Dealing With Changes

Posted on Thu Feb 3rd, 2022 @ 6:31am by Captain Alistar McKeon & Grace Winters PhD

890 words; about a 4 minute read

The large sizable grounds of Starfleet Command held a number of gardens for assigned personnel and visiting guests to enjoy, and Alistar had gured that he could find the person he had been seeking in one of them. Having put most of the details of his new command in order he had decided to seek out Grace Winters and see how she was faring under the recent change of circumstances. The entire Circe ordeal had made changes in everyone's lives, some more than others. Alistar found the diplomat sitting down in one of the most peaceful and quiet areas of the gardens, which made sense to anyone who knew her.

"Miss Winters, I hope I'm not interrupting," Alistar said as he walked up. He paused for a brief moment before speaking again. "How have you been settling in?"

Grace looked up and smiled. "It has been...interesting." Knowing key events and that she could not act on that knowledge, even by accident, made life more complicated, but she knew that anything she said could have disastrous consequences. Even so, she had to be careful she didn't inadvertently say something. She was watching her words, and she knew that, with time, it would get easier. "How do you like being home again?"

"I'm not sure," Alistar admitted. "Things seem different, but I'm not sure if it's me or my perspective on things. When I left home nearly a year ago I was almost reckless, ready to face the universe and its dangers knowing that I could pull my crew through anything and at the end of the day we'd see home again. Now, the universe, everything really, seems to be more complicated. Not smaller, just less wonder and more danger."

Grace nodded. "You also have the same problem I do. We've both been to the future and we have to pretend we haven't. That adds a whole level of complexity to the situation."

"I'm not sure about pretending not to have been somewhere that explaining to someone that I somehow violated half a dozen Federation treaties and laws in the process of being there, but I know that there certainly a few things that I can't discuss with anyone or else I end up in a Federation prison, most likely in isolation," Alistar said. He paused for a moment before he spoke again. "I'm not sure if anything I just said makes sense, either," he finished.

"It does, and there are plenty of arguments about you not knowingly violating the temporal prime direcctive, so you should be safe enough. My primary concern, however, is that I'm here, and I lived through this time already. My knowledge is dangerous in the wrong hands, so I'm trusting Starfleet to help me create and maintain a new identity." She smiled. "So no buying into companies, no influencing governments." She had no interest in any of that anyway. "But I do have another opportunity to watch how things develop and learn from them."

She paused and looked at him for a moment. "But that's not why you're here, is it?"

"Well, I did want to check in and see how you were adjusting, but I admit that I had another reason for hunting you down today," Alistar said as he shifted his stance so that he could lean against a nearby tree. "I've been cleared for active duty, and Starfleet has given me a new command. I wanted to extend an invitation for you to join. I honestly could use a good diplomat, seeing as how I'm better at talking myself into bad situations rather than out of them."

Her eyebrow slowly raised as he spoke. "Yes, you do have that ability," she said, smiling. "And yes, I would be happy to join you as your diplomat." It would be nice to get out and explore again. She liked Captain McKeon, which helped.

"Thank you, Miss Winters," Alistar said, glad that she had accepted. "I had hoped that you would be joining us, otherwise I would have had to request someone be sent from Starfleet Command. The new ship will be moving into orbit tomorrow and should be taking on crew the day after."

Grace didn't think taking on a different diplomat would be a problem, but instead she raised an eyebrow at being told to report the next day. "That soon?" She didn't have that much to pack and she was in Starfleet housing, so there was nothing that would delay her. "I'll be ready. Where do I meet up with the ship?"

"You can either take the passenger shuttles or use the transporters. Both will start taking boarding calls starting at 0930 in the morning," Alistar answered. "Your destination will be the USS Endeavour."

"The Endeavour?" She smiled. That was fitting. "I'll be there. Thank you."

"Yes, I'm not sure why they gave her to me," Alistar said. "I think you'll like her. And thank you, Miss Winters."

"Thank you, Captain." Grace smiled. "I look forward to working with you again."

"And I look forward to working with you as well, Miss Winters," Alistar said with a smile. "I'll see you aboard ship," he finished as he started off. There were more officers and crew for him to track down, and he would be busy for the majority of the day tracking them down.

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