the while, he kept thinking about that name... Ringo.  He knew he heard it somewhere.