The Prodigal Major Returns

Posted on 26 Jul 2017 @ 2:57am by Lieutenant Colonel Cassandra Blackburn & Major Keisha Afton & Captain Stovvan & Commander Sierra

820 words; about a 4 minute read

Mission: Errand of Mercy
Location: Dark Star
Timeline: ED5

ON:

Blackburn had spent a few moments cleaning herself up in the little med bay of the strange ship she found herself on. She hadn't changed her clothes, but had washed her face and hair in the little sink, revealing her pale skin under the grime, mud and blood of the past few days. She also examined the wound on her arm - it was almost certainly infected but she had never seen anything like it before - the cut was surrounded by a blue hue on her skin and it seemed to be getting larger. It was painless and her arm still functioned, but she didn't understand what the tricorder was telling her about it. She had redressed it and shoved it to the back of her mind - Afton could fix it once she was back on the Redemption.

She had spent less time eating a small meal - despite being marooned for a few days without food her stomach was closed, although she managed to force down a basic concoction generated by the small replicator. Dressed only in her filthy tank top and trousers, and with her hand grasped firmly around the receiver of the compression rifle, she had returned to the bridge just to see the male operative beam away. Only the female remained.

She was extremely uncomfortable in her position - she gad been rescued, yes, but by a pair of strangers who were clearly from some off-grid intelligence operation. She was fumbling around in the dark and she hated it - she detested all forms of espionage and the dirty world it inhabited.

"Do I get a name?" She asked, eventually breaking the silence. She didn't expect a reply.

"Mine you mean? " She shrugged, what could it hurt- after all the woman wasn't intending to believe what she said when she was embroiled in thoughts of how dirty her line of work was. "Sierra."

After several minutes had passed Stovvan reappeared on the Star. He looked at the Major and then at his wife and back at the Major.

"Well good news, you can return to the Redemption as soon as you wish. I have cleared it with the Intelligence Chief. She asked me to beam you to sickbay. Are you ready?" Stovvan asked with a minimum of emotion.

Blackburn frowned. "So glad I have permission to rejoin my own ship." She took a few steps towards the transporter platform, before turning to them. "I'd say thanks, but in my experience, people like you make people like me dead, so I won't." She shook her head slightly in reflection. "Why do I get the feeling we will meet again?" She said under her breath.

Stovvan sighed at the Major and raised an eyebrow. "There are no other people like us dear Major. We are single copies only I assure you. As for making you dead, we can always drop you back on the planet where we found you if you find our hospitality less than acceptable." He let that hang in the air before speaking directly to the ship "Dark star, energise."

Blackburn had formed the word "Whatever" with her mouth as the wave of familiar energy washed over her. She found herself refocusing on the internal bulkheads of the massive sickbay, but just as she felt the tingle of the transporter beam fade away she was overcome by severe nausea and pain which she had never felt before. She fell on to her knees, dropping the rifle to her side retching, watched by a shocked sickbay staff. "Afton!" She screeched out as they rushed towards her.

Keisha was on her feet, with a tricorder out bare moments after her name was screamed from the middle of sickbay. She didn't need to see Cassandra to know who it was decorating her sickbay with the contents of her stomach. Kneeling next to her one time friend- she wondered briefly if they still were after so much had happened- she ran the scanner over her painstakingly slowly.

As Blackburn was trying to catch her breath as she was on all fours, thoughts flashed through her mind. She had never been space sick or suffered from transporter nausea in her life. Something was seriously wrong - had they done something in the transporter beam? The infected wound on her arm was now incredible painful - was that it? She didn't know. Looking up, she locked eyes with the doctor - the first time they had met in over a year. She had spent so much time focusing her hostility on the others around her - Ryan, Sutherland to name a few - she didn't know what to do when she saw a familiar face which she didn't feel any anguish towards. She looked quickly away back to the deck, not sure of herself.

OFF:

Major Keisha Afton
CMO
USS Redemption

Major Cassandra Blackburn
Detachment Commander
USS Redemption

 

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