Tempus Breve Est

Posted on 11 Oct 2018 @ 8:48pm by Elesa Zal

1,293 words; about a 6 minute read

Mission: Empty Creche
Location: Office of the President of the United Federation of Planets, Paris, Earth
Timeline: ED1 0900

ED1 0900 Office of the President of the United Federation of Planets, Paris, Earth

Elesa Zal slammed the padd on to the antique wooden desk that was the focal point of her office and collapsed into the chair that sat behind it. Her whole body was trembling; and not just because the virus that was currently ravaging her body had upped its ante against the anti-virals that Starfleet Medical was administering to her on a twice-daily basis. Inhaling slowly, she tried to channel all four lifetimes of strength to get her through the next few minutes, never mind the next few hours and day.

“Ma’am,” the booming voice of Lieutenant Johnston, her Starfleet Security aide and personal guard, resonated around the spacious office, “are you okay?” His hand twitched slightly as though he were about to grasp the phaser rifle currently slung over his shoulder.

‘No’ was the appropriate answer, but Elesa could not afford to show any signs of weakness at the present time – even towards her closest friends and allies. She concentrated hard to control her trembling limbs and then responded to the human officer, “I am fine Deion. I’m just frustrated at the latest figures from the polls. Nothing for you to immediately concern yourself with.”

She lied, and she hated herself for it.

“Yes ma’am,” Johnston replied, relaxing his posture and returning his full attention to the President’s personal safety.

Elesa disliked lying at the best of times, but she found it especially difficult when she was lying to those in whom she trusted implicitly. And Deion Johnston was one such trusted individual; after all, he had served as her personal guard for almost the entirety of her term as Federation President. But despite the absolute trust she had in Lieutenant Johnston, she could not find a way to let her guard down and share the personally devastating hews that she had just received from the USS Redemption.

This is not a time to show weakness, the Trill said to herself inwardly.

Her eyes once again found the upturned padd on her desk. Staring at it blankly, Elesa’s thoughts travelled back in time to her first host, Xolani Zal. Xolani, for whatever reason, had a particularly bad habit of not believing bad news until she had read it for at least three or four times. Until today Elesa had not picked up this particular trait from the Zal symbiont; but something about the news that had just been delivered to her made her regress into the mind-set of Xolani, a woman who was as emotionally immature as she was academically gifted.

The complete opposite of the normally cool and calm Elesa Zal, then.

Elesa’s hand slowly extended across the table and grasped the upturned padd once more. She fingered the controls and brought up the message that Commander Rhyan had just sent her from interstellar space somewhere between Earth and the Hadronus system. Preparing herself this time for the news, she opened the communiqué.

To: President Elesa Zal, Office of the President of the United Federation of Planets

From: Commander Rhyan, Executive Officer, USS Redemption, Starfleet

Subject: News of Ambassador Daniel Sutherland

Message begins…

Elesa,

I hope this message finds you well, with the sincerest of apologies that I have not been in contact with you sooner than this. Our mission to Hadronus has drawn to a close and we have been successful in finding the cause for, and with some optimism, a cure to the plague that has been ravaging the third planet of this system. I do fear that work on the virus that is afflicting you is not progressing at the same speed, but the success we have made with the Hadronus virus is likely to benefit the research I have been conducting into your own illness. We have not given up hope of finding a cure.

Of course, as you might have guessed, this communiqué is not intended simply to update you on the progress I have made on the Zal virus, as we have named it. I unfortunately have some bad news to share with you.

Yesterday morning, at approximately 0600 hours, Ambassador Daniel Sutherland was attacked on board the Redemption and is currently in a critical condition in sickbay. His attacker, Ensign Jon Marshall, was initially apprehended but is now considered MIA. I can assure you that the last time I saw him, Marshall’s neck was broken and no signs of life were evident. He was, however, infected with a pure form of the Ee virus and transported from the Redemption by the Ee Hybrid – otherwise known as Sarah Kaminski! We have no way of knowing if Ensign Marshall will succumb to the virus, even in a post-mortem state. But I digress…

Last I spoke with Doctor Afton, the outlook was not looking good for the Ambassador. The doctor is not without hope, but the odds are not in his favour. He suffered a direct phaser blast to the abdomen while apparently protecting Cadet Scott from Ensign Marshall. Since returning to the Redemption both Sutherland and Scott have become increasingly close, and you can be assured that Sutherland – Daniel – is not alone, as Scott has been by his bedside since the incident with Marshall was resolved.

I am sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but I understand that you are the closest thing to a family that the Ambassador had and I felt you deserved to be made aware of his condition. Rest assured that both I, Doctor Afton and Cadet Scott are taking excellent care of him. As soon as there are any further developments I will be in touch either by subspace transmission or communiqué.

The Redemption is expected to be in Earth orbit by the early hours of tomorrow, by your time. I will liaise with your administrators so that I can meet with you as soon as we arrive.

Yours Sincerely,

Rhyan.

…Message ends.

Elesa sighed heavily and set the padd back down on to the desk in front of her. She couldn’t bear to think about losing Daniel, not when the death of his brother Paul was still so fresh in her mind. How many years had it been really, though – ten, twenty? For a joined Trill that was still but a drop in the ocean of time.

“Thirteen years,” she spoke aloud, attracting a confused look from Deion who remained at guard by the grand entranceway to her office. To his credit, and professionalism, the lieutenant did not otherwise pass comment at the President’s odd choice of words. He continued to stand guard and seemingly ignore Elesa as she worked at her desk.

Choosing not to let the grief that threatened her take over, Elesa pressed her hands against the antique desk and pushed her ever-frail body up from its seat. Despite what was happening on board the USS Redemption, President Zal had a Federation to oversee and a council meeting to attend. Presidential elections were not far around the corner, so she had her appearances to keep up if she wished to keep the presidency out of the hands of those who would threaten to corrupt the office.

As she got to her feet Elesa took one step, then two, towards Lieutenant Johnston. However, by her third step the President realised that something was not right. Quickly, and without warning, her office floor came up to meet her – or she to it, perhaps. Elesa heard a thud, and possibly a crack, but these sounds were immediately followed by darkness and unconsciousness. There was no time to contemplate their significance.

Elesa’s last remaining thought, however, was instead that she could soon be reunited with Daniel.

Or Paul.

 

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