Act One, Scene One

[Akirapryde]

He smiled as the idea crossed his mind, "as pleasing as that sounds. I can't. No, it is more than just being here for my squadron. Dr McCoy" he said referring to the ship's counselor, "and the Flight Surgeon are both watching me closely. They want to make sure that I am not depressed" he said as he sipped his warm drink. Skytower noticed that he was looking across the gathering towards Dr McCoy, whom happened to be looking at them in that moment. He smiled and lifted his cup towards her. Dr McCoy smiled and returned to her conversation on the other side of the holodeck.

With a heavy sigh, "so no, there can be no escape for this old fighter pilot."

He was going to say something but he was cut off by a Ensign who came up along side, "Sir, communication from Starfleet for you. I was ordered to bring it directly to you."

He nodded "thank you" he said calmly and took the PADD. The Ensign departed the area as quickly as he arrived. Bonham scanned the PADD in such a way that all Ensign Skytower could see was that the message from the Federation Diplomatic Corps. He closed the message as a wave of pain crossed over his eyes. Once more another loose string that had yet to be tied up. He would have figured having his flight status removed would have given him all the time in the world. But between hours of chit chats with the Dr McCoy and a general lack of wanting to do anything but lay in bed, he didn't get anything done. His face twisted a bit as he deleted the message.

He looked down in to his cup and sighed once more as a moment of silence came between them. "Sometimes Ensign, surviving is more of a curse than anything else could possibly be" he said out of the blue. He didn't know why he said it. Being around her somehow made him feel better. It was if he was speaking to his old friend, Girard. He didn't look up as he remembered the day Girard died. The ship had had a run of bad luck. The Dominion seemed to know where and when they were going to be. It was almost as if the Dominion had a spy on board. Which after the events of the past few days, that was discovered to be true. 'Curse you Philips, how many deaths did you cause aboard this ship' he thought as his face was washed over in anger and hatred. The Jolly Rogers were out numbered nearly ten to one and were fighting for their lives once more. Bonham pushed the painful memory from his thoughts as he didn't want to go down that road again.

He reached around his back and pulled out that little metal flask and opened it. His hands shook a bit as he poured the golden liquid in to his drink. He smiled as he put the flask away, soon those painful memories would all be gone, for the time being. He lifted his head to see that Skytower was watching. He looked almost confused. 'How long had I been lost in thought' he wondered to himself. "I am sorry Ensign, I am not good company as of lately" he said as he took a drink of his private mixture.

He looked up as something caught his eye, "isn't that your roommate, Gerhardson" he said with almost dread in his voice. 'Wonderful, another busy bee wanting to make me all better' he thought.