Epilogue

Posted on Mon Mar 6th, 2023 @ 12:42pm by Captain Luzol Targaryen & Willian Targaryen & Commander Galatea & Lieutenant (Junior Grade) Aiden Crowe & Kiala & Captain Nathan Bishop & Commander Ash Randall & Commander Nathan Hawkins & Lieutenant Cyrus Marner & Lieutenant R'relle & Lieutenant Paisley P'rar & Warrant Officer Harris Zim

4,811 words; about a 24 minute read

Mission: No One Gets Left Behind
Location: Captain's Quarters, USS Enterprise
Timeline: 3189-03-16, 19:00

The Captain's Quarters aboard the USS Enterprise were among the largest set of rooms aboard the ship and were a perfect mirror of the quarters designed for the President while aboard. Consisting of five chambers on Deck 3's starboard side, the Captain's Quarters started with a large, open concept central chamber that consisted of a sitting area, a kitchen, large dining room, and even an office area. Three picture windows gave incredible views out into space for the Captain and his guests. The other chambers were smaller with two running along the starboard bulkhead with one serving as a guest room for the Captain's parents and the other as a master bedroom for the Captain. A third bedroom was across to the Captain's Quarters for his children when they were aboard the ship. The last chamber was a private office that had been converted for Admiral Luzol to use while she was aboard due to her position as Starfleet Commander.

It was a cabin that most people would kill for. Willian rarely used it. While it was occupied by his family ever since they got thrown forward almost a year ago, Willian spent most of his time using the Captain's Ready Room and sleeping there so he was close to the Bridge in an emergency. Outwardly he argued it was because he was in command of the ship and needed to be available due to the skeleton crew. Really he knew it was because it was hard for him to be here. It was something he and his mom had argued about near once a day. She had the most daunting argument each time. Technically, he was not Captain of this ship right now: Elle was. She was just not able to fulfill the duties as she was still recovering from the makeshift surgery that happened when they first arrived.

"Admiral in the Cabin!" His mother bellowed from the kitchen area.

He whispered, "It's Captain now."

His El-Aurian mother rolled her eyes, "Well XO's shouldn't be Admiral's anyway."

Willian ignored the dig, "Where is everyone?"

"In their rooms," his mom answered. "Your wife is in her bedroom resting, your kids are doing hololessons in their room, and your father is supervising." She stirred the contents of the pot. "Are you actually staying for dinner tonight or are you planning to run back up to your Ready Room to hide?"

And here was today's debate. "Depends, what are you making?"

"Sem'hal stew," she answered quickly.

Willian groaned, "Cardassian food? Really?"

"It's good for you. As a doctor I can tell you and the crew aren't getting nearly the nourishment you should be. All this running around that you're doing," she said as she stirred the pot.

"Funny you should put it that way. I've invited my Senior Staff here for dinner," Willian answered.

Kiala's head shot toward him, "Without warning me?"

"I didn't think it was that big a deal. I have some built up replicator rations anyway," the Captain answered. "I can always use them to make something."

"Our culture argues that food unites us. I'm not about to feed them replicated slop," the Admiral informed. "When are they coming?"

Willian smirked, "About an hour."

"Remind me to kill you later," Kiala said as she started grabbing materials from the freezer unit.

"Why aren't you going to kill me now?" Willian asked.

She started pulling lettuce for a salad, "Now I'm dealing with my inconsiderate son planning a dinner party without me!"

The hour passed quickly. Willian had spent the time attending to his wife and playing with the kids. He'd switched to a less formal attire, a simple civilian tunic but with his TriCom still on his chest, and was waiting for his crew to arrive. His mother was busy plating the food that she had made (even though she'd gone with a Cardassian theme) and he'd offered to help, but she refused. Instead her, his father, and the children were going to go for a stroll in the Arboretum to stay out of the way.

William was about to check his messages when he heard the first door chime. "Enter."

