(no subject)
Title: When we were young (Chapter 2)
Author: K_E_Wilson
Rating: PG-14 (see warnings)
Word Count: ~2000
Disclaimer: Alas, I can't even claim to own the idea for this one- Characters from the great mind of Mr. Roddenberry, copyright to the big-shots, and idea off a prompt.
Warnings: child abuse, death, destruction, determination, mayhem, split personalities- batshit insane stuff, basically.
Summary: He doesn't feel normal, and that's pretty okay-- maybe.
Previous Chapters: ONE
J A M I E
It wasn't until he was Fourteen that he figured it out- what happened to the Disappearing Days as he'd come to call them.
Four months into his six month trip to Tarsus IV, and he finally made the connection. There was a little boy, Aki, in his cabin who's parents had died when he was young. Aki had come to Tarsus to visit his relatives- a great aunt and uncle- and was staying in the cabin with Jim and four other kids of varying ages. The adults who looked after the kids in the "Tarsus IV Exchange Experience" had explained to them that Aki was a special boy.
He had two of himself, tucked away inside, and sometimes he could be the shy little Aki who would hide behind Jim and cling to the older kids for comfort, and suddenly he would shift and he'd want nothing to do with being protected or held or coddled. When the shy Aki came back, always only a few hours or minutes later, he'd have no idea what he'd been doing.
Jim didn't say anything to the Adults, the thought hitting him like a brick that maybe that's what was happening to himself.
A month before they were all scheduled to go back home, to Earth, the fungus struck. It ate into almost all the grain silos and killed off all the trans-cattle along with all the people who had accidentally eaten it, as well. Winter was setting in; the cold a biting force against them all, and there was no extra blankets. With so little food, rations were handed out.
Two days after the rations had come, though, the Governor had died. Suddenly, the loud speakers came to life with a different voice.
He called himself Governor Kodos and his voice was like a loud roar with big words like "collateral" and thoughts like "for the good of all."
He called for all the Adults to meet in one of the big barns that used to have trans-cattle; said there would be food and more blankets. Jim, the oldest one left in the cabin, stood from where he and the five other children had been huddled down together, all sharing the same blankets in hope of sharing warmth that none of them had. The Adults who'd taken charge of them had been killed by the grain- they had been told to stay here, unless asked to do otherwise, by the old Governor- a nice woman with a kind face and warm green eyes who had come to visit them two days ago with their ration bars and three canteens of water.
But the ration bars were gone and the last canteen had gone dry four hours ago. All the little kids were hungry, thirsty... Jim rose from them, telling them to wait for him there, as he went to find the barn.
He didn't know he'd never see them again- didn't know that the last image of little Aki, clinging to one of the older girls, a ten-year-old named Trisha, waving shyly goodbye to him would be burned into his memory like a phaser shot.
He went to the Barn, got there late because he'd had trouble remembering which direction it was in over the hunger in his gut, and when he went in he'd wanted to scream but had frozen, wide-eyed.
Everyone there lie on the ground, some on top of one another, some slumped as though they'd only just sat down. On a platform near the front, a tall man with a finely trimmed beard and mustache looked down on them all, kids no older than Jim himself was stood to either side of him, red bandannas around their necks and phaser rifles pointed out to where the people had once stood. The scent of burnt flesh assailed Jim, and he knew, without knowing how he knew, that those people at the front and he were the only living things in this barn.
He didn't stop to think, couldn't, as some of the boys at the front caught sight of him and called out, the rifles swinging to take aim at him. He bolted from the barn, going as fast and hard as he could back toward the cabin. He had to make sure the little kids would be okay...
But when he got there, there were more kids in red bandannas coming out of the door, and he heard one final phaser shot from inside.
His stomach clenched in terror, he'd run for the woods, hearing the shouts and calls of the bandanna-d kids behind him ringing in his soul.
In the next three days, he found Jessie- an eight year old girl- Tom 'not Tommie'- a ten year old boy- Jack and John, twin eleven-year-olds, and a discarded phaser rifle with only a quarter of it's charge left.
They were hiding in the woods, moving constantly. Jim couldn't remember the last time he'd slept, and the hunger in the pit of his stomach was slowly eating away at his mind. But he'd not had any Disappearing Days, and he thanked whatever god there was for that, because he couldn't afford to leave these kids on their own while he became or did whatever during that time. They were too young, all of them, for this. Jim kept them moving as long as they could, but the breaks were becoming more frequent, the progress less pronounced.
It was nearing sunset when he heart it... Feet in the forest, coming closer. For a moment, he held on the hope that it was another kid- maybe even an adult who could help him find somewhere for them all to hide. The kids stopped, all looking to him for instruction, and he felt the weight of their gazes on him. His hand went to the Rifle- even only half-charged, that would give him a few good stunning shots to let them run if they needed.
A minute passed, two, the sounds came closer and closer and Jim pressed the kids toward the trees, trying to hide some of them behind both the wood and himself. Suddenly, the bushes across from them rustled open, spitting out three boys.
For a minute, Jim thought they were just boys, two of them looked older than him, one younger. But they froze as their bodies came out from the bushes and he saw their rifles, caught the sight of the red bandannas on their necks.
