#22 Recovered

Posted on Fri Nov 18th, 2022 @ 2:20pm by Captain Rogue Green {Meji} & Captain Sean Silk & Lieutenant Commander Kristian Long & Lieutenant JG Marcus Resch {Meji}

Mission: BUGS OH NO!!
Location: Sickbay
Timeline: current

ON:

Rogue Green materialized on Deck 24, near to the Fusion reaction chamber control room. There were people in gold, blue, and red who were working hard at damage control and repiars. A small conference room was nearby and Green caught a Security officer waving her over.

"Where is she?" Asked Green as she came up to him.

"Inside, Commander." As she made to move past him he gently held her up a moment. "Steel yourself, Sir, it isn't pretty."

At first Ro wanted to snap at him but she realized he was only doing his job by preparing her for the worst. Giving a friendly nod she quietly said thank you and then proceeded through the door. Inside, laying on the table, was the body of Zenni, and within that, the body of Kahn. The sight before her made Green do something she had not done in a while. Her hand came up to cover her mouth as she gave a curt exhale at the scene. Had she suffered those same wounds she too would probably be dead, or close to it. Stepping forward slowly Green reached out as she got next to the table and clasped Zenni's hand, the flesh already cooling quite a bit.

"She got the Secondary back online, then..." The male voice stopped speaking as it began to crack. That was when Green realized there was another person in the room, so focused had she been on Zenni. Ro could tell this Ensign was struggling to maintain his composure. He had blood and soot on his uniform, a few places where the meterial was frayed and singed.

Green turned to face the man who stood at the 'head' of the table where Zenni's head was. "Are you okay, Ensign?"

"Not really, no," he replied. Then, through the haze of sorrow he remembered who he was and where he was. "Apologies, Commander. Ensign Marcus Aurelius Resch."

"Thank you, Marcus." Green saw no need for protocol at this time. "I take it you're the one who found her?"

"No, Sir," Resch answered. "I sat with her as she passed because she asked me too." He began to fidget, his eyes looking everywhere but at Green, his face trying to contort into crying, small breaths taken in and out to stave off his sobs. The tears, however, filled his eyes and a couple ran down his cheeks. His eyes returned to Ro. "She ugghhh...went in and ugghhh...ran the bypass herself. I was injured," he motioned to his wrapped calf. "So, she ordered me to aid the others while she went in. Then..." He began to crack again. "Then...she...ughhh...she was near the manifold...and well..." He motioned to Zenni's body then placed his hands on his hips as the sobs took over. He put his face down as if looking at his feet and his body shook with his quiet crying and his deep, sobbing breaths.

Not knowing what to say as she stood before him, the Core allowing her to feel his sadness coming from the heart, Rogue Green made a simple decision. Stepping in she clasped him in a warm hug, a hug of warmth and compassion but most of all, support for what he had been through.

As he hugged his Executive Officer Resch began to explain what had happened in better detail, and the final minutes when Zenni had asked him to hold her and not let her die alone. Marcus felt her holding him like a long lost friend, empathizing with his emotions and putting forth no judgement.

Finally collecting himself, Resch released Green and she stepped back enough to remain toe-to-toe. "She took care of it, Sir. Never hesitated. With your permission I would like to beam with her to Sickbay. My leg needs attention but I promised her I wouldn't leave her."

Ro placed a gentle hand on his shoulder. "I have no problem with that. Get yourself mended, Ensign. We need you. The Amandora is in bad shape. Every hand on deck, bad shape."

"Of course, Sir." Resch was glad he was not being asked to abandon the body until he got it to Sickbay. "I'll go now."

"I need to get back to the Bridge," Green explained. Her own sorrow was a deep well in her soul but she was the XO of a starship and that meant that her time for grieving would have to wait. "Carry on, Mister Resch, and get yourself and Zenni to Sickbay." He gave a nod. She placed a hand on his face, palm to left cheek as she looked him in the eyes. "Thank you for staying with her. You don't know how much that means to me." Her hand began to lower, patting him center chest as it finally dropped. "We'll talk later." Having said that Green spun and left.

Resch put a hand on Zenni's shoulder and angled his face to the ceiling. The body looked horrible, what with all the debris sticking out of her torso. Plastic, metal, you name it. One piece looked to be roughly 18 inches long and had pierced her through the abdominal cavity, and the piece that had ended Kahn. With another short, crisp breath he spoke up. "Computer, site to site transport to Sickbay." He and the body shimmered out of existence only to reappear in Medical, the body on a biobed as he stood next to it.

