From: Erik (felldoh_at_voyager.net)
Date: Tue Aug 14 2007 - 18:39:22 PDT
"Honor Before Glory"
continued from
"84"
Location: San Francisco, EARTH
Stardate: 2.70814.2053
Scene: Pendragon Residence
Ben awoke suddenly and, without thinking, vaulted
himself into a sitting position. His chest heaved
and his heart raced, though he already couldn't
remember the cause more clearly than that he had been dreaming.
He looked around quickly and remembered where he
was and why. Starfleet was still working on
returning the evacuated populous of EARTH to
their homes, and wouldn't be done for quite some
time. Now that the emergency was over the
priority was returning ships to their regular
duties, which meant that some unlucky people
evacuated might still have a week or more to wait
before they saw home again. The PATRIOT had
dispersed its civilians, aside from those
normally housed onboard, and had been relegated
to the task of coordinating the remaining ships.
Since his duties were not essential Helice had
given him leave to spend a few days with his son.
There were some privileges of rank.
Tellah Pendragon and her family, including Ben’s
son Arthur, had been among the last people
evacuated, and had never even left the Sol
system, which meant they had been returned home
shortly after the crisis was official declared
over. Ben was happy for that when he'd first
learned. He'd had no contact with them or his
parents, who wouldn't be returning home for a few
days, during the crisis, and had been terribly
worried. Now he found himself unable to shake the
thought that had Cal’s plan not succeeded, Arthur
could very well be dead now. That thought shook him to his core.
With as little noise as possible Ben slid out of
the bed he and Tellah now shared primarily out of
habit when he visited. With three growing
children she no longer had room for a guest
bedroom, and Ben disliked forcing the twins to
share on his account, his presence was already
uncomfortable for them. He used to protest that
he didn't need a bed, he had always been able to
sleep anywhere, but Tellah always insisted. Being
raised on BETAZED modesty and propriety were not
chief among her concerns, and less so for him than others.
He left the room, almost silently, and walked to the nearest replicator.
“Terqualion zest tea, hot.” He ordered quietly.
It was another of the many healthy and highly
nutritious drinks that Tellah had introduced to
him. It was also a very potent stimulant that did
not rely on caffeine or any other quick burning
ingredients. He'd only been asleep for about four
hours, but he already knew he wouldn't be able to
sleep again, and if he was going to be awake, he might as well be alert.
Taking a sip from the tea, Ben made his way
toward his son’s room, and entered as quietly as
he had left Tellah’s. Arthur lay there asleep,
unaware of his Father’s presence. The boy had his
mother’s darker wavier hair and eyes, but
otherwise looked very much like Ben. He was short
for his age, seven years, and awkwardly skinny
like so many young boys. He was very intelligent;
he never failed to surprise Ben with how quickly
he could figure things out. Ben was sure the boy
would grow up to be smarter than him. Despite
this he did barely better than average in school.
His teachers, Tellah had told him, said he was a
defiant child who talked too much and often
missed assignments. Ben wondered, not for the
first time, if that was partially his fault.
Arthur rarely got in trouble; though his parents
secretly believed this wasn't because he didn't
misbehave so much as because he was smart enough
to avoid getting caught. That thought gave Ben a
small sense of pride that he felt guilty for having.
Standing by the bed, Ben rubbed his sons head,
and kissed him before leaving the room again. He
sat at the table and finished his tea in the
quiet dark. His thoughts roamed to Sakyl and
Tirsa, Tellah’s other two children. They were not
his, although technically he supposed they
weren't actually hers either. Her twins had been
assimilated by the borg almost 8 years ago. They
had no father in the proper sense, having been
genetically implanted, but Ben liked to think
that they had thought of him as a one. He
remembered the picture in his quarters of the three of them looking so happy.
These children were the duplicates of Tellah’s
twins from an alternate dimension. One in which
she had been assimilated instead of them, and
they had been abused and neglected by the crew of
a ship which included Ben’s own alternate. That
man was very different from Ben, but the children
had been far too young to separate them. He had
never done anything to hurt them, but they were
still nervous around him, he knew. Tellah assured
him that it was only because he was around so
rarely; they had never gotten a chance to get
used to him. She said it in a tone that sounded
comforting, but he knew it was meant as a dig.
She had given up her career in Starfleet for her
children, and he knew that deep down she would
never forgive him for not doing the same.
Ben was just recycling his glass when he noticed
a blinking light on Tellah’s viewer which
indicated a message. Thinking it unlikely that
anyone wanting Tellah would call so late at night
he walked over and played the message.
{{Commander Benjamin Kenta,}} Began an admiral
Ben didn't recognize. {{You are hereby ordered to
return to the USS PATRIOT at your earliest
possible convenience. There you will receive further orders. Starfleet out.}}
“That was abrupt.”
=/\=
Location: USS PATRIOT
Scene: Bridge
Ben walked onto the bridge still wondering what
this was all about. After getting the message he
had changed into his uniform and paused only long
enough to leave a message saying he'd been called
away and would hopefully be back later in the
day, although he realized there was a distinct
possibility he wouldn't be able to.
Helice saw him immediately and waved him into her
ready room with a smile. He followed her without
question, and a quick glance around the bridge
told him no one there knew what was going on either.
When the door closed behind him Helice spoke
without turning around. “I think it’s time to
redecorate in here don't you think?”
“Captain?” Ben asked confused.
“Well it’s been exactly the same since I first
arrived. Tell me,” She turned to face her EXO
finally, “How would you change it?”
“I hadn't given it any thought.” Ben said
honestly, wondering why she wouldn't just get to the point.
“Well I think you'd best give it some. It will be your responsibility.”
