In the belly of the Whale – The Legend of Valentines Ship
by Soghla' Terri (Tell) Hope & HoD Ro' Matlh

Post Details

Title		The Legend of Valentines Ship
Mission		In the belly of the Whale
Author(s)		Soghla' Terri (Tell) Hope & HoD Ro' Matlh
Posted		Wed Mar 31, 2010 @ 9:39am
Location		Tell's quarters

Tell lay in her bunk unable to sleep the first few days out had been eventful to say the least. She had an ear worm that was driving her crazy. She couldn't get the song of Valentines Ship out of her mind. As she lay there Tell closed her eyes the only thing to do was to recount the tale. In her mind she thought Tish, an engineer like herself who was married to the Starfleet Captain, Antony Valentine, who was tall and handsome with dark brown hair and deep brown eyes, who gave his life so that others would live.


The Legend of Valentine’s Ship


February 2010

Tish looked out of her window across the partly frozen lake to the Chinese bridge. It was beautiful this time of year with the trees all frosted and their bare branches looking like bleached bones reaching up to an azure blue sky.

There were people out wrapped up against the cold, walking along the path on either side of the wintry lake. Some were crossing over the ancient bridge to admire the stunning view or the funny antics of the mallard ducks as they tried to waddle on the slippery ice.

Captain Anthony Valentine's fingers were growing numb. The heaters had failed with most of the life support. The heavy gloves of his suit were near impossible to use in the best of circumstances. He brushed his face mask taking off a fine layer of frost. Where was the leak coming from?

She was lonely, and as if sensing her thoughts a large fluffy ginger cat with very dominant stripes and green eyes landed on the top of the chair beside her. He stared at Tish trying to get her attention. When that didn’t work he reached out his right paw and tapped her on her arm. She turned to him and waited, Sherlock stroked the side of his furry face with his paw, a signal for attention. She rewarded him by picking him up and stroking his luxurious fur and he rewarded her with purring down her ear.

He looked up at the vast hold. Thousands of hermetically sealed containers, all silent, their frozen contents unaware of the danger they were in. The support systems still purred, the only power left in the dying vessel. He searched along the length of the room for the vent, trying not to think about the thousands of people watching him.

‘How can you be lonely’ he seemed to say ‘When you have us’
A few minutes later she was joined by another cat identical to the first but with amber eyes. Sherlock jumped down and Tish scooped up Watson and was equally rewarded.
She gazed out of the frosted window again while her two friends watched her.

He wiped his hand over the frosted glass. The face inside stared back unseeing. The seal was broken and pumping coolant into the hold. The occupant was still alive, but the system was killing the ship trying to compensate. Valentine knew the the decision that need to be made. All that was needed was to press a series of switches. The active light on the Cryochamber would go out. The occupant would never even knew she had died.

‘I think its time for a walk’ Tish said to them ‘It’s to cold for you two, stay here in the warm’ she instructed.
Sherlock and Watson watched from their perch on the back of the chair as Tish put on warm clothing and boots. ‘Back soon’ she called to them.
She walked out the front door of the old rambling Victorian house were she had lived for the last four years.

Anthony put his shoulder against the door to slide it shut. The cold was near unbearable. It didn't seem fair, after four years, to have come so close and now... he tried not to think about it. He needed to get to the Bridge.

The stretch of houses that ran along side of the park lake where named ‘The Bell Houses’. So called because very well to do Victorian folk had once lived here and the bells were used to summon the house hold staff to cater to the families needs. They were still there, the bells, in her particular ‘Bell House’ protected behind a glass frame, on guard, silent and still, as if waiting to be summoned once more.

The sirens were still blaring. Power reserves were non existant. Even if he managed to get through the gas giant's atmosphere to restock the cells, the leaking chamber would just pour the power away again. He made the adjustments to the computer navigation and then headed back to the hold. There she lay, under glass, silent and still, waiting for him to decide her fate.

The house had been sold a few times over the coming years and eventually divided up into flats but Tish remembered it more as a dance school. Mrs Petty’s dance class took place on a Saturday morning and her mother would dutifully take her. She loved to dance but was never quite good enough to take it up as a career. Do you know what the funniest thing was? She couldn’t remember what Mrs Petty looked like except for her long black skirt and tap shoes that echoed hauntingly across the wooden dance floor which was now her lounge in the ground floor flat of the Bell house.

His boot echoed on the metal grill as he worked furiously on the controls to the chamber. He should switch it off, but... perhaps there was just enough power.

When she stepped out side the air was cold, crisp and clear. There was nothing like walking onto fresh untouched snow. Tish opened the gate and stood for a while admiring the clear crystals that had formed on top of the wood. Sunlight danced off them making them sparkle like diamonds. Her bare hands stroked the top of the semiprecious jewels, they felt as hard and as sharp as cats claws. She reached into her pocket for her camera and took a few pictures.

