The Ghost Train

Posted on Thu Aug 1st, 2019 @ 12:33am by Commander Dominic Aldrich & Crewman Recruit Zeria

Mission: For Whom The Bell Tolls
Location: Dominic's Quarters
Timeline: MD 6 06:00 Hours
1820 words - 3.6 OF Standard Post Measure

Zeria sucked in a breath as her body immediately rose from the pillow in response to the dream. She was already forgetting things, someone had been chasing her and she couldn't find a place to hide. She breathed deeply again, it was all right, it was just a dream after all. She would have remained upright a bit longer if someone's arm hadn't wrapped around her, pulling her down close to him. Zeria blinked, but didn't panic. Somehow before she had looked, she'd known it was Dom. But for the life of her she could not remember climbing into his bed, nor much of what had happened the evening before.

She didn't want to startle him but believed this was something she should wake him up for. "Dominic," Zeria said, reaching to brush his hair back.

Dominic woke very slowly. He was in as deep of a sleep as he had been in quite some time. Recently, he had trouble sleeping so perhaps his body was simply catching up. He felt the warmth of skin in his hand and began to realize it was not his skin. Suddenly, he was wide awake and looking at Zeria with confused horror. "What are you...? Why are we....? Oh...no...did we.....?" He sat up immensely embarrassed.

Zeria shook her head. "Calm down." That wasn't exactly how she'd expected him to react. "I mean we're both fully clothed so I don't think anything happened but sleep. I just don't seem to remember how I got here which I thought was a little concerning. I don't remember much about last night. I remember leaving the hydroponics bay . . . but I don't recall ever getting back to my quarters, nor coming to yours. Do you remember anything?"

"I don't, actually." Dominic pushed the sheet off and hung his legs over the edge of the bed. Taking a calming breath he said, "Sorry. I've just had bad past experiences that went a little like this." Looking around the room, he noticed his shoes were in the spot he always placed them after retiring for the evening. Zeria's were placed neatly beside them. That raised his confidence that nothing had happened between them. "This is very odd. Perhaps we should go back to your quarters and see if there are signs of a meal there. It may awaken a memory, though collective amnesia is quite worrisome."

"Yes, well things between us are new. I didn't mean to barge into your private space . . . ." Zeria got up and stretched a bit, feeling stiff as if she'd slept in the same position all night. "But yes, we can absolutely walk to my quarters. Do you feel alright otherwise?"

"I have no issue with you being in my space," he replied with a grin, "I just want to make sure it's on all of the right terms. I love you and I always want you around." He stood too, moving over to his closet to get a uniform to change in to. "I feel perfectly fine otherwise. In fact, that's the best I've slept in days."

Zeria smiled. "So you need someone to hold you down and make you sleep?" She teased lightly. "I feel fine too, except for a little bit of a stiff neck. It is odd though. Hopefully things will come back to us and we can find some answers." She slipped on her shoes and wandered into the living room while she waited for Dom to get dressed. Zeria snooped a little bit around the room without touching anything and pondered the purpose of several items.

Dominic smiled to himself with his back to her as he pondered what she'd said. He didn't mind waking up with her next to him, he just wanted to remember it. Closing the last button on his jacket and wiping his pips with a cloth he turned to see her staring at a set of old keys on the desk. "Those probably look pretty out of place on a ship like this." He walked over and stood next to her, kissing her lightly on the cheek.

Zeria savored the touch for a moment and then turned towards him, capturing his face in her hands. She brushed her lips across his briefly and then placed her forehead against his. "You're so sweet." She said softly holding that position for as long as she thought she could. When she broke away she turned back to the objects she'd been staring at. "Umm, what are they?"

He lived in the moment with her while it lasted then answered, "Those are the keys to the 1967 Shelby Mustang I have stored back home. It had followed me onto every ship and station I've been at, but I haven't gotten around to asking the Captain if we have space for it here. Not that I know where I'd drive it." He took a picture out of a nearby drawer. "Here's a picture of it. I rebuilt myself."

"Just a tad protective of it are you?" She'd never seen one of course but it looked like some kind of land vehicle. "Pretty." She said examining the image closely. "I would think though, that it might be safer on Earth. What happens if the ship is too badly damaged and we have to evacuate? I don't think that's space worthy. Not that I care of course if you bring it with you." Zeria chuckled a bit. "Am I rambling?"

