STAR TREK
"The Defiant"
Once there was a junior lieutenant named Ethan Parks. He served on the Texas-class USS Holt Jerome. 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 RIS 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 even 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, Dede Smith, 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 would lead to trouble.
Ethan ran to the bridge leaving his drink behind. He stated to the senior lieutenant, "Thank you, Dede."
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 news for you."
"Yes, sir," Ethan Parks said standing at attention.
"At ease, Parks," the captain began. "Your department on this ship is no longer required."
The junior lieutenant hesitated to ask, "You mean, you have no need for supply officers anymore?"
"Right," Antwon Bach pointed out. "You always complain about missing stuff, so now everyone is responsible for their own equipment."
Rush Logan rolled his eyes as Ethan Parks took his place guarding the bridge.
Standing there, he looked to the left to see the USS Defiant. He realized the starship Holt Jerome was deep in Tholian space. The former supply officer bolted to the shuttlebay. He believed the Defiant could quiet his mind.
"Lieutenant!" Captain Bach cried out. "Come back here!"
On his way to the shuttlebay, he bumped into Dede Smith 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 the small craft appeared before him on the screen.
"Sir!" the helmsman cried. "A shuttle has been launched!"
Captain Bach stood to reach the helm station. He said, "That's Parks! Damn him. Red alert!"
"I suggest we raise shields," the first officer, Tyvek, said to him.
"No! No shields!" he yelled. "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," the captain ordered."
"I don't think we can keep this up considering our ship's age," Senior Lieutenant Tyvek told him.
"I know, Tyvek," the captain responded. "But I'm not going to lose a man in a shuttle."
Weapons fire was being exchanged when a Kearsarge-class starship named USS Repulse appeared to protect and defend the Texas-class Holt Jerome. Ultimately, the Klingons would disengage.
Repulse opened hailing frequencies. Captain Mary Chase said, "Antwon Bach, you really should not be in Tholian space."
"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?" he asked. "Do you need him for something?"
"Oh, god, no. Our science officer, Lieutenant Commander Herald 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 Repulse captain announced something via communicator. She said, "Prepare to beam back. The Tholians are coming."
"Goodbye, brother," Herald 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 our mission," Captain Bach spoke.
"That doesn't matter now," Ethan continued. "We should never have come."
"Alright," his captain ordered. "Get back here."
The landing party was beamed back to the Kearsarge-class ship. Then Ethan Parks was beamed back to the Holt Jerome. Dede Smith was in the transporter room. She walked him to sickbay.
The doctor went to work on Ethan as Dede 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 Dede Smith 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