Seeing Is Believing

Posted on Tue Jun 14th, 2022 @ 5:16pm by Commander Alora Knight

1,073 words; about a 5 minute read

Mission: Operation Romulus Return

ON

When Alora heard that Alex was dead, she grabbed onto the nearest railing to keep from sinking to the deck. It couldn’t be true. Not after everything they'd been through. He was back. They were together again. They were married. She couldn't lose him now. "No, no, no, no, no," she repeated in her mind, over and over, hoping to convince herself. Not Alex. He was too smart to be caught, let alone killed. He'd survived going under cover countless times. He'd survived multiple assassination attempts by Dylan.
 
She had to see for herself. She couldn't believe it—wouldn't believe it—without proof. But if he was…? No. She couldn't think that. "But what if…" that little voice said. Then she'd kill whoever was responsible. She'd avenge his death and then… She didn't know. She couldn't stay here, or even in Starfleet, without him. She'd have to go away to a small colony somewhere and try to forget. But she knew she could never forget Alex. Never wanted to forget him. She knew that in time, the pain would ease, but right now, she had to be absolutely certain they weren't lying to demoralize the crew or punish Taiga.
 
Alora wasn't aware she'd been moving through the bowels of the ship, making her way to the morgue. He'd be there. Even the Tal'Shiar would have the bodies sent to the morgue. They wouldn't leave them laying in the corridor, or where ever they'd died.

She had to see him in person. Even if she could get to a console, the internal sensors were scrambled so the Tal'Shiar couldn't use them to track the crew. She couldn't look up what happened.
 
Why Alex? she wondered. Because he'd testified against them? Because he was the leader of the SWORD team? Because they knew he could defeat them? Or had he let himself be killed to save someone else. He would do that, if it was his only option. Even for Taiga.
 
A part of her wished it had been Lex instead. Lex who had been a pain in the backside until Alex came back. But she couldn't see Lex doing anything so heroic. He was always looking out for his own best interest. Or he had. He was now the pilot of the Prowler. A valued member of SWORD. He was trusted.
 
But he wasn't Alex. He could never BE Alex. And she couldn't wish Lex dead, even if it meant saving Alex—even if she wished that were the case. No. She wanted this to be a ploy. A hoax. A lie. Alex was a prisoner somewhere on the ship. He had to be.
 
But why did John say that Lex stayed behind? To pilot another shuttle. To take Alex away from the ship, she reminded herself. Oh, if only he'd succeeded.
 
She wiped a sleeve over her wet face. At least she wasn't a loud crier. She had to focus on getting to the morgue, learning the truth, and somehow stopping the Tal'Shiar. The ship jolted and she paused to check her PADD. It was still connected to the ship's computer, or what part of it was still accessible to command access. A tractor beam. "John, I hope you got away. I hope you got help." She still hoped for a miracle. For several. If not… She shook her head. First things first.


She moved silently in case there were Romulans searching the Jefferies' tubes, checking her tricorder to be sure the path ahead was safe. Moving as carefully as she could. They didn't know she was here; they weren't looking for her.

A part of her wanted to find a group of them to avenge Alex. She pulled out her phaser while she kept going, taking a more circuitous route to avoid trouble.
 
She was almost there. Almost to the access panel at the back of the morgue. Alora slowed, counting the Romulan signatures. Five. Three inside the room, two outside. She stopped, adjusting the setting on the phaser to heavy stun, wide angle. She opened the access panel and shot, rendering all three unconscious. then she hurried silently to the door and overrode the command on the door lock, keeping it from being opened from the outside. That would last until they shot through the door, but it should give her the time she needed.
 
The room was already full of bodies. Fortunately, none were covered, so she hurried down the aisles, looking for Alex.
 
"No." She couldn't help crying out, although she kept her voice low enough that she hoped no one outside heard. There he was. His jacket was gone, but he was still wearing the rest of his uniform. She hurried to him and fell to her knees, taking his hand in hers. She couldn't feel his thoughts, couldn't see him through her tears. "Oh, Alex." She leaned against his arm, unable to move, barely able to breathe.
 
A noise outside roused her from her dark thoughts. Someone coming in? She forced herself to her feet and looked down at Alex' face, still hoping he wasn't dead.
 
And then she gasped. It wasn't Alex. It looked like him. Mostly. She'd argued with Lex for years. She'd even thrown him halfway across the lounge once. There was a pounding on the door, but she hesitated, gently caressing his face. This was definitely Lex. Alex was still alive. Was still somewhere. She began to cry again.
 
The sound of a disruptor had her turning to the door. She quickly kissed Lex on the forehead. "Thank you,” she whispered and ran to the access panel.
 
She'd barely sealed the edges before she heard shouting inside the morgue.
 
There was only one place she could go now. One place to hide while she figured out what happened to Alex. She turned and practically ran to the nearest ladder and headed down to hide again. But this time, her heart was lighter. She had no idea where Alex was, or if he was safe, but at least he was alive. If she could find him, he'd help her come up with a plan. He always had a plan.
 
If she could get to astrometrics, she might be able to contact the Prowler, or someone. And there was still Max. There was still hope. If only there was time…

 ____
OFF

Commander Alora Knight
Chief Intelligence Officer
USS Tokyo

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