Fires and Graces

Posted on 15 Nov 2018 @ 9:55pm by Lieutenant Colonel Cassandra Blackburn & Cadet Senior Grade Jody Scott

1,534 words; about a 8 minute read

Mission: Empty Creche
Location: USS Redemption, Corridor
Timeline: ED1 1930

Blackburn left the bridge after her encounter with the Captain and was intent on returning to her quarters to get changed. She was still in her damaged, bloodied gym kit and even by her standards it was starting to smell offensively. She turned over the captain in her mind, the headache still present but no longer severe. He clearly didn't like her but that was fine by her. What was his game? She couldn't read him and it frustrated her.

She had almost reached part of the deck that housed the officer quarters when she turned a corner and almost ran into a young man. She stepped back to see who it was: Jody Scott.

"Oh, it's just you," she said, in realisation and relaxing her guard.

"Nice to see you too," Jody sarcastically responded; he didn't welcome the intonation in her voice as she spoke to him. The cadet hadn't had many encounters with the colonel since she returned to the Redemption, but knew that she was not the same person he had known previously. That made two of them, he suspected. Her clothes were nearly as tattered and soiled as his had been this morning; the smell, though, was definitely worse.

He thought about simply walking on past the colonel, but hesitated.

She smirked, impressed at his insolence. "Found some fire, huh kid?" She asked rhetorically. "Heard about Marshall, you should've popped him there and then. I would have."

"I'm sure you would have hesitated too," Jody said, his eyes narrowing as he spoke back to the colonel, "if Marshall had also threatened to kill someone you loved." He tried his best to bury the image of Dan, with a phaser burn to his torso, that entered his mind. The cadet didn't doubt that he would have resisted harder had Dan's life not been endangered when Marshall attacked them in his quarters. Blackburn would hardly understand anyway; she was as cold as ice these days.

"Besides," he added, not allowing his superior to speak before him, "Ensign Marshall did die by my hand." He almost enjoyed saying those words, which came as a surprise to the counsellor. It was a technicality of course; Jody was under the influence of the Ee hybrid at the exact moment he had snapped Jon Marshall's neck. But after all the ensign had put him through, Jody felt a sense of justice that it had been him that ended the science officer's life. What little guilt he felt for the action was washed away by the anger that he still harboured towards Marshall.

"Kill someone you loved?" She said, her mind working it out. "Oh, you and Sutherland are...?" She laughed once for just a moment, the first time she had done so in a long time. "Oh, that's a thing." Blackburn did not like Sutherland at all - he had been the president's instrument in dragging her back on board the Redemption - and she hadn't bothered to check on his condition. It would appear that the diplomat had been up to more on the ship than meeting simple mission objectives and it amused her. She could see that the cadet appeared furious. She composed herself back to her normal, prickly self. "Your first kill, I presume?"

"Oh go to hell," Jody spat out as he motioned to walk away from the colonel. He knew the woman had her issues since returning to the Redemption, but clearly all the rumours were true; she was nothing more than a bitch these days. It was obvious that she was goading him, but he didn't know why. What had he ever done to the marine? "First and last," he answered her question, taking a few steps away in the hopes that she would lose interest in him.

"One more question," she said as he moved to pass her. "Answer it and I'll leave you alone for the rest of time. What did it feel like, killing him?"

"What?" He said, stopping dead in his tracks. The cadet didn't turn to look at her, he just lingered in the corridor wondering why anyone would be so crass as to ask that question. But on some level it was a question that he had wanted someone, anyone, to ask him; even Cassandra Blackburn. He had killed his torturer, even if it hadn't been his decision to do so.

"You can't even begin to imagine what it was like," he started, remembering the total loss of control he felt as the Ee Hybrid took control over his body; the very definition of the word 'violation'. The alien creature that had once been his best friend turned him into a tool of death and destruction. The Hybrid's hatred of Jody, of Rhyan, even of Blackburn lingered somewhere in the back of Jody's mind, refusing to leave him - like the echo of a bad nightmare.

"I... I could see everything that was going on," Jody continued, not sure why he continued to speak with Blackburn. "I was powerless to stop her from using me. First, I injured Rhyan; but she didn't want him dead. Then I reached out and grabbed Marshall by the neck. I... I snapped..." He stopped speaking, unable to finish his sentence.

"...his neck and then he died." She finished the sentence for him. "And when the hybrid, and you, got that revenge, did it satisfy you even a little?"

"At the time I didn't know what to think," he said, not quite believing that he was having this conversation with another member of the crew. "But when I came round from the whole experience, I was just glad that Marshall was dead. I..."

Once again he struggled to find the words to describe how he felt. He was all sorts of angry, distraught, confused; no description seemed to fit. He turned to face Blackburn head on and, for the first time in their conversation, look into her cold, blood-thirsty eyes. "I regret what I was forced to do."

She folded her arms. "You're lying, kid, even if you don't know it yet. You don't need to spout Federation sentimentality at me. You got your vengeance, handed to you virtually for free. You'll come to realise that in time. I'm still after mine. And when my moment comes, there will be no hesitation. I assure you."

"I won't lie to you," he said, truthfully, "I don't regret that Marshall is dead. But I would rather he was brought to justice than killed by the Hybrid, or myself, or whoever you choose to believe snapped his neck."

"Whatever you say." She said, unconvinced. "Want some advice?"

Jody scoffed. “Not particularly.” He was losing patience with the colonel; he didn't know what it was she wanted him to say. If she were any other officer on board the Redemption he suspected he would be in the brig for insubordination. That could still happen, but given Blackburn's attitude, he doubted the captain would take her seriously.

She turned on him sharply. "Well you're gonna get some, idiot. You want to live? Hold onto that new found killer instinct of yours. This ship is the harbinger of death to whoever comes into contact with it. When the moment comes again, don't hesitate. Then, when others die, you'll live. The rest is up to you."

"Get lost," Jody said as he squared up to Blackburn. He'd had enough of her attitude and wasn't going to let his rank get in the way of him giving her a piece of his mind. Years of psychological training told him that this was what the colonel wanted, a confrontation, but the cadet couldn't keep his anger bottled up any longer. "You know who used to speak rhetoric like that," he said, shouting more than speaking, "Jon Marshall. And guess what, he's dead."

Her demeanour changed instantly, and she found herself grinning at him. "You really have got some fire now, haven't you? Keep hold of that too." She turned to leave, but paused. "Remember, he's dead and you're alive because you killed him. My case in point."

"No," the cadet said, refusing to let the colonel away with her comment. She was as fuelled by anger as he was, except she let her emotions blind her to the truth of the matter: Jon Marshall put himself first, and still ended up dead. "He is dead because he put his own personal agenda above everything else, including whatever friends he might have had on board the Redemption. I'm still alive, not because I killed Marshall, but because there are people on board this ship that give a damn about me!"

"If you believe that, then you have my sympathy," she replied.

"If that's what you think, then you have my sympathy too," Jody said with pity in his voice.

She winked at him cynically, before making her way down the corridor towards her quarters. The kid had spirit, she thought to herself, and had stood up to her more than she thought he would have done. Perhaps he'd survive after all.

Lieutenant Colonel Cassandra Blackburn
Marine Detachment Commander
USS Redemption

&

Cadet Senior Grade Jody Scott
Counselor Intern
USS Redemption

 

RSS Feed