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"Uneasy Conscience"
[Previous post: "Reality Check", written by the soon to be sorry Marissa]
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Setting: USS LANCELOT, Jefferies Tube
Stardate: 63072.1420

How could anyone be *that* cold? To be part of Starfleet implied a certain respect for life, even a desire to protect it. It was true that not everyone followed this dogma like the Oltharians, but even the Vulcans with their logic appreciated life. The way ILO had justified her actions, Enaii stood at the opposing end of another galaxy when it came to the respect of life. Dealing with the dark side of Intel meant that a certain part of one's humanity had to be sacrificed for the greater good. It had been impossible for anyone to see the horrors hidden beneath the surface and not be affected.

Still, the ILO had displayed *no* compassion for the injured crewman. Had Lea not been there, the CMO had been certain that Enaii would have simply shot the man dead. There had been no way for him to walk, and the Marines had not been sent here to play nurse, so he had been written off as a hopeless cause

The more Lea thought about this the more the CMO found it impossible for her to continue on. That crewman had been alive and deserved help, or at the very least to not be alone to face the advancing invading force.

"Doctor! Keep up!" The ILO snarled to the CMO who had taken a moment to catch her breath.

"I'm feeling dizzy," Lea said.  "I need to take a moment, go ahead I'll catch up."

The CMO heard the ILO mumble something under her breath as she pressed on with all of the Marines behind her. If Doctor Summers wanted to stay behind, she could do it alone. Under normal circumstances Lea might have felt hurt by this, having been left alone, but not this time. Being alone had been exactly what she had wanted.

The moment Enaii and the Marines vanished from sight, the CMO turned and headed back the way they had come. The ILO had followed her conscience as dictated by her training, and Doctor Summers had no other choice but to do the same.

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Setting: USS LANCELOT, Room
Stardate: 63072.1430

Lea found the stunned crewman as the ILO had left him and immediately began to think of a way to see to his safety. There had been no way that he would be able to move on his own, even if he had not been stunned. This left the CMO with the task to drag him to somewhere safe, or so she hoped. The sound of the metallic footsteps had grown closer, too close for Lea's liking, but she was not going to sacrifice this man.

As fast as she could the CMO pulled the man behind a pile of debris to hide him from the advancing invaders. It had actually been fortunate for him to have been stunned so as not to feel the pain from her actions. It had taken several minutes for Doctor Summers to reach her intended location. Even as the footsteps drew incringsly closer, Lea continued to attend to her patient, also cursing the ILO as she did so. If Enaii had killed him the debate would not have surfaced and the CMO would not have returned to die.

When the sound of the footsteps suddenly stopped, Lea carefully looked up over the debris. Her heart stopped as her eyes met a single scanning red light atop what seemed like a nightmarish metallic giant.

She would have to fight, or at the very least defend herself, for both their sake. By the time Lea's hand had found her phasor the metal intruder had already raised his weapon and pointed it directly at her. The machine possessed no conscience and Lea could tell that, like Enaii, it would not hesitate to act as it believed to be right

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Tiffany Rose {lady.tiffany.rose@gmail.com}

Lt. Lea Summers
Chief Medical Officer
USS ANUBIS