Face To Face

Posted on Wed 20th Jun, 2012 @ 11:48pm by Commander Brian Windsong & Colonel Horatio Drake

2,013 words; about a 10 minute read

Mission: http://sb109.sim-station.net/index.php/sim/missions/id/2
Location: CO's Office
Timeline: TBD

The USS Kittyhawk arrived a few hours ahead of schedule with a load of supplies and fresh personnel for Starbase Protector. One of those new crewmembers was Brian Windsong. Brian was a unique indivdual in several ways. He was one of only a score of Akadians serving in the Federation, he had been trained by the Tradtionalists of his planet and followed their tennants that among other things frowned on technology that was not absouletly necessary. Thanks to an acid attack five years in the past, he was also blind.

He had learned to adapt; his other Akdadian senses, especially smelling and hearing, which were normally more sensative than Humans anyway, had been honed to an even keener edge and he was highly telepathic. This did not mean he did not have problems, he did. He had to use a special PAdD or use an Aide to read or write and until he got accustomed to an area it was difficult for him to manuever He had a guide dog to help him in those situations. Brian and Wicker, a Terran Yellow Lab got along famously together and had grown to be protective of each other.

As they approached the station and got within transporter range, several of the Kittyhawk crew had offered to escort Brian, but he had politely refused. He wasn't overly fond of transporters, preferring shuttle craft but he wasn't going to be an imposition on anyone by suggesting that they fly him there instead of being transported. He did grip Wicker's harness a little tighter than normal but no one besides her was aware of it.

Upon arrival at Protector, there were a few raised brows by the Transporter Operator but the woman was too discilined to say anything and he did not try to read her emotions or her thoughts. He did ask for directions to the CO's office and headed there.

He wasn't sure what to expect from the Colonel, the two men had met before at a grief counseling support group not that long ago. Both had, had life partners that had died and both were only there under orders. They had agreed that they didn't want to be there, but that had been the only thing they could agree on.

Ashton had been cold and aloof while Brian had been attracted by the strength of his character and had, had to quell his native passion and desire to "get physical" with the other man. It seemed that any kind of relationship, be it physical or otherwise had just not in the cards. The two men shared a bond of a lost love but that had not translated into any other kind of bond.

Brian had heard that Ashton was still distant and closed who teneded to push others away, He didnt know if those rumors were true, but he was about to find out. He approached the door, reaching out to touch the chime. It took three attempts before he found it, but once he did, he memorized the location and pushed it, hoping the Colonel was in.


===


The Federation Civilian Defence Authority had treated the base as if Starfleet were never going to want it back. It had become dirty, untidy and the majority of systems were still not operational. Despite Starfleet informing the FCDA of the take back over six months ago, it was clear that no effort had been made to even try and mask their reckless treatment of the base. Of course, nothing could be done about it now and it was Starfleet's job to get the place fully operational once again.

He decided that they would have been better off powering the place down and leaving it to its own devices for the years that they couldn't man it. But instead, when the Dominion War had called for every officer, they handed to remote and old SB Protector over to the FCDA and hoped for the best. It wasn't exactly a service that you could complain about either.

Once again, the chime sounded... countless interruptions and only one had been a Senior Officer. The rest were either veteran engineers or FCDA personnel wanting bits and pieces signed off.

"Come in" he called, as he carried on cleaning his desk... the enormous collection of PADDS now on the floor.

Brian walked through the door behind Wicker. He reached out with his mind finding where the CO was standing beside his desk. He could sense the man's frustration without really trying.

"Colonel Drake, Ashton, Lt. Commander Windsong, Chief Diplomatic Officer reporting in." He made an effort to stiffle a sneeze but was unable to.

"Excuse me sir. You may recall we met not long ago at that rather useless support group fiasco."

Naturally the image of someone walking around with a dog is not one that you forget lightly... if it wasn't for this fact, Ashton doubted he would have remembered him at all. He didn't much care for socialising these days, especially not in one of the support groups... one of the hoops that Starfleet made him jump through before returning to active duty.

"Ah, Commander... bless you" He paused, wondering what to say next. He felt a small wave of embarrassment go over him; having to be with Starfleet personnel was bad enough, but having to be with one who had seen him at his lowest was worse. What made it so bad was that his 'worst' was not your typical grief stricken and upset person... instead it was masked with hostility and anger. If he remembered correctly, he was quite rude to everyone in those groups... including this certain Diplomatic Officer.

"Er... how was your journey to Protector?" He motioned to a not too clean chair, the other side of his desk.

