by Dane Cristiane
90628.05
Concurrent with The Meaning of the Voice: Two
Soundtrack: 21 Guns, by Green Day
-=/\=-
-=Bridge: USS Alchemy=-
90628.05
Concurrent with The Meaning of the Voice: Two
Soundtrack: 21 Guns, by Green Day
-=/\=-
-=Bridge: USS Alchemy=-
“You’ve been holding out on us, Cristiane,” Lair Kellyn commented, as she gripped the armrests of the command chair so tightly that her knuckles turned white.
“Sir?” Dane asked with confusion, as he kept firing upon the Domox. His hands flew without a thought across the controls at Tactical, his work there the perfect complement to Gira’s skill at the helm.
“You know what you’re doing. Obviously your talents have been wasted answering comm calls.”
“That’s…what…I’ve been…trying…” Dane struggled to say, fighting to keep his footing as the Alchemy tilted wildly to port, the little ship feeling the effects of another blow to the mighty Zenith nearby. “…to tell you people!”
“I’ll make sure…she knows it.” Lair promised, and she meant it. “Micah, anything new to help us here?” She begged, knowing that they couldn’t hold out like this much longer.
Even though the Alchemy, the smallest ship in the fight, had done very well to dodge the hits that the Sera and the Zenith could not, Lair knew that the Domox would not ignore them forever. They were like a gnat buzzing in the face of a much larger creature; sooner or later the creature was going to turn its attention to the tiny, irritating insect and make sure that the annoyance it was causing came to a sudden and violent end.
“Can you get Zanh or O’Sullivan? I’d really like to ask them a thing or two…” Lair complained.
“They’re still not responding to hails, Commander.” Dane replied regretfully.
“From the sound of the audio from their bridges, “ Micah offered, as he’d been monitoring those transmissions with a communications earpiece, “They’ve got their own problems.”
Suddenly, the distinct and unmistakable sound of Terran profanity issued from the mouth of Dane Cristiane.
“Dane,” Lair began.
“They’re everywhere.” He stated gravely. “Ten…eleven…no…twelve of them…”
Lair spun in her chair and she repeated the same curse that Dane had just uttered, first in Universal Standard and then in Bajoran.
“Get me Zanh now! Or all of our problems will be over soon. If we don’t-“ Lair rose from her seat as suddenly, Micah’s complexion changed entirely, turning him a sick looking cross between nauseous green and ghostly white. “What?”
“I…” Micah stammered. “I don’t believe it. It’s not possible.”
“What!”
“Stand by,” Samson began pounding the controls on his panel, unable to believe the readings he was getting.
“Oh my God.” Dane blurted as the data at his station caught up with Samson’s.
“I don’t believe it.” Samson repeated.
“Somebody had better tell me what the hell is-“ Lair insisted, but before she could finish, Dane responded by switching on the main viewscreen, and Lair was now the one addressing the deities of her people aloud.
“No. It can’t. No.”
“The Varion particle readings are off the charts,” Samson gasped.
“Salvek, no.” Lair shook her head, begging the Prophets that it couldn’t be true; that Salvek hadn’t found a way to make a Varion based weapon a reality. She didn’t think that he’d ever even consider it, until she considered that to save Arie, he might truly be capable of such a thing.
“Not Salvek.” Micah replied in disbelief, as he heard and processed the latest conversation from the Sera’s bridge.
“Then who would be determined enough to...oh no.” Lair could think of only one man who would suffer more greatly at the thought of such destruction caused by something he created; and that one man was the one whose name Samson was now speaking.
“They’re talking about Dengar over there.”
“Dengar? No way. He couldn’t hurt a….” Dane objected, but he stopped as new readings came in to his station. “Commander Lair,” his voice shook with anxiety suddenly, a sound Lair had never heard from him before. “The Domox ships are changing course. The portal is losing stability…the enemy is retreating into it.”
“No.” Gira finally spoke. She’d been forcing herself to keep her mind on her work by convincing herself that Nick was on one of those dozen enemy ships, and that all she needed to do was help buy Zanh and O’Sullivan time so that they could find him and bring him back. “Please, no.”
