Final Goodbyes (Part 2)

Posted on Tue Aug 2nd, 2022 @ 3:42am by Captain Akeno Misaki & Lieutenant Avery Coyle & Lieutenant Commander Raelyn Mckenzie & Lieutenant Rosaleen O'Donnell & Lieutenant Commander Mark Johnson & Lieutenant Luna Eclipse of the House of Martok & Lieutenant JG Patra Rommel & Lieutenant Commander Jonathan Miller
Edited on on Tue Aug 2nd, 2022 @ 3:43am

Mission: Arista
Location: Arista Colony, USS Wayfarer

Previously on Star Trek Wayfarer

"We hereby commit the body of Sistine Fibel to the ground. The first to be buried here on Arista" Akeno said so that everyone could hear her. "Before she passed, she thanked me for releasing her from this existence and to ensure we care for her crew. She was selfless to the very end..." Akeno paused. "She was more than a Starfleet Captain. She was a leader and I know the memories we all hold of her will never fade"

Akeno wiped her face as she ran a hand over the torpedo tube, the soft fabric of the flag running under her fingers. She stood up straight and faced the Wayfarer crew, tears running down her cheeks. Usually a Starfleet Captain wouldn't show such weaknesses infront of her crew, however she was only Human and her emotions were far too strong to take control.

"Crew of the Wayfarer!" she said loudly. "Stand at attention!"

Sadako quickly made her way over to Akeno and stood next to her. "Arista crew. Stand at attention too!" she said loudly.

And now the continuation...

Akeno turned with Sadako to face the torpedo tube before both of them also stood at attention.

The phloem hitching in his throat, Johnathan straightened his posture and raised a hand to his forehead in a farewell salute.

Mark snapped to the attention and slowly raised his right hand to a salute. He briefly closed his eyes and the images of his late wife’s funeral showed up. After a deep breath, he opened the eyes again and stared at the burial.

Raelyn quickly raised her hand to a salute and snapped to attention. A single tear ran down her cheek and she let it, but she would grieve later. Right now her duty was to pay her respects to the fallen Captain and protect those who were doing the same.

Luna squeezed Lt. Coyle's hand one last time, then snapped to attention, and raised her right hand in salute.

"May the road rise to meet you,
May the wind be always at your back.
May the sun shine warm on your face,
The rains fall soft upon your fields.
And until we meet again, May God hold you in the palm of His hand.

May God be with you and bless you,
May you see your children's children.
May you be poor misfortune,
Rich in blessings,
May you know nothing but happiness From this day forward.

May the road rise to meet you
May the wind always be at your back,
May the warm rays of sun fall upon your home,
And may the hand of a friend always be near.

May green be the grass you walk on,
May blue be the sky above you,
May pure be the joys that surround you,
May true be the hears that love you."

Luna didn't realize that she had spoken the old Irish Blessing out loud until she finished and opened her eyes, also something she hadn't realized she had done. Luna looked around, but the looks she received were not angry or upset, they looked almost grateful. Lt. Coyle's grin was by far the biggest.

Coyle was going to applaud but thought twice about it considering the time and place. He had not known his Klingon-Betazoid colleague long, but the recitation of the poem was the last thing he expected. He admired her, in a way, and was proud of her at the same time. Luna was profoundly stricken with grief; to have the courage and stamina to bring that poem to life (knew it by heart!) was astounding to Lt. Coyle. The crew had come together as a family and Avery Coyle found a new trusted friend in Luna Nicole of the House of Martok. He felt proud to be a member of this crew and to be a Starfleet Officer.

Patra was doing her best to hold back the sudden nausea and deep abiding blackness that seemed to want to take over her. Her left hand began to tremble noticeably. She could hear the roar of her heart and it felt like a million butterflies where trying to pound their way out of her chest. She heard the captain give shout out to come to attention, she snapped too, in the distance she heard someone speak out as she collapsed forward and into blessed darkness.

Lt. Coyle knew something was wrong. Lt. Rommel was there, then she just disappeared from view. Luna had just finished her speech and looked up and Patra was gone.

“What the hell?!” Coyle and Luna just looked at each other for a moment, then Coyle was the first one to get out of his seat.

“Oh, damn! Patra!”

Avery immediately ran over to Lt. Rommel.

“ I need medical here right now! Lt. Rommel is down and unconscious! Dr. Johnson! Here! Here! She has a pulse, breathing Is labored and shallow. Not sure what happened, but she was just standing here and collapsed.”

Luna knelt beside Coyle and Rommel, praying the Lt. was alright. Luna gently unbutton the Lt.'s top uniform buttons to try and help Rommel breath easier. "By Kahless, she looks so pale," Luna thought, gently taking Rommel's hand so if she was still able to feel, she'd know she wasn't alone.

"What the hell?" Johnathan muttered as he tried to get out of his wheelchair to help.

"Sit!" his caretaker ordered, pushing him back down into the chair. "We don't need two medical emergencies right now!"

Lt Johnson immediately noticed Patra collapsing and moved forward to help her out. He knelt within the colleagues and asked for some space to operate. He ran a quick medical scan to assess she was indeed breathing and then started diagnosing what was wrong.
She had a fever, possibly her already critical conditions got worse due to the stress of attending the burial and her stubbornness in wanting to work, even lightly, aggravated her situation.

