<USS Banshee> Eye of the storm
- From: EnsnSaraCrusher@xxxxxxx
- To: ussbanshee@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Thu, 8 May 2003 18:07:13 EDT
"Eye of the Storm."
Lt. Sara Crusher
Lighting lit up the night sky as thunder roared and boomed so loudly that it
shook the house, rain hit the windows in forceful droplets that ran down the
glass in sheets, yet none of this was the reason why Sara couldn’t sleep. She
had found it difficult to fall asleep since arriving in Kerry and not even
spending hours at Sullivan’s dancing, drinking, and playing darts with Shamus
and Brennan had helped. She was worn-out and wanted to sleep but she had
become use to sharing her bed with Cyanah and found she didn’t like falling
asleep alone.
Sara carefully got out of bed so she wouldn’t wake Flynn, who had taken to
sleeping on the floor next to her bed, and walked over to the window. She
picked up the hand woven throw from the back of the rocker and wrapped up in
it before sitting in the chair. She looked out the window and watched as the
storm raged out side. With each flash of lighting the entire countryside lit
up like it was midday and not midnight.
Sara had been there for over a week and still hadn’t looked in the barn like
Morri had told her to do because being scared of the truth had beaten out
wanting to know what happened and Sara was starting to feel as if this whole
thing would never be resolved. As she scanned the landscape her eyes focused
on the small barn just as the sky lit up and the house rattled from a fierce
clap of thunder, Sara sighed deeply as she continued to stare out into the
storm.
There was just so much going on in her life and she felt as if she had no
control over any of it any more. Cyanah was back in Baltimore with Morri, a
woman she was attached to and who was attached to her, alone, and Sara,
although trying not let it show, was scared. The key to her past lie just
beyond the doors of that barn but she hadn’t gone in side because she was
scared. She was sick of being scared! She may not be able to control what was
going on in Baltimore but she could control what was going on here.
Sara bolted from the rocker and tossed the throw back over the back of it
before heading down stairs. She remember which floor boards and which stairs
squeaked from her past midnight raids on the cookie jar in the kitchen which
made sneaking down stairs easy. The kitchen was dark and Sara very quietly
grabbed what she needed, the key to the barn and a flash light. She walked
out the back door and into the pouring rain; her feet and Flynn’s paws were
coved in mud, and her night gown and hair were soaked and plastered to her
body, but she didn't care. She had finally gotten the nerve up to look and
she wasn’t about to let it go now because she was cold, wet, and muddy. She
held the flash light under her arm as she fumbled with the key and pad lock
as she try to get the lock off the door. Once she had it unlocked she tossed
both to the soggy ground and began to push open the doors.
The beam of light coming from the flash light gleamed and reflected off of
something large and metal inside. Sara walked into the barn slowly and Flynn
followed. She ran the beam of light along the surface of the large metal
object but couldn’t tell what it was until another flash of lighting
eliminated the entire inside of the barn. The inside of the barn wasn’t a
barn, it was a make shift hanger and in the center of all the tools,
equipment and parts was a velocity class racing craft.
Sara skimmed the light along the wall until she found a light switch and then
walked over and flipped it on. She turned and looked at the racer and stared
at it for a long time. Then she walk over and started to run her hand down it’
s smooth lines. This had been the racer that Morri use to take her flying in,
she had even started to teach Sara the fundamentals of being a pilot. Sara
closed her eyes and she continued to walk around the racer; allowing her mind
to relax and taking in the memory of how it felt to sit behind Morri as she
flew it. Then she stopped. Her hand made contact with something different,
the surface was no longer smooth and cool to the touch, it was rough and
jagged. Sara opened her eyes and saw that part of the racer was coved in
plasma burn marks and some of the body was twisted and missing.
Another flash of bright fiery white/blue light filled the sky and the barn
and Sara screamed.
***
The sound of wild horses galloping down the stairs could be heard though out
the house and then a loud thud. Kathryn and Rhi blinked and shook their
heads.
"I’m OK!" Shouted a small voice from the other room. Sara picked herself up
off the floor and then stuck her tongue out at the stairs like it had been
their fault that she had been running down them and missed the last two. Rhi
was going to work on the racer today and Sara was going to get to help and
then they were going to take it up and Sara was busting a gut to get out
there already.
"Trust your instincts me wee bairn. If ye feel somethin’ is not right or
somethin’ bad is about to happen then be precocious."
Rhi nodded but didn’t get to respond.
"I’m ready! Lets go, Rhi!" Sara shouted as she bounded into the kitchen.
"Come on come on come on!"
Kathryn smiled softly and went back to preparing something that Sara thought
smelling like medicine. Rhi turned around in her chair and looked at Sara
with a look on her face that Sara didn’t like. Sara came to a skidding halt
and then just stood there looking at them.
"I don’t think we’re going to be going up today, Beanie. There’s a storm
coming and it’s not safe."
The look of disappointment flashed in Sara’s little green eyes. "But you’ve
gone up in the rain before."
"Not this time, Beanie. It’s not safe and I don’t want to take any chances.
We’ll go up later this week I promise."
Sara started to pout and was going to say something but got cut off.
"If you give me a hard time about this we wouldn’t go at all."