The canopy of the chamber oppened with a soft hiss and the moisture trapped inside froze almost immediately into strings of diamond. He didn't have much time. The reanimation process was supposed to take days. He had minutes.

She crossed over the snow bound road, there were no cars in the park today but families were out together taking advantage of the weather and numerous snowmen were beginning to appear here and there. Children were laughing and a snowball fight had broken out on the other side of the now brilliant wintery park.

The occupant was begining to surface. Her eyes began to move as her brain accelerated to delta wave patterns. She was in REM. An orange light began to flash in protest at the accelerated rate with which she was being roused.

She stood still for a moment and thought she saw a flash of orange just out of the corner of her eye, like flames. The cats had followed her, for some reason they loved the snow. They both kept their distance but always keeping her in their sight. Tish walked on, the snow crunching under her feet, couples walked past her hand in hand, children laughed and two cats played.

There was a loud crack and Anthony leapt back as the frosted pane gave in to the sudden change in temerature. The cubicle was ruined. there was no going back now, for either of them.

She walked onto the old Chinese bridge that had been a gift from the original owner of the park. Who, when he died had no other living relatives to leave his estate to and had bequeathed the park, the house and the land to the people of the town. He didn't mind what they did with it but he did stipulate in his will, that the bridge and the lake remain as the bridge had been a grateful gift from China. Her boots echoed on the wooden boards as she walked across it. Memories of her childhood came flooding back, of being carried on her fathers shoulders and playing on the swings.

The sound of a slow heart beat echoed over the monitor and a barely discernable mist crept from the woman's mouth. Valentine leaned in close and spoke loudly, "Lt Tish Valentine, can you hear me?"

Some one was calling her name she looked franticly around as she stepped down the frosted few steps on the other side of the bridge. Someone was sitting on one of the park benches wrapped up in warm clothing of black and red.

"Lt Tish Valentine, can you hear me?" he said

She ignored him thinking he was mad and walked past him as if he never existed and he called her again, this time he shouted.

"Lt Tish Valentine, can you hear me?" he insisted "Open your eyes"

'Do I know you?' she asked puzzled 'My names not Valentine'

Her mouth moved but no sound came out. Anthony was begning to worry. Bringing a person out of Cryogenic suspension this fast could cuse all sorts of trauma, including serious brain damage.

"Please, Tish. I need you to come back to me. "

She walked over to him her breath was coming out in clouds it was getting colder.

'Do I know you?' she asked puzzled by the way he used her name so insistently ' Have we met before?' She stared at him trying to remember if she had, while one orange flame cat purred around his legs and the other jumped on his lap. They seemed to know him but that was cats for you, traitors.
She looked around the park and people were beginning to leave as it was beginning to get dark. The snowmen stood out like ghosts on guard.

'I.... I have to go now' she shivered but also concerned for him 'Will you be alright?'

Even through the gathering dark the man's face glowed as if it was light by something else. One of the cats began to meow but instead of it's normal sound a high pitched keening came out. The other joined in, but with a siren like wail raising and falling.

Tish tried to back away but her feet were frozen to the ground. The air temperature was dropping fast all around her... except for the man. He was warm and he stood and held her arms.

Tish! Look at me!

"Look at me!" Anthony demanded, fighting the urge to shake her. The sirens were warning that they had entered the Planet's gravity well. He had to take the pod off line to fix the leak or all the fuel they gathered would be burned away again in moments.

'Look at me!' His words echoed in her mind. Who was he? For a few moments her vision blurred and the scene around her flickered and changed from the park to somewhere else she didn't recognise at all but it was much colder. She coughed and spluttered and felt sick. She pushed him away and he fell backwards, her body convulsed as she retched over and over again.

'What have you done to me? Have you given me something? Come near me again and I'll scream for help!' she yelled at him.

She was shaking and unable to focus, something was swimming across her vision she fought the urge to retch again. If she could just lay still and close her eyes, she would wake up from this nightmare and find herself back in the park again. She must have fallen coming down the icy steps of the bridge and hit her head. Yes that must have happened, she's hit her head and she has concussion. Now if only she could just get home.

Anthony glanced at the monitor and watched her brain patterns slowing again. He was no doctor, he was a flight jockey. He grabbed at the medical kit looking for something, anything. Analgesic? Sedative…no. Stimulant!

He returned to the cryobed and stuck the hyposrpay against her neck. There was a hiss and a rush of warmth through her near frozen body. Thankfully her stomach was still empty and none of her retching had produced more than spasms and sounds. He put his arm under her and sat her up, trying to force her body to function again. Time was yet another resource in short supply.

"Lt Valentine, your ship needs you... I need you!"