Zim both loved and hated the structure of Starfleet. That is to say there were orders that he often had to follow that he truly did not like. This was one of such orders. Harris Zim was a solitary figure he preferred to spend his off time alone. So when he was invited to dine in the Captain's quarters his initial thought was to politely turn down the invitation. However, Commander Galatea strongly suggested he go she added that if he still refused she would make it an order. So there he was wearing his uniform with the sleeves pulled up as he rang the chime to the Captain's quarters. Moments after he touched the button Zim heard the Captain call for him to enter. "Good evening Captain. It is good to see you in good spirits." Harris chided himself internally for being the first person to arrive.

It wasn't long afterwards when Cyrus arrived. He was dressed casually, with a long sleeved light blue button up shirt, blue jeans and a pair of sneakers. Sure he had been invited but hadn't felt like dressing all the way up.And it wasn't said things had to be formal. "Evening everyone." the blonde haired doctor greeted those who were there. "Something smells good, especially since it isn't my cooking." the man grinning ear to ear. "Zim, Will, great to see you." noticing Kiala, "Good to see you, Kiala" catching sight of her.

Moments later the chime sounded, and Bishop arrived. He wore grey slacks; a garnet colored pull over shirt and black shoes and a hint of aftershave.
lotion. As he entered, he greeted the others. "Hi Will, Cyrus, Mr. Zim. Good to see you all. He saw Will's mom and greeted her as well. "Mrs. T, nice to see you as well." He greeted as he tried to get comfortable in the informal surroundings.

R'elle entered in an nice dress complimenting her figure. "Good evening Captain." she greeted him mother, "Mrs Targaryen. Nice to see you this evening!" she said with a smile. Her tail flicking back and forth to indicate that she was very happy to be here."

The former Admiral smiled at the newcomers as she put the finishing touches on the Seh'hal stew, "Don't mind me, all, I'll be heading off with the kids to the Arboretum for a picnic."

Willian noticed the picnic basket, "When did you possibly have time to pack that?"

"You really need to be more observant," she chastised.

Outside Hawkins was dragging his heels and had seriously debated not attending this gathering. Even from the corridor he could hear the voices of those already present acting casually as is nothing had happened. Yet, the Commander hadn't been able to truly let go of what he'd witnessed today and wasn't in the mood to mingle.

With a dismissive shake of his head he turned away from the entrance to the Captain's spacious quarters back the way he came.

Cyrus thought he had caught sight of Hawkins, just as the door closed behind R'relle, "You look lovely R'relle." he stated looking to see if Hawkins were going to come in. When he didn't though, Cyrus quickly exited the quarters to go look for the man. He quickly looked around then barely spotting Hawkins, he sprinted to catch up with him. "Commander Hawkins, er Nathan. Where are you heading off to?" Cyrus raising a blonde eyebrow.

Hawkins pace faltered at the sound of the voice calling his name but he continued to move hoping they would cease and return to the gathering.

"Thank you Cyrus. I appreciate the compliment!" R'elle said. He was such a nice person and had always been so nice to her.

Cyrus had done a hand wave towards R'relle before he had disappeared from sight.

Willian noticed that the Operations Manager hadn't come in (so much for his mom not finding him observant) and that Doctor Marner had followed him. The Captain looked back toward his Senior Officers, "We're going to get started in a few moments. We're just waiting on a few stragglers." He wondered how many had realized that Commander Hawkins had gone the other way.

Ash was not certain she was, entirely, up to socializing but, after weeks of being wrapped up and isolated from the rest of the crew, jumping into a social setting, feet first, was the best way to find out if she could hack being in mixed company. The CEO slipped into the captain's quarters on the heels of Dr. Marner, the much larger form of the doctor, masking her arrival, almost entirely, and quietly took a seat in a comfy, overstuffed, chair.

