The Terrible Truth

Posted on Tue Oct 19th, 2010 @ 6:00pm by Lieutenant Commander Melissa Daniels M.D. & Captain Alexander Gunning

Mission: Ten Little Diplomats
Location: Lounge
Timeline: MD01 1840

[ON]

Melissa continued to stare out into the starfield within the darkened lounge. Debating whether to tell Captain Gunning of her past. Finally, she made a decision. =^= Daniels to Gunning =^=

"Gunning here," came the voice on the other end of the line.

"I must speak with you in the lounge. It's important." She stated.

"Affirmative. On my way, doctor." The Captain replied.

She continued to stare out into space. "Captain, What do you know of me?" She asked.

The captain mulled over the question for a moment. In truth he knew very little aside from his professional interaction with the doctor and her service record. "Very little."

She responded, "There is something I have not told you. Told anyone. Not even my instructors in the Academy. But I must ask you to understand. I am in redemption for crimes innumerable that happened ten years ago."

"I understand, Doctor. Do go on."

"I was not born as Melissa Daniels. She was born after the war. My name before I knew the hell of war was Kris Valtan." She stated, "You will not find this woman amongst any records you have access to, Starfleet Intelligence was very thorough in that reguard." Melissa stated.

The Captain nodded, trying not to show his surprise.

"Kris was a very happy young girl while she was growing up, and then they came. Cardassians. Intent on making us suffer. She watched raid after raid from those monsters, and the only thing the Federation did was to send diplomats. Diplomats! But these people cared only for their agendas, their careers. Who was a few colonists to them?" Melissa stated. "She desired a way to protect her colony, and several in the colony offered that to her. That was the day that Kris' innocence was lost."

"I... you... always seem so relaxed. Remind me not to come by sickbay when you're really busy." He said, trying in vain to lighten the mood.

Melissa spoke, "She.. I trained to become the deadliest assassin in the quadrant. I learned thoroughly how to deal death to the Colony's enemies. Anyone who promoted war, traitors and tyrants, were acceptable targets. I was not alone. When my training was complete, I did not have the soul or the heart I once had. I was the angel of death itself."

"For two years, I terminated the Colony's enemies. Cardassian Guls, Federation Diplomatic Staff. Anyone who had something to gain from the conflict. Until Epsilon Idris was destroyed. I was discovered on Chin'toka after executing a Cardassian Legate. Mortally wounded." Melissa stated. "But the thing with Assassins is that they are valuable commodities Captain. I went from one master to another, and killed even more for Intelligence. All their black ops, and some things they did not want to admit. They had planned to kill me when the war was over, but I killed myself." Melissa stated. "With every one, I killed a piece of myself as well. Until there was nothing left. I had nothing after the war, no colony, no family, no one to confide in. I wandered for some time. From place to place, outpost to outpost. Until I became a new person. I became a doctor because that is the purest redemption possible, but I am still a master of two very ironic professions. How to kill, and how to heal. I swore an oath along side the Oath of Hippocrates; 'Never kill again'. That's why I always use the stun setting when I am armed with a phaser."

"I appreciate you telling me this, Melissa. I really do but what's the significance? Are you worried seeing a Cardassian is going to drive your bloodlust?"

Melissa spoke, "Yes. I'm scared, beyond anything imaginable, that I'll become Kris Valtan again when I see the face of the enemy I once hated. And these diplomats also, they disgust me too. They sold us out for their careers, and a little bit of peace. We had no defense, and no one to defend us. If we fought back, we were considered maquis, but if we did nothing, we were doomed to face constant raids by the Cardassians. What I did, what Kris did, was the only way we could stand for ourselves, but it also damned me." She began to shed tears. "Please Captain, don't let me become what I once was. I have only just begun paying for my sins."

"Doctor, I have every faith in you and your abilities. That's why you were brought here and that's why you will stay in your post during the entire visit of the Cardassian delegation." The Captain placed a hand on the Doctor's forearm in an effort to reassure her. "We will make sure that things don't get out of hand."

Melissa spoke, "Thank you Captain. This is the first time I have ever confided in anyone about this. Being a doctor is the purest redemption I know of for what I once was. But always remember; Kris Valtan must remain in her grave."

[OFF]

Captain Alexander Gunning
Commanding Officer

Lieutenant Melissa Daniels M.D.
Chief Medical Officer
Starbase 332