Some memories are better left alone

Posted on 01 Aug 2017 @ 2:46am by Captain Amber Austin M.D. & Lieutenant Tuula Voutilainen M.D.

1,162 words; about a 6 minute read

Mission: Episode 15 - Emanation
Location: Austin's Office, Star Fleet HQ, Earth
Timeline: MD 7, 1030

ON:

Austin sat behind her desk looking over the PADDs that were systematically yet randomly strewn across the top. Each PADD represented another person to whom she was assigned. She rubbed her eyes lightly and tried to focus but found her focus lacing. She squinted and then sighed deciding to stand up to get some tea and walk around her office for a moment before she had to go to her next interview.

It was at that moment that the buzzer to her office rang again. A couple moments later, a woman in a wheelchair was escorted into her office by one of the yeoman. Her hair was decidedly non-regulation, dyed jet black with turquoise highlights which matched her uniform colour. The unorthodox style continued to her makeup, with the dark eyeshadow and lipstick sharply contrasting her pale skin.

"Hello," said the woman in a Nordic accent as she rolled towards Austin's desk, "I'm Doctor Voutilainen."

Amber looked up at the woman then over to the clock on her desk. "Damned." She said softly to herself as she realized she had missed an interview. She looked back at the woman and smiled.

"Hello Doctor I'm Captain Amber Austin I'll be handling your after action debrief. I am sorry I lost track of time please let's adjourn to the interview room down the hall."

"Okay." Tuula took a deep breath, glancing up at the degree on Captain Austin's wall before turning back towards the door. She had known from her personnel file that the captain was a doctor as well; from which she figured that perhaps with something in common, this interview might not be too bad. And she did seem nice enough so far...

Austin moved forward towards the door after picking up her PADD and stylus and tapping onto the PADD a request to her yeoman for sweet tea to be brought in. She lead the other doctor down the corridor to the closest interview room before waving her in and starting on her introduction.

"So, what do you want to know," started Tuula, sliding a chair out of her way to pull herself up towards the table.

Amber blinked before she began her typical introduction "Well first Lieutenant I want to explain who I am and what this is. I am Captain Amber Austin of Star Fleet Personnel Command. I will be handling your debrief after the Galileo incident. This is all regular and routine we're just here to figure out what happened." she said as she looked at the Lieutenant. "Now, please relax this is just a fact finding inquiry to get the recollections of the crew and piece together what happened. Now, lets start from the beginning, what do you remember about the incidents leading up to the fall of the ship."

"I'm afraid I don't have much to add beyond what's in the reports," replied Tuula, brushing aside the question. "I was in sickbay and we had heard a distress signal. So I was busy preparing the wards for any possible casualties. And then... " Tuula took a deep breath. "We were attacked. I tried to focus on my work, until we got the order to evacuate..."

"And once you evacuated, what happened?"

"We made it to the escape pods. I managed to save the captain's pet Targ," said Tuula, a slight smile appearing on her face for a split second as she thought about Snuffles bounding onto her chair as they escaped the ship. "We didn't make it very far before we were all captured"

Austin nodded, "Walk me thru what happened after your capture."

"We were all taken into custody by the Klingons on Kreanus. It eventually became clear that whatever was happening was outside of interstellar law.." As she retold the story, Tuula began quivering slightly and her voice got slightly weaker. "Some of us were taken in for 'interrogation'... that was when..."

Austin's ears picked up the hesitation in the woman's voice and that struck a chord in her mind. "What happened Lieutenant?" Austin'svoice was modulated to seen sympathy.

Tuula bit her quivering lip for a moment, her mind flashing back to the horrible pain she suffered, while shackled to her chair, at the hands of her Klingon interrogator. "That... that's all I remember," she managed to utter before looking down and staring at her shaking hands. It wasn't quite the truth, but it was all she cared to remember or wanted to talk about.

Austin wrote down significantly more than "That's all I remember" on her PADD as her eyes took in the woman before her. "How did you escape Kreanus?"

"I don't know..." said Tuula, trailing off as she wiped away a tear from the corner of her eye. "I don't remember anything after that. They said I had amnesia, and that I had lost the ability to comprehend time and space. I'm told I was reliving memories from various points in my life..."

Austin nodded and looked down at her PADD which had detailed the issues and treatment that the ensign had gone through. This was one reason why this interview had been assigned to her.

"Tell me the first thing you remember after the damage had been healed."

"I woke up in a sickbay en route back here... Allyndra was there." By now, Tuula had started breathing heavier, and her eyes darted around the room, perhaps subconsciously looking for a way to escape this questioning. "There was a weird, almost surreal experience when I was out. It was as though I was in a room with alternate versions of myself. And my sister..."

She nodded "I see, and since then the treatments have helped to return you to the current time instead of your memories?"

"Yes..." started Tuula. "I mean, I know where I am now thanks to the treatments, but..."

Austin nodded "Thank you Lieutenant. I appreciate your time. I think I have all I need now. Do you have any thoughts or comments you want recorded for the record?"

Tuula took a deep breath before starting. "I've served under the Admiral for some time now. I trust her and I know she cares about her crew and is dedicated to the fleet. But something just doesn't feel right about this whole thing... people got hurt, and I don't know why."

Austin nodded and smiled at the woman across from her. Her honesty was most refreshing. Most of the officers and crew she had interviewed had shown mostly blind loyalty to the Admiral and the command staff. That had been quite scary but that can be typical of a strong commander.

"I appreciate your honesty Lieutenant, was there anything else before I dismiss you?" Austin asked gently.

Tuula bit her lip for a moment, "No..." she started, before breathing a sigh of relief. "I think I'm done."

OFF

Amber Austin, M.D.
Captain
Starfleet Personnel Command
Starfleet HQ

&

Lieutenant Tuula Voutilainen
Assistant Chief Medical Officer
USS Galileo

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