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NPC Crewman Walsh – The Cost


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This is a direct punch in the feelings, you are warned.

This is Mr. Walsh's first (and so far only) SIM, the view of what is happening on the USS Thor from the viewpoint of one of those nondescript characters that fill the background of our scenes, that manages to summarize, rather promptly, the emotional cost of what the "officers at the top" are trying to fix.  Really, really well written and an excellent sample of the good work of @Wes Greaves

I won't forgive you this, sir.


 

Quote

 

((Walsh Family Quarters, Deck 8, USS Thor))

((T-Minus 12 Hours, 20 minutes))

James Walsh woke up early that day. It was his wife’s birthday, and he had promised himself that it would be a special day for her.  The two newlyweds had been having a rough time lately. Having tied the knot just before the Tal Shiar assassination attempt on Duronis II, the pair of Starfleet crewmembers had been thrust into a tumultuous time of change.  James had fought hard to ensure himself and Liz got transferred full time to the Thor, and the transition had been fraught with stress, time apart, and arguments. 

 

Liz worked an opposite shift of him in engineering, so she’d usually be asleep in their quarters by the time he woke up.  When he got home, she’d be getting ready for work.  Today, James was going to show his new bride that he was willing to do anything to work on the relationship.  He’d show her his commitment and love and make the day special.  Just as he did every day, James showered and got ready for his shift in Operations, but this time he set up decorations in their quarters.  He hung a giant birthday banner, and littered every surface in the room with replicated roses.  Dead center on the table in their quarters, James left a note for his wife. It was a short note that said little more than how much he adored her, and how excited he was to spend her birthday together after his shift. He sealed the note with a kiss, and briskly stepped out of their quarters.

 

It had taken days of careful stalking, but James Walsh had eventually determined his wife’s usual route from engineering to their quarters.  He had convinced a few friends to ensure that Liz took a detour that day so he would be sure to run into her on his way to work early on deck 15.  He had even practiced a loving smile and a wink in the mirror that he now intended on playfully display to his wife.

 

A quick check of the time. James was 30 seconds behind schedule.  He picked up the pace and hurried into the turbolift just in time to ensure their ‘happenstance’ meeting occurred. 

 

((Starboard Corridor, Deck 15, USS Thor))

((T-Minus 12 Hours, 1 minutes))

As the doors hissed open onto deck 15, he could easily see down the entire starboard corridor. At the opposite end was Liz.  He’d recognize the silly smile and familiar gait of his wife anywhere. His heart swelled and a smile crept onto his face as he made his way out onto the deck and toward their chance meeting.  In his mind’s eye he practiced his smile and wink. James wanted his wife to feel how much he treasured her in the brief moment they’d get to spend together that morning.

 

The distance between the two closed, and he noticed the exact moment his wife spotted him.  Her face broke into a smile, and she shook her head playfully as she understood her detour was his doing. With only a few dozen meters separating the two, she opened her mouth to say something.

 

It all happened at once.  James was thrown from his feet and slammed into the wall of the corridor.  Before gravity could even pull him to the ground, his body was ripped forward in the corridor with a harsh wind, the strength of which he had never experienced before.  The noise was tremendous. The lights flickered harshly, and finally the gale stopped as suddenly as it had begun.  The man collided with the ground a dozen meters forward. Hard.

 

For a few seconds, James simply blinked. Stars spotted his vision, and he had trouble focusing.  The sound of a fire crackling nearby was barely perceptible.  All he could see was the blurry color of the carpet directly beneath him as he raised himself onto all fours.  He continued to blink.  His ears were ringing, and the lights of the corridor were flickering still, now including the color red.  He felt cold. 

 

When his vision finally cleared, James Walsh looked up.  A blue light shimmered across a devastated passageway just a meter in front of him.  An emergency forcefield held back the coldness of space where a giant section of the corridor had once been.  The spot that Elizabeth Walsh had just been standing in.

 

A drop of blood fell from the man’s head and soaked into the carpet below him before everything went black.

 

=========================

Crewman James Walsh

Operations, USS Thor

USS Thor - NCC 82607
E239702WG0
=========================

 

 

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