241608.11 Commanding officer's Duty Log: Recalled to Duty

Posted on Fri Aug 12th, 2016 @ 6:35am by Captain Alistar McKeon

859 words; about a 4 minute read

The soft chirp of the commbadge seemed loud in the quiet dark room. Alistar woke slowly, not sure what had caused him to stir from his sleep. Ea's arm was wrapped around him, her petite body pressed against his while a cool breeze floated through the open window and across the warm still night air. The last seven months had been wonderful for Alistar. While he had overseen the Endeavour's refit he had also developed a close relationship with Ea. He had practically moved in with her, sharing her French Quarter apartment for nearly five months now. They had known that as the captain of a Starfleet ship he would be eventually recalled to return to deep space. And now, it seemed that day was quickly coming.

Rolling over Alistar reached for the commbadge and activated it. "McKeon here, go," he said.

"Captain, I'm sorry to disturb you but Admiral Parks wanted you to report to his office by 0630 if at all possible," the officer on the line said.

Alistar groaned and instantly turned to the only digital clock in the room. It was barely 0548, which barely gave him time to be ready for a meeting with the deep space exploration director. "Tell the admiral that I'll be there," Alistar said. Without waiting for an answer, he killed the line and slammed his commbadge back down on the night stand.

"They don't like to give a lot of warning, do they?" Ea muttered sleepily.

"Parks is a bit of an ass sometimes. He likes to beat his chest because he's an admiral who was wounded during the war," Alistar said as he rolled over and kissed Ea. Sliding out from under the covers, he walked over to the closet and grabbed a clean uniform. As he dressed he heard Ea slide out of bed and walk into the main room of the apartment. By the time he walked out into the main room she had already prepared a light breakfast that he could grab and go.

"Good luck love," she said as she wrapped her arms around Alistar and gave him a kiss.

"I'll let you know what I'll be doing when I find out," he promised before he accepted the breakfast wrap she pressed into his hand and a cup of coffee.

Hurrying out of the apartment and out onto the street, Alistar gobbled the breakfast down and had half of the coffee gone by the time he had arrived at the nearest planetary transporter net station. Giving the tech on duty his destination, Alistar headed directly to the pad and waited until the whine of the transporter filled his ears. The New Orleans French Quarter transporter room was quickly replaced with the arrivals room at Starfleet Command.

Taking a moment to finish his coffee, Alistar left the cup on the control console before he headed out into the hallway and started towards his destination. It took just over ten minutes for him to get to Admiral Parks office, and as he walked through the mahogany framed doors into Park's office Alistar noted with some smug satisfaction that he was precisely on time. From his wheelchair behind the desk Admiral Yancy Parks glanced up from the padd he had been reading and glanced at the time before setting the padd down.

"Admiral Green said you were punctual and direct. I'm glad to see that you live up to your reputation captain," Parks said.

"Thank you sir," Alistar said as he remained standing.

"Sit down McKeon," Parks said as he grabbed a padd on his desk and activated it. "You are familiar with most of the system changes we made, but there were a few extra changes made. Officially, the Endeavour is capable of matching any deep space explorer out there in terms of capabilities. Naturally, she's limited by her smaller crew in some areas, but not by much. That's why the Starfleet Council agreed to the Endeavour being assigned to independent exploration operations beyond the Federation's borders."

Alistar blinked and finally stared at Parks for a long moment as he realized what Parks had said. He had been given his captaincy and command of a cruiser assigned to independent exploration operations in roughly a year. To any Starfleet captain it was counted as one of the highest honors and rewards of their careers. "Thank you sir," he finally said.

"Congratulations captain. The Endeavour is scheduled to depart next Friday. She's already been set in a parking orbit above Hawaii. Your crew has already been informed through a recall order. They'll be checking in through the Honolulu station. Here is a full status report on the Endeavour and a full manifest on your crew roster as well as any last minute orders. I'll let you get to it. Dismissed captain," Parks said.

Alistar stood and accepted the padd from the admiral before he gave a quick salute and headed out of the office. Standing in the hallway, he smiled as he skimmed through the padd before he squared his shoulders and headed down the hallway. He had a ship and crew to prepare for their return to deep space.

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