Semper Fidelis - Part 2 of 3

Posted on Sun May 1st, 2022 @ 10:31am by Captain Samuel Woolheater

Mission: MISSION 0 - History Speaks
Location: Arcadia surface
Timeline: Stardate 65501.1 (19 Days ago)
Tags: Arcadia, Emily
2592 words - 5.2 OF Standard Post Measure

[ON: Semper Fidelis – Part 2 of 3]


=== THE FUTURE === (50 years hence from the events of “Saepius Exertus” - Back on the planet Aquiensis Potentia "Arcadia")


The interviewer for the Federation Network News (FNN) sat opposite from retired principal scientist for Extra-Dimensional Studies (EDS) Dr. Oech. The man had lost an and his right arm during the events on Arcadia 50 years ago. He was dressed modestly, his artificial limb hardly distinguishable from his artificial eyes. His face was lined with experience…and pain. He was surrounded by a few other survivors who had travelled to Arcadia for the remembrance and memorial. The interviewer had been asking questions from everybody for about 40 minutes now. She asked people where they were, who were they with, how has life been and so on. Then she turned to Dr. Oech who had been close to the blast but had survived.

She asked the older scientist, “Dr. Oech, you were the closest to the epicenter of the blast. And yet you survived, not without personal cost. The loss of vision and your right arm have been replaced with cybernetic eyes and a cybernetic right arm. But you were badly hurt. What do you most remember about…that day?”

Thinking for a moment and reliving the event in his minds eye the older scientist replied softly, “It was…one has to say…the most beautiful thing that I ever saw.”

The interviewer asked, “The most beautiful?”

“The most beautiful thing I have ever seen. Despite the terrible destruction and loss of life. Despite all the days thereafter” he said. “It was the bluest shimmering surface. Completely transparent, smooth. On the surface, I could see as if I were looking into a pond, all of the possible realities playng out before my eyes. I was caught in the moment and yet not in the moment. And because of that; I am here to talk to you today.”

“Why do you say that?” she asked.

The older man sighed and paused. His wife’s hand went to his and she squeezed it and encouraged him. “You must understand how close I was to Wallendar and his team. And that I condemn everything that happened then and to all the people that suffered.” He paused, sat a little straighter and continued, “I ask myself, frequently, maybe every day since then. Why me? Why did I survive and so many others did not? And, I feel, it is my duty. My responsibility to come here, every year to help other people learn. To speak out and to caution.”

“At that time, we did not know about extra-dimensional physics…what that would mean. And, I have dedicated my life to the study of extra-dimensional science so that I could understand and educate future generations….to respect it…to learn…to be cautious and humble.”

Another few people agreed and shared their voices, “We all did. We all do. That’s why we continue to come here. And every year there are fewer of us.”

The interviewer continued, “Tell us about how you survived. I know that you have written about it, and in your book, you call it “Living in the Shadow of Universes” and you have taught a few, maybe even a dozen courses on the science of extra-dimensions and intra-dimensional physics. Can you tell us what you now feel?”

The scientist said, “The simple reason…the simplest that I can explain it to anybody is…when the bomb was detonated, it was not configured correctly. It did not have the masses at their most optimum ratios, the matter and the anti-matter were not as efficient as they could have been. But most importantly, no one knew exactly what would happen. And, I have made it my life’s work since to understanding what I have come to call the ‘dimensional shadow’ that saved my life. I am alive today because I was in the right place at the right time and so many others were not. I am not special, or more gifted. I am one of the lucky ones.”


==THE PRESENT - 19 DAYS AGO – PLANET ARCADIA – CENTER CITY CONFERENCE CENTER==


2nd Lt. Woolheater's uniform was stained with blood as he and two other Marines picked themselves up off the ground and ran as fast as they could to the blast site. As they ran, Sam's right ear was bleeding, and the eardrum may have been torn from the concussion wave. His forehead was cut; nothing that a dermal regenerator couldn't fix but when the blood dripped into his eyes it really stung. But the rest of the blood was not his. Shrapnel and shards of transparent aluminum had been violently hurled in this direction and had cleanly sliced off the arm of a civilian and spattered onto the Marines. That person now staggered about like a mannequin. Another had been impaled by a beam and still another was only half there – literally. The first blast had blown out most of the windows in this section of the lobby. A klaxon blared off in the distance somewhere and it sounded far away.

