80515.23
After Malevolent
-=USS Zenith=-
For Keiran O’Sullivan at the moment the halls of the Zenith seemed to stretch on forever. They were quiet, they were empty and they were a constant reminder that regardless of how much the hum of the engines and the footsteps of his comrades may attempt to make other claims; that this ship was lifeless.
Soon he was once again standing by a new doorway. It was utterly wrong how easily it’d become routine to override the security code to the door, to walk an efficient path through the rooms and to conclude it was empty almost without a thought. He reached the familiar conclusion that there was no one here and was ready to leave when something on their kitchen table caught his eye. It was a small holo-disk, which looked even smaller in the Irishman’s bulky hand, and he carefully turned it over to find a switch underneath.
He realised that this was someone’s private possession and so he didn’t feel right about activating it but as he placed it back on the table he noticed it had a small handwritten label on the side which had been previously hidden by how he held it in his hand. He would have perhaps have ignored it, under other conditions, but that label said simply ‘us’.
He still didn’t feel completely right about it, but who ever lived here hadn’t had a chance to unpack any photos yet and he also wouldn’t feel right just leaving without knowing who they were. They were gone, but they had been here, and he couldn’t simply act like they didn’t exist.
He activated the switch and a holo-image of the occupants sprang to life. They were a family; a young family. It’d been taken here in these quarters; given the number of boxes spread around it was the day they’d just moved in. There were a mother and a father standing where the kitchen table was now with two young twins held in their arms, and their six year old son who was the spitting image of what Carrick had been at that age. This boy was staring with admiration at his father with the same gaze with which the man watched his wife and she looked down at the boy.
A harsh consequence of his TI training was that he’d been trained so well in observation that all of a sudden he could see their lives in what once seemed a baron room. In an instant he knew exactly what they’d all been doing and feeling at the moment they’d disappeared. He saw where the young boy had abandoned his colouring book, where the babies were being changed by the mother and where the father was watching it all unfold having just entered the door and not quite had time to take off both shoes. As he felt for a fleeting moment that he knew these people he could only be thankful that at least that did not yet feel routine.
He stood staring at that image for several seconds before reminding himself that there were many more rooms to search. He prepared to leave as the silence was broken by the chirping of his combadge and the welcome yet unwelcomely worried voice of his wife. [Zanh to O’Sullivan.]
“Aye, O’Sullivan here,” Keiran acknowledged with soft concern, his mind quickly snapping back from the number of lives here so suddenly halted when he was faced with more immediate concerns “Is ever’a’thin’ all right?”
[No, Keiran it’s not,] she replied with a hint if anger in her tone.
“What’s happened?” O’Sullivan asked, knowing that if something had happened to Liis then she’d not be the one telling him about it so realising it had to be something that’d happened to one of her people.
[It’s Wren Elton.] Liis replied [She’s been attacked by an unseen force.]
“Is she alright?” Keiran asked with concern, though the two of them weren’t any closer than the occasional pleasantries in the Afterthought, he worried for her as he would with anyone else on the Sera.
[We don’t know yet.] Liis grimly answered. [She’s unconscious and McKay doesn’t want to move her.]
“I understand,” Keiran acknowledged, realising there was not much more he could say. “Do ya know yet why she was attacked or have reason to suspect that there’ll be more?”
Liis was clearly frustrated with the answer she had to give [So far all we know is that whoever the hell it was has threatened to kill every telepath on board. To be safe the children and anyone even partially telepathic are being sent off on the Alchemy. I’ve told Thomas everything we know so far and he’s making the arrangements on your end,] Liis explained, adding reluctantly, [There’s still someone who needs to be informed about what’s happened.]
“Dengar,” Keiran concluded. “Will ya be beaming over here yerself?”
[No, Keiran.] Liis answered [Actually, I want you to be the one to deliver the news.]
“Ya want me to tell him?” Keiran asked, sounding confused “This seems to me like the type of thing he’d best hear from his CO or failing that from the Counselor,”
As a Captain, Keiran had had to be the one to deliver news like this and not once had it been easy. He knew Liis well enough to know that she wasn’t simply trying to avoid an unpleasant experience by passing it down the line, so it seemed strange that she’d not want to be the one to tell him herself.
