Desecrated from memory

Posted on Fri Aug 30th, 2024 @ 2:37pm by Lieutenant Commander S'hib

Mission: Season 6: Episode 5: A church beyond heaven
Location: Elysium, A'janie church
Timeline: MD:1 1655
1660 words - 3.3 OF Standard Post Measure

S'hib looked at himself in the full-length mirror, one of two that hung opposite one another in the changing rooms of the Security Office.

He had not long returned from his walk with Desek, finding their little chat to be as unproductive as he had thought it would be, still, he had hoped he had made his message clear to the Cardassian.

"I want everyone made fully aware that they are no longer allowed to open his quarters without my knowledge, do you understand?" S'hib snorted loudly, it wasn't a shout but his voice did carry into the offices where senior department staff sat at their desks.

"I take it your talk with him went well?" Victor muttered as he sat on a bench nearby, his right leg up by his chest as he untied his boot.

"He's a fucking asshole..."

Victor laughed, loud and from the heart. "He's a Cardassian, they all are." He added while still chuckling.

"Yeah..." S'hib sighed as he unpinned parts of his mane, untangling the mass and running a finger over the hair that wasn't his, reflecting on his life for a moment.

He knew he had far fewer mane bonds than most Stals his age or even younger, but the two he had with Miraj and Naxea meant the world to him, and that was enough.

But then he smiled, realising it would soon be three once Sle'anna had grown out of the fluffy protomane still flopping about her head and neck.

"So I've been thinking..." S'hib said, leaning his head slightly over towards Victor.

"Oh no..." Victor sighed, slumping down somewhat.

"No no, It's a good idea I swear."

Victor was about to counter his Chief when he heard someone approach and turned to look.

"Sir?" A voice said coming from the doorway to the office.

"Yes, crewman?" S'hib asked, smiling as he looked over at Crewman Hansen, a young and dainty Andorian girl who was concerningly good on the firing range.

"The computer just notified us of a possible security alert on the A'janie vessel. A comm badge was activated and the computer picked up what might have been a scream before the signal stopped?"

"Do we know whose comm badge it was?" S'hib asked as he turned more towards Hansen.

"No sir, the computer can't seem to find a match for the unique ID stored in the signal transmitted, it's like the comm badge wasn't registered on our system."

S'hib fell quiet as he thought, briefly looking down at the floor before looking back up. "Odd, have a security team meet me at the umbilical bridge, and contact anyone we have over there, find out if they saw or heard anything."

"Yes sir." Hansen nodded before disappearing into the office, her voice still echoing into the changing rooms as she got to work.

"Want me to go with you?" Victor asked as he looked up at S'hib, finding him staring intently back at the mirror.

"Sir?" he asked again after a short while. "You alright?"

"No, I... I don't know..." S'hib said, barely able to get the words out of his mouth as he reached for the unfamiliar pink braid "I... I don't know whose hair this is." he said, his voice breaking somewhat.

"What do you mean?" Victor said as he stood, his tone thick with concern.

"I just, I don't know... I, I can't explain."

S'hib blinked away the water in his eyes, he felt distraught but there was nowhere for the emotions to go, nothing for the sudden grief he felt to call a home.

Something had been taken from him at that moment, deep in his heart he knew it, but he didn't know what.

"Just... uh, go help Hansen, and see if you can get Avalon to do a headcount."

"I will do, Sir, I just wanna make sure you're ok first... you seem pretty shook up."

"I'm OK, Victor, thank you..." S'hib said, telling the worst lie of his life. "I just, I think I just need a minute."

"Alright... Well, I'll leave you to it." Victor replied, knowing when to give his Chief space.

S'hib nodded, watching Victor leave before turning back to the mirror, his two stubby fingers already running up into his mane to single out the thick braid of pink and white.

"Why do I have this..." he said as he tied it back out of his face, hoping to force a memory into existence as he slowly turned and left.


========== 1705hrs ===========


S'hib Thumped down the length of the umbilical tunnel towards The Wandering Child, flanked on either side by two officers who struggled to keep up with his pace without breaking into a jog.

