Voices?

Posted on Fri Jan 26th, 2018 @ 12:52am by

Mission: Mission 5 - Liberation
Location: Lab areas, being opened
Timeline: MD 2
856 words - 1.7 OF Standard Post Measure

ON:

Braden was working alone, had been for a long while now. He rather liked the fact. No one breaking his train of thought with nonsensical talking. The labs were in no where near good enough shape for any real research. Massive amounts of rebuilding to make them secure would be needed now after all those years. It was not so much they were damaged but refurbished to serve as medical wards. What little he knew was the ship had been used as a medical relief ship. It had been attacked by Romulans and the patients aboard hastily evacuated. So the wards were sort of secured to hold down possible contagions but also redone for faster access to patients. Braden was working over an old piece of equipment and was a bit excited. This was very old and it appeared to be in working order. Many museums would pay handsomely for such an artifact. It was late and he was getting tired but he wanted to finish this project before calling it a night. He could add this to Reuben's collection of valuable items.

Braden thought he was hearing a lullaby? It had the effect of making him more comfortable anyway. It had been a long twelve hour day already and this soft sweet music took its toll.. Braden fell asleep.

"Hush little baby, don't you cry.." The women's voice was gentle and sweet as she tucked in the children in her care. So many sick, so many would die.. "Can my mommy come see me tomorrow?" A little girl barely four asked. The girl had a high fever but always asked about her mother. The nurse had no words to offer, the girl's mother had died. "Just go to sleep Mazie, maybe tomorrow?" In his sleep Braden's mind put actions to words and faces to voices as he listened to this tale of sorrow. He could see the wispy nurse tucking in the reddish tinted baby. "A boy's voice spoke "Is my Daddy still here?" The responding nurse's voice came back with false jovial tones "Henry, get back into bed. I had you tucked in and settled." The sounds of tiny feet scrambling across the deck and the sound of blankets moving across a bed followed.

The night sounds of breathing and coughing echoed through Braden's mind. The imagery of a full children's ward filled his mind. The the sound of a Red Alert and the eye of Braden's mind added the red lights to the sounds of feet pounding across decks. "Get the children ready for moving!" A male voice hollered with the undertones of anxiousness. "The Romulan's are coming. It will be a battle. All those we can shift to other ships before contact is made will be more lives with a chance to survive."

Several female voices overlapped each other as orders and demands mingles with pleas to hurry and comforting cooing aimed at small children. A young boy screamed "I want my mommy!" A femine voice replied "Hush, hush and get ready. You have to make your mommy proud." Crying filled the air and the sound of a shoe falling from the bed, hitting the floor sounded eerily loud in Braden's mind. Voices rose in shrill panic "we are hit, the Romulan's are firing at us already!" Sounds of fire extinguishers and pounding of hammers filled the area. A pain filled scream made Braden shift in his stupor which was followed by the sound of a hammer or some heavy tool hitting the deck.

A sudden panicked scream from a small boy "Teddy, I need Teddy!" An impatient male voice answered "no time we have to go." Crying followed and a soft female voice spoke "It will be alright Jacob, we will get you a new one." The boy's crying continued, desperate sobs "but my grammy gave me Teddy!"

The pitiful voice made Braden shift as he reached out toward the voice. He bumped a patient-bed, as he opened his eyes something furry hit his arm. Coming fully alert Braden picked up an old ragged teddy bear. He stood looking at the old toy in his hand. Braden practically never dreamed, and never with such vivid and varied voices. He looked at the toy then to the bed. Even after all this time the sheets showed it had been someone small in this bed. Braden looked at the toy, it had no value and the child it had belonged to would be likely dead by now. Braden tossed the toy onto the bed rather then into the trash though just the same. he decided he needed sleep and shook his head trying to get the stunning reality of what he had dreamed out of his head.

As he walked he heard a voice behind him. "Did we get them all away safely?" Braden turned abruptly but no one was there. He shook his head smiling at his own foolishness. "Almost enough to make a person believe in ghosts?" Braden walked away in deep thought. He would never believe in ghost, there would be an explanation once all was found out.

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