"Betrayal"

[Kestra 0]

Kestra strode into the turbolift. “Command center, please.” She almost added a command asking it to go faster, but knew there was no point in doing so. The fingers of her right hand tapped anxiously against her leg as she tried to figure out what had gone wrong. Why hadn’t the Chief given the order to shut down the power yet? As the turbolift slowed, Kestra felt a rush of emotions surge into her and instinctively tried to block them out. She had learned long ago that in a tense situation, it was better for her to avoid feeling the stress of others. She had a fleeting sense of Commander Light before she put up a mental block.

 

The turbolift doors swished open and Kestra stepped out, looking for the engineering station and Cmdr. Light. Her eyes searched and came up empty, till she dropped her gaze to the ground. He lay on the floor next to a console.

 

“Chief! Are you okay?” Kestra rushed over to him, vaguely wondering why no one had helped him yet. He caught sight of her running over to him.

 

“Kestra, run!” Even in his condition, his voice carried well through the command center. There was a moment before she had time to fully process what he had said. In those few milliseconds, every Vulcan in the command center had turned to look at her. Time seemed unreasonably slow, when suddenly it all came together in her consciousness. Her body tensed up reflexively, and at that precise instant she heard the unmistakable whine of phasers.

 

The Vulcans were firing at her.