As Lee stood motionless staring down the barrel of the gun pointed at him the whole world seemed to be at a standstill while his brain was in overdrive. His life, such as it had been was flashing before his eyes as well as other even more important thoughts, all the things he should said and done. He wished he'd told the admiral how much he meant to him, how much he not only admired but felt for him, loved even. Now it appeared if he was unlikely to get the chance to put things straight between them; Chip, his beloved Chip, the man he would willing lay his life down for and would without question do the same for him, who had nursed and mothered him through Annapolis, how he had hated it then, what he would give to have those times back again now, he was going to miss him, even the pranks. So many things they had planned to do together so many places still to see – but not now – now it was over. No more dreams, no more laughter and no more tears. Sorry Chip, I should have come to you, you would have known how better to tackle this – more importantly you would have listened, not judged, but listened, offered advice and support and helped me to try and understand. But now it was too late, no one would come to help him this time, there was no time, the man standing in front of him waving the gun was starting to lose what little self control he had. He was raving at Lee but the words were floating off in the distance somewhere unheard. The gun was shaking in Lee's face. His assailant's self control was fast evaporating long with his sweat. Not long now and it would all be over – he would miss everyone. His Lady but she would carry on with Chip at the Conn; he would make a good captain, long overdue. The admiral, he would grieve no doubt; but sooner or later some scientific project would come along that would grab his attention and he would take it and move on for the greater good of mankind, it is what he was meant to do. A great mind like his should not be wasted looking back but looking to the future. Sorry Jamie not even you will be able to put me back together this time, this is going to be one heck of a hole from such close range, at least it will be quick. All your hard work over the years will have gone to waste. At least the next Captain wont be as accident-prone you can take it easy with him.
At least there was no family, no wife, no children to suffer his loss – things might have been very different if only. As Lee's mind wondered at what might have been his thoughts were broken by a sharp all encompassing pain as his world started to teetering on the edge of reality - this was it, the end, he had never expected it to happen like this, on shore, on leave, his life was about to end and there was nothing he could do to stop it. He felt as if he were floating despite the immense pain, legs had gone to jelly and gave way beneath him – his world had gone black long before his body crashed onto the floor his life ebbing out of him in the fast expanding pool of blood. No time for goodbyes. If only he'd known the truth from the outset……….
