Chapter Text
“Don’t worry chancellor,” Captain Carol Freeman proudly addressed Praxus Ⅶ’s delegation, “now that the quantum core is safe, we should be able to get your reactor back up and running.”
The captain was receiving her well deserved hero’s welcome for finding and retrieving a vital piece of stolen planetary infrastructure. Praxus Ⅶ’s entire energy grid, including the atmospheric controls that made life possible, were powered by a single massive reactor. However, all that changed this morning when a trio of nausicaan raiders broke into the reactor facility and stole a unique and critical component, nearly plunging the world into ruin.
But that was until Captain Freeman and her ship intercepted the criminals as they tried to sneak out of the system. The nausicaans’ shuttle was attempting to use the magnetic field of a gas giant to hide from sensors, but her crew managed to overcome the interference and locate the shuttle. Despite being a support ship, the Cerritos was more than capable of subduing the fleeing shuttle by knocking out its shields and crippling its engines.
The raider leader, especially tall even by nausicaan standards, tried to resist the security detail that boarded his ship. But he and his two associates were no match for Shaxs and his highly trained team. Once they had subdued the raiders, her crew was able to safely recover the stolen quantum core, allowing her to present it to the Praxian leaders.
Freeman, along with her first officer, Commander Ransom, and her chief engineer, Lieutenant Commander Billups, had just beamed down in front of the main reactor building. Billups was on her right, holding the blue bowling ball sized icosahedron that was the stolen quantum core. On any normal day this would be a vibrant garden with a well maintained path up to the blue spire-like tower. But this was not a normal day. The clouds were orange and swirling ominously overhead while gusts of wind slammed into the away team and assembled delegates.
“We can’t thank you enough, Captain,” the chancellor yelled over the howling wind as he clutched the all too thin coat to his chest, “but when will you be able to get the Life Engine operational? Our people depend on it.”
“Don’t you worry sir,” Freeman confidently responded, “I will see to it personally.”
“Thank you,” he called out over the increasing wind. “When you’re finished, we’ll be sure to host a banquet in your honor.”
Ah, a banquet. Finally, proper recognition for her ship and crew’s fine work. All too often her accomplishments are overshadowed by so-called ‘important ships.’ But not today. She is just as capable and hard working as any of those other captains. Today she was going to celebrate her success.
The Praxians were a simple people whose ancestors built the Life Engine centuries ago. It sat in a valley on the planet’s equator and consisted of the upper spire, which mainly served as a monument, and a one hundred kilometer diameter ring underground. The ring is a massive particle collider which slammed particles into a quantum energy field created by the quantum core. This created a microscopic pocket universe and with it an astronomical amount of exotic energetic particles, more than enough energy to sustain a whole planet.
Over the decades, more and more of their planet’s infrastructure became reliant on the engine for its abundant power. Ironically, as they became more dependent on the engine, they also lost most of the technical knowledge required to run and repair it. The engine was just too efficient and could largely run itself for years on end without needing any kind of meaningful repair.
So it was up to Carol and her crew to repair the damage done by the nausicaan thieves. The trio, who were currently locked in the Cerrito’s brig, did quite the number on the facility during their brazen robbery. Luckily her crew had started beaming down with equipment to get the engine back in working order.
Soon Carol could bask in the success of a job well done.
As Mariner, Boimler, and Rutherford hauled the gear into the reactor facility and took the lift down, Ransom, who of course hadn’t bothered carrying a damn thing, started rattling off about what needed to be fixed and checked. The particle collider’s accelerator ring was located inside a shielded tunnel that allowed for maintenance access. The tunnel also acted as a place to divert and dissipate the dangerous exotic particles in the event of an emergency. Along the ring were numerous bypass manifolds to facilitate that, a few of which were damaged during the robbery. The commander wanted them inspected and repaired before reactor startup.
“Seriously, why is there always so much crap we have to haul by hand?” Lieutenant Junior Grade Beckett Mariner complained after they arrived and Ransom wandered off. She had to carry a large crate through the halls towards the ring access door. While the crate wasn’t overly heavy, it was awkward and threw off her center of gravity, making it a pain in the ass to move.
“The reactor room’s physical shielding also blocks transporter signals,” Brad Boimler, also Lieutenant Junior Grade, cheerfully replied. He’d clearly done the reading, as usual. “The high density alloys are designed to prevent the exotic particles from escaping containment. Even neutrinos are stopped by it,” he said with a mix of awe and excitement as they entered the ring.
Inside the massive tunnel was an almost equally large metal tube that contained the accelerator itself. A few dozen meters away was a rectangular device attached to the side of the tube, a bypass manifold.
