Disclaimer: I do not own Star trek.
Chapter thirteen:
James forced the body of his uncle off of him and forced himself to his feet. He scrubbed the dried blood from his cheek and tried not to look at the bodies of his aunt and uncle, but he didn't have much of a choice as his knees give way and he collapses back down to the ground between them. Reaching across, with a shaking hand, he slowly closes his aunt's eyes, trying not to meet her lifeless gaze.
The shooting had stopped hours ago, but James hadn't moved an inch until now. He just lain there, waiting until it was completely silent. He had wanted to make sure all of Kodos' men had left, before he moved. His uncle had saved him and he sure as hell wasn't going to let that go to waste… He was going to make them both proud.
Forcing himself to his feet again, James braces himself before looking around. There was so much blood, it seemed to contrast with the pale skin of the dead and even when James shut his eyes he could still see them in his mind. Their eyes were the worst, cold and lifeless, staring blankly at nothing. He'd known many of these people, talked to them, know them by name and now they were dead.
James' attention is suddenly caught by a soft sobbing noise. Following the sound James climbs over the bodies, trying to control his gag reflex as he goes. Finally he finds the source of the noise. A small three year old girl, still being held tightly in the arms of her dead mother. The girl looks up at him as he approaches. Her face was covered in dried blood, but she didn't appear to be injured.
"Hey," James whispers. "My names… JT."
The young girl shakes her head and turns burying her head in her mother chest.
"Why won't mummy wake up?" JT hears her sob.
JT wouldn't have stopped the tears running down his cheeks even if he could have.
"She's gone to sleep forever." JT finally replies, trying to explain to the three year old her mother was never going to wake up.
After a moment the young girl turns to face him. "It's the bad man's fault… He made mummy go to sleep and not wake up forever?"
"Yeah," JT answers. "We have to go, if the bad man comes back he'll make us go to sleep forever too."
The girl shakes her head. "I'm scared, I want my mummy to wake up."
JT stared at the girl, he couldn't imagine what this was like for her. She was so young and she had no concept of death, even though she was surrounded by it. She was too young to understand what had truly happened and JT couldn't decide whether that was better or worse.
"I know you're scared," JT mutters. "But we can't stay here, it's dangerous."
"Mummy said never to trust a stranger." The girl answers.
"Your mother is a wise women," JT answers. "But how can I be a stranger if you know my name… You know my name right?"
The girl nodes. "JT."
JT smiles slightly. "See I'm not a stranger, you wouldn't know a strangers name… Now we have to get out of here."
"We have to leave before the bad man returns?" The girl questions.
JT nodes. "Yes, we do and I promise, one day you'll see you mommy again."
The girl slowly crawls from her mother arms and takes JT's hand. "I'll see her again?"
"Yeah," JT answers. "Do you believe in heaven?"
The girl nodes. "That's where my granny went before we moved here."
"Well that's where your mummy is going to be going soon... After we leave, she'll go to heaven and one day you'll go there too and you'll see her again, I promise."
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Spock quickly followed the captain as he ran through the engineering decks, obvious knowing where he was going and not slowing his speed, forcing people to jump out of his way. So far Spock had been unable to gain any information regarding what the captain thought was wrong. The only thing he knew was Jim was radiating high levels of fear, which Spock was having trouble blocking out. But it wasn't fear for himself, it was fear for someone else. Fear for someone in engineering it would seem.
If Spock had been any other being on the ship, his irritation would have showed clearly on his face as they reach the main deck of engineering and Jim suddenly turns and ducks under some pipes and heads towards a station hidden from view of the main floor. As Jim runs towards the station, Spock step almost falters as he sees a body lying on the ground.
Jim crashes to his knees beside the man lying on the floor, Spock quickly approaches as Jim begins checking the unconscious man's vitals. A cup is held tightly in one of the man's hands, whilst its contents is spilled across the floor. Moving to the station, Spock clicks the intercom on.
"Spock to medical bay." Spock speaks.
"McCoy here." Dr McCoy answers.
"A medical team is needed in engineering immediately." Spock replies.