A woman sat on the ground and wept over the body of her husband. ~Oh god~ Samuel thought as he stood and fell and stood again. He saw himself as if he were outside of himself. Everything and everyone were moving very slowly. His hands were shaking.

(taps) =/\= Woolheater to HALE. Medical emergency at the conference center; there has been an explosion. We need immediate help – there are many wounded. =/\=

Samuel looked around as he heard bending metal collapse and more screaming as an upper wall collapsed and fell onto the wounded. His voice erupted in anger, and it flared within him.

=/\= ...medical emergency! We need backup assistance now! NOW GOD DAMN IT - NOW!! =/\=

The HALE answers, =/\= Medical team is on the way. What is your situation, Lieutenant? =/\=

=/\= Heading into the blast zone now. =/\=, he said as he and a few other Marines picked themselves up off the ground and ran to the front of the lobby that was engulfed in fire. The fire suppression system was not working for some reason.

Arcadia security teams were responding, and Sam wiped the blood from his ear, he thought his hearing was a bit one-sided. He put it out of his mind as there were far more pressing issues at hand.
The lobby was littered with the dead and the dying. There must have been 400 or so persons here when the explosion occurred. Sam reached for his tactical tricorder and opened the restraining flap and flipped it open. His hands were burned, they were cut, bleeding and slippery from his blood. He could not hold onto the tri-corder and it slipped out of his hands on dropped to the ground.

His attention turned as a woman shrieked. A cry out to high heaven of an anguish and pain that cannot be measured. She screamed and screamed as she lifted the broken body of her child from the rubble. Samuel prayed, ~ oh gods! ye sacred muses! ~

A rock from the crowd was thrown and Sam was hit. He heard someone yelling at him that they had trusted Starfleet - they had trusted Starfleet to protect them. “Where were you? WHERE WERE YOU!” Another voice, "Stand down sir. I said put the metal bar down."

"Are you alright LT? Can you stand up?" It was a Marine. One of Sam's Marines from the HALE. He stood up. “Fine. I’m fine.”

"Trooper Desmond (NPC), he called to the other Marine in his detail, "We need to re-group. Take this tricorder and scan for survivors and for any other explosives. I am going to find Arcadia Security and our conference passengers and see if we can help."

The marine nodded, "Sir!"

Another “bubble” formed. It was the most brilliant, shimmering, blue-mirrored surface Sam had ever seen. And all over the surface were swirling images that he could not make out. The shimmering ball of light grew, silently. It reached a very large size and then was gone. Behind it was a tremendous shockwave and energy. The second explosion took out a major structural support. The building groaned under its own weight as the columns buckled. Like the cry of a banshee, it was deafeningly loud.

Sam was running, up the grand staircase that allowed entrance into the main chamber of the conference when the explosion blew him on his back. A large falling beam collapsed and would have crushed him except for the fact that the door which had previously been hinged to the doorpost prevented that beam from crushing his chest and killing him. The world was spinning now. All he could see was dust and acrid smoke filled the air, his lungs felt like they were burnt, and he had a massive headache. He felt like he was going to vomit but he staggered to his feet. He watched in horror as like a set of dominoes the east side of the auditorium pan caked floor-by-floor leaving the upper floors catawampus and smoldering. Confusion was everywhere and people were running as fast as they could to get away from the center.

Time stopped for him now. He could hear but he could not see clearly. Everything was out of focus. Woolheater remembered standing to his feet and he remembered seeing another flash of light. Then he caught sight of one of the passengers from the HALE. What seemed to be an eternity as the flash lit everything in blinding light, there was no sound. He remembered hitting the ground and then all was quiet. All went black as unconsciousness enveloped him.

==A few minutes later==

"Here! HERE! Medic!", someone called out.

Woolheater rolled over and tried to sit up with a pounding headache. Then he puked. A medic came over and said, "Easy now sir. You've had a concussion. You also had your eardrums torn and a gash on the noggin'."

The Medical Officer from the HALE had a very "folksy" approach to medicine. That was to be expected from someone expected to retire…like 8 years ago.

"My marines, where are they?" Sam asked as he took the water the doctor offered and poured it over his face to clear his head. "The conference…???"

"A thousand questions I can't answer. Now, you sit there and get your head clear." The medic looked around and almost whispered, "It's very bad lieutenant. Lots of people injured…many dead. There were three blasts far as we can tell."

