Homecoming Part 5: Jody

Posted on 18 May 2016 @ 9:51pm by Cadet Senior Grade Jody Scott & Diplomatic Aide Daniel Sutherland
Edited on on 18 May 2016 @ 9:57pm

2,012 words; about a 10 minute read

Mission: Errand of Mercy
Location: USS Redemption, Deck Six Lounge "Bar Six"
Timeline: ED2 1600

Jody strolled into the deck six recreation lounge, aptly nick-named “Bar Six’ by the crew of the Redemption. As he stepped through the threshold of the spacious lounge, Jody felt his heart race as he realised that for the first time in what seemed like – and probably was – months, he was excited. Although his time on Earth had been necessary, he was glad to be away from Starfleet Academy and back on board a starship in the presence of friends and colleagues. Irrespective of what had happened on board the Redemption in the past, Jody was still glad that Lieutenant Commander Rhyan had plucked him out of his mundane routine on Earth and brought him along for their mission to Hadronus.

Not having been on board the Redemption in nearly a year and a half, Jody had forgotten how large the recreational lounges were on board the ship. They reflected almost every element of the Excalibur-class design: large, meticulously designed and perfectly constructed. Bar Six was a particularly popular destination for many of the crew because of its size, the excellent bar and restaurant facilities, and the amazing panoramas provided by the forward-facing viewports. At the present time the view immediately ahead of the ship was of Earth – specifically the North American continent and San Francisco – but when the ship was at warp the view became a hypnotising scene of multi-coloured stars streaking past.

Jody’s eyes scanned the room, passing over the glass and aluminium bar, ignoring the kitchen and restaurant and finally resting on the tabled seating area that was set against the impressive viewports. The lounge was not currently busy, owing to the crew making their final hurried preparations for departure to Hadronus; so it did not take him long to finish scanning the room. A few steps brought him to the only occupied table in the lounge.

“Hi,” Jody said as he announced his presence and sat down at the unoccupied seat opposite Daniel Sutherland. The ambassador – possibly one of the youngest associated with the Federation Council – smiled warmly back at him. There was something about the smile that put Jody instantly at ease.

Sutherland eventually spoke himself. “I see that you got my invitation?”

“I did,” the cadet responded, breaking into a grin himself. He had only just reported to his supervising officer in the counselling department when Dan’s message had appeared on his padd. Thankfully there had not been much of a need for urgent counselling sessions prior to the departure to Hadronus, so Dan was quickly released by the department and allowed to take some personal time. He suspected that they might find themselves busier once they reached their destination and had to deal with officers and civilians dealing with the harsh reality of the novel virus afflicting the planet.

He continued, “I’m glad you contacted me though. I never got the chance to properly say ‘hi’ before you disappeared to find Major Blackburn.”

“The less that is said about that, the better,” Dan commented, his smile fading slightly as the thought of Cassandra Blackburn visibly unsettled him. Jody couldn’t tell if Dan was upset or annoyed, but something about his journey to Luna to retrieve the Major had left a mark on him. In time he would likely probe Dan on the issue, but Jody knew that discussing the affairs of a superior officer in such a public place was not the appropriate thing to do.

Instead, Jody redirected the subject of conversation. “How does it feel to be back on board?” It felt like such a bland question to ask, but the cadet had to begin somewhere.

“If the circumstances were different,” Dan began, his expression remaining slightly sombre, “I would be glad to be here. But,” he paused, his eyes shifting momentarily to the blue orb that occupied most of the viewport beside them, “I don’t like leaving Elesa on her own when she is so sick. Especially when so few people are aware of her illness and its prognosis.”

“I’m sorry,” Jody said, his hand reaching out instinctively to grab Dan’s. The movement was completed before Jody realised that he had thought about doing it. Surprisingly Dan didn’t recoil. Jody let his hand remain on Dan’s for a few moments before pulling it back. “If anyone can help her, it will be Rhyan and Keisha. Nobody knows more about the Ee virus than they do.”

Dan’s smile returned and along with it Jody sensed his tension ease slightly. At times Jody struggled to make sense of the telepathic and empathic abilities his encounter with the Ee had imparted onto him – but he could not deny the benefits that they brought to his role as a counsellor. Starfleet Academy had provided him with excellent tuition from some of the foremost telepaths on Earth to help him learn to deal with, and hone, his newfound abilities. Sitting with Dan he couldn’t help but feel the warmth of friendship radiate from him.

Or was it something else?

Jody’s thought was cut short as he heard an unexpected commotion at the entrance to the lounge. He had been so distracted by Dan that he hadn’t noticed two science-division officers enter the room, some sort of disagreement occurring between them. Of the two officers Jody could only clearly see one of them: a woman of similar height and age to himself, shoulder-length black hair and Lieutenant Junior Grade pips attached to her teal turtleneck. If she had been human Jody would have considered the woman to be from Asia – but the chain of spots running from her forehead down through her turtleneck revealed her to be from Trill. The nervousness she radiated towards him also made Jody assume she lacked the experience of being joined to a symbiont.

