Alone (Time Zone 3)

Posted on 28 Aug 2018 @ 6:32am by Commodore Harvey Geisler

491 words; about a 2 minute read

Mission: Fractured
Location: USS Black Hawk, Ready Room
Timeline: TZ3 || 1045 hours

Harvey needed a reprieve.

With his limited crew trying to collect more information about what the hell was going on, Harvey took a moment to withdraw to the ready room for a chance to recollect and recompose himself. It had been the first time he’d entered since before the turbulence. Upon entry, he’d immediately wished he hadn’t. It wasn’t the sight of faded and weathered paper which had been emblazoned with a repeating Kermit the Frog face (which his wife and yeoman had very carefully wrapped his entire office with), nor was it the frigid temperature that had forced him to fold his arms and place his hands in his armpits.

It was the smell.

A thick larger of algae had encrusted over the top of the fish tank which occupied his command chair from the Akira class bridge, a fitting tribute to the ship’s demise. The water itself no longer was a natural color, undoubtedly concealing whatever dead frogs and fish were contained within.

Perhaps coming in here wasn’t such a good idea, he thought, looking around the room. Most of the paper had fallen off of the walls and furniture as years of exposure had caused the tape to fail. The room seemed to be an apt illustration of his life, everything once again coming apart.

He remained standing, fixed at a point just outside of the door’s sensors. Therefore, he would remain undisturbed in this chamber, alone with his thoughts.

Alone. He hadn’t felt like this since Betazed, since the day he learned that Alison had perished under the hands of the Jem’hadar. That day, he drew strength from anger, and using that strength, he managed to escape. But it took weeks, years even, to realize the true costs behind that loss; among them his soul and a fruitful career in medicine.

Harvey frowned, moving over to the window that overlooked the nebula. There had to be a way out of this. Theta radiation could take up to a week to kill a person, especially with concentrations just like these. It would take at least a day for everyone to feel the early symptoms. But he knew it was combination of the poisoning and the grief that was taking a toll on his stomach. Perhaps even some of that expired medication as well.

The crew would not have just sat around and waited for death. No, they had to be working on a plan until the very end. That’s why Joey wouldn’t have left the bridge. She wouldn’t have given up.

Nor could he. There not only had to be a way to reunite everyone, but get out of this mess as well. Forcing his feelings to contain themselves in his fragile stronghold, Harvey spun around to return to the bridge.

There had to be a way. And he would not rest until they found it.

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