The Bond
Posted on Wed Oct 22nd, 2025 @ 5:30pm by Lieutenant Howard Goldberg & Gunnery Sergeant Gaagii & Petty Officer 2nd Class Sofia Cipriani
Edited on on Wed Oct 22nd, 2025 @ 5:40pm
4,280 words; about a 21 minute read
Mission:
Episode 16 - Silent Cries
Location: Sickbay - Deck 5 - USS Pioneer
Timeline: MD010 - 0845 hrs
The alert hit her console like a slap: Incoming Medical—Priority Two, Wren IX—RECONN: Gunnery Sergeant Gaagii. For a heartbeat the text wouldn’t resolve, the letters blurring until she blinked hard and they snapped into focus. “No, no… per favore (please),” she breathed, the edges of the padd biting into her palm. Her pulse went hot and light all at once, the way it does when a lift drops too fast. She was already on her feet before she realised it.
“I—sir, request permission to be excused,” she said at the threshold of the watch officer’s desk outside the Commodore’s ready room, voice a notch too high until she forced it down. “Medical—Sickbay. RECONN casualty from Wren IX. Gunnery Sergeant Gaagii.” She fumbled a quick handover of the duty briefs and appointment padds. “Everything for 1400 is queued—Commodore’s notes are tabbed blue.” The words tumbled out, tidy even in panic, and when the nod came she didn’t wait for anything more than, “Go.”
The turbolift felt like treacle. Sofia stood rigid, breathing through her nose, thumbs worrying the seam of her sleeve. “Va bene, va bene (it’s okay, it’s okay),” she whispered to no one—half a prayer, half a plea. The doors finally parted and she was moving before the chime finished, cutting across the corridor at a near-run, braid thumping once between her shoulder blades as Sickbay’s doors irised open.
“Excuse me—” She reached the triage desk a little breathless. “Gunnery Sergeant Gaagii—RECONN—from Wren IX. Has he come in yet? Is he here? What’s going on?” Her hands hovered uselessly on the counter, fingers trembling despite her effort to still them. “Please,” she added, softer, eyes searching beyond the nurse for any sign of him.
Goldberg's elbows were stained with blood as were his uniform sleeves and tunic. It has been the kind of day that he both lived for and hated. Emergency Medicine was his forte however, he also hoped he never had to use it. Nevertheless, he found himself surrounded by patients and more coming in every minute. Sofia's voice snapped his head around. "Petty Officer. Are you hurt?" As he spoke two more patients arrived via transporter.
Sofia froze at the sight of the blood—on his elbows, sleeves, everywhere—her stomach dropping so fast she swayed. “No—no, sir, I’m not hurt,” she blurted, hands coming up as if to ward the image off. Her eyes locked on the red smears. “È il suo sangue? (Is that his blood?) Is it— is that Gaagii’s?” The name snagged in her throat; she bit it free. “Please.”
“I’m here for Gunnery Sergeant Gaagii,” she rushed on, voice too quick, too thin. “They said Priority Two—has he come in? Is he alive? Dov’è? (Where is he?)” Another pair of patients shimmered in on the pad and she flinched, stepping back out of the way on instinct, palms pressed to the edge of the counter to keep them from shaking.
“I can move— I’ll move,” she promised in a whisper, already sidestepping to clear the flow. “Just… tell me if that’s his, or if he’s here, or—” She swallowed hard, eyes bright and fixed on Goldberg. “Please.”
Howard gave directions to nurses for the incoming patients and then turned to Sofia. Clearly she cared for the Gunnery Sergeant. Fact was he was not sure what he could tell her. Gaagii was not a priority at the moment as he was stable, just encased in something. He stepped over toward her. "Yeoman, I will show you the Gunnery Sergeant. However, it is quite disturbing. In fact you may be able to help. That is if you are up to it?"
Sofia swallowed, catching on the word disturbing and feeling her pulse skitter. “Right. I’m—yes, sir.” She forced a breath in, then another. In her head the possibilities queued too fast to manage: burns, the ugly kind that shine; something lodged where it shouldn’t be; blood loss hidden under the blanket; a fracture gone sideways; some… residue from Wren IX—spores, acid, a film on his skin; a field around him she can’t touch; eyes open but not there. The images stacked until she pressed them down, neat as files. He’s alive. Start there.
