Torn Asunder

Posted on Wed Feb 26th, 2025 @ 10:32am by Commander Steven Greco & Lieutenant Evelyn Stewart & Lieutenant T'Mara
Edited on on Wed Feb 26th, 2025 @ 10:36am

2,955 words; about a 15 minute read

Mission: Year One: Strange Bedfellows
Location: USS Moore - Bridge and Sickbay
Timeline: MD 025: 1340 hrs

Commander Greco looked over the latest requests on the duty roster for Engineering from the Conn. He handed it to the ensign with a quiet thanks to send down to Baaru for implementation. With a sigh he sat restlessly in the seat. They were still more than a week away from Betazed and the constant walking on eggshells when it came to the Syndicate finally started to get to him. He found himself envious that Captain Stryvek and Lieutenant Mpongo were recalled to Starfleet Security on Earth for a debrief on the situation of not only the trade agreements with the Syndicate, the Whispers, the Romulans and Federation security in general. He quietly chuckled to himself at the fact he was envious to go to such a meeting before he settled in, checking the bridge's chronometer.

It had been a quiet afternoon on the bridge with Stewart making only the most minor of corrections to their course and heading, preferring to do it manually so she would have something to do. She heard Greco's soft chuckle to himself and glanced up at the Commander for the briefest moment before shaking her head, wondering how on earth he'd find anything amusing on this dull afternoon.

Evelyn was about to make a comment to Kei about it when she felt a sudden twinge of pain behind her eyes that was overwhelming and she could feel spreading into a full headache rapidly. With a soft groan, she put her head in her hand and tried to push herself through the pain.

Steve heard Stewart's groan and looked down towards the helm, seeing the woman in discomfort and what looked to be pain. "Lieutenant?"

Evelyn rubbed her eyes as she grit her teeth, taking a deep breath. "It's nothing, sir. It's just a headache. It will pass." Even as the words left her lips, Stewart was sucking air through her teeth as the pain intensified and she grunted softly again.

Greco watched Stewart with growing concern. "Even still, it maybe best you head down to Sickbay and get checked out." He suggested, hoping he wouldn't have to order the obstinate pilot.

The pain became overwhelming as it intensified. Stewart had a high pain tolerance, but she wasn't stupid. Nodding in agreement, Evelyn pushed off the back of her chair to stand. "Maybe that's a good idea..." she said, taking a step towards the stairs leading up from helm before she cried out from a pain so intense it overwhelmed her senses, causing her to crash to the floor as she lost consciousness.

---

When Steve received word from T'Mara that Stewart was stable, he was quick to give Davaris the Conn before heading down to Sickbay. When the doors opened, the first officer quickly spotted the Vulcan doctor and walked over to her. "Report."

T'Mara looked to Commander Greco with exhausted eyes. What had occurred to Lieutenant Evelyn Stewart required Vulcan healer and not a Starfleet doctor to repair. It was a skill T'Mara had been able to master... taking the frayed edges of a psyche and with great care repairing the hole left from the sundering of a mate bond. That bastard! She hissed silently thinking back on how thorough of a bond the Kohlinar had set within Stewart's mind. It all but guaranteed her death if he passed....

She realized that she was delaying in responding due to the nature of the injury. All is silence within the family. What had occurred was of a personal, private nature. Greco was qom'i...off-worlder.

"Lieutenant Stewart has been stabilized. She is currently resting. Her vitals are stable, Commander Greco."

Steve looked across the medical facility to where Stewart was either sleeping or unconscious before turning his attention back to T'Mara, sighing heavily. He didn't exactly have time for this. They just received an urgent message from Starfleet Command before he came down. "What happened to her? Why'd she collapse?"

T'Mara sighed. There was no winning with this. She could fight divulging and get called to mast given this was a Starfleet matter - and Stewart would no doubt blame her for such personal information being made public...but she would blame her either way. Although supposition, it fit Stewart's past behavior regarding T'Mara.

"Captain Stryvek is dead." T'Mara responded solemnly.

Greco’s eyes snapped up to the Vulcan’s in an instant at her response. It took more effort than Steve wished was necessary to not look at her too suspiciously. “We just received word from Starfleet Command that Captain Stryvek and Lieutenant Mpongo’s shuttle had an accident. There were no survivors,” he admitted just as solemnly.

Steve waited a moment as the words hung in the air before he pressed the doctor. “How did you know that?” He asked standing taller, his tone a tad firmer as he wanted answers. He didn’t have to make accusations. There were a lot of possibilities as to what caused the explosion, not all of them being accidental.

T'Mara's brow rose imperiously at the change in Greco's demeanor. Although illogical, she found herself somewhat...insulted that he would be suspicious of her. If the Vulcan woman wanted anyone dead she certainly wouldn't want it to happen light-years away where she couldn't see--

You would want to look them in their eyes and watch the light go out of them? Her inner chorus queried rhetorically. For her, life--and the taking of it--was a personal, intimate thing. No. Death off-screen would not suffice if that was a path she had made the choice to walk.