The Carjoran CSO was a little nervous; it was the first time outside of staff briefings she'd be one-on-one with the senior staff and she just hoped she wouldn't say something to bring dishonor to herself. She was dressed nicely today, but modestly, in a long black skirt, and pink sweater. Her long black hair was pulled back in a braid, and, since she'd just come from work, she was still wearing only a small amount of makeup, a necklace, and some black flats she kept in her office in case her feet hurt or she spilled a chemical or something on her deck shoes. She'd nearly been late; the afternoon had found her with her head bent over a microscope, taking notes on bloodwork from the medical office. Luckily, her chemist, Ens Clarke, who never shut up, reminded her and she'd had just enough time to change but not enough to do full makeup. On the way here, she'd slid on the traditional Bajoran earring she only wore for special occasions. She found R'elle, the only person she knew decently, and then nodded once to the Admiral. "Sir." She could smell the dinner. It reminded her of home, and she suddenly felt like a 12 year old again, playing adult at a fancy dinner her father would've hosted.

"I'm going to go get the kids and your father so we can get going," Kiala informed as she walked behind him and into the kids bedroom.

"Please feel free to mingle," Willian said to his gatherees. "We so rarely get time to ourselves these days." He himself went toward the Master Bedroom to help his wife.

Zim took the Captain's words to mean that he could go to the nearest table in the nearest corner and sit alone. Harris Zim was not a social butterfly, he fancied himself a people watcher. If anyone wanted to talk to him then they could come to him.

R'elle seeing paisley, walked over to her. "Evening Paisly. Nice to see you!"

"Hi!" She said, excitedly. Finally, someone she recognized. It sucked being the new girl! She smiled. "Wowee, Sem'hal stew, it smells SO good." She smiled. "It's a Cardassian dish but my mom made it a few times before she passed, and there's nothing like the smell to remind me of home!" Oops, she hadn't meant to reveal that yet-no one knew except for Ramat'iklan. Hopefully, she wouldn't notice.

R'elle smiled. "Cardassia huh? Wonder what state they are in with all that's happened? I miss my home too. It's a tough adjustment. I sometimes smell things that remind me of home and my family."

"I have no idea; I've been too afraid to check." It was the truth. She could easily find out, likely, by getting the Astrometrics girl to help her out, but ignorance was bliss and no matter how smart Paisley was, she felt the need to remain in the dark about this particular thing. "My mother was Bajoran." She added, quickly, but she was fairly sure that R'elle already knew that. She looked around. "Who are they?" She asked R'elle, indicating Zim and Randall, her voice low so she wouldn't embarrass herself. She REALLY needed to get the hell out of her labs and Ramat, and meet people.

Commander Ash Randall settled deeper into the, overstuffed, chair and closed her eyes to get herself centered, slowed her breathing, then her heart beat and shed her anxieties, for the moment. The Chief Engineer knew dozens of meditation techniques and, now that she was able to focus on the here and now, she was finding it much easier to relax and remain centered. Ash remained with her eyes closed and let her other senses paint her a picture of the room around her, the who and the what, and relaxed even more. For all appearances it looked like the Tuansee might have been asleep.

Having realized that his entire Senior Staff, minus Nathan and Cyrus, had arrived, Willian decided not to delay the real reason he'd called them together. Clinking his spoon off his glass, while his parents rushed off with the kids, the Captain looked around at the crew, "My friends thank you for joining me on such short notice." He brought the glass down a little to a more comfortable height, "You'll all have to excuse me a bit because these last few days have been Hell for all of us, but I have been nothing but amazed by how each of you have come together in the face of such overwhelming challenges to build a brighter tomorrow." He looked around, "This future has been rough on all of us. We've made friends, we've made some enemies, but in the end it is the courage of each of you that continues us on this journey."

He turned toward the Capellan standing off in the corner, "In the face of the heroism that he has shown during our mission to Risa, I have formally assigned Chief Petty Officer Harris Zim to serve as our new Chief of Security effective immediately. Please join me in congratulating him on his new role aboard this ship!" The Captain began to clap, hiding away in his subconscious the knowledge that Zim would probably kill him for this later.