"They're on their way." McCoy states, before the connection is cut.
Spock raises an eyebrow, before turning towards the Jim and the unconscious man.
"Come on, Kev." Jim mutters. "Don't do this to me…"
"A medical team are on their way, captain." Spock quickly speaks up.
Jim turns and glances up at Spock. "Thank you, Spock."
"Thanks are illogical." Spock answers.
Jim smiles slightly, before turning back to the man on the floor who Spock now recognises as Lieutenant Kevin Riley. Jim quickly places Riley in the recover position, before gripping his hand and bowing his head slightly.
"This is my fault, Kev," Jim whispers. "I'm so sorry… I should have worked it out quicker."
Spock glances at Jim and goes to ask what he means but stops when Jim carries on talking.
"I knew they wouldn't wait, I knew they'd strike as quickly as they could…" Jim mutters. "I just didn't think it would be this soon… I made you a promise a long time ago Kev, that I would keep you safe from them no matter what happened and no matter what the cost and I've failed. I'm so sorry, Kev."
Spock again raises an eyebrow, he had not been aware the captain knew the lieutenant prior to Riley transfer aboard the enterprise. There was no denying that Riley was a brilliant engineer, but a previous friendship with the captain, Spock knew, would cause many to doubt Riley ability, thinking he only gained his rank due to his friendship with the captain.
Jim suddenly lets go of Riley's hand and gets to his feet as the medical team arrives and he's quickly moved onto a stretcher. One of the nurses quickly takes the cup from Riley's hand and it's placed in a sample bag. Jim watches them hurry off towards medical bay, once they have gone he kneels down and studies the liquid, before dipping a finger in the liquid and tasting it.
"Amanita phalloides extract." Jim mutters, causing Spock to frown slightly.
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JT stood watching the group around him, as they stopped for a break. There were nine of them in total, nine of them had survived Kodos' execution. JT hadn't been able to hide his relief when he found Tom and Kevin alive among the dead and with them five others.
Eleanor Molson, the girl JT had found, was the youngest at three and a half years old. Next was Danny Eames, who had just turned four years old. Then there was Connor Maxwell who was five nearly six years old, after him it was Joe and Melissa Burke, brother and sister at the ages of seven and eight. Then there was Alice Roberts who was nine and a half. Kevin Riley, was eleven years old, JT himself was only thirteen years meaning Thomas Leighton was the oldest at fifteen years old.
But it was JT who was in charge of the group. Tom had ready agreed with Kev, that it should be JT who was in charge. It was JT who got them all safely out the compound, past the guards and out of the colony.
It was also JT who suggested that hiding in the mountains would be there safest option, there was clean water and hundreds of caves to hide and take shelter in. Plus Kodos' men would have a hard time tracking them in the mountains.
JT turned and stared at the mountains, they were going to have a hard time surviving, but if they could stay hidden and stay alive until Starfleet arrived with the next lot of supplies they'd make it off this god forsaken planet. And that's what JT had promised them, he promised them that they all would make it off this planet alive and that he'd keep them alive until then and he had no intention of breaking that promise.
After all his uncle had died pushing him to the ground, to keep him safe and alive. His uncle's sacrifice wouldn't be in vain. His uncle had saved him and now it was his turn to save others, in the back of his mind he couldn't help but be reminded of his father's actions on the day of his birth. How he gave up his life to make sure everyone could get away, including him and his mother.
His mother. JT shut his eyes. His mother was dead. Three months after his twelfth birthday, she died in an accident. A warp core malfunction, which flooded the engineering decks with radiation. Most had got out alive with minor radiation burns, but his mother and a handful of others weren't so lucky. He couldn't help but feel like he hadn't been as sad as he should have been when his aunt gave him the news… But then he'd been closer to his aunt than his mother and now she was dead too.
"What's the plan, James?" Tom asks, standing next to him.
JT turns and looks at Tom for a moment, before looking back at the mountains.
"It's JT now."
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Hey, I hope you enjoyed reading that chapter. The next chapter should be up soon.
Blessed be,
TreeOfLife1997.