The Life of Abner Doubleday

Posted on Sat 5th Apr, 2025 @ 4:21pm by Commander Geraldine "Geri" Severide & Captain Gordon Francis

2,438 words; about a 12 minute read

Mission: The Phoenix Gamble
Location: Captain Francis Visual cortex
Timeline: IBEX arrival

-Start-

{Captain Francis Quarters-0200}

A relic appeared on his desk in a brief swirl of light.

Captain Gordon Francis leaned back, eyes narrowing at the unmistakable IBEX logo stamped across its surface. A relic, indeed. The artifact—whatever it was—sat atop a dull gray isolinear chip, humming faintly. No intelligence officer would blindly insert such a thing into their systems, but that’s what independent card readers were for.

He pulled a small gray box from his private trunk, pressed its activation switch, and slotted the chip inside. A holographic display flickered to life.

SUMMARY FINDINGS: ABNER DOUBLEDAY

TEST ADMINISTERED TO CAPTAIN GORDON FRANCIS

SIM CONDUCTED AS "ABNER DOUBLEDAY SCENARIO"

Context: Abner Doubleday is a Human of the 22nd century at the very beginnings of space exploration. The examinee will be presented with Touchstones and allowed to react to their own desire.

Francis’s brow furrowed. A long list of “Ethical Touchstones” stretched across the screen, each labeled with a stardate. Quick napkin math told him the first and last entries were eighty-two years apart. His stomach twisted slightly.

That’s a lifetime.

Curiosity won as he selected the first entry.

The Ethical Touchstone announced itself.

Ethical Touchstone (A) – The Burden of Command (Accountability & Decision-Making)

Age:16; New Baton Rouge- Mars

The hologram shifted, photons and forcefields knitting together a scene above his desk. A small-town neighborhood took shape—streets lined with oaks, a baseball field in the distance, and a boy sprinting full tilt after a ball.

Abner. They shouted the name cheering for him.

Francis inhaled sharply, recognizing quickly the version of himself the test had crafted. The boy was unremarkable in sports, but beloved by his peers. He played pickup games until sunset, rode bikes, and chased after girls with all the earnest foolishness of youth.

At a high school gym turned social hall, music played over tinny speakers. Teenagers swayed in dim lighting, the scent of punch and cheap perfume hanging in the air. Abner stood beside his date, Sue-Ellen, a sweet girl with braces and a nervous laugh. She had asked him to the dance, and he had said yes.

Then Patty Clarke walked up.

Patty was effortless—the kind of girl every boy dreamed of. Bright-eyed, confident, a half-smile that made hearts stutter. And now, here she was, looking straight at him.

“Hey, Abner,” she said, shifting her weight just enough to make the invitation clear. “Wanna dance?”

Francis, watching from the present, already knew what the boy wanted. He could see it in the flicker of hesitation, the way Abner’s fingers twitched at his side.

Abner wanted to say yes. He ached to say yes.

The simulation reacted, biometric data flaring in real time. The test was watching. Measuring.

Abner swallowed hard, his gaze flickering to Sue-Ellen. She wasn’t oblivious. She saw it, too.

Francis mouthed the words before his younger self spoke them.

“You dance with the girl who brung you.”

Abner smiled, apologetic but firm. “Sorry, Patty. I promised Sue-Ellen.”

The test logged the result.

The first decision had been made.

-END VIGNETTE-

The hologram collapsed, and a voice, synthesized and decidedly Terran provided the debrief without imagery.

"SUMMARY:

This first ethical touchstone highlights integrity and loyalty. Abner is presented with a choice—follow his immediate desire and dance with Patty, or honor his prior commitment to Sue-Ellen. By choosing the latter, he demonstrates loyalty and respect for commitments, which are critical qualities in leadership.

This moment also subtly tests self-discipline—Abner resists the temptation of personal gratification for the sake of doing what is right. Even though saying yes to Patty might feel good in the moment, he honors his word."

-END SEQUENCE-

The room went dark as the holographic display returned, casting very sparse lighting leaving the room in a murky black. The list sat there, some of them were highlighted green, some of them red.

Francis shook his head at the result. It had been a hard lesson in his life, learning that "the girl who brung you" wasn't always the right one. To Francis, Patty was the far more attractive one. Sure, Abner stayed true, and maybe did the right thing, but in his own life Francis had learned the difficult lesson that you should never date a girl with two first names. Sue-Ellen was a hull breach, and Patty was the escape pod. Still, his choice would have been the same at that age anyway. Young, dumb, and don't know it. You're stuck with Sue-Ellen.