“They had to install com boosters all over this place years ago just so basic communicators would work,” Sam Rutherford, another lieutenant junior grade, chimed in with another fun fact. He then set the crate he’d been carrying down at the first manifold, opened it up to pull out tools, and started working.
The pair of lieutenants were working overtime lately to make up for the lack of science facts which would normally be flowing from their missing fourth. D’Vana Tendi left weeks ago to fulfill a promise she made to her younger sister to return to the family business. Of course in Tendi’s case, her family’s business was being one of the most powerful Orion Syndicate families.
No one had heard a word from their friend since she left and everyone was getting worried, especially Mariner. If it wasn’t for the way Commander Ransom was watching her every move, she’d have already stolen a shuttle and beaten her way through as many syndicate enforcers as it took to rescue Tendi and take her home by now.
Unfortunately it seemed the commander was conspiring with her friends to keep her from flying off to save Tendi. Every time she acted even a little stressed, either Boimler, Rutherford, or T'Lyn would be glued to her hip. While she loved her friends to death, it was like she was being babysat, or worse, put on suicide watch.
So barring any daring rescues, she’d have to settle for keeping the group morale up while they waited for word. T’Lyn obviously did not outwardly show she was at all bothered by Tendi’s absence. But the vulcan had been spending more time in meditation, something Mariner worried was T’Lyn struggling to keep her emotional turmoil in-check. Given what happened when T’Lyn’s Bendii Syndrome first manifested, a similar grief induced lack of control could be devastating for the whole crew.
Boimler was being Boimler. Outwardly he was confident in Tendi and was always assuring everyone that she would be fine. If he was troubled by Tendi’s absence, he wasn’t showing it. Unless it was his own confidence issues, Boimler excelled at keeping his own turmoil from showing.
Rutherford concerned her the most though. He’d gone through a lot in the past year already. He lost his memories for a time after the pakled attack. Then he learned his entire life was a collection of false memories created to suppress the real Sam Rutherford. When that Rutherford tried to fight past the programming and get his life back, her Rutherford’s resistance resulted in his death. Yet he never talked about this. When she returned to the Cerritos after her mom tried to kick her out of Starfleet, Rutherford confidently claimed he did not care about anything he learned.
But that couldn’t be true. No one was that good at processing.
Now Rutherford was at it again, claiming to be unbothered by his best friend being missing. Tendi and Rutherford were always exceptionally close. If it wasn’t for the way Rutherford appeared to be asexual, Mariner would be convinced they’d eventually start dating. She even asked Tendi once if they were together. To which Tendi replied that it was complicated. So clearly there were at least feelings in one direction.
With all the life altering events thrown Rutherford’s way in the past year, she was worried something was going to break. But the more disturbing possibility was that the people who programmed the new Rutherford’s personality made him as truly unconcerned and passive as he appeared.
When they’d finally finished checking the bypass manifolds, they joined the captain and senior staff in the reactor control room a level above the main ring. It was a large circular room with a wide window overlooking the now glowing blue quantum core which was floating where the twin beams of accelerated particles would collide. Below the window was a half circle of controls and readouts against the wall. Chief engineer Billups was making some adjustments as Mariner and her friends arrived.
“I think we’re ready to go Captain,” said Billups.
“Alright, good work people,” her mom proudly proclaimed as she stepped up to the controls and rolled up her sleeves. “Now let’s get this Life Engine back online.”
“Um, Captain?” Billups nervously questioned.
“Don’t worry,” Freeman brushed off his concerns. “I took a few engineering courses at the academy, I think I can turn on a reactor.”
“If you, um, insist Captain.” Billups backed away nervously. Once the captain got it into her mind that she was going to do something herself, there was no stopping her.
Mariner knew how her mom could get. Overconfident and having a constant need to prove herself was a dangerous combination. Billups was standing there sweating, probably because he was remembering the incident on the ringworld. It was a miracle her mom wasn't court martialed, let alone still had a commission after that.
Dad must have worked overtime to protect her mom from consequences again.
Mariner pinched the bridge of her nose in exasperation. Given her mom’s history with micromanaging and how that often turned out, chances were high Mariner was going to be late for dinner.
As the captain activated the various controls the facility came to life. Status lights all over the control room came on line and on the other side of the window, the quantum core began to glow and spin. A humming filled the air as energetic particles began flying through the accelerator ring at relativistic speeds.
“The accelerator is up and running,” Freeman said, giving commentary. “Now we just need to activate the diverter and send the particles into the core.”
With the turn of a dial, twin beams of silver light fired into opposite sides of the core. The twenty sided device spun faster and faster as the light it emitted grew brighter.
Mariner had to admit it was both beautiful and intimidating.
