We can't save everyone. . .

Posted on Tue Apr 28, 2015 @ 9:34am by Lieutenant Si'Lar Trellis

1,006 words; about a 5 minute read

Mission: Eye of the Beholder
Location: Deck 24 - Civilian Decks
Timeline: MD 03 - 13:04

[ALERT]

Lieutenant Si'Lar Trellis continued to sleep. . .

[ALERT]

The Trill faintly stirred as his consciousness began to even acknowledge the external noise. . .

[ALERT - STATION-WIDE EMERGENCY ALERT]

The final klaxon drove into the Trill's brain, forcefully driving him from the land of slumber back into the land of the living. He looked around his quarters frantically to discover what was going on, but was surrounded by darkness. Although his eyes were bathed in darkness, his ears were being bombarded by the high-pitched wailing of the emergency alarms.

He forced himself out of his bed and fell to his knees, grasping for his nearby comm unit.

=/\= "Lieutenant Trel---Trellis to Security, what is happening!?" =/\= He demanded, moreso than asked. It took several moments - an frightfully unusual amount of time - before anyone gave a response.

=/\= "Senior Chief Petty Officer Korman, here. Sir! The Station has suffered structural damage due to an unknown gravitational obj--" The crewman was interrupted by the sound of screams. Even though the comm unit, the cries were unmistakably made out of fear. "G---ge... MOVE THEM OUT OF THE AREA! NOW--" The SCPO shouted to the unknown audience.

"Sorry sir, I'm not exactly sure what the cause is, I just know that we've received orders to try to secure civilians into safe zones until the Station is safe. . .whatever that means..." He said dreadfully.

Si'Lar grabbed his head and groaned painfully as he tried to stop the spinning that was taking place. He picked a specific spot on the wall ahead of him and focused on it so that the room would come to a definitive stop. Today was supposed to be his "off-day"; therefore, he had enjoyed the previous night with a particular bottle(s) of Desrullian Whiskey from a passing trader.

He now regretted that decision, as did the rest of his body.

"Whe-where is Commander Caleb," Lieutenant Trellis asked as he picked himself up and began to put on his uniform and other appropriate gear. He grabbed his phaser and quickly ran out of the door.

"He was last on OPS---" The SCPO was caught off at the sound of shattered glass and more screams and crying out in pain. "OPS! He's on OPS!" Korman shouted. "He left the Promenade to Ensign to Mayhew!"

". . .the receptionist?" Trellis asked incredulously as he reached the nearest turbolift. He pressed the chime button and waited for the lift to arrive. While he waited he noticed various groups of people running frantically from here to there in search of safety or even answers. Just as the lift had arrived, the station shook violently, throwing the entire deck askance, with every person following suit.

Lieutenant Trellis violently slammed against a nearby wall as the station's dampers tried their best to keep the station stable despite the gravitational battle taking place outside. He laid against the wall for at least 30-45 seconds before he finally regained his bearings and opened his eyes. The Trill Officer's eyes were blurry and it was hard for him to maintain focus. He saw several figures several meters ahead of him. The lights were flickering vigorously as the station's structural status became more and more compromised.

"A---are you alright!" Lt. Trellis nearly shouted over the still -blaring klaxons. Lt. Trellis began to climb towards the figures before him and noticed that the smaller of the two was still moving, while the larger figure was still. . .lifelessly still..

"He...he..he won't move, Daddy won't move or wake up!" The little girl said pleadingly as she looked from the immobile form of her father to the Trill kneeling before them both. Lt. Trellis knew without even performing a medical scan that the man had suffered a traumatic injury during the station's violent shift. However, he knew the more important task was getting the little girl to safety before anything else happened to her.

"Here...c-come with me. We'll go find daddy some help." He tried to say as calmly and reassuringly as he could muster despite the pain. He stood up and slapped his comm badge again and winced slightly. "Senior Chief Korman, we'll let the new Chief deal with the Promenade and Officers on OPS, right now we've got thousands of frightened civilians within the residential areas that need help. Meet me at junction 010-Deck 587." He said as he helped the little girl into a nearby jefferies tube.

=/\= "Sir, why there?" SCPO Korman asked.

=/\= "We'll setup a temporary triage center and gathering stage for Security." LT. Trellis replied as he made his way through the tubes. Fortunately, civilian access was restricted to these junctions otherwise there would have been a flood of panicked and injured civilians wondering aimlessly and hopelessly through the tubes.

=/\= "But sir...Ensign Mayhew ordered teams to secure the civilians in their quarters and shelte---" SCPO Korman started to say.

=/\= "Cancel that." LT Trellis said definitively. "We've just received orders to. . . .begin evacuation procedures." He said wearily.

Deep Space 5 was home to over 50,000 civilians, Starfleet, and others. It would ordinarily take days to effectuate a normal evacuation with a full complement of fully-equipped civilians vessels. Here, the station was tearing itself apart, independent vessels were fleeing or trying to keep their own vessels in on piece, but now they were being dragooned into service to evacuate thousands of frightened and injured souls far away.

=/\= "Do you think we can do that?" The Senior Chief Petty Officer asked, doubt obvious in his voice.

Trellis sighed as he tried to find the appropriate words. As an Officer it was his duty to maintain the moral of the crewmen that reported to him. However, at moments like this, Trellis wasn't sure if he should be brutally honest or try to inspire some vague, yet false, sense of hope. Ultimately, he decided that honesty was the best policy.

=/\= "To tell you the truth, we're not going to be able to save them all." LT Trellis said mournfully.


OFF

Lieutenant
Si'Lar Trellis
Senior Security Officer

Senior Chief Petty Officer
Seeta Korman
Assistant Security Officer

 

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