Homecoming Part 2: Cass

Posted on 30 Apr 2016 @ 10:35pm by Lieutenant Colonel Cassandra Blackburn & Commander Rhyan

2,500 words; about a 13 minute read

Mission: Errand of Mercy
Location: USS Redemption, Shuttlebay
Timeline: ED2

A recent solar flare had made the transfer shuttle flight from Luna turbulent and uncomfortable. Cassandra Blackburn sat in the rear compartment with several other officers who she didn’t know. Sutherland was up front somewhere. She couldn’t see him and that suited her just fine. She tugged at her collar – whoever had replicated her new uniform got the neck measurements wrong. She had also invoked the wrath of the flight attendant by refusing to put on her seat harness. She was uncomfortable enough at it was.

The shuttle shuddered as it battled through the particles of the solar wind towards the Redemption. Blackburn noticed a marine officer sat opposite her. He was wearing the silver single bars of a Lieutenant and had watched her intently for the last few minutes. He was a young man no older than twenty-one years in age. She ignored him.

“Major Blackburn, Ma’am?” He said eventually. She looked away as if she hadn’t heard him. She wasn’t in the mood for small talk.

“Ma’am?” He said again.

“Yes?” She snapped. He remained completely unfazed by her shortness.

“My name is Lieutenant Roberts. I’m one of your new platoon leaders.”

“Oh?” She said absently, wishing he would go away. He persisted.

“I’ve heard a lot about you.” She turned her head towards him and locked his gaze for the first time.

“Well.” She said deliberately. “It’s all true. All of it.”

This seems to placate his interest a little and he settled back into his seat. “When I say I’m a platoon leader, I’m not actually a line officer.” She didn’t reply, so he kept on talking. “My specialty is electronic warfare, and my people haven’t arrived yet anyway.” She produced a fake smile – he was enthusiastic, at least.

The shuttle shuddered again. The pilot made an announcement that they would be docking in a few moments. She caught a glimpse out of a nearby window – large nacelles pulsating with energy passed by. Her heart rate increased. She had promised herself she would never set foot aboard this ship again.

The stars in the window disappeared and were replaced with metal as the shuttle entered the bay. There was a gentle thump as the craft met the deck, and the others started to unbuckle themselves and file out. She remained where she was. So did Roberts opposite her.

“Are you getting out?” She asked after a moment.

“After you, Ma’am.” He motioned towards the exit. She damned him mentally. Getting up, she walked slowly to the door where Sutherland had appeared. He had a habit of appearing suddenly, that man.

“Welcome back to the Redemption, Major,” Sutherland said before disappearing out of the door.

Blackburn stopped at the door. She looked out at the massive shuttlebay and at the steps leading down to the deck. People were moving about the bay, and no one paid particular attention to her, apart from Sutherland looking up at her from the bottom of the steps. Her heart was racing. She stood still.

“Major?” Said Roberts behind her. She raised her hand to acknowledge him. She closed her eyes and exhaled to try and slow her heartbeat. She felt the sweat run down her back. Holding onto the rail, she took one step at a time. She finally reached the bottom, placing both of her feet down deliberately on the deck. She heard Roberts race down the steps behind her.

“See? I told you it was all true”. She said to him. He didn't reply.

Around them a vast number of Starfleet officers moved between runabouts and shuttles carrying the much-needed supplies for their upcoming mission. The uniform tunics that whisked past were mostly science-teal in colour, but officers with gold turtlenecks also passed by carrying armfuls of shiny new equipment; presumably installing the last of the new systems that would complete the Redemption's much-deserved refit. Every now and again a Marine could be seen inspecting one of their fighters, one of them caressing the hull of his ship in a manner reminiscent of a man running his hand along the leg of his lover for the first time.

Through all the hustle and bustle of the bay, however, remained a solitary figure that did not move. Instead, the man was observing all that was taking place in front of him; inspecting the final preparations before the mission ahead. Every so often an olive-toned finger could be found tracing a line along the right hand side of his neck; three polished silver rank pips the focus of his attention. The nervous fidgeting belied the man's pointed ears and angular eyebrows.

