[ROUND 2] Lt. Townson - The shattering of both the physical and emotio

[Alleran Tan]

IC

Riley: =/\=Negative on leaving the ship Lieutenant, I don't want anyone out

there with those distortions until we determine what they are.=/\=

Townson: =/\= But....Captain?=/\=

Riley: =/\=You and Kobylarz suit up and look for wounded in or near the hangar

bay=/\=

Townson: =/\= Understood. Townson out. =/\=

::Tracey looked towards the Chief Tactical Officer, who had also heard the

message from the Captain, and shugged. The two then headed to a nearby storage

unit and removed two EV suits and put them on. Tracey tested her com setup with

Lieutenant Kobylarz then they headed back to the sealed door. Through her

helmet, Tracey spoke.::

Townson: =/\= Any ideas as to how to open this door Lieutenant?

Kobylarz: =/\= We could always just manually open the door. Pry it open. =/\=

Townson: =/\= Good thinking Lieutenant. =/\=

::The two got to work and within a few minutes the doors parted open and a rush

of the air within the corridors was being sucked into the hangar bay. If Tracey

and Lieutenant Kobylarz were not holding onto the edges of the doorway, they too

would have been sucked into the hangar bay, and possibly into deep space,

through the gaping hole in the hull which stared them in the face.::

::Without warning, through the corner of her eye, Tracey noticed a human in

normal StarFleet attire fly by and round the corner into the hangar bay. It was

a human male. Tracey flung her right hand out and grabbed the ankle of the man

as she held onto the doorway with her left. But the body of the man was flailing

and Tracey was losing her grip on the doorway. The gloves of the EV suit were

not designed to stick to anything. So, within a few seconds, Tracey lost her

grip.::

::While sliding along the hangar bay floor, still firmly holding onto the ankle

of the officer, and heading for deep space, Tracey looked desperately for

something else to grip onto between her spot and the hull breach. With her free

left hand, she reached out to a nearby shuttlecraft and this slowed their

progress. But it didn't stop it. Her gloved left hand was sliding across the

hull of the shuttlecraft.::

::Meanwhile, Tracey could feel that the flesh of the man, under his pants, was

becoming firm, much like an icicle. Tracey looked up, for the first time, at the

now blue, frozen face of the man and not only noticed the frozen look of

surprise on it, but she also recognized the face.::

::With her com unit still on, Tracey screamed the word...::

Townson: =/\= NO!!!! =/\=

Kobylarz: =/\= Townson! respond you ok your suit ripped talk to me=/\=

Townson: =/\= ITS SEARGENT MAHLOR! I CAN'T LET HIM DIE AGAIN! =/\=

::Tracey's worst nightmare was happening in front of her eyes. She made a

terrible mistake by not scanning the corridors before opening the hangar bay

doors. And once again, by acting without thinking, Tracey was once again going

to be responsible for the death of Gary Mahlor. The same way she felt

responsible for Seargent Gary Mahlor's death from her universe of origin, once

again Tracey, due to her lack of foresight, would be responsible for the death

of Ensign Gary Mahlor in this universe.::

Kobylarz: =/\= Again? you sure you don't have a rip in your suit are you losing

O2? =/\=

::As she slid along the side of the shulttlecraft, to her horror, Tracey could

now feel her grip on Ensign Mahlor's frozen body now loosening, as the pressure

of the air blowing in from the corridor began to wane. Tracey was hoping she

bought enough time to keep the man from being lost into deep space. But the hull

of the shuttlecraft was only so large and Tracey had passed it. She was now,

once again sliding quicker towards the breach with the frozen body of Ensign

Mahlor leading the way.::

::Even though, in the part of her brain which was still processing reasonable

thoughts, was telling her that Ensign Mahlor was more than likely dead by this

time, Tracey still felt a strong drive to try her best to keep him onboard this

ship. By this point, the body Tracey was holding onto was no longer flexible,

but more like a block of ice. And with her free left hand, Tracey grabbed

another part of the same ankle. But even with both gloved hands on the ankle,

Tracey was still losing her grip. So Tracey, with her left hand on top of the

right, yanked off her own right glove and quickly gripped the Ensign's ankle

with her bare hand.::

::Focused primarily on her grip, Tracey could see the blood vessels bursting and

her hand turning blue. At close to zero degrees Kelvin, the first 2 or 3 seconds

the pain was unbearable, but afterwards she had lost all feeling in her hand, as

well as control. For her hand was now frozen to Ensign Mahlor's ankle.::

::Tracey looked up at the gaping hole into deep space, which was inches now away

and she saw a few other bodies floating in space. And Tracey realized that she

was headed out there too.::

Oo I'm not going to let you go alone this time Gary oO

::Tracey closed her eyes and waited for the inevitale. And then she heard a huge

crash as her arms were yanked down by the force of gravity, and her progress

stopped. Tracey opened her eyes to that of the shimmering hue of the force-field

and she then looked down at the shattered body of that which was once Ensign

Mahlor, while still gripping the ankle of the man.::

::In anger and frustration and sadness, Tracey flung herself down and landed on

her own frosen hand. Much like that of Ensign Mahlor, her hand shattered into a

million pieces as tears of anger and sadness welled up in her eyes.::

Riley: =/\=Riley to Lieutenant Townson.=/\=

::Tracey sat up and crossed her legs in front of herself, as she tried to get a

grip on herself. She tried to remember where and when she was as she rocked back

and forth trying to comfort herself.::

Oo You are a StarFleet Officer. You have sent thousands to their death in your

career fighting the Dominion. This is no different. oO

::Tracey repeated the words in her head over and over. But this was different.

This was not a war. This was a meaningless, avoidable death.::

Townson: =/\=T..Townson here. J...just to let you know, C...Captain. The

f...force-fields are reengaged.=/\= ::with sadness in her voice.::

Riley: =/\=Lieutenant, I want you to immediately implement your former plan. You

and Kobylarz are going to scout and lead the ship through this mess.=/\=

::Looking down at the stump where her right hand used to be, and which was now

beginning to melt, as drops of blood began to appear, and then to the now

melting pieces of Ensign Mahlor.::

Townson: =/\=Yes Captain. Townson out.=/\=

::Instinctively she reached for her belt, as the pain where her hand used to be

got worse. But she quickly realized that in this universe, the belts were not

equipped with pain-killing medication that could be released directly into the

body.::

-TBC-

Lt. Tracey Townson

Chief of Operations

USS Independence-A

Edited December 31, 2010 by Alleran Tan/Radi Rais