Welcome Back

Posted on 01 Jun 2017 @ 4:57pm by Chief Warrant Officer 3 Greg Mitchell
Edited on on 03 Jun 2017 @ 6:58pm

1,930 words; about a 10 minute read

Mission: Episode 15 - Emanation
Location: Earth - San Francisco, Angel of Hope Hospital
Timeline: MD 02, 1100 hours

[ON]

Nothing but fire and death, that was what Greg felt. The ship exploded around him as the Klingons advanced. He could see them running, shooting wildly as they roared at him. His men were dead, he was alone. He had watched as the invaders brutally killed his men. Firing his phaser once, twice, multiple times, he brought down as many of the attackers as he could. Backing up further, he felt the bulkheads explode as the ship tore itself to pieces. Ceiling fixtures collapsed, and Greg dropped to the a knee to aim better. He could hear the countdown of the auto destruct.

His phaser was running low. The bodies piling up, but they would not stop. They kept on getting closer and closer. He could see them coming and he couldn't stop them. The attackers came within ten feet.

Suddenly, the timer hit zero, and there was a blinding white light.

In an instant, Greg was in a chair as the Klingons interrogated him. They proceeded to beat him severly. He could feel the pain flowing through him. No matter what they asked, he gave no answer. They beat him some more before shoving a sharp object into his head. He could feel the pain. His brain felt on fire. He could feel nothing but horrible pain around him.

Greg let out a scream.

Greg woke up, grabbed a knife by his table, and grabbed the man standing next to him.

"Chief WAIT!" A voice yelled.

In an instant, he froze. He had the knife all set to go through the man's skull. He wanted to make the pain stop. But he realized something was wrong. This wasn't a Klingon. These weren't the bloodthirsty eyes of the ones he saw before. This was a human. A human wearing a white lab coat and holding a medical tricorder.

Then Greg concluded that he made a terrible mistake.

"Shit," he dropped his knife and let go of the man, who stepped backward and adjusted his shirt, "I am so, so sorry sir."

"I told you he needed to be tied down," another man spoke.

Greg surveyed the room. It was a bare room, with a big window that overlooked the Bay, it had a closet, a viewscreen for watching movies and shows, a few chairs, and a bathroom. There were three men in the room. Aside from the doctor, the other two were wearing security uniforms. Fresh ones, as opposed to the dirty ones from last he saw them: Wilson and Rivetti.

"Vitals are fine. Wounds appear to be healed. Mister Mitchell, how are you feeling? " The doctor asked.

"Fine, I'm...i'm fuzzy, what happened? Where am I?" Greg asked, and looked at his men.

"You're back at San Francisco. You were brought here a few days ago with major wounds and other trauma that had been otherwise haphazardly healed up." The doctor scanned one more time, checked a monitor, then looked at him. "You appear to be stable. I'm going to go check a few other patients, and then I'll be back."

After the doctor left, Greg turned his attention to his men.

"I've been out a few days?" He asked.

"Well....no, not exactly." Wilson said.

"What do you mean 'not exactly?"

"We've been on Earth a few days." Rivetti said, "We had to get you in here ASAP. You weren't as stable as..."

"How long?" Greg asked.

"I'm sorry?"

"How long was I out?"

"...long enough that we were starting to get worried." Wilson began.

Greg looked at the man, "Petty Officer, how the hell long have I been out?"

Wilson looked at Rivetti and then responded, "Four months sir."

"Four...four MONTHS?" Greg asked, "Are you shitting me?"

"Well, more like four months and two days," Rivetti said.

"Not helping, Danny." Wilson responded.

Greg put his hand on his head and rubbed his temples. "How...what...what the hell?" He looked at his men, "What did I miss? Why are we home? What happened to the Klingons?"

"It's...a long story."

"Enlighten me, Wilson" Greg said, through gritted teeth.

Rivetti inhaled, "Well, long story short you were tortured like most of us by the Klingons. Evidently you wouldn't shut up and answer their questions so they put some sort of probe type thing in your head which caused nerve damage and you lapsed into a coma."

"...'probe type thing'? Do yo want to be more specific?" Greg asked.

"No, probe type thing pretty much covers it." Rivetti looked at Wilson for approval.

"Yah, that's pretty much it." Wilson agreed.

"Alright, then what happened?"

"Well, you were left in medical facilities while we were brought to a prison colony run by primarily Romulans and Remans."

"Romulans?" Greg asked.

"Yah, we were glad you were out for that one." Said Rivetti.

Wilson continued, "We helped get the colony back together..."

"Stop." Greg said, putting up his hand. "You...helped the bad guys put the prison planet back together?"

"Actually, we weren't helping the bad guys. We were helping the prisoners."

"The pris...they're prisoners John! Mostly Romulans. Do you think they were there for littering?"

"You know, you really need to kick the Romulan hatred thing."

"Shut it Rivetti!" Greg said to the other man.

"Not all of us helped. Some of us were uncooperative." Wilson continued.

"Who?"

"Don't know. Didn't get a good look." said Wilson.

"The hell didn't you get a good look for?" Greg asked.

"We were...pre-occupied."

"By?"

"Well..." Rivetti started, "We were helping the Romulans..."

"Gosh DANG IT, Wilson!"

"What? He's the one who said it." Wilson responded.

