Redemption for The Young

Posted on Sat Mar 16th, 2024 @ 10:51pm by Captain Tristan Faust & Lieutenant Shinobu Miyake

0 words; about a 1 minute read

Mission: Mission 4: Through a Glass, Darkly
Location: Security Section
Timeline: M4 MD10 (2268.07.19) 1600

With the Midway getting closer to Interphase every hour and time was running out to figure out one loose end... Before they left for the Parallel Universe, Commodore Anderson said "Do what you think is best, with whatever you find." Tristan thought long and hard about the situation yielding a possible solution.

Ensign Zara Lockwood sat in interview room #1. Gone was her Terran uniform, replaced by a red Starfleet uniform with the Midway's emblem but without sleeve braid.

Captain Faust sat across from the young beautiful woman with fiery red hair. She had helped them at a pivotal moment and gave up her life. Tristan was in a charitable mood.

Evidently more skeptical was his Chief Of Security, who had strategically positioned herself in front of the doors in case Ensign Lockwood tried anything funny. It was hardly anything personal, of course- Tristan had already made it clear to Shinobu that her apprehension was unnecessary- but with memories of her recent frolic with Lieutenant Ivers still fresh in everyone's heads, you could understand that Lienant Miyake was just a little bit on edge. But just a little.

"We are getting close to the phenomenon that allowed us to enter this universe," Tristan said in an even tone, "There are a few options at our disposal... But ultimately the decision should be yours... We can let you off in the escape pod we found you in. Or you can return with us to our universe under an assumed name."

"I can't go back..." Zara responded, her light blue eyes staring up at the Captain. She didn't want to go back to the terror, the beatings and the life of being a woman on a Terran warship. Captain Faust was her white knight rescuing her from her life of misery.

The Captain nodded, "The alternative is all arranged," he said, "You will keep using your alias and we will give you a false commission and cook the roster to state you signed on at Starbase 10 before we left..." He opened up the manila envelope sitting on the table, "The real record of what transpired will be classified as Top Secret," he said before sliding the file over to her.

"Ensign Sarah Lockwood," she responded with a smirk, "That'll be easy to remember."

"Mind you, you will be under constant supervision," Tristan responded, "And will be assigned to Lt. Miyake's department." He looked up at his chief of security.

"My department?!" Shinobu spluttered, the news evidently coming as a surprise to her. "I... what..."

She pinched the bridge of her nose and sighed. "Ah... Captain, with all due respect, and please don't take this the wrong way, but you're asking me to look after an Ensign who was shooting at us a few days ago?!"

"Who else?" Tristan responded, "And she is trained in security, even if her training is out of date. Besides what other department on the ship can she serve in without significant training... We can't just let her loose on Starbase 10 either." He looked over his shoulder at the lieutenant.

Shinobu appeared to consider her options, but reluctantly came around to the fact that Tristan raised a valid point; even if they were to put her through the Academy, there was no way of telling how Ensign Lockwood would behave without a knowledgeable degree of supervision. Heck, who was to say that she wouldn't just hijack a freighter and try to take it back to her universe? No, Ensign Lockwood would most certainly be better off having her behavior monitored by officers who had a better understanding of her background, to provide her with the support that she was no doubt going to need to reintegrate.

She sighed. "Well... I can't guarantee the learning curve will be all that easy- especially considering that everything that you've been taught up to this point is likely wrong- but if Captain Faust is willing to see the good in you, then so am I."

"I will try my best," Sarah responded.

"As a precautionary measure, you may be restricted to non-lethal weaponry for the first few months," Shinobu continued. "But if in that time, you can pull your weight and prove to me that you're fully committed to turning over a new leaf, I may be open to letting you use some of our more powerful weapons. Understood?"

The young woman nodded in acknowledgement.

"Everything is arranged the ," Tristan responded, "Welcome to the crew. Remember you can't talk about your true background to anyone... Now, we will select a roommate cleared to know your background. They aren't there to spy on you, but are there to help you acclimate to our technology and way of life. We have a few candidates in mind, but we will have to have you meet each of them in due course. Understood?"

"Yes Captain," the young woman responded, still trying to comprehend everything.

The Captain stood up and motioned for Shinobu to follow him as he walked into the area behind the one way mirror, "Sorry to dump her on you, but I couldn't think of anywhere she could... Well do the least amount of damage and be surrounded by armed officers," he said.

"While I may still have my reservations about this, you do raise a valid point," Shinobu sighed. "At the end of the day, we still know so little about her universe and its customs that we have no way of anticipating how she'll behave if left to her own devices."

The Captain nodded, "What I see is a frightened, abused young woman but looks can be deceiving," he said, "From what I've heard from her the male officers aboard their ships view their female officers as objects to use and abuse if they aren't strong enough to hold their own... Like a ship of Vikings or Pirates or whatever historical analogy you want to use... She even told me when the Vulcans landed on Earth they responded by killing the crew and commandeering the ship."

"Disgusting pigs," Shinobu growled. "It may not be my place to judge, Captain, but if that's their norm for how they treat their women... there can only be good days ahead of her."

The Captain nodded, "Well, we soon will be out of this place, forever," Tristan responded, "We saved one person, doomed hundreds and said goodbye to our sister ship... And to my best friend..." He sighed and sat down, "It's been a rough few weeks," he said.

Shinobu looked surprised. "You knew someone on the Defiant, Sir?"

The Captain nodded again, "Dr. Amato's brother... Joe, was the ship's navigator and my best friend since the Four Years War. We served together on the Plato, a old Anton class wreck mainly crewed by upper midshipmen..." He smirked, "Things were pretty dire at that point... They were plucking as many Middies as they could grasp and sending us off into space as the Klingons decimated the fleet."

"It was a hell of an adventure for twenty year old me," Tristan continued, "But I think the best time was Christmas of '56... The war was over and the Pluto came home to Earth... My parents were off on some Starbase dealing with war wounded and I was on my own. Joe invited me to Jersey for Christmas with his family... And the look on Mikey's face when he saw us... He was barely fourteen at the time... We stayed up for hours telling stories... I felt like that old JC Leyendecker painting from World War I, the Hero's War Story..."

"Sounds like you both looked up to him," Shinobu remarked. "I can only imagine what you two must be going through right now... to come so close, only to find he was long gone..."

"Yeah," Tristan responded, "He and I were joined at the hip for a long time... Then after the Defiant disapeared, I knew I had to have Mike on the Midway... And then push for this mission... Didn't think it would twist like this though."

Shinobu glanced back through the one-way mirror, where Ensign Lockwood was still patiently waiting to be dismissed.

"Not sure if it's any consolation, Captain, but do you wonder if this is the universe's idea of a 'parting gift'?" she speculated. "A way of closing one door, but at the same time opening another?"

"Maybe," Tristan responded, "I guess we'll see, eventually..."

 

RSS Feed