Waiting

Posted on Aug 14, 2016 @ 11:49pm by Captain Michael Turlogh Kane

Mission: Fortress: Earth

"WAITING"

(Continued from "Benefit of the Doubt")

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Location: USS Phoenix, near-Earth orbit
Stardate: [2.16]0814.2000
Scene: Captain's Ready Room


It had been a while since he and Aerdan Jos had sat down and connected, but there was finally some free time, and Kane was determined to make use of it. Jake Crichton, Thomas Varn and their team were working to connect a phase cloak to one of the Runabouts, Kassandra Thytos was busy briefing the marines she had chosen to accompany them, and anyone else with a duty was busy about it too.

The broken antenna that Aerdan had suffered on Lavenza had by now completely healed. It was much more pleasing on the eye to see both antennae move in unison instead of seeing the broken one hand limply to one side. Kane had never realised how much a part of their body language that Andorian antennae were - when he was excited, Aerdan's antennae shot straight upward like exclamation marks to punctuate anything he said, but when when he was relaxed or thinking deeply, they tended to slowly curl up and down like pigs' tails - but if the ExO had ever had a complaint about his physical condition, he had never voiced it.

Kane got them two glasses of ice water from the replicator and sat down at his desk. He noticed how Aerdan's attention was being drawn to the sight through the window. The Earth, the Aegis energy web, the blockading Starfleet. "It's not Andoria," he said.

Aerdan seemed surprised. "It makes no difference to me. Richard Edgerton is a criminal. I would be hunting him down no matter where he was."

"There's no second thoughts about fighting for the Human homeworld?" asked Kane.

Aerdan's antennae were doing their curling thing again. "Would you fight for Andoria if it was invaded by a hostile force?"

Kane sipped his water and nodded slowly. "Yes. All for one, and one for all."

"I don't know where that comes from, Captain, but you're right. The Federation is united for the benefit of all its peoples. When one is under attack, all defend them."

Kane leaned back in his seat. "We've come a long way together, haven't we, Commander? To the edge of the quadrant and back, on a voyage that's lasted two-and-a-half years. What do you think about, now that we're so close to our goal?"

Aerdan thought about it. "After Paris, I think about the shipmates we have lost much more often. Although I'm shocked and outraged at what happened on Earth, I don't think I know anyone who died. So, I think about the people I do know who aren't here." He stopped a moment. "I remember the Armstrong, and Captain Harcourt, how we got back to Earth. I remember knowing about the future before anyone else and being deathly afraid of what Edgerton was going to do to us. I remember our last night on Earth, when the Phoenix was launched."

"Those were dark days."

"Yes. Solomon Arn and Drake died on Limbo."

"And Thomas Varn - the original one, anyway - died in the Hyperion Expanse."

"Ensign Perry on Lavenza."

"Too many." Kane eyed his ExO. "You know, that once all this is over, they'll probably break us up. You'll get a centre seat somewhere, I'll get a desk job or be encouraged to retire again, and the others will be posted around the fleet."

"Yes, I know." Aerdan put his water down on the desk. "That's life in Starfleet, is it not? What will happen to the Phoenix?"

Kane shook his head. "I have no idea." The dreadnought's launch had reportedly caused intergalactic repercussions. The Romulans were no doubt frantically attempting to construct something to match the Phoenix, but right now, Starfleet was in possession of the most lethal weapons platform in space. "It depends on what happens once we bring Edgerton down. A lot of questions will have to be answered, including the future shape of Starfleet. It's going to take months to sort out." He sighed. "Much as I would like to take the Phoenix and her crew and make for the Beta Quadrant, it's unlikely we'll be in space again any time soon."

"That's depressing," muttered Aerdan.

A moment of silence passed between the two men. They were in limbo right now, reduced to the simple act of waiting - waiting for word from the surface, waiting for Jake's engineering team to finish their work - but that was something that was common across the fleet. A hundred starships all waited to go, and on the surface, forty billion people awaited liberation.

"Do you think the phase cloak will be ready soon?" asked Aerdan.

Kane shrugged. "Nothing we can do until it is."

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NRPG: Onward!


Jerome McKee
the Soul of Captain Michael Turlogh Kane
Commanding Officer
USS PHOENIX


"He speak an infinite deal of nothing!"
- Shakespeare's "The Merchant of Venice", Act 1, Scene 1.117

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