Posted by Ensign Chloe Harland (Nurse) in A day on Cestus
Chloe dropped in the seat on the vehicle and closed her eyes. The day seemed to have no end. She tried to remember the course of events. It had started simple enough: an alarm, a quick kiss, no breakfast. That was how most days began. It was the moments after she left the apartment that tended to blur into chaotic memories. Most of her days working were nightmares sprinkled with a glimmer of light and hope. Today was a day that would only be remembered as a nightmare. The bumps and jostling bounced her head on the back of the seat as they soared through a patch of turbulence. Chloe did not react. Right now she needed to feel something. The vibrations and impact on the base of her skull forced the emptiness in her to be filled.

These vibrations, however, did not fill her but amplified everything she had pushed down into her unconsciousness over that past six hours. The longer she dwelt in the memories of the day, the more her emotions rose to her consciousness like bubbles in a drink. It was harder to retain a flat affect as her throat closed, her chest tightened and tears brimmed behind her thick, dark lashes. The vibrations from the turbulence reminded her of how it felt to feel the ground shake as explosions erupted inches from her. They reminded her of the walls shimming before collapsing and filling the air with dust and debris. The knot in her throat now she had experienced hours earlier as Chloe choked and coughed desperately to get a breath during the fight with the True Way.

The True Way was like a plague. It had descended upon Cestus III without warning one day. No one was prepared for it. No one ever thought it had such deadly consequences. There were things far worse than the True Way however and that was sentient nature.

The Southern region was less secure than the capital and had far fewer resources to protect itself. That was where the USS Hartford and USS Seawolf were always sent but not to protect or defend: The crews were sent to mop up the death and destruction left in the wake of every battle.

Chloe clenched her fist tightly digging her nails into the palms of her hand so hard if she drew blood, it would not be surprised. She had to hold it together until the vehicle landed. After that, Chloe Kendrick could find a hole and crawl into it letting the stress of the day leave her in privacy.

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Three hours earlier
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“You need to find him,” the woman’s voice was desperate with anguish and worry. Her eyes held a wild look like a caged animal ready to attack at the slightest provocation.

“Kendrick,” a deep baritone voice rumbled snapping his fingers pointed to the harried woman clutching his arm. The man did not even try to console her. There was no point. The only reason the woman’s story was unique was because it was hers.

“Tell me about your brother,” Chloe put an arm around the woman trying to remove her from the lieutenant. As a nurse many times, her job was to manage the loved ones of a patient. Chloe was good in this role. Leading the woman to a set of chairs, she sat down facing her, holding her hands and waited for the woman to speak.

“He is out there and alone. I should not have let him go,” the woman began to sob pulling her hands from Chloe’s. Slowly moving next to the woman, Chloe began to rub the woman’s back in small circles. This intimate gesture often soothed the receiver invoking the sensation of a hug without the intrusiveness of the embrace.

“It’s not your fault,” Chloe was careful not to make promises. The fighting in the streets was intense. Civilians and security officers were dying by the minute. The soft pings of projectile weapons could be heard. Projectile weapons were barbarick things but when people were desperate they resorted to ancient and desperate measures. A small vibration at Chloe’s side indicated her personal communicator was going off.

Coffee Doll Face was all the message read and Chloe longed to answer it yet it would have to wait. She wished she had told Nate about the Southern Colony mission. The area in the southern hemisphere was far worse than the capitol. It was filled with crime and poverty. The citizens fought not only the True Way but themselves at times. This was one of those times.

“Kendrick, we are moving out,” McNamara snapped, pulling his medical pack over his broad shoulders. He hated seeing this soft side of her. She had a light in her eyes but another month in this place would drive it from her. The subtle signs were there only Chloe Kendrick was a master of pushing it down and locking it up tight. Maybe she was what was needed in this place. They had enough doctors to slap on a bandage or wave a tricorder. What Cestus didn’t have was someone like her.

Squeezing the woman’s shoulder reassuringly Chloe moved to follow McNamara out the door and to their mobile location.

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Nathan’s Apartment
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Chloe entered Nathan’s apartment slowly, methodically letting the stillness of the room envelope her. The knot in her chest had only grown tighter and more constricting. She had gotten through the day with a single-minded determination to return here after her visit to the southern colony yet standing here, Chloe felt no relief. The deafening silence of the living room was broken as Nathan exited the bedroom hearing her arrive.

“Hi,” she kept her conversation small and controlled. Her eyes did not meet his in response to his greeting. Chloe made sure they were slightly off focus. Looking Nathan Harland head-on would break her far more than anything she had experienced today. “I am starving,” she gave Nathan a weak smile. Moving to the kitchen, Chloe stared into the black reflective glass of the replicator under the pretense she was selecting something off the menu. Again her eyes were off focus but this time it was squarely on Nathan. She needed to know where he was.

Raising a finger she punched at the screen going through the motions of finding what she wanted to eat. Each activation of the console bought another thought to Chloe’s mind that she covered with a weak comment to fill the dead air between them. “Pasta is too heavy,” she spoke out loud depressing the display bringing up another choice.

Chloe Kendrick