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Marla Gilmore
Marla Gilmore enter Admiral Paris' office at Starfleet Command.
"You wished to see me, sir." says Marla.
"So I did. Please, have a seat, Miss Gilmore." says Admiral Owen Paris.
Marla sits down on the chair that the admiral gesture towards.
"I've read through Captain Janeway's report on you and I see that you've done quite well since she stripped you of rank, but still I'm not sure if you deserve to be reinstated to your previous rank of ensign." says Admiral Paris.
"Admiral, if you think I should go to prison, just say so, please...don't fake being nicer than you wanna be." says Marla.
"The truh is that I'm not sure what I think. You and your fellow Equinox crewmembers did terrible things and it's possible that you truly feel sorry for what you did. I don't know though. For a bout 6 months or so I'll let you remain on Voyager as you are now, without rank and if your performance onboard turn out to be good, you might become an ensign once more. That's all, you may leave now." says Admiral Paris.
"Please, sir. I beg you...don't let me and the others suffer. We only followed Rudie...uh, I mean Captain Ransom's orders." says Marla and then leaves the room.
Outside, Noah Lessing is waiting for her.
"So, do we get our ranks and all back?" says Noah.
"Unlikely, as it seem right now. Admiral Paris seems less happy about the progress we've made than Captain Janeway is..." says Marla.
"Damn! Guess it was too much of a dream to hope they'd simply give us back the ranks we lost." says Noah. "See ya later."
"Yeah, at the sushi-place." says Marla.
Noah walk away.
"Aunt Marla, are you okay?" says a 17 year old boy as he walk up to Marla.
The boy is Kevin Gilmore, Marla's nephew.
"Kevin, yes, of course. I'm fine. What a surprise to see you here." says Marla.
"Look at this..." says Kevin as he hold up a PADD.
"You've been granted a place at Starfleet Academy? Congratulations." says Marla, truly happy for the first time in nearly 4 years.
"Yes, thanks you." says Kevin.
"How's your mother doing these days?" says Marla.
"She's...dead. Mom was killed by a Romulan drunk about a year ago." says Kevin.
"Oh, no..." says Maral, her smile suddenly gone.
"I'm sorry that I bring bad news." says Kevin.
2 days later.
"Dear sister, sorry for not thinking about you lately. Please forgive me for leaving you behind, but I got lost in the Delta Quadrant..." says Marla, as she stand before her older sister's grave.
Marla place a yellow rose on her sister's grave.
"I wish we'd not grown apart the way we did. As kids we were so close and then when you entered high school, suddenly it all changed..." says Marla. "Why? I never saw what made things so different that year."
The next day.
"Captain, can you use your influence to make the admiral change his mind...?" says Marla.
"Perhaps I could, but I'd rather not. You'll do as well as you have and he sees, sooner or later, that you deserve to become an ensign again, or maybe even a lieutenant, who knows?" says Captain Janeway.
"I've no high hopes..." says Marla.
"Admiral Paris is not as strict as he may appear on the surface. I know him well and I'm sure he'll see the truth soon, Miss Gilmore." says Captain Janeway.
"That would be great." says Marla.
"I'll see you on Voyager, morning of Friday. 09.00." says Captain Janeway.
"What's Voyager's new mission?" says Marla.
"Admiral Bennet hasn't told me yet, but I expect to recieve my orders by tomorrow." says Captain Janeway.
"Okay." says Marla.
Marla leave the room.
The next day.
"Miss Gilmore? Admiral Paris wish to see you, now." says Lieutenant Eric Johnsen.
5 minutes later, Marla enter Admiral Paris' office.
"I've decided to give you and the other former Equinox officers your ranks back." says Admiral Paris.
"Really? Thanks...why did you change your mind, sir?" says Marla.
"I took another look at your service records and it became obvious that you all were victims and are not guilty of any actual crimes." says Admiral Paris.
"Okay, sir." says Marla.
"Marla Jeanette Gilmore, hereby I reinstate you to the rank of ensign." says Admiral Paris as he put a single rank pip on Marla's collar.
"Thanks, sir." says Marla.
"You deserve it, ensign." says Admiral Paris.
"Will my friends get their ranks back as well...?" says Marla.
"If I find them worth it." says Admiral Paris.
"Okay, admiral." says Marla.
The next day.
"I see you've gotten your rank back as well." says Marla.
"The admiral decided that my performance aboard Voyager was good enough for me to be reinstated to my old rank." says Noah.
"What about the others?" says Marla.
"Not sure, but I assume they've recieved re-promotions too, just like us." says Noah.
"I hope so." says Marla.
"Me too." says Noah. "Let's get coffee."
"Sounds very nice." says Marla.
The End.