Tish was back at home feeling cold and sick, her head wasn't bleeding but it was pounding. She walked into the lounge the darkness enveloped the windows making the park out side look eerie and unfriendly. Tish opened the window slightly, there was a small insignificant hiss and as she turned around her vision blurred. She put her hand to her head, her skin felt warm and clammy. She heard his voice calling her again as if from a long way off
' ........ ship needs you, I need you.....' Ship? what ship? she thought.
Everything was running before her eyes like a painting left out in the rain. She shook her head which didn't help and made her reel. If she closed her eyes and opened them this would all go away and the voice would stop, she'd count to three.

'1.........2.........3.....'

Anthony was begining to weep, his tears hot against his cold skin. Tish was slipping into a coma and he didn't know what he could do about it. He emptied the rest of the stimulant into her and leant down, on impulse and kissed her.

3.....Tish's eyes flew open and immediately she didn't know where the hell she was, some thing was pressing against her lips. She tried to raise her arm it felt like a ton weight and tried to push what ever it was away from her. Then she took a sharp intake of breath, there was a rasping sound from her throat and her back arched convulsively as her lungs struggled with the sudden intake of air. She shook uncontrollably as the sudden shock of being brought out of cryogenic sleep to soon took hold. But in the midst of all this she heard his soft soothing voice.

"That's it, Tish. Don't fight it. It will pass. You are safe."

Anthony couldn't help beaming. He had been so worried for a moment, but here she was again.

When her coughing had subsided he threw a blanket over her shoulders, "How are you doing Tish? Do you remember where you are?"

She was beginning to warm up now, the shaking and the sickly feeling had stopped. Her eyes could focus and she stared intently at the man in front of her and tried to fight off the rising panic she felt. He was the man in the park and he'd brought her here, where ever here was. What did he plan to do now .. kill her? Oh please not that ... She had to make plans to escape.
Talk to him first, she thought, find out what he wants.

'I...' she coughed to clear her throat her vocal chords felt tight and and unused. 'I don't know where I am, I only remember the park and you were there on the other side of the bridge, what happened to me did I fall?'

"Park?" Anthony was momentarily thrown, "You are on the SS China Sea bound for Terra Nova. You have been in cryosleep for about a month."

'What? No no your'e wrong' she argued. 'Damm I must be sicker than I thought. I must have a fractured skull and I'm in hospital in a coma, with tubes sticking out of me' She pulled a face at the thought. 'and your just a dream a figment of my imagination and when I close my eyes and open them again you'll be gone'

Her eyes flew open again 'DRAT your still here ..........and were are my cats Sherlock and Watson' Tish began to call them. 'You'd better not have killed them otherwise there will be hell to pay'

"Waking up can be disorienting but we don't have time for the normal adjustment period. Ensign Sherlock and Lt (jg) Watson are in tubes 176 and 511. Your Cryo was damaged during launch and has been a steady drain on power the whole trip. I only found out when I did my pre-landing checks after dropping out of Warp. I have a plan to refuel on the fly but I need you to fix the bed or we will lose all the power again."

Tish laughed suddenly 'I'm on some reality TV programme aren't I and the camera crew will be out any minute. I must admit it's really cool and the special effects are amazing, its so cold in here. Who'd have thought me on the TV. Where did you find this big fridge and all this stuff' she waved her hand around indicating everywhere. 'It's some kind of ....Star.. Trek .......?' She stopped babbling and began to panic 'Can't ... breathe ....can't breathe .....can't breathe'

Valentine pulled her from the bed, "We need to keep you moving so your body readjusts. Breathing will become easier then."

One of the three amber lifes in the roof turned ot red, "We don't have much time. C'mon, babe, you can do it."

She put her hand to her head, it was beginning to clear but all she could remember was her name. As he lifted her in his arms, Tish felt, from somewhere deep down inside that she belonged there. As he set her down her hands tenderly traced the outlines of his face, his eyes, his lips and these features felt so familiar to her. Why did she not remember him? He took her hands in his and her breathing eased.

'Tell me what to do' she begged 'I don't know what to do, help me, please help me' and her eyes filled with tears

He took both of his hands in his, "It is allright, darling. I am here. I need you to fix the cryo tube. Can you do that?"

She felt the warmth of his hands and he let go of them for a while. She turned to look down at the Cryo tube.

"Is .. is this a virtual reality life" she almost sobbed looking down at the tube fingering the wires and touching the instruments or is it real life, because I just cant tell any more" She looked at him "I don't know anything any more, I don't know how to fix this" she spread her arms out all over the tube "I really don't, if I could I would"

"There are only enough supplies on the ship for one crew to reamin out of cryo. If we can't fix the tube, I can't put you back under, it'd kill you. Are you sure you can't remember how to do it?"

