After a long shift there was nothing M’Lene loved more than indulging in her lifelong passion of gymnastics. As a child, M’Lene had spent every moment she could in the gym, there was just something about the delicate balance between elegance and power that she loved. As a Caitian her naturally supple limbs and keen sense of balance made her a natural and she still loved to keep her hand in when she could.

She had already spent a good hour practising the new Yuvchenko vault she had been working on and had been playing with a Markelov on the bar and she was getting a bit tired now. She knew she should probably call it a day but she had been dying to try a new technique for her triple twist on the floor so decided to give it 5 more minutes. She warmed up a couple of doubles then decided to throw caution to the wind and go for it. She took a moment to prepare and practiced her arm movements a couple of times before taking a deep breath and going for the pass. She built up a good speed on the run and launched herself into the air. As she pulled in tight for the twist, her brain froze and forgot which way she was turning. Losing all momentum she came hurtling towards the floor with alarming speed. Not really having much time to think she put her hands out to try and slow her descent and then gasped as her hand met with the floor and she heard a sickeningly audible crack as the rest of her body weight landed on her arm.

For a couple of seconds she lay panting on the mat, surprised that she wasn’t in more pain. She smiled as it didn’t seem as bad as she thought but as she moved to get up, a searing pain shot through her arm. She cried out in pain and looked down at her clearly deformed arm which felt like it had broken glass in it. Tears rolling down her cheeks she gingerly got to her feet, cradling her shattered arm with her other hand and slowly made her way to sickbay.

Lt (jg) M’Lene (CSO)