“Lt Junior grade Tior Personal log,

It’s just been over a month since we arrived in the Delta quadrant and I finally have two days off before I’m back on shift. So I’m going to relax in Ten Forward for a bit. Remembering my friend Cadet Zoff from my last away mission after reading of her death in this subspace message I just received from the Markonian Outpost.” With that said, Tior tapped a button on his console to end his personal log and left his quarters not before picking up his personal PADD.

It only took the newly promoted Lt Junior grade officer a few minutes to get to Ten Forward, where he saw a few of his fellow shipmates on their relaxation after their shifts. Tior walked over to the bar, ordered a Lidashk a trill beverage and then made his way to the table. Upon reaching the table, Tior said,

“Hey guys, how are things? How’s your day been? Anything interesting happened on shift today?”

With that, he sat down next to nurse Sam, placing his PADD on the table upside down. Across the table from the ship’s counsellor, John Allen, next to him, was the new ship’s doctor, Danielle Arias.

“So Tior what is the matter? You look so down in the dumps,” asked John while looking across the table at him.

“I’ve just received a subspace message from Lieutenant Commander Dawa Vlček via the Markonian Outpost who I served under while on my recent away mission to Galakail Minor,” replied Tior. While saying that, he took a few sips of his drink, while John said.

“Is there anything we can do? Do you wanna talk about it at all?”

“It’s a friend I made while I was stationed on Galakail Minor who were assigned there like me, we were both hurt and survived but I have just been told that she died in a very uncommon unexpected transport accident there was an overload in the buffer system when she was transporting up from her away mission due to a strange weather anomaly in the atmosphere and some samples she was carrying, but if you guys are up for it I like to tell you about her,” said Tior. With that, all 3 of his shipmates nodded their heads in a yes motion.

“Well, the mission was just a standard or meant to be a standard repair and resupply if needed mission, but mainly repair. The whole time I was there all I wanted to do was get back here to home get back to the Gilroy as this is my home here with you guys. Trill may be my home world, but this ship is my home and you guys are my family.” He took another sip of his drink, got back up, and walked over to the window sitting on the window seat he carried on his story.

“By this time, we had been there a few days and had already done some minor repairs. They had tasked cadet Zoff and I with repairing the aqueduct’s control system and getting the aqueduct working again. We worked on a plan for how we were to complete this and headed up the hill. Upon arrival, we saw that the control panel was slightly broken and blocked with rubble and fallen rocks from above. So we used our phasers to remove the rubble from around the control panel and got to work.” The whole time he was telling this to his crewmates, he looked out of the window at the distant planets and stars you could see within the Delta Quadrant.

“So what happened next, then?” said the Danielle. With this, Tior turned to see not just his friends by his side, but a few more of the crew had joined to listen in on his story. He took another sip of his Lidashk and carried on.

“So me and Cadet Zoff completed the first part of repairs to the control panel and as she was reaching into the supply case she lost her balance falling back in between some rocks that we had left, from earlier on and it’s a good thing we had as we were about to find out what would have happened if we had turned our phasers on them then. As I was saying, Cadet Zoff fell back and put her hand down to soften her fall to both of our unknowing knowledge. She was about to reactivate an undetonated warhead that was left there from a previous battle”.

Tior stood and waved his hand to the barman, indicating he wanted a refill of his drink. He drank the last of what he had in his glass and placed it down on the table. Most of the crew that were in Ten Forward had joined Tior and the other members of the senior staff to listen in on what had happened.

After getting his drink and taking another sip, he sat on a nearby seat and carried on from where he left off. “So where were we? That’s it. Cadet Zoff had fallen back and put her hand onto an undetonated mine. Upon landing, she looked back to see that it was not a stone or soft mud that she had put her hand on, but an undetonated mine. I stood when I heard her call me to see what she was about to tell me over her shoulder,” said Tior. without thinking I didn’t even give Zoff a chance to finish off her sentence. I grabbed her hand, pulling her up and away from the rubble, only to tell her to.

“Run”

With this, I grabbed her arm and started running to head down the hill which we had walked up only a short while ago. We had only gotten away by a few feet and from behind us there was an enormous explosion from behind which sent us flying through the air, landing almost down at the bottom of the hill. I didn’t remember the next day. But what I do remember is how I felt when I lay there. But what I do remember from the time of the explosion to the time I woke up on a biobed.

While I lay there, all I could think about was how I missed you guys here on the Gilroy, my Adopted family, but I also thought about my family on Trill. I thought about how I would miss the comforts of my life here on the ship, but also I thought about missing the comfort of the food my mum used to cook when I was there visiting them and what I remember her cooking when I was a kid. I would have missed the smell, the taste of her food, and the touch of her hand on my shoulder when she walked past me around the table as I sat down.

As I lay there and thought about how I would miss the warmth of the sun on my skin when I went home. To see my family and how I would not miss the cold bitter air come the winter seasons. But most of all laying there I thought if I do die will I finally get to see my dad in the afterlife and tell him all the things I had done and tell him how mum was? But I would also be able to say sorry that I was not able to say goodbye to him when he passed, but most of all I would hate not being able to do the same with my mum not being able to say goodbye to her.

Luckily I survived and so did Cadet Zoff we both made it luckily due to my quick thinking and being able to repair the EMH on Galakail Minor so he was able to help with her treatments as she came off just a bit worse than I did.

“Anyway, guys thanks for listening to me about my friend and can everyone please lift your glasses to Cadet Zoff and her family in this tough time they are going through” With this the 2 dozen crew members that sat listening to the Lt Jr grade gifted their glasses and said “Cadet Zoff” and all took a mouthful of there drink. With that Tior got up and picked his PADD at the same time, finished his drink made his way to another part of ten forward and sat looking out the window thinking of his friend and what could have happened if it had been him back then and what his family would have to go through. While sitting here I began to write to the family of Zoff’s passing on my condolences. and ordered myself an earth drink called tropical juice and a favourite meal of mine from trill called Galzak and Senarian egg broth.