This story was written for the November Challenge. I did my best to imitate the gritty Dominion War stories of Ronald D. Moore.
A Good Soldier
“Go!” The young marine in the door yelled over the phaser fire.
Eric’s fingers flew across the computer console.
The Marine ducked behind the door frame as blue bots of energy flew past. “Go, we’re being overrun here!” He shouldered his rifle and returned fire.
Eric tried to ignore what was happing out in the corridor and concentrated on the encryption.
The Marine stood aside as two of his squad mates, an older man and a young female Trill, retreated into the room.
“Keep fire down that p-way, Hayes.” The older man said.
“Aye, Major.” Hayes responded and fired a volley at the enemy.
The Major turned to the Trill. “Loji, grab the civ. We’re moving.”
Loji grabbed Eric’s arm and yanked him off the console.
“Get off me you stupid jar head!” Eric screamed. “This console controls the whole array. I need to encrypt it or the Jem’Hadar will be able to use the array against the Federation People.”
Loji looked to the Major. The Major pulled out his side arm and fired at the console.
Eric flooded with fear as the console blew up. “Are you insane? They can hook up another one and now I can’t encrypt it!”
“They won’t have the time.” The Major told him. “And now you’ve got no reason to stay, get moving.”
“Who are you to tell me what to do?” Eric demanded.
Loji grabbed Eric by the arm again. “That’s Major Riggs.” She explained, and led him out of the room’s back door, following Major Riggs.
**********
Riggs led the group out of the complex and to some cover several hundred meters up a rocky ridge. Loji dragged Eric along and Hayes brought up the rear. Eric collapsed gasping against a rock.
“What about Abrek and Darshan?” Hayes asked.
“Had to split up.” Riggs said, looking down on the complex. “They were going to head east. We’ll meet up to the south once it’s done.”
“There.” Loji pointed. “They made it out.”
Two men in Federation field uniforms were running out of the opposite side of the complex. They turned every couple of steps to rife their weapons back at the door they had just bolted from.
“Mind all sides.” Eric heard Riggs mutter. Eric pulled himself up to see what was happening. The two men looked to be in the clear. Then figures materialized in front of the men out of mid air.
“The array must have been deactivated. If you had let me finish the encryption the transporter inhibitor field would still be up.” Eric cried.
“The field is still up. The Jem’Hadar have shrouds, personal cloaking devices, those soldiers were already outside.” Hayes said.
The de-shrouded Jam’Hadar leveled their weapons at Abrek and Darshan and fired.
“They’re done. Loji, do it.” Riggs commanded.
Loji pulled a hand held device off her belt. She squeezed three times, the device made a clacking sound with each squeeze. Half a second later the complex erupted in fire. The shock wave of the explosion consumed Abrek and Darshan as well as their Jem’Hadar assassins.
“You blew it up?” Eric looked at Major Riggs in shock.
“A little quicker than your encryption, and no way to deactivate the field now.” Riggs smiled. He then stood and started up the ridge again. “More horn toads will be coming from the east. Let’s get to the other side of the ridge.”
Loji grabbed Eric by the arm and pulled him to his feet.
“You blew up your own people.” He said to her.
“They were already dead.” She said coldly. “If we don’t get moving we’ll join them.”
Eric shut his mouth and followed her. Hayes brought up the rear.
**********
By nightfall the troop had made it over the ridge and located small cave with decent cover. Major Riggs ordered camp set for the night. He sat just outside the mouth of the cave, taking the first watch.
Eric sat in the back of the cave with Loji and Hayes. Loji had built a small pile of rocks and warmed them to a glowing red with her phaser. In the dim light Eric finally got a good look at the face of the girl that had been tasked with protecting him on their flight from the array’s control complex. Her brown hair was cut short and showed off the spots of her Trill heritage that ran down either side of her neck and presumably down the rest of her body. Her face was round, but thin. Her eyes were a deep brown, and staring directly at Eric. He looked away, embarrassed at being caught.
Hayes pulled out a flat, circular device that was a little larger than the palm of his hand. “You’re human, right?” He asked Eric.
“Yeah, why?” It was the first thing Eric had said since they had started up the ridge.
“My field replicator is programmed for human nutrition. I wanted to make sure my rations wouldn’t kill you.” Hayes smiled and placed the device on the ground. He pressed a control on the side and a bowl of hot stew materialized. Hayes gave the food to Eric. “You can eat the bowl too, it’s hardtack.”