“I can help,” she said, steadier. “Talk to him, keep him focused, run for whatever you need.” Her hands hovered, then laced together to stop the shake. “If you can give me two sentences on what I’m about to see, I won’t freeze when we walk in.” A flicker of plea slipped through before she could stop it. “Please.”
"I don't have two sentences. I do have two words, a cocoon. Gunnery Sergeant Gaagii had a battle with a spider, or so I am told. During that battle the spider wrapped him in what can only be described as spider silk. He is cocooned in there, stable, and alive. However, we can't seem to get the cocoon open, and we are worried that since this thing was designed to feed the spider it may eventually start to break him down. Now, where you come in is exactly as you said. Talk to him, keep him focused while we work. Perhaps get him to fight, break out. It is a long shot but we believe it will work. I do not want to put you in an awkward position, so do this only if you are willing." Howard Goldberg explained the situation as quickly and succinctly as he could. The fact was Sofia was perhaps their only hope of getting Gaagii out of there.
Sofia blinked at “two words”… and the torrent that followed. Some small, wry part of her noted—definitely more than two words—before the rest of her caught up at spider and cocoon. A shiver ran straight down her spine; she’d hated spiders since childhood. “Right,” she managed, voice tight but holding. “I’m willing.”
They cleared a path and the sight hit her like cold air: a human shape swaddled in pearly fibres, layered and gleaming, the contours of shoulders and ribs ghosting under the strands. She stopped—just a fraction—then forced herself forward, breath steadying. “Santo cielo (good heavens),” slipped out, barely a whisper. She swallowed. “Can he hear me through this? If I stay by his head, here—” she gestured, fingertips hovering near where she judged his temple to be, “—will that help?”
She rubbed her palms once against her trousers to ground herself. Then, softer, leaning in: “Gaagii, it’s Sofia.” Careful, calm. “You’re aboard the Pioneer. You’re safe. We need you to stay with us, okay? Breathe slow. Listen for my voice.” Her hand hovered inches from the silk, as close as she dared. “I’m right here. If you can move... anything... fight toward me. Little by little. We’re not leaving you in there.”
"As far as we know he can hear you. The scans all say his vital signs are normal for the time being. However, we do not know what can happen to him in there. So, the sooner he can get out the better. I am going to be in and out as I have triage duties to perform. However, we will be keeping tabs on Gaagii's status. Take as long as you would like." Goldberg spoke with the clinical tones expected of a doctor. But the look on his face told otherwise. He could see that the woman hurt, and wished in this moment there was something that he could do to alleviate that pain.
Gaagii's mind swam. He was lost in whatever this place was. The last thing he remembered is being wrapped up in a sticky threadlike substance. By the creators was he alive, dead, was this something in between life and death. Nothing made sense. He had to move, had to see what was around him. But he could not, could not even turn his head. There was a throbbing pain in his lower back. Pain, pain was good and he knew it, it meant he was still alive, or at least his brain thought he was still alive. He fought against his bonds but nothing gave, and the energy seemed to ooze forth from his body. Deep within his mind a thought emerged. Give up. Let go. Return to mother Earth and the Earth Spirit. Be one with the ancestors. Just as Gaagii was about to give in to that very thought a voice cut through. A voice that he longed for. A voice that gave him another sign that he may be alive. "You're safe. You're aboard the Pioneer." The voice said. He could not recognize who it was, but those words were more than enough.
Sofia’s head snapped up, eyes flashing. Her hands flew out in sharp, exasperated gestures before she could stop them. “Non sa niente! Non sa mai niente! (You don’t know anything! You never know anything!) E io devo solo guardare? Aspettare? (And I’m just supposed to watch? To wait?)” Her voice rose with each word, thick with her mother’s fire, her aunties’ sharp rhythm. She jabbed her hand toward the cocoon, then pressed it against her chest. “È l’uomo che amo! (That’s the man I love!) And you stand there telling me, ‘we don’t know, we don’t know’—as if that’s enough!”
