Into the stars forever...

Posted on 06 Apr 2026 @ 5:53pm by Commander Suzanna Batenburg

590 words; about a 3 minute read

Mission: Arawyn’s Itchy Trigger Finger

///// Bridge /////
Suzanna stood in front of her command chair, Lemina IV was on the view screen, and she still wondered what had happened for it to become so unstable so suddenly.

"Captain, I'm reading increasing pressure in the planet's core. It is rising exponentially now. I do not believe we have a lot of time." Her chief of science reported and put the readings on the view screen.

He was right, she saw and tapped her comm badge, "Batenburg to all hands, EMERGENCY BEAM OUT! Get all crew and as many Leminans as we can fit on the ship, you have only a few seconds! We have to break orbit."
She tapped her comm badge closed, "Helm, break orbit, full impulse. And warp as soon as we are out of transporter range… GO! RED ALERT! Shields up"

Her eyes were on the planetary core readings; would they get out of there on time. It would be close. The numbers reached the explosion threshold, and Suzanna called out, "Go to warp now!"

The viewscreen still showed the planet through the aft cameras, it exploded in a bright explosion. The Erasmus shook, as it ran away, it was too late for warp, large chunks of planetary debris hurled into space, several hitting the Ambassador class ship. The bridge shook and Suzanna was thrown backwards into her seat.

"Meow, meow, meow."

"What the…." With a start, Suzanna sat upright in her bed, bathed in sweat, and with her feline friend on her lap. Looking at her, softly meowing.

"Mittens," she said as she stroked the small feline, taking several deep breaths in an effort for her Vulcan half to regain control again. She picked up the small feline and held him to her chest. "Thank you for waking me. That was not a nice dream." Mittens started purring under her caress, and it helped ground her further.

At some point, she would have to meditate and integrate what happened here, into her lattice. Until she had that chance, it would mean the old recurring nightmares. They had been few and far between in the last years, but there were specific things that triggered it. This unexpected attack, with all the damage, injuries and even the death of 3 crew, was one of those triggers.

At the time, it was her broken arm that had kept her in the moment, and functioning. But now that the emergency was over, they were on their way to Starbase 369, and a memorial was scheduled for later today. The nightmare was back. A rave was planned for after the memorial, and Suzanna had determined that that would be the perfect time to retreat to her quarters, and do the necessary work.

//// Shuttle bay 2 ////

Suzanna had overseen the preparations of the memorial, and was gratified to see it all in order. She wore her dress uniform, and stood at attention when the Captain arrived, the rest of the Senior Staff lined up next to her facing the three torpedo tubes, covered in Federation flags.

Of the three, she had only personally known Ens Del Bar'lak due to this work with the feline care committee. Mittens would miss playing with him. The others she had seen around, but not had any direct dealings with, and her human half was sad about that. Such young lives, cut short by something that seemed so senseless.

One by one, the torpedoes were launched, carrying the three crew into the stars forever.

Cmdr Suzanna Batenburg
XO USS Arawyn
Everything fits, otherwise we'll make it fit!

 

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