Just a sprinkle and a dash

Posted on Tue Oct 18th, 2022 @ 5:26pm by Lieutenant Commander Bonnie "Bon-Bon" Durnell

Mission: Planet of the Dinosaurs
Location: USS Sunfire - Holodeck
Timeline: Current

There were twenty people in the training session that day, plus one teacher. There were six security guards who were in the doorway when the explosive went off. She had managed to help stabilize the living. Out of twenty seven, twenty two were still alive, and two had suffered severe burns to their exposed skin.

She, on the other hand, had fared well. She had ducked low when the explosion rocked the ship and was not conscious during the crash. Other than some minor bruising she was physically fine. Mentally, however, she was waging a battle of guilt.

In her personal experiences, her luck was always hit or miss. There were times she was the target of random mishaps, and then there were times like this one. A time where her mistake hurt others instead of herself. At least that was how she felt as she sat off to the side, back against the wall, head on her knees. They couldn't see her crying and no one had come to check on her yet.

She kept replaying the sequence over and over inside her mind. She kept trying to shake the feeling that something just didn't add up. The explosion had barely breached the doorframe. Coupled with what was on the other side of the corridor, which was nothing vital, that explosion should not have been enough to crash the ship.

And yet, here they were. Downed by force, downed by luck, downed by a small mistake made big. Sure she could take the same path Patin took, and leave the holodeck. She could march up to the bridge and throw down her badge in resignation and proclaim her life in Starfleet forfeit. The thought had crossed her mind.

But then there were those words Patin had offered a mere hour or so ago about knowing her worth and beating herself up for her mistakes. It wasn't much but it was something familiar to hold onto. Sometimes when you have nothing left, a little hope will get you through.

She was no Mariner Beckett or Tasha Yar. Hell she didn't even consider herself on par with the greats like Jenna Ramthorne or William Riker, but there was a dash of her momma and a sprinkle of her papa within her and that was something special, that was worth carrying on.

What got her to lift her head finally was her communicator chirping with the sound of a familiar voice on the other end.