Her voice cracked, and the flush of anger slipped into something rawer, more desperate. She dropped her hands, fists trembling at her sides. “You’re asking me to sit while my head invents horrors. To pretend I don’t see him trapped like—like food on a plate.”
The weight of her own words pulled her back a step. Her eyes flicked to Goldberg, shame flashing through the anger. “Mi dispiace… I—sorry,” she whispered, voice small. But she couldn’t bring herself to linger on him; her whole body turned back toward the cocoon, toward Gaagii.
She pressed her forehead close, just shy of the sticky strands, her tone softening for him alone. “Ignore me. I’m just… I’m scared.”
Her fingers hovered over the faint outline of his arm beneath the silk. “Remember After 11? You found me drowning myself in glasses I didn’t need, and you pulled me out with nothing but your words. You held me, made me feel safe, when I thought I’d broken beyond repair.”
Her voice shook, but steadied as she leaned in closer. “Now it’s my turn. So listen to me, Gaagii—fight your way back to me. Move something. Anything. Let me know you’re still in there, because I’m not leaving you.”
Sofia's words did not phase Dr Goldberg. Although they did cause him to change tactics among the emergency patients. He assigned one of the other Doctor's to work on the incoming patients, while he oversaw the general triage. Howard also stood at the console next to Gaagii's bed and monitored the vital signs of the Marine. The curiosity was there as to whether or not Sofia's words would get through and cause a change.
The pain... the pain was overwhelming. Gaagii could feel himself getting weaker and somehow no matter what he thought about the strands seemed to get stronger. The darkness overwhelmed him, it caused him to want to give in, and simply end this existence and move on to the next. However, a warmth grew from deep within him. It grew and got hotter the more he heard that voice. It yelled in, what was that? Italian? Gaagii had just learned a few phrases to impress Sofia. That was when it hit him, that was Sofia. It was his Nizhoni (beautiful one).
As the heat built within him it he felt something like heat come through the cocoon near his forehead. "Was she here? Now?" Gaagii would not let the darkness win, he would not allow her to witness his end. As Gaagii thought what he could do to see Sofia again words spoken to him by Colonel Tremble came unbidden into his mind. "A Marine fights until there is no fight left. He either wins or he dies." Those words combined with Sofia being present caused him to realize that he was not dead, and there was still a fight to be had. With great effort he managed to ball up a fist and push it upward. The webbing gave way ever so slightly, enough for the movement to be seen from the exterior.
Sofia had been whispering to him still, her voice trembling between prayer and pleading, when she saw it—the faintest twitch beneath the silk. Her breath caught in her throat. For a heartbeat she thought she’d imagined it, that her eyes were playing cruel tricks, but then—there. A pulse of movement, a shift against the impossible white fibres.
“What the..." she gasped, stumbling one step closer to the biobed. “He moved! He moved his hand!” The words burst out half to Goldberg, half to herself, her voice cracking with the desperate hope that had been choking her since she’d entered. “You see it, yes? Tell me you see it!”
She reached toward the cocoon again, not daring to touch, but her palm hovered so close she could almost feel the warmth of him through it. “That’s it, Gaagii. Bravo, amore mio (good, my love). Keep going.” Her tone wavered between command and comfort, her other hand trembling at her side. “You’re stronger than this, stronger than anything that touched you down there. Fight your way out—do you hear me?”
Her voice softened, breaking on the edges of her fear. “I’m right here. I’m not leaving. Just keep moving, per favore (please)… keep coming back to me.”
She looked toward Goldberg, eyes bright, almost pleading. “He heard me. He’s fighting.”
Howard's head darted toward the bed where Gaagii lay at the sound of Sofia's words. He could not believe what she had said. Was she correct or was this simply her wishful thinking. Well, the instruments would tell the tale and he knew it. With deft hands he began a medical scan of Gaagii. At first everything seemed to be as it was but then he noticed the blood pressure elevate, norepinephrine levels rising, noradrenaline levels rose within the bloodstream as well. The cocooned patient was happy. With a surprised look upon his face Goldberg looked at Sofia. "I see it! I see it! Your presence, the sound of your voice is having an effect upon his mood. Which in turn is weakening the strength of the fibers. Keep talking. Keep talking!"
