To Future Endeavours

Posted on Thu Feb 3rd, 2022 @ 6:31am by Captain Alistar McKeon & Commander Isabella dei`Silvisi

1,121 words; about a 6 minute read

The type 9 shuttle that Alistar had been loaned by Starfleet for the official purpose of him gathering his scattered crew hummed smoothly over the calm waters of the Mediterranean Sea. He knew that the next officer on his list would jump at the chance to join him on the new Endeavour, but there was a little bit of change that he would have to explain to her beforehand and he wasn’t sure how well the news would be taken. It seemed to Alistar that his new command was going to be more complicated than his last, which he could understand on some regards but some of the details that he had been explained at Starfleet Command had tested his limits.

The endless skyline of water changed in the distance as a large island began to come into view. Alistar reached out to the controls and took to the shuttle off of autopilot. Engaging manual, he raised his altitude just a little in order to avoid the odd civilian boat or two that might be in the area of his flight path and angled towards his destination. Zipping along the coastline, he kept his eyes open for a landmark he had been informed of and circled it until his eyes caught sight of a figure standing nearby. Hoping that it was the person he had come to see, Alistar keyed the controls and eased the shuttle down nearby. Leaving the shuttlecraft systems on standby, he left the primary systems on default which would automatically power the shuttle down into a sleep mode after he had left the craft. Standing, he keyed the hatch and exited onto the beach.

The gentle ocean breeze caressed Isabella’s hair and the loose shawl she wore wrapped around her as she walked along the beach. The shawl was mostly to accent the light beach dress and blouse she wore, and to keep the sand off if the breeze picked up too much. Seeing the shuttle landing, she allowed a little smile as she walked along, casually making her way towards where the craft touched down. Following the Endeavour crew’s return and the exhausting debriefings by Starfleet Command, most of the crew had been released to make contact with friends and loved ones, providing that certain details they had endured during the past year remained classified naturally. Isabella had taken the time to return home and contact her parents. She hadn’t left on good terms with them when the Endeavour had previously departed, and she had been touched and saddened to hear how news of her disappearance and possible death had shaken them. Reuniting with her parents, Isabella had finally reconciled with them and found the peace she had sought with them for years.

Perhaps it was a good thing that her parents had finally accepted her choice of careers, Isabella thought to herself as she drew close enough to recognize Captain McKeon. His presence could only mean that Starfleet had finally decided what to do with the crew, and she hoped it meant assignment to a new star-ship. At the very least, he would be able to let her know if there had been a decision made or if not what the possible out-comes would be. Despite the potential bad news, Isabella managed to offer her friend and fellow officer a smile as they met.

“Good afternoon, Captain. I see you finally found the time to relax a little,” Isabella said.

“When have you ever known me to relax, Commander?” Alistar asked as he took in the science officer’s appearance. “But I’m glad some people get to enjoy themselves while the rest of us get stuck at work.”

“You obviously have the capability to get away for a little while,” Isabella countered as she waved her hand to indicate the shuttlecraft a short distance away.

“Yeah, I got it for a 24 hour pass so I can track down escapee Starfleet officers who like to escape at the first chance and not wear a commbadge while they’re roaming free,” Alistar half heartedly growled.

“Oh, so this isn’t entirely a social visit,” Isabella said, her statement more of an observation that a question.

“Not entirely, no, and I didn’t have time to make that clear when I sent you that message arranging this meeting,” Alistar said with an actual frown at that fact. “But, I figured you would want to know right away. We’ve been assigned to a new ship.”

“Let me guess, one of the Academy midshipman training cruisers. Correct?” Isabella asked. If she had to be truthful, she was completely surprised that any of the Endeavour crew was even being assigned to a star-ship. She had figured that they would have been grounded for a time before being assigned to another space-bound assignment once more.

“No. A brand new Sovereign class ship,” Alistar said. “They just announced her naming last week. USS Endeavour.”

Isabella’s surprised showed across her face, mostly because she hadn’t expected such an assignment. Clearly, life was full of surprises, and Isabella had to admit to herself that she was suddenly looking forward to her next assignment. There was one detail that crossed into the foremost of her thoughts, and she frowned. “A Sovereign class star-ship usually has a crew of several hundred officers. The first officer would have to be more focused on his or her duties and therefore not able to hold a secondary position,” she said.

“Well, that point has been brought up by Starfleet Command,” Alistar admitted as he hid an expression that would have betrayed his feelings on the matter. “I managed to talk them into letting you decide. I’ll support your choice either way.”

“It’s not much of a difficult decision for me, to be quite honest,” Isabella said. “I’ve studied and trained most of my adult life to be a science officer. As much as I’ve enjoyed the challenge of being a command officer, I feel that my place is in the science department.”

“I understand,” Alistar said with a nod. He had expected her to choose science, but he had still hoped out for her to remain his first officer. “Boarding starts tomorrow morning at 0930. Senior officers are to start reporting to me by 0945.”

“I’ll be there, Captain,” Isabella said as she gave her commanding officer a smile. “May good fortune continue to grace us in our future endeavours.”

“Very funny,” Alistar half growled as he returned the smile she gave him. “Until tomorrow, Commander.” Turning, he started towards the shuttle. There were still a few more stops to make before he could even consider calling it a day.

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