Wednesday Afternoon, 3 P.M.

Posted on Sun Nov 23rd, 2025 @ 10:55pm by Lieutenant Commander Darrod Hanous & Captain Tristan Faust & Chief Petty Officer Meredith Corden

740 words; about a 4 minute read

Mission: Mission 6: Echoes of the Interphase
Location: Darrod's apartment, Earth
Timeline: M6 MD04 (2268.10.07) 1500

OOC: CO only included for the content of the messages if needed, and to ensure that the call-to-action has been received.

The day so far was a quiet one, allowing Darrod and Meredith time to go sightseeing and enjoy being on Earth. Dar had even found himself not trying to look up as though he could peer through the daytime sky and see the Midway hanging overhead. It was nice, feeling like he wasn't antsy. Then again, this was probably the first shore leave he'd had in years where he was definitely returning to the same ship he'd stepped off. It was the first time where he had only packed a small bag, rather than loading up all of his limited belongings - and it was made even better by having Meredith by his side here on Earth.

As it was getting later in the afternoon, they returned "home", to the apartment Darrod had outside San Francisco proper. They were just going back to freshen up and then get dinner, nothing special. As they walked in, his terminal was lit up with a message - actually two messages, one each for himself and Meredith. They were from Starfleet Command, rather than Hawaii as they might have expected, but a quick check of the code showed that it was indeed Captain Faust's security code. The expression on his green face was quickly turning from curious to grim.

Meredith was enjoying sightseeing in California after she had shown Darrod around Maryland. There was a lot to see home on Earth. Not just the Federation sites but the Indigenous ones, the Spanish, the Mexican, the American. She had been planning to ask Darrod if he wanted to go see old Zorro serials on a recreation of an old style drive thru after dinner. She was just opening a drawer to get some ingredients when he waved her over. "What is it?" she asked.

He pulled up the messages from Tristan, side-by-side on the screen, and waved Meredith over so she could read her message for herself - their roles were very different on the ship, after all. He spoke quietly, worriedly. "Crap. If we start now, 0900 tomorrow will be hell to properly make ready, we weren't planning on departure for weeks yet. Something, or someone, just lit a fire under the Captain's ass."

Meredith walked over, entering her code to open her message. "I'll definitely still be taking care of paperwork when we launch," she said. None of it was on paper, of course, but the phrase survived. "But that's not so big a deal. If the engines aren't ready..." She looked to Darrod. She knew him well enough to know it would somehow get done, even if he didn't get a wink of sleep. She gave him a gentle smile.

He reached out and took Meredith's hand, his eyes meeting hers. It was obvious that he was responding as he usually did under pressure - with great alacrity. "I love you, Meredith. Whatever it is that's happening, you can tell your family that I swear I'll get you back here in one piece."

"I love you too, Darrod," she said, squeezing his hand and kissing him. "Whatever happens, we're in it together."

Dar smiled and returned her kiss, holding her hand. He nodded at her with confidence. "Yeah. We're in it together, and we'll get through it together." He straightened slightly. "You might think the paperwork is lower-priority, but under radio silence, I'll need your reports to tell me what's wrong. We were supposed to have weeks, and with just a day, I don't think we'll even have the damage repaired yet."

He pulled Meredith a little closer before speaking again. "We'll get our leave, soon. And we'll have the time we deserve. In the meantime, we have to get back to the ship."

"I know," Meredith said as she leaned into him. She held him for just a second and then sighed. "I know." Then she stepped back and hurried into the bedroom. "I can be packed in a minute."

Darrod nodded and started shutting things down in the apartment. He glanced at the bag that he regularly kept by the door; he'd been told by others that having a 'go bag' as he did wasn't uncommon, especially given his background. But today, he wanted to actually pack with her. And so, he headed into the bedroom to pack beside her.

 

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