'Return to Sender' Pt 3

Posted on Fri Mar 28th, 2025 @ 5:14pm by Commander Shr'Nesh Karadis & Lieutenant Commander Kevin Kilbane & Commander Alec Hunter & Lieutenant Commander Isabelle Savette & Lieutenant Commander Shoniara T'ghann-Dex. Doctor
Edited on on Fri Mar 28th, 2025 @ 7:48pm

2,306 words; about a 12 minute read

Mission: Voices of the past
Location: Planet Side/USS Blackeagle
Timeline: Current.

Back in the corridor, Kilbane crept quietly along the wall, nearing a doorway at the end which was three quarters open. Reaching it, he could hear someone inside talking, "Scanners are still offline, I can only give you a rough target area."

Kilbane looked back up the corridor, none of the others were there, he had to decide if he entered or not, but what if there were more than one person inside, he had no weapon on him to defend himself.

"Isabelle is right, you are coming with us Shon. We need you with us. Now come on, we need to catch up with Kilbane before he gets himself in trouble or worse." Alec told the pair.

As the trio entered the corridor, Alec could see Kilbane ahead of them, "Kilbane wait!" He hissed as they hurried to reach him.

"You took your bloody time!" Kilbane hissed back as they reached him, "What did you think this was, a Sunday stroll in the park? Now listen up, someone's in there" he thumbed over his shoulder, "whoever it is, they're trying to get co-ordinates to someone else so they can fire back, but, they don't have an exact fix on a target. I've no idea if they're alone or anyone else is in there with them."

"Isabelle should walk in, they know her" Shon said in a monotone voice.

Kilbane thought he already knew the answer to that one, there was no way Alec would let his precious Isabelle walk in there alone. Either he'd say no or he would volunteer to walk in there with her. One thing he'd noted about the Commander, he put her safety before any mission priority, which was wrong as the mission always came first in their team, no matter the circumstance or personal feelings. Would he be proved right, or wrong?

Alec looked over to Isabelle, "You ready to do this?" He asked, we'll be right behind you. Shon and I still have our phasers."

Shon took her phaser off her belt and set it to stun, for a second she thought of dialling it right up and pointing at herself. She was a killer, a premeditated murderer, never mind she had done it to help Isabelle but she had made a promise to Kara. Maybe she could anger Kilbane enough to push him over the edge, to kill her. She knew he hated her for what she had done to him ....She shook her head and came back to reality.

Not surprised that Isabelle was being sent in with everyone coming in right behind her, there was something Kilbane did notice, Shon's demeanour, she seemed preoccupied by something. He didn't have time to deal with that right now, hell, did he even want to after what she'd done to him, but she was crew, and she was the ships CMO as well as Second Officer, so perhaps he ought to mention it to someone if they managed to get out.

Meantime, he had to get ready for what was coming next as he waited on Isabelle walking into the room.

Isabelle nodded, taking a deep breath she headed in through the door, finding Jackson on the other side busy planning with some of his people. “Jackson…” she gave him an apologetic look. “You should go to the infirmary, it’s Kara she’s…I’m sorry she’s dead.”

Jackson’s mouth dropped open, totally stunned at the news about his wife. “You with me! You watch her!” He pointed at Isabelle. “I’ll be back as soon as I can.”

Shon fell back as he passed and followed him to the infirmary. Kara was there still with the serene look she had on her face when she died. "I killed her." Shon told him. "I infected her with nanites taken from Isabelle so we could be brought here so I could conduct the surgery that saved Isabelle. However I promised your wife I could remove them but, the nanites and her augmentations could not exist together. I am so very sorry." Shon stood before him.

Alec looked to Kilbane, "Now's our chance, Let's do this and put an end to this madness."

As Shon passed him, Kilbane took her phaser and shook his head in case she objected. Waiting till Shon, Jackson and his guards were out of site, he turned to Alec and said, "Madness you say...this may only be the beginning."

Walking into the room, he took the phaser, changed the setting to kill and calmly shot the three remaining guards who were still in the room. As the last one slid down in the chair he was in, Kilbane walked over and, using his boot, shoved him out of it and onto the floor. He quickly studied the console in front of him, seeing it was a much older design but basically the same as that onboard the 'Eagle, he set it to overload. He stood up again and walked past Alec, saying "You want this ended, let's end it then."

As he approached the end of the corridor and turned back towards the medical room, an almighty explosion rocked the rotunda and all the lights dimmed and took a few seconds to come back on. Kilbane didn't stop walking, and as he did so, he tapped his COMM badge, "Kilbane to Blackeagle, mainframe computer destroyed, you should be able to beam the away team up now, but not me, I have to get the shuttle back, out."

Entering the medical room, he saw Shon, Jackson and his guards all standing around the body of Kara. He didn't stop, he raised his arm, took aim at the guards and fired, killing them instantly, that left Shon and Jackson. His aim went between them both, he wanted Jackson dead because of the order to to try and kill Finchley, he wanted Shon dead because of what she'd done to him after he'd given her his all and she'd betrayed him for Kerr.

Back and forth, back and forth, his finger hovering over the 'fire' button. In the end, his aim was at Jackson, "This is for your attempt to kill Commodore Kerr" he said as he stepped over to Jackson, placed the phaser in his mouth and fired. He watched as his body crumpled to the ground, and looking at Shon he said, "We physically kill anyone who makes an attempt on us, and anyone who helps them, but you wouldn't know that, you just kill peoples feelings."

With that he dropped the phaser at her feet, turned and walked away tapping his COMM badge and saying, "Kilbane to 'Eagle, beam the away team up now!"

