The Civilians

Posted on 25 Sep 2013 @ 10:53am by Petty Officer 2nd Class Jeroen Adlar & Verity Thorne & Lily Blake

1,997 words; about a 10 minute read

Mission: Episode 04 - Exodus
Location: USS Galileo: Deck 5
Timeline: MD 03 - 0100

[ON]

Jeroen frowned as he moved into the room, looking around. Galileo's children. Galileo's Civilians. They were all here. Unless someone had specifically been assigned to somewhere else, they were all here. He saw Verity, moving quickly to him before touching his arm. "Are you okay?" he asked, with concern. Like anyone licensed to carry weapons, he had been armed. And he was here because he had no battle station. What he did had no consequence here. However, what he could do was protect the civilians if the Borg boarded. He smiled to Lily Blake, winking. "And hello, my Princess..."

"Uncle Jeroen!" the young girl reached up from where she was sat in Verity's lap, wriggling her fingers in hope he'd pick her up. As always, she seemed rather unphased with the emergency situation, too young to understand it properly, especially when she had only been on ships for her young life and her mother had taught her it was just like a game.

Verity stood, the Chaplain letting out a long breath as he offered the girl across to Jeroen, shaking his head. He gave a smile all the same, his features calm for the civilians that he'd been assigned to keep together and safe. He didn't feel it though. Not with the sudden red alert, rocking ship and having no clue what was going on. "I'm not sure we're going to keep it together," he whispered to the other man. "There's a new lad," he nodded towards what looked like a slim, teenage boy with long, blonde hair. "He's not pleased being stuck in here with us."

Jeroen held Lily close, kissing her hair before looking over at the teenager. "I bet he isn't," he said as he chuckled softly. But he'd see if he could get him with him here. The older ones could help keep the younger ones calm should it get bad. "I'm here to help..." he met Verity's eyes and gave a weak nod. He carried Lily with him to the teenage boy, smiling to him. "Hi. I'm Jeroen. I've been sent here to help out."

"Give me your phaser and I can go out there and help out," the teenage youth, looking around 15 or 16 in human years, frowned as he bit his nail, his blonde hair falling forward in his face.

"Sorry. You're not going out there...you'd be in the way, same as the rest of us here," Jeroen said and watched him. But he finally gave a nod, clearly thinking about something. "You can use a phaser, lad?" he asked him.

"Yes," he frowned, studying the older looking man for a long moment, his blue/violet eyes anxious. He was silent for a long moment before sighing. "Laeon Wylde," he finally introduced himself, touching his forehead before motioning his hand towards him in greeting.

Jeroen nodded, bowing his head in a greeting in return. "Well, if it looks like it gets bad, you can have a phaser. But it won't do much good against them. It's all about the projectiles," he whispered softly, his eyes gentle. The ship shook and he held Lily closer, letting out a breath. "Well, they need to steer the ship steadier, don't they, princess?" he asked with a smile, not wanting her to be scared.

Lily nodded, but there was still a smile on her face as she patted his arm gently. "The ship is telling the bad people off."

Laeon arched a delicate eyebrow with surprise at the words from the girl, a small smile coming to him despite it all. It was absurd. He was older than everyone else in the room, yet he was stuck in here like a useless child. When Jeroen had spoken about phasers not being useful, he knew it meant the rumours were true and it was Borg. His mind went to his father working in Sickbay. His dad had served as a doctor and surgeon at Wolf 359. He knew all about those things. "Let's hope the ship shouts loud then."

Jeroen looked at Laeon, giving a grateful nod before he looked at Lily. "Okay...we are all going to sit down now. And we can talk..." he said, carrying Lily to Verity and sitting down with him. It was noisy. He stroked her back gently, smiling, looking over at Laeon. "You too, lad...have a seat."

Laeon frowned at the words, sighing as he looked back to the door. He wanted to get out there. He looked around the rest of the group of Galileo's civilians, in small huddles talking quietly amongst themselves. He supposed he should try and stay calm too. He moved to Jeroen and Verity's little huddle to sit with them on the floor, his body awkward as he crossed his legs. "I can help."

"I know," Jeroen said quietly, holding his eyes. "Sometimes, what helps the most is keeping away and having a level head. There's a lot of people here. It's not pleasant, but we are stuck here for awhile."

Laeon frowned stubbornly, as if he didn't agree as he rubbed the back of his neck. In truth though, he was more worried than anything. He kept his mouth shut though, in front of the little girl, not wanting to upset her. He pulled the paper pad out of his pocket and started to sketch and write instead.

Verity watched with a small smile, sitting back slightly to lean on his hands behind him. "You were on Venture, weren't you?"

Laeon glanced up before nodding, his frown deepening at that. Thinking over the people he'd known who were gone now. "Yes. My father transferred over to Galileo before - well, just before."

Jeroen watched him with sadness, before taking a breath. "What does your father do?" he asked gently, holding Lily close so she could rest against him.

