Awakenings – Part Two of Two

It was early morning as Zack awoke in the small bedroom of the Starfleet HQ on Serenity. He quickly washed and got dressed, before heading for the mess hall and then the medical centre.

By the time he’d reached the medical centre, Will was already there along with Shara and Karissa’s parents. Will had asked them to all come and be with them, hoping that somewhere Karissa would know that the people who loved her were close by. He’d have liked to have Logan around as well, but he was still on Earth. He had also thought about having the twins, but if things went wrong, they know. One addition to the group was Ashraf Kahfre, Rahel's brother. He'd arrived during the early hours of the morning, having travelled across the quadrant to be with her.

“Shall we begin ?” Zack remarked.

“I want you to wear this.” Will stated, placing a cortical monitor on Zack’s neck. “I want to monitor everything.”

Zack walked over to where Rahel and Karissa were lying side-by-side and sat in the chair between them Taking both their hands, he created a link between the two sisters. At first nothing happened and it looked as if Zack was not capable of breaking the link, even though his face was all tensed up.

“Try and relax.” Will suggested. “Let the link flow through you.”

Suddenly Zack went stiff and then opened his eyes. Everyone in the room then felt a wave of extreme heat pass through them. They all reacted to the heat, but as the feeling disappeared they realised that infact there had been no fire, no heat.

“Look at these readings.” Will announced, examining the three consoles that were monitoring Rahel, Karisssa and Zack. “Something’s happening, and I don’t like it.”

Zack cried out in pain, as the searing heat of the fire that burned through him raged on. He tried to fight the pain, fight through it to find Karissa and Rahel. Finally the flames started to subside and he saw two tiny figures hiding under a table. He approached them and held out his hands, reaching for them. Finally they took his hand and then everything went black.

Zack suddenly slumped into the chair, releasing his grip on the two girls. Alarms started to ring out from the console that was monitoring Zack. Will and Shara quickly pulled Zack out of the seat and onto the resuscitation table. Will worked feverishly to bring Zack back to life, but nothing appeared to work. After ten minutes, he finally stopped and then a tiny voice caught his attention.

“Where am I.” Karissa asked.

Everyone’s attention had been on the drama unfolding with Zack that no-one had remembered that Karissa and Rahel were still in the room. Will dashed across to the biobed where Karissa was half sitting up and ran a tricorder over her. Seeing that she was OK, he gave her a big bear hug and then moved across to Rahel, who was also now awake and a little dazed.

“What’s the last thing you remember ?” Will asked.

“Arriving at your house and talking with you.” Rahel replied. “Then there was this sudden wave of fire and then I saw someone coming through the fire, reaching out his hands and he pulled us out.”

“I have the same memory.” Karissa remarked. “I was in the kitchen cooking the Christmas dinner and then I woke up here. What’s going on and who’s that on the biobed.”

“Zack.” Rahel suddenly remarked, attempting to get up off the biobed. “Is he OK ?”

“I’m afraid he’s dead.” Will answered. “I don’t know why or how, but it’s as if he was consumed by something inside. We’ve spent the last ten minutes trying to get him back.”

Rahel started to cry, she had no idea why, but she had realised that Zack had sacrificed his own life to save her and Karissa, who was also crying, even though until that moment she had no idea who Zack was.

After about another hour of tests, both Rahel and Karissa were deemed full fit, although Will took them off active duty for another week. Both Rahel and Karissa went over to the still body of Zack.

“Good bye.” Rahel said softly. “Rest in peace.”