The Day the Sky Changed

Posted on Fri Jun 27th, 2025 @ 3:14am by Lieutenant JG Jean-Baptiste Dorsainvil

1,446 words; about a 7 minute read

Mission: Character Backstories
Location: Starfleet Academy, San Francisco, Earth
Timeline: 5 April 2385

The room had gone too quiet. Even for a Vulcan like Surlek.

Jean-Baptiste slouched on the edge of the living room sofa, one leg bouncing up and down in a constant rhythm while the other stayed planted, as though caught between fleeing or staying put. The overhead lights were dimmed low--Surlek's doing. The Vulcan preferred ambient lighting, even in a crisis. Especially in a crisis, JB suspected.

He ran a hand through his short curls, his fingers gliding easily through the neat coils. "Nothing on the subspace net. Starfleet's shut it all down." He continued to stare at the comm unit on the wall, as if doing so would force it to bend to his will.

"As expected," Surlek replied, cross-legged at the desk. His fingers moved in slow, careful succession across a data PADD, though he'd read the same paragraph of Rudiments of Defensive Protocols three times.

"Right. Because if people actually knew what was going on, they might panic."

"Panic is not an illogical response to catastrophe," Surlek offered. "But it is seldom helpful."

JB leaned forward, staring at the comm unit on the wall once again. The temptation had become unbearable.

He got up and crossed the room in three determined steps. Surlek lifted his head.

"Dorsainvil," he said sharply. "Tampering with the comm system is a violation of Academy security protocols."

"I'm not tampering," JB replied, removing the unit's faceplate. "I'm listening. There's a difference."

Surlek exhaled through his nose. "There is no functional difference."

"Just shut up and hand me the resonance filter."

The Vulcan cadet eyed him for a long moment, then silently passed over the requested tool.

JB worked with steady hands, bypassing the primary lockouts and switching over to an analog scanning mode. Static poured into the room as though some invisible ocean wave was crashing into them. He turned the dial slowly and methodically.

"Come on..."

"... eleven ships holding orbit above Mars. No response from planetary control. Repeat, Mars planetary grid is unresponsive. Synthetics appear to have... self-terminated. Situation still unfolding. Casualty estimates..."

Surlek was already beside him, fingers reaching for the fine-tuning controls. Together, they coaxed the distant signal into some form of coherence.

"This is Captain Avera of the USS Themistocles. We've lost contact with the surface. Utopia Planitia is gone. The entire facility has been obliterated. There is nothing left. Mars Orbital Control appears to have initiated a manual descent burn. The station broke up in atmosphere. Thousands presumed dead. Firestorms across multiple sectors. Communications down. Civilian response is chaotic."

JB's throat closed. He didn't realize he was holding his breath until the static swallowed her voice whole. A few seconds later, even that was gone. The room fell silent again.

"Surlek," he said softly. "Did she say--"

"Yes."

JB sat back slowly. He felt as if the room had shifted dimensions. As if the whole world had slipped sideways while no one was paying attention.

He barely registered the incoming chirp until Surlek pointed at the comm.

"Private incoming message. Cadet Holder."

JB leapt forward and hit the comm button. Jacqueline's face appeared, pale and bright-eyed. Her hair was half-made, falling in tight braids around her face. Behind her, the dorm room was a flurry of movement--Scottlyn pacing, two duffel bags on the floor, uniform jacket half on.

"JB," Jacq said. "Thank God."

"Are you okay? What's happening?"

"I'm being pulled up," she said quickly. "Me and Scottie both. They're activating anyone in third and fourth year with relevant field experience. Temporary postings. No graduation. Just assignments. I'm headed to Titan Station--my shuttle leaves in fifteen."

He felt something stab and twist inside him. "Fifteen minutes?"

"I tried to stall. I told them I needed to--JB, they're moving fast. Whatever happened up there, it's bad. Real bad."

"I know."

"I can't believe I'm leaving like this."

"I know."

They stared at each other through the screen. For once, neither of them had anything clever to say.

Jacq's voice softened and for once, worry shone through. "We're going to be okay, right?"

