A Personal Hero

Posted on Wed May 25th, 2011 @ 6:47am by Vice Admiral Iluvar
Edited on on Wed May 25th, 2011 @ 6:48am

Mission: Episode 2.1 - "Unanswered Questions"
Location: Upper Observation Deck, Starbase 117
Timeline: 05 May 2387, 0928 hours

::BACKPOST::

ON: [[Upper Observation Deck, Starbase 117, 05 May 2387, 0928 hours]]

It had been less than two weeks since the formidable and devastating shockwave from the Hobus supernova had reached the Romulan home system. Reports continued to filter in describing chaos and upheaval across the empire in the wake of what was presumed to be the worst ecological disaster in the history of the Alpha or Beta Quadrants, but the reports were sketchy at best and left a great deal of room for interpretation and embellishment. These were trying times for all. No one could deny that the road ahead would be long and difficult.

Iluvar continued to look out the large viewport toward open space, his thoughts dwelling on recent events and the impact they might have. He could see the familiar outline of his own vessel, the Luna-class USS Pandora, visible just above the curvature of the station's outer ring where they had been docked at an upper pylon since their arrival the previous evening. It was only supposed to be a brief layover meant for them to take on supplies and personnel bound for Deep Space Five, but he had seen no reason why his own crew should not have been allowed to take advantage of the opportunities the station had to offer. There was no way of knowing when they would see another extended shoreleave and any chance to stretch one's legs was something worth taking.

"Listen, I don't care if the Organians themselves came down with a signed letter from the Andorian god of destruction, this should have been done two days ago. I want those probes on board by 1700 hours. Today," Mia Drake said to a young man who was following her frantically with a pile of PADDs in his arms.

"Y-yes Lieutenant Commander," he stammered and moved off, leaving the young woman to sigh heavily in his wake. She rubbed her eyes and stepped toward the large viewport, admiring the view.

Drake was so lost in her thoughts she didn't immediately register the fact that she was not alone on the observation deck. Glancing, she suddenly broke into a smile. "Captain Iluvar?" she said warmly, moving closer. "Lieutenant Commander Mia Drake. You... well... you rescued my father," she said with a smile. "I never had the chance to thank you."

"I beg your pardon," Iluvar said, turning slowly away from the viewport he had been looking out of. To have been addressed by name had certainly given him cause for surprise, not to mention being credited with rescuing a person's father. No sooner had Iluvar laid eyes upon the woman than he recognized a certain familiarity about her features. A smile spread across his face as he realized who it was that she was referring to. "Lieutenant Commander Drake," he repeated, putting the pieces together, "and your father was Commander Drake...of the USS Mariner. A pleasure to finally meet you in person, commander."

"It's not often one can thank the man who dragged their father out of a temporal anomaly," Mia said with a blush. Realizing that she was running the risk of sounding like a first year cadet, the woman changed the subject. "Is your ship docked here?"

Iluvar offered a single nod and extended one arm so that he was pointing across the upper surface of the station's outer ring. "That's her right there...the USS Pandora," he said. There was a hint of pride in his voice that reflected his admiration both for his ship as well as the men and women who served aboard her. "She may not always look like much," he continued, "but she's got the heart of an explorer and that's what truly counts."

Mia followed his gaze to the Luna class vessel sitting patiently on the docking ring, awaiting her master. She grinned. "You sound like my Dad. He said that my ship was too 'sciencey' for his taste, but I know better. He was just proud to see me get my own command." The woman sighed heavily. "That is, it will be my own command if I can ever get her fitted out. It sometimes feels as if there's a conspiracy to make every person I deal with from Requisitions completely incompetent." Suddenly Drake realized (rather belatedly) that she was prattling on to a *superior* officer, and no doubt interrupting the man's thoughts. Attributing her lapse to pre-launch stress, she looke dat Iluvar evenly. "I'm sorry sir I didn't mean to disturb you."

"No...it's understandable," Iluvar assured her, knowing how difficult requisitions could be on a good day, "but I'm afraid we've all been put in a very difficult situation at the moment. These are uncertain times and I'm sure you're not the first person to end up with the short end of the stick today."

Drake nodded thoughtfully. "Have there been any new updates?" Neither of them had to ask what he was referring to. The destruction of the Hobus star and the subsequent decimation of Romulus had created a crisis on a level nearly unrivaled in history. Rumours had been flying that the Klingons were chomping at the bit to 'finish them off', and popular opinion had been split as to how to deal with the situation.

