I Will Not Fear
by Sheryl Rieling
We are overrun.
I can see O'Neill running towards me. He is frightened. When I look behind me, the replicators are clearly visible through the hole they have created in the watertight door.
O'Neill has begun to discharge his weapon at anything moving in the doorway before him as I do the same from the other side of the compartment. We are trapped.
The reports of our weapons echo in the confined space making my ears ring yet I continue to fire at them. The sound they make as they scale the walls is distinctive and causes small eruptions on the flesh of my arms. I believe this is part of their effectiveness as an enemy. Humans display a great aversion to insects of any kind. I will not fear them. I will not allow myself to give in to it.
The floor is obscured now as they advance, clicking and humming. I can feel the terror radiating off O'Neill as he fires into the midst of the enemy. The sound of the replicators is beginning to drown out our weapons. O'Neill's voice in my ear is frantic as he argues with Daniel Jackson. The time has come to end our battle. His gun is silent as he tears off his helmet and turns the camera to address the men on the shore.
"Davis, give the order!"
The urgency of O'Neill's order is clear. Destroy this ship before the enemy overwhelms us. Before we are unable to fight back. 'I will not fear them!'
"Don't let me get eaten alive by these bugs!"
I am down! They crawl down the walls. They are upon me!
Above my head I can see O'Neill collapse against the bulkhead. His screams fill the air and he tries to crawl. I cannot see him as he disappears beneath a blanket of replicators. 'I will not fear!'
Silence. I can no longer hear my friend. We are finished. I would tell him the order has been given. I heard Major Davis give it before I succumbed.
We will die as warriors. I have no regrets. I am prepared.
Light. Silence that doesn't echo against moving steel walls. We are alive. We have been rescued.
O'Neill shouts his joy and I can feel his hand tremble as he grips my head. He must assure himself I am unharmed with this simplest of touches. I am becoming used to it.
We have confronted death together, side by side. We have faced our fears. Once again we have defied the odds and emerged victorious.
End