Although Brian was unable to see the gesture, Wicker was not and she guided her master through a maze of chairs, dirt and debries, to the chair in question. He started to sit down but a low growl from Wicker made him pause. He reached down, found the discarded PAdD and tossed it on the floor

Then he sat down and faced the man, "It was fine, I met Clark Patterson, the new CIO here we were on the same ship. He's a nice enough man I suppose. How are you doing?"

"I'm doing very well, thank you. Ready for the new challenges that such a position brings with it!". He believed nothing in the sentence that he had just said... his physical fitness had decreased desperately in the last year, with his intact of alcohol far higher than it should have been. This new position was a dead end journey to no where and if there were any challenges in his path, he was sure to skirt them pretty rapidly.

"I haven't had the pleasure of meeting many of the Senior Staff yet... I wouldn't be surprised if half of them don't turn up on time, Starfleet doesn't seem to know whether they are coming or going with this starbase!". Was that a vague attempt at humour? Or was is just a situational relief piece to ease the tension?

Brian smirked slightly, he wasn't reading the Colonel's thoughts per se, he hadn't been invited, nor was there a real need for him to take the inititive on his own. He was however feeling a general sense of tension in the room.

"Well if you ask me I'm not sure what Star Fleet has in mind. It seems to me to be one big cluster f .... bomb so far. This place seems to have an odor of decay, like the last occupants could give a rat's ass about maintainence.

Tell me does it look as bad as it smells?"

For the briefest second... almost unnoticeable... a glimmer of a smirk flashed across Ashton's face. Perhaps it was the fact that this relative stranger had joined Ashton in a sideways dig at Starfleet? He didn't know and didn't stop to ponder the thought anymore.

"Well... in a word... yes! The station is in pretty bad disrepair. When Starfleet abandoned this place at the start of the Dominion War, they virtually stripped it of all its assets. Sufficed to say that the FCDA didn't bother replacing anything.".

He shifted in his chair and considered offering the Diplomatic Officer a cup of tea or coffee...then realised that the replicator in his ready room was offline.

"You sound tired Colonel, might I suggest we move to the Promenade? At least that area seems to be in a state of semi repair. I am famished. I'll even buy you dinner."

Brian had tried once before to test the waters with Ashton in starting at least a physical relationship but had been rebuffed or more acurately Ashton had seemed oblvious to his advances. Not that he had pushed the man too hard. When they had met the wounds of losing his better half had been too fresh, the pain too sharp.

Now, he didnt know whether to try pursing anything or not, so the invitation for dinner held no ulterior motives. He was hungry but most importantly the room was starting to close in on him and he needed to get away, needed to get in a more open area.

The proposal struck him like a well aimed phaser shot to the chest; unexpected and shocking. Since the death of Patrick everyone had been very pleasant to Ashton, very nice indeed; but it was all fake. It was all intended to make him feel better or to keep him in a good state of mind. This proposal seemed honest and kind... literally just dinner... it was almost on a level of indifference that he wasn't used to.

Nevertheless, even though a small part of him really wanted to eat, he knew his workload on his first day just couldn't wait.

"That's a very kind offer, Commander, however as you can see I do have a lot of work to get through. The FCDA didn't exactly leave Protector in a ship shape and Bristol fashion!".

Brian allowed himself a small smirk, "While I'm not familiar with that term, I think I understand the gist of it and judging from my insight you're right. The Promenade seems the only place they put any effort into maintaining. But you're hardly going to get it 'ship shape and Bristol fashion' in the next couple of hours anyway.

You've got to eat sometime you know and it might as well be with good company. I mean how many other stunningly attractive men do you know here?"

Ashton's throat seemed to almost close up... was this Diplomatic Officer making a move on him? He had met him once and felt that was enough to throw rank etiquette and discipline out of the window? He felt a glimpse of the old him... someone who would have actually cared about this sort of thing. The truth was that, nowadays, he really didn't. Rank seemed meaningless... position seemed pointless... Starfleet seemed futile.

The real reason he was getting angry was because this situation was just making him remember Patrick... forcing him to remember him. He didn't like that being done to him. He would simply have to cover up this ever open wound with the former reason.

He stood, "Really, Commander, thank you for the offer but I'm afraid the answer has to be no. Some other time, perhaps". He smiled and gestured towards the door, hoping the message would be received loud and clear.

Though Brian could not see the gestures he heard the voice, felt the tone, the heat disguised as it was by the polite words. He tried to not look disappointed. He hadn't really been trying to make the move on his CO, well not really. He bit back the reply he was about to make and stood to his feet took Wicker's harness.

"Understood sir," he said as he turned to walk away.

Colonel Ashton Drake
CO
Protector

Lt. Commander Brian Windsong
Chief Diplomatic Officer
Protector

 

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