Sacrifice

Posted on Fri Dec 12th, 2014 @ 10:02pm by Lieutenant Commander Rosaleen O'Donnell & Commander Andrew Matheson

Mission: Bloodpath
Location: Taranok IV---Forward Base of Operations
Timeline: 2130 Local Time

Rosaleen walked across the grassy common ground that sat in the middle of their base...although the hodgepodge of modules, tents, and assorted vehicles and craft could barely be referred to as a base of operations. Many folks had gathered around small campfires scattered throughout the encampment area, although this was more for companionship than warmth. It was a beautiful night. Both moons lit the cloudless sky. One could almost forget there was a war on. As she made her way toward the food tent to see what the locals had cooked up...and the planets natives were incredible cooks...she noticed a familiar figure emerge from the shadows.

"Well we seem to have a knack for finding each other." Rosaleen said in greeting as she walked over to Andrew. "People will start talking if we are not careful."

Andrew nodded his head, somewhat surprised to see Rosaleen there. His mind had been wandering a bit and he hadn't noticed her approach. "The thoughts I've been hearing are idle speculation at best so far. I suspect it would take about three more encounters before they actually start talking about it."

"Well now we have a goal to work toward." Rosaleen looked out toward the lake, the twin moons reflecting off it's smooth surface. "Walk with me?" She indicated the direction with her head.

Andrew reached out with his telepathy to see if they were likely to run into someone out in the indicated direction. After a moment, having determined that anyone out that way had better shielding than he could detect, he nodded his head. "Certainly. Lead the way."

Instead of 'leading', Rosaleen put her arm through Andrew's and started toward the dock they could see in the distance. The sounds of the encampment slowly dropped to a distant murmur as they progressed, leaving nature to fill in the void. "I miss this...quiet walks under the moonlight. After so much time in artificial environments, it's nice to be someplace so real and simple."

Andrew went along with Rosaleen, off enough in his own thoughts that he didn't attach any significance to the linked arms. He did notice the sounds getting more natural, though he admitted to himself that he wouldn't have if she hadn't bought it up. "I could probably count the number of moonlit walks I've been on in the last twenty years and have fingers left over. It does make for a nice change of pace."

"We get too busy and don't take time for ourselves like we should. It makes for..." She trailed off without completing her thoughts "So have you heard from your wife recently? Any chance of her coming to the station?"

Andrew sighed. "No, I haven't had the chance to talk with her about that. Between trying to get caught up on staff manifests, the incident at the marina, and the trip out here..." He trailed off. "It's definitely been one of those weeks. Until we get things sorted out here, I don't want to risk bringing her anywhere near another combat zone."

"So then...where does that leave you?" She subconsciously curled herself a bit tighter around his arm. "I mean, obviously your workload is about to increase by a factor of one-hundred. The Federation is going to push for full membership from Taranok if we are going to assist here in long term recovery. But you need time for yourself...time to relax and forget about it all." As she spoke, something tickled the edge of her perceptions. Something that... 'It must be an animal or something.' she thought as they approached the lake. Her skin cooled a bit as she analyzed her senses.

"At this point, it leaves me staring down the twin barrels of sleep deprivation and caffeine over-tolerance. And I'm not so certain the Federation will want to fast-track Taranok's membership procedure; certainly I imagine they will want to make sure that this is an external situation first. If this is a civil war situation..." Andrew trailed off as he noticed something on the edge of his extended consciousness. I really hope someone didn't go to the trouble of following us out here, he thought as he tried to get a better trace.

Rosaleen attention was drawn to the lake though. The water was as smooth as glass, and the twin moons reflections were...well, breathtaking. "This planet is amazing. The beauty...one can see why people would want to stay here and not leave their homes." Taranok had no colonies outside of their world. The people had no interest in living elsewhere. Everything they wanted was here on this world. To them, it was paradise. Well, at least it used to be...

"Hopefully this business can get settled rather quickly. I would hate to see anymore of this lovely place destroyed." Her touch had warmed once again.

Andrew nodded. "I don't suppose you've come across any information as to why this business is going on in the first place? The diplomatic grapevine seems to have been chopped off at the roots on this one." The area was very attractive. Minus the twin moons (Earth only had one satellite), the view did remind him of some venues he had lived at growing up. He let his mind wander back forty-some years and let the memories wash over him.

"Everybody that I have spoken to has said essentially the same thing. There was an explosion, then all hell broke loose. The who and why have so far eluded pretty much everybody." It was so silent and still. It was hard to believe that they were on a planet under siege at that moment. "I understand that what is left of their central government will be here within a few days. I don't envy you in your task...although they may be a bit more open to full membership now."

"So it sounds like our first big task is to find out the who. The why will probably be impossible to figure out without the who unless there was something utterly unique about the area that was attacked." He sighed. At least he had a few days for preliminary reports to come in so he could attempt to make progress on those fronts. Failing that, the few days would allow him to get his head on straight before the government representatives arrived. He couldn't put a finger on his unease, but it was definitely coloring his worldview at the moment and it wasn't helping matters at all.

A soft sigh. "I guess you really are a bit behind the curve still. The blast site was the Planetary Government Center." All of those people...

She shook off the unpleasant thoughts. "Anyway, now we get to try to put everything back together again. The logistics train is about to start, and the Corps will be starting work on emergency facilities within a couple of days...just waiting for their equipment to arrive, as well as some more defensive forces. No sense building something just to have it torn down again."

