Delusions and Death Part 2

Posted on Thu Nov 19th, 2020 @ 7:50pm by Lieutenant Xavier Leiko

Mission: The Shadow of Arachne
Location: Chief of Operations Office
Timeline: MD-05 (Late)
849 words - 1.7 OF Standard Post Measure

Xavier knew that the Chief would still be awake despite the hour. Maybe they could grab a drink or just talk through the deflector dish problem, anything but going back to his quarters and facing whatever that was again. He went to the press the button by the side of the door to signal the door chime but saw that the door was unlocked. Xavier had only been on the ship a few days but he knew that if the door was unlocked, the Chief was more than happy for you to just enter, if it was locked then leave him alone unless it was urgent.

Xavier stepped into the office and immediately knew that something wasn't quite right. The room was in darkness, the only light coming from massive window on the far side of the room and the light from the corridor from where Xavier had just entered. The Chief was standing with his back to Xavier, facing the swirls of fluidic space on the other side of the glass. Xavier couldn't help but feel a pang of deja-vu from whatever it was he had just experienced in his quarters, mere moments earlier. He shook his head as though to physically shake that mental image out of his mind.

"You okay Chief?" Xavier said, sounding more confident than he felt. No response.

Xavier stepped into the room and the doors closed behind him, causing Xavier to jump. Damn, why was he so on edge tonight. "Chief?" He called out again, not as confidently this time. Still no response.

As Xavier moved further into the room, he walked straight into an armchair. "Damn! Computer lights," he ordered but nothing happened. 'Am I a figment of my own imagination' he couldn't help but wonder to himself. "Computer?" Nothing.

"Chief, I think we need to fix the computer," he said more to fill the utter sound of silence and to convince himself that everything was okay, when everything in his gut was telling him it wasn't.

"Lieutenant," the Chief finally said. "I didn't want it to end this way, tell them I'm sorry."

Xavier arched an eyebrow, "tell whom Sir?" He asked puzzled. As his eyes adjusted to the light he could clearly make out the frame of Chief Robert Daniels. He was a portly man and held himself up with his usual air of dignity. As the young Betazoid inched closer he could see that his commanding officer was holding something and though he couldn't quite make it out in the dark, his inside churned.

"What are you doing with that Sir?" He asked, desperation leaking into his voice.

"They are all around me Lieutenant," Chief Daniels replied. He sounded scared, terrified. "If they capture me, they will torture me."

"There's no one here Sir, it's just you and me," Xavier said hurriedly.

"I'm weak, Lieutenant. I will betray us all. They mustn't know."

Xavier could sense the panic in the man, it was beyond anything he had felt before. Damn was this another illusion or was this real? "I can be strong for the pair of us Sir, just give me the phaser." Xavier was closer now, he held out his arm as he tried to close the gap between them.

Chief Daniels turned to Xavier and looked him straight in the eyes. For a split second it felt as though no one else existed, no where in all of time and space. All that was and all that ever will be was these two men, trapped in this nightmare, in this room, in this unknown realm of the universe. "No one can fight this enemy B'aKai, soon they won't be able to get to us."

"We will fight them together," Xavier said, desperately pleading. "Robert! GIVE ME THE PHASER!" Xavier was screaming, shouting, begging, anything to help this person.

"Tell my family I love them," was the only reply Xavier received.

"NO!" Xavier screamed. He caught the Chief's body but even before he lowered him to the floor he knew the Chief was dead. He hoped, prayed, that this was another illusion or some kind of hallucination or dream. But without knowing how, he knew it wasn't. This wasn't like in his quarters, it was all so real.

Xavier smashed his combadge with his free hand, "Xavier to sickbay, medical emergency in the Operations Office." He knew the call was pointless, he had been in Starfleet long enough to know no one would survive a point blank hit like that to the head. And besides, he was a telepath, he had felt the moment the Chief had left this plane of existence. As Xavier held his commanding officer in his arms, all he could think about was the night of the shuttle crash, the night he had craved attention, the night he had wanted to show off, the night he had taken things too far, the night he had killed his father. And he wept.

END

Chief Petty Officer Robert Daniels
Chief of Operations
USS Athena, NCC-80742

Lieutenant Xavier Leiko
Assistant Chief of Operations
USS Athena, NCC-80742