Intermission – Breaking the News
by Lieutenant Commander Steve Wyman
Post Details
ON:
Steve had been pacing back and forth for half an hour, unable to find the words he needed so desperately. He had been there to witness the death of a man who was both a mentor and a friend. And now he had to find a way to explain to his best friend that his subordinate and ally was gone.
"DAMN IT!" he finally yelled, dropping into his desk chair and wincing in discomfort from his only recently healed wounds. Putting that into the back of his mind, he spun his terminal toward him. "Computer. I need a comm link to Commander Drakt aboard... damn what ship was he transferred to?"
+"Invalid query."+ the computer answered.
"I'm thinking! Hold on!" Wyman barked back, wanting immediately to crawl into the computer core and rip out a few subroutines. "Open a comm link to Commander Drakt on the USS Cavalry."
+"Due to distance, real time communication with the USS Cavalry is not possible. Would you like to record a message?"+
Sighing, Steve realized he should have suspected as much. Sharas had said he was supposed to head to Deep Space 9 to await the Cavalry, meaning they had to be somewhere near Cardassian space. It should have been obvious that he wouldn't be able to tell Drakt directly about what had happened. "Yes, I would."
+"Ready."+
After taking a deep breath to calm himself, Wyman was as ready as he was going to get. "Begin recording." A few tears rolled down his face, and so the first thing Drakt would see was not the usual joviality indicative of his best friend. "Drakt... I don't know how to say this, so I'll just come right out with it. Sharas is dead. There was a bomb... and he got caught in the explosion. H... he... didn't suffer... It all happened so fast. Welshy and I and Gwen were going to see him off, and we were talking... and my tricorder sounded an explosive alarm."
By that point he was shaking - tears streaming down his face. "Gwen and Welshy are safe. Minor injuries. I got burned up a bit, but I'll be fine. But... Sharas... Drakt, I'm so sorry. I... I should have been able to save him. I... oh... I never should have asked for your help. If I'd just let the DS5 crew handle things, Sharas never would have been here."
At that he buried his face in his hands and wept. Stifled, Steve forced out, "That's enough... I... I can't... End recording and transmit."
OFF
Lt. Steve Wyman
Chief Engineering Officer
by Lieutenant Commander Steve Wyman
Post Details
| Title | Breaking the News | |
| Mission | Intermission | |
| Author(s) | Lieutenant Commander Steve Wyman | |
| Posted | Sun Feb 23, 2014 @ 7:21am | |
| Location | Wyman quarters | |
| Timeline | SD 78 |
Steve had been pacing back and forth for half an hour, unable to find the words he needed so desperately. He had been there to witness the death of a man who was both a mentor and a friend. And now he had to find a way to explain to his best friend that his subordinate and ally was gone.
"DAMN IT!" he finally yelled, dropping into his desk chair and wincing in discomfort from his only recently healed wounds. Putting that into the back of his mind, he spun his terminal toward him. "Computer. I need a comm link to Commander Drakt aboard... damn what ship was he transferred to?"
+"Invalid query."+ the computer answered.
"I'm thinking! Hold on!" Wyman barked back, wanting immediately to crawl into the computer core and rip out a few subroutines. "Open a comm link to Commander Drakt on the USS Cavalry."
+"Due to distance, real time communication with the USS Cavalry is not possible. Would you like to record a message?"+
Sighing, Steve realized he should have suspected as much. Sharas had said he was supposed to head to Deep Space 9 to await the Cavalry, meaning they had to be somewhere near Cardassian space. It should have been obvious that he wouldn't be able to tell Drakt directly about what had happened. "Yes, I would."
+"Ready."+
After taking a deep breath to calm himself, Wyman was as ready as he was going to get. "Begin recording." A few tears rolled down his face, and so the first thing Drakt would see was not the usual joviality indicative of his best friend. "Drakt... I don't know how to say this, so I'll just come right out with it. Sharas is dead. There was a bomb... and he got caught in the explosion. H... he... didn't suffer... It all happened so fast. Welshy and I and Gwen were going to see him off, and we were talking... and my tricorder sounded an explosive alarm."
By that point he was shaking - tears streaming down his face. "Gwen and Welshy are safe. Minor injuries. I got burned up a bit, but I'll be fine. But... Sharas... Drakt, I'm so sorry. I... I should have been able to save him. I... oh... I never should have asked for your help. If I'd just let the DS5 crew handle things, Sharas never would have been here."
At that he buried his face in his hands and wept. Stifled, Steve forced out, "That's enough... I... I can't... End recording and transmit."
OFF
Lt. Steve Wyman
Chief Engineering Officer