— Vega Colony, 2384 —

“Charlie? Charlie? Are you awake?”

Charlie sleepily opened one eye and peered at her little sister. “No,” she replied grumpily and rolled back over before feeling a tiny finger poking her in the back. “Please Charlie, I had a bad dream…” her little sister Mimi replied, her soft voice cracking. Charlie let out an audible groan and rolled back over again. “Then go and wake mama up!” She snapped at the little girl before catching herself as she saw the 6 year old’s bottom lip start to quiver. Charlie sighed and sat up in her bed, beckoning Mimi to come and sit on the bed with her. Although only 10 years old herself, Charlie had always been mature beyond her years and did tend to take a bit of a mothering role with her little sister.

As Mimi snuggled under Charlie’s blanket, she hugged her tightly and buried her little face in her big sister’s shoulder as Charlie stroked her striking red hair gently. “I’ve got you…” Charlie whispered as she pulled the blanket tightly around them.

The pair laid down and gradually started to fall asleep when suddenly a deafening sound shook their apartment. The girls shot up and gripped onto each other in terror as they heard the distant sound of people screaming. Without hesitation, Charlie quickly scooped up Mimi, pulling the blanket tightly around them and ventured out of their room.

As Charlie stepped into the corridor, a wave of heat hit them and acrid smoke burned their eyes and lungs. Pulling the blanket over Mimi’s face to try and block some of the smoke, Charlie stumbled down the corridor away from the fire towards the back door. Just before she reached the exit, she tripped over some debris and slammed into the wall, nearly knocking herself out. In a state of shock, Charlie was frozen against the wall as flames gently and almost gracefully began to lick at her sleeve, snapping her back to reality with searing pain as she felt her flesh begin to sizzle. Using all her strength to keep hold of Mimi and put the burning pain in her arm to the back of her mind, she tried to take another step, but Charlie’s little frame couldn’t hold out as she slumped to the floor with her terrified sister still in her arms.

Moments later, the strong hand of a Star Fleet officer plucked them from the floor of the decimated house and held them in his arms. As Charlie’s eyes fluttered open momentarily she could have sworn that she saw a figure coming out of the corridors amidst the flames but before she could reach out, a transporter beam enveloped them and they found themselves on a transporter pad. After a few moments to realise where they were, fuelled by adrenaline, Charlie pushed past the nurse that was quickly approaching to scan her and ran to the transporter chief.

“We have to go back! My mum is still down there!!” she screeched as she started randomly jabbing at buttons on his console. She had no idea where her father was but he had been working that evening so she assumed he would be helping get people out. The transporter chief gently tried to move her away but she elbowed him in the stomach causing him to briefly double over in pain.
“No!! We have to save her!! Please!!” she begged, her urging sending her into a coughing fit. As she tried to hold on to the console, her legs gave way and she was quickly caught by the nurse who scooped her up into her arms.

As Mimi was taken to get treatment by another medic, the nurse looked over to the officer who had saved the girls in the hope that their mother had been rescued as well but he simply closed his eyes and gently shook his head.

“Please…” Charlie murmured as her little body went limp from exhaustion.

——————————————————————————————
“Mum!” Charlie screamed as she sat bolt upright in her bed, waking from her all too frequent nightmare. She instinctively grasped her arm and let out a deep sigh as she felt the now familiar scars running down the side of her right arm. She had been offered reconstructive surgery on several occasions but in a strangely morbid way she had grown attached to the reminder of that fateful night. Flopping back down onto the bed, she lay panting for a moment as the memory slowly dulled and her thoughts turned to her family. Rolling onto her side she gazed at the picture by her bedside of the last picnic that the family enjoyed just a week before their lives had been torn apart. A single tear rolled down her cheek as she gently touched the image of her mother who had died in the blaze and her father who had all but lost his mind because of it. She quickly wiped her eyes and put the thought to the back of her mind. It was a big day for her today and she couldn’t afford any distractions.

She quickly got into her uniform and smiled proudly as she touched the new edition of her lieutenant junior grade insignia before instinctively pulling her right sleeve down to try and conceal the burn tissue on her wrist. She wasn’t ashamed of it by any means but equally she didn’t want to draw attention to it just yet. She took a few sips of coffee then quickly fixed her long auburn hair into a tight bun before she took a deep breath and headed out of the door for her first day.

Lt (jg) Bailey (Doctor)