"Stewart required a Vulcan healer. It was quite fortuitous that I was recently assigned to Moore, otherwise there would have--most likely--been three deaths." Please do not make me tell you her secret. T'Mara added silently, again engaging in the futility of beseeching a nebulous higher power to somehow save her from suffering.

The first officer looked at the doctor quizzically. “Why would she need a Vulcan healer?” He asked, forgetting thoughts of sabotage for the moment. “What the hell happened to my pilot, Doctor?” He said his frustrations building.

T'Mara had neither the time, the want, nor the inclination to perseverate. "A sundered bond. Depending on the conditions and how strong the connection is, it can prove fatal if severed. And Captain Stryvek was..." Sadistic? Selfish? "thorough."

Greco mouthed the words ‘sundered bond’ back to himself, trying to understand what she meant. When it finally clicked for him, he looked at T’Mara, then glanced at Stewart unconscious on the biobed as he realized, turning back to T’Mara in bewilderment. “You don’t mean…” he couldn’t bring himself to ask outright. Stewart and the captain, together as a couple, it was inconceivable!

"I believe I am being quite transparent, Commander. Lieutenant Stewart experienced a sundered bond and collapsed. I have...stabilized her. She will survive the insult." Whether she will find that agreeable or not remains to be seen. A wave of exhaustion rolled through her and she swayed slightly from it. It had taken all of her skill--and most of her energy--to pull Evelyn back from the brink of death and to meticulously repair the gaping psychic wound inflicted from Stryvek's death.

Steve let out a breath he was holding and shook his head at the incredulity of the situation. He definitely didn't need this. Straightening his shoulders, he realized he was going to have to, in essence, make a notification of death to a loved one and mentally prepared himself to do so. He had the unfortunate displeasure of this task a handful of times before, but it was never easy. "Revive her." He said to the doctor sternly before walking over to the biobed where the pilot laid.

T'Mara opened her mouth to protest. Stewart required rest to repair...but the commander's tone brooked no argument. An order was an order, and it was not an unlawful one. "As you wish." She answered in a tired tone.

She walked over to Stewart's supine form and studied her for a moment. The human woman's eyes were shut and her expression placid. Unfortunate. T'Mara turned to the cabinet next to the biobed and pulled out a hypospray and dialed up the suitable medication and placed it against Stewart's neck and the medication was instilled into the woman with an audible hiss.

"Lieutenant Stewart, can you hear me? You are currently in sick bay. Commander Greco is here and he would like to speak with you."

Stewart winced at the bright lights before her eyes focused on the beige ceiling of sickbay. She started to sit up, groaning immediately for her efforts despite pushing through to sit upright. Immediately she laid her head in her hands. She was groggy and she didn’t know what hurt worse, her head or her chest. Evelyn tried to focus and realized she sat on the biobed between the uptight first officer and the Vulcan doctor. She couldn’t imagine a worst situation.

“How are you feeling?” Steve prodded gently, watching Stewart carefully as she curled her legs up to support her arms on her knees, face in her hands.

“Like I called out a Klingon for cheating at the Dabo tables…and paid for it.” She said with a louder groan of pain. “What happened?” She asked, not caring which answered. It didn’t matter as she realized something was wrong. She was different. Evelyn could feel it and she didn’t her best to not show it, looking between both officers.

Ah, providing an answer. T'Mara was qualified to give Stewart a response...in typical 'Vulcan' fashion.

"Your mate-bond was sundered. Captain Stryvek is dead." T'Mara replied with cool efficiency.

Stewart looked up at the woman in shock. “What?” She asked in disbelief. She turned to Greco for confirmation, not even thinking about the fact T’Mara just outed her relationship with Stryvek to the first officer.

Steve set his jaw as he looked at the doctor across the bed with impatience. The Vulcan had a lot to learn about tact. Taking a breath he looked at Stewart. “Captain Stryvek and Safi’s shuttle exploded en route to the Moore. There were no survivors. Starfleet Security is investigating the accident. So far they haven’t come to any conclusions.” The first officer explained carefully. He walked a tight line between being delicate and patronizing. He watched Stewart closely. He was prepared to have the woman yelling in his face, demanding answers. Instead surprised by the lack of any reaction from the normally intense pilot.

Stewart sat numbly on the biobed listening. The shock and pain giving way to a numbness. She could only nod in understanding as she half listened to Greco.

When he mentioned her taking a few days, Stewart focused in on the conversation. “What? No, Commander I’m fine. I don’t need rest.” She said and tried to push her way to the edge to prove it when Greco stood his ground.

