Homecoming Part 3: Daniel

Posted on 02 May 2016 @ 1:25am by Diplomatic Aide Daniel Sutherland
Edited on on 02 May 2016 @ 1:26am

1,136 words; about a 6 minute read

Mission: Errand of Mercy
Location: USS Redemption, Shuttlebay
Timeline: ED2 1100

Daniel stood for a moment and watched as Major Blackburn and then Commander Rhyan bid their farewell and departed the shuttlebay to resume their duties elsewhere on board the Redemption. Slowly the hustle and bustle of the bay returned as the science officers and engineers returned to their final preparations for departure after Cass and Rhyan’s reunion had momentarily distracted them. Out of the corner of his eye he could still see some of the junior Starfleet officers gossiping about the witnessed encounter. No doubt the news of the marine commander’s less-than-amicable conversation with the executive officer would be spread ship-wide within a few minutes.

‘Welcome back to shipboard life,’ Dan thought as he made motions towards one of the shuttebay’s many exits.

Exiting onto the deck five corridors, Daniel found a plethora of Starfleet engineers scattered throughout them completing upgrades or repairs to open conduits or dismantled user interfaces. Every so often he found he had to dodge a gaping hole in the deck plating as some unfortunate non-com was trapped between decks effecting final modifications to some unseen ship component. On one occasion he had not been paying attention and found himself very nearly joining a Caitian engineer between decks – the only evidence of the officer being there was a long tail swinging hypnotically out of the open hatchway. Even the turbolift had a half-dismantled feel to it when Dan finally reached it; his confidence in the ship waning as the lift chugged between deck five and deck three where his quarters were located.

Thankfully the deck that housed the senior crew, ambassador and guest quarters was more devoid of engineers (and the destruction that seemed to follow them). In fact, in a contrast to the rest of the ship, Dan did not encounter another person as he walked the hundred or so meters from the turbolift to the outer door of his quarters. He suspected this was down to Captain Ashcart cracking the whip and making his officers pull extra duties to get the ship flight-ready for their departure in the morning. No time for the Starfleet officers to rest and return to their quarters while half the ship was still being dismantled and put back together.

Daniel was never as glad to be in the peaceful surroundings of his quarters than he was at that moment in time. Although his quarters were nothing in comparison to his penthouse apartment overlooking the city of Paris on Earth, the spacious cabin afforded the ambassador with a respite from the chaos that was taking place elsewhere on the ship. There was also the added benefit of neither Cass nor Rhyan being anywhere nearby; as much as Dan loved his friends, their on-going feud had taken its toll on him. Starfleet officers were always hard work in Dan’s opinion, but since returning to Earth those two just seemed to be in a league of their own.

Trying to put Cass and Rhyan out of his mind, Daniel threw his jacket onto the chair beside the door and immediately asked the computer to play some contemporary Terran music. What he got was an album from a band that he had only recently seen performing live in London, bringing back memories of a very alcohol-fuelled night in the city. He made a mental note to ensure he only consumed synthehol-based beverages while he was back on board the Redemption, as he couldn’t face a repeat of how he felt the morning after his indulgent night out in England’s capital city.

He grabbed a padd that was strewn on his sofa and thumbed it into activation as he took up a seat where the padd had been. A Federation News Service article about the waning popularity of President Zal was half-read on the screen, the first portion of the news story having been read immediately prior to Dan’s departure to pick up Cassandra from Luna. He read a few more sentences of the article before cursing at the journalist’s obvious bias against Elesa’s policies, and throwing the padd to the opposite side of the sofa.

Dan would never understand why so many people couldn’t see how good Elesa had been for the presidency. Although he felt for her predecessor - President G’ath - who was assassinated two years ago, G’ath had been an idealistic fool who was as much responsible for the current state of affairs as the Confederacy of the Underdark was. Elesa, at least, had the experience of a quarter of a century as a Starfleet officer under her belt, never mind the three other lifetimes of experiences her previous hosts had contributed to the Zal symbiont. If anyone could guide the Federation through these dark times, it was Elesa Zal.

Unfortunately there was somebody out there who felt otherwise, and had taken matters into their own hands in a bid to remove Elesa from office. Dan had stood by the President through multiple assassination attempts – he, himself, almost becoming a victim upon his return to Earth six months ago. But this latest attempt on her life was the lowest he had seen anyone stoop in their attempts to replace her as President. His blood boiled at the thought of that virus slowly destroying not only Elesa’s life, but also presumably that of the Zal symbiont who had lived through almost two hundred years unscathed. It sickened Dan to his stomach.

Unsettling himself, Dan decided that the peace and quiet of his quarters was only allowing him to over-think the current situation he and his friend found themselves in. He knew that Rhyan wouldn’t have yet commenced his research into the virus that afflicted her – his duties for the next twelve hours pretty clear to the ambassador.

With nobody else to turn to, Dan decided that he needed to track down Jody, as he was the only other person on board who knew about Elesa’s condition. Maybe, Dan thought, he was using this as an excuse to see the cadet; it was no secret that the two youngest members of the crew had developed a fondness for each other.

Their brief encounter in Paris notwithstanding, Dan hadn’t seen Jody in almost six months – it was time to fix that, and maybe in the process set the ball rolling on finding a cure for Elesa. Or, at the very least, Dan could have some pleasant company for the first time since his return to the Redemption. He doubted that the counsellor intern would be as involved with the pre-launch preparations as his non-medical counterparts. At least, that was what Dan hoped.

Without asking the computer to stop playing the background music, Dan made another request of it, “Computer, located Cadet Jody Scott.”

 

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