The next file flashed, then cued up in a playlist of what was revealing to be a lifetime someone else had lived.

***

-Ethical Touchstone (B) Lose-Lose Choices (Integrity & Ethics)

Age:19; Redhaven- Mars

The dust storms hadn’t come in yet, but they were building on the horizon, a bruised sky stretching over the Martian border town of Redhaven. The Lochiel Trading Post sat at the edge, a fortress of reinforced polycrete and steel shutters. The Martians still called the dusty wastes a frontier, and those who chose to live outside of the Federation as Martian citizens had to make their own way. In a place like this, coin spoke louder than words, and today, Abner was carrying more than most men saw in a lifetime.

They had packed the hard credits into sealed strongboxes—physical payment for the laborers of the Carver Flats Refinery. The owner, Darrow Ellis, was a bastard, but he was an honest bastard. He paid his workers when he said he would, every time, in cold, hard coin.

Abner had spent six months earning Ellis’s trust. Today, he was riding escort on his first major job—delivering a year’s wages across the red plains. Two others with him on the ride were supposed to all check each other, "one eye on the road, one eye on the shipment, one eye on each other." The small joke was a layered threat as well.

Which is why his stomach lurched when he saw Jace Mallory’s hand inside the strongbox. Jace had come a long way to get here, and was as close to a best friend as one could get moving as often as Abner did. His friend was red faced, the pale skin flushing in embarrassment and the fear of being caught in the act.

Abner stiffened. The armored transport rattled beneath them, engine thrumming as it crawled over the cracked surface of Mars. Kado was heedless to the cargo thankfully and had his focus on the road ahead. Shuttles would be too easy to commandeer but a land roving wheeled vehicle had nowhere to go fast and couldn't fly away. Drovers were trusted to carry their cargo and get it there, Abner had sworn as much as well.

"Jace," he whispered, his throat dry as the dust. "What the hell are you doing?"

Jace flinched but didn’t stop. His fingers worked deftly, slipping a handful of platinum chits into his coat.

His thin, sunken face twisted with something halfway between guilt and desperation. “Just let it be,” he murmured. “I don’t have another choice.”

Abner’s stomach twisted.

Jace had been his friend for years. A little older, a little sharper, the kind of guy who always had a scheme, a way out. He’d taught Abner how to spot a con, play the odds, talk his way out of a bad deal. But lately, Jace had been different. Thinner. Sleepless. Fraying at the edges.

“I’ll put it back later, I got it worked out,” Jace said quickly, as if that made it better. “I just—I need something to get the bastards off me.”

Abner swallowed. He’d heard rumors. Jace owed money to the wrong kind of people. People who didn’t take promises as payment.

“How bad is it?” Abner asked.

Jace exhaled shakily. “Bad enough that if I don’t walk back with something tonight, they’re coming for me. Maybe my sister, too.” His voice cracked. “They said they’d make an example.”

Abner clenched his jaw, "Ellis will come after you just as hard!"

Jace shook his head, "I've already tipped the scales. We can remove forty grams of weight and the shipment will show up at the correct weight on their end. It's already done, just for the taking. Please! There isn't any other choice!"

Jace wasn't stealing for anything other than a desperate need to survive.

It would be so easy to go along with the plan, and it'd never be back tracked a year from now. It was was free money and a portion of his consciousness told him he could demand half and Jace would still have enough to get out of trouble.

Abner sighed. "I'm not going to say anything," he whispered. "But I won't lie for you. It's not up to me what you do with your messes, but I won't take a fall just because we're friends. Do it again and..."

"I know, I know," Jace responded. "Thanks, man. Seriously."

"Whatever," Abner said, turning his attention forward.

"SUMMARY:

Summary: Abner faces the brutal reality of loyalty versus integrity when his closest friend, Jace, attempts to steal from their employer out of desperate necessity. Understanding the stakes but unwilling to betray his sworn duty, Abner makes a painful compromise—he does not turn Jace in but refuses to be complicit in the theft. His decision balances mercy with accountability, a quiet warning that trust, once broken, is not easily mended. He loses his friend in the decision, a likely outcome either way. This moment cements Abner's ethical code: compassion does not excuse dishonor, and friendship does not outweigh principle.

