Nightmares and a new beggining

Posted on Thu Jul 28th, 2011 @ 7:51pm by Chief Petty Officer Hugh O'Reily Jr.
Edited on Thu Jul 28th, 2011 @ 8:15pm

485 words; about a 2 minute read

It's been a long time since I thought about the Renegade. It seems like what happened the day I lost my crewmates...my second family...was a lifetime ago. Thanks to Dr. Punez, I overcame a lot of scars that had covered my soul for so long afterward. The nighmares had stopped. I could continue being not only a valueable member of Starfleet, but a father to my children and a husband to my wife.

The nighmares have returned.

It's always the same. I'm aboard the Florida, loading up whoever I can as fast as I can. The feeling that I don't have much time is overwelming, just as it was in real life during the war. Except...everytime I'm loading someone in it just doesn't seem like the ship is full enough. Now matter how fast I pack them in. And the people waiting to be loaded, there...there's just no end.

The Florida explodes. And instead of me racing off with my cargo of Starfleeters in the Danube class runabout, I'm blown into space. But I don't die. I can see the Renegade in front of me, taking punishment from the enemy. Insead of her hull pealing away with the deadly array of firepower it recieves, it turns inky black. The darkenss covers the whole ship in a matter of seconds.

And in my heart, I know it's just not an external change in the ship...something inside has taken over. That ship that I called my home for two years is...is...evil. Intelligent evil. Full of hate, and a want for blood and revenge.

I wake up. I've learned over the years how to recover from these dreams. Lesson number one is never wake up Janice. I don't want her knowing I'm having nightmares again. The next step is to take a sip of water, relax, and try to convince myself that if I go back to sleep I won't have the same dream. Somtimes I have that dream again, sometimes I don't.

About two weeks ago, before I got my orders to report to Starbase 400, I got a visitor from Starfleet Security on Earth. He asked me all kinds of questions about Commander Ivan Pisotskaya. Good God, the man's been dead for over ten years. They wanted to know if I really saw the Renegade get destroyed. What could I say? When I high tailed it out of there, she was on fire, surrounded by two remaining Cardassian warships. I didn't stick around to make sure she was blown into itty bitty bits.

Why? After all these years? What the hell is going on?

Starbase 400 awaits me. I think the change of venue will be good for Janice and the kids. For me. Bremer has an amazing group around him, and the fact that I'm in the mix makes me proud the be in Starfleet.

-PO 1st Class Hugh O'Reily

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