Daniel Sutherland saw him before Blackburn did. Realising the sudden danger he attempted to distract her by giving her a padd to read with the intention to shuffle her towards an exit into the ship's corridors, but it was too late. Blackburn saw Rhyan from across the bay. She pushed the padd Sutherland waved at her sharply away. Several feelings erupted within her: anxiety and surprise, sure, but the most pronounced was anger. A blinding and uncontrollable rage exploded within her. Sutherland saw it and tried to control it.

"Now, Major..." He began.

"You never said he would be here!" She screamed at Sutherland, causing several people around them to stop work and look over. "What is he doing here!?" She yelled again, not letting Sutherland reply. Roberts took a step back in complete surprise.

Her voice was loud enough to carry over the noise of the shuttlebay, which reduced quickly as crew members turned to see what was going on. Rhyan heard her noise and turned towards her.

As he did so, the Vulcan felt his heart rate increase as his eyes locked with those of Major Blackburn, their encounter at Starfleet Headquarters six months ago still raw in his memory; her eyes giving him the same look of contempt that she had given him on that day. This was the moment Rhyan had dreaded ever since he asked President Zal to locate the missing Major and use her ties at Starfleet to enact her transfer back to the Redemption. The Commander wanted to believe that his motives were selfless; but deep down Rhyan knew that he just wanted to absolve himself of the gnawing guilt over what had happened to Blackburn under his command at Thorlarus III. His encounter with Lucy Inverness had given him the push needed to seek the Major out and make amends; his meeting with President Zal and Daniel Sutherland gave him the means.

Letting out an inaudible sigh, and pushing his shoulders back, Rhyan began to make the short walk over to the former Marine Commander. Each step made his heart beat louder in his ears; his newly-discovered confidence giving way to the anxious young officer who had once-upon-a-time roamed the corridors the Redemption.

Sutherland saw him approaching. He turned to Blackburn, who had turned her back to Rhyan in order to break his gaze. She wanted to calm down but found that she couldn't. She breathed through gritted teeth. Her nails dug into the palms of her hands; her fists were squeezing that hard.

"You've got to work with the Commander" He said. "This doesn't help anyone."

"What do you mean 'Commander'?" She asked slowly.

"He's uh, been promoted."

Blackburn closed her eyes. Promoted. Her anger was now in danger of overwhelming her. She couldn't stop it. She opened her eyes and turned around just at Rhyan finished his walk. He smiled nervously at her. The crew were still watching.

"You. You should be in a prison cell." She said aggressively through gritted teeth as she attempted to control her volume.

Rhyan took a step backwards as the the Major shouted in his face. He tried to ignore the dozens of pairs of eyes that now stared at them as the shuttle bay workers stopped what they were doing to watch the commotion. It wasn't every day an executive officer received a dressing down from a subordinate. Rhyan tried to remain calm as he replied.

"Starfleet appears to think differently," he said, trying to sound matter-of-fact but fearing that his words had been patronising instead. Realising his mistake, Rhyan continued before the Major could speak again, "It is good to see you again, Major. Welcome back."

She misinterpreted his honesty for sarcasm. She exploded. "Who the hell do you think you are? After all you did? After what you did to us!" She stepped forward towards him, but Sutherland's arm went across her. She felt Robert's hands grasping at her arms from behind.

"Not in front of the crew, Major!" Shouted Sutherland.

"I know what you are!" She bellowed intentionally, so everyone in the shuttlebay could hear. "You're a fraud! A liar and a fraud!"

Rhyan glared at the woman in front of him; her words cutting deep as she accused him of lying and cheating his way up the career ladder. He could stomach being called many things after the events of the past year, but a liar was not amongst them. Emotions began to swell up from within the Vulcan: frustration at the Major's attitude; guilt at what his actions had inadvertently put her through; anger at the Sixth Fleet for putting both Blackburn and Rhyan in this position in the first place.

The Commander's next words were out of his mouth before he had a chance to stop himself from speaking them. "At least I am not a drunk or a deserter!" He immediately regretted the sentence as soon as he had uttered it.

"You did that to me! You did it!" She screamed back. She could feel tears building up. She suppressed them. Sutherland had got between them now.

