=U.S.S. Descartes=
=Guest Quarters=
Rick laid quietly on the couch in his temporary quarters. He lifted his left hand and rubbed his right fingers on his wedding band. He hoped with all hope that the TechEx test would be the first, last and only time that weapon was ever activated.
He couldn't figure out why he was so passionately against using this weapon. It wasn't that he was that fond of the Romulans. Sure, even though they were the enemy, their civilians were people just like anyone else. They had families with children who only disliked the Federation because their parents told them to. Rick was certain that there were Federation children who were taught to feel the same way about the Rommies.
Rick, though, made it a point not to teach Rachel to hate the Romulans, even though Rick himself had developed a strong dislike for them.
Killing Romulan soldiers was one thing. Killing innocent children was a different matter. And the use of this weapon could result in the deaths of hundreds of thousands, if not tens of millions of children.
Sure, the Rommies killed millions of innocent Federation citizens with the use of Thelaron weapons. But, that's why they considered the Rommies the bad guys. Bad guys did terrible things. Now the Federation, or the good guys, were considering using a weapon that would result in mass killing. It wouldn't directly kill anyone, mind you, but in the end, any deaths suffered as a result of such a device would be just as bad. Maybe even worse. At least a person doesn't suffer long when killed by a Thelaron weapon. The TechEx will result in a variety of problems, including considerable suffering by way of hunger and lack of proper medical care.
Maybe there were no "good guys" or "bad guys" after all.
He believed the Romulans needed to be punished, but not like this. And this was testing his devotion to starfleet.
Before he met MaiKai, Rick had only one true love ... Starfleet. Ever since he could remember, he wanted to be a starfleet officer and engineer. Graduating the academy had been a dream come true. He couldn't imagine any point in his life where he would ever hate wearing the uniform.
Now, he was having second thoughts about his career.
He stared at the ring for the longest moment. He had done his best lately to be as honest as possible with Mai. This, though ... how could he explain this ... to Mai and later Rachel and even his unborn child.
Would he be remembered as a butcher that helped in the killings of millions, or would he be remembered as a hero who saved the lives of millions and ended the war? Would the device even end the war, or would the Rommies continue fighting to the last man?
He reached down to the deck and grabbed a bottle of scotch the Descartes' XO had given him. He took a drink. He only recently began to understand why his brother enjoyed drinking so much. But Rick didn't as he put the bottle back down, intending not to drink another drop.
As he continued to lay quietly, he heard the chime of his door.
"Oh, friggin' great. It's probably Wright," Rick muttered.
"Come," he said out loud.
The door opened and a young female crewman that Rick didn't recognize entered.
"Sir, am I disturbing you?" the crewman asked.
"No," Rick lied as he rubbed his eyes. "What is it?"
"Well, sir. Your comm link is down, so I was told to deliver this to you in person."
She handed him a data PADD.
'Of course the link was down. I deactivated it so no one would bother me,' Rick wanted to say, but instead he took the PADD.
Rick read the PADD and sat up.
"When did you get this?" he asked.
"It was received by the Janus system a few hours ago."
He read the PADD again. It was a message from his brother. Mai was going to have their baby soon if she already hadn't. This was early, he thought. Something must have gone wrong.
He stood as he began to worry.
Security in the Columbia system wouldn't let him contact Starbase UNITY. So he wouldn't know anything for another day or so at the earliest. He needed to talk to Wright.
Moments later, he found Trevor Wright still at his science station oin the bridge going over the data of the TechEx test.
"Rick, are you feeling better?" Wright asked.
"Feeling better?" Rick was puzzled.
"When you stormed off the bridge, I had to explain to Admiral Jefferson that you were not feeling well. He didn't seem to displeased by your sudden departure, but he didn't seem too happy about it either."
"He'll get over it," Rick said. "I need to show you something."
Rick handed Wright the PADD and the elder engineer/scientist looked it over.
"I'll see about getting you transport to UNITY as soon as possible," Wright said, handing Rick the PADD back.
"Thank you," Rick said.
"Don't mention it. Besides, I think we can get along without you now. Your work here is done."
Commander Rick Rodgers
Chief Engineering Officer
Starbase UNITY
temporary assignment
Deputy Developmental and Operations Coordinator
Project Los Alamos
and
Dr. Trevor Wright (npc by Rick)
Head of Development and Operations
Project Los Alamos
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