"Fine." Sara said in a huff as she flicked her foot in an attempt to kick at
her disappointment. "May I at least go out and play with Flynn before the
storm hits." She asked as she looked up at the two women. Rhi nodded her head
and Sara and Flynn headed for the door.
"Stay close to the house, Sara!"
The skies over the farm were still clear and as Sara walked she kicked at
pebbles. "It’s not fair. She promised, and look the storm is still out over
the islands, it’ll be hours before it gets here." She vented to Flynn who
just walked beside her and nudged her hand from time to time. "She’s treating
me like a baby."
"Because you are a baby." Shamus said as he dropped out of a near by tree.
Sara jumped and Flynn bark. "I am not!" She shouted at him. "I’m twelve years
old! That is not a baby!" Flynn huffed in agreement, or at least that’s what
Sara thought he did.
Shamus laughed as he took up a position on Sara’s other side. "Face it Sara,
everyone sees you as a baby, I mean look at you! Your no bigger then you were
when you were ten."
"I am too!" She yelled as she slugged him in the arm. "I’ve grown!"
"Not much." Shamus pointed out. "Anyway, you wanna go to the cliffs and throw
rocks into foam?"
Sara kicked a pebble and sent it flying across the field. "I can’t," She said
in a low growl, "I have to stay close to the house because of the storm."
Shamus shrugged his shoulders. "See.. A baby," he started, "Oh well, then how
about we.." Shamus couldn’t finished his sentence since being knocked to the
ground had knocked the breath out of him.
"I am not a baby!" Sara shouted as she stood over him with her tiny hands on
her hips. "And I’ll prove it!" Sara kicked the bottom of Shamus’ foot and
then stomped off towards the barn. Flynn and Shamus where right on her heels.
"What are you going to do?" Shamus asked when he finally caught up to her.
Sara didn’t say a word she just kept walking towards the barn. She flung open
the normally locked doors and then stood there for a moment and looked at the
red and black racer in awe. Then she squared her shoulders and walked over to
it. "Now help me up. I can’t reach the hatch release."
"Sara! This is nuts! Rhi is going to kill you for this!"
Sara looked around for something to climb up on. "I’m just going to start it
up I’m not really going to take it out." Sara smiled when she found a foot
ladder and very carefully leaned it against the side of the racer. She
climbed up, opened the hatch, and climbed into the cockpit. She looked around
at all the controls and then closed the hatch as she went though everything
Rhi had taught her.
She began the start up sequence and smiled to herself. The racer started up
with a soft whirling noise and Shamus cheered. Sara smiled at him though the
hatch glass and gave him the thumbs up. Shamus pointed to the open doors and
nodded his head. Sara started to chew on her bottom lip. She had only wanted
to turn it on she hadn’t planned on moving it but now Shamus was all but
daring her to take it out of the barn. She looked at the controls, then
looked at Shamus, then looked at the open doors. The sky had started to
darken but though the shaded glass of the racer’s hatch cover Sara couldn’t
tell this, and even if she could have she was to busy wondering what the
chances were she’s get caught. Unless Rhi was in her room there would have
been no way for her too see this far out, she could just pull it out though
the doors and then back it up again, no one would ever know.. Sara put her
tiny shacking hand on the stick and pressed the release button. She and the
racer started to slowly roll out of the barn.
Thunder storms had been known to roll in fast and with out warning from the
islands and no one knew this better then Rhi. The skies had grown dark and
the lighting had started to flash in the distance. She stood at the back door
and shouted for Sara to come in but there was no reply.
"Hey Sis, is it a good idea to leave your racer out in a storm when it has a
plasma leak?" Brennan asked as he entered the kitchen.
Rhi turn and snapped at her brother, "It’s not out. It’s in the barn."
Brennan shook his head. "I was just up stairs, Rhi, the racer is out side of
the barn."
"I haven’t had it," Rhi paused as her stomach turned. "She wouldn’t." A
flash of fear lit up Rhi’s grey eyes just as a flash of lighting lit up the
sky behind her. Then there was an explosion.
Sara got the racer all the way out and was even several kilometers away from
the barn when a bolt of lighting hit the back of it. There was a loud boom
and Sara screamed before being thrown forward as the side of the racer went
up in flames. She hit her head on control board and blacked out.
When she came to Rhi was pulling her out of the cockpit while Brennan and
Shamus tried to put out the fire. "Back off!" Rhi yelled. Brennan and Shamus
backed away and join Kathryn at safe distance while Rhi carried Sara towards
them.
"It’s going to blow!" Brennan shouted.
"Rhi! Get down!" Kathryn added.
Rhi turned and looked at the racer and then lunged forward just as the second
plasma tank exploded. She covered Sara’s body with her own as burning pieces
of metal and plasma rained down on them.
Sara screamed and cried. "Rhi! Rhi!"
***
Sara screamed as another clap of thunder shook the ground and a flash of
lighting lit up the sky. She was crying uncontrollably and shacking so bad
she could hardly stand. She had caused those marks, it had been her who had
twisted the metal, it had been her fault that Rhi had to pull her out of the
racer which lead to Rhi using herself as a shield to keep her from getting
hurt when the plasma tanks exploded. Sara started to back out of the barn but
tripped over Flynn and landed in the mud out side the door where the accident
had happened. Sara just sat there in the mud and the down pouring rain
crying, shaking, and hyperventilating as she whispered, "It was my fault.. I’
m sorry."
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