"Stop this Blackburn, or you'll be back on that shuttle to Luna!" Said Sutherland. She paused, turning her attention from Rhyan to the diplomat.

"I don't even know why I'm here." She said to Sutherland. She could feel the gaze of the dozens of crewmen on her. She then looked past Sutherland, directly at Rhyan. "You don't speak to me. You don't come near me. Ever." She said menacingly. She pulled her arms out of Robert's grasp. "Ever." She repeated, turning to leave.

Rhyan broke his eye contact with Blackburn, a mixture of guilt and frustration making him do so. He had always expected this first encounter with the Major following the court marshal to be fraught with heated emotions, but somehow the reality was significantly much worse than what Rhyan had feared. HIs right fist tightened slightly as he let his emotions boil over, but then relaxed again as he realised that shouting back at the Major would not achieve any progress.

"You are here," Rhyan began, certain that using the truth would be a more efficient tactic with the Major, "because I made a request of the Federation President - and Dan - to find you and enact your transfer back to the Redemption."

Daniel gave Rhyan a look that told him to be careful. Rhyan heeded the advice but knew that he had to be truthful with the Major if he had any hope of mending their friendship. Although, at this exact moment in time, Rhyan would have accepted a frosty but professional working relationship. In a bold move he reached out towards Blackburn in an attempt to touch her forearm, but at the last second abandoned the move and brought his hand to the back of his head instead. He faked a scratching motion over the blonde-brown hair of his occiput.

Rhyan pulled his hand forward, briefly brushing against the grazed cheek that had received the brunt of Lucy's rage the previous day. This memory pushed Rhyan to elaborate further on his reasons for forcing Cass back on board the Redemption. "Doctor Inverness and I had an encounter yesterday," Rhyan continued, "where she raised some concerns for your whereabouts and wellbeing. It just so happened that my meeting with President Zal and Ambassador Sutherland afforded me the opportunity to ask for help in finding you - to make sure you were okay and out of harms way."

She stopped and turned around again. She forced the Vulcan to lock eyes with her again. "You did wha- why would you do that? Where's Lucy?"

Rhyan sighed. "Lucy requested a transfer to Starfleet Medical after our return in the USS Nova from Deep Space Ten. She-," his gaze intensified with the Major as the Vulcan affirmed his decision to be honest with her, "-she couldn't bring herself to set foot on the ship after we returned home to Earth. I suspect it was as much to do with the bad memories associated with the ship as it was her increasingly hostile attitude towards me."

Cassandra made an attempt to say something to the Vulcan, but Rhyan wouldn't let her speak. She wanted an explanation and he would be damned if he didn't give it to her in full. "I brought you back because you had a promising career, and were well thought of by the Redemption crew. That all changed at Thorlarus, and," he choked slightly on the next words, "I know that was partly my fault. But running away from your problems isn't the answer; it isn't what the Cassandra Blackburn I used to be friends with would have done."

He paused for a moment, looking towards Sutherland for guidance. "When Dan told me that you were on Luna - and more importantly, what they had planned for you at Corps Headquarters - I asked him to use all his connections to get you out of here and bring you home."

She didn't reply at first. Lucy was a friend. She was conflicted and didn't know what to say. "What do you want from me, Rhyan? A thank you? Absolve you of your guilt?" She paused, fighting back her emotions as best she could. "Sarah, Lucy, Me. You're just like this ship. You destroy people, that's what you do. Stay away from me." She pointed at Daniel Sutherland. "One more mission. Then keep your promise" She turned away to leave, before stopping again. She turned her head and spoke quietly. "Permission to carry on. Sir."

"Permission granted," Rhyan affirmed, watching as Blackburn walked away from both he and Sutherland. Roberts stood by looking pale and the crew returned to their duties, muttering between themselves. He did not know how the ship or crew would fare with the Major, but he had high - if not potentially misguided - hopes that her attitude towards them would soften as the mission progressed. The Vulcan could only hope. Only remaining long enough in the shuttle bay to thank his friend for bringing the Major back home, Rhyan departed the hangar and moved on to the next destination on his pre-launch inspection.

OFF

A Joint Post by:

Cdr Rhyan, Executive Officer
Maj Blackburn, Marine Detachment Commander.

 

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