A Report on Despair
Posted on 16 Jul 2018 @ 1:40am by Ensign Kelly Khan
858 words; about a 4 minute read
Mission:
The Search Begins
Location: Personal Quarters
Timeline: MD 2 || 1900 Hours
Kelly sat in the quarters she shared with Quinn and reviewed the report on Alpha Trios IV that she had to submit for her part of the away team. It had been odd being in charge of Lieutenant Cooper and Senior Chief Petty Officer Stephens, which was strange considering she had once been in command of a starship for a brief time. Things were less personal on a ship, she supposed, but that didn't stop it. She looked back on what had happened on the station and looked at her report once again.
Alpha Trios IV is home to a diverse culture of many species which all share a common ground. Despair. It is a microculture that appears defeated, even in a war that they'd won. Despite multiple attempts at establishing a base of interest, the Zone inhabitants seem to be living in the dark ages and unable to advance.
The only point of reference that they all share is the games where the rich bet on the poor who are put into the games versus gladiators for whatever infraction can be leveled against them. Being unable to pay a bar tab, getting into a fight, or simply being in the wrong place at the wrong time.
The inhabitants seem to be crushed in spirit and have very little to say to outsiders and one said that only the higher ups really know what happened to the system we were sent to investigate and they would not give us the time of day. The feeling of despair and a lack of caring is predominant there and it seems that nothing can pull them out of the miasma that they are buried in.
We attempted to speak to several individuals, but both attempts ended in futility but not entirely wasted efforts. We learned there was a war in the system and they lost, but not who waged war against them. Every challenge on the station seemed to come in the form of the species that lived there having an intense curiosity about us since we were the outsiders. They wanted to know where we came from, who we were and everything, but it is my belief that we were the first new species that they have seen since the Convergence Zone was established.
I can only hope that we are able to solve this mystery and the others before we make our attempt to cross back over into known space.
Kelly stopped and looked at her review again, then saved it and uploaded it for notice of Commander Teixeira and Captain Geisler as her report. With that done, she deactivated the PADD and set it on the desk, then got up to go shower for a second time. The grubby feel of the dome where the games were held at was still on her skin and she knew that she would never take advantage of the luxuries that the Federation freely offered to all again.
Fifteen minutes later she emerged and instead of putting on one of her silk robes, she chose an old, off white cotton robe and shrugged on, tied the belt at her waist, then went to the replicator.
"Computer, one glass of water, chilled," Kelly stated and picked the glass up as she went to sit cross legged on the bed she shared with Quinn. She took a sip of it and closed her eyes while she thought of home, her Papa and Mom, and those she left behind. She wondered if she would get to visit Earth again and see the clear blue skies, the broad oceans, feel the warmth of Sol shining on her face, and hear the happy sounds of people who lived in paradise. She wished for a moment that she could transport the aliens from Alpha Trios IV there, but felt that they would be quickly overwhelmed.
She also considered what could be done to help the inhabitants of Alpha Trios IV, such as replicator technology or even up to date medicines. She took another sip of the cold, clean water and shook her head. Whoever is actually in charge would probably take it for their own use she thought. It was almost as depressing as the dome had been and she sighed as she tried to clear her mind. Things were very different in each corner of the galaxy and she knew that things were also the same in areas that were outside of the Federation. Each person had their own viewpoints, their own way of doing things, and that some thrived on keeping others down. Things would never be equal no matter how far a species advanced, but she could only hope that one day, everyone would have the same chance as everyone else no matter what species they were, where they were in the galaxy, or what their ultimate goals were. All she really hoped for was that the despair she felt on the station would be eradicated one day and that peace could come to those that needed it.
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