With a choked cry, he brought his own rifle up, aiming and pulling the trigger before the boys could react.
The shot caught the younger boy in the middle, throwing him to the ground in a daze and then suddenly hell broke loose and the older boys were swinging their rifles and firing and Jim was trying to drag the kids away at a sprint while he listened to the cries and calls from the other boys at their rear, the pounding of feet on their heels constant.
Tom was first. Just as they broke clear of the trees and Jim was met with a hopeful sight- the collapsed form of the auditorium looming ahead, a hope igniting in Jim's chest that he could hide them! Tim cried out and was engulfed in the angry red light from a phaser. And then he was gone, the dust of his body part of the wind and snow.
For an instant, Jim thought his body would stop, but he and the others plowed ahead, managing to make it into the auditorium, just barely.
Jim hurried them along, rushing them down into the open seating to where part of the room had collapsed in, the roof standing with a gaping hole that let the snow and cold in with the dying light. Just as they were about to reach the safety of the rubble, a shot rang out and Jessie screamed. Suddenly, she too was gone.
Spinning around, Jim tried to get the twins behind him, but he wasn't fast enough and suddenly Jack was screaming out and then he was just dust in the air and John was screaming for his brother, trying to get to the floating ash as Jim tried to protect him.
The boys they had been running from were standing before them now, and Jim recognized them- they had been part of the group he'd ridden with on the shuttle to Tarsus IV's surface... The tallest of them, Adrien, had gotten sick on the way down. Somehow, knowing who he was facing just made it all the worse when without a second's hesitation, they killed John, too.
After three days of terror, of hiding, of hunger and thirst and not knowing what to do but knowing he must keep moving, he had nothing left. And Adrien was lifting the rifle to level with Jim's face.
Something inside him broke, and he knew he was going t die. In that instant, his shoulders fell lax, his hunger nonexistent, thirst forgotten. Everything went silent but the negative sound of the snow falling from the ceiling's hole.
Jim's mind went blank. It was the first time he felt the transition, and then suddenly the youthful voice in the back of his mind, the one who had carried him through the years with frank, went silent.
In that instant, just that one moment, Jim was gone. And then suddenly there were cries and soldiers in federation-issue uniforms, phasers at the ready, screaming for everyone to drop their rifles.
This time, Jim felt himself splinter, felt that part of him that had fought against his own death until he couldn't fight anymore become a palpable presence, a wolf prowling his mind where the little young boy's voice rang out in a sad lullaby quietly once again.
CHAPTER 3
Author: K_E_Wilson
Rating: PG-14 (see warnings)
Word Count: ~2000
Disclaimer: Alas, I can't even claim to own the idea for this one- Characters from the great mind of Mr. Roddenberry, copyright to the big-shots, and idea off a prompt.
Warnings: child abuse, death, destruction, determination, mayhem, split personalities- batshit insane stuff, basically.
Summary: He doesn't feel normal, and that's pretty okay-- maybe.
Previous Chapters: ONE
J A M I E
It wasn't until he was Fourteen that he figured it out- what happened to the Disappearing Days as he'd come to call them.
Four months into his six month trip to Tarsus IV, and he finally made the connection. There was a little boy, Aki, in his cabin who's parents had died when he was young. Aki had come to Tarsus to visit his relatives- a great aunt and uncle- and was staying in the cabin with Jim and four other kids of varying ages. The adults who looked after the kids in the "Tarsus IV Exchange Experience" had explained to them that Aki was a special boy.
He had two of himself, tucked away inside, and sometimes he could be the shy little Aki who would hide behind Jim and cling to the older kids for comfort, and suddenly he would shift and he'd want nothing to do with being protected or held or coddled. When the shy Aki came back, always only a few hours or minutes later, he'd have no idea what he'd been doing.
Jim didn't say anything to the Adults, the thought hitting him like a brick that maybe that's what was happening to himself.
A month before they were all scheduled to go back home, to Earth, the fungus struck. It ate into almost all the grain silos and killed off all the trans-cattle along with all the people who had accidentally eaten it, as well. Winter was setting in; the cold a biting force against them all, and there was no extra blankets. With so little food, rations were handed out.
Two days after the rations had come, though, the Governor had died. Suddenly, the loud speakers came to life with a different voice.
He called himself Governor Kodos and his voice was like a loud roar with big words like "collateral" and thoughts like "for the good of all."
He called for all the Adults to meet in one of the big barns that used to have trans-cattle; said there would be food and more blankets. Jim, the oldest one left in the cabin, stood from where he and the five other children had been huddled down together, all sharing the same blankets in hope of sharing warmth that none of them had. The Adults who'd taken charge of them had been killed by the grain- they had been told to stay here, unless asked to do otherwise, by the old Governor- a nice woman with a kind face and warm green eyes who had come to visit them two days ago with their ration bars and three canteens of water.
But the ration bars were gone and the last canteen had gone dry four hours ago. All the little kids were hungry, thirsty... Jim rose from them, telling them to wait for him there, as he went to find the barn.
