[dumbluck]

Images and sensations swirled through his mind like delicate vapor tendrals stirred by a gentle breeze. He grasped desperately for stability, for perspective, for continuity. But try as he might, he had no more success than if he were grasping at the vapor tendrals, and the cacophony of noise in his mind continued unabated.

The smell of burning flesh...

"This is our prototype missle system. It uses a new propellant..."

His breath is crushed from his chest by the shockwave...

Commadore Nivax, flashing his winning smile...

"5...4...3...2..."

Nivax, writhing in agony, his entire body covered with brilliant orange flames....

The realization that this is it, the end, his death...

A searing, burning pain more intense than anything he has ever felt before....

The brilliant flash as the missle casing disintigrates right in front of them....

"... The warhead is disarmed for the test...."

A *BOOM* so loud, it shook his every bone, his every organ, his every cell....

Head spinning.... still can't catch my breath....

"....We'll be test-firing it today, if you would like to observe..."

The wail of emergency sirens, which seem oddly distant, muted....

"...1...ignition..."

Darkness. Utter darkness. No, wait, I'm not ready! There is light, a veiled light. And .... sounds? Harsh, rythmic sounds, very very quiet. Not distant, almost as if there is something over my ears... The veiled lights, the swirling veiled lights....

Suddenly, recognition stuck. Admiral Cavix was peering intently at the inside of his eyelids. He opened them, and gazed up at the most beautiful thing he had ever seen in his life: the drab ceiling of a hospital ICU ward. He heard the faint yet steady *beep*... *beep*... *beep*... of medical equipment. His heart raced in exaltation at the realization that he was alive. The nurse checking his chart noticed the heart monitor's increased rate immediately.

"Admiral! You're awake! Just lie still now, everything is allright." Her voice seemed muted. As Cavix began to take in his surroundings, he noticed that everything seemed very muted. He could only just make out the steady beeps of the monitoring equipment off to his right. The whole world seemed to be holding it's breath.

He shifted his head, and looked around the room. The nurse had turned away for a moment, and was obviously talking excitedly into her comm unit....except that he couldn't hear her. It's not that he couldn't make out the words, but that he couldn't hear her voice at all, not even the rustle of a whisper.

Other than the nurse and the miriad of medical equipment, the room was empty. The walls were the same drab off-white as the ceiling. No texturing, no pictures, no windows. No table, no chairs.

He tried to ask "Where am I", but his throat was so dry that he could utter not a sound. He tried to raise up, to grab the nurses arm to get her attention. Nothing happened. He tried again. Still nothing. A touch of panic entered his mind, and his heart skipped a beat. This got the nurse's attention.

"The doctor will be here in a moment. Just lie still, you're in good hands." He realized that she looked as if she were shouting, yet he could barely hear her. His lower extremeties began to throb with a dull pain.

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more to come....