JB forced a nod and smile. "We're Starfleet."

She returned his smile and they sat in silence for what seemed like forever.

"You're really going."

"I love you, Jean-Baptiste."

"I love you too."

The screen went black just as Jacqueline stifled a sob. He sat there, staring at the empty comm for a long moment.

Surlek--standing as far away from his roommate as possible--cleared his throat. "It is not uncommon to experience feelings of frustration, loss, or disorientation in the face of such rapid transition."

JB turned slowly. "You're trying to comfort me."

"I am attempting to communicate sympathy. I believe that is appropriate."

JB smiled, but there was nothing warm in it. "Mars is on fire. And now she's gone. And we're stuck here."

The Vulcan cadet crossed to the table and turned to JB. "Anger is also a logical response."

Before JB could reply, the door slid open.

A Lieutenant in operations gold entered abruptly, flanked by two armed security officers. The man was broad-shouldered with a goatee and beady eyes. He didn't even glance at them as he stepped just inside the threshold, eyes glued to a data PADD.

"Cadet Surlek. Report to Lecture Hall C-22 for immediate assignment."

Surlek stood. "Understood." He stepped into a now-bustling dormitory corridor where security personnel marched and other cadets appeared busy preparing for their new assignments.

The officer scrolled through his PADD. "Dorsainvil, Jean-Baptiste." He butchered the name. "Report to Infirmary Number Three."

JB didn't remain to respond, stepping around the Lieutenant and the armed officers. He caught up to Surlek in the corridor, his quick steps echoing under the sterile glow of the recessed lighting. The Vulcan didn't break stride.

"Infirmary Number Three is the other way," Surlek said without looking at him.

"I know," JB replied. "I just... I need to try. She's still here. For a few more minutes, maybe."

They walked in silence for a stretch, the distant sound of shuttle engines bouncing off the walls. But then, JB noticed it--another pair of gold-shirted security officers, posted just outside a building entrance. Then another pair, this time with phaser rifles. Then a hover cart parked squarely across a path, manned by two guards watching every passerby like hawks.

"We were at lunch two hours ago," JB murmured. "Now it's like we've stepped into another universe."

Surlek stopped at a branching corridor. His hand hovered next to a control panel for a door.

"I hope your journey takes you where you intend to go," he said with simplicity. "I will look for you again, when time permits."

Then he was gone, the door sliding shut behind him.

JB turned a jogged toward Jacqueline's dormitory. The corridors were tighter here, lined with glass panels and metalwork that caught the sun in tiny vertical slivers. As he rounded the final corner, he saw her halfway down the concourse with Scottlyn, shouldering a rucksack. The two of them were almost at the exterior gate.

He moved forward, heart thudding, but a security officer stepped directly into his path. The human male--an Ensign--was probably only a couple of years removed from the Academy himself, but he stood a full head taller than JB and his expression was resolute.

"No access beyond this point," the officer said, voice flat, his hand resting on a holstered phaser near his right hip.

"She's my--she's shipping out. Just let me talk to her."

"Return to your dormitory, Cadet. Now."

Jean-Baptiste didn't even think. His hand snapped out in a smooth arc, catching the officer square in the throat with a sharp, decisive chop. The man gasped and stumbled backwards. JB was already moving, boots hammering the ground. He broke into the open and shouted.

"Jacq!"

She turned at the sound of his voice, her eyes wide.

He didn't make it another three steps.

Three security officers came out of nowhere--one from behind a pillar, two from either side. JB was tackled hard, the weight of them driving the air from his lungs. A knee slammed into his back, and large hands wrenched his arms behind him.

"JB!" Jacqueline's voice cut through the noise of the officers subduing the potential threat.

He couldn't lift his head. Someone had a hand on the back of his neck. He caught a glimpse of her boots as she ran forward--and then the scuffed ground tiles as they dragged him away in the opposite direction.

One minute, they were cadets enjoying a holiday. The next, they were ghosts of a Starfleet that no longer existed.


* * *


Cadet Jean-Baptiste Dorsainvil
Psychology & Counseling Major
Starfleet Academy
Earth

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