“Thanks.” Eric mumbled, and began to eat. He hadn’t realized how hungry he was. He couldn’t remember the last time he ate, not since before the attack began.
“So you’re one of the intel analysts?” Hayes, replicating his own meal.
“No, I’m an astronomer.” Eric replied.
“Funny thing to have on a listening post.”
“MN-1375 is not a listening post.” Eric’s words brimmed with irritation. “It’s a scientific sensor array. It was designed to study subspace until the military commandeered it.”
Hayes shrugged. “We’re at war. I’m sure the intel your array is collecting is saving lives.”
“I was studying the damage our warp drives do to subspace. Do you know how many of our regular space lanes will become un-navigable in the next century?”
Hayes stared blankly at Eric.
Eric sighed, then continued, “Warp fields make micro-ruptures in subspace, spraying tetryons into normal space.”
Hayes stared blankly at Eric.
“Tetryon particles disrupt warp travel. The most at risk areas are near our most populous planets. If nothing is done, Earth itself could be inaccessible by warp drive before the century is out. Think of the famine that could result if enough planets experience the same thing. We are in the middle of a crisis that will destroy the Federation and everybody is ignoring it!”
“Stop whining Civ.” Loji said from across the pile of warm rocks. “You’re complaining the military took your array away from a problem a hundred years down the line. The Dominion is here now.”
“Yeah! It’s the crocodile closet to the canoe.” Hayes added.
“Starfleet created that problem. Liberating Bajor from the Cardassian Union, then conveniently claiming the ‘newly discovered’ stable wormhole in the Bajoran system, and using that wormhole to enter Dominion territory.”
“For the want of a symbiant, you’re a wormhole truether? You think Starfleet knew about the wormhole before the Cardassian War?”
“I think it’s a valid question that Starfleet has never fully addressed. And why does Starfleet keep the region in constant conflict? First it was the Cardassians, then Bajoran insurgents, then Starflleet sides with Cardassia against the Klingons, and then the Klingon war turns out to be instigated by the Dominion. To top it off, Bajor has rejected Federation membership! Why are we still fighting over that planet?”
Loji’s mouth hung slightly open in amazement. “You are a piece of work. I’m going to bed.” Eric followed her with his eyes as she stood and walked to the back of the cave.
“They can’t defend themselves.” Hayes said.
“What?” Eric asked, pulling his attention away from Loji.
“The Bajorans, they don’t have the military power to resist the Cardassians or the Dominion. If they don’t want to be part of the Federation, they sure don’t want to be part of the Cardassian Union or the Dominion. That’s why we fight for them, to keep them free.”
“The Bajorans are sitting quietly behind the Dominion occupation. How many of them have died to liberate their planet? More than the Federation citizens that have died? No. The Federation has lost more in lives than Bajor could bother to muster in resistance.”
Hayes put his now empty dinner bowl down shook his head. “I have to go take the watch. You should get some sleep.” He stood up and turned toward the mouth of the cave, then paused. “You can’t measure right and wrong in numbers. If it’s the right thing to do, you do it.”
**********
Eric was awoken by someone shaking his shoulder. He opened his eyes and a grin crept across his face at the sight of Loji above him. She looked away from his gaze and forced down a smile.
“It’s time to wake up, Eric.” She said softly and handed him a silver pouch. “Hydrate, we’ll have to cover some ground today.”
Eric’s back and shoulders cracked as he sat up. Hayes had given him a sleeping mat, but it didn’t help much on the hard floor of the cave. He couldn’t tell if the soreness in his body came from the sleeping conditions or yesterday’s trek. He tore a corner off the pouch and sipped some of the water from inside. The taste was off from what he expected and he reflexively spit a little out. “It’s a little slimy.” He said.
Loji forced back another grin. “It has a lot of electrolytes in it. It’ll help with your muscles recover.”
“Hard bed, slimy water, how do you put up with it?” Eric said, forcing down another gulp of water.
She shrugged. “There aren’t many luxuries, but what’s the alternative?”
“Peace.” Eric replied.
“There are only two ways to obtain peace, victory or surrender. I don’t think the later is very appealing.”
“What about coexistence? There is enough galaxy out there for both sides.”
“Only if both sides agree.” Loji stared at the ground in silence then looked back to Eric, pushing the thoughts that had kept her silent to the side. “We have to pack up your bedding, we’ll be moving soon.”
