Specters of the past

Posted on Wed Feb 5th, 2020 @ 7:20pm by Lieutenant Commander James Trallos MD

James took cover. He could hear the phaser fire hitting barrels and the rubble next to him. He could hear yelling just a dozen paces away, angry yelling. More came from behind him, angry but organized. The smell of burning flesh and hair mixed with ozone and burning fuel slugs. Chaos raged all around him.

James crawled over to a body next to him, he checked for a pulse and quickly realized he would not find one with most of victim's chest was burned away from a disrupter. He heard the yelling getting closer. He pushed the body away and picked up the hand phaser that was next to the body. He rolled over and just in time as a person jumped over the rubble he was hiding behind. He pointed a disrupter at James but then fell over backwards, a burned hole left in the chest of the attacker and the soft warm feeling in his hand from discharging the phaser he just picked up.

It was quiet, the angry yelling had stopped. The quiet lasted for a few seconds before more yelling started again. This time, instead of angry yelling, it was articulated in words. He focused and could make out the words better. They repeated over and over, just two words. "Medic" and "Doctor". He shook his head and remembered that he was a doctor. He looked up over the rubble and saw bodies sprawled everywhere. Men and women. Human and other. Young and old.

James stood up and tried to get his bearings. He clipped the phaser to his uniform and walked through the chaos. His clean, white doctors lab coat was covered in mud and blood of no less then two colors. People screamed and ran to him. Begging for help for their husband, their parents, their children. He yelled at the few Starfleet tactical officers that were standing. They tried to line people up for James to examine.

His coat was grabbed by someone of an unknown race to him, holding a toddler in her arms. The translator told him she was begging for help. He didn't need to know the words, it was universal. He made the call, he black tagged the child, there was no saving the child with what he had to work with and no other medical help available. The person begged again and he tried to shake her free so he could try and treat others. She yelled, pulled a phaser and fired, his shoulder burned in agony.

"AAAHHH!!!" James woke up with a scream, his face and sheets covered in a cold sweat. He gasped for air and grabbed his shoulder, feeling it. His shoulder was there, and it was normal and scarred, no fresh burns. It was a dream, just a nightmare. A nightmare that was a retelling of another nightmare that he had lived through, the healed shoulder proving it. He got out of bed and walked over to his cabinet. He took a very long drink from it and shook himself.

"Computer, time?" James asked.

"The time is 0231." The computer answered. James sighed. His breathing coming back under control. "This is really not the time. We just got underway." He signed again and absently rubbed the wounded shoulder. "Well, may as well see what's going on at the Broad Axe." He said looking for cloths. He was not going to get any more sleep tonight, he knew enough to not even try. May as well see what was going on in the lounge and get an early breakfast.