Talking Over Coffee

Posted on Sun Dec 20th, 2020 @ 4:10am by Lieutenant JG Alexandra Campa & Ensign Noah Cole

970 words; about a 5 minute read

Mission: Mission 0 - Pre-Sigma Iotia II
Location: Mess Hall
Timeline: 2168/08/26 1600

Noah walked with Alexandra to the crew's mess hall. He would ocassionally look at her.

Alex stepped into the mess hall. "So what do you think of Horizon so far?"

"One of the older ships in the fleet, I think. It's probably seen it's best days behind her, but...it's what we have." He held a chair out for her.

She took a seat, smiling slightly. "Is this your first posting?" she asked curiously.

He sat opposite her. "I was assigned to the USS Montana before her. During a routine mission, the ship suffered massive engine failure. About a third of the crew died from radiation exposure." Cole looked down. "We had to wait for a rescue ship....I lost a lot of friends."

"I'm sorry," she said, her expression softening as she reached across the table and put a hand on top of his. "I heard about what happened on the Montana but I didn't realize you'd been aboard."

When she placed her hand on his, it felt like a jolt of electricity going through him. "It was rough, but I'm trying to get better, but I don't want to put what happened behind me."

"You don't want to put it behind you?" she asked, a little puzzled by that response.

"It's something that happened.....can't change it. It was rough. It was hard seeing so many of my shipmates die, and at times, we were all working so hard that we would forget about them, but then it would hit us." He looked at her. "It was hell, but it's a part of me. I need to remember them for as long as I can. I know this sounds foolish."

"It doesn't," she said softly. A long silence followed, as if she were trying to figure out what to say next. "I don't really know what to say. I can't imagine what that must have been like. Everything that comes to mind sounds like a platitude." It was just then that she seemed to notice that they'd sat down without actually getting the coffee. "Let me get the coffee. How do you take yours?"

"I'll take a green tea please, no milk, 2 sugars." He gave her a half hearted smile.

She walked over to the synthesizer and returned with two mugs, one green tea with no milk and two sugars, one a French vanilla cappuccino. She sat them down on the table and then sat herself. "There you go."

He nodded at her. "Thank you. I'm sorry to put all this on you, it's something that I have to live with."

"It's ok," she said. "Have you, you know, talked to someone?"

"I've talked with a few therapists while I was in rehab. All they wanted to do was talk. So I kept telling the same story to each of them. I wasn't trying to be difficult, but I told the story as best as I could remember." He picked up his drink and took a sip. "I think they thought I was suicidal."

"Sometimes it helps to talk," Alex suggested gently as she took a sip.

"I sometimes think I'm all talked out, but you're easy to talk to. " He took a sip of his tea. "I think all you need to know about what happened is in my file. But, for you, I will try to answer anything you want to know." He liked her...she was nice..beautiful and easy to talk to.

"I don't know what to ask," Alex said, hesitating at first. She took a sip. "What caused the engine problem? Do you know?"

"The Montana was an old ship, should have been mothballed years earlier. The official report said that a cause for the accident couldn't be determined, but the truth is that a fitting in the engine room failed, causing the leak of radiation." He could hear the alarm klaxons going off in his mind. "Everyone in the engine room died by the end of the day....30 people. Repair teams in hazmat suits went in to contain the leak...but by then, the radiation had already spread to the lower levels." He closed his eyes and dropped his head. "People were begging for help over the comms, but the first officer couldn't help them for fear of spreading the radiation throughout the ship. By the time help arrived, the first officer was hailed a hero. He was no hero."

"Why couldn't they determine the cause officially?" Alex asked. Her expression was heavy as she processed the information. The question felt trite but she wasn't sure just what wouldn't have felt that way.

"By the time the Montana was towed back to Earth, it was decided that the ship was beyond repair. So...they towed it towards the sun, and gravity dragged it into the sun, with all the bodies still aboard." He looked down at the floor. "There was a memorial for all the lost crew...the first officer was promoted to captain...he was there...I didn't go...many of the survivors didn't go. Then I was assigned here."

"Why didn't you go?" she asked softly. Dark eyes watches him, curious and sympathetic.

"To the memorial?" He looked at her. "Because that coward was there. I remember all my friends here." He patted his head then his heart. "I wouldn't diminish their memory." He looked at her. She was so beautiful. "Thank you listening to me. I know I can ramble on at times. Can I take you to dinner to thank you?"

"Sometime," she said thoughtfully. She offered a tentative smile. "I don't mind listening."

"What about this evening? For dinner?" He looked at her and asked.

"I can't tonight," she said.

"Oh...okay...I had to ask. Sorry." He starred down at his drink.

"Soon," she said reassuringly.

 

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