The Day Begins...

Posted on Mon 12th Nov, 2012 @ 7:42am by Commander Paul Graves PsyD & Colonel Horatio Drake

1,005 words; about a 5 minute read

Mission: http://sb109.sim-station.net/index.php/sim/missions/id/3
Location: Drake's Quarters: Deck 27
Timeline: Day 1: 0600 Hours

ON:

"... and so some of you will go onto join Starfleet Command, some of you will go onto command flagships and starbases, some of you may even join the Federation Council in years to come... but all of you will be faced with difficult decisions, all of you will have to make the decision between life and death, some of you will have no choice of life in the matter... but all of you will go onto make a difference, you are all graduated students of the Command Academy and therefore the newest addition to Starfleet's elite club of Commanding Officers..."

As Ashton lay in the darkness of his quarters on board Starbase Protector he remembered the wise words spoken by Admiral Townsend on graduation day at Starfleet Academy for aspiring XO's. Ashton joined Starfleet a number of years after the Dominion War finished. He allowed his mind to wonder towards how he felt all those years ago... Initially he joined to become a Marine Intelligence Officer, but quickly got bored of that and moved on to become a Weapons Expert. Soon he found himself heading up Tactical/Security departments in his first starship assignment.

This was now nearly ten years on and he recalled vividly the trepidation on everyone's faces as they were all being promoted to the elitest position of Commanding Officer. The toll the Dominion War had taken on the Federation was great, many seasoned and experienced officers had been lost - he expected many of the XO's in his class to be young with little experience, he found most of them to be older officers who had gained good experience during the war and who weren't really that career minded. Having said this Ashton didn't view himself as career minded anymore.

Many officers who went through the horrors of the war viewed new officers, especially those that were excited to be Starfleet, as somewhat of a joke - they found it very hard to gain the respect of these older officers.
Ashton used to be one of these officers - before he lost Patrick. He was lucky in his first posting - he went straight into an Assistant Head of Department position on board the USS Liberation -- it is true that his uncle was an Admiral in Starfleet Command however he hated this fact, he hated that everyone would think his promotions were due to his uncle - he would never deny that some of them probably were, despite him asking him to let him work his way up by himself.

After a year of serving on the Liberation everything was fantastic, he was putting far too much time into working and not enough into his relationship, however his was enjoying his time on such an amazing vessel. After a routine refit at Mckinley Station there was a complication with the warp core and a coolant leak took place one evening when Ashton was the Duty Officer on the Bridge -- he immediately awoke the Captain and the ship completed its separation without fault -- two crewmen were lost, however it could have been a lot worse. The Liberation was grounded as it would be a year before rebuilding would be completed - the crew were all separated and reassigned. Ashton was assigned to a Nebula Class, the USS Windsor. Over the coming years he spent time on a couple of other vessels, including a new Sovereign Class, but never really fitting in. After a couple of years of this he was assigned to the USS Jakarta as Executive Officer - how he got the position he will never know, but orders were orders.

The Senior Staff were all battle hardened war veterans and viewed someone as young and as "wet faced" as Ashton taking command of their second in command position as a mistake and, as such made his life hell. However he did make very good friends with a certain Chief Petty Officer Graham Winchester -- the two would spend night after night enjoying their favourite hobby -- single malt scotch! They were inseparable at one point, then word came that Ashton was to receive a command commission to the USS Runnymede, another Nebula Class. He was overjoyed and passed his Command Academy courses quickly. Afterwards he was to do two more weeks on the Jakarta before transferring out.

On his last day the ship docked at Starbase 12, where he was planning on meeting his family and partner, Patrick. Patrick was the single most important thing in his life, he loved Starfleet, loved his speciality, loved the crews that he had worked with and loved his family -- but he loved Patrick just that little bit more. He could still remember the scene as he and Graham were disembarking from the Jakarta in the arrivals lounge. He remembered everything up until the point his mother told him about the accident. After that hours seemed to spiral into days and days into months - he took over eight months compassionate leave - it was the worst thing that had ever happened to him.

As he lay on his bed, in the darkness... he could feel that void of emotion starting to open itself back up... 'No!' He yelled at himself inside, 'not now.'

He shook the thought off and jumped out of bed, horrified that he had put that much thought into what had passed. He should be looking to the future now, so Graham had told him, he should be embracing what was happening.

"Drake to Graves." His voice still sounded like he had only just woken up.

"Graves, here, sir." He sounded as bright and perky as ever - no trace of sleep drowsiness!

"Breakfast in two hours? Ops Mess Hall?"

A pause. "At 0800? Very well, sir," Paul replied, "I'll see you there."

Ashton smiled, jumped out of bed and made a beeline for the sonic shower... 'yes, the future...'

OFF

Lieutenant Colonel Ashton Drake
Commanding Officer

and

Lt. Paul Graves
Chief Counselor
SB-Protector

 

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