Untitled Gadling - 21104.01

By Robert Gadling

Hob sat quietly in the mess hall of the Sheridan. The ship had been docked at Delta for a week, but he was loath to set foot upon the station for risk of bumping into Iltan.

He looked up briefly as he heard the door open. It was one of his staff, Sandra Beach.

“Good evening, sir.” She said as she saw him.

“Good evening, Nurse Beach.” He responded as she walked over to the replicator to get herself something.

“Can I get you anything while I’m here? Another coffee?”

“No, thank you.”

“Sir. Do you mind if I ask, you’ve been rather quiet all day. Is everything alright?” Hob shifted his position slightly.

“Do you know what today is?”

Sandra looked at him oddly almost uncomfortably. Her first response would have been a facetious one had he not continued.

“Today is the anniversary of when the Breen destroyed the Golden Gate Bridge.”

“That was over forty years ago.” She said quietly. “Has it really been that long?”

“Yes.” Replied Hob. “And if I close my eyes, I can still picture the faces of the people like it was yesterday. Feel the heat of the slagged metal. Smell the stench of…”

“Oh my,” she said. “You were on the bridge?”

“It had been a school trip. It had been planned for months, and being from London, we rarely got the chance to go on many outings. Some of the parents, mine included had come along too, to help the teachers with the group.

The plan was that we’d be less likely to misbehave with the parental units watching our every move.

We’d already visited the Presidio in the morning, and then we headed over to the bridge. Mr Smurfwaite, our teacher had arranged for us to be given the full tour.

Fifty screaming and hollering school kids is a large group if you really think about it.

We were about twenty minutes into the tour I suppose when we realized what was happening. First someone said what ship is that? or something along those lines, then… then everything seemed to happen really slowly. But really fast too, all at the same time.

I don’t know if you know this, but materials like cast iron don’t melt instantly when they’re hit with disruptor beams. They shatter.

People started screaming and running, as fast as they could away from the explosions. There was a car stopped on the bridge, and I ducked behind it. I saw a chunk of metal fly past and hit one guy in the back, knocking him to the ground.

A whole section of the bridge span then vanished about thirty feet in front of me as another wave of disruptor fire sliced through the deck.

Then almost as quickly as it had begun, it stopped.

It was almost eerie at first, the silence. Then as the whine stared to fade from my ears, I could hear the sounds of the bridge creaking. I could hear the crackle of fires, and… I could hear the sound of people far away.

I cautiously looked out from behind the car. It had a huge piece of metal through its windscreen where the driver would have been sat if he hadn’t have abandoned it earlier.

Somehow, I hadn’t sustained any injuries. The man who I’d seen hit with the metal fragment hadn’t been so lucky. It looked like it had struck him so hard that he’d been killed instantly.

I tuned to look to see it I could see anyone else. I wanted nothing more than to see mum and dad right there telling me that everything was going to be all right.

I did see someone though. A blond woman. It was the tour guide. She was moving her arms and calling out weakly. I ran over to her.

I thought at first that she had fallen through a hole in the deck, leaving only her upper body protruding above, but as I get there. I realised that there was a lot of blood. Too much blood.

I don’t know why, but I sat down next to her and I took her hands in mine. I could feel that that she had no strength left. I looked into her eyes, and she silently mouthed ‘Thank you’.

Then she died. There, right in front of me.

I didn’t know what to do. I started to scream out for someone to help us. Help her. But then I began to realise that there was no one who could.

I forced myself to look at her again and then close her eyes for her, before I took off my jacket and laid it over her.

The smoke was starting to sting my eyes now, or at least that’s what I kept telling myself.

Looking over to the city side of the bridge, I could see shuttles and boats heading toward us.

I spent a few more minutes trying to climb over and walk around the rubble and massive holes, telling myself over and over that it was all just a nightmare, and that mum and dad were going to be along any moment and tell me everything would be okay.

Then I found another survivor. It was Julia, one of the girls from my class.

We’d never really spoken before, but we recognised each other instantly.

She was sitting on the ground, covered in grime, but she had a nasty looking burn on her leg.

She tried to get up, but I told her to sit down again, and that I’d seen the shuttles heading out way.

After seeing the two dead people, just the sight of one person alive was enough to make me want to wrap my arms around her, but instead, I sat next to her, and told her that everything would be all right. If I looked as scared as she did, she never told me.

We waited together for what seemed like an eternity. We spoke about everything and anything we could to keep ourselves from crying.

Then I heard a shuttle approaching. But it didn’t stop. It over flew us. I stood up and waved and shouted, then I felt the tingle of a transported beam. They had spotted us.

I spent almost three hours at the medical facility. Julia’s parents arrived and took her home, but I was left sitting in a room on my own. All I wanted were my mum and dad.

Then a man in security yellow, and a woman wearing Starfleet blue finally came to talk to me. She told me that they’d recovered two bodies from the bay beneath the bridge, and that it was merely a formality but they needed me to help Identify them.

I spent months in counselling. Four of my classmates had died that day along with both my parents and forty-seven other people on the bridge. Seeing that much carnage must have had an effect on me. At first, all I wanted once I found out it was the Breen was to charter a ship, find the first Breen I could, and do to him what he’d done to me.

But I couldn’t. All I could do was go home. Go home and live my life. In the hope that one day, I might meet one of those Breen who visited Earth that day. Look him in the eye, and maybe, just maybe forgive him.

As you said though, it’s been over forty years. Beyond the few skirmishes over the years, there’s been no formal contact with the Breen. Not even during the whole Typhon Pact affair. Even if I did meet one, I have no idea what I’d even say to it.”

Sandra had taken a seat opposite Hobs, and had been listening to his account throughout the whole thing. Tears were flowing down her face.

“I had no idea, sir. I’m so sorry,” she said.

Throughout his telling, Hob had managed to remain almost emotionless. He’d recounted the story as though he’d been reading it from a book.

It wasn’t until Sandra had spoken that he even moved.

“I don’t think I’ve ever told anybody that before. Not even my wife. I wanted to, but….” He paused for a moment.

Sandra reached across the table and gently placed her hand on his arm.

“Sir, I know this isn’t my place, but if you’d like to ever talk to someone…”

Hob looked over at Sandra.

“Thank you.” He said. “I didn’t mean to burden you with this.”

“You haven’t, sir.”

“You know, I think we’re beyond sir at this point. Please, call me Hob.”

“Sandra. Or Sandy.”

“Sandy Beach… seriously?” Hob allowed himself a small smile.

“It’s my middle name. My actual first name, is… Julia.”

Hobs eyes went wide. It hadn’t dawned on him that the woman who he’d been serving with these last few months was the same age as him or had a slight English accent till that moment.

“My parents moved our family to Mars almost instantly after the event.” Sandra began to explain. “My father had family there. If I’d known…”

Hob took hold of both her hands.

“There was nothing we could have done at the time.”

“I know…”

The door to the mess hall opened, and in walked two engineers.

Hob instantly let go of Sandra’s hands and picked up his coffee.

“I suppose we should get back to work, nurse.” He said.

“Yes, sir.” Replied Sandra. “Business as usual.”

“We’ll see…”