R'elle clapped! "Congratulations Zim! Well deserved!"

Ash looked to Zim and clapped, in celebration, while she thought about the saying 'No good deed goes unpunished' and then reflected on the simple fact that the, newly minted Chief of Security, was probably not going to celebrate his elevation. "Congratulations." She said, quietly, hardly loud enough for anyone else to hear her.

Zim had stood in the corner and leaned on the wall. He nursed a drink and attempted to disappear, as social as he was public gatherings made him uneasy at beast. When the Captain began to speak he gave his commanding officer his undivided attention. By the end of the speech Zim wished he hadn't. On the inside the Capellan was overjoyed he finally gained the recognition he deserved. He only wished that his family was around to see it. He raised his hand and smiled in acknowledgment of the recognition. "Thank you everyone. I will try not to let you all down."

Outside in the hall, Cyrus matched his steps to that of Hawkins, "Where are we heading to?" the doctor asked.

"There's no we, Doctor." Nathan sighed. "Go back to the party."

"Is that an order Commander?" Cyrus raising an eyebrow, still keeping in step. "Is there any reason why you don't wish to attend a dinner party hosted by the Captain?"

"Ask many more questions and it will be," Nathan muttered lowly. He sighed again and answered Cyrus' probing question - better him then Will he theorized. "I'm not in the mood, this is not a cause for celebrations."

"I don't know if that would be considered a celebration perse, maybe more of a lets get to know each other a bit better. And maybe giving thoughts of what happened on Risa. That sort of thing. Its been on my mind a bit more, as to how we don't truly know each other that well. And what happened brought that to the forefront."

"I find that hard to believe," the Commander replied coolly. "You've seen my psyche evaluation and medical records. You probably know me better than any of the others."

Cyrus nodded, "I have seen them, but, for tonight, perhaps go say hello eat some of the food then leave. I am thinking that the Captain may want a little bit of a contact, outside of work. But I don't plan on trying to force you to go. I just wanted to try breaking what I am seeing developing, a bad pattern. We all go our separate ways and, then, bam something happens and we have regrets that compound our other issues. I feel that we are all starting to become our own islands, with a dangerous reef to get through. That needs to be stopped before the 'ship' breaks apart."

They'd reached the turbo lift together but Hawkins hadn't summoned the car yet.

The Doctor's words had struck a chord causing him to stop and reconsider his actions. Cyrus was right: the crew were beginning to splinter the attack on the Svian's had driven a wedge between them and then the incident at Risa had done little to resolve it. As the ship's Second Officer he should been waving the flag of unity not setting it aflame with his childish actions and refusing to attend an informal gathering despite his own misgivings. Will and Bishop would not be impressed that's for sure.

Nathan heaved another sigh and turned to face Cyrus, his previous attitude muted. "Alright, I hear you. Come on let's head back."

With a nod, Cyrus turned around, "Thank you." was all he said, then he walked next to Hawkins in relative silence back to Will's quarters. He paused at the door when the two men reached it, taking in a deep breath, then said. "Well here we go." Clapping Hawkins upon the shoulder gently, before he stepped in.

The short walk returning to the Captain's quarters gave Nathan more time to reflect upon his actions. He was ashamed of himself now turning his back on the crew could have been a terrible mistake - one that would take months to regain their trust - a immensely tough task should they fracture further than Marner had hinted at. As the Doctor stepped inside ahead of him Nathan felt a sudden spike to turn away again and let someone else bandage the crew back together again. This timeline they'd been thrown into had been brutal, confusing and frustrating at every step. While Will was doing an admiral job at the helm steering them toward a common goal Nathan struggled to follow so eagerly. The temptation to go his own way had never been far from his thoughts.

Heaving another sigh Nathan pushed them aside for now, squared his shoulders and stepped inside.

Cyrus noticed some smiles when he stepped inside. "So what has just happened?" he asked.

