Past Prologue, Part 14
Posted on Fri Apr 26, 2019 @ 7:54am by Commander Caleb Ryan
567 words; about a 3 minute read
Mission:
Things Past
Location: USS Winchester/The Borderlands/Omicron Nebula
Timeline: FLASHBACK: 2375/Toward the End of the Dominion War
Jasmine and honeysuckle wafted over his senses. It was spring, and the Australian outback was alive with vegetation. The stars were bright overhead as Artemis stared at them, his mind lost among the far away lights.
A figure rose from the swimming hole, pushing back her long brown hair. She flopped down beside him, dripping all over him, and squeezed her hair out.
“Hey!” Artemis protested. He launched himself up at his older sister and tackled her to the grass.
Marguerite laughed, rolling her brother back over. “Uncle!” she said. “Say it!”
“Never!”
Her hands found his sides.
“No! Maggie! Tickling is cheating!”
Hold on, Artemis! Don’t you die on me!
“So you’re leaving tomorrow,” Artemis said to Maggie as they gazed up at the stars together.
“Yep.”
“I don’t want you to go.”
Her head turned and looked at him with those green eyes, always seeming so knowledgeable. She always was such a know-it-all.
“I have to.”
“Why?”
She looked back at the stars. “Because I want to be out there,” she said. “Explore strange new worlds, seek out new life and new civilizations.”
Artemis pulled a face. “You are such a geek!”
Maggie grinned.
What the hell happened!
We don’t know. We found them like this. And…it’s a whole lot worse…
Get him prepped for surgery!
“It won’t be that long and you’ll be at the Academy with me,” Maggie said.
Artemis sighed. “Yeah. Living in your shadow. Again.”
“Oh, please, Arty…”
“Don’t call me that!”
She looked over at him. “Seriously, Artemis,” she said. “It will be different. You’ll make your own path.”
“As long as it’s Starfleet,” he said glumly.
Maggie raised an eyebrow. “You don’t want to go now? You’ve wanted that ever since you were a wee tyke listening to granddad’s stories.”
Artemis shrugged. “Everyone in this family goes into Starfleet.”
“It’s tradition.”
“What if I want something different?”
“Do you?”
A noncommittal shrug.
Maggie’s pretty face obscured the stars. “I’m sure Mum and Dad will support whatever you decide. Maybe you could take over here at Willagong.”
Artemis pulled a face. “I’d rather scrub Bolian toilets.”
“Ewww!”
We need to stop the bleeding. Clamp that artery! Damn it! He’s coding! Get the crash cart!”
The comm chime wakened him and Artemis stumbled from bed, pulling on an undershirt for some semblance of decency as he plodded toward his desk and fell into the chair. He stared uncomprehending for a moment at the slowly hypnotically rotating Starfleet emblem before he ran a hand through his mussed black hair and hit the button to open the channel. He didn’t recognize the Starfleet officer on the screen. He didn’t quite catch the man’s name.
“Captain Artemis Pierce, I regret to inform you that your sister, Captain Marguerite Pierce of the USS Roanoke, is missing in action behind enemy lines and presumed dead.
Artemis didn’t hear the rest of the rehearsed announcement as his world came collapsing around him.
Is he going to recover?
It’s still touch and go, but I’m hopeful.
Artemis, come back to me…
Honeysuckle and jasmine…
TBC
Captain Artemis Pierce
Commanding Officer
USS Winchester
Captain Marguerite Pierce
Commanding Officer
USS Roanoke
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