Through An Autumn

By: CNJ

PG-13

2

Beverly:

It was after lunch when Wesley and I headed outside for some air. The little boy next door, Ben, joined us and I raked together a pile of leftover leaves for the boys to play in. I sat at the edge, catching a brown leaf here and there.

It was so clear and rather windy…the sky was a somewhat dark blue, the way it often is in the late autumn. Back on Caldos, it often snowed by mid-November.

Watching my son play often brings back memories of what life was like when I was that age…I'd been afraid of so much. I remember things here and there, more when I got older…trying not to cry on my first day of kindergarten…swallowing an old Scottish coin in first grade, being frightened and Nana telling me not to worry, that it would come out…at the other end of me.

I used to wonder why my younger sister, Enid seemed braver than me and more outgoing. Nana always reassured me that it was just differing personalities, that I was just sensitive and that often it's a gift itself. I see it as a mixed blessing today.

Maybe that's part of why I'd wanted to be a doctor since I was twelve…I've always wanted to work on wiping out needless disease and the suffering it causes. Enid is a lawyer; she's always had a knack for debating complex issues.

I have no memory of my natural father, but I do have clear recollections of my mother…my own parents never married one another and it's a good thing they didn't because it would have been a disaster. I never did meet my biological dad, David Haley. He died when I was nine.

My mother raised Enid and me at first, but she traveled often as an ambassador for the Federation and often left Enid and me with Nana. She died when I was eleven averting a Romulan attempt to annex several Vulcan colonies.

I did have a stepdad, Paul, for a while, who was Enid's biological dad, but he died when I was seven and Enid was four. Because David never claimed me, I remained with the surname Howard.

Nana finished raising both Enid and me until I left for the Academy. Enid left Nana's when she was sixteen and although she did not join Starfleet, she did unofficially become my roommate at the Academy and I saw her through the last three of her teen years.

Jack:

Jean Luc and I rushed onto the bridge and saw the gas planet. Before anyone could say anything, a rush of light from the planet engulfed the screen and the ship, shaking its foundations.

"Go to yellow alert!" Jean Luc ordered as he sat. "Engage warp…"

"No response…" Lieutenant Peter Joseph reported. "Engines are down…no warp available…"

Peter and I attempted the manual backup to no avail. The ship's functions had been blown offline and out of commission by the explosion.

"Lieutenant Amy Girsh to the bridge…" the comm came in from engineering.

"Picard here…go ahead…"

"It looks as if the ships hull has energy building up in here…it could endanger the ship."

"The nacelles…" I remembered out loud. If energy was building up in engineering, we'd need to detach the nacelles.

"Lieutenant Crusher…?" Jean Luc peered over at me.

"We need to detach the nacelles…" I explained. "As long as this anomaly affects the energy levels, the nacelles can become time bombs…we need to detach them quickly…I'll go…"

Jean Luc finally assigned Peter Joseph and me to head to the outer rim of the ship to detach the now-dangerous nacelles with phasers.

"Good luck…" Jean Luc bid both of us as Peter and I headed off the bridge. Peter and I would head into the closed off section that the nacelles were attached to and fire our phasers on it until they detached, then we'd quickly exit to avoid being exposed to airless space.

Jean Luc:

The ship rocked as the anomaly grew. The time seemed endless as we all waited for any news on Jack and Peter. Then suddenly there was an enormous booming, the ship rocked again, and several of us were thrown aside and out of our seats.

I rose and decided to head to the nacelles to see what was going on. As I neared the closed-off area, I saw wisps of smoke. The nacelles have exploded! I thought.

I tugged the door open to smoke and chaos. At first, I didn't see either of them, but saw the gap that indicated that the last nacelle was being cut free. That's when I saw Jack under the spoke of it, still firing shakily with his phaser.

"What…happened…?" I gasped.

"It's exploding…" Jack whispered. "Jean Luc…leave…get Joseph out…"

I saw Lieutenant Joseph then in a heap on the floor. Racing over, I felt his shoulder and could feel him still breathing. I tried shaking him, but no avail.

"Jean Luc…get Joseph out…" Jack called again as another explosion rocked the ship. Jack fell over backward in a heap. "Leave…get yourself and Joseph out…"

Behind me, the door was rapidly closing. How I wished I could grab both of them! Joseph, pale and limp, lay in my arms like a wet towel while Jack struggled with the phaser, his face equally pale and terrified.

"Jack!" I called, feeling weak and shaky.

"Go!" Jack's green eyes were wide with a mix of urgency and terror. I knew I'd never forget that look…I'd also never be able to describe it to Beverly or Wendy later. "Don't try to take me…take Joseph…and go…" Jack waved one arm desperately, his face a mask of fear.

I was myself nearly overcome with terror, but somehow robotically moved backward and pulled Lieutenant Joseph through the closing door and we both tumbled back into the ship's interior just as the door banged shut. A split second later, a crash rocked the ship again. This sound I knew was the death of Jack Crusher.

Beverly:

It was an hour or so after Ben had gone back home and Wesley and I had come back in when I saw the subspace message panel blinking.

Sitting down and opening it, I was a little surprised to see that it was from Starfleet and that it was from a starbase near the Stargazer's domain.

"Dr. Beverly Crusher?" Admiral Adrienne Miral's voice came on. She looked so grave that my heart began to pound and my hands started to shake.

"This is she…" I whispered. I could feel my brows knot up in worry without my knowing why.

"I am afraid I have some very bad news…" She paused. "There was a tragic accident on board the Stargazer…your husband Jack was involved…I am very afraid to report that he died in an explosion of the ship's nacelles while attempting to detach them due to an anomaly…the Stargazer and its crew will be returning to Earth tomorrow morning. I offer my deepest condolences…"

My lips went completely numb. "Jack…Jack…Jack…oh, Jack!" I wailed even after the communication ended. "No! God! Please, don't let this…" But my own shaking and the painful constriction in my stomach told me to accept this dreadful news.

"Mommy…" My son, Jack's son, whimpered from the doorway. "What's the matter?"

Tears welled in my eyes and I ran over to my son, bent down and hugged him close. "It's Daddy…he's gone!" I wept.

"You mean he…died?" Wesley's wails joined mine and so did his tears.

"I'm afraid so, darling…" I sobbed. Wendy! I remembered in alarm...surely, Jack's mother, if she'd gotten the news, is in as much, if not more pain than me.

Wes and I cried in each others' arms for a long minute, then afraid to let go of my son, I kept one arm around him and used the other to contact Wendy. The tears streaked on her gentle, plump face told me that she had gotten the terrible news about her beloved son and was coming over within the hour.

Oh, Jack! I mentally screamed. I can't believe you're gone! Dead! With this incredible news, I knew that not only Wesley's and my lives had just changed drastically, but also the lives of several others in ways that none of us could begin to imagine.

More later!