"You are in charge in my absence. What part of 'don't help the bad guys' did you not understand?"

"Wait, why do you get to be in charge when he's out?" Rivetti asked Wilson.

"Getting back on topic." Wilson said, "The Klingon General responsible for destroying our ship was the local fleet commander and was a real horse's ass. The Romulan commander on the colony asked the Admiral..."

"The Admiral's alive!!?"

"Yah, probably should have led with that." Wilson said. "She was beamed out before it was destroyed. She was asked by the colonists to go to the Klingon homeworld and ask the Klingons to stop raiding the Paulson Nebula before war started."

Greg stared for a moment, "Oh dear sweet mercy." He said, sarcastically, "You mean you went to the Klingon homeworld to ask the LEADER OF THE ENTIRE EMPIRE to stop doing what they are known for doing?"

"Well, we didn't go." Rivetti said.

Greg looked at him, "The crew went there without you?"

"No, we went with them. We just didn't guard the crew."

"THE FUCK WERE YOU DOING THEN?" Greg yelled, his brain beginning to hurt again.

Wilson stepped in, "We...had begun planning a way to fight both the Klingons and the Romulans, but were thrown in a cell before we could even attempt to plan it. So we were sitting in a cell, on the ship while we entered the Neutral Zone."

"How did you get passed out patrols?" Greg asked.

"We, uh." Wilson looked at Rivetti who went white with fear.

"We had to..." Rivetti stuttered.

Greg caught on, "Oh no, what did you do. Please tell me you didn't..."

"We had to disable the Federation ship."

"...fuck it! I'm going to prison. We're all going to prison. Every single one of us..."

"I haven't even gotten to the mutiny yet."

"Mutiny?"

"Yah, there was a mutiny between the General's men and..."

"Feeling good, Mr. Mitchell?" The doctor asked as he walked by.

"Can I have a painkiller for my head please?" Greg asked.

"Sure, I'll be right back."

Greg rubbed his head, "Ok, is there any way we can speed this up before I pass out from shock?"

"Why would you go into shock? You're in a hospital." Wilson asked.

"Do you want to test that theory" Greg asked, "Evidently crap happened while I was out and we're helping the Romulans and Klingons now. After what they did to our ship!"

"Really it was General..."Wilson began.

"Don't care. Finish the story."

"After the General's men took control, we were intercepted by a High Council ship. Somehow he caught on what happened and dueled the General to the death. Fortunately, the General was killed. The Romulan commander from the colony showed up in her ship..."

"Dear Lord," Greg asked. He was laying down with a pillow over his face.

"...and she admitted to being in on the plot to take the General to the Klingon Empire. He was taken into custody, we were brought to Federation ships. And now we're here!"

"I can't feel my head anymore." Greg brought the pillow down. "Do you know how many laws we broke? Do you know how bad this is going to look on us?

"We have an inquiry coming up. We have to testify. It shouldn't take long for the three of us." Rivetti answered

"Three of you?" Greg asked.

"Yah, Jacobs has recovered. He just needs to lay off the leg for a bit." Wilson answered.

Greg breathed a small sigh of relief. He had to admit, even he felt good that another of his men survived. But through the swirling of emotions regarding the incident, helping the Klingons, helping the Romulans, attacking a Federation ship, losing four months of his life, he felt horrible. "Anyone else make it?"

"No Chief. I'm sorry. It was just us from our team." Wilson responded.

"Damn." Greg laid back on his bed.

A few minutes later, the doctor returned with a hypospray. "Alright, Mr. Mitchell. This won't hurt a bit." The doctor injected him, and then began to walk out. "Should take a few moments to kick in, and you will be great."

"Thanks, doc."

For a few moments, they all stayed in silence. They thought of those who were lost, and all that happened.

Wilson spoke up again, "Oh, by the way. Your family is coming."

"They heard?"

"Yah. As soon as you went missing, evidently your brother found out and he told your cousin who had actually been looking for us. They are both heading to Earth. Your parents are also on their way."

"So is a doctor you know." Rivetti responded, "Someone named, Morgenstern. Says she knows you."

"Jessica?" Greg asked. "I mean, she's coming?"

"Yah, why?"

Greg sat back, "Oh...nothing. She's probably just checking my status."

"I'm sure she is." Wilson said.

"What was that?" Greg asked.

"Nothing Chief." He laughed, "Look, we'll let you get back to resting. We are going to check on Jacobs. I'll keep you updated and check in on you later, alright?"

"Yah, thanks." Greg said.

"You gonna be alright Chief?" Rivetti asked.

Greg nodded, "Yah...I'll be fine. Just tired. Thank you gentlemen. You've been a great help. I'll see you later."

"Likewise Chief." Wilson said.

As the men left the room, Greg spoke one more time. "And gentlemen."

They both turned to Greg.

"Thank you. You have both honestly done a wonderful job of keeping our crew safe. Regardless of how I reacted. I'll make sure to report as such." He smiled, "If you ever need anything, let me know."

Both men smiled and Wilson answered, "Thank you Chief. Have a nice day."

The men left, and Greg sat in silence. He laid his head back and closed his eyed.

"Shit..." he mumbled. This was going to be a long recovery.

[Off]

CWO3 Greg Mitchell
Security Officer
USS Galileo

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