"Now here comes the fun part," the Captain made a fist over the Tricom and then an upward open palm to activate the holoPADD. Typing on the holographic interface a second later the programmable matter inside Zim's Tricom began to shimmer. A moment passed and the larger portion of the Starfleet insignia changed from silver to gold. The built-in pips shimmered as well, "I am also pleased to announce that Zim has been promoted to Warrant Officer due to his new duties. I'm also glad that worked because I've never done a promotion like that before."

Zim had been taking the accolades in stride. He figured a couple of smiles and hand waves and then he could duck out. However, what the Captain just said changed everything, in fact the Cappellan's mouth hung open a little slack jawed. In a matter of seconds the Captain made Zim exactly what he said he would never be, an officer. A moment later Zim spoke the only words that came to him and he said them with a smile. "The first one of you who calls me sir gets socked right in the mouth."

Ash nodded. "Duly noted." She said, now, suddenly, very tired for some reason but smiled anyway. "Congrats, again, Warrant Officer Zim."

Willian laughed at the announcement, "Fortunately I don't have to call you Sir."

"Well now, congratulations!" Cyrus walking up to Zim and shaking his hand, "that makes two beers I owe you now." giving a lopsided smile. He released Zim's hand. He then looked back towards Hawkins, then around the room. "Well now we've got a gathering, and also a happy event that had taken place. I am glad to have been here to witness the raising of Zim's position. " taking a look at the table, Cyrus then asked, "Permission to have a seat at the table, unless some help is needed in the kitchen?"

"Feel free to have a seat at the table, Doctor," Willian approved knowing that the stew was ready.

Paisley smiled; promotions were always a good thing, no matter if she knew the promoted or even the circumstances of how he'd earned it. It wasn't important. She'd want others to recognize HER accomplishments, after all. She settled in, thankful that the head Doctor beat her to the punch; her boyfriend joked that had three tracks in her mind-food, him, and work. It wasn't far from the truth. "Yes! Can we? Is that Sem'haal stew? If you need help finishing it, I can. It's EXCELLENT with a bit of clotted cream or some Jumja." She smiled. "If you want to be truly Cardassian, though, you top it with the blood of your enemies."

The former Admiral smirked at the comments from their new Science Officer, "That's one way to look at it, but I'm afraid the Emerald Chain ship left." At least he hoped that they had. The Chain did have cloaking devices for their vessels. The Enterprise herself was slated to be upgraded with one when this mission concluded.

Paisley smiled a wry smile. "Indeed, it has. Luckily for you all, I am half Bajoran, so no need to call them back!" She tried to crack jokes when she felt nervous, and glanced around, hoping someone would interrupt so she wouldn't embarrass herself further.

Ash settled back down into the, over-stuffed, chair she'd been sitting in and closed her eyes to gather herself and shove the sudden tiredness to the side. Food wasn't really top of mind for the Tuansee but she was going to partake, just the same, now that she was out of confinement. "Be there, in a moment," she said, mostly to herself.

Willian had heard, "Happy to have you back among the living, Commander."

"Thanks Doc..." Harris said as an answer to Cyrus' comment. He wanted to leave, and he felt like he should leave. However, he also knew that with the promotion leaving would be rather poor form. So, he took a seat next to the only person he seemed to have a rapport with, the Doctor.

Cyrus greeted Nathan. "Hi glad to see you." when the meal was brought out and the food was served, he enjoyed the food. He looked around at those that were gathered, his eyes stopping upon Hawkins then drifted over to where Ash was at. He cleared his throat in order to get some attention drawn to him, "I'd like to propose a toast. May we find our place somewhere, some when, and actually find some happiness. May we also continue to have the strength to move forward." he then took a drink from the glass he held.

Ash toasted and just, barely, took a sip before setting it down. The Chief Engineer had no appetite as she looked at the food and knew, if she ate anything, it would either put her to sleep or make an abrupt reappearance that would assuredly put a damper on the festivities, such as they were. Ash closed her eyes, for a few seconds, and sighed, audibly, as she looked down at the table and focused her attention on her own hands.

