Reflecting Light
Posted on Fri Feb 15th, 2019 @ 6:58am by Lieutenant Commander Sofia Nikedoros
432 words; about a 2 minute read
Mission:
Groundwork
Location: Chapel
Timeline: MD 30, 2200 hrs
Moving quietly in candlelit effect of subdued lighting, Rev. Sofia Nikedoros surveyed those gathered in the packed chapel. Considering the reasons, she wished it were as sparsely populated as might usually be expected. The seats are filled with those praying or mourning or both and the meditation rooms had been filled with cots for those whose injuries weren't severe enough to justify a bed in medbay. A former hospital chaplain, Nikedoros knew enough to be of use tending them and planned to stay close by, sleeping on the couch in her office. A blessing really - it freed her own quarters for a young woman too traumatized to bear the noise and bustle of the crowded chapel.
Besides, so many were wrestling with loss and grief and fear, she might as well live in her office. And she suspected the worst was still ahead. The colonists had already been uneasy with a Starfleet presence and now many more were in shock from the Io's crash. There was gratitude for being saved, especially toward the medics who'd worked so hard afterward despite their own devastating losses from the explosion in medbay, but there was also anger, suspicion, denial - raw irrational feelings targeting Starfleet with blame for a disaster that turned what should have been a joyous arrival on a new world into a terrifying panicked rush for safety. Such blame wasn't rational, but emotions in the aftermath of catastrophe seldom were.
Based on her past experience with refugees, the gratitude would unfortunately fade and the resentment grow before people could finally process their shock and disbelief to come to terms with it all. Considering how many of the crew have lost friends and comrades, some while working to ensure the colonists were transported to safety, receiving that will go hard. She could only try to help get them all through the immediate fall-out, and look for ways to foster a willingness to reach out to one another and form bonds of community and trust.
Trust, it seemed to her would be the hardest, especially given the mysterious cause of the explosions that lead to the Io's crash. She hoped it would be the last such disaster, but suppressed a shiver at an old memory of an unexpected attack...
S'Fret had once written that '...though God be a pillar of blazing Light, if we do not reflect that light the universe will nevertheless grow dark...' Sofia prayed that she and those gathered here could reflect enough light to overcome whatever darkness they might yet have to face.
RSS FeedCredits | Privacy Policy