Disclaimer: Adelaide Production, Richard Raynis, and Paul Verhoeven own "Roughnecks:
The Starship Trooper Chronicles." Not me. I just write fics. =^-^=
Author's Note: This is fic #2 of the "Between The Lines" series, written from Brutto's (Sarge's)
POV. By the by, in case you aren't THE biggest fan of "Roughnecks: The Starship Troopers Chronicles"
(which some of you aren't), there's a mini-character bio , here. Thanks again for reading!
Between The Lines #2
"Half Empty"
by Trelliah
You know, before the war, I thought I had everything. My son was an all-star fullback in the high school
team. Watching him play made me proud. Made me remember when I could run and throw a ball. Get
tackled. That sort of thing.
Now, I couldn't run to save my life. Chuck a ball, yeah, but running? Or walking? Jogging? Shoot. I
couldn't do any of those to save my life.
Why, you ask? Well, let's just say I had a little accident on the Valley Forge.
It didn't really hurt. More of a shock. I was standing in the door behind Rico, preparing to charge in and
take on the bugged-out pilot, Major Zander Barcalow, when that creep tried to shut the door. Rico got out
of the way, but I didn't clear it in time.
THUD-THUD!
The door hit my sides. There was stunned feeling, then I fell. Couldn't move my legs. They were
deadweight.
If Barcalow wanted to (which I'm sure he'd have done so if given the chance), he could grease me and I'd
be helpless to do anything.
When I woke up in the hospital not long after, I knew. Don't ask how. I just did. I couldn't move my legs.
Couldn't bend or stretch them. Couldn't wiggle my toes, or move my feet at all.
My fate was sealed the second that door slammed on me. In the time it took to blink, I went from being a
sergeant in Razak's Roughnecks, to being paralyzed from the waist down.
Damaged goods. No use to anyone, not as a soldier at least.
For months after my medical discharge with a Purple Heart, I was stuck to a chair to move around. I had
to learn and adjust to it. I got pretty good with it, too. Like backing a car up a driveway. No sweat.
Of course, when I wasn't occupied with something (like going up stairs), that dead, empty feeling came
back. At first, I thought it was just missing Gossard, the L.T., and the rest of the squad. It wasn't until the
lieutenant passed, that I knew.
The bugs, of course, interrupted Razak's funeral procession down to Luna Lake. While making a run for
it, my chair slammed into a log, and I flew out. Somersaulted. Landed on my face.
It was when Rico came back for me that I realized what it was.
That empty feeling wasn't just missing Flores, the colonel, Gossard, Doc, Rico, Razak, even Paperboy
himself. I was just going to get in the way. I could get my friends greased.
Oddly enough, it took T'phai, the seven-foot-tall, methane-breathing "skinnie" from Tophet, to pull me
out of my self-pity.
"....Strawberry Park, this is Alpha Team. Steamboat terminal. Do you read?!" T'phai called into the
radio. I sighed.
"Colonel, give it a rest. Help's not coming anytime soon." I said.
"You never have been one to ask for help." the skinnie answered simply. He wasn't wrong; I admit, I can
be a little stubborn.
A little.
"And now I'm not worth helping." I muttered. "Tonight's only proven what I'd guessed that night I first
woke up in the hospital. I'm useless to you guys. Worthless. Damaged goods."
"You are none of those things." T'phai said simply.
"I'm worse. I'm a liability." I replied.
"Rico should just leave me sitting here." I said as I leaned against a tree and watched Gossard fiddle with
the power packs from my chair.
"The Roughnecks never leave a man behind." T'phai answered.
"I'm not a Roughneck anymore." I sighed, turning my gaze to the ground. "I'm not even a man
anymore."
"I agree." T'phai nodded.
"Huh?" I looked up at him. I was kinda silently hoping for a little consolation.
"You are not a Roughneck anymore, but the problem is not here," he tapped my knee (not that I felt it,)
then on very lightly on my head. "It is here."
That made me feel a little better, but not by much.
"Scour the debris for crawlies." Rico ordered.
"Private T'phai," General Redwing added, "move in and assist the squad."
For some reason, T'phai looked down at me.
"You heard the general! Move that skinny butt of yours!" I said.
"Yes, sir, Sergeant Brutto." As T'phai headed off, I couldn't help but to smile.
I've heard people say that the glass of life can be half full or half empty. Just depends on how you look at
it.
Personally, I just think life can be odd. I mean, how often does your buddy who's not even human to
begin with give you advice on how to percieve being a paraplegic?
Not often, but then again, friends like him aren't what you'd call dime a dozen, either.
The End...For Now
