An update to the future

Posted on Fri 30th Nov, 2018 @ 7:13pm by

1,100 words; about a 6 minute read

Mission: Oblivion

Henry entered the ops center of the Starbase and almost instantly felt back in familiar territory. No. It wasn't the bridge of a starship, but it was almost the same feeling he felt everytime he entered the bridge of Samurai. He continued walking in as he looked at the staff hard at work at their stations. He finally made his way over to the Yeomans station and greeted with a big Perry smile." Good morning Yeoman. Is Captain Suzuki available for a moment?" As the Yeoman began looking at the terminal in front of her, Henry continued to look around the ops center and thought to himself. " I wonder what it would be like to put roots down here?"

"I can squeeze you in for a few minutes." The Yeoman replied with a pleasant smile on her face. "You were part of the Captain's crew on Samurai weren't you Commander?"

An even bigger smile appeared on Henry's face as the memories of his time aboard Samurai flooded back into his mind. "Yes Yeoman, I was. The good ole days is what I like to call them, although it wasn't that long ago."

The Yeoman continued to smile as she came from behind her workstation and walked the Chief Engineer over to the Captain's office door. "Between you and me, I think there are times when she misses the bridge of a starship, but I am glad she is here. The Yeoman then pressed the door chime for the engineer and gave him a quick nod before returning to her station.

"Henry," Suzuki called warmly. "Come in. What can I do for you today?" She rose from behind her desk and came to meet him halfway to the door. "Coffee? Tea? Beer?"

"Water if you please." He asked as he looked around the Captains new office. "Wow!" He exclaimed as he made his way over to the extremely large window in the office. "This is some view, my friend. Could it get any more fantastic?"

Suzuki chuckled as she fetched a pitcher of water and two tumblers from the replicator. "That's a holo-screen, just like the one on Samurai's bridge. Usually, I set it to look over the inner harbor." She carried the tray over to the coffee table between two sofas, set it down, and took the comfortable seat at the head of the table. "Did you just come by to admire the view?"

Henry sat opposite of his friend and Starbase Captain and took the cup of water from the tray and took a sip of it. "I didn't' just come for the view." He said as he chuckled a little bit. "I did come to update you on Samurai's repairs." The engineer took a PADD out of the left cargo pocket of his uniform pants and placed it on the table between himself and the Captain. "Everything is going well. Slowly but well. But....."

Henry trailed off and looked back at the holo-screen and admired the simulated view again. "Hikari, how do you like being posted to a Starbase and not a starship?"

"Popular question this week," Suzuki answered with a smile. "It has its ups and downs. I'm focusing on the ups -- the stable environment for Athena as she grows, the lower likelihood of discovering a planet-eating monster, that kind of thing."


"Stable," Henry muttered to himself. "I've been thinking about what comes next for me my friend." Henry turned his gaze back to Suzuki and leaned forward in his seat with his hands clasped together. " I've been thinking about what's important to me and what I have set aside for the sake of career and service to others."

Henry stood and made his way over to the holo-screen. There he leaned against the side of it and gazed into the image as if he was in entranced. "And what's important to me right now is family. I've got my sister Isabella here, and then there is Riko and you. You all are what is dear to me. And I fell that's what I need right now in my life."

Henry turned from the view and faced Hikari with his back to the holo-screen. "The events of Samurai are still with me Hikari. I think I need to be around you all, my family to get through it."

Suzuki nodded thoughtfully. "I'm not about to try to argue you out of that, Henry. But I do want you to consider very carefully -- when an officer turns down a command, Starfleet very rarely offers a second time. I know you think of yourself primarily as an engineer, but you're up against the glass ceiling for staff officers. Less than one in a hundred non-command-tracked officers rise above the rank of Lieutenant Commander, and the numbers are even smaller above Commander."

Henry lowered his head and looked at the ground. "You know... I still hear them Hikari. I hear all the screams of those I trapped in engineering when I closed off the entire section trying to prevent the warp core from going critical. I understand that I had to do it, I actually don't regret it, it was the right thing to do. But......" Henry trailed off and he rose his head and looked over to his friend. "But, I looked into their eyes as the blast doors were closing. I watched them trying to run to the doors for escape. Only to have them close right in front of their faces. Calling my name, and pleading with me to help them. All I could do was tell them I am sorry."

The Commander took a drink of his water and placed the empty glass back on the table. "Do you remember how bad I wanted to make Lieutenant Commander and then Commander?" Henry asked with a sly smile on his face. "It was so damned important to me at the time. Now, I realize what's most important to me. It's the people I call family. I know Starfleet could order any of us to a new assignment at any moment, but I would rather stay here for as long as I could."

Suzuki nodded, her eyes not looking at anything in the real world for a long minute as she remembered the moment when three bridge stations had ceased to exist; the moment before she'd been knocked unconscious. So many lives lost because she'd elected to rescue a cat. "Alright, Henry. I'll start putting out feelers, see if I have any favors left to call in. Keep working on Samurai, and we'll see what happens."

 

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