Passing a hand on her forehead he said “She is boiling” he took his communicator and requested a transport for two to the Wayfarer’s sickbay.

Patra Rommel was completely unconscious of the world around her. Her breathing was shallow and labored. The sound of gurgling could be heard as she breathed and she coughed up blood multiple times, getting it all over her dress whites. She was pale and appeared to be at death’s door. She was extremely warm to the touch and perspiration was soaking through her uniform. She was mumbling between breaths.

Mark took Patra in between his arms and awaited the transport from the Wayfarer.

[Wayfarer's Sickbay]

Lt. Johnson materializes with Lt. Rommel in the Wayfarer's sickbay and immediately barked out a few orders to his medical teams.
He got the blonde engineer in the closest diagnostic biobed and ran a few in depth scans while trying to keep the temperature of her body down.
As soon as he left her body into the biobed he immediately noticed spots of blood in his white uniform's sleeve.

"We need to drain the blood from her lungs" he yelled as one of his assistants immediately snapped and executed what ordered.

Her medical conditions were all but reassuring.

She had a pulmonary embolism in her left lung and both lungs needed to have internal tissue regeneration treatment due to burns probably due to the close flames and hot smoke and fire depressant she inhaled. Her entire left side of her body would need a complete neuro regeneration treatment and her heart was in no better shape either. Her beat was irregular and fleeble.

Mark shook his head in despair. He briefly held his head within his hands trying to figure out how to proceed from that point on. They were far away from any medical facilities and she immediately needed treatments and care. The Wayfarer's sickbay was the most advanced he had ever worked in, he might be able to save her, afterall.

"The most important thing for now is to stabilize her and have her clean her lungs from the blood in excess. Make her breathe again" he instructed the medical team while he took an hypo and shoot a pain killer to ease her suffering while the blood was drained out of her lungs. At the same time he started to find a way to work on the internal tissue regeneration.

Almost two hours passed while he kept working non-stop on getting her lungs regenerated at least as much as it was needed to have them working at a good rate and to avoid most of the internal bleeding. Lots of hours of treatment still needed to be performed but at least she was more stable now.

Mark finally breathed. He unbuttoned his uniform's collar and sat. Tired. He closed his eyes.

As much as he really wanted to keep helping her he needed to take a small break. He exhaled slowly before speaking: "Computer, activate the Emergency Medical Hologram"
A human-like figure appeared in the middle of the room. "How may I assist you, doctor" he said in a normal and calm tone.
"Please, take care of the patient in biobed 1. She has the priority" Mark explained "her medical file had been updated with all the information we have and the latest treatments".
The EMH acknowledged and, after syncing with the sickbays' computer, got to work.

Mark oversaw him working. It was somewhat weird to trust an hologram for such things. He got close to the patient and, even knowing she was unconscious, whispered her: "Don't worry, you'll be fine. And you might find a packet of chewing gums once you'll regain consciousness". He smiled and, not willing to leave the sickbay in case he was needed, he just used an emply biobed to take a quick nap.

---

Ignoring the commotion, Akeno stood at attention as slowly the tube with sistine was lowered into the ground.

'Taps', the traditional tune played on Bugel echoed around the flower meadow played by one of the Wayfarer's crew. The sweet yet sorrow notes flowed through the air as slowly the tube was lowered into the dark earth. A shiver ran down Akeno's spine as the bugel played and the tube was lowered slowly.

Finally the lowering stopped as the Torpedo Tube rested peacefully at the bottom of the pit.

Several of Wayfarer's security officers had lined up at the back of the crowd carrying pulse phaser rifles. As soon as the Bugel stopped playing, an eerie yet spooky silence fell upon the area. It was however soon interrupted by the firing in unison of thephaser rifles high into the air.

Akeno counted as they fired. They reached twenty one, completing the traditional twenty one gun salute for a fallen comrade. It wasn't usually peformed these days at Starfleet Funerals as most happened in space, however this seemed like the right thing to do.

A moment of silence once again fell upon the area. Akeno held back her tears as she stood staring at the grave. "Crew. Dismissed!" she said loudly, bringing the funeral service to an end.

Johnathan was deathly silent as his caretaker began wheeling him back towards the Wayfarer; so many thoughts were rushing through his head right now, it was impossible to put them to vowels and consonants. Even if they were the victors of this battle, he certainly didn't feel like a winner.

Akeno stared for a few moments at the empty grave as people began to leave. She stood there for what seemed like hours staring until she was alone. A single tear ran down her cheek, which she wiped away with her sleeve. Finally alone, she bowed. "I'm sorry Sistine. Goodbye, fly free".

Posting by

Captain Akeno Misaki
Commanding Officer

Lieutenant Commander Jonathan Miller
Executive Officer

Lieutenant Avery Coyle
Chief Flight Control Officer

Lieutenant Raelyn Mckenzie
Chief Security/Tactical Officer

Lieutenant Mark Johnson
Chief Medical Officer

Lieutenant JG Luna Eclipse of the House of Martok
Flight Control Officer

Lieutenant JG Patra Rommel
Structural/Environmental Specialist