"The only fight worth winning is when there is something worth fighting for. I have always fought for myself, my tribe, my family. Now here she is fighting for me. They were Ałkééh na ashi’ "the Two who follow one another" and now I know it. I must do as she says, we two must continue to be one. Mother spirit wills it." Gaagii focused himself and he could feel the pain in his back. There was a fluid, probably blood coming from him. The sack he was in drained him, but the pain weakened something was weakening the hold this cocoon had on him. He pushed his strength into his right arm and managed to force his elbow to bend. His hand rose through the fibers but not quite all the way through as of yet. Gaagii reached for the other half of his heart.
Sofia’s breath caught again—then came the sharp sound of her gasp as she saw the movement clearer this time, the bend of an arm, the press of a hand. “Santo cielo… (good heavens...)” she whispered, her voice cracking with disbelief and awe. “He’s doing it—he’s fighting!”
She barely heard Goldberg’s encouragement over the pounding in her chest. Keep talking. That much she could do.
“That’s it, keep fighting.” Her voice trembled but grew stronger as she spoke. “You’ve always been the one who doesn’t give up—whether it’s a mission, or running the track, or trying to teach me how to stay calm.” A tear slid down her cheek as she leaned closer. “So don’t start now, per favore (please). Not now. Not when I finally found you.”
Her fingers brushed the cocoon—just lightly enough to feel the faint vibration beneath. “I’m right here, tesoro mio (my darling). You’re not alone, do you hear me? You’re never alone.”
She pressed her palm flat now, the web quivering faintly under the touch. “Come back, Gaagii. Come back to me.”
Gaagii's hand was close enough to the surface that he could feel the heat from her hand as it brushed past. "We are the dual spirit we are never alone. Not then, not now and not ever." He said to himself as he forced his hand up further through the fibers. Despite the pain Gaagii felt his cheeks swell. He smiled, the man was near giddiness as he continued to push his hand through. "You are that which is light, that which makes the world whole. You are me and I am you." He said with a love in his voice that he wished she could hear. All at once that right hand of his burst forth through the cocoon and grasped Sofia's wrist. It was not a grip of anger and force. It was the grip of one who reached for another out of want to touch them.
Goldberg worked the scanners, and all the levels rose. However, the cocoon still had some sort of tubules attached to Gaagii. It drained him of his life's fluid. He looked up as he saw the hand burst forth and grab Sofia. His eyes darted from the patient to the readouts and back again. Suddenly it hit him like a ton of bricks. It was the emotional state of Gaagii that did it. "Keep talking. Everything you are saying is working. You must keep his emotional state happy and loved. It is too long to explain Petty Officer."
Howard began to talk more to himself. "I need to figure out a way that I can help him get out of there. A phaser or something like, but it would have to be ultra precise as to not harm the man underneath." He snapped his fingers. "Nurse I need you on that console. We are going to operate the surgical lasers in tandem to cut him out of there." He said to one of the nurses that rushed by. She acknowledged the order and took her station. "Ready when you are doctor." She said without hesitation.
Sofia barely registered Goldberg’s hurried words; all she could feel was the warmth of Gaagii’s hand around her wrist — weak but real. Her heart clenched, the breath shuddering out of her. “Amore mio (my love)… you’re here,” she whispered, her voice breaking into a soft laugh that was half a sob. “You came back to me.”
She tightened her other hand gently over his, careful not to disturb the fragile strands still binding him. “You hold on now, sì? Just a little longer. They’re going to get you out.” Her thumb brushed his knuckles, grounding herself in that single human connection while the room spun with movement — nurses calling readings, Goldberg issuing orders, the faint whine of surgical lasers warming up.
“You hear me? We’ve got you. You’ve got a ship full of people waiting for you to come back — and me most of all.” She blinked through the tears streaking her cheeks and gave a small, trembling smile. “I’m not letting go until you’re free. So keep fighting. For both of us.”