“Lassiter! Listen to me!” Lair demanded. “Get us out of here. Put us behind the Zenith. Now.” She knew that while the Alchemy’s size had been an advantage until now that at this point it was a liability if any of the Domox ships were caught in the closing portal and destroyed by it.
“Aye, Sir.” Gira managed to say, and though her hands felt as if they were no longer connected to the rest of her body, she input the command and the Alchemy dashed for cover behind the largest ship.
“Hail Zanh again.” Lair insisted. “We have to know what is going on over…”
But it was too late.
The last Domox ship disappeared, the portal closed and all that was left to indicate it had ever been there was a small, dying spark of light, quickly gone.
Lair Kellyn couldn’t believe what she’d just witnessed.
Her friend Rada Dengar, the most peaceful and gentle man of conscience she had ever known, had just created and detonated a weapon of such destructive magnitude that she could barely comprehend it.
How, she wondered, would he ever live with himself?
Even though he’d saved them all, she knew him well enough to know that would do little to save him from himself.
Dane’s jaw dropped open as he realized what had just happened.
His eyes instantly sought out Gira, and though from his position he couldn’t see her expression, he was sure that the sound of her immediate, anguished whisper alone had the potential to completely destroy him.
“No.” Gira said softly, and then again more desperately and with greater volume. “No.”
“It’s over.” Micah announced softly. “It’s gone. It’s all…gone.”
“It can’t be gone. My brother is over there!” Gira shouted, leaping up from the helm. Dane stepped forward, gesturing to one of the security officers present to take his place at tactical.
“Gira,” Dane’s voice quivered again, as he grasped hold of her by the arms. “I’m so sorry.”
“Nick!” She screamed, trying to pull away from him and run. She didn’t know where she could run to get away from this nightmare, but there had to be a place, somewhere. There had to be something she could do to wake up from this horror. “Nick!”
“Get her out of here.” Lair ordered, taking the helm. Piloting was not Kellyn’s strongest suit but she knew enough of the Alchemy’s intricate systems to fly it better than she could manage even the most basic of shuttlecraft. “Do what you can for her.”
Dane felt Gira’s weight seem to increase as she went limp, shuddered and lost consciousness. He hoisted her into his arms and took to the turbolift, headed for Sickbay.
“There’s another ship on sensors.” Micah declared, with a joy too thick with sarcasm to be genuine. “What do you know, it’s the Gauntlet.”
“Oh happy day.” Lair returned with equal sarcasm. “Hail Zanh again.” Kellyn growled. “And tell Tenney she’d better not leave me on hold this time.”
-=Bridge, USS Serendipity=-
“The Alchemy is hailing us again, Captain.” Sue Tenney announced.
“Keep Lair on hold.” Zanh ordered. She had a situation to handle here before she spoke to anyone.
“Commander O’Sullivan is also hailing.”
“Ask him to wait too,” Zanh added quickly, but a little more gently. She was already out of her chair and on her way toward Dengar, who still wasn’t moving, aside from trembling.
Ensign Tenney sighed heavily with frustration.
“Now the Gauntlet is hailing us. It’s Admiral Lassiter.” She gulped nervously.
“So she finally shows up. Well, she’s the one who can wait now. Until I’m damned good and ready to talk to her.” Zanh’s teeth were clenched tightly. She was still staring at Rada Dengar, who was still mumbling to himself. “Take him to Sickbay.” She commanded Blane, who raised an eyebrow.
“Sir?”
“Sickbay!” Zanh demanded. “Tell Hartcort to be sure that no one talks to Dengar until I say so. Not a solitary word. Seal off Dengar’s office, no one goes in there except for me until I tell you. Understand?”
“Aye, Sir.” Blane gestured to one of the security officers present and each took hold of one of Dengar’s arms, gently leading the man into the lift.
“Sir, Admiral Lassiter is insisting to speak to you.” Tenney said softly.
Liis waited until the lift doors had closed. Then she straightened her tunic, threw her shoulders back and cleared her throat to try to rid herself of the emotions that kept trying to force their way through in her voice. “Fine. Onscreen.” Zanh greeted her with an icy stare. “Admiral. Good of you to join us.”
[We’ve been having engine problems, Zanh Liis,] Lassiter growled. [What the hell have you done to our ships?] She put her hands on her hips. [Where is the crew of the Zenith?]
