The Worst News

Posted on 15 Dec 2013 @ 6:29pm by Captain Rebecca Post
Edited on on 15 Dec 2013 @ 6:32pm

1,032 words; about a 5 minute read

Mission: M11: Feet to the fire
Location: USS Achilles, En-Route to Earth

Rebecca Post sat in her quarters. After all the craziness of recent days she was glad to finally get some time to herself, to unwind and to recover from the head injury she had sustained during the incident. It had been treated well enough of course but it was still a little tender, which of course made it difficult to sleep, but not impossible and she had slept in worse places after all. They were heading back to Earth at last, and if they were lucky, just in time for Christmas. Rebecca was looking forward to perhaps getting back in time to see her Harm, her older brother, or if not him at least her other brother, Jack, who was back at Starfleet Command awaiting a new assignment after his short stint as an Executive Officer. She’d love to see their parents if they got the chance, but both were also in Starfleet and very busy, after all her father was a Vice Admiral and her mother a Commodore, she hadn’t seen either of them in person for over three years and was missing them. But she was a Marine Officer, and she knew better than most how to deal with being alone.

Rebecca was distracted from her book by her computer terminal chirping, she stood up and made her way over to her desk and settled behind it, a quick examination of the display informed her that it was a relay from Starfleet Headquarters. She frowned and typed in her access code and watched as the display changed to a male officer wearing the insignia of a Lieutenant from the command division.

“What can I do for you Lieutenant?”

“Are you Captain Rebecca Post?” The Lieutenant asked grimly, something in his tone Rebecca didn’t like.

“Yes,” Rebecca replied slowly. “What is this about?”

“Are you the sister of Major Harmon Post?”

Rebecca’s eyes shot open, she suddenly knew the script that the Lieutenant was reading from and she didn’t like it one bit. It hit her like a freight train and she suddenly felt herself shaking.

“Yes.”

“Ma’am, its my duty to inform you that your brother, Major Harmon Post, SFMC, was declared missing in action this morning following the disappearance of the USS Gladiator last week,” The Lieutenant informed her, his tone heavy with regret. “The Commander-in-Chief and the President of the Federation extend their regrets for…”

Rebecca didn’t hear anything else that the Lieutenant said; she tuned most of it out. She knew all the usual platitudes, she had said some of them herself during her career to next of kin, in this case it was even worse, some random Lieutenant due to the fact that the Gladiator had seemingly disappeared. She didn’t even hear as the Lieutenant extended his own personal regrets before signing off. The screen replaced itself with the Seal of the Starfleet Marine Corps and eventually it turned dark as it powered down to safe energy. Rebecca didn’t know how long exactly she remained sitting starting at the screen, not really seeing anything. She couldn’t believe this was happening. It was one of her worst nightmares come true. Harm was more than just a brother to her. In her early years as a Marine she had been at the Colony of Kavalis when it had been attacked by a hostile species, she had been captured after leading a resistance, thereafter she had been tortured and raped on a pretty much daily basis. When Starfleet finally liberated the colony it had been then-Captain Harmon Post that had personally rescued her and taken her to safety.

In losing her brother she had effectively lost her rock. She had lost the one person that had helped her when she needed him most; she had lost the one whom she had confided everything in. She had lost the one person that she had ever talked to about her ordeal on Kavalis. Rebecca had never fallen in love with anyone so she had never really felt loss before, having never lost anyone close to her that she lost. Friends were one thing, but losing family or loved ones was something entirely different. It was like a part of her heart, a very important one, was now totally missing. She felt empty inside, like she was all alone once again. She just couldn’t believe it, she had known the dangers when she had joined the Corps, and she had known that with a family of Starfleet Officers the chances of losing at least one of them was comparatively likely but the fact remained that she’d never expected it to actually happen, not to her. She didn’t know how she would deal with it, or even if she could.

When Harm had returned from leading the Marine team assigned to hunt down the hostiles responsible he had, for a large part, been responsible for her staying in the Corps. By the time he returned she was out of hospital and battling to stay in the Corps, he had immediately taken an indefinite leave of absence, despite the impact it would have on his career, to help her. He had, with a little help from their high ranking parents, managed to keep her in the Corps. After that he had spent the second half of the year helping her recover her lost fitness, regain her confidence and generally prepare herself for a return to active duty, including taking a number of courses to make her a more effective Marine leader in the future. She had then subsequently turned down an offer of joining a Recon unit at that point, preferring to get her balance back again in the Fleet and the rest as they said was history. Of all the people in her life Harm had helped her in those six months than anyone else ever had in her life. She adored her brother and owed him her prosperity.

Rebecca blinked and turned away from the screen.

Then she started crying.

Captain Rebecca Post
Marine Detachment Commanding Officer.
U.S.S. Achilles

 

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