As the hum of the lasers filled the air, Sofia bent close once more, her words barely more than a whisper against the cocoon. “Ti amo, Gaagii. (I love you.) You come back, and I’ll say it again properly.”
She stayed there, unmoving, holding his hand as the first bright line of laser light began to cut through the silk.
"Hang on Gunny we are coming." Goldberg said then he turned toward where Sofia sat. "Petty Officer I am going to need you to watch your hand movements and avert your eyes. We are going to activate the surgical lasers." He watched for Sofia to comply with his request and then turned toward the nurse. With a curt head nod the lasers activated. "Right, you take your laser to the left, I will go right. Calibrate to 3 microns. We want him out but not burned." With deft hands both the nurse and doctor did their work. The Sick Bay as a whole seemed to quiet down as the lasers operated in tandem.
In a moment the nurse spoke. "I am rounding the foot. Your location doctor." She knew that for this to work they would have to arrive at the end together. "I am with you. Continue to final." Goldberg replied. A moment later the lasers disengaged and the fibers of the cocoon glowed red, then yellow, then a dull gray and finally black as they cooled.
Gaagii felt the heat of the lasers as they penetrated the cocoon, he felt the strength and warmth of Sofia as she held his hand with all her strength. "I will not meet my ancestors in such a manner. I will meet them on my feet if I am to meet them at all this day." He mustered what was left of his strength and pushed upward with his torso. His muscles contracted as he sat up, and what felt like tubules fell from his back. A loud cry came from his mouth, it was the cry of his people. A battle cry that had been heard in ages past. The day was his, and was won. Blood oozed from his head and he sat up, his helmet had been broken into by whatever had entrapped him. A single word erupted from his lips as he caught his breath and the adrenaline rush quieted. "shíkeyáh (my love)" It was soft almost a whisper, and when it was finished he began to fall to the table. The nurse rushed in to catch him.
"I need a stabilization kit stat. Now that he is out, we need to make sure he stays alive." Goldberg ordered.
Sofia flinched at the warning but nodded, instinctively shielding Gaagii’s hand with her own while turning her face aside. “Understood,” she murmured, keeping her wrist within his grasp and her movements small, careful. The twin hum of the lasers filled the air, and she stayed anchored to that single point of contact—warm skin, trembling fingers—counting her breaths until the sound cut out and the silk cooled from ember to ash.
Then everything happened at once. The cocoon sloughed away, he surged upright with a torn, ancient cry, and dark blood tracked from his temple. “Gaagii—!” She caught him as he pitched forward, one arm around his shoulders, the other cradling the back of his head. “Easy, I’ve got you.” His breath brushed her cheek; the softest “shíkeyáh” reached her like a secret, and something in her chest gave way. “Sì… I’m here,” she whispered, tears spilling cleanly now. “You did it. You came back.”
The nurse moved in and Sofia yielded just enough to let them work, but when his weight sagged she folded with it, sinking to her knees at the bedside rather than let him go. Her nerves felt flayed raw; a shaky laugh slipped out, half-sob, half-relief. “He’s alive,” she said to no one and everyone, voice small and certain. “Per favore (please), keep him that way.”
She stayed there, breath unsteady, fingers still laced with his even as monitors chirped and hands rushed around them—anchored to the proof of him, refusing to let the world pry them apart until someone told her he was safe.
Goldberg jogged over to the bed and helped Sofia to her feet. "Petty Officer go clean up and relax. I will notify the Commodore that you need some time. We will make sure that he heals well and is returned to duty and to you. Know that he is alive, he is here because of you. Truly great work."
When the adrenaline rush wore off Gaagii was spent. He looked at his love and smiled. In that moment and all at once he knew that he was alive, and that she had saved him. He collapsed onto the biobed and fell into the deepest and most restful sleep.
A Joint Post By
Petty Officer Second Class Sofia Cipriani
Yeoman, USS Pioneer
Gunnery Sergeant Gaagii
RECONN, Team 2, The Cure
USS Pioneer
Lieutenant Howard Goldberg
Medical Officer, USS Pioneer
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