-END SEQUENCE-

Francis sat for a moment, reflecting on his own past. Francis had seen more corruption in Starfleet Intelligence than actual intelligence. It was that corruption that led him to be wrongfully accused of a major crime, come out innocent, and get punished for it anyway. Not wanting to leave Starfleet, he'd taken the punishment. You had to pick your battles. This scenario for Abner likely ended with Abner being fired just by association with his friend. Rules weren't always meant to be broken, but most of the time they were never fair.

Francis moved on.

***

-Ethical Touchstone (C) The Weight of Empathy (Justice and Accountability)

Age: 21; Starfleet Academy

The tribunal chamber was silent, save for the quiet hum of the overhead lights. The cadets of Starfleet Academy stood in rigid rows, their uniforms crisp, their expressions carefully blank. At the center of it all, Dorian Vex stood alone.

Abner sat on the judiciary panel, a privilege given only to the highest-performing students. A privilege Dorian should have shared—if he hadn’t been caught cheating.

The charges were laid bare. During a high-stakes tactical simulation, Dorian had altered a parameter in the program—just slightly, just enough to give his team an advantage. A minor change, one that even the instructors hadn’t noticed at first. But the system had flagged an inconsistency, and when they traced it back, it led straight to Dorian.

Now he was one vote away from expulsion.

Abner stared at his old rival. He and Dorian had never been friends in the easy, effortless way of childhood bonds. They were competitors. Dorian, the brilliant strategist. Abner, the hard-nosed tactician. Their clashes were legendary among the cadets. Dorian was sharper, faster—but Abner had endurance. He took the beatings, learned from them, and got back up.

But Dorian had never played fair.

He had humiliated Abner in debates, manipulated war games to back him into corners, even sabotaged his gear once. When confronted, he had laughed. “If you want to be great, you need to be ready for people who will do worse than that,” he had said.

And now, he was about to fall.

It would be so easy to cast the final vote. Justice. The Academy had no tolerance for cheating. It would be the clean, simple thing—and Dorian deserved it.

But Abner had seen the other side of the story too.

Dorian had fought twice as hard as anyone else to get here. His Cardassian lineage lead straight to Dominion collaborators. The mark on his name and house was seared into history no matter how he tried to change it.

And yet, he had made it to the Academy through no other factor than pure merit. He was a good candidate for officer, but the taint was on the apple.

Abner had watched instructors hold him to stricter standards, officers dismiss his ideas, peers whisper behind his back. He had watched Dorian fight and fight and fight, and when that wasn’t enough—he cheated.

The presiding officer looked at Abner. “Cadet Doubleday, your ruling?"

Abner hesitated.

He saw Dorian’s jaw tighten. He was standing straight, waiting for the fall. Prideful bastard. He wouldn’t beg, no matter how much Abner would want him to.

The bastard's time had come, and Abner held no remorse.

"Guilty," Abner said, his stare to Dorian every bit as stone cold as Dorian's to him.

SUMMARY:
Abner is presented with the power to decide the fate of his longtime rival, Dorian, who has been caught cheating. Despite knowing the unfair obstacles Dorian has faced, Abner does not let past grievances or sympathy sway his judgment. In a moment of unwavering integrity, he delivers a guilty verdict, refusing to compromise his principles for personal history. This decision defines his ethical stance—justice is not about personal feelings, and fairness demands accountability, even for those we understand.

-END SEQUENCE-

Captain Francis let out a big sigh. This particular experience hit home for him, remembering his situation with Garantula Rex and the broken, bitter end of it. Francis had felt Abner's resolve in his decision. There was a bit of anger, and not a single ounce of regret. This had not been how Francis felt, giving his hugely inspirational speech at commencement, tearing down his own roommate and friend. Dorian had never been a friend to Abner. His career in Starfleet was over. Garan, on the other hand, kept his good reputation with everyone. Francis held Rex in contempt for years, but Garan kept his reputation. Francis was an Intelligence officer. Intel never rats. Francis knew full well Garan had used that aspect of Francis' education to his advantage. Thirty years later, the wound had closed, and Francis held no ill will toward Rex, who had also changed in that time. Maybe Dorian did too, Francis thought. There was always hope.

To Be Continued...

 

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