Returning to the Fold

Posted on Sun Jan 9th, 2022 @ 12:07am by Captain Alistar McKeon

1,023 words; about a 5 minute read

Alistar stood in an office at Starfleet Command and stared out through the window at the wide view of San Francisco and the bay area. To the side, part of the campus grounds of the Academy could be seen, while various other buildings that made up the complex of Starfleet Headquarters dotted the view here and there. It was indeed a nice view, one that would be the envy of any Starfleet officer to sit and enjoy for a time, but this time was different. Admittingly, Alistar had to realize that he was different. A younger version of himself would have been enjoying the view and the fact that he stood in the halls of the high command, but now it was simply a nice view he could enjoy before dealing with dreadful business.

The quietness of the office was broken by the doors opening. Alistar turned to face the quorum of admirals that had been interviewing him for the past several days. The officers who had returned with him had also been interviewed, but the burden of command was Alistar’s and therefore the more dire consequences were his as well. Following the lead of the admirals, Alistar walked over to the thankfully informal grouping of chairs and sat down.

“Captain, after a careful consideration of the facts at hand, the testimonies of you and your crew, and the evidence, while rather limited, that has been presented, this quorum has decided that no disciplinary action will be taken against you or your crew. Indeed, you should be commended for being able to keep your crew together and survive your ordeal,” the lead admiral said. Admiral John Weber was the only one facing him that Alistar knew, the rest were strangers. “Because of the sensitive nature of the facts surrounding this case, naturally it has been decided that the majority of the information will be classified. The details that will be made public are as follows, that a year ago while conducting a deep space patrol beyond the borders of the Federation, the USS Endeavour encountered a spacial anomaly and was severely damaged and nearly destroyed. That you and some of your crew managed to survive the encounter and return back to the Federation, and that a number of your crew was killed or went missing due to the nature of the encounter, and that the Endeavour was destroyed as a result of the encounter with the anomaly. And further details taken by your or your crew during the past year will be rendered as classified and not to be spoken of by your or your crew. Naturally, your officers have already been as such ordered, but as commanding officer you reserve the right to know the full extent of our decision.”

“Yes, Admiral,” Alistar said simply. The simplicity of his response made the admirals shuffle and exchange glances, but none spoke.

Admiral Weber shrugged the simple response off with a half shrug and nodded. “This quorum has also decided that there is no reason to retain you or the officers you commanded from returning to duty as Starfleet officers, and as you and your crew have undergone full physical and mental evaluations and exams, you will be returned to active duty effective immediately and assigned to assignments that your qualifications meet or exceed the requirements of. This quorum is dismissed.”

The gathered admirals stood and began to file out of the room. Alistar simply stood and waited until the last one had left before he turned to Admiral Weber and gave the flag officer a questioning look.

“So, my crew and I are free to go?” Alistar asked.

“Of course, captain, as was said by the quorum,” Weber replied. “I managed to pull the argument that you should all be assigned together as well, since I know that you would want to keep your officer core together. I managed to pull the same argument for those new people who came with you as well.”

“So, we’re being assigned to a ship? Let me guess, an aging falling apart Excelsior class that can’t be assigned to anything but escort duties so you can keep your eye on me,” Alistar said, not hiding the bite in his tone.

“Actually, we agreed that you would do rather well as commanding officer of Starfleet’s newest deep space explorer,” Admiral Weber said, giving Alistar a wide grin. “The USS Endeavour, to be exact.”

“What?” Alistar said his voice neutral.

“Captain, it’s been nearly a year since your ship was listed as missing. Naturally, we began considering a number of ships to carry the torch of Endeavour when your ship was officially listed as missing. With your return and your ship destroyed, it was simply a logical step to name our newest ship Endeavour in honor of a fallen starship with such a distinguished history. Granted, I’d prefer that you keep this ship from getting into dire circumstances this time.”

“Wait, you’re actually giving me command of a brand new explorer?” Alistar asked, surprised in his voice.

“Well, yes,” Weber said. “I sensed a change in you when I conducted your first debrief, a deeper and more mature officer who was possibly haunted by what he’s gone through in the past several years and one who has learned the benefit of wisdom that can only come with bitter experience. I wasn’t the only one, in fact most of the officers on the quorum noticed it, which was why the vote to name you as captain of the new Endeavour came with no opposition.”

“So just like that, I’m back in the chair and in command,” Alistar noted drily.

“Well, not quite that simply, but in a matter of speaking yes,” Weber said as he handed Alistar a padd. “Effective immediately, Starfleet Command has assigned you as commanding officer of the USS Endeavour, NCC-91805.”

Alistar nodded and accepted the padd, glancing down and reading the orders it contained. Surprised, he looked up at the admiral who smiled and nodded. “Congratulations, Captain McKeon,” Admiral Weber said. “Welcome back to the fold.”

RSS Feed