What Are We Doing Out Here

[DrDMatthews 0]

The lack of communication wouldn't have bothered her during any other crisis. She would have shrugged it off as nothing more than command prerogative. Besides, Debbie Matthews was rarely on the bridge during situations such as this. She was usually hunkered down in Sickbay waiting for the inevitable causalities .

 

But this wasn't an ordinary emergency. This was an extension of a crisis that began over four years earlier....a crisis that had profoundly affected Debbie and many others who witnessed the carnage that had once been the USS Cairo. Why hadn't the Captain told them about the USS Saitek? Why had they been allowed to think they were in this battle alone?

 

Deb glared at the CO. He surely knew what she was thinking but wasn't at all concerned about it. His attitude only infuriated her more. She wanted to slap him or, at the very least, give him a piece of her mind. But this wasn't the time or the place. She would voice her opinion at the next senior staff meeting or perhaps in a private chat with the Captain. Right now, there were bigger fish to fry hiding within the swirling gases of the nebula just beyond.

 

She forced herself to remember what this mission was all about. They were hunting down the master mind behind the Cairo's sabotage. And now, there was a very real possibility these animals had kidnapped Starfleet personnel. Individuals wearing the fleet uniform had been seen in the compound on that dreadful planet called Winston. But the compound was now deserted. Those Ranger and his team labeled as prisoners must have been too valuable to leave behind. The Captain seemed to think if there were hostages, they were on that Miranda hiding in the nebula..

 

Matthews glanced around impatiently. "So," she thought to herself. "If they're in the nebula, what are we doing out here?"

 

Again, she remained quiet, choosing instead to return to a vacant seat near the science station. As she sat down, she found herself wondering if that small metallic box was still tucked away in the corner of the freezer in Sickbay. It contained a few antique medical instruments she'd picked up through the years. Some of them were downright intimidating. She made a mental note to check on there whereabouts when things finally settled down. Sooner or later, the Captain would have to stop in for his annual. When he did, she was determined to make it an event he wouldn't soon forget.