"Kill me then, Shon said, "you can say Jackson killed me, please Kevin, you know you want to and I cannot live now."

Kilbane looked at Shon, "Stop being so melodramatic Commander T'ghann-Dex, so what, you killed someone trying to protect one of our crew, how's that any different from me killing those in the control room or killing Jackson and his guards in here, they attacked first trying to kill the Commodore. Pull yourself together, you're meant to be acting Executive Officer!"

Alec had gathered Isabelle after Kilbane had shot and killed the guards in the control room. "Come on." He told her, "We need to get back to medical and Shon and Kilbane."

"I'm heading back to the shuttle" Kilbane said, "I'll meet you all back there."

Shon heard Kilbane but his voice sounded like a breath of wind. She bent down and picked up the phaser he had dropped. "Do no harm, do no harm" she began to repeat to herself. The Executive Officer was here, she was a Medical Officer. "Do no harm."
She left the medical centre and followed Kilbane phaser in hand. "If you want a killer Kevin Kilbane you will get one." Shon entered the shuttle as Kilbane was seated at the controls. She raised her phaser and pointed it at him.

Kilbane turned at the sound of someone entering the shuttle. Seeing Shon aiming a phaser at him, he stood up, "and what good will killing me achieve except you being arrested, court marshalled and sent to a penal colony for the rest of your life. Now sit down and strap yourself in and stop being an idiot."

“Right at this moment I might just take a chance.” She said as she levelled it at his head. “I cannot miss from this range.” Then she nodded and sat down strapping herself in. “But seeing as we are alone I want to let you know it was never my intention to hurt you. I thought what I felt for Finchley was over, I fell in love with you and then, for one moment we were together and I realised that I would always loved him. I never meant you to see us together like that…..I still love you but…..”

"Oh spare me the 'Dear Kevin' speech" Kilbane replied to Shon, "There's nothing you can say that will make any difference to what you and that shit have done to me. My time will come, believe me, and payback is a bitch."

Alec and Isabelle entered the shuttle, and he could feel the tension in the air. His gaze shifted from Shon to Kilbane. "What's going on?"

Isabelle was sensing the underlying emotions as she rested her hand on Alec’s arm. “Let’s…just leave that question for another time.” She motioned for him to leave it be giving Shon an understanding gaze.

Alec was about to say something but stopped seeing Isabelle's motion. "Alright for another time then." He relented.

Kilbane turned to Alec and said, "No, not for another time, this has nothing to do with you or anyone else Commander. This is just between Commander T'ghann-Dex and myself, if I were to say anything about what happened, you'd be arresting her" he pointed at Shon, "so leave it be. Please take your seats so we can take off."

"No, you are wrong Commander Kilbane, this has to do with the ship and crew members, so it has everything to do with me." Alec replied, "However, I don't want to arrest anyone, so it will be left alone." Alec replied more than a little tired of people telling him what was or wasn't his business and what he could or couldn't do.

"Actually it's a personal matter Commander, nothing to do with the ship and crew members" Kilbane replied, "So unless Commander T'ghann-Dex wishes to discuss it with you, as I don't, it has nothing to do with you as I said. I don't interfere with your personal life or what happens within it, so keep out of mine. If you want to, if the Commodore recovers, we can take this to him and he'll tell you exactly the same thing. Unless it has a direct bearing on the mission, it's a personal matter, not anyone's business but my own and Commander T'ghann-Dex. What has happened here has no direct bearing on the mission, so it's a personal matter between the two of us" he thumbed between Shon and himself. "Now, I'm about to take off and I'd rather everyone was seated for their own safety" he finished, returning to his flight check.

Alec held his tongue. He was past tired of Kilbane and Karadis walking around as special characters because of their personal relationship with Captain Kerr and acting like they were beyond reproach or questioning.

He took his seat and buckled in but made a mental note, this wasn't over.

"Shon sat quietly whispering "do no harm, do no harm, do no harm" over and over again.

As the shuttle took off and began it's climb back up into the stratosphere, Kilbane sat staring out the window. He hadn't wanted to believe what he'd been asked to investigate into regarding a Senior Officer of the Blackeagle, however, from what he witnessed and recorded whilst in the medical complex and in the control room, the proof was evident and there would be ramifications. He sighed to himself, the duties and missions of serving on the Blackeagle were hard enough with out any of this sort of thing going on, but, orders were orders and he'd report his findings and hell mend those who were going to be on the receiving end.

Finally the shuttle broke free of the planet and was soon back onboard the ship and on the landing pad. He pressed a button to open the shuttle doors, unclipped his buckle and rose from his seat. Not looking or talking to anyone onboard as he passed them, he exited the shuttle to make his report and as he'd thought to himself earlier, hell mend those who would be on the receiving end after he'd made it.

Shon immediately made her way back to sickbay and Finchley. Not bothering to change she went over his results and took more samples. He seemed to have remained stable. “Let’s bring him out” she said, “maybe he can breathe on his own?”
She gave him the appropriate support meds and injected him with aprastelazine that would suppress the drugs that had produced his coma. “Did the body of the augment Kara arrive?” She asked receiving a nod from the mortuary technician. Do no harm, do no harm, she repeated the mantra and waited.

Watching first Kilbane and then Shon exit the shuttle, Alec sighed and shook his head. There were serious crew issues with the tension evident. If this kept up there were going be more problems. He looked to Isabelle, "Let's get out of here and get to Sickbay and have you checked over, then you can go and rest in our quarters."

 

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