A Fall into Silence
Posted on Mon Sep 30th, 2024 @ 5:55pm by Lieutenant Colonel Cornelius Tremble
Edited on on Wed Oct 2nd, 2024 @ 5:33pm
0 words; about a 1 minute read
Mission:
Episode 16 - Silent Cries
Location: VOQ, Empok Nor
Timeline: MD002 0220 hrs
His view plate was fogged over.
Which was odd.
That wasn’t supposed to happen.
Neil’s suit alarms were honking at him and everything seemed a jumble. He was a tad foggy himself as to what was all going on and his contact wasn’t functioning. For a few beats he was wondering if somehow.
Somehow.
Maleficent..Rowena…the Entity was loose again and he was again trapped in…no where.
In between moments…but that didn’t account for why his suit WOULDN’T SHUT UP.
He chinned the main-BUS over-ride, and verbalized. “Rommie? Give me a status report.”
When the AI didn’t answer after a couple of beats, he said, “Computer. Status report.”
Still nothing.
Neil could feel the suit pressing about him. Pressing on him and with his faceplate fogged, he couldn’t tell up from down or remember exactly what was happening. He was a bit brain fogged too and he struggled with that. His limbs felt like he was flailing but really couldn’t be sure.
Which was odd.
Neil hit the BUS override again and tried to reach for the manual overrides at his waist and couldn’t.
Or at least didn’t seem to be able to. His mind was aswirl as he tried to work through the problem and was teetering toward the conclusion that his suit somehow was suffering a massive system failure.
Which shouldn’t really happen. Not unless parts of the suit (and him) were melted off.
That might explain why his limbs didn’t seem to be working.
Then the fog (if it was fog) started to shift in his view plate and his eyes strained as shapes.
At least he thought it was actual shapes and not his mind really…REALLY wanting something.
Anything.
To be there.
Humanoid images bobbed just out of his vision and Neil strained further, realizing it was just their heads. Then the heads, which were made of the fog appeared hairless and had a clenched facial appearance and deep set dark eyes. The beings bone structure was predominant and Neil felt a clenching in his stomach as screams of agony thwacked his brain and reverberated through his entire self.
Neil hadn’t felt that way since he’d been captured during the fighting on Chin’toka III. And that torture had been relived at the hands of Gil Razul. The Cardassian had been more ham handed than the Vorta had been…but still.
It hadn’t been pleasant and Neil really tried not to dwell on any of that.
The creatures screams grew louder, cutting through and between his brain twitches and he focused again. The screams all came out as a multitude of voices all screaming.
A multitude and just one. Mouthing something as one head smashed into him and the fog parted and he was able to orientate and realized he was falling. His limbs flailed (at least his arms did…he could see those in his peripheral and he was able to orientate himself by the site of a trio of moons and his peripheral picked up the shadows of that probably were mountains.
The sensation of falling was coming through he realized at the same time his suit’s systems popped back up and the altimeter showed he was falling and Rommie’s voice cheerfully told him. “Major, sensors’s indicate you are at Terminal Velocity and impact with the Chin’toka III’s surface will void the manufacturer’s warranty. Time to impact, five seconds.
“Four.”
“Three.”
“Two.”
And Neil sat up, sucking in a deep breath as he tried to orientate himself. He was sheathed in sweat and swallowed by a sheet as his panicked brain twitched and his heart hammered in his chest. His mind caught up and he remembered he was in a VOQ on Empok Nor. Jayna was beside him and watching her as she slept on calmed him immediately.
The dream flittered away between heart beats and he shook his head as he slowly uncoiled the sheet from his legs and moved to sit on the edge of the bed. His head hurt and his eyes ached. He rubbed at both and shivered slightly as he tried in vain to remember the dream.
He couldn’t and part of him was glad about that.
Sighing, he lay back down and began breathing exercises. The VOQ’s lights were dim and he could smell the sanitized smell of the stations air. It was different than the Pioneer’s and his mind flitted to wondering if he and Jayna could sneak off to a terrestrial body and re-ground themselves.
Neil felt a shiver twitch through his chest and realized the sweat was chilling him.
Speaking of bodies, Jayne’s warmth registered and he started to resist the urge to slip closer to her, not wanting to disturb her sleep. Then he realized if she’d had a bad dream, he’d want her to find comfort in his presence and touch. He inched closer until his shoulder touched her back and he swiveled up onto his side and pulled the light blanket that remained up around the two of them.
Eventually he fall back asleep.
It just took awhile.
Major Cornelius Tremble
Executive Officer, USS Pioneer
Commanding Officer, The Cure
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