“With all due respect, Captain, I don't see…” His
voice cut off as Helice’s smile put the pieces together for him.
“Congratulations, Ben.” She continued, shaking
his hand. “Command has decided to make you
commanding officer of the PATRIOT. Frankly I
can't think of a better replacement.”
Ben was almost speechless, “But what about you?”
“I'm being transferred to a starbase.” She
replied with the same smile, “Probably a smart move on their part.”
Ben couldn't contain a smile, which is not to say
he didn't try. This was something he had hoped
for since Captain Van Dueken-Warwick had stepped
down, and wanted for his entire career.
“I thought about refusing an official ceremony,
but I decided not to ruin your fun,” Helice said
with a giggle. “I know how much you like that
sort of thing. It’s at 1600 hours in the officer’s mess.”
“Thank you, Helice.” Ben replied.
Helice laughed. It was the first time she had
ever heard him use her first name.
=/\=
Scene: Officer’s Mess
“Attention to orders!” Helice’s voice was
surprisingly formal. She stood at the front of
the crowd with Ben, and the two both wore dress
uniforms. The rest of the senior staff was
assembled, along with whoever else had wished to
attend. They stood now at attention, wearing
standard duty uniforms, as was custom, waiting
for their soon to be ex-captain to continue.
Helice raised a PADD and began to read out loud.
“To Captain Helice Jones, Commanding Officer, USS
PATRIOT. You are hereby requested and required to
relinquish command of your vessel to Commander
Benjamin Kenta, Executive Officer, USS PATRIOT,
as of this date. Signed, Admiral Gloria Netchev”
She lowered the PADD and looked up slightly.
“Computer, transfer all command codes to
Commander Kenta. Voice authorization: Jones Beta Four.”
The computer whirred silently for a moment before
replying. [[Transfer complete. USS PATRIOT now
under command of Benjamin Kenta.]]
Ben turned to face his former captain. “I relieve you, Sir.”
“I stand relieved.” Helice replied with a huge smile.
Ben turned back to the assembled officers. “As you were.”
“Well that’s over with.” Helice said in mock
exasperation as the assembled crew started to go
about their business, some leaving, some going to
the replicators for food (Helice had asked Tyler
to cater, but he was still upset with Ben for
commenting that he didn't see the point of
non-replicated food), and some milling about
waiting for a chance to congratulate their new CO.
“Oh it wasn't that bad, you got to read almost
all of your lines off that PADD.” Ben replied good-naturedly.
“Speaking of which, now that you are officially
in charge I can give you this.” She handed him
the PADD she had been holding. “In addition, to
the authorization of your command it holds your
first set of orders. I suppose you'll want to frame it.”
Ben rolled his eyes as he skimmed the PADD’s
contents. It began with some notes on personnel
changes, but the most interesting order was at the bottom.
“Looks like you weren't kidding about the remodeling.”
=/\=
Scene: MOC
Ben surveyed the people in the room. They would
make up his new senior staff, though some of them
didn't know it yet. He felt proud to have them.
“First order of business: there are some
personnel changes to go along with the change of
command.” He began simply. “In light of their
contribution to the rouge planet crisis
Lieutenant Cal and Ensign T'ial have been
reassigned to Starfleet Science. They will be
missed, but I'm sure both of their careers will benefit.”
“In happier news it is my privilege to announce
that Cadets LaGrande and Stephens are both to be
commissioned as full Ensigns with all the
privileges that rank entails.” He continued with
a smile as he pulled out two small cases each
containing a single pip. He handed one to each
new officer and put the meeting on hold for a
moment so congratulations could be made.
“Ensign LaGrande” He continued when everyone was
finished. “Will be our new Chief Engineer, and
Ensign Stephens will be taking over Lieutenant
Cal’s duties as Operations Officer. Lt.
McKlellan,” He continued looking at the young
officer. “Starfleet has decided that the PATRIOT
does not require a Strategic Operations Officer,
so you are being transferred to Chief of Security.”
“There is one last order of business.” Ben
continued with a look that was difficult to read.
“The PATRIOT has been chosen to be the first ship
to receive the new Nova mark III upgrade. We’re
on course for Utopia Planitia as I speak.” The
trip wasn't long, but he had seen no reason to
delay the trip until after the meeting. “The
refit will take some time, and we'll be without a
ship until it finishes. Most of the crew will be
helping out with repopulating EARTH, and
repairing the damage caused by the increased
tidal forces.” It had been an afterthought during
the evacuation, but significant damage had been
done on almost every Ocean Coast. “But I've been
informed that we will be getting special orders by the end of the week.”
“What kind of orders?” Niala asked
“I don't know.” Ben answered. “The admiralty
seems to want to keep our assignment quiet until the last minute.”
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
NRPG: Alright a couple notes. First, for those of
you who are new to the ship Tellah Pendragon is
an NPC I use during shoreleave, and not the same
person as Tellah Cal. I hope that wasn't too confusing for anyone.
Secondly, I don't have enough votes for EXO to
declare anyone a winner by majority. Their are
currently three votes outstanding, so if you are
one of the three, please get in touch with me. If
worst come to worse, the mission I have planned
doesn't require an official EXO to be appointed,
since we don't even have a ship, but I'd like to
get it settled as soon as possible.
I'm going to be out of town this weekend, but I
will be starting the next mission on Monday. So
if you have any subplots you may wish to wrap them up before then.
Erik Walz
Commander Benjamin Kenta
Commanding Officer
USS PATRIOT 5781-A
&
Lt. Seloron
Junior ACT Instructor
Starfleet Academy, Earth
From HyperNews_at_youth.net
This archive was generated by hypermail 2.1.5 : Sun Feb 17 2008 - 03:10:48 PST