No Happy Endings For Chiyo

Posted on Sat Jul 22nd, 2023 @ 9:16am by Major Chiyo Shimada

985 words; about a 5 minute read

Mission: Starship Graveyard

Chiyo tossed and turned in her bed. She was sweating profusely, yet she clutched the plush comforter tightly.

"No, please... Don't leave, Tatsuo..." Chiyo mumbled.

Chiyo was dreaming of the last time she had seen her fiancé, Tatsuo, alive:

"Don't worry, Chiyo-kichi;" Tatsuo reassured her. "The Redemption's a steady ship and Captain Reizei is the best in the business."

"But... What if something happens to you?" Chiyo cried.

"I'll be fine;" Tatsuo responded. "Look, once this tour is up, our wedding bells will chime. I promise..."

"No... Tatsuo..." Chiyo mumbled as she rolled over.

The scene changed. Two regs were at the door to her home:

"Are you Chiyo Mabuchi?" One of them asked.

"Y... Yes?" Chiyo replied.

"I hate to be the one to break the bad news, but the Redemption has been declared lost with all hands. I'm sorry for your loss..."

"No... No..." Chiyo sobbed, reaching out and embracing the regs.

"Why...?" Chiyo whispered, tears falling from her closed eyelids onto the pillow.

The next several scenes were rapid fire: The memorial service for the crew of the Redemption, a positive pregnancy test, enlisting in the marine corps, baby Alice aboard the Redemption A.

But then came Chiyo's least favorite part: The weddings.

In her 14 years of service in the Starfleet Marine Corps, she had seen several weddings. Happy couple after happy couple shared their first dance. Even a newlywed Andorian quartet from aboard the Morgan engaged in an Andorian Quartet Jig.

Alice beside her aged in an almost stop motion-like fashion; growing from a toddler to a little girl to the tween, almost teen of the present.

Chiyo saw her own reflection in a mirror. The figure in the mirror was obviously her, obviously standing in a wedding dress, but the figure had no face.

The final scene was of Chiyo's lifeless body lying in a morgue. All Chiyo could see was through the zipper of the body bag. The unknown doctor's medical scrubs did well at concealing his identity:

"Chiyo Shimada;" The doctor said coldly. "Single mother of 1, cause of death; unknown, time of death; also unknown... All we know at this point is that she died alone...

"She died alone..."

"She died alone..."

"She died alone..."

"Computer, lights! Full!" Chiyo gasped as she sat bolt upright.

Beeping to acknowledge Chiyo's input, within moments, the master bedroom of the Shimada family quarters was brightly illuminated. Chiyo turned to look at the chronometer on her bedside table. 05:46, the red digits read. Next to the chronometer sat Chiyo's picture of Tatsuo. She'd had it with her ever since Tatsuo had passed so she wouldn't forget her face. Chiyo picked up the framed picture and kissed it.

Setting the picture down, Chiyo got up from her bed and made her way out into the living area before peeking into Alice's room. Chiyo smiled tiredly when she saw that Alice was still fast asleep, snoring even.

Leaving Alice to sleep, Chiyo's next stop was the bathroom. Dropping her pants and sitting down on the toilet, Chiyo gazed at the wall as the contents of her bladder drained into the toilet. Once she was done peeing, Chiyo flushed the toilet and washed her hands before removing her pajamas and hopping into the sonic shower to wash the residual sweat off of her body.

Chiyo didn't take time in the sonic shower to ponder what she had witnessed in the nightmare. This wasn't the only time in recent days she had had it, and once she was clean, she turned off the sonic shower and picked up the clump of her pajamas off of the floor, making her way back to the master bedroom, where she tossed the pajamas onto her bed before pulling on her uniform.

Once Chiyo had dressed herself, she made the bed and tossed her pajamas back into the wardrobe before heading back out into the main area with a PADD on which she left a note on the coffee table for Alice before stepping outside into the corridor.

One of the benefits of being awake this early is that there wasn't too many people out in the corridors, so Chiyo decided she would run laps around Deck 4, and began doing warm-up stretches outside her quarters before she started running her laps.

1...

2...

3...

4...

When Chiyo had run about 15 laps of Deck 4, she had worked up a sufficient appetite, so when she approached the turbolifts, she slowed down by them to catch one down to deck 5 to fetch her breakfast.

Stepping off the turbolift on deck 5, Chiyo made her way to the mess hall. A few officers on the overnight shift were eating and conversing as Chiyo entered the mess hall and strode over to the replicator.

"Belgian waffles, eggs over easy, and bacon, extra strawberry syrup." Chiyo ordered. "To go."

Chiyo's breakfast materialized in a takeout container, which Chiyo grabbed and made her way back to the turbolift to complete the rest of her journey down to deck 16, marine country. Stepping off the last turbolift, Chiyo made her way to her office.

The doors swooshed open to reveal 1st Lieutenant Rudd sitting at the desk, the Rheuysian had been working the night shift when Chiyo entered and the smell of her breakfast met Rudd's nostrils.

"Major Shimada; you're up early again." Rudd greeted.

"Couldn't sleep." Chiyo muttered. "Why don't you go ahead and get some food or some rest? I'll take over for a bit."

"Hey, don't have to tell me twice..." Rudd responded, rising from the chair and moving around the desk to allow Chiyo to get in and sit down.

Having been formally relieved, Rudd proceeded to leave the office, leaving Chiyo to eat her breakfast in peace.

Posting by

Major Chiyo Shimada
Marine Commander
Second Officer

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