She tried so hard to search her memory for anything, anything that would give her a clue as to what to do. All there was, was a dark black space in the back of her mind where her memory ought to be.

"There has to be a way" she insisted and she put a hand to her head in despair "A manual or something, it must be on the computer, books it has to be in books, there has to be something else I can do to find out how to repair this dammed thing... this isn't .. this cant be all that there is. You have to help me remember!' she pleaded to him

Valentines face changed. It looked sad somehow, even though he smiled at her. There may be some on the Bridge. I will need you to go and check for me while I make a few adjustments here. Okay?"

She nodded and agreed. 'And the Bridge is where...?' she looked at him puzzled and looked around.

He points to a metal ladder set in one wall. Climb that to the top. You'll find a corridor going to your left and right. The left leads to the mess hall, sleeping area and Bridge where all the manuals are stored electronically."

The second orange light turns read, "You'd better hurry. I'll stay here and monitor the rest of our crew."

She looked into his eyes, eyes that she should know gazed sorrowfully back at her and she didn't know why. Nothing made sense to her any more but she knew he was right, right down to her very core.
Tish nodded "I'll go but don't you go any where...........understand me?"

Val's smile flickered, "I'll be right here."

She ran to the ladder, to the top,to the left corridor, past the mess hall, sleeping area and finally to the Bridge. She had already taken far to long getting here, she turned around franticly trying to find where the ships manuals would be stored. Think, think, think Tish thought she had to remember, she covered her eyes with her hands and wept with a pain she had never experienced before.

When she removed her hands she was greeted by the sight of the clouds outside the ship and entranced by their sheer unearthly beauty. The colours and sound flowed around the ship and the Bussard scoops funneled the ionised gas into the fuel cells.

There was something beginning to form in the back of her mind, foggy at first, but getting clearer by the second, of flying through the clouds with An........................NO NO NO NO........ANTONY ........." she screamed and screamed his name again as she made her way back to him.

As she ran lights along the corridor came back on line. The passage through the cloud had refilled the fuel stores enought to power the ship. Anthony was a skilled pilot and his preprogramed course worked a treat. Power began to flood back thought the ship.

Tish ran to a communications console on the wall and pressed the button.

".......Tony.....Tony" she gasped "Wait for me, please, please don't do anything stupid, don't leave me alone, for the love of God, I love you! Don't leave me alone, please! ...... Tony, answer me. Answer me, damm you .... TONY"

Silence.

Tish ran on, hot tears of panic and fear ran down her face, her head now a mass of memories of Tony. Why couldn't she run any faster, she knew what he was planning to do now. She reached the ladder and had to stop her self from throwing herself recklessly back down the metal structure. She moves as carefully as she could to the floor and looked around.

The three lights in the roof had gone out and an errire blue light covered everything. 3000 motionless canisters confronted her but...

Then she saw him standing where she had left him arms folded and smiling that smile that she had so loved about him. Her heart somersaulted over and over she knew who she was and who he was. Her handsome Starship Captain, her husband.

"It's ok, now, Tony. I remember it all. I can fix this, its not to late"

He said nothing at all but just stood there looking at her, smiling that enigmatic smile of his.
"You said we would be together forever, you said ........." she blinked and he was gone.

She hurried forward but then stopped and turned. One of the cryo-beds was not lit. She took a step closer with a growing sense of dread. It was her broken chamber. It was sealed. There was someone inside.

"Tony... oh no, please no, no, no.........."

The glass was frosted on the inside, a sure sign of malfunction. The cryo-process had been interupted and failed. The occupant was not registering a life signal.

"Come back to me, come back Tony" she called to him as she lay across the cryo - bed. If only she had gotten back in time.

On the panel there was a small blinking light. It was a Comm message, stored in the buffer. He had recorded her a message, one last thing. If she pressed play the message would be released for her to hear but then it would be cleared from the buffer and she would have lost the last part of him.

Her hand reached up to the message................

Anthony looked out of the window across the partly frozen lake to a Chinese bridge. It was beautiful this time of year with the trees all frosted and their bare branches looking like bleached bones reaching up to a darkening blue sky.

End.

Tell stared at the spot on the ceiling as the picture of Tish draped across Tony's now lifeless body faded from her memory. Tish would have carried on and would have got the ship to their new world. She was a strong woman and like herself would know how to survive. They would never be forgotten not in story or song.

Somewhere in the distant past, the China Sea had reached her destination of Terra Nova and as they disembarked an honour guard carried the cryo bed that contained the body of their hero Captain Antony Valentine. He was buried with full honours on a hill overlooking a beautiful lush green valley, underneath a monument to commemorate him and his heroic deed. That is still there to this day and will be forever as long as Terra Nova exists.