Andrew rubbed his temples. "The Planetary Government Center. That definitely sounds like a politically motivated strike." Unbidden, memories of his time out in the DMZ bounced around his head. Political ideologues could cause so much trouble and death if they got pointed in the wrong direction. "Are we here on our own volition, or were we asked in by the remaining government officials?"

If he ever needed proof that the universe had a sick sense of humor, he was receiving it in spades at the moment. Beautiful view, wonderful company, and he was having war flashbacks and trying to imagine which government policies could have been so objectionable that they warranted obliteration on that scale.

"Well...that is the tricky one. Arianna was bringing one of your juniors here for another negotiation session...that is how they ended up here. The rest...well, we knew something had happened here, just not what. So, we sent out a team to investigate. And the rest, as they say, is history." She stopped walking and stared out across the lake, her touch cooling once again. "There is no organization here, no order, no humanitarian response...they are completely overwhelmed. And I fear that if they don't agree to the Councils terms, they will force us to abandon these people."

Andrew winced. "I'll definitely have to go through Lieutenant Denova's notes in more detail. The verbal debriefing I got when we landed was a little stressed. Under the circumstances, that doesn't surprise me." He was fairly aware that the Federation Charter seemed to be written on rubber; he also knew it had a nasty habit of snapping back hard when it got stretched too far. The DMZ was more than ample proof of that. "And I'll have to find a way to tell Rachel not to come out here just yet that doesn't trigger another nuclear strike on our relationship. I'm operating on the assumption that this is a no-civilian zone unless they have mission critical skills?"

She stopped walking, and turned to look at him for a moment, hedging her response. "I...well, I can't honestly tell you no to that question. At this time civilians and non-fleet commerce is still being allowed on the station." Her touch turned cool again, noticeable even given the cool temperature that evening. Fall was progressing rapidly. The first snows were possibly only weeks off. "I wish...no, never mind." She released his arm and turned to walk to the waters edge, stopping to stare silently out over the water. Every shield that she could muster was up and in place.

"I figured the station would be open for business. Planetside status..." As the wording she had used fully registered in his mind, he let the sentence tail off. After a moment to collect his thoughts, he walked over beside her. "I'm sorry if I'm setting you off; I honestly don't mean to be. We can certainly change the subject before you give yourself a migraine with your shielding techniques."

He quickly ran through a mental litany he'd picked up from an old Earth classic in his childhood. I must not fear. Fear is the mind-killer. Fear is the little-death that brings total obliteration. I will face my fear. I will permit it to pass over me and through me. And when it has gone past I will turn the inner eye to see its path. Where the fear has gone there will be nothing. Only I will remain. It wasn't a Vulcan mantra, but it certainly helped calm his nerves.

But Rosaleen could sense his turmoil. And between that and the concentration she was putting into her shields, she lost all situational awareness. Andrew had put a bit of distance between them, having walked over to the waters edge. Rosaleen started to walk toward him when...

'No!' she shouted inwardly, although she did not make any audible sound. She merely reacted, closing the distance between them in them before Andrew even had time to realize what was going on. She did not think...she just pushed him with all of the force she could muster. Her maneuver caught Andrew completely off guard, and off balance. He fell forward into the water, which was easily over his head even though they were at the lakes edge.

Seeing that he was safe, she turned all of her concentration toward slowing things down. There should be just enough time to...

The single bullet pierced her back just inward of her heart, passing through her left lung and exiting her upper chest. Time seemed to stand still for Rosaleen, but it was not of her doing. It was merely her perception of reality mixed with disbelief. It seemed to be...yes, it was ok. There was no pain. Not that serio...

Rosaleen crumpled to the ground, unconscious before she landed.

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"You missed." Thelnek whispered a bit too loudly at Gropedu. "An easy target like that, and you missed."

"How was I supposed to know that he would be interfered with. Damn these new weapons. The female must have heard the shot." He looked through his scope again, and saw Rosaleen laying on the ground. "Well at least I got something for my trouble. Lets move...this is sure to draw some attention quickly." He was already packing the long gun into it's case. There was safety in movement, and it was time to go.

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Andrew kicked himself back to the surface and drew a spluttering breath. Turning back to the shore, he looked at where Rosaleen was laying on the sand. With a few powerful strokes, he was out of the lake and at her side. He promptly laid her across his legs in order to apply direct pressure to both wounds.

After a moment of fumbling with his combadge, he made contact with Ops. "I have a medical emergency out at the dock. O'Donnell's been shot with a projectile weapon by an unknown assailant. I need an emergency transport or a trauma team NOW; I don't dare move her any more than I already have. Inform the Commodore as well once help has been dispatched."

He kept pressure on the wounds, trying not to think what the clear gurgling he heard with each breath meant. Dammit, Rosaleen, that was a foolhardy thing to do. Stay with me. If you can perceive me, stay with my mind. He concentrated, ranging outward as far as he could with his mind to try to find anyone who might have done this and focusing on the echo of Rosaleen's subconscious - an echo that was slowly ebbing.
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Lt. Commander Rosaleen O'Donnell
Commodore's Personal Assistant
Starbase 80

&

Lt. Commander Andrew Matheson
Chief Diplomatic Officer
Starbase 80