Personal Truths

Posted on Sat Feb 1st, 2020 @ 8:00pm by Lieutenant Commander Nicholas Coleman & Lieutenant Ariel Gilmore

1,126 words; about a 6 minute read

Mission: Episode 103 - In The Darkest Days...
Location: Science Lab Three
Timeline: MD2, 2100 hours

On:

Coleman had been working on several issues with Biological samples and contamination within them throughout the day. The Biology Department had mentioned that there was a breach in the forcefields between the various samples due to a power fluctuation, but they thought it was nothing more than that. A power fluctuation.

As he finished up saving sample number 70156-4A, lovingly called 'Sal' by the Biology Department, Coleman let them finish up saving the rest, as he showed them the best technique to save them.

Walking over to the Lab console, Coleman sat down and rubbed his eyes. He had been working non-stop for a couple days, making sure that the whole of the science department was in top condition. He was happy when he heard that there was going to be an Assistant Chief Science Officer to help him with all the reports and daily fires that came through the whole of it all.

But, he knew that he was going to have to be a leader and make sure that this war that seemed to be brewing didn't interfere with either his professional life, nor his personal one. Coleman thought back to the various wars throughout his lifetime that he was a part of. The Earth-Romulan War, the Dominion War, and the war with the Borg and the Federation, just to name a few. But, it was the last one that brought back the most bitter and resentful memories.

Sitting back and arching his head back on the rest to get comfortable, Coleman began thinking back to when the Borg came to El-Auria and laid waste to their homeworld. His mother, brother, and Coleman himself had to run with little to nothing and barely made it past the Borg armada that was laying waste to El-Auria. The only way that they made it past the armada without much damage was due to the fact that the engineer knew tricks of fooling the Borg sensors, much as the Hansons did in the years to come.

As they limped back to Earth, Coleman and his family knew that they were going to a world that was both home and alien to them. While most of them had some ties to the world, they knew that it wasn't truly a home like El-Auria was. Having grown up on the planet made it a home to them and they knew that they would have to re-adjust and grow in order to make it feel like home.

However, as Coleman was thinking and the memories of the past were flooding in, Coleman didn't realize that Gilmore had walked into the lab with a PADD in her hands. The specimens in Biology lab were nearly complete and she was giving him an update. But, when she noticed how deep in thought Coleman was, she let him have a moment before coughing to bring him back to reality.

As he came down, Coleman noticed Gilmore standing about ten feet away, holding back some laughter from how lost he had gotten into his thoughts.

"I'm sorry, sir. You were just really deep into your own thoughts and I've never seen someone get as lost as you were before. Are you okay, sir?" she asked, wiping away some tears from where she was holding back all that laughter.

Shaking his head and beginning to laugh himself, both Gilmore and Coleman let out a round of laughter out before Coleman responded.

"Yeah, I think I'm good. I just got lost in my thoughts for a moment. Do you have the updates for me from the specimens?" Coleman asked, noticing the PADD in her hand. As she stopped laughing and wiped away the final bit of tears, she handed him the PADD in her hand and he read through the reports.

"Yeah, we've managed to save about 80-85% of the specimens thus far. They are just having some issues down in Science Lab Five, but I think Lieutenant Matthews is down there and helping them out," Gilmore said, as Coleman reviewed the data.

Handing the PADD back to Gilmore, Coleman smiled and said, "If you don't mind heading down there and helping them finish it out. I want to try and get back up to 100% before the end of Beta Shift."

Shaking her head, she said she would head down there. But, as she was leaving, she turned and looked back at Coleman, as though she was going to ask a question. However, she stopped in her tracks before turning back to the door and was almost out before Coleman asked her back.

"Is everything okay? It looked as though you wanted to ask a question, but stopped in your tracks and headed back out. What question did you want to ask me?" Coleman asked, wanting to know what was on her mind. She didn't immediately ask her question, but decided to ask with some prodding from Coleman.

"Are you truly okay, sir? You were just really deep into thought," she asked, a little worried about her superior officer and wanting to make sure he was truly okay. Coleman let out a small sigh, knowing that he had been thinking about the El-Aurian homeworld more than he should have been lately.

Coleman looked at her and let a small smile come across his face before he answered. Coleman said, "Well, I've just been thinking about one of my homeworlds a lot lately. With the prospect of war becoming a little more apparent, at least to me, I've been thinking about all the wars that I've witnessed and been apart of, including the conflict El-Auria saw with the Borg. Just a lot of thinking lately, but I'm okay."

Gilmore understood completely. "I've been there and done that. But, if you're thinking of what you could have done differently, don't because it's only self-destructive. You deserve more than that, sir. If you ever need to talk it through, just let me know and we can talk" she said, giving him a reassuring smile.


Coleman's smile brightened and he thanked her for being there for him, even though she didn't know him that well. He considered taking her up on that offer, but decided to wait until at least after their shifts ended to do so. She thanked him for being so honest with him before heading down to the other science lab to help Matthews complete the rest of the specimen restoration.

Thinking about El-Auria one more time, Coleman smiled. But, he knew that he had work to do and thus, got up from the chair to get back to work. Leaving the memories for another time, Coleman reminded himself to talk to Gilmore and Monroe about possibly setting up a therapy appointment for another day.

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