STAR TREK
"The Defiant"
Once there was a junior lieutenant named Ethan Parks. He served on the Prometheus-class USS Recluse. The doctor was treating him for voices in his head.
"And you've had these voices for how long?" the doctor asked.
"Three years," the patient said.
"Jesus, Ethan," the doctor told him. "You should have said something. I want to hear all about it."
"I was left behind at Star Fleet Headquarters after a battle against a Romulan K5R frigate named Henchman," he began.
Sitting, the doctor asked, "Left behind by whom?"
"The USS Defiant," he added. "It was a year before it was lost in deep space. Then I was reassigned to this ship."
"It's not impossible that the loss of your ship and the voices arriving in your head are related," he smiled. "If that's what you're implying."
"Are you going to give me something?" Ethan asked.
"No. I don't know what you have," he said. "Just… take it easy."
He would leave the sickbay. Hearing voices, he stumbled into the officers' lounge to have a drink. He was the only one there.
Then his dear friend, Gloria Dawson, sat across from him.
She said, "Hi. I was sent as a yeoman to find you."
"Why?" he asked her.
"It is your turn to stand guard on the bridge tonight as security officer," she said knowing this was big trouble for him.
Ethan ran to the bridge leaving his drink behind. He stated to the senior lieutenant, "Thank you, Gloria."
She would finish his drink as he headed for the turbolift. Out of breath, he arrived at his destination. The man in the center seat told him, "Ethan, before you relieve Rush Logan, I've got some bad news for you."
"Yes, sir," Ethan Parks said standing at attention.
"At ease, Parks," he began. "Your department on this ship is no longer needed."
The junior lieutenant hesitated to ask, "You don't need supply officers anymore?"
"Right. You always complain about missing stuff, so everyone is now responsible for their own equipment," Captain Sean Brink said.
Rush Logan rolled his eyes as Ethan Parks took his place guarding the bridge.
Standing there, he looked to see the USS Defiant. He realized the starship Repulse was deep in Tholian space. The former supply officer bolted to the shuttlebay. He believed the Defiant could quiet his mind.
"Lieutenant!" the captain yelled. "Come back here!"
On his way to the shuttlebay, he bumped into Gloria Dawson drinking his drink. He stole a shuttlecraft named Isca and launched it.
The captain laid back in his chair wondering how the mission would look in his log. Then a small craft appeared before them on the screen.
"Sean Brink!" the helmsman cried. "A shuttle has been launched!"
Captain Brink stood up to move to the helm station. He said, "That's Parks. Damn him. Red alert."
"Shields up," Science Officer Daniel Swanson announced.
"No! No shields!" he said. "Beam him back!"
"Sir," the chief engineer explained, "a Klingon F5 frigate has engaged us from the rear. It's the IKV Accuser."
"Then keep shields at maximum and open fire," Captain Brink ordered.
"I don't think we can keep this up with our battle damage," Commander Swanson told him.
"I know, Daniel," the captain responded. "But I'm not going to lose a man in a shuttle."
Weapons fire was being exchanged when a Texas-class starship named USS Holt Jerome appeared to protect and defend the Prometheus-class Recluse. Ultimately, the Klingons would disengage.
Holt Jerome opened hailing frequencies. Captain Mary Chase said, "You really should not be in Tholian space, Sean Brink."
"I apologize, but we are here to study a Tholian web," he responded with open arms.
"That's fair," she replied. "Scanners tell us your man entered the shuttlebay of the starship Defiant. We will retrieve him."
"Why?" Sean asked. "Do you need him for something?"
"Oh, God, no. Our science officer, Lieutenant Commander Scott Parks, is his older brother," Mary said. "We are getting within transporter range."
The officer known as Ethan Parks was sitting in the Defiant's captain's chair weeping. His old crew was dead, and he was still hearing voices.
A landing party beamed over. Ethan's brother took off his space helmet and simply said, "I'm sorry."
The Holt Jerome captain announced something via communicator. She said, "Prepare to beam back. The Tholians are coming."
"Good-bye, brother," Scott said as he put his helmet back on.
"It will only be for a short time, right?" Ethan asked.
"No. I have a feeling this next fight will be our last," he told his little brother. "You will tell your captain to disengage, immediately."
Ethan Parks contacted his ship with the Defiant's communications station. He said, "We have to leave Tholian space, quickly."
"If we did that, we'd fail the mission," Captain Brink said.
"That doesn't matter now," Ethan continued. "We should never have come."
"Alright," his captain ordered. "You get back here."
The landing party was beamed back to the Texas-class ship. Then Ethan Parks was beamed back to the Recluse. Gloria Dawson was in the transporter room. She walked him to sickbay.
The doctor went to work on Ethan as Gloria leaned against a bulkhead. He said, "Don't you even know why you're here?"
Ethan responded with silence.
"I looked at some old files," the doctor said. "You have a touch of space madness."
With the use of a hypo, he was cured. The first thing the junior lieutenant did was move to a computer screen. There, from a distance, he saw his brother's ship explode.
Moving from the bulkhead, Senior Lieutenant Gloria Dawson put her arm around him to say, "Come on. I'll buy you a drink."
She knew exactly how he felt. Space was a dangerous place. He had not felt so conflicted since the Defiant crew was lost. He needed rest leave.
The End