Post 216: Good news
Posted on Thu Feb 20th, 2025 @ 4:35pm by Admiral Christopher Bradley & Lieutenant Thomas Ryan MD & First Star Admiral Dakota Olvera & Iris Bradley
Edited on on Thu Feb 20th, 2025 @ 4:38pm
852 words; about a 4 minute read
Mission: Secrets
While sitting waiting on Chris to wake up, Tom went to the available comm console and opened a channel to Admiral Olvera.
“Hello Tom.” Dakota said, her face had a guarded look, hoping things had gone well but waited to hear what he had to say.
"He's alive and we got him." Tom said, the relief in his voice being heard. "No real need to go into what we did, but.. " Tom looked over the console at Chris in the bio bed. "he should be waking up soon."
Dakota smiled and sighed in relief.” Thank you, thank you all.” She took. Deep breath and worked hard to hold her tears of relief back. “What is his condition?”
"He was beaten pretty badly. Lots of broken bones, ribs. All healing. He will probably have an eye patch for a bit. They did a number on his optic nerves but they can be fixed over time. Lacerations all healing. That's the physical part. Mentally.. I don't know. It didn't seem good. He was scared. Didn't initially trust it was us. I won't know more til he wakes up. We are going to sedate him when he tries to sleep, hoping he will be able to. And he will need a lot of follow up appointments." Tom said.
“I understand.” Dakota nodded. She tried to concentrate on his coming home and not his long list of injuries but she couldn’t imagine what he had gone through.
Tom took a deep breath, his expression serious but with a hint of exhaustion. "Yeah… it's going to be a long road for him, Dakota. Physically, we can fix him. Mentally? That’s going to take time, and a hell of a lot of patience." He glanced back at Chris, his concern evident. "But he’s strong. If anyone can come back from this, it's him."
“He will.” Dakota said with confidence. “Chris isn’t a quitter, he will return to us.”’ She believe that with everything inside of her, she had to.
As he went to speak he heard a voice. "Tom?"
Tom looked over the console and smiled. "And someone else is here too.." he said turning the console so it faced the biobed where Chris was now awake.
“Chris…” Dakota smiled. She knew he had far to go and he might not even speak but just seeing him there, it felt both relief and sorrow for all she could see he had suffered.
Chris blinked, his visible eye still adjusting to the light. His body felt heavy, weighed down by exhaustion and pain, but he forced himself to focus. His gaze met Dakota’s, and for a moment, he simply breathed.
His throat was raw, his mind clouded, but he managed a hoarse whisper. “Took… longer than I thought.”
Chris swallowed hard, shifting slightly against the discomfort. “Not… done yet.” His voice was weak, but there was still that familiar determination behind it.
Tom stepped closer. “One step at a time, Admiral.”
Chris shook his head. "Iris?"
He remembered how the Synthulans said they were destroying everything and Earth was a target.
“I’m here, Dad.” Iris came into view with a smile. “When you came up missing I took some leave and came to be with Mom.”
Chris let out a slow breath, relief flickering in his tired eyes as he took in the sight of his daughter. “Good…” he rasped, his voice barely above a whisper. “Glad… you’re both… safe.”
Chris tried to smile, but the weight of everything still pressed down on him. His mind was racing, memories of what he had endured mixing with the fear of what still lay ahead. “Earth?” he asked, his voice strained, needing to know if the Synthulans had made good on their threats.
“We will talk when you get here.” Dakota kept her voice positive. This wasn’t a conversation to have right now. “You just get back here.”
Chris exhaled slowly, his exhaustion evident, but his mind was still sharp enough to pick up on what Dakota wasn’t saying. She was protecting him, shielding him from whatever the full truth was.
His gaze flickered to Tom, searching for confirmation, but Tom simply gave a small nod, backing Dakota’s words. “She’s right, Chris. Focus on getting back.”
Chris closed his eye for a moment, swallowing down the frustration of not knowing everything. He hated being left in the dark, but he knew Dakota wouldn’t lie to him—if she wasn’t telling him now, it was because she believed he wasn’t ready to hear it yet.
He gave a weak nod. “Alright…” His voice was rough, but there was still that unyielding steel underneath. “But… I will know.”
Chris let himself settle back against the biobed, though his mind remained restless. He had made it out, but something told him the real fight wasn’t over yet.
Fleet Admiral Dakota Olvera
Commander In Chief
Starbase Obsidian
Dr Thomas Ryan, MD
Intelligence/Medical
Starbase Obsidian
Admiral Chris Bradley
Director of Intelligence/R&D
Starbase Obsidian
Iris Bradley
Civilian
Starbase Obsidian
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