Posted April 9, 2022, 11:45 p.m. by Ensign Laju Eghimea (Security Officer) (M Lyon)
Eghimea walked into the quarters assigned to her. It was large, larger than she had expected. She walked across the wide space from the door to the bed and set her suitcase down upon it. Flopping down next to her suitcase, she reached down with both hands and pressed into the bed as she frowned. “This place feels more like a cruise ship than an actual warship,” she said softly as she stood up and crossed the space over to the dresser.
She reached down to open the dresser drawer, only to have it open on its own. “Even the furniture does their work for them,” she said with a frown. Her meeting with her Department Head went as well as she had expected. She would never understand why they just don’t drop the charade and just admit that Star Fleet is just that, a military. After all, they just fought a major war against the Dominion, and won. Yet, they still pretend not to be a military.
She turned around looking at this fancy room and just shook her head. “I wonder if they have a bar and dance hall onboard as well,” she said with a smile and laughter in her voice.
A spark on the opposite wall caused her to turn around as her face twisted with horror. She watched with terror as fire climbed up the wall and the sounds of alarms rang in her ears.
“We lost the impulse drive,” someone screamed out in Bajoran.
Leaning against the dresser, Eghimea shook her head as she ran her hand down her face. She couldn’t believe what she was seeing, what she was hearing. She closed her eyes and whimpered, “no……please…no….” An explosion echoed in her ears followed by the screams of a woman dying.
The smell of burnt flesh and wires filled her nose. She turned to see the Comm Station in flames and she cried out, “Sheema!” Then snapped her eyes shut once more, “No…its not real….” she begged herself to believe.
“Eghimea,” she heard her brother scream out, “target their portside weapons!”
Desperately, she spun on her toes and ran to the sink and turned it on. Her hand shook as they formed a cup. With all the control she could muster, she filled them with water, then splashed that cold water on her face. She fought to get her racing breath under control as pure panic raced through her mind. Once more, she tosses the cold water on her face.
Within moments the echoes of her memories started to fade, and the fires started to vanish from her vision. Soon, she is alone in her cabin, and more importantly alone in her mind.
Looking into the mirror above the sink, she doesn’t recognize the wounded broken woman with pleading eyes looking back at her. Her eyes slowly closed. As her eye lids closed, they forced the tears to finally fall down her cheeks, “why….” She asked in a whimpered voice, “why did I survive.”
Pushing off the counter, she turned and walked over to her suitcase and opened it. She reached into it and picked up some of her clothes and set them on the bed. She pulled out a small bottle and opened it. She poured a pair of little blue pills into her shaking hand and rapidly took them. The effect was immediate as she felt the echoes fade even further from her mind. She returned the cap to the bottle and hid the bottle in her suitcase. Her eyes took sight of the Klingon made D’k tahg.
Her attention was broken by the door chime to her quarters. Eghimea rushed to the mirror and quickly cleaned herself up. She refused to let anyone see her, well, not at her best. The door chimed again as she cursed her hair for not cooperating. But with determination, her hair was presentable. With a nod, she was ready, and whoever was at the door would see her how she was expected to be, perfect.
She moved with purpose to the door and paused to draw in a deep breath and calmed her nerves. She didn’t question who it was at the door. It didn’t matter, they were Star Fleet, and she was literally the representative of the Star Guard and more importantly, of her family. Standing straight and rigid, she opened the door. “Good day, Captain,” she said as if the entire time she had been expecting the visit from the ship’s Commander.
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