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[2008: SEP-OCT] Instant Eternal, or Eternal Instant


Idril Mar

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A scream of pain, not physical but just as harsh, crawled up his throat and burst from his lips like a Gnenllian heart worm. Emotions, roiling, broke over him, overwhelming, drowning all logic, then reason, then function; sweet quiet darkness claimed him at last.

A Few Weeks Later…

The young man’s eyes fluttered open. A nurse was at the bedside and put the PADD down on the small table when she realized he was waking up.

“Wha… what happened? Where am I?” said the man.

The nurse smiled a sad smile. “You’re at the Starfleet Medical Facility at Starbase 1. You were seriously injured in the action at Rourkeen’s Drift. Do you remember anything?”

A hand went up to the short-cropped hair on the man’s head. The arm of his medical gown slid up revealing the anchor and flag of the Starfleet Marine Corps, with the legendary Semper Fi motto, short for Semper Fidelus, Latin for “Always Faithful.”

“No… I don’t remember. In fact, I don’t remember anything. What’s my name… who am I?” The man’s face went quickly from puzzlement to agitation, as it almost always did. A meaty fist slammed into the bed-sheets. “Why can’t I remember?!?”

The nurse decided against calling security… this time. She sat down on the edge of the bed and put a slim hand on his arm.

“Your name is James Adendorff. You are a First Lieutenant in the Starfleet Marine Corps.”

“James… Adendorff …” The name didn’t ring any bells for him, but the feel of in his mouth was… familiar somehow, almost like something that is right on the edge of your tongue or the shadow of a dream, running from the light of wakefulness. He shook his head, clearly frustrated. “I can’t remember.”

“Don’t worry, Lieutenant, it’ll come back on its own. It always does. Come on, let’s see about getting you up and out of this bed.”

Over the next few hours, the doctors came and examined him. He had suffered a head wound with extensive neurological trauma and shock. His memories would likely come back, but it might be a while. He should focus on trying to get back into shape physically for a while. They would schedule him for a follow-up with a counselor to work on the memory loss.

Over the next few days, he remembered small things. His wife’s name, Heather… the faces of his parents… his childhood pet. The nurse, it turned out, was his wife. James had been happy when he found that out; he had hoped there was a good reason that she seemed to dote on him a little more than the other patients… well, that and he thought she was really hot.

“We met… we met in a bar, didn’t we?”

“That’s right… do you remember where?”

“A big red bridge, with cables. There was a bay… you could see it from the front of the bar.”

“That’s San Francisco, right. That’s great, James!” Heather gave him a squeeze as she helped him walking down the support bars, getting his strength back.

Over the next few weeks, he saw a counselor, helping him work on the memories that were tantalizingly close, and sort out the ones that had come back. He know remembered deploying on the USS Nautilus, though anything after they left Earth was still beyond him.

About 6 weeks after he woke up, James was sitting in the counselor’s office, working through what he did remember, trying out some craniosacral therapeutic techniques, something popped inside of the Marine’s mind. Everything came rushing back…

…the frantic deployment of his platoon as the Nautilus was hit multiple times in orbit by enemy fire…

…the night, black as coal and as hot as Hell itself, with only the flash of weapons’ fire lighting it…

…the death, so much death and in so many blood-spattered ways all around him, over him, through him, because of him…

…Because Of Him…

…BECAUSE OF HIM…

A scream of pain, not physical but just as harsh, crawled up his throat and burst from his lips like a Gnenllian heart worm. Emotions, roiling, broke over him, overwhelming, drowning all logic, then reason, then function; sweet quiet darkness claimed him at last.

-----

A Few Weeks Later…

The young man’s eyes fluttered open. A nurse was at the bedside and put the PADD down on the small table when she realized he was waking up.

“Wha… what happened? Where am I?” said the man.

The nurse smiled a sad smile. “You’re at the Starfleet Medical Facility at Starbase 1. You were seriously injured in the action at Rourkeen’s Drift. Do you remember anything?”

-----

Not the End

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