Kristian had been patching crew,mending broken bones, cuts and even a few deaths when the transporter kicked in once again. Seeing Zenni and another officer beam in Long ran over to the bio bed. She didn't need the tri-coder to tell her Zenni was gone. "What happened? I've got to try to save the symbiont."

After releasing his own pent up sorrow Resch was fine now. He could hold back sobs and crying even though his face showed the sadness and melancholy of losing a fellow being. "They are both gone, Doctor. I sat with them until they passed. Zenni knew Kahn was gone, and without the Symbiont, well...we know the cost for the host."

Looking at the biobed next to this one Marcus reached out and lifted the 'headboard' to a sitting up position and then mounted and leaned back, extending his legs to bring his left injured shin to bare. That was when Silk came out of the Medical locker and saw who the new patients were and immediately did a turn to come over. "Damn it!" He hissed under his breath as he looked at Zenni's body. "Kahn, too?"

"I can't tell, the damage is too extensive," Kristian said "But it looks that way. I hope I'm wrong." Grabbing her tri-coder she scanned Zenni and looked to Sean "I'm not getting any readings from it. It could have gone into hibernation or it's dead." Kristian then turned to Marcus "We'll have you patched up in no time."

Resch gave a nod and leaned his head back as he sat up, eyeing the two physicians. They must have known Zenni well, the expressions on their faces telling him so. "No amount of scanning will change the verdict, Doctors. She told me, herself, while in my arms and coughing up blood, that it was over. She knew," his voice developed an edge to it as his anger over it all finally bubbled up and overcame the sorrow. "She knew! And, why she asked me...ME! To hold her until she passed. I looked into those eyes the whole time, every nuance of emotion burned into my brain that she put forth through those beautiful orbs. The fear, the anger, all of it. But she never complained even as the tears rolled down her cheeks. Eight minutes later she was gone...they were gone." Going quiet again Resch closed his eyes and focused his willpower to get himself under control since all he wanted to do now was scream as loud as he could out of sheer frustration over it all.

Kristian pulled a sheet over Zenni's body and fought to hold back her tears, this was another death. "Losing someone never gets easy." Grabbing the durmo re generator Kristian set to work repairing the gash on his leg. "It's okay to cry, believe me I've done enough between patients." After several more minutes later "I have your leg healed, I'll give you something for pain. It'll be tender for a little while."

Resch sat up and got on got to his feet as he slid off the bed. "I've cried enough today," Marcus answered. Not gruff, or pointed, just a statement of fact. "Thank you, Doctor. Apologies for my outburst. The people in here don't need to hear my negativity."

Silk gave the man an understanding look. "You won't be the last to do so, Ensign. The after affects of battle are never pretty."

Nodding at the Marine Resch walked over to the replicator and ordered a new pair of pants, dropping trou and changing into them right there. Not that anyone would care at this time considering the state of the Amandora and her crew.

We all understand, your not the first and you won't be the last," Kristian said "I have a friend who is a fighter pilot and she's been out there in the mix," Kristian replied "You start to hurt too much take a minute or two to give the leg a break But I have given you a good pain killer so you'll be okay for a while."

Having changed his trousers, and then his tunic, Resch looked and felt better. The old, abused clothing was put into the trash chute. "Thanks, Doctor Long." He looked at Sean's shoulder nameplate. "Thanks, Doctor Silk. But, the ship won't fix itself." As he made to leave Resch noticed a glint under Zenni's right cuff. Walking over he gently lifted her hand, feeling rigor setting in, and pulled the sleeve up a few inches. Around the wrist was a duranium alloy bracelet that had the letters W-W-S-D on it. Turning it so the gap was angled on the wrist at the thinner angle he removed it and turned it over as he examined it and read the inner inscription: "What Would Spock Do. A reminder to always examine all variables."

Taking the wristband/bracelet and pushing it onto his own wrist Resch then went and gave the body a final kiss on the forehead before he turned and left Sickbay. All ahead, full.

Silk looked at his CMO. "He earned that gift. I didn't see a thing." He too turned and went back to work.

"Nor did I," Kristian said as she walked over to where a group of children were. She's changed into a fresh lab coat

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