Path: newsspool2.news.atl.earthlink.net!stamper.news.atl.earthlink.net!stamper.news.pas.earthlink.net!elnk-pas-nf1!newsfeed.earthlink.net!cyclone.socal.rr.com!news-west.rr.com!news.rr.com!newshosting.com!nx01.iad01.newshosting.com!news-feed01.roc.ny.frontiernet.net!nntp.frontiernet.net!news.glorb.com!postnews.google.com!z14g2000cwz.googlegroups.com!not-for-mail From: "Mareel" Newsgroups: alt.startrek.creative Subject: NEW ENT: Cherish, Respect, Shelter, Defend 1/1 [G] (A/R) Date: 19 Jan 2005 05:29:59 -0800 Organization: http://groups.google.com Lines: 52 Message-ID: <1106141399.779809.270120@z14g2000cwz.googlegroups.com> NNTP-Posting-Host: 4.243.61.92 Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" X-Trace: posting.google.com 1106141404 6544 127.0.0.1 (19 Jan 2005 13:30:04 GMT) X-Complaints-To: groups-abuse@google.com NNTP-Posting-Date: Wed, 19 Jan 2005 13:30:04 +0000 (UTC) User-Agent: G2/0.2 Complaints-To: groups-abuse@google.com Injection-Info: z14g2000cwz.googlegroups.com; posting-host=4.243.61.92; posting-account=1x8S4AwAAAAsIaIc_cTPVeKx9cxFO3lH Xref: news.earthlink.net alt.startrek.creative:161992 X-Received-Date: Wed, 19 Jan 2005 05:30:04 PST (newsspool2.news.atl.earthlink.net) Title: Cherish, Respect, Shelter, Defend Author: Mareel Contact: Mareel@earthlink.net Author's URL: www.geocities.com/bdebpr Series: Enterprise Rating: G Status: Complete Codes: Drabble, A/R Warning: Deathfic Archive: Permission to archive granted to ASC*, EntSTCommunity, Otherswelcome, please ask. Disclaimer: Of course they belong to Paramount, or more likely, to themselves Spoilers: Zero Hour Summary: "It should have been me." Author's Notes: This is the eighth part (sequel to When Winds of Changes Shift) of my Season 3 A/R series (Refuge) and refers to earlier stories in the series, including the vows the two exchanged before leaving Earth for the Expanse (see "Memory and Promises"). I have a feeling that there is a great deal about Zero Hour that I need to explore. This is my first, but certainly not only, take on it, and is Malcolm giving voice to some of his thoughts. *** cherish, respect, shelter, defend We made four vows to one another when we chose to wed, to join our lives. All have been tested. There were days I didn't like him, but I loved him... times I couldn't accept the Captain's decisions, but never lost respect for the struggling man under the uniform... nights when I thought he would spurn the refuge I offered, but still he found his way to my arms. I thought the fourth would be the easy one... How could I not protect him, defend him with my life? . I failed to keep that fourth vow. And now he's dead. *** Finis NewMessage: