Lt. JG Ollie Bergmen - Mission… Mission comes first

[CPT Arianus]

(( Holodeck 3, Deck 222, DS 224 ))

This time it should've been different. They made so much for things being different. They should... find the way. Do something different. Prevent... that… But they failed. Maybe they repeated the mistakes of the past. Maybe they were doomed to failure. Maybe there was no way to stop it. Maybe...

Lieutenant Bergmen gazed at the console and felt anger. It was just wan't fair.

Red pulsing lights flashing from over his head illuminated his face—the same red as the message.

// Warp Core Ejection System Failure. Evacuate the ship.

Bergmen: =/\= [Expletive redacted] =/\=

Anger surged through his body. He wanted to scream. He wanted to give in, slamming against the console controls. His breath came in ragged gasps; stress, fatigue, despair coursed through his body. Ollie took a deep breath and let the commanding voice in his head speak to his soul. Calm that little crewman boy inside him that he wasn't anymore. This was just a drill. Drill that still needs to be led.

Lieutenant turned to Imril, grabbed them by the back of the head, and pulled his helmet closer to theirs.

Bergmen: =/\= Can we manually remove the crystals from the active intermix chamber? Because it's that or welding the core cooling system anew. ::pause:: If you have another idea?… =/\=

Imril: =/\= Yes…ut whate..er time lim…you gav…Cole, we’r…going t..go past..t. There…too many saf..ies to overrid… =/\=

Ollie nodded slightly. That he knew as soon as they entered Main Engineering, when the instant radiation levels readings on his HUD changed into the four interrupted lines of mSv per minute. They probably never had a chance to get out. To survive…

…but he refused to accept that. He turned toward the warp core, panicking, refusing just to sit down and die. He needed to think. He had to come up with a plan, evaluate the risks, make a decision... He had already lost Cole, and... No, he couldn't go through that again. He couldn't...

His gaze was fixed on the warp core and the looming outline in front of him next to the core.

Bergmen: =/\= ::shaken in voice:: DC 15-A Actual, who is on the Engineering deck? Report. =/\=

Imril: =/\= En…Im…re! =/\=

Cole: =/\= … still… side... Mai… eer… ait… … clock… …der... =/\=

Sweat ran down his face and chest; he felt his gloved palms sweating. The more he tried to concentrate, the more his thoughts scattered in all directions.

oO Imril. I asked Imril about... what I asked him? Oo

Bergmen turned around to ask Imril, but the face of the outline who nearly ran into him wasn’t his.

Storm: =/\= Lieute…we …. ally made …  Do … ::points at Bergman.:: yo ::Points at her head.:: ow  ::Puts her hands up in the air.:: happen…=/\=

He blinked once, then twice, but that face stayed the same.

oO Lieutant Storm… but how? What did she say? Oo

Ollie tapped the side of his helmet to mark that he didn’t understand her. That radio was scrambled. Pointed to the console screen, he gazed in that direction, but he couldn’t maintain his attention to understand the text written there while fighting his blurred vision.

(OOC: Skipping screen text which has already been repeated a few times to shorten this post)

He comprehended some of the written words, then and there. But didn't understand their meaning. The more he tried, the more his head was about to be split in two.

Cole: =/\= L…nt be ad… I h… inforc… he… nce… … … … I could… he event … need… y… gr... =/\=

He knew that voice.

oO Cole. Cole should warn them. Was that a warning? Oo

Ollie blinked once, then twice. Tried to focus his vision. His mind. Imril, he saw Imril. He tried to smile in the direction of Ensign, but they were focused on the screen. He noticed the person next to him. He didn’t see the face, but the size of that outline alone. Was it Tho’Bi?

Bergmen stepped closer to see what the others were looking at, at what Lieutenant Storm was typing into the console.

//ENGINEERING TERMINAL SCREEN - STORM TYPING//

>TEAM 1 - THO’BI, MERIS, IMRIL, AND BANCROFT
> THO’BI, YOU’RE IN CHARGE
>STAY AND ATTEMPT ANTIMATTER POD ASSEMBLY DISCONNECT
>TEAM 2 - BERGMAN, COLE, STORM WILL ATTEMPT ANTIMATTER LOADING PORT AND M/ARA HULL PANELS DISCONNECT

//CONTROL PANEL SCREEN - END//

Tho'Bi: ::to Storm:: ::thumbs up::

Imril turned to Ollie. Ollie turned his gaze away to the warp core. They couldn’t see his face; not now. They would endanger the mission if they knew. They would see the signs. Signs of what the lieutenant already knew: Radiation was eating him alive, fast.

