SD241910.17 || Joint Log || "When We're Human Again..."

Posted on 17 Oct 2019 @ 9:05pm by Captain Mallory Thorne & Lieutenant Talrian Bran

1,448 words; about a 7 minute read

Talrian told himself he was just putting his head down to rest for a moment while he sliced another degree of the pie around the ship. Looking for one small, humanoid shape object in the vastness of space around a planet made finding a needle in a haystack the children's menu puzzle by comparison. Plus Terrans had so much junk in orbit around their planet. More and more he wondered how the planet survived. Not the people on it, but the planet itself. How had it survived Terrans to this point? He was coming to a dark belief that the world war raging on the planet was actually a secret plot by the planet to get rid of a viral infection.

But, he'd lay his head down for a moment, while the scanners worked on another degree. He, like so many others, were working on several fronts - there were still crew missing. There was still the Ops chief missing. Her body floating somewhere in the space around the planet. Presuming it didn't get knocked so far off course that planet's gravity already claimed it and it was vaporized on re-entry. But he couldn't think that way. Not pessimistically. There were too many counting on them still.

But, he'd lay his head down, just for a moment, just to rest it. To take pressure of the side that Kawolski had injured fighting to be free of Talrian's grip, or the low headache he found himself with since the shuttle crash. The other bumps, cuts, bruises. He hadn't even bothered changing out of the ridiculous jumpsuit he was wearing. He'd left the bridge after reporting his return, took care of a few more items then learned about the status of the ship. The chain of shuttles to pass along the message of transporter beams (genius!) and...the loss of the Ops Chief on a mission. How she wasn't yet recovered.

That there were still many unaccounted for crew.

No one left behind. It was an old motto, he'd learned in boot. It had its roots in the Terran Marine tradition but it was still a Marine tradition today. He didn't intend for it to fail. For him to fail. He'd worked too hard, ordered too much, did too much to leave anyone behind. He tried not to think of Cindreth and the condition the young Betazoid crewman was in, fortunately the melding of telepaths was ended and maybe Cindreth would heal. He didn't think of Kawolski and the trauma he suffered from the patients Talrian gave him - including Shaw. Or any of the other hard decisions he made.

Instead, he decided he would put his head down, resting on his arms, while the scanners did their thing, looking for crew or bodies. It would only be for a moment. Or two.

He was asleep before he even finished that thought - the time since this all began and now catching up to him. He'd barely eaten, drank little but caf - another acquired trait to his personality since joining with the symbiote - and worked. But between everything, he could no longer continue. So, he told himself he'd put his head down to just rest while he waited for the scan and then unconsciousness took over.

It was a rather uncommon sight to find a senior officer asleep at a bridge station...but given the situation, it wasn't a surprise. Still...

Mallory walked over to where Bran was all but passed out. She took in what details she could see and had a good guess that he hadn't reported to medical personnel like she had ordered him to. She moved beside him and leaned back against the bulkhead, arms crossed. She knew there was still a lot she needed to know about his mission, but one thing at a time.

"Lieutenant," she said, aiming for loud enough to wake but quiet enough to not startle. It didn't work the first time, though, so she tried a little louder. "Lieutenant."

Talrian, rudely awoken, moved to stand straight barking the top of his knee on the panel as he did so. It was more the fleshly, muscular part of the quad but it was still hard enough to shake the panel. The security chief blinked blearily, looking around the bridge and seeing the sudden apperance of the captain behind him. Shame and embarassment suffused his system. "Captain!" he said, not quite a shout but any other Marine that would have been in the room would have snicked into their hands and muttered "so boot". Talrian glanced at the panel and the scans he was running, then back to the captain.

Mal lifted one brow, taking in the look of him again. "There is going to be plenty to talk about soon," she said slowly, "but we have hours before the ship tries to get home. Why don't you get some rest in a bed instead of on my bridge?"

Talrian looked away, his jaw clenched at the rebuke he perceived in her tone and comments. "I don't have access to the scanners in my quarters, Captain," he said simply, trying to find something to look at instead of his CO, and settling on the scanner controls and display configured on his station's screen. "I won't sleep again, on the bridge at least."

The subtle resistance did not go unnoticed by her frayed nerves. "What is it that you need the scanners for that can't be handled by the ops department?"

"Lieutenant Malena," Talrian said, lowering his head, his volume dropping. He shrugged. "She's out there and we can't leave her behind. And, there are others still missing. Ops is busy trying to get the ship back together and other duties. Security is...I'm not too busy. We don't leave people behind, Captain."

"We might have to, Lieutenant," Mallory said after several long moments of silence. Her stance and tone softened fractionally as she said it, though. "We brought back many, but we are going to have to shore ourselves for the possibility that we can't risk more of those who are alive for those who...are not. Science tells me it's likely those who were not beamed up from the planet may have displaced into space the moment we got here." Her voice hitched slightly at the thought. Pausing, she cleared her throat and then went on. "And a chief of security working himself to death does no good to the hundreds still alive on the ship."

"Captain," he said, looking directly at her while he paused, trying to think of how to put what was in his head into words that honored who and what he was. "We're not leaving yet and, it can't hurt to keep looking for her and the others. If only to bring them home where they belong." He shook his head, jaw still clenched as dropped his gaze. "I'm not tired anymore, ma'am, please let me continue."

She stared at him, even though he wasn't looking at her now, and was silent again for a time. Finally, she took a deep breath and let it out in a slow sigh. "Alright, Lieutenant," she said quietly. "You can keep looking until we leave, but I can't delay our departure for body retrieval. And we have limited resources to risk for it even if you do find them. But if we can...we will. Try to at least get some food and water. Understood?"

Talrian stood straighter, as if a weight fell off him. "Yes, ma'am," the added emphasis wasn't loud just...emotional. "I'll order up a good C-Rat as soon as I set the next degree scan. Thank you." The last was almost a whisper, almost shy, almost as if it were an embarrassment to thank someone for allowing them to work.

Mallory eyed him and then nodded once. She turned to go, but paused after a step. Turning her head enough to speak over her shoulder, she said, "Let me know if you find anything." With that, she left him to it.

"Roger that," Talrian said, having already turned to resume his seat at the station. He was busy setting the next scan and didn't realize she'd walked away. But, as he had a Code, as soon as the scan started, he made a quick trip to the nearest replicator and ordered up his favorite C-Rat and a large mug of caf to go with it. He brought it back to his desk and set the hot pouch to 'cooking' the entree while he tore into the crackers and cheese.

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