"He's a doctor, he'll be in Sickbay now, Alexion Wylde," Laeon shook his head awkwardly, sketching lightly. "He was at Wolf 359, he'll know how to help people."

He watched him with surprise before giving a nod of respect. "He will do well," he said softly. "Don't worry about him. Or yourself. We will be okay."

Laeon looked up to Jeroen, holding his eyes seriously. "You don't know that," he whispered. "You can't say that if you don't know that. Just because you want it to be okay, does not mean it will be. People attack, people die," he said quietly, words that no youth should say.

Lily watched with confusion, tipping her head back to look up at Jeroen, tugging his long dark hair. "What Lion say?"

Verity looked between them, seeing the knowledge in the lad all too easily. Maybe someone like Jeroen with his background could speak his language. "Come on Lily," he stood up and took the young girl from Jeroen to give them a few moments alone, walking away. "Help me check all the fragile things are safe again so they don't break when the ship tells the bad people off...."

Jeroen looked at Laeon for a long moment before moving closer to him. "Look," he said, his voice quiet. "We both know what is happening. And how bad it is. And that in reality, we have a slim chance for survival. But..." he reached out, to take the boy's hand. "The others can't handle that knowledge. They don't have your steel in them. Or they're too young. So we lie. We stay optimistic and think of our options. Which is that if they board us and they adapt to our fire...we have two choices. Surrender. Or decide how we die."

Laeon gripped his hand tightly at the words, his frown deepening as he set his pencil down on the pad he had been working on. The ship shook again and he took a sharp breath. "We should cover the doorway with something," he whispered. "Borg can override locks and forcefields given enough time."

"Good idea," Jeroen said and smiled gently, touching his shoulder before squeezing it reassuringly. He got up, moving through. "Okay, we are going to cover the doorway!" he announced, looking around. He then smiled reassuringly. "Just anything that isn't nailed down. Helps if the ship keeps shaking..." he added, but more for the children.

Laeon pushed himself up and brushed himself down to lend a hand. In that moment, the intruder alert suddenly rang through the room, making the breath stick in his chest as he looked around with wide eyes. The Borg had boarded Galileo.

Jeroen reached for his arm, squeezing it before giving a weak smile. "It's okay," he whispered softly. "Okay, everyone who can, help me block this door properly. And then, I want everyone to move to the far side of the room," he said before pointing at a table. "Put that one on the side, facing the door, but three metres away from it." In case they did break in and he needed cover.

Laeon nodded as he moved to grab the table. "Move round," he said quietly to some of the others with a frown that would have matched someone who looked much older than he did. He tipped it over, pulling it to a better angle before moving to pull a shelving case.

Lily looked around with confusion. There was worry on her features for the first time. She had been taught there was nothing to fear in a red alert, but the young girl could see there was something different going on.

Jeroen spotted her, smiling gently before he moved over. He touched her cheek, stroking it. "Princess...some bad men have come on the ship. But we have people out there trying to catch them. So we make sure they don't come in here..." he leant to kiss her forehead. "Nothing to worry about, Aria is most likely chasing them in her high shoes."

"Hah cha!" Lily lifted her arms and moved them as if fighting. "Aria kick them out the doors!"

Verity watched from where he helped sure up the room, smiling softly with relief.

Jeroen nodded, smiling warmly as he hugged her. "Exactly...so don't worry about anything you hear out there. It's okay. I am here," he smiled and kissed her ear. "And I will keep you safe."

She nodded seriously, her long, dark hair swaying with it as she watched him with large, blue eyes. "We stay quiet in here? Secret?" she put her fingers to her lips.

"Yes...just like that," he said and winked, his eyes warm. "So you will sit on Verity's lap and I will be by the door with Laeon." He touched her cheek, smiling gently. "You are a princess and this is your castle...and we are your valiant knights."

Lily giggled, covering her mouth with her hands. "A very quiet princess! With very quiet knights!" she whispered softly, getting into the new 'game', smiling as Verity moved to get a hold of her and lift the little whisp of a girl up.

Jeroen smiled and nodded, his eyes warm. "That's my girl," he said as he pulled away, moving to the door. He looked at Laeon before taking the phaser, offering it to him. "Here. Can't promise they haven't adapted to it."

Laeon took it with a frown, letting out a long breath as he looked around at the others who were moving away to the corners and sides of the room. The youth licked his lips nervously, gripping the weapon tightly. "Sometimes you must try and hold back the flow of the river, even if it means drowning," he whispered.

"Yes," Jeroen whispered quietly, watching him for a long moment. "I will do what I can to protect you all, I promise that."

[OFF]

PO2 Jeroen Adlar
Geoengineer
USS Galileo

PO2 Verity Thorne
Chaplain
USS Galileo

Lily Blake
Civilian Child
USS Galileo

Laeon Wylde
Civilian Minor
USS Galileo

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