Disclaimer: I don't own the Star Trek gang, or Pearl Harbor, the event. Star Trek
belongs to Paramount and the memory of Pearl Harbor belongs to the people who
were there on that fateful December 7, 1941.
Author's Note: I was up late thinking about how to spruce up my Star Wars crossover
when my brother came in and watched the MTV Video Music Awards. There was a really
great performance by Sheryl Crow, which was about the whole 9/11 thing. It got
me thinking about Pearl Harbor, and then the movie, so here I am, staring at a
blank piece of paper. This is gonna be a shorty, I don't wanna drag it out to
be too long. And its not very well thought-out, but I wanted to do something in
honor of Veteran's Day.
I've put some alterations, at least, I think I did, so if something seems different,
it was probably meant to be that way. A friend at school read it and told me that
it was a tearjerker, like always with my fics, but that? what makes 'em special
right?
Hopefully... :^/
Oh, and any of you guys are historians or professors in history, I'm sorry if
I get the facts wrong, keep in mind that I? still a senior in high school who
just has a deep interest.
Okay, I'm done.
~
"THE YEAR IS 1939. HITLER AND HIS NAZI THUGS HAVE ATTACKED POLAND.THE POLISH
ARMIES WERE UNABLE TO RESIST THE GERMAN MOTORIZED AND ARMORED DIVISIONS WITH THEIR
MASSIVE AIR SUPPORT. POLAND'S WESTERN ALLIES, WHO DECLARED WAR ON SEPTEMBER 3,
WERE INCAPABLE OF FURNISHING ANY PRACTIAL AID. BETWEEN THE SUPPOSEDLY IMPREGNABLE
FORTIFICATIONS OF THE MAGINOT LINE AND THE GERMAN SIEGFRIED LINE THE 'PHONY' WAR
WOULD CONTINUE UNTIL MAY 1940."
The door chime rang just as Deanna was really getting into the story, jolting
her from her imagination, bringing her back to reality. She had planned on reading
a new western a Bolian on DS9 had written, when she became sidetracked and her
attention was shifted from the Jesse James and the Younger gang to Hitler and
his death camps. She had heard and learned of Hitler back when she was still on
Betazed, but had no idea how much it had affected the people who had been held
victim during the whole era in history.
She stood up from the couch she was settled on, and the door opened, revealing
that it was indeed the person she expected it to be.
Will.
After all their trials and tribulations, they were still together, happy and content.
The First Officer and the Ship's Counselor. As two of the three highest-ranking
officers on the USS Enterprise - E, they often did crew _eval's together, keeping
those cocky junior officers in check, making sure they didn't step out of line
in their duties.
"Hey beautiful, you ready for dinner?"
Deanna's legs melted, turning her into a quaint little half-human, half Betazoid
puddle of love. She got herself together as Will grinned, knowing how it would
affect his other half. They walked down the corridors of the Enterprise, teasing
each other, holding hands, trying hard not to attract too much attention.
Just as they put one foot into Ten-Forward, both COMM badge's rang, releasing
both him and Deanna from their extraordinary two-person world.
=/\= All senior staff, please report to the observation lounge. =/\=
The both of them smiled and sighed at the same time, and then headed over to the
turbolift, to report to work at 22:37.
Not that it mattered, the both of them valued their work to the extreme, it was
one of the passions that drove them to get up in the morning, the thing which
gave them extra purpose to their lives.
They released hands in front of the doors leading to the Enterprises' meeting
room, put their game faces on, and sat in their chairs.
Picard was already there, face stern and ready for action.
As the senior crew slowly filed in, Picard started without warning, because, quite
frankly, he didn't know where to start. He told his friends - his co-workers -
what his superiors told him.
"Starfleet Academy has been attacked."
A shocked silence flooded the observation lounge of the Enterprise ?E. Picard
thought of people he knew, Bugsby the groundskeeper, the many professors he went
to the academy with, the memories were endless...
Will thought of his father. He was supposed to be in San Francisco that week -
visiting old friends, which is what he had told Will.
Deanna thought of Lwaxana. Where was she today? Betazed? DS9? Earth? The full
attitude of irony set in as she realized how perfect the timing was. She had just
been reading about something like this.
Data thought of the kids, the cadets and then the professors. Were they all dead?
How would their families feel? Would they become overwhelmed with grief?
Geordi thought of Leah, she was also supposed to be in San Francisco that week,
but she was arriving tomorrow, and give him a call when she got there from DS9.
Beverly breathed in a huge sigh of relief. Thank goodness Wesley quit the Academy.
