"Martydrom Postponed."

[FredM 0]

"Although prepared for martyrdom, I preferred that it be postponed."

- Winston Churchill Sr.

 

 

 

It had been bright and then there had been nothing. Where pain and some sort of reaction might be expected, there simply wasn't any. Sky Harbor Aegis' primary nerve center, the Control Tower, had been constructed with three giant main viewers that ran from the ceiling to the floor. Originally, they're purpose had been straight forward. One had held a primary purpose of showing the station's status, including what ships were docked where and routine items such as shields. The center viewer acted similar to one on a starship, displaying incoming hails or pictures as requested. Finally, the last giant monitor had been designed to display the status of Aegis' groundstation. The base, still in use, had never been rejoined to the station after the evacuation. Transformed into a diplomatic center, the use for a monitor on the station became pointless. So now, it functioned primarily as a second viewer, a status of the dry-dock facility or even showing what long range sensors had to say.

 

To Meve, none of that mattered now. The original purpose of these devices had been destroyed. Instead, one of them had exploded and become the origin of thousands of pieces of glass. Before he could think about it more, the Captain found himself slowly sinking to the ground with the help of a nearby console. It was an interesting sensation...as if his body was under someone else's control. Now fighting to hold himself up, an odd realization hit. His left eye was apparently not seeing right. Was this another effect of this odd force that apparently had control over his body?

 

As alarms and more explosions filled his ears, the Andorian slowly moved to touch his face with his left hand and stopped. His hand told the story, and it was one Meve was still somehow unable to fully compute. The hand itself was still there of course, though thousands of little tiny pieces of the viewer were now embedded in it....with blue blood slowly starting to erupt from the foreign objects.

 

The Captain slowly looked around the disaster that was quickly becoming his station's nerve center and finally caught sight of Commander Ayers. Struggling to force the words out initially, for reasons he didn't understand, Meve groaned "Get to the Pandora's Box..." The remark was interrupted by a sudden rush of pain, the first the Andorian consciously knew of. Closing both his eyes and continued, "Mr. Hawke, get security teams to critical areas!"

 

After this, Meve's concentration was broken again by several more spouts of pain...his body's realization that hundreds of foreign objects were now latched onto his skin. He heard his First Officer say something, but what he couldn't say. The Captain simply shook his head and yelled as loud as he could, "Get the Pandora's Box out...." It was the only thing that could possibly save the situation...saying it could be saved at all.

 

A momentary discussion followed about how to do so...something the Captain would later not remember probably due to the pain he was slowly coming to terms with. As Frederic stood against the console which at one point had acted as OPS, he shook his head again. Aegis itself was clearly unable to defend itself...the lightning in the room was evidence of that. It would be pointless to try to fight a war externally....internally would certainly be next.

 

"Mr. Demore....transfer all available power from the defensive systems to the internal security systems and transporters," Meve said as loud as possible. Unknown to him, the words had come out only as a whisper...more a suggestion to the situation a brand new Ensign might make. The Captain's focus again turned to his body's apparent hijacking. He slowly closed his left eye...finally realizing the socket was filling with blood. The action itself caused more pain than he had expected, but there had been no alternative. Glancing around the CT, Meve found his Chief Engineer continuing a conversation. He yelled as if his life depended on it, which it did, "Mr. Demore, my orders...NOW!"

 

The Andorian stood up straight, or what he perceived to be close to it, and took several steps forward. In doing so, he caught sight of Commander Hawke...in a crouched position with a look of confusion on her face. His thoughts of concern were immediately interrupted by another series of jolts and alarms. Somehow, with his ability to concentrate clearly slipping...not to mention his balance, Meve heard the words "Deuterium Rupture!" from a voice he assumed wasn't nearby. It did not take a rocket scientist to determine that having the station's supply of fuel for the primary reactors spill wasn't a step in the right direction.

 

The Captain glanced around again, trying to move to one of the few terminals on the CT that helped to light the room up. Instead of walking, he tripped more into the station than anything else. Groaning again with pain, he reached with his right hand and pressed two buttons now partially charred panel. "All hands...this is the Captain. All civilian personnel, evacuate immediately! I repeat, all civilian personnel evacuate immediately!", he screamed just in case the communications system wasn't operating right. It was certain whoever was attacking wanted something, and even if they didn't, it'd be logical to assume they wouldn't attack a bunch of civilians trying to flee the horror that had become Aegis.

 

His El-Aurian First Officer, who somehow had managed to get in Meve's sight without him realizing it, glanced and asked "Are we going to the Pandora or..." His remarks asked the question without asking it...it was something Frederic knew since he'd seen his left hand. "You....go...," the Captain replied forcing a smile that was interrupted with another bought of pain. The next thing recalled in later days would be the sounding of alarms indicating transporter signatures...they were being boarded. Regretfully, the Andorian's ability to react to this had passed.

 

Meve stood staring where Ayers had been several moments before as he felt the last of his strength leave him. Slowly he found himself, again out of control, sliding to the ground like a melting sculpture. Eventually, his knees hit the deck plate and he found himself staring at the side of a computer terminal...the one had he used several minutes before.

 

After what seemed like several eons, which was in fact thirty minutes, Meve would be sitting half awake in a chair near the rear of what remained of the Control Tower. His thought process would not yet be comprehending what he was supposedly hearing...his mental and physical focus was still into space. When this condition would pass was becoming a topic of debate...especially with their new saviors...the Cardassians.