Reality Check

Posted on Tue Nov 17th, 2015 @ 4:34pm by Lieutenant Commander Carter Rotrov

562 words; about a 3 minute read

Mission: Ghosts of Mirror's Past
Location: Starfleet Medical
Timeline: Current

Captain Jackson Hawkins stood near a large window looking out onto a peaceful pond in the foreground with a thick wooded area gathered behind. He smiled to himself as he took a deep breath. Suddenly, and without warning, the glass of water began to jostle in his right hand which had started to shake uncontrollably. Within a couple of seconds, Jackson dropped the glass and it shattered on the ground. As that glass shattered, he blinked and suddenly he was in a different time and a different place.

“Tell me Jack, where were you just now?” Questioned a man’s voice. The voice was warm and concerned, originating somewhere from behind Jackson.

As Jackson turned around, he realized he was not in some cabin in the woods at all, but in a room without a window, somewhere unknown but familiar. He looked down at himself and he was out of uniform, wearing instead a drab grey jumpsuit. No communicator. No pips. Just plain grey material draping awkwardly on his torso. “I was uh… I was out at the cabin.”

Jackson continued to survey the room around him and noted the older man sitting in the chair across the room. The man was well kept, balding, and sat with one leg resting on his other, wearing a blue uniform. Commander. The pips on the collar gave the rank of Commander.

The man began to speak again. “It’s okay Jack. You’re safe. Everything is fine.”

“I’m sorry, but I don’t know you Commander.” Jackson sighed, becoming frustrated. “And to be quite frank I find it a bit troubling that you would be so informal with a superior officer. You obviously know me so you know that I’m Captain Jackson Hawkins of Starbase Typhon.”

The older man began to shake his head from side to side. “Jack, we’ve been through this several times. I’m Commander Rodger King, Chief of Counseling here at Starfleet Medical.” King paused and adjusted his uniform. “And you haven’t been Captain of Typhon for nearly four years now. You’ve been here, undergoing treatment since you left Typhon.”

Shaking his head in disagreement, Jackson began to become a bit more agitated. “Impossible. You’re lying!”

“Jack…” Started King.

“DO NOT CALL ME JACK!” Jackson yelled. “NO ONE CALLS ME JACK!” Jackson’s face turned bright red as he yelled at the top of his lungs. He began to pace back and forth across the floor, and put his hands uniformly behind his back, clasped in his typically autocratic methodology.

King began to speak again, softly. “Jackson, listen…”

“I am CAPTAIN Jackson Hawkins! You may refer to me as ‘Captain’ or ‘Sir’ but NEVER by my first name!” Hawkins was seething.

“You aren’t a Captain anymore, Jackson. You’ve been relieved of command, duty, and given a psychological discharge from Starfleet.” King hated to be so confrontational with the facts, but there was little option.

At this point, Jackson hit the floor and began sobbing uncontrollably. “It had to have been the gorilla… or that evil temptress Damron!” The tears flowed furiously down his face. “I tried…” He moaned into his arms and began to rock himself back and forth, praying for some semblance of solace.

***
To Be Continued…

***
Captain Jackson Hawkins
Former Commanding Officer/In-Patient
Starbase Typhon/Starfleet Medical – Mental Health Division

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