Lt. Meryel Harris - Whatever comes next

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Arys Trovek

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Jul 23, 2022, 7:35:54 PM7/23/22
to Starbase118
((OOC: Busy day, stole some of Alora’s beautiful narration.))

 ((Hallways – SS Belladonna))

 

Meryel had never planned to speak to Taybrim, and now that she had done so, she wasn’t surprised that it hadn’t helped. Deep down, perhaps, she knew that she did not want to let go of her grief and the guilt over having chosen Utopa Colony as her family’s new home. 
While the emptiness never really went away, it was pushed to the side when the Belladonna’s impulse drive had malfunctioned, and caused a power outage in several parts of the passenger liner. One of those affected parts were the already activated escape pods, and Meryel had decided to secure them manually, rather than evacuate. 

And then she had run into Megan.

She didn’t know much of the woman, but she was like a female version of Toma. Cruel. Dangerous. Part of Terra Prime because it gave them tools and permission to hurt others. As such, it didn’t surprise her at all that the woman had a hostage with her, but it was surprising that the man was human. 

Carter: What are you doing?

 

Harris: It’s none of your business, Meg. Who is that, why aren’t you letting him evacuate with the rest?

 

Maxwell: I'm no expert, but it might have something tae do with her having a phaser.

 

Carter: Shut up!

 

Meryel eyed the civilian, wondering what was going on. Most people in such a situation were too frightened to speak. Others panicked. Others remained calm. People rarely were dismissive when someone pointed a phaser at them. 

 

Harris: And why aren’t you in Engineering? That was where you were supposed to be. Something happened to the impulse drive, shouldn’t you take care of it so we reach Betazed?

 

Maxwell: Supposed tae be nice this time ae year.

 

Megan turned and glared at the man, and Meryel could see that she was losing her patience with him. She didn’t have time for this. She had to secure the escape pods, and she had no interest in blowing her cover. 

 

Carter: Holding on to this one.  Thought he might be useful, but I’m about ready to get rid of him.  

 

Harris: What’s that supposed to mean? He’s human.

 

Megan’s eyes narrowed and she shook her head. 

 

Carter: Don’t you know by now that not all of our kind are worth being called human?  

 

In a manner far too nonchalant, the man crossed his arms and leaned against a wall.  Megan let out a sharp laugh, but there was no humour in it. Meryel could see the situation escalate, and in one swift movement, reached behind her back to pull her phaser. 

 

Harris: Step away from the civilian, Carter.

She wasn’t a Starfleet Officer any more, but she couldn’t just let Carter shoot the man. Was the comline to the Narendra still open? Would they bother, or even be able, to send help?

 

Carter: Put that away.  We’re on the same team, remember?  Or have you gone soft and decided that the rabble is worth keeping alive? He’s an alien lover, a sympathiser.  He doesn’t care about keeping our race pure!

 

The man slipped off to the side and lowered himself into a chair, and Meryel briefly wondered why there was a chair in the hallway. 

 

Maxwell: I'm just going tae sit here while you girls hug this out, alright?

He… really was trying to make it worse, was he? 

 

Carter: I do not know why I haven’t killed him yet, but I’m about to take care of it right now.

 

Harris: Megan, leave it. ::to the man:: And you, don’t move. 

If he were to run, Meg would probably just shoot him in the back. 

 

Megan’s eyes narrowed.  

 

Maxwell: Wouldn't dream ae it.

 

Megan seemed to wonder what to do, and then her eyes flicked up, looking behind Meryel,  and her eyebrows came together as if in confusion.

 

Carter: Why are there *kids* here?

…Kids? 

It wasn’t more than a second. A second of weakness, a second of dividing her attention. And that was all it took. Without a warning and in a single lightning fast motion, Megan jerked the phaser, pointed it at Harris and fired. Her brain barely had time to register the searing pain in her midsection, but she could see the burned uniform with charred black skin beneath it, and how the blood began pooling in the wound as she crumpled to the floor. 

Meryel had thought her last thought would be her children. Instead, she was wondering what kind of phaser Megan was using, and if hers was the same make and model. 

 

Carter: Still finding this funny?

Maxwell: ?

 

Carter: You are really such an idiot.

 

Meryel couldn’t quite see what was going on, but she saw the phaser flash once more. The only thing Meryel could be thankful for right now was that Meg seemed too busy to notice that she was still alive. Kind of. She didn’t feel terribly alive. But she was still clutching her phaser. 

 

Maxwell: ?

 

Carter: I would suggest that maybe next time you shut up when someone has you at gun point, but there won’t be a next time. 

Meryel fired, aiming for Carters back while the woman was threatening her hostage. She wasn’t sure if she did so to save the human, or to get revenge, or just because she wanted to see what would happen. At the end, it didn’t matter. 

 

The burst if energy lit up the room, and a split second later Megan Carter’s body slumped, and then tumbled with a thud to the floor. Meryel couldn’t help but wonder if they would meet again, in whatever came next. 
She wasn’t particularly religious or spiritual, but having been each others demise surely left a mark upon their soul. 

Maxwell: ?

TBC
*****************
Lt. Meryel Harris

J239809TA4


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