by -=/\=- Zanh Liis
80924.15
An hour after All I Know
-=County Cork, Ireland; Earth=-
80924.15
An hour after All I Know
-=County Cork, Ireland; Earth=-
It was pitch dark now, and turning colder.
Liis stood with her arms wrapped around herself, trying to accept that it was really time to leave him behind, alone.
She thought it a very cruel irony that though he had seen her die upon this very hilltop years ago in another life, that he was the one who would, in the end, sleep eternally beneath their favorite tree.
She raised her hand toward the combadge she had hidden beneath the wrap slung over her shoulders.
"Zanh to Serendipity," she whispered, "One to..."
She hesitated as something in the distance caught her attention.
At first, she could not make out the source of the tiny points of light that were approaching. Her tear blurred vision cleared a little as she wiped at her eyes furiously, and it was then that her mouth fell open.
A group of people was approaching, every one of them dressed in their best, formal Starfleet uniforms...and white gloves.
[Captain?] Sue Tenney inquired, having been left so long on hold. [Are you ready to beam back?]
"No, never mind. Inform Commander Salvek I'll be staying awhile longer. Zanh out."
She now observed that leading the group up the hill, lantern in hand, was Mary Clare. Liis stepped back, ducking behind another tree to conceal herself as she waited to see what was going to happen.
Once the group reached the gravesite, Mary Clare turned to them and spoke.
"Are you certain that you want to do this? I mean, it's a lovely gesture," she paused, looking down sadly into her brother's still open grave.
"If you'll allow it," Zanh looked up and observed that the woman speaking had gray hair, secured tightly into a bun at the top of her head, and she was wearing Admiral's bars. "It would mean a lot to this crew."
"Aye." Mary lowered her eyes, humbled by their heartfelt request. "You honor my brother, and our family. I thank you. All of you." She turned away, the light from her lantern flickering and fading into the distance along with her.
It was then that Liis noticed that each of the assembled officers was holding a candle in their hand. She recognized now that they were the source of the points of light she had seen before.
Her heart dropped to her feet when she also recognized a very familiar man standing beside the female Admiral. He was the only one of the group not holding a candle because he was carrying something else instead.
A gleaming, brand new silver shovel.
The group gathered together and surrounded Keiran's grave, and Liis could only watch in amazement at what was taking place.
The Admiral stepped forward and she dropped to her knee, gently placing something that Liis could not make out on top of the casket.
She stood again, and took a pace back. Drawing in a slow, deep breath, she prepared to speak a verse that anyone who knew Keiran would recognize, because he so often read and quoted the passage himself.
"Greater love has no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends."
A beautiful young ensign standing next to the Admiral burst into an audible sob, and the Admiral put her arm around the woman, steadying her.
"A moment of silence for Captain O'Sullivan," the Admiral added gently, and all present bowed their heads.
Some in contemplation, some in prayer. Some with regret.
All, with sorrow.
After the moment had passed Ashton Ledbetter, Executive Officer of the lost ship Perseids stepped up.
He held out the shovel toward a man dressed in Engineering colors, and the man exchanged the candle that he held high in tribute for the implement.
Slowly, he dug into the pile of dirt that had been left beside the grave by the excavation of the plot, and tossed several shovels full down into the grave.
One by one, all seventeen remaining members of the crew of the Perseids took their turn. Last of all the young woman, who was still being supported by the Admiral, accepted the shovel.
When she reached out to take it she grimaced, in obvious physical pain.
"Gira, your burns were so severe, the bandages are so tight," Ledbetter addressed her gently, "You don't have to, we can do it for you."
She shook her head insistently. "I have to."
She groaned involuntarily with each shovel of dirt she moved; speeding up in her movements each time until finally her crew mates grew concerned that she was going to do serious damage to her fresh injuries if she didn't stop.
"Ensign," The Admiral stepped forward, finally intervening. "Your actions have honored your Captain. Now, give me the shovel."
Liis thought it strange, the way the Admiral interacted with the ensign, and wondered if there was not some tie between them that exceeded that of the brethren of Starfleet.
All stood mute before the now covered grave and directed their attention to the Admiral once more.
"There's an old saying here on Earth," she looked each officer in the eye in turn. "That it's better to light one candle than to curse the darkness."
She waited a moment before continuing.
"Each one of you is a light that Captain O'Sullivan lit. Your souls were spared by his selfless actions from Death's darkness. Go forward from this place with gratitude, and determination to prove, through the way that you live the rest of your lives and the care with which you perform your duties, that his death is not in vain. I know you'll make him proud," her eyes gleamed with emotion as she glanced at the ensign, "as you've already made me proud by your actions here tonight. Dismissed."
