WALKING OUT OF THE SHADOWS

CHAPTER 4

Please review, it makes me really happy! Jim and others will join the fun soon!

OC's- Sydney Pike (Lauren Cohen) Max Archer (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) Joseph L. Davidson (Omari Hardwick) Martha Fitzgerald (Imogene Poots) Kane Ziering( Ian Somerhalder) and Richard Carpenter (Paul McGillian-who I thought would have been a perfect Scotty) This is a flashback to introduce Sydney and her crew on the border ship. I'm imagining the Law Enforcement agency, not exactly following all the rules.

"As I rise through the Shadows of the Past, Silhouettes of fire burn through my heart's desire, telling me I have a life to live and a live to give-Dave Alan Walker"

As Sydney lay in her bed with her eyes closed, she knew the shadows in the corner would come to life. She could fight them during the day, keep them at bay, but at night, alone in the dark, they would come. It was always started the same and always would end the same. She tried to fight them at first, went without sleep for days, talked to psychiatrists, took the pills that was supposed to help her sleep, but nothing worked, until she decided to just let the shadows join her. They were her friends, even if they were not alive anymore.

Captain Richard Carpenter had been doing this job since he was 20, had been in one of the first classes at the Interplanetary Law Enforcement Academy. He had found Star Fleet Security to restricting and boring. Interplanetary promised to be a little less restrictive on the rules, and gave more opportunity for patrols. It also meant that you didn't have time to get married, have children or a permanent home, not when they spent 6 months out in 'the dark.' The dark is what he called the out reaches of space, the border colonies. It took a month to get there, four months on base and patrol and another month to get back. Most people didn't last two turns into the dark, or requested to return early. Carpenter sat down at the mess table and looked at his five crew members. He had gotten lucky; three of the five were past there 2nd tour and since he had the most experience, he got to pick his crew.

Kane Ziering, 33, was the oldest next to him. By looking at him, you would think that the young man was a playboy, and belonged in an office, and not on the outskirts of space. He had a cocky attitude, and had gotten arrested three times before he was 22, that and his computer hacking skills. Starfleet would never accept him with the criminal record he had, and what was there loss was his gain. This was his 2nd tour with Richard, but he had spent a few years as an instructor at the Academy. Ziering was one of the best on the spot engineers he had seen that wasn't Fleet. But Ziering had gotten bored being on Earth, and had requested his 2nd tour, and Carpenter had grabbed him.

Joseph Davidson, was the 2nd oldest next to him had grown up on one of the border colonies, knew how bad it could come. The tall 30 year old black man had been part of a gang, a gang that had a life of expectancy of 22. By the time he was seventeen, he had lost two older brothers to the violence, and his mother had begged him to get out, to make something of himself. He had left and joined Interplanetary when he was 18. He knew more about weapons on the colonies than anyone else he had ever met, and had saved Richard's life on more than one occasion. He could have had his own ship by now, and his own crew, and could have avoided going out in the black, but he wasn't that kind of man. He liked knowing he could count on people, like Richard himself, and they worked well as a team.

Max Archer, 25, great grandson of Jonathan Archer, one of the founders of the United Federation of Planets, was the one Richard would have lost a bet to when he was assigned to his crew. He had thought the young man was rebelling against the name when he joined at 19, and that after one tour he would run back to the safety of the Federation and get a free ride because of his name. But from the beginning, Archer, who was great at picking up languages, had surprised him and Joseph on his first trip out to the dark 4 years ago. He was also a sniper and had saved his life on that first trip. Richard couldn't help but smile at the thought of the young man's reaction when Richard had asked him if he was ready to join Starfleet after his first tour was done. The young man laughed and said 'Are you kidding sir, and give up this life?' From that moment on, every time Richard saw his name on rotation, he picked him up.

Sydney Pike, 23, had come recommended to him by Max. He knew the two of them had been friends since she was 7 and he was 9. Both were kids of Star Fleet officers, both had known how mundane life aboard a Starship could be. She hadn't even applied to Star Fleet; she had joined Interplanetary at age 17. She had done her first tour at 19 on his ship, and when he saw how good she was dealing with children and domestic violence cases, he had decided that she was part of his crew. It also didn't hurt that she was amazing with hand to hand, and could take him down when they were sparring. He knew one day he would lose both her and Max, the two of them would get married and have children. He would wish them both the best of luck in the world, but he would miss them.

The youngest, and newest on his crew was Martha Fitzgerald. She was 20 years old, and this was her first tour. The young blond was shy, but attentive. No one else had wanted to bother with the young woman who no one thought would make it past her first tour. They all expected her to lose it, and request to be let go and sent back to Earth half way through the tour. It had happened before, but there was something about this young woman, a determination in her eyes that made Richard knew she was going to last, and be a part of his crew for a while.

Richard took a bite of his pear and looked at his crew. "All right, Ladies and Gents, time to buckle up. We have patrol."

Davidson laughed. "Captain, why do I always feel like you hope we get into trouble?"

"Because he does!" Sydney answered.

"What does that say about us? I mean we are the ones who go with him like a pack of puppy dogs," Kane said.

"Oh I wouldn't say that, Kane. I'd say we know who we can trust out here," Max answered.

Sydney opened her eyes, and turned on the light. She knew sleep wouldn't come, not that night. She got up and decided to finish packing her bag. It was going to be a long day tomorrow.

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