Start of the End

Posted on Sat Jun 6th, 2015 @ 7:58am by

547 words; about a 3 minute read

Mission: Episode 88 - Memories Lost, Trouble Found
Location: Starbase 400, Deck 412, Cabin 115
Timeline: MD3 22:08hrs.

The screaming wouldn’t stop. Everything he tried wouldn’t stop it. Then the convulsions came. Full body. White froth appeared at what remained of Markov’s mouth, the dying embers of his scream melting away. He was dying and he couldn’t stop any of it. His hands were shaking, stomach turning as he administered the medication that made it stop. Then his own screaming started. A blood-curdling animalistic scream that seemed to go on forever. The boys were coming, coming to take him away. He fought, screamed and sobbed at the unconscious form of Markov on the floor, the man with no face left.

It was at that moment he snapped awake.

Jack looked around, tears in his eyes, body trembling. This was the third night of this......hell. What was happening? Why was Pavel haunting his dreams? He got the drugs in him as soon as he could; he did everything by the book, they got him back, so why was this happening to him? Then the sobbing started. He hadn’t cried like that since Charlie died, so why now? Damn, he felt like a fool.

Packing after the mission ended was a doddle. His boys were knackered but unbowed, all smiles after a good job done, each of them still living on the adrenaline from 3 days of constant terror, teamwork and success. The USS Bloodstone and USS Hematite had arrived on schedule with medical teams and proper facilities on the 4th day so their work was done. The Ark left orbit with no problems wand headed back to 400.

These.......things......had started happening on the 2nd day from their departure home. At first he dismissed it as just fatigue. But now it was becoming more, becoming.......terrifying.

But from what Jack saw when he was on shift, he wasn’t the only one to feel like this. Watson had stalked around the past 3 days not saying much and Truman had failed to show for the last 2 poker games. He hadn’t seen much of Travers either because he had been seconded to Alpha Watch as emergency cover for their 3 casualties. Only Dye was still irrepressible, bouncing around engineering remarking “if you guys couldn’t take a joke, you shouldn’t have joined”.

The biggest worry however was Walsh. He had completely changed. From being a stammering nervous ensign, he had turned into a snarling aggressive beast that on the 3rd day back had torn a young AB to pieces verbally over a misplaced PADD.

Jack had let loose on Walsh after that outburst, telling him that mistakes could happen and to learn some common courtesy. Walsh didn’t bat an eyelid, or show one flicker of emotion during the rebuke, and left with a thousand yard stare and a scowl. On one occasion, Jack swore he caught Walsh crying in a corner, (sobbing uncontrollably would be better wording); of course, Walsh denied it but Jack wasn’t sure. Look at me though, thought Jack, I’m no different.

He would have to keep a lid on this. If anyone found out that a squad commander was losing his marbles, he would lose his commission, his career, and his life. C’mon mate, keep it together, he thought. We can beat this yet.

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