Sam stood up, "I can't sit here!"

When he stood up and surveyed the destruction it was overwhelming. The squad re-formed and they began to patrol and to help the injured and to look for clues. That was 19 days ago. Broken families, broken lives, broken hopes, and dreams for the future. All because he followed the advice of a diplomat and ignored his gut. Sam felt personally affected by the failure of the security measures. He blamed himself for not being proactive and he blamed himself for getting himself knocked out.


== 72 HOURS LATER – BACK ABOARD USS HALE – MEDICAL BAY==

“Can I see him?” asked Captain Hammond (NPC). Hammond indicated to the resting Marine CO.

The nurse replied, “For a few minutes Captain, I think that would be OK.”

Hammond (NPC) came alongside the bed to see Sam. Sam opened his eyes, “Captain?”

“How are you LT?” the captain asked.

Asleep, or at least resting in a biobed, Woolheater saw the captain approaching. Sam sat up but Hammond pushed him back into the bed, “Never better.”

Hammond said, “Yeah. Right. I thought you’d want to know what the casualties are?” He handed Sam a PaDD. On it were the names of the civilians, the security personnel, Starfleet members and Marines. From the Hale, they lost three. Sam scanned the names. He knew these people.

Hammond watched the face of the Marine CO. “Listen, Sam, I know that this is hard to read. I know that this is not what we planned.”

Sam still held the PaDD but he let it rest on his lap. “No, it is not.”

“So how about we do something about it?” Hammond (NPC) asked. “Starfleet intelligence has found out where they have taken the Science team. They haven’t left Arcadia. The bombers are threatening to kill the Science Team unless we assure them of safe passage off world.” Hammond leaned in closer and said quietly just to Sam, “That ain’t going to happen. Whatever explosive they used is new. No chemical, no radioactive, no electro-magnetic waves. No photonic rays. I want to stop them here.” Hammond said.

Samuel nodded, “What do you want me to do?”

“Medical will fix you up. I need you on your feet and clear headed. I need Sam the Sniper. I want you to eliminate the threat to the Wallendar and his team. You clear the way, let us do the rest.” Hammond said deadly serious.

Sam simply nodded, “Can do. How many players?” he asked. He wanted to know how many Marines, how many Starfleet Security and Gallamidian forces were being committed.

Hammond took the PaDD from him, “Everything we have is on the table. Debrief you in one-hour. Then, God willing, we insert you at 1600 hours. Do your job. We’ll clean up the mess. This will all be over by morning.”

Sam agreed.

“Good I’ll see you at the briefing.” And Hamond (NPC) left.


===90 MINUTES LATER===

Sam stood in a private office. It wasn’t his on the HALE. He was talking with Emily, his girlfriend on the comm. There was a long pause. His silhouette against the bulkhead illuminated only his face as he looked away from the screen. Emily had been crying. She wiped away a tear.

“Tell me something?” she asked. “How many more times? How many more sacrifices do I have to make? Sam. Sam?” she said as upset as she was.

Sam hung his head, “I have to do this. It’s my job.” He looked at her and felt shitty, “This is what I do, ok?”

“No. It’s not OK. Because I know what it does to you inside” she said. There was a long pause, and she regained her composure.

“Emm….I gotta go babe…” Sam said quietly. She nodded and wiped away a tear. “Am I going to get to see you again?”

“You now you will. I always come home. Listen. I need to requalify my rifle cert. I can do that on Titan. In the Sol system. We can go the Earth after that? You’d like that yeah? So would I. I got some time off I could take. Just to…you know…clear my head and rest up. And it’ll be just you and me. I promise. No mission. No fuckin’ OP. The quality time you deserve. I promise.” He said as he touched the monitor.

Someone stood in the doorway. Sam looked over and it was time to go. “Give me one minute k?”

He looked back at Emily, “I gotta go and do this. Then…lets figure out a way forward for both of us. Nkay? I love you. Meet me on Titan? In three days.”

She nodded back, a smile creeping into her face, “Three days. OK.”

The comm closed and Sam stood up.

The crewman pilot said, “It’s time.”

Sam replied, “Yeah.”


[OFF:]


2nd Lieutenant, Samuel Woolheater
“Saepius Exertus, Semper Fidelis, Frater Infinitas”
2nd Platoon CO, Bravo Company
1st Battalion, 91st Marine Regiment
=/\= STARBASE 418 =/\=