Then an alarm started blaring. “It’s fine.” Freeman waved her hand dismissively. “Just normal startup jitters. I’ll get her in line.”
The area around the core started to warp and twist, like the light was refracting through strange lenses.
Billups rushed to the controls next to the captain. “Exotic particle emissions are reaching unsafe levels Captain.”
“It’s alright, just give me a moment to compensate.” Freeman confidently worked the controls, trying to bring the reactor under control.
The core was now glowing concerningly bright. Boimler and T'Lyn instinctively inched away from the observation window while Rutherford ran over to his boss’s side.
“Captain!” Billups’s serious and uncharacteristically sharp tone caught the captain off guard. “We are losing containment, Captain.”
More alarms and warning lights filled the control room. Ominous indicators flashed across the control panels. Whatever was happening, it was spiraling out of control.
“I can get the reactor stable,” she countered. “Just give me a second.”
“No you cannot. Step aside.”
Freeman stared at her chief engineer, whatever counter she had planned, died in her throat. She looked down at the panel in front of her, then back up to his hardened expression. Then she just nodded and stepped back.
“Lieutenant,” he said to Rutherford as he took the captain’s place. “Give me a hand here.”
The pair’s hands flew across the controls, desperately trying to get the system under control. But the alarms continued. Whatever they were doing wasn’t working. The normally unflappable Rutherford was covered in sweat when he glanced back at his friends with fear in his eyes.
“Exotic particle buildup is becoming self-sustaining,” Rutherford said as he read something on his screen. "Activating diverters.”
The alarms continued. New flights flashed across the controls. Something was wrong.
“Uh, sir,” Rutherford’s worried tone got his boss’s attention.
Something he saw there on the screen made Billups go pale. “Dragon’s blood,” he exclaimed under his breath. He turned to Freeman. “We need to evacuate,” he said urgently.
“Explain, now,” she responded firmly.
Rutherford turned around to address her. “Something’s wrong, the diverters aren’t activating. We can’t flush the system and stop the self-sustaining reaction.”
“Captain,” said Billups, “We need to move. That core is going to become critical in minutes. We need to evac ourselves and anyone within several kilometers.”
“Commander there’s a city outside.”
“I’m aware of that.” Billups’s stone cold expression communicated more urgency than words ever could.
Freeman tapped her communicator. “Captain Freeman to Cerritos, the reactor is unstable. I am ordering an emergency evacuation of all personnel and civilians within a two kilometer radius of the reactor.” Not waiting to hear the ship’s response she addressed the assembled officers. “That means you too. That’s an order.”
Commander Ransom started directing Mariner and the other lieutenants to the exit, but her mom, Billups, and Rutherford weren’t moving. This wasn’t right, there had to be something she could do.
Mariner thought about the bypass manifolds they’d spent the afternoon repairing, and turned to Boimler and T’Lyn as they were guided reluctantly towards the exit. “Can the bypasses be manually opened?”
“Such an action would be unwise,” said T’Lyn. “There is little time for an attempt, and anyone successful would have a low probability of survival if they did not exit the containment ring before critical contamination occurred.”
That was all Mariner needed to hear. She took off out of the control room and down the hall. Several people shouted her name, but she did not pay them enough heed to tell who. Countless lives were at state, she had to act.
The first reinforced access door for the ring opened as she approached. Stepping inside, she closed the massive sliding piece of metal behind her.
Her heart was pounding as she raced towards the closest bypass manifold. She barely gave herself time to stop, nearly crashing into it. The screen flashed to life, showing some kind of control signal error. There was no point in wasting time diagnosing it. She tapped the screen until she found the emergency override.
“Mariner get back here,” her mom’s voice came over her com badge, “that’s an order.”
Mariner took a deep breath to calm her nerves, and activated the manifold. A loud clunk sound echoed through the tunnel as the bypass slid into place. Red flashing lights filled the tunnel. She had moments before the tunnel was flooded with exotic particles and the doors sealed shut to contain them.
She bolted for the door she came in through. If she didn’t make it soon, she’d be done for.
Mariner closed fast. But not fast enough. She was about halfway to safety when light filled the tunnel behind her. Mariner didn’t dare slow down or look back.
A dull click echoed through the tunnel as the containment door’s locks engaged. “No, no, no, no!” She yelled.
Then the light became blinding and every inch of skin was on fire.
All Mariner could do was scream.
Freeman didn’t know what was more gut wrenching, her daughter's screams of agony, or the abrupt silence that followed.
She was numb, barely hearing Billups’s call saying something about the bypass working and the chain reaction coming under control. Nothing he said could possibly matter. She’d killed her. Her daughter wasn’t even thirty years old, and she killed her.