But as she looked around her, she knew that Wesley would be the least of her worries.
Worf let the anger grow inside him; no doubt this was the work of the Romulans.
Picard let the feelings rise and fall before he continued. Worf was right. "Scans
indicate that a Romulan Warbird was released from Romulus yesterday, fully cloaked,
all the way to Earth. Surveilence shows an enormous pulse shooting from the inside
of the Warbird, which ultimately ended the Warbird itself. "
Will added, "So that there would be no one to question."
"But sir," Geordi asked, "Why did they think to attack Starfleet
Academy when they could have taken out Starfleet Headquarters?"
"Mr. LaForge, the answer is easy." Jean-Luc traced the rim of the table.
"Starfleet Academy has always been the head of Starfleet itself. There are
more brains and creativity there than there is at Starfleet headquarters itself.
The cadets are always talking about improving relations with this planet or that
planet, or how to enhance warp core efficiency, the possibilities are endless.
The children there are the foundations of Starfleet, without them, Starfleet wouldn't
be as great as it is today."
The meeting dragged on with the usual 'we-are-going-to-do-something-about-this'
attitude, but deep down, everyone wanted the meeting to end as soon as possible
so everyone could make sure their loved ones were safe and sound.
The meeting did end, and everyone had his or her own assignments. Picard made
the announcement to the rest of the ship, while the rest of the crew had their
chance to contact their loved ones.
~
There were an infinite amount of casualties and fatalities. The Enterprise made
their hesitant trip to Earth and surveyed the damage. The entire senior crew and
so much more transported to the surface to do what they could to help in their
own areas of expertise.
Beverly and Deanna headed straight for Starfleet Medical, helping the wounded,
giving the victims morphine, making them as comfortable as possible, or doing
it just so their ride to heaven would be smooth and turbulent-less. Casualties
were in their thousands, but fatalities were the worst. Over twenty thousand people,
consisting of cadets and students and professors had been labeled as missing or
MIA or even worse, they were already declared dead. Beverly and Deanna spent half
their time making out death certificates and half their time treating the screaming,
gasping and dying victims.
The rest of the crew, Data, Will, Jean-Luc, Goerdi and what was left of Starfleet's
best of the best grouped together at Starfleet Command in two groups, just in
case there was another attack. But that was highly doubtful, since security had
been increased near every border, no matter how friendly and/or peaceful they
were. This was no time to be taking chances.
Romulus was attacked with a ten times the firepower they hit Earth with three
months later, and three days later, they surrendered. Earth imprisoned the guilty,
and collected Romulus for themselves. They installed a democratic government,
resorting to a smaller, more historical form of government. Heck, it had worked
for America for over four hundred years; it would damn well work for Romulus.
Or what was left of it.
~
"I still can't believe it's happened.?o:p>
For the senior crew of the Enterprise, they were lucky enough to have come out
with everyone they loved and everyone they held dear.
Goerdi continued. "With all that's happened, is that wrong? I mean, you guys
saw too. Families were crying, rushing to the Academy to see if their children
were still alive, when they weren't."
Beverly agreed. "I know! I can't help but feel guilty."
The empathic counselor that she was, Deanna set aside her shared feelings for
the families around her and became what she was. "Its only natural for us
to feel that way, we didn't lose anyone, but other people did. Its only human
to feel guilty, but be glad that nothing happened to your father," Deanna
pointed to Will, and then Goerdi. "Or Leah."
Data sat there, with his emotion chip activated, in full guilt mode. "Counselor,
will this feeling ever lessen? I can still remember, a mother with a deceased
cadet coming to me and became angry with me, blaming me for the entire incident."
Deanna lent him a consoling hand. "Don't worry Data, it'll go away with time.?She
turned to the rest of the crew. "I think now, we have to be the senior members
that we have become. People will be constantly breaking down or be enable of their
completing their duties because of their overwhelming emotions."
Will smiled, bringing sentiment to the heavy discussion. "That's my wife,
ladies and gentlemen."
~
In the observation room of the Enterprise, spirits were high for the first time
in a long time. shoreleave was among them, and all of them wanted to visit the
new memorial erected in the District of Columbia, east of the United States.
It was a large gray marble model of the Academy, each section with the different
names of the men and women who worked there. At the Medical buildings, there were
the names of the cadets majoring in Medicine, in the faculty room, names of professors
were engraved onto the "miniature" walls.
Deanna and Will stood hand in hand, reading all of the names, surrounding themselves
amidst the tears and flowers.
At the end of the day, love was the most important thing.