“Admiral,” Zanh’s voice warned her sternly that they should not be speaking about this so openly. “We’ve barely survived an attack from the same aliens who abducted the Zenith’s crew and…“
[What have you done?] Lassiter repeated. [Our sensor readings are very troubling-]
“I’m sorry, Sir.” Zanh couldn’t help but twist the last word. “War is troubling.” She fought with every ounce of her will power to hold her temper and stall Lassiter off. She needed to talk to Keiran. She needed to talk to Dengar. She needed…
[Explain the extreme level of Varion particles we’ve detected to me right now.] Lassiter demanded. [And I warn you, Captain Zanh, I am not going to ask you again. I am ordering you to answer this question. Where is the crew of the Zenith?]
Liis now stepped forward, toward the screen, and lowered her voice. “Admiral, please. Not this way. We need to speak privately. Face to face.”
[No.] Lassiter demanded. [Now.]
“Sir, I formally request that you wait until we can speak in person to-“ Zanh’s voice was almost pleading. She did not want the Admiral to learn the truth in front of the bridge crews of the Gauntlet and Serendipity.
In the background, the communications officer on the Gauntlet informed Lassiter that she was being hailed, frantically and repeatedly, by the Zenith.
[Tell O’Sullivan he’ll have to wait!] Lassiter shouted. [Zanh! Tell me now, what happened?]
“The enemy has been destroyed.” Zanh droned, still in something of a state of shock over what she’d seen, offering as much as she felt she safely could until she could gather all the facts to explain what had taken place exactly. “Admiral, I regret to inform you that with the exception of one officer, a young woman, that the crew of the Zenith has been lost.”
Lassiter’s expression changed, her face going blank as she staggered forward a step. Her hand reached out, aimlessly searching for something to steady her but there was nothing there to hold on to. The nearest person to her leapt up; offering an arm to support her. Quickly she pushed him away.
[What did you say?]
“I said,” Zanh repeated sadly and slowly, wishing with all her heart that this could’ve been done another way. “That the crew of the USS Zenith is lost.”
She watched as the seemingly unshakable, formidable woman that was Gemini Lassiter stumbled several steps backward.
The Admiral’s lips moved to protest that it couldn’t be true, but there was no longer any air in her lungs with which to propel the words and so no sound issued forth from her aching, narrowing throat.
In her mind a thousand tiny fragments of her life; memories, dreams, nightmares, regrets, and hopes for the future all kept so carefully labeled and separated and filed away, merged into one emotion and came crashing down upon her, crushing the very heart of her beneath their weight.
Her aspect took on an eerie, vacant darkness, and then without betraying that she was suffering any pain at all she slowly raised her hand to her chest.
Her knees gave out and she crumpled to her side, withering gracefully to the deck before the eyes of everyone present.
[Medical emergency on the bridge!] A voice on the Gauntlet shouted. [Admiral! Can you hear me?]
[She’s not breathing!] Another voice exclaimed in panic. The Sera’s crew watched in horror as the woman it belonged to checked for Lassiter’s pulse. [We have to get her to Sickbay.]
“Wait!” Zanh cried. “Beam her here. We have the best CMO in the fleet.”
[Captain,] A man wearing three pips responded, [I don’t--]
“NOW! That is a direct order, Commander! Beam her over here or you’ll be the one who gets to explain to Command why you let her die on your bridge!” Zanh shouted, and the man reluctantly nodded.
“Zanh to transporter room one. Lock on to Admiral Lassiter aboard the Gauntlet and beam her directly to our Sickbay.”
[Aye, Captain.] Andrew Parrish responded. It only took him a moment to get a fix on her signal. [Energizing.]
Liis’ hand again flew back to her badge. “Zanh to Hartcort. Incoming medical emergency.”
[I’m a little busy down here at the moment Captain…]
“Code White.” Zanh interrupted. “The Admiral.”
[Understood.] Lance sighed. [We’ll be ready for her.]
-----------------------
Ensign Dane Cristiane
Temporal Investigations Intern
Currently aboard the USS Alchemy
Ensign Dane Cristiane
Temporal Investigations Intern
Currently aboard the USS Alchemy