Do You Still Have Nightmares?
Posted on Sun Aug 24, 2025 @ 5:21am by Senior Chief Petty Officer Alexander Rylan
762 words; about a 4 minute read
Mission:
Things Past
Location: USS John Foster Williams
Timeline: mid-2395
OOC:
The USS John Foster Williams is Starfleet high endurance cutter named after the first captain of the Revenue Cutter Massachusetts and later Massachusetts II. Captain John Foster Williams was first a privateer in the American Revolution, and then a Captain in the Massachusetts State Navy.
John Foster Williams most likely captained merchant vessels out of the port of Boston prior to the American Revolution. If he did so, he was likely involved in smuggling in one way or another to avoid paying certain import taxes. Ironically, his job as Captain of the US Revenue Cutter Massachusetts was to patrol the coast of Massachusetts for the purpose of catching smugglers and enforcing import tax laws.
In the Earth year 1915 AD, the US Revenue Cutter Service combined with the US Lifesaving Service to become the United States Coast Guard.
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“Are you still experiencing nightmares?” Counselor Rina DiScipio asked.
“Yes,” Senior Chief Hospital Corpsman Alex Rylan replied.
“How frequently?” DiScipio said, following up her first question.
“Let’s say…” Alex said, hesitating a moment before continuing. “Less often than when I first got back, more often than I’d like.”
“That’s not very specific, Alex,” the Counselor said. “Can you give me a clearer answer?”
“Well,” Alex said. “It’s variable. Some weeks it doesn’t happen at all. Other times they come once a week, still others, three or four times a week.”
“Does anything in particular set them off?” DiScipio asked. “Say, for example, your trips to the holodeck to run Raider missions with a holographically generated Marine Special Operations Team?”
Alex thought about the question and what his answer should be before he gave an answer.
“Possibly,” Alex said. “But I think I’m more afraid of being caught unprepared if… I know this sounds crazy, but If I get overrun and caught behind enemy lines or otherwise cut off from support, I’m going to be ready for it… if it happens.”
“Alex,” Counselor DiScipio said. “What happened to you was fairly unique and, in the current state of the Federation, unlikely to occur again?”
When the Allied fleet was destroyed by the Breen at the Second Battle of Chin’toka, Alex was one of those stranded planetside. While many surrendered to the Dominion and the Breen, Alex was part of a group that refused to lay down arms. Instead, they took to the hills and mountains and fought a guerilla action against the Dominion and the Breen until Starfleet returned to retrieve them.
What Alex had to do and what he experienced in the months he spent fighting the Dominion and the Breen without support of Starfleet or the Klingon Defense Force or the Romulan Star Navy was not something he frequently talked about. But he did dream about it.
“You know what inspires me about Starfleet?” Alex said. “There’s a James T. Kirk quote. Risk is our business. And it is. I entered Starfleet Enlisted Academy over 30 years ago, and for all of my years in the fleet, I’ve tried to embody that quote. So, no. I don’t think my fears are unrealistic. I think they are the price of doing business.”
DiScipio couldn’t argue with that. And the counselor didn’t think Alex was paranoid. Not really. He was frequently sent out on away missions because of his experience. Some of the patrol ships had Marine Special Operations Teams aboard. They had their own medics. John Foster Williams had a LEDET or “Law Enforcement Detachment”. It was made up of Masters-At-Arms with special training. Alex frequently boarded ships with them or went with them when they raided smuggler’s bases on the border. Despite leaving the Marine Raider Regiment, supposedly to avoid these kinds of high stress, dangerous assignments, Alex seemed to chase danger. And yet, by all reports, he didn’t take any unnecessary risks. He was the perfect “quiet professional”.
A soft ‘ding’ came from the PaDD on the small coffee table between them. DiScipio picked it up. “Sorry, Alex,” she said. “Our time is up for today. Same time next week?”
Alex nodded. “See you then,” he said, as he rose to leave the counselor’s small office. Alex didn’t like having to see the counselor, but he didn’t hate it. It was just another hoop one had to jump through. As stated early, Alex had been in Starfleet for over thirty years and was a senior NCO. He knew all about jumping through hoops.
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Senior Chief Hospital Corpsman
Independent Duty Corpsman
Deep Space Five
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