Slowly shaking his head from side to side, Iluvar let out a small sigh. "I'm afraid most of what is available to the general public at this point is nothing but repeat information and embellishments by the press," he replied, frowning slightly, "Starfleet Intelligence is having a difficult time sorting through what is fact and what is fiction, but they don't have all that much to go off of in the first place."

Mia nodded. "My aunt Yuri has been petitioning hard with the Federation Council to put together some kind of humanitarian response. I thought that the Kepler might be part of that, but our orders having us heading out in the opposite direction for our shakedown cruise. After that? Who knows? But at the rate we're going we may not be going anywhere. I've been told that our navigational sensors were installed incorrectly, and that setting a course for the Sol system would send us so far off the star map you wouldn't be able to find it with a hunting dog and a ouija board," she said with a sigh, suddenly struck by the candor of their conversation. Iluvar was many things, but he wasn't hard to talk to. Mia had of course seen the fall of his fortunes, as many had. But unlike most, she saw the entire affair as nothing more than a kangaroo court, a need by Starfleet to punish someone. It was all just political maneuvering, something that made the scientist vaguely ill. Of course she would not be so gauche as to bring it up to the Captain. "This is the part of command no one tells you about. I'm a scientist, I like precision. All of this," she gestured vaguely, searching for the words, "Political nonsense, is far outside my bailiwick."

"Unfortunately, it is something we must all deal with," Iluvar said. The commander's position on the 'political nonsense' most commanding officers encountered on a daily basis was one that Iluvar certainly could empathize with. Politics had dictated the outcome of the Valar Inquiry and politics had driven Captain Arnold Mercer (NPC) to prosecute him before a Board of Inquiry. Yet there seemed to be no viable way of extraditing their preferred mission of exploration from the tangled web of what some would refer to as political mayhem. It was something each individual had to deal with in the way they felt was most appropriate.

Mia sighed, staring off into deep space for a moment. A workbee shot past the window, towing a cargo unit behind, and Drake frowned at it. "I hope those are the Kepler's new sensor palettes," she said with a mischievous smile. "Unless of course Starfleet expects us to examine spatial anomalies with a giant magnifying glass."

"You never know," Iluvar said with a chuckle. The more he conversed with the commander, the more apparent it became that she share much more than a familiarity of appearance with her father. Even a few of her mannerisms were reminiscent of the man whom Iluvar had encountered only a few years prior...a step out of time.

"Well I--" she began, but was cut off by her comm badge.

"Hixson to Drake."

Giving Iluvar a look of 'excuse me,' Mia tapped it. "Drake here, what is it Bob?"

The voice on the other end sounded exasperated and very tired. "It's the installation crew Commander. I'm getting strange readings from sensor systems they claim to have finished setting up. If I'm reading this right, we're orbiting a planetoid that is entirely composed of what appears to be guacamole."

Mia's eyebrows went up and then her eyes rolled to the ceiling. "Wonderful," she muttered.

"Shall I prepare the iron maiden Ma'am?" Hixson said, his voice serious but carrying a hint of humour.

It had the desired effect. Drake smiled darkly. "No Mr. Hixson, I think the rack will do nicely. I'm on my way. Drake out." She turned then to Iluvar. "If you will excuse me Captain, I'd better check on my ship." She extended a hand and when she spoke, there was a curious intensity in her tone. "Thank you sir. Truly."

Iluvar quickly replaced the small smile that had formed during the commander's conversation with a look of utter seriousness. "Of course, commander," he said, shaking her proffered hand, "as I said, it was a pleasure to finally meet you in person."

Mia grinned. "As my Dad used to say, 'Fair winds and following seas.'" With that she moved off, wondering if anyone would notice a couple of missing starbase engineers.

Watching the new starship commander make her way back toward her own vessel, Iluvar felt reassured by the fact that Starfleet Command still considered the merits of scientific exploration, even in these difficult times. There was no doubt in his mind that any vessel with a Drake in command was bound to go where no one had gone before.

OFF

A Joint Mission Post by:

Captain Iluvar
Commanding Officer
USS Pandora

and

Lieutenant Commander Mia Drake
Commanding Officer
USS Kepler