Selnos: A Star Trek Story

Aria:[11] Sabotage

"Well what do we do with him?"

Aria had come up to check on what all was happening with the Romulan in Medbay. The first chance she had gotten, she was back in engineering to help fix the warp core. A few of her engineers were also in Medbay because of the small explosion that had happened in engineering. Of course, Jonas had been complaining about the Romulan in Medbay the whole time.

"The worst part is, I can't kill him. That strictly goes against my oath," He said, frustrated.

Aria sighed. "I think that's the fifth time you've mentioned that."

"But it's true!"

Lillie had been over with a patient of hers. A young girl laid on the biobed, half-dead looking from the explosion. Aria glanced over at the both of them, recognizing her engineer. She ignored Jonas and his complaining and walked over to the girl laying down. "You alright there, lass?" Aria asked the girl, her voice soft and low. 

Lillie shot Aria a look of sadness and urgency. Immediately, Aria's heart sank. She knew that look. The girl down on the biobed coughed a little, but found her voice. "A-ok, chief."

"Ah," Aria said, trying to keep her voice as calm as possible. "I hope to see ya back down in engineering soon. Dane is missing you. The poor bastard can barely function. I tell him to work but he just can't. I've given him time off to come see you, I hope he's spending it well."

"He's been up here," The girl's fragile face spread into a small smile, her eyes gleaming. "Tell him he still owes me a dinner. He canceled on our last date because of this whole Romulan thing. I forgot to tell him the last time he was up here."

Aria swallowed hard. She couldn't stand to see her officer like this. Especially when the girl was dying. "Aye. I'll let him know."

"Aria, can I talk to you?"

Aria looked at Lillie, a fake smile on her face. "Absolutely," she said, walking back towards the intensive care unit.

As soon as they got out of earshot of the girl, Lillie looked as if she might cry. Her eyes, which were usually so bright with happiness, were now devoured in horrific terror. "Aria..." she paused, as if looking for an answer. "Just keep doing what you're doing. Please. If these are the last few moments of her life, I want you to be in them. Her boyfriend has already come up and talked with her. I haven't told him. I don't know how. It's like telling someone that, well, someone they love is going to die and you can't do anything about it."

Aria took it all in, and sighed deeply. "Dane is new, and so is she. They must've been hometown friends," Aria quietly said, pondering what had happened. The warp core had been in perfect condition before. The Romulan had got on the ship. It blew.

"She was just fine before. I don't know what happened. Nothing more than I usually fix in burns," Lillie said, the palm of her hand on her forehead. "She was fine, then the next minute, she wasn't."

Aria sighed again. "I'm sorry..." she said, still stuck in a bit of a daze, trying to figure out why it was like this. "I need to go talk with her. Make her happy." And with that, she briskly walked to the girl. As soon as Aria got close to her, she smiled.

"The warp core ok?" The girl asked.

Aria nodded. "Never been better."

The girl sighed in relief, and just laid there for a couple seconds. "I know, by the way."

Aria froze. "Know about what?"

"I'm dying."

Aria looked into the girl's eyes, tears brimming in her own. Silence was the best answer she could think to give.

"I made sure I told Dane I loved him before he left a little bit ago," She said, her voice raspy and quiet. "He doesn't know. Just-" she began to choke up. "Take care of him for me."

Aria nodded, a single tear ran down her face. "I promise. Lila, I-" But Aria stopped, because she saw the young girl look up to her as if she needed to say something.

"Chief?"

"Yes?" Aria choked, as if her airways were the ones that were failing.

"Is the word given?"

Aria stifled back a sob. After a pause, she replied, gathering all the strength she had in her, "The word is given, Lieutenant. Warp speed."

The girl's eyes closed slowly. "Aye..." she breathed - for the last time.

The heart monitors went flat. The tears started to flood down Aria's face as she was clutching her chest. It was if something had squeezed her heart and refused to let go. It was if a thousand knives had been thrown into her chest. The pain was unbearable for her. She fell onto her knees on the cold ground of Medbay. Lillie had gotten her emotions under control and calmly walked over and threw the silver sheet over the young girl's body.

Aria stood up and placed a soft hand on the sheet above the girl. "Lila Stone, the word is given. Take it forth with you, to wherever you travel."

It took everything in her to say that. She then ran out of Medbay and all the way down to her quarters. Her lungs screamed for air as she didn't take any walking breaks the whole way. As soon as she was in her room, she began to punch her pillow. "WHY!" She sobbed and hit the pillow. No matter how hard she hit the pillow, nothing seemed to help her anger. Then, she got an idea, and ran to her closet. Her hand thrust out and found the bottle of brandy she had stored in there. She also laid out another cup and filled it up on her bedside table.

Raising her glass, she made a silent toast. To Dane, to Lila, to everyone who had been hurt because of those Romulans. After toasting, she drank hers, keeping the glass pressed to her lips even after the liquid was gone, in deep thought. And that's when it hit her. Her warp core had been perfect before the Romulans had got on. After, however, it wasn't. She removed the glass from her lips, and set it down on the table.

"Sabotage."