Some of the officers broke off into groups to talk; some knelt down to the ground and appeared to be offering more prayers. The Admiral turned to the young ensign and reached out, gently wiping tears from her cheeks.
"What are we ever going to do without him, Mother? There will never be another like him."
"If he were here, what would he tell you, Gira?"
The girl shrugged.
"He'd ask you to remember the times he made you smile, because that is the sort of man Keiran was. He would tell you that life is too short to waste a moment."
She gently nudged the girl forward, toward the gathered Perseids crew.
"Go. Be with your friends. They need you as much as you need them, and once you're reassigned it will be a very long time until you can all be together again like this."
Zanh Liis stood silently still beneath her tree, twisting the chain around her neck, clutching Keiran's ring tightly in her hand.
"Good evening."
She looked up, and found herself face to face with the Admiral.
"No. It isn't."
The Admiral ignored her remark and extended her hand. "Gem Lassiter."
Liis grasped her hand half-heartedly, then quickly released it. "Zanh Liis."
"Oh, I know." The Admiral gazed up at the stars overhead, and nodded. "I know exactly who you are, Captain Zanh."
"Then you have me at a disadvantage, Sir."
"This introduction is a little premature, I'm afraid. I thought you would have gone back to the Sera by now." Lassiter continued.
"Premature?"
"Yes. I had intended to introduce myself to you tomorrow morning. In your Ready Room."
Now she had Liis' undivided attention. The Bajoran folded her arms across her chest. "Really."
"I believe that this is for the best, though, now that I think about it. I'd really like a chance to talk with you a little more informally, out from beneath the eyes of your...most observant crew," She tilted her head slightly.
"Give you a chance to process what you hear. Of course," she took a few steps away, "We're not having this conversation, really. Anything I tell you tonight must come as a total surprise to you tomorrow. Understand?"
"Admiral, with all due respect, in case you haven't noticed I have just lost someone who was very important to me,"
"As have we all, Zanh Liis. You'll find that the one thing every person present here has in common is that they all cared for Captain O'Sullivan a great deal. Some of us knew him better than others." Lassiter sighed heavily. "I knew him very well."
Liis' head was swimming as she leaned back against the tree and groaned, rubbing her aching eyes. She heard footsteps approaching, and then a familiar voice.
"Admiral, I think we should head back, for the sake of the crew..." The man stopped, "Oh my god. Is that really Zanh Liis?"
Liis looked up, and offered a two fingered salute to the man. "Ashton."
Ledbetter stood there gaping at her until Lassiter pointedly patted him on the back, spurring him along. "You're right, Ash. You go on. I'm right behind you." She indicated the wrist lamp she had fastened to her arm, indicating she could find her own way.
"Admiral." Ledbetter bowed slightly. He cringed as he looked at Liis. "Captain."
"Commander."
After Ledbetter had gotten a head start with the rest, Lassiter clapped her hands together once. "Come along, Zanh Liis. We have much to talk about."
"Admiral, I'd rather we just have this conversation in the morning,"
"I know. But we're going to have it now." Lassiter insisted. "The Perseids crew has taken over a local bed and breakfast, and what's more, the pub down the street. They're planning to celebrate his life in their own way tonight, Zanh Liis. It would be wrong for you to miss it."
"I don't want to celebrate anything."
"I know that too. Don't mistake me for a fool, Captain. I know," she put a hand on each of Liis' shoulders and spoke in a tone that gave Liis chills. "I know how much he meant to you. Trust me when I tell you that if you don't come with me, when you look back on this night later, you will regret it."
"But I,"
"Do you have any idea how much your presence will mean to them?" She thrust her arm out, toward the group that was retreating slowly down the rolling hills. "He spoke of you to most of them, as he could speak to no one else. Because they all know what the job entails. They understood him, and they will understand you,"
Lassiter shone her wrist lamp down onto the ground ahead of her steps so as not to trip.
"He can't be there for them tonight, but you can. Even if you only stand in the room and don't say a word. Do it for them, but more so, do it for him."
Liis nodded, dejectedly following in the Admiral's footsteps.
She paused one last time as they passed the grave, closing her eyes. She whispered softly into the night sky, and then continued on, knowing it didn't matter where she went tonight or how many people surrounded her.
No matter what, she was still going to be alone.
-------------------
-=/\=- Zanh Liis
Commanding Officer
USS Serendipity NCC-2012
-=/\=- Zanh Liis
Commanding Officer
USS Serendipity NCC-2012