“Stewart, I mean it. Don’t..,” Steve hesitated. He didn’t want to order the woman. She had just lost both a crew mate as well as her captain and lover, the volatile young woman was in a vulnerable state. “Just don’t. Please, just rest.” He said softly, he was trying to spare the woman’s pride and dignity by not addressing the obvious. When she nodded, Steve relaxed slightly and nodded to both of them. “I’ll be on the bridge….if you need anything, Stewart..”

Evelyn simply nodded, cutting him off, wanting the situation over with. “I know…thank you…”

With a helpless sigh, Steve just nodded to both of the women and left, heading for the bridge.

As soon as the doors hissed closed behind him, Stewart moved to get off the biobed, he legs giving out slightly in weakness as she went to stand, supporting herself with the biobed as she groaned. The numbness she was feeling giving way quickly to intense emotions, anger, shame, grief. She wanted to be alone.

T'Mara quickly swooped in and took up some of her weight to steady her. "I will assist you back to your quarters, since it is your desire to be alone. It is not my medical recommendation...but I...I grieve with thee." And she did. Her katra 'ached' from saving Stewart's life, and she recognized that the woman would not understand or appreciate what T'Mara had done in order to save her...but she couldn't stand by and let another suffer death at the hands of someone who did not even have the emotion of affection within them towards her...and Evelyn deserved to have that opportunity.

So it cost T'Mara a small part of her 'soul' to do it...it didn't matter. She had been called to serve. It was an honor to do so, even if it would never be acknowledged.

Stewart leaned over the biobed for a moment, feeling nauseous as the room spun for an instant. “You used a mind meld, didn’t you?” She asked the doctor in regards to the bond. Despite not being Vulcan herself, she understood such acts and rituals were private amongst T’Mara’s people. Greco was an outsider as far as Vulcan traditions and she waited until he left and they were alone to confront the doctor.

"Yes." T'Mara readily confessed. "You were dying. You did not deserve to suffer the same fate as Stryvek because you were naive enough to do the right thing during his time...shall I assist you back to your quarters so that you may continue recuperating in private?"

Stewart went to shove the Vulcan woman away but it was a pathetic attempt in her weakened state. “Get the hell away from me!” She shouted at the taller woman, feeling her fury building faster than she could control it. Evelyn understood the significance of what T’Mara had done, intellectually that is; but not emotionally. All Stewart could focus on now was the fact the Vulcan performed a mind meld on her without her consent and the perceived slight. “Who the hell are you to make that judgement?” She asked rhetorically, getting in the Vulcan’s face aggressively. “I’m not as naïve as most humans. I understand the significance of what you did. You had no right!” She yelled at the woman, somehow managing not to strike her.

Shaking in her rage, Stewart felt her breathing go from being shallow to erratic as she started gasping, struggling to get air in her lungs, intense emotions rolling through her body. Her chest feeling like it was being crushed as if she was being suffocated. “I can’t…I can’t breathe..” she said as a panic set in, only able to focus on the intense pain in her chest and the overwhelming grief.

T'Mara visibly winced as the full force of Stewart's rage was focused upon her. She saved Stewart's life, and not without significant cost, and the woman hated her. Her normally schooled, aloof features crumpled revealing confusion and pain...but the mask was quickly re-aligned, and she took a step back to allow Stewart free movement around the biobed...that was until she started demonstrating respiratory distress.

She stepped forward and reached out to her to assist the woman back on the bed, but she hesitated. "You appear to be demonstrating a panic response. I can assist you...but I do not wish to upset you any further, Lieutenant."

Stewart leaned over the biobed as she tried desperately to calm herself. For whatever reason her mind went to memories when she first arrived on Vulcan and had trouble adjusting to the planet’s atmosphere and had similar issues breathing. She remembered Senril singing to her in bed to focus her mind and distract her while her body relaxed. After a few moments, remembering the sound of Vulcan’s voice, Evelyn was able to take deeper breaths and had control of her body again. It did nothing to help with the overwhelming grief intense emotions that she could feel physically hurting her.

Willing herself not to break down and start crying and give into what her body was feeling, she took a deep breath and focused as she held her head in her hands, desperately trying every technique that she was taught to control her emotions and failing. “Just release me to my quarters to meditate.” She managed to snap at T’Mara, wanting to just escape the situation.

"I have no reason to keep you in sickbay. You are physiologically stable." Psychologically, not so much. "You are cleared to return to your quarters, Lieutenant Stewart. However, you must speak with counseling and be cleared by them prior to returning to duty." Having nothing further to say, T'Mara picked up the tray of items set out on the worktable next to the biobed and walked away from Stewart to return the items back to their designations spots when not in use. Did she want to say more, did she want to attempt to comfort...yes. Her heart ached for it, and for Evelyn in her grief...but the woman would not accept it.

It was in this moment she finally understood the human idiom, "Damned if you do, damned if you don't."

Without another word, Stewart stormed off and headed directly to her quarters. If meditation didn’t work, there was always the bottles of alcohol mere feet away from her meditation corner to help with the overwhelming grief and pain.

 

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