"S'hib to Crewman Hansen, have you triangulated the transmission source yet?" S'hib asked as the doors ahead hissed open and the stars beneath his hooves turned into the extravagant red carpet that lined the docking ring of the A'janie church.

"Yes sir, we think it came from one of the smaller docking ports on the upper levels, like the ones the Morana is still docked with."

"Ok, but which one, this place is huge." S'hib huffed impatiently as he looked up at the dozens of bridges and support struts crisscrossing below the roof.

"Docking port... five or four C in the wing of... uh, yeah I don't know how to pronounce that word."

"Red sands..." S'hib said through gritted teeth as they approached one of the dozens of lifts in the main nave. "the things a circle, left or right!"

"Right, sir, it's the wing on your right... sorry, it had like four vowels I dunno."

He huffed heavily, a frustrated but thankful sigh "Thank you... and tell Victor to stop laughing."


========== 1716hrs ===========


"Five C should be around that corner," S'hib said as he unholstered his phaser. "If we can't find anything we'll go down to four."

"Aye sir, got your six, all clear so far." One of the officers replied as they also unholstered their weapons.

S'hibs heart was pounding, he could feel it thumping against his lungs, in his neck... it was like being back in the Mirror Universe, running away with...

his mind went blank as if a thick fog had fallen over parts of his memory, obscuring key details that only got more confusing as he tried to remember.

This wasn't right he thought as the team rounded the corner, he'd had nightmares after what happened that day, vivid and painful dreams over and over and now he couldn't recall a damn thing about it.

"I'm not picking up anything, sir, doesn't look like anyone's been here recently." Said the other officer, stopping to stare at her Tricorder.

"Wait... no it's gone, that's odd, for a second it looked like... oh, there it is again." She said as she frowned, moving the tricorder up and about.

"What is it?" S'hib asked as the team fanned out across the bridge, looking over the edge to the halls below and up at the rafters.

"I'm not sure," She said walking over to show S'hib the readings. "It looks like it could be a temporal anomaly, maybe two... but every time I try to scan them..."

S'hib frowned, unsure what to make of the erratic readings. "Any life signs on the ship?" He asked, nodding towards the docking hatch.

"Not according to this." She said with a shrug.

"Let's go have a look."

S'hib approached the hatch, phaser raised just in case as he accessed the controls.

He half expected something to jump out at him when the door hissed open, but instead, he was met with a rush of cold air as he looked around at the sleek interior of the small craft.

"You first..." The officer teased, holding up her tricorder as she peaked inside knowing full well he wasn't going to fit, he barely fit in the Morana and that was at least twice its size.

"I don't get it... why would someone from our crew come here?" S'hib asked as he leaned out of the hatch. "That things barely big enough for one person, I don't even think it's got a toilet."

"No, but she's fast whatever she is, even got vectored impulse engines, she'd turn like crazy."

"Wait, so it's a racing shuttle?" The other officer asked.

"Yeah, I'm at a loss here..." S'hib said as he turned around, scratching his face. "Somethings not right."

He paused, looking about with his thoughts all over the place before hitting his comm badge.

"S'hib to security, we can't find anyone here, however, we think we might be detecting some very localised temporal anomalies, but if we are they don't seem to be affecting us."

Again he sighed, looking back at the open hatch and his two officers still talking about the shuttle.

"Sorry sir, did you say temporal anomalies?" Victor said over the comms.

"Yeah I did, can you let engineering know I need them to send a team over, we need some better equipment over here before the signals degrade."

"Will do, sir... and um, we did those scans you asked for, and Avalon has confirmed the whole crew is accounted for even the ones that took their chips out," Victor replied, falling quiet for a moment before speaking up again.

"You don't still think we're missing someone do you?" He asked, an unease in his voice.

S'hib didn't say anything at first, he just stood there, looking down at the carpet as this uncomfortable weight of uncertainty dug its claws into him.

"I don't know, Victor, but I'm gonna find out... S'hib out."

He breathed deeply after hitting his comm badge, throwing his head back to get his mane out of his face, trying to ignore the flash of pink as he turned to the other two officers.

"We need to figure out whose ship this is, let's go find someone who can tell us."