Backpost: Braving the truth

Posted on Thu Oct 13th, 2022 @ 3:44pm by

Mission: The Lost Brother
Location: USS Dreadnought.
Timeline: Current minus 8 months

She knew what it would show. She KNEW. However, the magnitude of the proof of her knowledge made her stop for the seventh time tonight from scanning herself. Her medical tricorder sat, with a single indicator light blinking on the blank screen- indicating it was in standby mode and ready to use. All she had to do was turn it on, press one soft blue button that was not currently illuminated but she knew it was there. Turn it on. TURN IT ON!

"I can't" she said dropping the scanner. A frustrated groan escaped her lips as she smacked herself in the forehead with the palm of her hand. That had actually hurt a little.

"I can't. I have to, but I can't."

"Just...do the damn scan Acacia." Pacing around the room, the circle pattern she took once more making her a little bit dizzy. Stopping, she collapsed on the chair that Jack preferred to read in, and briefly she was enveloped by the faint scent of his aftershave. That made the corners of her eyes burn, and she muttered "Crying isn't going to make doing this scan any easier. " Rubbing the corners of her eyes, and disappointing the moisture there she continued to allow the thoughts to spin in her head. I don't want someone else to know before I do. I don't want to share with anyone but Jack. Jason. He told you to call him Jason. It's his actual damn name, but he's not here for you to try it.

"C'mon Doctor Thomas...Jason would be ashamed of you, sitting here like a coward. You punched a marine for him, and got yourself beaten. You stood up to his nightmares and faced them down. The least you can do is scan yourself for him. Pretend you're a patient for the love of the Custodian." She muttered and closed her eyes. Pretend she was a patient. The biobed with her on it flickered into her minds eye and she could hear someone faintly over the roaring in her ears indicating their symptoms. Nausea. Dizziness. Sensitivity to light and sound. The vibrancy of her imagination made it possible for her to actually do what she needed. With eyes tightly closed and tears welling up at the corners of her long eyelashes-ignored this time because of the fake sickbay in her mind, she pressed the scan button and swept the tricorder down in a practiced motion. Nerves made her hands tremble violently, something they would never do if she was in the OR. Somehow this was so monumentally different that she had been afraid to even turn the scanner on herself. A tiny bleep indicated that it had found something. Bright blue eyes, swimming with tears turned the readout to face herself.

There it was. Reverent fingers touched the scanner's face, and the tiny dot on the readout. She would get a better scan later, but the first was done.

"Oh hello." Her voice cracked on the word, and she swallowed to get ahold of herself. "I knew you were there."

"Computer, open communications to Lt. Colonel Frost."

It took what seemed like an age, for the communication line to be established. The flickering on the screen indicated that it was going through a number of signal buffers and redistribution centers before it got to its final location. The Marine Seal came onto the screen, replacing the United Federation of Planets seal that was her normal view on a communication screen.

" 27th Mobile Infantry Division, Communication Oversight Center. Corporal Bertrick speaking, how may I help you ma’am?”

"I am trying to get a channel open to Lt. Colonel Frost. But I cannot seem to contact him directly."

"Once moment please." He poked a few buttons on his screen and then frowned at the message that was raised 'Unavailable.' There were further notes but they weren't immediately necessary for him to read. "Colonel Frost is on a mission, communication with his unit is not possible at this time."

"I need to speak to him....wait...I thought he was doing recruiting. What kind of recruitment needs a communication blackout?"

"I'm sorry ma'am, I am not permitted to share that sort of information."

"Of course you're not. It's kind of an emergency, or it will be if I don't get this information to him. Is there any way to get a message to him. It doesn't have to be real time."

"That might be possible. Your name Ma'am?"

"Doctor Acacia Thomas, Lieutenant, USS Dreadnought."

The man looks up her name and sees that there is a special message about this woman. No messages from her are to be put through on the orders of Maj. Gen Alan Frost. Bertrick's eyes tightened slightly at that, and he made a note to officially clarify the orders written. "I'm sorry Ma'am, you are not listed as an emergency contact of the Colonel. "

"But, That's not possible. " She remembered him telling her that he'd added her to his file. They'd been snuggled up together after the incident with his nightmare. She swallowed, remembering briefly how it had felt to have his fingers wrapped around her throat. He hadn't meant to hurt her, but the memory of that night was unpleasant. "He changed those records nearly a year ago."

The changes had been reflected but there was a note directing emergencies to the Major General for the time being. "I have the records right here in front of me. I'm sorry ma'am."

"Please...I'm his girlfriend, well it's far more than that but...I need to talk to him...Tell him something." Acacia chewed her lip.

"Lt. Colonel Frost has no wife or any significant other on file. You are not on his file as emergency contact. You are not a representative of the Fleet Marine Corps...You will have to wait until communication blackout is over and the Colonel can contact you."

"Can I at least leave him a message?"

"Yes ma'am. Your message will be passed on when communication blackout is lifted." Another lie, but the comms would be held and the Colonel would be able to look them up in the register. He wouldn't know that they were there, to look them up...but it would be possible for him to do so.

"Thank you. Do i just record a message for him and send it as an addendum to my next comm to you?"

"Yes ma'am, though all messages are reviewed by a Comms computer in order to maintain security clearances. "

Acacia made a face, three parts disgusted and one part resigned. If the communication computer looked at it, she knew that a member of staff would review it. "It's not like everyone won't know soon enough."

"I'm sorry ma'am?"

"Never mind. Thank you for your help."

"Not a problem ma'am, good evening." The screen went dark and Acacia looked down at her lap where her hands were folded. The tiny image on the screen of her tricorder seemed almost accusatory as she let her eyes rest upon it. "Oh, progenitors...That could have gone better."