Be Kind, Please Rewind - Conclusion

Posted on Tue May 12th, 2015 @ 7:05pm by Commander Ehlana Winter & Commander Dae Nalas & Lieutenant Commander Solis & Lieutenant Commander Earl Crane & Lieutenant Bajun Julisa

Mission: Breaking New Ground
Location: SB900 / Betazed

* * * USS Inaba* * *

The door sealed behind them and as Julisa had instructed, Solis searched his bunk, finding the chips. He passed them to Dae who took a seat and emptied the pouch on the counter by the panel. Then he looked to Julisa.

“This is a JAG investigation, by rights you should look at them.”

"Okay, we can all look, right?" Julisa shrugged. She had the credentials out again and was looking them over. Maybe in context with the chips, they'd reveal something. "Let's start and work through dinner." Really, what she wanted was to lie down and sleep for a few days.

“Start with this one.” Solis pulled out a random chip and fitted it into the panel. There was an expectant hush as they waited, and then a video feed began. All three sat, their attention glued to the screen.

The feed showed what appeared to be prison cells, though it was somewhat dark. It was clearly Cardassian construction. It seemed to be a general security feed as the view was fixed. Occasionally they could see guards coming to get an inmate and taking them away, only to bring them back later.

“Why would they want a Cardassian prison feed?” Solis asked.

Julisa pulled the feed up on a padd and set the speed to scan through it quickly. Nothing of note happened on the first several chips, then that changed. Julisa stopped the feed, rewound and slowed it to normal speed. "Dae, is that ...? Is that someone you recognize?"

Dae examined the image and sucked in his breath. “Oh no….”

The video feed shifted to a room and a man, his arms secured above his head. As they watched, a Cardassian seated behind a desk raised a small device and pushed a button. The man’s body visibly vibrated and he screamed aloud. Then his head fell back, his long hair shifting to reveal his face. Solis gasped aloud.

“That’s Nico….what the hell have we stumbled into?”

Dae shook his head. “Nico was in this prison for three months before he was extracted. You’ve seen him on the station but now, seeing this, it’s hard to believe he survived.”

The images were hard to watch. Julisa turned away several times, burying her face against Solis' chest. She'd heard about Cardassian crimes throughout her childhood on Bajor, but seeing it like this was ...worse. "How does someone survive this? Why does someone do this?" Rhetorical question: they were Cardassian. They didn't need a "why".

Again, something caught her attention. "Hey, wait," she reversed video then hit play. "Is that a Fleet uniform?"

Dae tapped the control panel, zooming in and re-focusing. All three were silent a moment, then all three spoke.

“Isn’t that --”

“It is!”

“Oh...shit….”

"Oh gods. No wonder someone wants me dead," Julisa stared at the image.

Solis was stunned, unable to pull his gaze from the screen. “I don’t think anyone is safe, Jules. And I suspect you two were sent here to get you out of the way…” He almost said ‘permanently’ but stopped himself.

“We have to get out of here,” Dae stated. “Julisa make four copies of that but do not call anyone on 900. Given this, we don’t know who is compromised and I don’t want them knowing where we are till we show up. Solis, let’s get this show on the road.”

“Will do.” Solis hurried to the cockpit and began getting the ship ready to go while Dae made contact to get clearance to launch.

Julisa made the copies, including one she downloaded and sent to her own file database. "Let's hope Ray is okay." And not in on this.

“I hope not too, Julisa,” Dae replied. “We’re clear for launch. Let’s go home.”

“And kick some ass,” Solis added. He pressed the panel before him. “Initiating radio silence.”

“You two, especially you Julisa, get some rest. I’ll take the first leg.” Dae took over the controls and soon they had cleared Betazed space.

Solis shot him a grateful look, then stood and moved to the back, taking Julisa with him. He settled on his bunk and wrapped her in his arms.

“You okay? Really?”

She nodded her head against his chest. "My hand hurts. To be expected, I know. Weirdly, my shoulder hurts, too. He must have hit me."

“Likely so.” He did his best not to think about the shoulder issue. “It was a little crazy there for a minute. I’m just glad we got there in time. I don’t know what I would do if….” His voice broke and he fell silent, not wanting to ponder that with Julisa back in his thoughts.

"Shush," she kissed him lightly, "You were there in time. I should have been wary of that message."

“That’s what matters,” Solis murmured. “Now you do need rest. Doctor’s orders. We’ll be home in two days. Then I suspect things are going to get interesting.”

"Mmhmm," she nodded and rose, "I'm going to shower before sleeping." She got a playful glint in her eye and asked, "Feel like helping?"

“Oh, absolutely.” Solis hopped off the bunk and followed her. As he watched Julisa cross the small quarters, he made a mental note to bow down and kiss Ehlana’s feet once he got home.

* * * Ehlana & Earl’s Quarters - SB900 * * *

Pacing, Earl anxiously waited for Ehlana to return. Each time he passed her bunny slippers, he shifted their position, making sure they lined up side by side. "Fifteen minutes... That was five minutes ago."

“Traffic.” Ehlana’s voice sounded behind him. “I got home as soon as I could.” Already the post-travel tiredness was hitting her. She slipped off her shoes, then stepped closer to Earl, resting her hand on his arm. “It’s done.” She knew he’d be bursting with worry so she didn’t make him wait.

He grabbed her and hugged her hard. "Thank you, Ehl. I can't imagine the loss he'd... Yeah, I can. I know how Solis would have felt. If anything ever happened to you...."

“It won’t.” The words slipped out before she could stop them, revealing far more than she should to Earl of their future. But this time, dammit, she didn’t care. He needed it right now. He and Solis were so close; the very idea of such a loss was too much for either of them.

The hint lifted his heart and he kissed her. "I'm glad. Relieved. And Solis owes you. Now, let's get back to that movie. Your bunnies await."

“About that, Earl.” Ehlana stopped him as he turned to leave the bedroom. “He owes me nothing. He will carry a curse from this...he and Dae will remember the wrong timeline as well as the current one. He can never tell her, and he has to live with this the rest of his days.”

"Sometimes that's not a curse, love. You know how many timelines I've seen? It's the ones that go the other way that are really painful." He took her hands in his. "Sometimes, it's the ones like this that remind you how lucky you've gotten."

Earl’s words brought Lucius to mind and she nodded. “Lucky.” She pulled on her new bunny slippers, then took Earl’s arm. “Let’s hope this one will be one of the lucky things for Lucius and Rick. They deserve it. Now….movie, Dr. Crane.”

"Movie-ing it!" He hurried into the other room ahead of her to reset their cushions, snacks and the movie.

********************
Lt. Bajun Julisa
Lt. Commander Dae Nalas
Lt. Solis
Going Round In Circles

Dr. Earl D. Crane
Commander Ehlana Winter-Crane
Guardian Angels