Her trembling fingers found her com badge. “Medical emergency. T’Ana get down here. Full radiation protections.”
Freeman didn’t move, only able to stand helplessly before the containment door. Far too many agonizing minutes passed as she waited for Billups to remotely isolate Mariner’s section and flush the particles. There was nothing she could do but wait and stare at the unforgiving metal. Part of her didn’t want it to open and force her to face what she’d done to her daughter.
She truly thought she could start up the reactor without issue. But once again she’d pushed her luck too far. Only this time it was her baby girl who paid the price for her arrogance.
Doctor T’Ana and her three person medical team’s arrival shook her from her stupor. The medical team was dressed in full radiation suits. Only a clear faceplate let Freeman know who was inside each suit. T’Ana placed an uncharacteristically comforting hand on her shoulder, a silent request for her to step aside and let the doctor do her job.
Thankfully her first officer must have had the wherewithal to prevent Mariner’s friends from being there to see this too. They didn’t need whatever was on the other side of that door seared into their memories. No, as Mariner’s mother, captain, and cause of death, that burden belonged to her.
Freeman nodded and gave the doctor and her team space to enter after Billups called to inform them it was now safe. The door slid to the side, revealing the tunnel and the containment force fields that isolated the section.
After the medical team entered, Freeman couldn’t help herself. She stepped into the tunnel and finally saw what was left of her daughter. Her stomach dropped as she fought to hold its contents inside. She threw a hand out to steady herself on the doorframe when her knees threatened to buckle.
There wasn’t much left of her daughter. Mariner had collapsed not even ten meters from safety. Mariner was lying on her side with her back to the door. She must have curled up into the fetal position before… Freeman couldn’t continue that thought, it was already taking everything she had to maintain what little composure she had left.
Mariner’s head wasn’t visible. All Freeman could see was a deflated lump supporting Mariner’s uniform jacket. Her black boots lay discarded at the end of pants that were disturbingly flat and empty just below the knee. While what was left of her daughter’s torso blocked Freeman’s view of her arms, she could guess what their state was.
The radiation and exotic particles must have burned away any exposed flesh before doing a number on everything shielded by her uniform.
Freeman’s vision began to grow fuzzy at the edges. Her baby girl, her wonderful daughter, snuffed out in the most horrific way possible, all because of her.
T’Ana carefully approached the body, tricorder out, taking readings. She held a hand out, silently ordering her three assistants to stay back. The doctor nervously stepped around the body, keeping the tricorder out between them. Once she was on the other side of Mariner she crouched down and continued her scans.
Then T’Ana stopped and removed her suit’s hood. “Shit’s safe,” she said before scoffing at her assistants' concerned reactions.
From where she leaned against the doorframe, and through tunneling vision, Freeman couldn’t make out what T’Ana was doing. But she appeared to reach out and touch Mariner’s body.
And did she, smile?
Freeman didn’t know if she was outraged or confused. Maybe the rapidly approaching act of passing out as messing with her head.
T’Ana’s eyes flicked up and locked with hers. “Get over here Cap, you’re gonna want to see this shit.”
She was so taken aback she was snapped back to reality, banishing the encroaching darkness. On trembling legs she slowly closed the distance. Her eyes were locked on what was left of her baby girl’s body. As much as she wanted to look at anything else, she couldn’t tear her eyes away from the lumpy uniform that draped loosely over the disturbingly small mass supporting it.
T’Ana rolled her eyes at Freeman’s timidness. “Just get your ass over here.”
She had half a mind to start screaming at the doctor and tear her a new one for behavior that was callus, even by the doctor’s standards. But Freeman knew if she let any of her emotions through, the dam barely holding back the torrent would fail completely.
Giving the body a wide berth, she stepped around past the sickeningly empty boots. T’Ana was still crouched in front of Mariner’s body, blocking most of her view. The doctor had set her tricorder down and with one hand was holding something inside the open collar. Using her free hand she waved Freeman in closer.
The captain swallowed and crouched down. She braced herself for whatever horror she was about to see as T’Ana grabbed the uniform flap and lifted it out of the way.
Freeman flinched, not ready for what could be under there, then froze, only able to blink as she stared blankly at the sight. It took her a moment to fully process what she was looking at. Her mind spun at the conflict between the mutilation she envisioned versus the reality before her.
Supported in T’Ana’s hand was the unconscious, yet healthy looking, face of a familiar young girl. Even though she hadn’t laid eyes on that specific face in almost twenty years, Freeman would recognize it if she hadn't seen it in a thousand.
There, lying peacefully on the cold metal floor was ten year old Becky Freeman.