Hope For Another Day

Posted on Fri 15th Jun, 2018 @ 9:56pm by

1,319 words; about a 7 minute read

Mission: Brushfires
Location: Samurai, Repair Dock
Timeline: MD9, 2000

Riko said, "Hikari told me you were okay, and I didn't look beyond that. So, now I'm asking. How are you?"

Henry stepped back from his hug with his friend and took in the sight of her. He could tell that something wasn't quite right. She looked tired, as if she hasn't been resting well.

"To your last question first, I am doing OK, Riko. Engineering took a lot of losses during that attack. A lot of good people ... friends died on that day. Every time I enter engineering, I still see some of them at their consoles, as they were before they died." Henry gestured to Riko to walk towards the other end of the cargo bay where he had set a couple of chairs and a little table with some lemonade and glasses.

"After you said you were coming over, I thought I would set us up with a little refreshment and we could look at the stars while we talked." Henry pulled the chair away from the table to allow Riko to sit in it.

"Thanks, Henry. For an engineer, you make a fine host," McCord said, a little of her old teasing tone coming back. She poured a glass of lemonade for each of them, but pushed the cookies toward Perry. "Hikari also told me that your sister is on base. Does that help? I know we're under a heavy gag order, but ...." She glanced out at the stars, a sight that always brought comfort. "It just seems it would be nice to talk to someone. Which, really, is why I'm here, I suppose." She fiddled with her glass for a moment and then looked over at him.

"It does help," Henry said as he took a sip from his glass of lemonade and gazed out upon the stars set out in front of them. He took a moment and continued his star gazing before saying something else.

"Bells and I have a unique relationship with one another. If there is anything bothering one of us, the other somehow can tell and knows...." Henry stopped talking and turned to look at Riko. He was trying to find a way to articulate to his friend, something that he had never had to put in words before. "Knows how to help the other. It might not be with words exactly. But it might be with a dinner, or a walk. I think the important thing is just being there. Even if it is only through subspace. Besides," he continued on with a smile. "I think she has used some of her influence to read the whole report of what happened that day. She hasn't told me that, but I do know my sister."

Henry continued looking at Riko, wanting her to be able to unload her burdens onto him if that is what she needed to feel whole again. "Look Riko, I know you and I haven't spoken much since we arrived here on Starbase 109. I wanted to give you your space so that you can work some of this out on your own. I want you to know that you don't have to. I am never too busy to lend you my ear, or my shoulder, or my hand." Henry extended his hand out to his friend, hoping that was invitation enough for her to open up to him.

McCord clasped the hand extended to her. It wasn't exactly family, but in some ways it was more. "Thanks. I've had some thoughts about leaving. The captain, without trying to change my mind, did give me room and time to think about that. I don't think I can be a bridge officer again. I can be a scientist ... I can't let myself be in a position where a decision, or lack of one, might cause so many deaths again." She squeezed his hand gently and let go.

"I haven't talked with my family. None of them would understand, even if Starfleet didn't censor the call. They'd ... sympathize, want to help, feel bad for me, but they can't understand. It isn't a life they lead or would want to. You're lucky to have a sister who is also Starfleet. Again, I find myself lacking as a friend. You've met some of my relatives, eaten in my parents' home, and I've never asked about the rest of your family, what they do, what they're like. Are you a Starfleet family?"

Henry took a breath and leaned forward in his chair. "Starfleet, No! But law and order were definitely a part of our lives. My father was a Police Officer in North Carolina. So we have always felt like we were a part of something. And, yes, you are right. I am lucky to have someone like Bells in my life. We have always leaned on one another during the good times and the bad." Henry sat back in his seat.

"And just because we never talked about the rest of my family doesn't mean you are lacking as a friend. You said it yourself. I have eaten in your parents' home, and I have met some of your other relatives. We haven't been close to Earth in a long time, so I haven't had a chance to take you by my family's home."

Henry stood up and extended his hand to Riko. "Come, there is something I want to show you."

She took his hand, still thinking of what he'd said as they began walking. "It doesn't feel like we'll ever get to Earth again. Can you make her whole, Henry?" McCord asked nodding her head toward the ship's bulkheads. "Can you glue her back together?"

"I can do better than that." The Engineer said as he handed Riko a PADD. "Take a look at this." As Riko looked over the PADD, he continued talking. "I have been thinking of some upgrades to make to the design of the Sovereign Class Starship. And since I used to be a designer at Utopia Planitia, I've been given a little leeway here."

"You're going to re-design her?" Riko asked, flipping pages to see his designs. Quietly, she said, "Henry, you make me ashamed of myself. Here I've been wallowing in self-pity, and you've put all your emotions into making something better."

"Don't feel that way Riko. It's partially how I deal with what happened. I often think about what I could have done to prepare the ship to last longer in battle. But what I do know is that we all did our best that day. We all prepared as much as we could, and we all did our jobs. That does bring me some solace." Henry stopped walking and faced Riko. "And at the end of the day, you did the best that you could, and your best was good enough. You brought a lot of us out of the thick of it, and to safe harbor. Be proud of that fact my friend."

"You're such a practical man, Henry. I'll work on it, thank you. There were a lot of heroes that day. Bowditch is the one who really brought us home, with no clue who or what had survived."

She handed back his PADD. "So you think Starfleet is going to okay these upgrades? As an experiment, perhaps?"

Henry chuckled at Riko, not quite sure if she realized what she had said. "You know, they called the USS Excelsior the great experiment at one point in time. And look how they started out." Henry stopped as they approached a turbolift and pressed the call button. "Yes, I do think they will give the upgrades a try. I still have a little pull with a few Admirals in the Engineer Corp."

The tubrolift doors whooshed open and Henry entered the lift and motioned for Riko to enter. "Are you coming?" He asked with a sly grin on his face.

 

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