Sight is wonderful...

Posted on Thu Jun 13th, 2019 @ 11:07pm by Johnathen Anderson Jr

1,123 words; about a 6 minute read

Johnathen sat at the desk that he shared with his roommate, Ensign George Forrester (a good man who was currently on his shift down in engineering), while he thought about what he was going to say about the failed mission. There were many thoughts brewing around in his mind, least of all, the joy of having his vision back to normal.

After contemplating things for a few minutes, he finally decided to just lay things out as they happened.

"Computer, begin recording," he stated evenly.

The computer whirred and clicked a few beats, and then responded in its bland, yet slightly feminine voice. "Ready to record."

"Personal log, stardate one-seven-zero-one point four. Ensign Johnathan Anderson Jr., helm officer, USS Ishimura, recording. sigh Where do I begin? " He paused for a beat before continuing. "Well, the mission started out normally. The away team and I left the ship in Shuttle Nobunaga and did a quick orbital survey of the third and fourth planets in the Nargala system, while the Ishimura and the rest of the crew headed to the far end of the system to investigate an unusual spacial anomaly.

While they were gone, as I said, we checked out the third and fourth planets. They were both in the system's habitable zone, so, it was thought they could be ideal for colonizing. They just needed to be checked out first. I piloted us over to the third and, after I parked us in orbit, the rest of the team started to run their tests." A slight scowl crossed his face.

"I should mention that Cassie was on board, as a member of the team. Had it been my choice, I wouldn't have picked her. But, I'm not the Captain, so, enough said. She was was there." He took a breath and continued.

"Up to that point, I still couldn't stand to be near her. The pain she caused me on Vulcan was that intense. However, I am a Starfleet officer and will di as I'm ordered to. So, bak to the mission."

"As it turns out, the third planet showed signs of a slow recovery from major, planet-wide, nuclear bombardment. It looked as if a catastrophic war had taken place, wiping out all life on the planet. According to the isotopes that were measured, the war apparently took place over a thousand years ago. Unfortunately, the race that had existed there had used weapons that were larger and dirtier than anything I've ever seen, and as a result, even with around the clock cleaning, the radiation wouldn't be low enough for our needs for at least another two hundred years. So, we cataloged the planet and moved on to number four."

He picked up the coffee that he was drinking and took a sip before continuing.

"When we got into orbit of planet number four, we were suprised at just how opposite it was to its neighbor. The readings all came back as a paradise. Clean air, clean water, plenty of land to grow a colony on. Needless to say, we were excited about our find. And that's when things went sideways.

Suddenly, the shuttle rocked hard to starboard and I lost all helm control. We started to fall into the atmosphere, fast. The hull was starting to get overheated fro. The friction during reentry, and a few more systems shorted out. I managed to get some helm control back, and levelled our descent down some. Then, I went to fire the landing thrusters and the last thing I remember was a bright flash. The next thing I knew, we had crashed on the surface. I woke up, my head killing me, and my sight...just gone. I couldn't see anything!"

He took another breath, to steady his emotions before he continued.

"After I came to, I told everyone that I couldn't see. Cassie, of all people, came over and checked on me. For the briefest moments, I was annoyed that she did so. But then, I actually started to feel affection for her again. It was really weird. In my mind, I could feel the anger, but, it was being pushed aside by pure positivity. I actually wanted her near me, needed her near me. I couldn't explain it at the time. But now I can.

Each member of the away team was being effected by the air of the planet itself. We didn't make the cennection at first, it took a while before any of us even realized the truth. Some type of microorganisms in the airwere entering our bloodstreams and slowly changing us. It kept stimulating the pleasure centers of our brains. We found out later that this was so they could feed on our brains.

After the third, or was it the forth day....? Anyway, we finally realized the danger. We did the best we could to effect repairs to the shuttle. My vision was slowly coming back to me during this time. Unfortunately, The return of my vision also allowed me to start to see hallucinations. I started to see my parents, Klingons and other threats. I almost blasted the aft section of the shuttle, when I thought I saw a trio of Klingon marines about to kill Cassie."

He took another sip of his rapidly cooling coffee.

"Anyway, she stopped me by knocking me out with that damn nerve pinch of hers. By the time I came around, I had been securely tied to my seat. I was about to complain, when suddenly, we were beamed back up to the ship. We were all isolated in sickbay for nearly a week, while the medical staff worked each of us over, cleaning our systems out of the microorganisms. Finally, after getting a clean bill of health, we all were released."

He took in a deep breath and sighed.

"And now, I've got to figure out how I feel for Cassie. There was a time when I loved her more than anything else. Then, of course, Vulcan happened. She broke my heart more than I can say. For so long, I...well... hated is too strong a word, but, I can't think of any better verb to use... I did not like her very much. But now, after the planet, my feelings for her are, well, muttled to say the least.

Do I love her? I don't think so. Could I love her again? Hmmm...honestly, I'm not sure, but, anything is possible. I will say that I certainly don't have any bad feelings for her anymore. She did care for me when I was injured. It felt almost like it used to. We will just have to see what happens. End log."

 

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