In the Crosshairs

Posted on 07 Feb 2020 @ 2:44pm by Commander Scarlet Blake

429 words; about a 2 minute read

ON:

There’s a moment, when you pull the trigger of a sniper rifle.

Your breath leaves your body, draining until the world focusses down to a cross.

Time slows, until you can feel even the slightest brush of air prickling on your skin and every sound becomes an echo from miles away.

It’s just you, them and death, narrowed down to a pinprick.

Only, the last few days, I’ve been on the other side of the sniper scope.

I have seen my fair share of strange things in my career. Actually, probably more than my fair share. Definitely more than my fair share. But I never thought that a ‘rock monster’ would be one of them. Let alone trying to make first contact with one.

We were forced to run, hunted by the colossal golem lord knows how far. It felt a lot longer than it was, I’m sure.

We reached the relative safety of the shuttle and water, only to be pursued by a ‘squid monster’. That’s another one I hadn’t expected to add to my list. Pursued with deadly efficiency, as a matter of fact. We barely made it…in fact, I’m certain that a lesser crew and pilot would not have.

Somehow, the colonists managed to patch the shuttle up enough to leave. It’s not the prettiest fix I’ve ever seen, but under the circumstances, and with how many pieces it was washed up in? It was a minor miracle.

What should have been a routine return to the ship turned into yet another chase...this time a cat and mouse game with Tholians.

And now, this mouse is stuck hiding, waiting to either be found or for a clear escape run.

I hate this feeling. Sitting, waiting and hoping. Hope is not a plan. Or something you can direct and control. Sitting like a damn damsel in a tower. Which, incidentally, Luke will never let me live down.

Either way, we have to find a way to get back. Those colonists need our help, whether they appreciate it or not. And they’re running out of time.

And I have to get back to Lily…

Honestly, I’m doing my best not to think about her. The longer we’re stuck here though, the more difficult that becomes. The thought of her fortifies my determination, but...the emotion that comes with it is a distraction we can’t afford.

No, this side of the sniper scope is the last place I ever wanted to be.

OFF:

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