"Nah, you're fine," Dominic replied. "You're probably right, but I like having pretty and amazing things with me." He gave her a wink. "Maybe we can take a 'ride' in it on the holodeck some time soon." Then checking the time, "I'm on duty in two hours. We should probably head to your place and see what we can figure out."

"Sure," Zeria replied, about both things and headed for the door. As they emerged from his quarters she glanced around. Something seemed to be off on this ship but she didn't know what it was or how she knew. People just seemed to be acting strangely and Zeria wondered if they weren't the only ones who had woken up together unexpectedly. When they entered Zeria's quarters she looked around but nothing was amiss. There weren't that many personal effects because she hadn't had time to pack up a bunch of things before they'd needed to be off the planet. "Any memories flooding back?" She asked.

He looked around. The entire place seemed unfamiliar to him. "Nothing yet," he said as he walked into the kitchenette. Looking around, there were no clear signs of a meal taking place at all, but that wasn't necessarily surprising. He then had an idea. "Why didn't I think of this before?" He mumbled to himself in semi-frustration. "Computer, access location records for Lieutenant Commander Dominic Aldrich, authorization Gamma Rho Zeta six seven. Please list all locations beginning at fourteen hundred hours yesterday."

The Computer beeped and replied, "Lieutenant Commander Aldrich was in the Hydroponics bay, turbolift three, Crewman Zeria's quarters, turbo lift two, Lieutenant Commander Aldrich's quarters, turbo lift two, and Crewman Zeria's quarters."

"Interesting....." Dominic said turning back to Zeria.

"I remember leaving the hydroponics bay with you. We were talking about dinner. But I don't remember reaching my quarters or yours." She sighed. "A fluke? Something we ate? I'm sure we'll figure it out eventually. I wonder if anyone else experienced any loss of memory last night?" She reached up to rub her neck with her left arm. "I'm not going to worry about it. I'll just take a shower and change clothes. If you want to wait around a few minutes I'll make you some breakfast?"

Dominic nodded and said, "Sounds good. I'll be here." He then went over to the small window and took a seat beginning to read some reports from a PADD.

Zeria entered the bedroom, shedding clothes as she went. She stood in front of the mirror for a moment and was almost ready to step into the shower when she noticed a mark on her shoulder. She stopped, turning her body. Zeria was startled by the size of what appeared to be a bruise on her back. She quickly grabbed a towel, wrapped it around the lower half of her body and the front, letting it sag over her back. "Dominic, can you come here for a minute please?"

Dominic sat up quickly and stood, proceeding to walk into the room. His heart skipped a beat to see her in just a towel, but he said nothing about it. "What is it?" There was great concern in his voice.

"Look at this," she reached back and brushed her hair out of the way revealing the large bruise that ran down her back and across one shoulder. "I didn't even know it was there until I got undressed. What in the universe could have done this?"

Dominic examined the bruise. "Well, it doesn't appear to be from blunt force. It looks more like a heavy pressure bruise as if something had weighed down on you or you on it with a force. It's almost as if someone grabbed you forcibly."

"People on Marga III are rather conservative about touching. I'm almost positive that you're the only person to touch me since coming on board and I know you wouldn't do this. So it's very odd, another part of this mystery I suppose. It doesn't hurt much," she assured him. "Do you think we both should go to sickbay about our memory loss?"

"Maybe so," Dominic replied. "Might be a good place to start, especially with such physical signs showing up. Go ahead and get showered up and we can head there."

"Thanks," Zeria said, touching his face lightly with her finger tips before moving away toward the shower. "Just give me ten minutes and I'll be ready." She didn't even wait to see if Dominic was gone before letting the towel drop and stepping into the sonic shower. She found it incredibly relaxing and normally took her showers in the evening because they put her right to sleep if she crawled into bed afterward. Ten minutes later she was dressed and braiding her hair when she came out of the bedroom.

Dominic was staring out of the porthole when he heard her enter the room. He has spent the last ten minutes lost in thought trying to figure out what would create a shared amnesia. He turned to see her putting the braid back over her shoulder and smiled. "Ready to go?"

Zeria nodded returning his smile. She was trying not to worry about things. "Yes, let's go find some answers."

Dominic walked to the door and motioned for her to exit first. Following her out, he took a deep breath tried not to be too bothered.



Crewman Zeria
Hydroponics
PNPC by Saulitis

Lt. Cmdr. Dominic Aldrich
CSO