**********
A Good Soldier
“Go!” The young marine in the door yelled over the phaser fire.
Eric’s fingers flew across the computer console.
The Marine ducked behind the door frame as blue bots of energy flew past. “Go, we’re being overrun here!” He shouldered his rifle and returned fire.
Eric tried to ignore what was happing out in the corridor and concentrated on the encryption.
The Marine stood aside as two of his squad mates, an older man and a young female Trill, retreated into the room.
“Keep fire down that p-way, Hayes.” The older man said.
“Aye, Major.” Hayes responded and fired a volley at the enemy.
The Major turned to the Trill. “Loji, grab the civ. We’re moving.”
Loji grabbed Eric’s arm and yanked him off the console.
“Get off me you stupid jar head!” Eric screamed. “This console controls the whole array. I need to encrypt it or the Jem’Hadar will be able to use the array against the Federation People.”
Loji looked to the Major. The Major pulled out his side arm and fired at the console.
Eric flooded with fear as the console blew up. “Are you insane? They can hook up another one and now I can’t encrypt it!”
“They won’t have the time.” The Major told him. “And now you’ve got no reason to stay, get moving.”
“Who are you to tell me what to do?” Eric demanded.
Loji grabbed Eric by the arm again. “That’s Major Riggs.” She explained, and led him out of the room’s back door, following Major Riggs.
**********
Riggs led the group out of the complex and to some cover several hundred meters up a rocky ridge. Loji dragged Eric along and Hayes brought up the rear. Eric collapsed gasping against a rock.
“What about Abrek and Darshan?” Hayes asked.
“Had to split up.” Riggs said, looking down on the complex. “They were going to head east. We’ll meet up to the south once it’s done.”
“There.” Loji pointed. “They made it out.”
Two men in Federation field uniforms were running out of the opposite side of the complex. They turned every couple of steps to rife their weapons back at the door they had just bolted from.
“Mind all sides.” Eric heard Riggs mutter. Eric pulled himself up to see what was happening. The two men looked to be in the clear. Then figures materialized in front of the men out of mid air.
“The array must have been deactivated. If you had let me finish the encryption the transporter inhibitor field would still be up.” Eric cried.
“The field is still up. The Jem’Hadar have shrouds, personal cloaking devices, those soldiers were already outside.” Hayes said.
The de-shrouded Jam’Hadar leveled their weapons at Abrek and Darshan and fired.
“They’re done. Loji, do it.” Riggs commanded.
Loji pulled a hand held device off her belt. She squeezed three times, the device made a clacking sound with each squeeze. Half a second later the complex erupted in fire. The shock wave of the explosion consumed Abrek and Darshan as well as their Jem’Hadar assassins.
“You blew it up?” Eric looked at Major Riggs in shock.
“A little quicker than your encryption, and no way to deactivate the field now.” Riggs smiled. He then stood and started up the ridge again. “More horn toads will be coming from the east. Let’s get to the other side of the ridge.”
Loji grabbed Eric by the arm and pulled him to his feet.
“You blew up your own people.” He said to her.
“They were already dead.” She said coldly. “If we don’t get moving we’ll join them.”
Eric shut his mouth and followed her. Hayes brought up the rear.
**********
By nightfall the troop had made it over the ridge and located small cave with decent cover. Major Riggs ordered camp set for the night. He sat just outside the mouth of the cave, taking the first watch.
Eric sat in the back of the cave with Loji and Hayes. Loji had built a small pile of rocks and warmed them to a glowing red with her phaser. In the dim light Eric finally got a good look at the face of the girl that had been tasked with protecting him on their flight from the array’s control complex. Her brown hair was cut short and showed off the spots of her Trill heritage that ran down either side of her neck and presumably down the rest of her body. Her face was round, but thin. Her eyes were a deep brown, and staring directly at Eric. He looked away, embarrassed at being caught.
Hayes pulled out a flat, circular device that was a little larger than the palm of his hand. “You’re human, right?” He asked Eric.
“Yeah, why?” It was the first thing Eric had said since they had started up the ridge.
“My field replicator is programmed for human nutrition. I wanted to make sure my rations wouldn’t kill you.” Hayes smiled and placed the device on the ground. He pressed a control on the side and a bowl of hot stew materialized. Hayes gave the food to Eric. “You can eat the bowl too, it’s hardtack.”
