Onward to Victory

Posted on Sat Jul 28th, 2018 @ 6:49pm by Captain Charybdis MacGregor & Commander Fiona McCray & Lieutenant Commander Selune & Lieutenant Commander Siivas McKenzie & Lieutenant Velth Andurean
Edited on on Sat Jul 28th, 2018 @ 7:29pm

0 words; about a 1 minute read

Mission: Future Tense
Location: Starfleet Command, Earth, Obervation Room 4
Timeline: 2285

It was evening... the sun was setting over San Francisco Bay, illuminating the sky and turning the Golden Gate Bridge into a silhouette against the brilliant reds, oranges, yellows and whites of the twilight sky. The observation lounge was arranged for just such a view with its westward facing, and Charybdis had asked for one such room specifically. After all, what was a presentation without a bit of a dramatic flourish.

She had arranged for her friends to be brought in and for their privacy to be assured, and as they filed in, she nodded to them, trying unsuccessfully to hide a smile. Even if she didn't have good news, she was genuinely overjoyed to see them all again. It had been days... days of stress and insecurity and a pit in her stomach that would not go away... but in theory it was over now, and it was time to take the next step in their journey.

Fiona took the last seat in the grouping, letting the others fill in around her. She looked around the room checking for cameras and mikes. She gave Char a half-hearted smile and settled back in her seat with a nod to the doctor and Selune.

Stepping in front of the dramatic backdrop with her friends arrayed in chairs facing her, she smiled, folded her hands behind her back and began to speak.

"I'm very glad to see you all again... I know that the past few days have been considerably less than pleasant... well, honestly, there have been a lot of upheavals and stress and changes lately, and a lot of that has been my fault. For that I apologize... as Selune has pointed out, apparently trying to take a little time off is a dangerous proposition when I'm involved."

That got a few chuckles, and an apologetic shrug accompanied by a half-formed smile from Selune. So far so good, she thought to herself.

"But here we are... as improbable as it may seem to some of us, we now live in the future. Our lives aboard the Bonne Chance are gone... not that they never were, it is just that they are the past, and it doesn't look like we will be returning." She winked at Fiona when she said it, but continued. "So now we have to make lives for ourselves here in the future... and after extensive consultation with Starfleet, they have something of a proposal for us."

"I'm a woman with secrets... some of you know them, some don't, but suffice to say they would like those secrets kept quiet." Char had begun speaking with her hands, as she tended to do when she became excited, and it lent her presentation that much more animation. "We are all officers of distinction... we have demonstrated not only an aptitude for unconventional thinking, but for beating the odds and surviving, even thriving under adverse conditions. And Starfleet needs officers like that now more than ever."

"They have a ship for us. And a crew. And a job. And the responsibility of holding the line in one of the most dangerous hotspots in the galaxy."

"They've offered me a command... and they have authorized me to choose my own crew. And I cannot think of anyone in the galaxy that I would rather have supporting me than all of you. We've been through amazing ordeals, and you've proven loyalty and friendship to me greater than I ever imagined existed."

"In short, you are the finest officers in the fleet, in this or any age, and I would humbly request that you accompany me on this journey. I swear that I will do my best to lead you fair and true, and to value your input, your experience and your lives as much tomorrow as I do today. But I ask you, my friends... will you come with me on this great adventure?"

Fiona nodded " Aye... boot my engineering knowledge is a mite oot oov date" she said."di I have time tae relearn tha innerds oov that ship before we head oot to tha hinterlands where they're hidin' us?"

"If you've a stomach fer't," Siivas murmured in his thicker brogue, which meant he was either angry or excited or both, from the red-color of his ears, "I ken a way tae get ye there Fi. Boot doon take it out on me if'n ye get a wee hangover from it."

The engineer chuckled "Been hungoover before, Doc."

Spreading her hands wide, her powder blue uniform bunching at odd points on her form, Charybdis admitted. "Honestly, that's one of our challenges... we're officially on leave for the next four days. Then I'll be expected to relieve the current commander, take command, straighten up the ship, learn her systems in and out and get her underway in a little over three weeks."

There was a collective groan at that, but she held her hands out, fingers spread and palms open toward them all. "I know... I know... but apparently Starfleet Command has an inordinate amount of faith in our abilities. And honestly, the systems may be more complicated , but we're in the future now ... we're used to doing more with less. So I honestly think that we can do it."

