Sunday, 3 October 2021

There is No Reason to Be Afraid.








Stardate: 49578.2

[Drayan moon]


(Lush vegetation and a crashed shuttlecraft. A crewman is lying on the ground nearby. Tuvok fetches a medkit.) 

TUVOK: 
Tuvok to Voyager. 
Voyager, do you read?
You must lie still. 

BENNET: 
I can't, I can't feel my legs. 

TUVOK: 
Several of your vertebrae have been fractured. 

BENNET: 
Isn't there anything you can do? 

TUVOK: 
I'm afraid the shuttle's medical supplies are inadequate. 
We must wait for Voyager to find us. 

BENNET: 
It's getting worse. 
My whole body feels numb. 

TUVOK: 
I want you to slow your breathing, and relax your muscles. 
Try not to move. 

BENNET: 
All this time I thought I was so lucky…

No Family back Home. 
Nobody to miss. 

Now it seems kind of sad 
not to leave anybody behind. 

TUVOK: 
I believe Ensign Macormak 
would Miss You a great deal. 

BENNET: 
You think so? 
I was never really sure how she —

(Bennet dies. Tuvok sets up a stasis field over his body then hears a rustling in the bushes. He takes out his phaser and turns to see that it is a young girl. She tries to run across the clearing and he grabs her.) 

TUVOK: 
It's all right, don't be frightened. 
I won't Hurt You. 

TRESSA: 
Let me go! 

TUVOK: 
Will you run if I do?

(She struggles then gives up.) 

TRESSA: 
No.

TUVOK: 
My Name is Tuvok. 
Who are you? 

TRESSA: 
Tressa. 
You don't look Like Us. 

TUVOK: 
I am not A Member of Your Race. 
I am Vulcan. 

I thought this moon was uninhabited. 
Do you live here? 

TRESSA: 
We came here on a ship, 
but it crashed like yours. 

TUVOK: 
Where are your parents? 

TRESSA: 
Dead. Is he dead too? 

TUVOK: 
Yes. 

TRESSA: 
What were you doing to him? 

TUVOK: 
I put a stasis field around His Body 
to protect it until I can take it 
back to My Ship. 

TRESSA: 
Why? 

TUVOK: 
Some cultures, like Mister Bennet's, 
consider an appropriate burial 
to be a Sign of Respect. 

Tressa, is there anyone else here with you? 

(She nods.) 

TRESSA: 
It's all right. 

(Another girl and a boy come out of the bushes.) 

TUVOK: 
There is no one looking after you? 

TRESSA: 
Everyone Else died in The Crash. 
We're alone. 

TUVOK: 
There is No Reason 
to Be Afraid. 

I Will Take Care of You Now 
and See That You Get Home Safely. 

(The second girl and the boy run over and hug Tuvok, then Tressa joins in.)


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