[I know Dengar,] Liis insisted [As soon as someone with direct oversight over him walks into the room he’ll tense up and start thinking he’s done something wrong and I get the impression from Vol that neither one of them is comfortable around the other.]
“Alright,” Keiran acknowledged, realising Liis knew her people well enough to be right about this. “I’ll tell him.” He shook his head as he turned off the holo-image and returned the disk to its initial position, realising there were other families to think of that were still here “O’Sullivan out.”
It was a short journey towards the Zenith’s Engineering department though the knowledge of what he had to say made it feel like a long one. It was never long enough to know what he was going to say, but it was always far too long to ignore the consequences of what he was about to do.
Different people reacted to news like this differently. Some went quiet, some got angry and some broke down in tears. Rada Dengar was not a man he knew well enough to know how he was going to react. He’d enlisted his help in arranging the fireworks for his wedding and they had worked together at times, but they rarely spoke outside of the confines of duty. That made this all the more difficult.
The doors of the turbolift opened up to reveal the Zenith’s Main Engineering and Keiran caught sight of Rada. He paused briefly to question how he was going to put this, but though there were many wrong ways there was really no right way to say it.
This was the type of thing that Rada deserved to hear on his own so he placed a hand on the shoulder of the security officer he’d had guarding him and relieved him of his post.
Rada was seated at a console with multiple PADDS strewn in front of him. His hands were moving back and forth, comparing data from the screen in front of him with what they were expected to be. Though his eyes were focused on the screens, there was a distance about them which said he was thinking about something else. A small smile had formed in the corner of his lips which indicated that whatever his thoughts they were happy ones.
As Keiran’s steps drew him closer he realised he’d captured Rada’s attention. Rada turned around in his chair to face Keiran, that slight smile still on his lips and that distance still in his eyes.
“Commander.” Rada said with warmth in his tone, “I’m afraid I’m still running the sensor diagnostic so if you need to run an internal scan then it won’t be possible for a couple of hours.”
Keiran slowly exhaled and shook his head to the side. Rada’s happy demeanour wasn’t making this any easier. “I’m not here about a scan, lad.”
Something in his voice or in his face must have given away that he was serious as Rada’s countenance immediately turned to concern. “Is there something wrong, sir?”
“Aye, that there is.” Keiran replied softly and said nothing else. Rada’s eyes seemed to bore into him as his mind filled with a hundred possibilities of what could be wrong. Rada was worried but trying not to show it and Keiran wasn’t sure if it was crueller to do this quickly or to wait.
Keiran was all too aware of how much he was towering over the Engineer. He turned around and took hold of a chair which he moved in front of Rada and then lowered himself down to look him in the eye.
The second that Rada saw what he was doing his eyes went from worry to outright fear. Without allowing himself a chance to think he spoke frankly and clearly “Commander, what’s happened?”
Keiran simply replied, “It’s Wren,” and then watched as something in Rada froze up.
Dengar had imagined a hundred possibilities, a thousand consequences; but they could do nothing to prepare him for those two words. His eyes lost depth and his hands froze in front of him as he slowly retreated into himself.
Keiran had been in Rada’s place before and he knew there were answers you desperately needed and were terrified to hear.
“She’s in a bad way,” Keiran admitted and swiftly assured him “but she is alive” adding “’m afraid I can’t tell you any more than that.”
At first Rada didn’t react, just tried to keep his composure, then he drew a rapid breath in and slowly let it out. Part of him wanted to run, part of him wanted to hide and the rest of him just wanted to start shaking.
He couldn’t let himself acknowledge what could be happening because he couldn’t cope with it if he let himself break down. Feeling like he was fighting against all nature, like a heavy weight was being forced against every movement, he pushed his eyes up to Keiran and with every piece of his strength dragged his arms down to his side. Almost on autopilot Rada replied in a formally efficient tone “Commander, I hereby request permission to arrange for a temporary replacement and to transport myself over to the Serendipity.”
Though in truth either the Captain or First Officer should have given such permission, Keiran could say nothing other than “Permission granted.”
There was still no emotion on Rada’s face as hit his combadge saying, “One to beam back.”
Chief Engineering Officer
USS Serendipity NCC-2012