He didn't know he'd never see them again- didn't know that the last image of little Aki, clinging to one of the older girls, a ten-year-old named Trisha, waving shyly goodbye to him would be burned into his memory like a phaser shot.
He went to the Barn, got there late because he'd had trouble remembering which direction it was in over the hunger in his gut, and when he went in he'd wanted to scream but had frozen, wide-eyed.
Everyone there lie on the ground, some on top of one another, some slumped as though they'd only just sat down. On a platform near the front, a tall man with a finely trimmed beard and mustache looked down on them all, kids no older than Jim himself was stood to either side of him, red bandannas around their necks and phaser rifles pointed out to where the people had once stood. The scent of burnt flesh assailed Jim, and he knew, without knowing how he knew, that those people at the front and he were the only living things in this barn.
He didn't stop to think, couldn't, as some of the boys at the front caught sight of him and called out, the rifles swinging to take aim at him. He bolted from the barn, going as fast and hard as he could back toward the cabin. He had to make sure the little kids would be okay...
But when he got there, there were more kids in red bandannas coming out of the door, and he heard one final phaser shot from inside.
His stomach clenched in terror, he'd run for the woods, hearing the shouts and calls of the bandanna-d kids behind him ringing in his soul.
In the next three days, he found Jessie- an eight year old girl- Tom 'not Tommie'- a ten year old boy- Jack and John, twin eleven-year-olds, and a discarded phaser rifle with only a quarter of it's charge left.
They were hiding in the woods, moving constantly. Jim couldn't remember the last time he'd slept, and the hunger in the pit of his stomach was slowly eating away at his mind. But he'd not had any Disappearing Days, and he thanked whatever god there was for that, because he couldn't afford to leave these kids on their own while he became or did whatever during that time. They were too young, all of them, for this. Jim kept them moving as long as they could, but the breaks were becoming more frequent, the progress less pronounced.
It was nearing sunset when he heart it... Feet in the forest, coming closer. For a moment, he held on the hope that it was another kid- maybe even an adult who could help him find somewhere for them all to hide. The kids stopped, all looking to him for instruction, and he felt the weight of their gazes on him. His hand went to the Rifle- even only half-charged, that would give him a few good stunning shots to let them run if they needed.
A minute passed, two, the sounds came closer and closer and Jim pressed the kids toward the trees, trying to hide some of them behind both the wood and himself. Suddenly, the bushes across from them rustled open, spitting out three boys.
For a minute, Jim thought they were just boys, two of them looked older than him, one younger. But they froze as their bodies came out from the bushes and he saw their rifles, caught the sight of the red bandannas on their necks.
With a choked cry, he brought his own rifle up, aiming and pulling the trigger before the boys could react.
The shot caught the younger boy in the middle, throwing him to the ground in a daze and then suddenly hell broke loose and the older boys were swinging their rifles and firing and Jim was trying to drag the kids away at a sprint while he listened to the cries and calls from the other boys at their rear, the pounding of feet on their heels constant.
Tom was first. Just as they broke clear of the trees and Jim was met with a hopeful sight- the collapsed form of the auditorium looming ahead, a hope igniting in Jim's chest that he could hide them! Tim cried out and was engulfed in the angry red light from a phaser. And then he was gone, the dust of his body part of the wind and snow.
For an instant, Jim thought his body would stop, but he and the others plowed ahead, managing to make it into the auditorium, just barely.
Jim hurried them along, rushing them down into the open seating to where part of the room had collapsed in, the roof standing with a gaping hole that let the snow and cold in with the dying light. Just as they were about to reach the safety of the rubble, a shot rang out and Jessie screamed. Suddenly, she too was gone.
Spinning around, Jim tried to get the twins behind him, but he wasn't fast enough and suddenly Jack was screaming out and then he was just dust in the air and John was screaming for his brother, trying to get to the floating ash as Jim tried to protect him.
The boys they had been running from were standing before them now, and Jim recognized them- they had been part of the group he'd ridden with on the shuttle to Tarsus IV's surface... The tallest of them, Adrien, had gotten sick on the way down. Somehow, knowing who he was facing just made it all the worse when without a second's hesitation, they killed John, too.
After three days of terror, of hiding, of hunger and thirst and not knowing what to do but knowing he must keep moving, he had nothing left. And Adrien was lifting the rifle to level with Jim's face.
Something inside him broke, and he knew he was going t die. In that instant, his shoulders fell lax, his hunger nonexistent, thirst forgotten. Everything went silent but the negative sound of the snow falling from the ceiling's hole.
Jim's mind went blank. It was the first time he felt the transition, and then suddenly the youthful voice in the back of his mind, the one who had carried him through the years with frank, went silent.
In that instant, just that one moment, Jim was gone. And then suddenly there were cries and soldiers in federation-issue uniforms, phasers at the ready, screaming for everyone to drop their rifles.
This time, Jim felt himself splinter, felt that part of him that had fought against his own death until he couldn't fight anymore become a palpable presence, a wolf prowling his mind where the little young boy's voice rang out in a sad lullaby quietly once again.
CHAPTER 3