Empty Slate (part 1)

Posted on Wed Aug 7th, 2013 @ 8:37am by Commodore Samantha York & Colonel Damon Raine & Commander Alexandra Vance
Edited on on Wed Aug 7th, 2013 @ 8:46am

1,001 words; about a 5 minute read

Mission: Tabula Rasa
Location: Planetside

ON

Samantha woke slowly, her head pounding. There was something hard under her hip and someone breathing beside her. She was aware of hundreds of thoughts around her, mostly disjointed, dreamlike flashes of images. They were disconcerting and a bit unnerving. She drew closer to the person by her side and felt his warmth and strength.

She felt more at peace now, more complete. It was both odd and comforting. There was a connection there, a sense of oneness with this person. She sat up and adjusted her hip so it was no long on the rock beneath her and looked at the man. He was handsome. She reached out tentatively and touched his beard, then ran her hand across his chest and down his arms, stopping at a coarse hemp band around his wrist. Damon it read. "Damon." She repeated the word softly, liking the way it tripped off her tongue. "Damon."

It was his name. She didn't know how she knew, but she recognized it. Did she have a name as well? She looked down at her own wrist. Samantha. "Damon ... and Samantha."

She put a hand over his heart and felt the slow, steady pulse. She felt ... complete. She took her hand away and moved back a foot and felt ... like something was missing. So she moved back to the sleeping man and again put her hand on his chest. Again she felt that strong bond of oneness. It made her smile. So, Damon and Samantha. What else was there to learn about this place?

She looked around. Old buildings, weathered, some with stains from something down the front. Others were wind-scored. Many, many people were sleeping in a large open area between several buildings. Some, like her, were sitting up and looking around. None of them were familiar to her. She wasn't familiar to herself. Apart from the wristband and the man beside her, she had no idea who she was -- or where she was.

Alexandra woke up and clutched her head. Her temples throbbed in pain. She didn't know where she was but for some reason she felt terribly sad. She missed her family, but she didn't even know who they were. She scratched her wrist which was irritated by a band wrapped around it. She read the tag on it, 'Alexandra'. She liked that name it sounded very beautiful.

She looked across the room and saw another woman laying with a guy across from her. The woman seemed also a bit confused of her surroundings, Alexandra began to wonder how she even knew that but her gut was telling her she needed help. Alexandra got up and walked over to the woman. "Hi miss, my name is Alexandra what's your name?" she said holding out her hand and smiling.

"Hi, I'm Samantha." Sam took the other woman's hand and shook it. "Are you okay?" she asked, sensing the woman's pain.

"Yes, funny thing is I was just about to ask you the same thing. How about your friend? How is he?" she asked concernedly looking down at the unconscious man.

"I think he's sleeping. He doesn't appear to be in pain," Sam said.

Alexandra put her hand on the man's neck. "He's cold, I have a blanket for him." she said getting up to retrieve the tattered blanket she had under her when she woke up.

She knelt down over the man and wrapped the blanket around him gently tucking the material underneath his armpits. "There, that will keep him warm and reduce the loss of body heat." She placed her hand on his head. "I don't think he is sick or anything, but I'm not a doctor...well at least I don't think I am."

Sam shook her head. "I can feel his thoughts. I think he's dreaming, but it's just scattered images."

She could feel the large number of people in and around the compound. "Do you have any idea where we are?"


"I'm sorry I don't, I don't even know who I am except...."

Alexandra studied the man further, for some reason she was able to see information on him. His body temperature, breathing. "Um Samantha, there is something wrong with my right eye, I am getting read outs of his vitals signs like some sort of computer." she said worriedly looking to Samantha hopefully for an explanation.

Sam looked at Alexandra and studied her eye. "It doesn't look like the other one. I think it's some form of implant. But it sounds like it's functioning, so I wouldn't worry about it. Maybe that is part of your medical training?"

"Maybe I am a doctor, it sounds like something a doctor would use....but why would I be here? This doesn't seem like a very nice place to practice medicine. All I know is we really need to find answers soon, I have a bad feeling about all of this. It doesn't seem right."

Alexandra couldn't explain it but for some reason she felt Samantha was the person she needed to rely on to help her find answers to the mystery. Almost as if the two were obligated to do so.

"No, it's not right. This place has been abandoned for a long time. Look at the buildings. There's weather damage and a feeling of abandonment. It feels empty. So whatever happened, we just got here," Sam said. "And if you look beyond the buildings, it's wilderness."

"You must be an archeologist." Alexandra snickered. "You seem to know a lot about buildings and their history." She began to look around the area to see what her eye would tell her. Most of the information was incomprehensible to her but she did agree with what Samantha said.

"I don't see anyone...Maybe we crashed or something?" Alexandra asked looking back to Samantha.

(To be continued...)

Commodore Samantha York
Commanding Officer

Colonel Damon Raine
Chief Strategic Operations Officer

Commander Alexandra Vance
Executive Officer

 

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