Reassignment

Posted on Sun Jul 1st, 2018 @ 3:15pm by Commander Timothy Parker

802 words; about a 4 minute read

Mission: E1 Only The Beginning
Location: USS Polaris

The background pulse of the turbolift in motion did little to soothe Timothy's tension. For five weeks now, the Excelsior-class USS Polaris had been bounced from drydock to drydock at McKinley Station in orbit of Earth. The ship had been in service for almost sixty years, and this officer had known her for a fraction of that. The writing, according to him, was on the wall. She was about to be decommissioned.

Several members of the crew, including his own operations staff, had already been transferred to other and newer ships. While the Excelsior's classic design kept her as a mainstay of the fleet, the Polaris' hull was nowhere near as versatile as newer vessels, too bulky and cumbersome for today's missions. Several of the Polaris' sisters had already been decommissioned and mothballed or scrapped.

And Tim was confident that was why he was being summoned to an empty bridge for the first time in weeks. It was time, as the expression went, to face the music.

The pulse faded away as the turbolift came to a stop. The doors parted, permitting Tim to step out onto the empty bridge. A quick glance around informed him most stations were offline or on standby. The sole exception was his operations station, but it sadly was vacant. With a swoosh, the turbolift doors closed behind Timothy as he spotted the Efrosian captain standing with his hands behind his back by the active viewscreen. He was lost in thought staring out into the vast beyond...

Tim was about to announce himself when the captain surprisingly spoke, "We knew this was coming, Timothy." The captain's stare remained towards the viewscreen as did the direction his body was pointed.

The lieutenant nodded, though the captain could not see him. "She was a good ship," he admitted. "But it is her time."

The Efrosian bowed his head. "For me, she has been home." He turned and gestured to the Operations station. "I started there as a Lieutenant fifteen years ago. Worked my way up to Commanding Officer. I knew this day would come one day, but I never thought it would be so soon." Both men stood silent on the bridge for a few moments. "Do you know what it's like to lose a home, Lieutenant?"

He did. The day he was accepted into Starfleet Academy, he was forsaken because he did not follow in his father's, grandfather's and great-grandfather's footsteps. For over ten years now, he hadn't spoken to a member of his family or seen his childhood home. Clearly, that was different, but he felt for his captain.

"What's worse, Timothy," the Efrosian said, sauntering over to the Operations station, "is that our time together is over. Starfleet Command is reassigning us all. Breaking up this family." He paused as he looked at his young ops chief for the first time today. "Starting with you."

Timothy barely flinched. In his brief service aboard the Polaris, he knew the ship was antiquated. With all of the developments in technology the last few years, it was no secret in operations circles that Starfleet would do everything they could to update the fleet. Classes like the Odyssey, Sovereign, and Century were starting to receive new propulsion upgrades, but ships like the Defiant, Nova and Excelsior were going to be left in the cold, replaced with newer, smaller craft. Timothy had originally hoped at the conclusion of his assignment aboard the Valiant that he would be assigned to something newer, but instead the only billet available was aboard the Polaris. It was either Timothy take the position or face demotion aboard another ship. All in all, Timothy was glad the Polaris was being retired as it gave him the chance to get up to speed on the current technology. "Where to?" he simply asked the captain.

The comment sparked a half-smile from the Efrosian. Regardless of who he was speaking to, the captain learned that he was always direct to the point. The lieutenant was never interested in fluff, but simply wanted to do his job. "The USS Magellan," the captain replied. "It's a Galaxy class though. They want you immediately, and we're to send your personal effects later today."

Timothy was intrigued, surprised by the sudden move. "It's been a pleasure serving with you, captain."

"Pleasure's mine, Timothy," the captain replied. "The transporter chief has the coordinates." His half-smile disappeared. "Godspeed." The captain solemnly watched as his former Operations officer entered the turbolift and disappeared from his sight a final time. Looking around his empty bridge, the captain loosed a heavy sigh. The captain knew that for himself, this was a sad ending. He now had no choice but to take delight in young men like Timothy and hope their dreams wouldn't be cut so short like his own.

 

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