Selune spoke up with a faint smile, "If it can fly, I can fly it. How hard can it be?" she chirped cheerfully in an attempt to lighten the mood.

"That's what I wanna hear!" Char replied, pointing at the Caitain with a grin. "Hell, I suspect you might be able to fly it even if it can't fly!"

"Hey," Selune protested, "I tried that remember. Shuttle, no power, mostly crashing... the whole time travel thing?"

Waving dismissively Char smiled. "Detail, details... we're still here...."

"Aye and thets a win." Fiona nodded. "Um.... I need to go to Scotland asap for... well, at least for a couple oov days. " Her shoulders slumped slightly. " If you lot aren't doin' anythin' else... I...I wuid appreciate tha moral support..."

"Actually I believe that the admiralty mentioned something about your mother being slightly... insistent... about wanting to get hold of you. So apparently as soon as we're done here there's a communicator waiting for you. I can't speak for the others, but I'd love to go to Scotland with you," Char explained with a sheepish shrug.

Fiona chewed her lower lip slightly then said, "Aye... I imagine thet she's a bit um... anxious." She gave a small snort of laughter. "If there wasn't some sort of ban on her being here she would probably have stormed tha' Bastille already."

"Mum's a touch... pushy."

"I hadn't heard..." Char lied ineffectually. "How about you Siivas... Andurean? I would really appreciate if you would come with me to the Victory... I know you may not have the greatest of confidence in me, but I... we can do this. We really had something special on the Bonne Chance, and I think that was lightning in a bottle. We'll need you... I need you. Will you come with us?"

The pointy-eared vixen was nothing if not earnest, and her plea certainly came from the heart.

Siivas and Andurean changed looks, Siivas gestured to Char and Andurean walked over and flipped her on the tip of her nose. "We didn't spend nineteen years in cryo waiting around for you to emerge for a spa treatment." It was the most emotional and unprofessional thing Char had ever witnessed him do.

The action brought a wide grin to Fiona's face. She hadn't been around the good doctor much but she was liking him more with each minute that passed.

"And Sulamid birthing fluid might be great for the skin but it's gross," Siivas added with a shudder.

Laughing, she wondered why the flick seemed to be such an expression with the two of them. "Well... it did seem like you planned to, but I thought it was my duty to ask... and polite. Thanks... I don't think I've had a chance to thank you properly for being there to catch us when we fell... and waiting twenty years to do it makes it pretty spectacular as gestures of kindness go. I still don't know why... but I won't question it. You can tell me in your own time."

She reached up and took Andurean's head in her hands and kissed him on the forehead, hoping that his serpent would let her get away with it, then she did the same to Siivas, and whispered "Thank you, Eshuur."

"I was wondering if you remembered," Siivas whispered to her, and she replied, "I remember everything, always."

Then Siivas said aloud, "We have to hit the ground running. I and Andurean have already been prepped on the new technology," Andurean gave a shudder and rubbed one temple, "If you've a mind to try, we can set it up. Same learning curve, just shorter and steeper."

"I'm always up for something new... I've got a lot to catch up on, so I could certainly use an edge, and I'll happily suffer some complaining braincells for it." At that Char smiled and walked over to a standing cart that was covered by a sheet, wheeled it over then pulled the drape off to reveal the contents... new fleet uniforms in the modern style.

"I've taken the liberty of attaching your new rank to all of them... Andurean, for some reason something told me not to change yours, and I listened to it. But as for the rest of you, one rank bump each, and a few more surprises once we board in four days time. But for now here's a toast." She pulled out a bottle of the pale blue ale of which was her drink of choice, and filled glasses for all of them with the tart liquor.

"To the USS Victory, and her crew... may we honor her name, and may she always bring us all home safely and victoriously. To Victory!" She raised the bottle in a cheer.

Siivas was a bit more reserved than Andurean, who took the toast and then tossed off his ale as if it were simple lager, which after taking a healthy swig off the bottle herself Char cheerfully refilled for him.

Tilting her head, Selune took a dainty sip of the hearty liquid after raising for the toast, with a softly spoken, "Hear. Hear," as she once again pondered the origins of the strange custom.

Fiona raised her glass in a salut, "To Victory!" She was still eyeing the new uniforms with approval... apparently someone with a brain finally did the design.

Maybe the future wouldn't be so bad after all...

 

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