“What’s going on there?” Dan asked, his chair now balancing on two legs as he leaned backwards to catch a better glimpse of the scene currently taking place at the doorway. Jody resisted the urge to reach out and pull the Ambassador forwards, out of fear of him toppling backwards and injuring himself.

“I don’t know,” responded the cadet, struggling to see whom the Lieutenant was talking to – but her colleague was partly obscured by the open door. Every now and again he saw a flash of grey hair and pale skin, but couldn’t see anything more.

“I’m so sorry,” Jody heard the young woman say, tears appearing to well up in her eyes as she apologised profusely to the man standing beside her. He continued to shout at her, but the door that obscured his face also muffled his words. “I… I didn’t know that the lab was off-limits. Nobody informed me.” She continued to grovel to her colleague, most likely a superior officer within her department.

“If I had the ability to throw you off this ship myself, I would,” boomed the voice of the man as he finally stepped forwards and emerged from the other side of the door. Jody immediately stood up and heard the crash of the chair behind him as it toppled over and collided with the deck. Almost immediately Jon Marshall’s eyes locked with his, the corrupt science officer beginning to grin menacingly as he ignored the continued apologies from the Lieutenant and instead diverted his attention onto the cadet. Jody barely registered Dan standing up and repositioning himself into a protective stance in front of him.

“If you come anywhere near Jody,” Dan barked towards Ensign Marshall, “I will not be responsible for what happens to you.”

The Ensign immediately dismissed his colleague – a superior officer, oddly – simultaneously taking a few steps towards the counsellor and ambassador. The grin on his face developed into a smirk as he digested Dan’s words. Jody felt his heart rate double as Marshall spoke. “I was hoping to run into you at some point Mr Scott.”

Jody’s hand blindly searched the table for anything he could use as a weapon against Marshall, but it found nothing. “You should be locked up in a cell for what you did to me!”

Marshall continued to step closer to Dan and Jody, unthreatened by their comments. “You are, of course, referring to the events that occurred on board the Nova? Oh, wait,” he paused for dramatic effect as he once again smirked, “your report from the Redemption liberation mission didn’t include any allegations against me.”

“I swear, if you step any closer to me I will kill you,” Jody barked, feeling Dan’s arm hold him back from lashing out at the Ensign. The memory of what Marshall had done to him on board the USS Nova came flooding back, reigniting an anger in him that had previously been aimed at Lieutenant Commander Rhyan.

The assistant chief science officer was now so close to Jody that he could smell the acrid scent of his cheap cologne. Marshall’s eyes narrowed. “Don’t forget what I said to you six months ago, boy.” His tongue lingered over his final word, a reminder of where Jody ranked in the hierarchy on board the Redemption.

“Do you honestly think I could forget you threatening my friends and my family that easily?” Jody spoke through gritted teeth.

“Good. Then I don’t need to remind you what will happen to them if you try to interfere with my mission on board the Redemption,” Marshall commented, his left palm gently slapping Dan’s face three times in quick succession as he also winked his eye at the cadet. Jody was certain that if Dan’s arm weren’t holding him back, Marshall would be missing several of his teeth by now.

A brief lull fell upon the men before Marshall finally broke the awkward silence. “I am sure to be seeing you around Mr Scott. After all, I still have high hopes for you.”

With those words, the Ensign turned on his heels and strolled away from Dan and Jody and out of the lounge. Jody wanted so very much to follow the bastard out into the corridor and smash him over the head with something blunt and heavy - it was, after all, the least that he deserved – but Dan’s arms were now completely encircling his upper torso and preventing him from doing so. It was several minutes later before Jody felt the tension in his muscles dissipate and then Dan’s arms fall away from him.

“How the hell did he get transferred back here?” Dan said, an angry tone enveloping his words.

Jody shook his head in disgust. “I don’t know. But you can be sure that Rhyan doesn’t know that he is on board. And when he finds out…” He did not know how to finish the sentence. All he knew was that Rhyan disliked the Ensign almost as much as Jody did. Marshall’s return to the Redemption was bad news for everyone on board as his agenda rarely matched up to their mission parameters.

Dan sighed, answering the cadet. “Nothing will change. If a branch of Starfleet Intelligence is supporting the Ensign, then nobody is safe from his threats. Not even Rhyan or Ashcart.”

“Then you know what we have to do,” a glint formed in the corner of Jody’s eye, “we need to stay one step ahead of him, and stop him from doing whatever it is he has planned at Hadronus.”

Easier said than done.

OOC: Okay, I promise I'm now done with my "Homecoming" series of posts. I just wanted to dust the cobwebs off all of my NPCs - especially since I've decided that one of them isn't going to make it out of this mission alive! Welcome to the new crew members also - I hope you find the Redemption as fun and rewarding as we have over the years! Apologies for the complicated back stories... I'm sure you will get caught up eventually! - Andrew.

 

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