Bergmen: =/\= We will go with their plan. Imril, help them. Cole, on me.  =/\=

He hardly understood and comprehended every second word Lieutenant Storm wrote, but from that little he understood, they had some plan. And definitely any plan was better than his none. Yet somehow he felt he had some; he knew he had some. But even that thought was slipping from his grasp.

Cole: =/\= Three min… … … =/\=

Imril: =/\= Im…Cole…ange…plan…Storm need…u. =/\=

Storm. Him. Cole. They were a team. That other team, which should make something with some port. Disconnect. They should disconnect some port. Bergmen gazed at Storm into distance, and she motioned him in a direction. And Ollie followed, leading the way in that direction.

Storm: =/\= We ::comms static:: long way to ::comms static:: ort time to ::comms static:: =/\=

Bergmen didn’t understand the single word, but signaled back “OK” anyway. The direction Storm had given Bergmen earlier led him to Jeferries' tube. He bent his back, climbed in, and moved forward to make room for the others. When no message arrived to contradict this direction, he continued on deeper into the tube.

Storm:  =/\= Five levels ::comms static:: ly five min ::comms static:: =/\=

Cole: =/\= Comm…see…be impr…somew… =/\=

Ollie fought with nausea, so he didn’t answer immediately. After a couple of deep breaths, he was able to say a few words without losing that fight.

Bergman: =/\= Good. Ladder ahead. =/\=

Climb up was another circle of hell. The cold, freezing shimmer in his hands made it difficult for him to apply enough strength in his grasp. His joints hurt as he moved his body up. The body, which was burning from the inside…

He would have lost his grip if Storm hadn’t slipped first, which made the group stop and gave Bergmen a brief moment to rest. Cole looked down at the lieutenant, who, in some miracle, was still able to hold on with one hand and clung to the ladder once again.

Storm: =/\= ::comms static:: fine. Let’s keep go ::comms static:: =/\=

Bergmen looked up again and kept climbing. Cole quickly pushed him into a faster pace, motivated by Storm below her. Weirdly enough, it helped him overcome his pain by focusing his fractured mind on one step after another. One step at a time, he almost got to the end of the ladder.

Cole: =/\= How…the air…there Bermen? =/\=

Ollie swallowed the acid rushing up his throat. He felt warm on his face, on his lips.

Bergmen: =/\= Breathable. =/\=

Storm: Response

He hoisted himself over the edge of the ladder onto the deck and turned to help Cole up. Her hand was trembling as she reached out to his. He grabbed her glove, pulled her up, and as he did, warmth spread inside his glove along with a sharp pain. He didn't let her go.

Cole: =/\= I’m real… feeling the Rad…Bergmen. I won’t lie…is rougher than…expected. But we…got a job…do, and I’d …limp beside…u than si…on the sidelines. =/\=

Bergmen turned his head away so she couldn't see his face as she reached the edge of the ladder. Turned away entirely when she was on deck. She helped Storm up.

Cole: =/\= ::to Storm:: What’s the next step of the plan? =/\=

Bergmen: ::gasping:: =/\= We.. continue. =/\=

Storm: Response

Ollie did not wait and continued forward. Blinking, with a burning throat, he took a step forward, then another, but before long, his legs just gave way beneath him, and he collapsed.

But he pushed himself up on his hands, grabbed the wall, and pulled himself to his feet. They could see his face through the visor of his helmet - pale, ashen skin. Bloody nose. Bloody lips. Blood stains that barely covered the irritated skin on his chin, irritation that was slowly marking into his cheek.

He felt that irony as he gazed into their eyes. The gift of his species that could keep him close to being eternally young led the holodeck to simulate killing him all the faster due to simulated radiation.

Bergmen: ::gasping:: =/\= I’m…okay. =/\=

Cole/Storm: Response

Bergmen shook his head dismissively.

Bergmen: ::gasping:: =/\= No. I can…continue. Mission… Mission comes first. =/\=

Cole/Storm: Response


TAG/TBC

–
Lieutenant JG Ollie Bergmen
Operations Officer
U.S.S. Artemis-A
A240009JC1