Nightfall has come to the planet. The triage site has gone quiet as the stream of injured people calmed down, for now. The sick and wounded were resting, sedated, or perhaps unconscious due to their injury or illness. The Vaadwaur guards still march through the streets outside. While there was calmness, the oppressive atmosphere sticks like glue to everything in the area.

Back at the USS Drava, the bunk section was dimly lit. Soft hums of idle systems were heard in the background. Viamame sits down on her bunk, her uniform half-open, still covered in dried blood, dust, and sweat of her long day of work. She had been sent by her Captain to take some rest, rather than to work ongoing till she would drop of severe fatigue.

She was alone in the bunk, her mind was physically drained and as her emotional level was as sharp as a knife. Laying back on her bed, she felt the comfy, soft bed supporting her back. Viamame thought back to the brutal shift she just finished, being forced to treat Vaadwaur soldiers while civilians died around her. Having a gun pointed at her head, because she refused to let them confiscate her equipment.

“Computer start personal log”

The bleep echoed as Viamame gave it a second as her eyes glared at her side, a medical tricorder lies open, unused, and ready for her to use it. She could hear the faint Vaadwaur voices and the mining operation in the distance.

“What I am seeing here, is an understatement of brutality, or lack of compassion. Greed and lust for power drives these people” Her voice sounded flat as it slowly wavers, “I need to get it off my chest. To vent and find some serenity in my mind”.

Taking a deep breath as she placed her hand on her eyes, “Medical care has no boundaries, those that need it, get it. No species, sex, or belief would change that. That is the way of life for any medical officer, it binds us to provide medical aid in whatever situation. Both Captain Ruslanovna, the nurses and I feel this weight, this conflict of what we are seeing. Pushing the injured civilians aside for a priority treatment on light medical treatment.”

It was taking a mental toll on her, she could feel it settle into her soul “They are…” she struggles with finding the words “They enjoy this, suffering from those that seems to be beneath them, it’s all just a game for them. A soldier was grinning from ear to ear as I stitch his arm. What was he trying to do, impress his friends. Do they have friends?”

Ethical questions that made her wonder, what were the Vaadwaur social vows? “More and more of what I saw, I started to wonder, what is actually our function here right now. We can’t protect life, if our only function is to patch up the boots that will eventually grind the civilians into the dirt for not doing their work” Viamame placed her hand away as she opens her eyes looking at the ceiling. “Refuse care, and the executions resume at dawn, words of Commander Vekiron that bend our good nature against us, but we knew that they would use this card when we arrived, yet the depth of this is unknown”

Looking at her side to the chair at the table where she placed her field jacket. “That poor girl, a nurse fresh out of the academy, had a full breakdown. Helping a young child and then being forced to threat to a man that killed the child’s mother. The hardest part, I had to order her to get up and resume her duty. There was no time to show weakness, not to these bastards. They would use it against us”.

Rubbing her templates with both hands, trying to ease the headache, “The academy prepares you for a lot, but not for these kinds of things. This is something you need to experience to be able to move on” It reminded her of her history “Get back on your feet, Commander Tre’kilian said, pick up those that lives and those that died are not worth the time. Harsh words, but reality when dealing with combat related issues in the Romulan neutral zone” There were enough skirmishes to tell a whole tale of what happened but never made to any paper.

Sitting up, Viamame reaches out to her medical kit. A hypo with a sedative. Looking at it, she knew this would provide the sleep she needed, an escape. But it will make her regret, the things that happened, the brutal answer of what Vaadwaur were able to do. Placing it slowly down, she grabs instead a neatly folded field dressing, used for a patient that passed away before being able to apply. Placing it next to her pillow like a grim totem as a fresh reminder of what the day was like. “I can’t forget this day. I can’t allow it to become a normal thing. End log”.

With another bleep, she felt the quietness settle in, she whispers to herself “I wonder what will happen to me tomorrow, will I be brave or just become numb…” Slowly she closed her eyes, as the sleep was getting to her, laying there in full uniform clothing.

A dull explosion echoes from outside, it made her eyes open up almost immediately. Her head turned to the side, it came from the mines. She didn’t flinch, and stood up grabbing her jacket and with one swing puts it on while grabbing the medical kit, rushing outside. There was no rest for those in wartime, the folded field dressing lies on the bed as the shadows flicker on the ceiling from the distant fires.