"7 Weeks, 4 Days, 15 Hours, 32 Minutes"

[Alexander Zier 0]

<<I apologize if anything in this log contradicts any others or what's happened in the sim the last 18 weeks. I wrote these as part of what I heard had happened since I was gone, partly how I felt and am still feeling about what's happened in my life since I've been here last, and part sub-plot that I left behind. It's not what you would call a normal log, apologies in advance ;) I just wrote what came to mind.

 

It's good to be back :) >>

 

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"7 Weeks, 4 Days, 15 Hours, 32 Minutes"

a series of mini-logs by Lt. J.G . Alexander Zier

 

=/\=

[7 Weeks, 4 Days, 15 Hours, 32 Minutes]

 

Pain...

 

Eyes open, Bright lights.

 

Jumbled voices...."Lieu.. Zier... ou hear me? Y... been inj... on the ...... Cloverleaf.... You'll....e ok."

 

Eyes close, Faces flashing.

 

Martin..... Maria.....

 

Pain...

 

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=/\=

[4 Weeks, 6 Days, 1 Hour, 53 Minutes]

 

Eyes open, Bright Lights, Groggy.

 

"Well, hello there Lieutenant...You had us worried there for a long time."

 

Zier blinked, trying to focus on where he was. Turning his head, he could see a doctor smiling down at him. "Wha....Where?"

 

A chuckle. "Easy now Lt., you've been banged up pretty rough. You're on Earth, San Francisco. The USS Cloverleaf brought you here from the front."

 

Images flashed before his eyes, a camera reel of faces and memories. "Yes..., I remember."

 

The doctor pulled up a chair next to him. "That's good Alex, very good. Like I said, we've been very worried about you. You've been in a coma for almost 3 weeks now."

 

A coughing fit rose to Zier's dry throat, stopping only when the doctor forced a straw into his mouth to drink some water. "There, better?"

 

Zier nodded, slowly trying to sit up. "Three weeks? But.....Excalibur...Camelot...Martin!... Maria! What...?"

 

Dr. Zival put a hand on his shoulder. "Calm down Lt., please! You'll start another coughing fit." He smiled. "All is well. Excalibur, and Camelot are well. I hear the Excalibur is returning here, to Earth soon."

 

"What about.. ::wheeze:: my son.., my son Martin."

 

"Martin's been here with us, waiting. Now as for Maria..., I assume you mean Dr. Kassem, your co-worker? I believe she is OK as well Lt."

 

Alex finally relaxed, putting his hand to his head. "When can I see Martin?"

 

Dr. Zival smiled. "Soon Alex. We just want to run some tests, make sure your out of the woods and all. But you know that all, right?"

 

Zier smiled and nodded. He knew all too well from Medical School what needed to happen and why. Laying back down on the pillow, he smiled.

 

Everything would be OK.

 

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=/\=

[4 Weeks, 2 Days, 18 Hours, 2 Minutes]

 

Everything was not OK.

 

"What do you mean, disappeared?"

 

Alex and Martin had been strolling in a garden nearby the hospital when Dr. Zival joined them and delivered the news.

 

"They've been out of contact for a few hours now, and not one ship out there can find them. It's like they just disappeared right off the sensors."

 

A camera reel of memories and images floated before him. A large tree atop a small hill with a creek nearby, him and Maria swimming in the stream, a blue dress, a close shot of them kissing goodnight at her door, a cozy holodeck restaurant, the moonlit terrace.

 

"No...."

 

 

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=/\=

[3 Weeks, 2 Days, 19 Hours, 1 Minute]

 

"Yes!"

 

The normal person would not jump for joy in the middle of reading a daily report of movement and logistics. Only someone desperate and waiting for news would.

 

And good news it was.

 

The Excalibur had returned from wherever it had vanished to, something about a parallel universe, but that didn't matter right now. All that mattered was that his home, his friends, his family really, were OK, and they were coming to Earth. Alex smiled as he put down his PADD. He was fine now, and he could help other people cope with what had happened to them and their lives, but were not so fortunate.

 

Everything was going to be all right.

 

 

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=/\=

[1 Day, 22 Hours]

 

 

He lay in an open meadow, staring up at the stars, thinking about everything and nothing, about friends and enemies, happiness and sadness, life and death. and adventure. It was who he was, and he couldn't wait to get back out there.

 

Cue one final camera reel of images, of friends and crew mates aboard the Excalibur, of corridors and rooms, of good times and bad, and many, many memories.

 

A picture PADD lay next to him in the cool grass. The light from it piercing the dark of the night enveloping him. Pictures of Martin, pictures of Maria.

 

He smiled. "Soon."