“Thanks.” Eric mumbled, and began to eat. He hadn’t realized how hungry he was. He couldn’t remember the last time he ate, not since before the attack began.
“So you’re one of the intel analysts?” Hayes, replicating his own meal.
“No, I’m an astronomer.” Eric replied.
“Funny thing to have on a listening post.”
“MN-1375 is not a listening post.” Eric’s words brimmed with irritation. “It’s a scientific sensor array. It was designed to study subspace until the military commandeered it.”
Hayes shrugged. “We’re at war. I’m sure the intel your array is collecting is saving lives.”
“I was studying the damage our warp drives do to subspace. Do you know how many of our regular space lanes will become un-navigable in the next century?”
Hayes stared blankly at Eric.
Eric sighed, then continued, “Warp fields make micro-ruptures in subspace, spraying tetryons into normal space.”
Hayes stared blankly at Eric.
“Tetryon particles disrupt warp travel. The most at risk areas are near our most populous planets. If nothing is done, Earth itself could be inaccessible by warp drive before the century is out. Think of the famine that could result if enough planets experience the same thing. We are in the middle of a crisis that will destroy the Federation and everybody is ignoring it!”
“Stop whining Civ.” Loji said from across the pile of warm rocks. “You’re complaining the military took your array away from a problem a hundred years down the line. The Dominion is here now.”
“Yeah! It’s the crocodile closet to the canoe.” Hayes added.
“Starfleet created that problem. Liberating Bajor from the Cardassian Union, then conveniently claiming the ‘newly discovered’ stable wormhole in the Bajoran system, and using that wormhole to enter Dominion territory.”
“For the want of a symbiant, you’re a wormhole truether? You think Starfleet knew about the wormhole before the Cardassian War?”
“I think it’s a valid question that Starfleet has never fully addressed. And why does Starfleet keep the region in constant conflict? First it was the Cardassians, then Bajoran insurgents, then Starflleet sides with Cardassia against the Klingons, and then the Klingon war turns out to be instigated by the Dominion. To top it off, Bajor has rejected Federation membership! Why are we still fighting over that planet?”
Loji’s mouth hung slightly open in amazement. “You are a piece of work. I’m going to bed.” Eric followed her with his eyes as she stood and walked to the back of the cave.
“They can’t defend themselves.” Hayes said.
“What?” Eric asked, pulling his attention away from Loji.
“The Bajorans, they don’t have the military power to resist the Cardassians or the Dominion. If they don’t want to be part of the Federation, they sure don’t want to be part of the Cardassian Union or the Dominion. That’s why we fight for them, to keep them free.”
“The Bajorans are sitting quietly behind the Dominion occupation. How many of them have died to liberate their planet? More than the Federation citizens that have died? No. The Federation has lost more in lives than Bajor could bother to muster in resistance.”
Hayes put his now empty dinner bowl down shook his head. “I have to go take the watch. You should get some sleep.” He stood up and turned toward the mouth of the cave, then paused. “You can’t measure right and wrong in numbers. If it’s the right thing to do, you do it.”
**********
Eric was awoken by someone shaking his shoulder. He opened his eyes and a grin crept across his face at the sight of Loji above him. She looked away from his gaze and forced down a smile.
“It’s time to wake up, Eric.” She said softly and handed him a silver pouch. “Hydrate, we’ll have to cover some ground today.”
Eric’s back and shoulders cracked as he sat up. Hayes had given him a sleeping mat, but it didn’t help much on the hard floor of the cave. He couldn’t tell if the soreness in his body came from the sleeping conditions or yesterday’s trek. He tore a corner off the pouch and sipped some of the water from inside. The taste was off from what he expected and he reflexively spit a little out. “It’s a little slimy.” He said.
Loji forced back another grin. “It has a lot of electrolytes in it. It’ll help with your muscles recover.”
“Hard bed, slimy water, how do you put up with it?” Eric said, forcing down another gulp of water.
She shrugged. “There aren’t many luxuries, but what’s the alternative?”
“Peace.” Eric replied.
“There are only two ways to obtain peace, victory or surrender. I don’t think the later is very appealing.”
“What about coexistence? There is enough galaxy out there for both sides.”
“Only if both sides agree.” Loji stared at the ground in silence then looked back to Eric, pushing the thoughts that had kept her silent to the side. “We have to pack up your bedding, we’ll be moving soon.”
**********