Mirroring those around him by raising his glass Hawkins still wasn't in a celebratory mood and Zim's appointment diverted eyes away from the elephant in the room. Leaning closer to Bishop whom Hawkins had found himself sitting next to he whispered lowly: "Where are O'Sullivan and Haynes? Doesn't making Zim security chief seem a bit premature to you? Patton hasn't been gone for very long, or is there something else going on Will's keeping secret?"

Bishop raised his glass to Zim in a toast before he turned to Hawkins. "Still in the hands of Emerald Chain. They were taken when we were on the weather station Nathan. As for Zim being named security chief, I think Will is just filling a void left by Patton's capture." Bishop answered as he took a sip of his drink. "Will is being Will which means if something else is going on he will let us know when he sees fit. Which means we should make sure we can leave at a moment's notice."

"Can't believe he hasn't tried something radical already to bring them back," Hawkins replied lowly. "Oh, here comes trouble," he nodded to the new arrival

Bishop smiled at his friend, "Nathan, you know Will as well as I do. He keeps things close to the vest until he's ready to let us know what he has done." He turned his head in the direction of Nathan's nod and saw Commander Galatea entering the room. "I'm afraid you are right Nathan. Her being here does not bode well."

Zim had been taking the accolades and toasts in stride. For the briefest of moments he even enjoyed being the center of attention. At the very least the food was good. When Galatea entered the room Zim's ears perked up. He knew that nothing good would ever come from that woman? thing? He had no idea what to call her.

Commander Galatea entered into the Captain's Quarters a moment later, carrying a more traditional datapad that was left over from when the ship first transited to this period. Searching out Captain Targaryen, the Commander quickly walked over to him clutching the PADD, "Captain?"

"Excuse me, Mister Crowe," Willian said having been interrupted by Galatea. He turned to the former AI, "I thought you were manning the Bridge, Commander?"

"I was, Sir," she answered quickly. "This took priority," she explained as she handed the datapad to the Captain.

Willian looked at the starchart displayed and preferred not to speculate, "What's this?"

Galatea pressed a button on the PADD, "We've tracked the shuttle that stole the prefix codes from the Stargazer. It's approaching the Hekaras Corridor, Sir. We can still intercept before they get away."

"How long will it take us to get there?" Willian asked all business.

"Two hours," the android answered.

Willian smiled, "Enough time for a nap. Lay in a course."

"Already did," she answered. "I'll return to the Bridge. I can assume I'll see you in two hours?"

"Definitely," Willian replied as the Federation Security Officer used her personal transporter to return to the Bridge. The Captain himself returned to his party, wondering if anyone would ask what Galatea wanted. Instead he asked, "Who's hungry?"

"Now those are the words I've been waiting on!" R'elle said. "I am very hungry!"

"It all looks and smells, very good, but I'm not up for solid food." Ash remarked, quietly.

Lieutenant Crowe looked at the Chief Engineer then looked at the stew, "I'm not really a fan of Cardassian food, but I'm willing to give it a shot."

"I haven't eaten solid food in weeks. If I eat anything it will, likely, make a reappearance." Ash stated, quietly.

"Would not be pleasant, I will admit." Cyrus commented, already starting to eat. He was curious as to the appearance of Galatea, but for now food and then perhaps some sleep.

"I think it's surprisingly tasty! I like it! Of course it's meat so that goes a long way" R'elle said. She started eating. "MMM, very good!" She said.

Ash sipped some water while she watched everyone else eat and listened to the conversation.

Willian stood at the head of the table as his crew began to eat and stood, "My friends, we've had some challenges since arriving in this time. We've had some old friends meet with new adventures," he looked at Zim then looked at P'rar, "And we've made some new friends in the process. We will continue to work together to build stronger bonds and rebuild the Federation into a force to be reckoned with." He rose his glass, "To you, my friends, may we continue to go boldly where none have gone before."

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