Liberation Nightmare

Posted on Wed 28th Nov, 2012 @ 3:25pm by Colonel Horatio Drake

1,223 words; about a 6 minute read

Mission: http://sb109.sim-station.net/index.php/sim/missions/id/3
Location: Drake's Quarters: Deck 27
Timeline: MD-02: 0429 Hours

OOC: This post is set after the first Mission Day (MD-01). Captain Dobbs has come aboard and Ashton is now asleep in his Quarters.

ON:
The explosion ripped through the left side of the Bridge... a crewman went flying... an officer ran to his aid. Ashton glanced to take in his surroundings... he was confused... where was he?

“SIR! What are your orders?” A voice from behind him yelled over the noise.

He was on a Bridge... it was the Bridge of the Liberation... he was in the Captain’s chair. Confusion now turned into panic, he had never commanded the Liberation, he had been her Chief Security/Tactical Officer.

“Captain, shields are down to 10%, we must take action now... shall we return fire?” The same voice yelled even louder from behind him, getting more frustrated.

He turned to see a Lieutenant Commander standing at the Tactical console, he didn’t recognise him.
“What the... yes, return fire... report!” Ashton felt himself slipping into autonomous mode, his training was kicking in.

“They’ve taken down both warp and impulse engines...” another hit shook the ship “secondary power failing, switching to emergency...” the unidentified crewman from the ops console at the front of the Bridge informed him.

“Firing phasers... no discernable effect...” Once again, the ship took another blow... a harsh one... it shook the vessel to it’s foundations.

“Sir” the Tactical Officer piped up once again “that last hit took down our shields, we’ve got hull breaches on multiple decks and... Jesus ... we’ve got a warp core breach in progress...” he said with a sort of fear and panic Ashton had never before witnessed.

This was all happening so fast... who was attacking them? How had they got into this fight? There was no other option... tapping the console on the side of his chair, Ashton gave the order that no one... Captain or not... wants to give, “Abandon ship... I repeat... all personnel... abandon ship”.

As the Bridge Officers started evacuating the Bridge Ashton suddenly noticed someone sitting in the XO’s chair, next to him, facing away. Amid the panic and confusion, this person was sitting perfectly still... Ashton went to place a hand on his shoulder.

Suddenly the unknown man span in his seat to face Ashton... his heart skipped a beat... he recognised this person, who was wearing Ashton’s uniform ... although his face was twisted with absolute anger...

“Patrick!” Ashton could barely let out more than a whisper.

“Why weren’t you there for me Ashton? Why did you let me die?” his voice was contorted with malice.

“Patrick... I... it was an accident... a shuttle accident... I had no way of knowing...” Ashton tried, in vein, to explain.

“If you hadn’t postponed your shore leave you would have been there... I would never have boarded the shuttle... you weren’t there for me... you were never there for me.”

“Patrick... no... it wasn’t like that... I was going to leave Starfleet...” Ashton was in shock and could barely form words.

===

“Arghhhhh!” Ashton shot up in bed... drenched in a cold sweat... another nightmare. He started having them a week or so after Patrick’s funeral, but they were getting worse and more vivid now.

“Computer, time” He said, still barely able to speak.

“The time is 0429 hours” it replied in it’s monotone voice.

Taking a quick scan of the room he noticed an open bottle of scotch on the dresser opposite him... the remnants of last night’s session... he jumped out of bed and made a beeline for it.

Grabbing the empty glass next to the bottle, he filled it up.

Tapping the console in front of him, he once again addressed the computer, “open a channel to the USS Valkyrie, Lieutenant Dean”

The computer took a moment to locate and signal the requested vessel... Ashton took this time to empty his glass and refill it. A few seconds later a young face appeared on the screen, the worry was evident.

“Ashton... how are you?”

“I’m ok Scott” he replied, trying to wipe the sweat from his brow without being too obvious. “How are you? I see you’re in the Captain’s Ready Room again... does he know?!” He tried to muse. Scott trained with Ashton in the Academy for the Marines... both went very different ways after graduation. One the one hand, Ashton went straight into a ship-of-the-line position and became completely career minded. Scott, on the extreme other hand, took a step into Counselling, leaving years of Marine training behind him.

“Ha! Indeed... graveyard duty shift I’m afraid” there was a pause... not an awkward one... but it was as if his old friend was trying to carefully select the next words to say.

“Ashton... it’s good to hear from you... it’s been months... how are you holding up? I heard that you were deemed fit to return to duty?”

“Yea, I’m back at the reigns again! They've assigned me to command a Starbase of all things! Starbase 159, affectionately nicknamed Protector... over here in the Asuran System, near the Typhon Expanse!” he looked down, analysed his glass, sloshed the liquid around slowly and slowed his speech “to be honest Scott I just told them what they wanted to hear... I thought coming back to Starfleet would be a distraction... now I’m not so sure...”

“What do you mean you told them what they wanted to hear?” Scott said, his Counselling ego had taken a blow.

“Well, I’m not being funny but when you spend the best part of every day in these sessions for over a month you kind of get an idea of what they are after and what they need to hear! Plus the fact that my best friend is also a Counsellor... well... it doesn't take a genius!"

A solemn and stern look remain on his old friend's face... "Do you think you were fit to return to duty?" He asked without flinching.

Ashton smiled... a fake smile and one that quickly disappeared... "I... I don't know Scott... all I know is that the nightmares are still coming every singular night and they're starting to get worse."

"Do you think that's related to the stress of commanding a Starbase?" He asked.

"I don't know, you tell me!" he considered taking a swig of the contents of his tumbler, but decided against the idea. "I think if anything it's more related to being back in Starfleet... although I can't be sure."

A reply was on the lips of the Lieutenant when an indistinguishable voice was heard over their comms system, "Understood, I'll be right there"

"Listen, Ashton, I've got to go... I'll call you at the end of my shift... but I've got shore leave next month and I intend to spend some of it on this Protector of yours!" He smiled as he rose from the desk.

"That'd be nice Scott... that'd be really nice" his mind wondered as he said his goodbye's and shut off the terminal. He was lucky he always had the support of close friends and ex-colleagues when he went through the roughest time of his life... he just hoped that rejoining Starfleet wasn't going to open up old wounds too badly.

OFF:

 

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