This story was originally published for the USS Maximillian.
For more information please visit maxwriters . pbwiki . com
The events in this story take place about two years after "Beyond the Final Frontier"
Star Trek: Maximillian
A Great Adventure
Written by Chris Stephenson
"To Die would be a great adventure"
---Peter Pan
Prologue
Prologue
The bridge was brightly lit, as usual, with a sort of silverish blue tone to the chairs and workstations. As it was the middle of the night, it was sparsely populated, with only a few officers going over calculations or idly chatting to pass the time.
Lieutenant Commander Jaydin sat at a science station, blurry eyed but otherwise awake, scanning for anomalies, while keeping an eye on her padd. She was studying for a quiz that would take place soon for a correspondence course through Starfleet Academy. She yawned quietly, and checked the time. She had another hour to kill before her shift was up, then she would finally be able to get some rest, or at least a short nap before she got back to her studies.
The Maximillian had been ordered to sector 9751 to investigate a mysterious radio signal received by an outpost a month prior. However, since their arrival two short weeks ago, there had been no further contact of any kind. It was expected by most of the senior staff that they would spend another day or two out in the expanse and then be ordered elsewhere.
The sudden insistent beeping from the command chair broke the calm, and caused LCDR Jaydin to jump slightly. It took her a quick second to realize that, due to the late night absence of the senior staff, she was the highest-ranking member on the bridge. She quickly moved over to the Captain's chair, sat and prodded the touch screen on the arm. The message was not marked priority nor urgent, but it was obviously of some importance to the Captain due to it coming directly to his seat. Since Captain Kelvok was not on duty, Jaydin made the decision to satisfy her curiosity and read the information.
Her eyes grew wide as she read the message, and she sat back in shock. Her eyes teared up, and after a moment, she looked up, looking at the concern of the remaining bridge crew.
"Commander?" A young ensign asked slowly.
"Bad news guys." Jaydin spoke softly.
Captain Kelvok awoke adjusting his eyes to the soft light of his quarters. The beep, not blaring but loud enough to wake him from his slumber, was the first thing he noticed. He took a moment, and then answered the call as he sat up, already preparing to make his way to the bridge. "Yes, Commander?" He spoke as though he had been awake for hours.
LCDR Jaydin's voice came quietly over the intercom. "Captain, you received a message from Starfleet Command."
Kelvok nodded. He didn't expect their new orders to come at this time of night, though he welcomed a change from the mundane scanning of a lifeless system. The only notably thing was a red giant, and the remains of a planet that had been destroyed millennia ago; there was a large quantity of asteroids in this system as a result, but nothing large enough to breach the shields, let alone the hull.
He noticed inflections in her voice, but refrained from a word about her need to quell her emotions, as it was late. She had been working too many late shifts lately, and he made a mental note to put her on an earlier schedule, as her studies with the Academy were taking up what little free time she had. He answered her. "Send it through to my quarters."
"Aye." A second later, his laptop pad slowly moved open, and he sat in front of it for a moment, taking in the message. Then he leaned back, closing his eyes, attempting to quell the flood of emotion welling up inside him. Yes, it was a good thing that he ignored LCDR Jaydin's rush of emotion. Even as a Vulcan, he acknowledged the hurt that this new information caused. And he also knew who must get the message next.
The lights were all off in Lieutenant Commander Critch Starblade's quarters. Despite the late hour, he stood by his window and watched the stars go by silently, trying to relax, trying to ignore his emotions. Normally he would be powered down, recharging his energy, a cycle that he didn't need more than once a week but enjoyed as often as possible. There was to be no rest for Starblade this night. He realized it would be easy to switch off his emotions, but then what good would that serve? His emotions made him effective in this universe, and they made him more than just another Marconian. More than the destroyer he was supposed to have become, more than the 'first wave' of an invading force.
More than just another Android.
He sighed heavily, and ignored the call from the door. After a few more notes he heard Jaydin's voice being piped in through the intercom. Before she said much more than "Critch…" He cut her off, far more roughly than he intended to, than he usually would respond to one of his closest friends on this ship, in this universe.
"I know."
She responded quickly, expecting something like this. She had seen Critch display many emotions, but mad and remorseful were not one of them, and it certainly wasn't something she wanted to experience.
"Can I come in? Can we talk?"
He simply said, "No.", And for the first time, since the harrowing events that made him realize who he was supposed to be, the events that brought about the deaths of many friends, including Lieutenant Amy Armstrong Thomas and Admiral Robert Lyon, Critch Starblade let tears fall down his face, and let the emotion carry him away.
Variations of this scene repeated itself throughout the ship during the morning hours, during shift changes, during late night calls and chance meetings in the halls, during announcements over the ship intercom, over the mess hall and the Maximillian's own 'Battle Bar'. In every lifetime, people of all species remember where they were when history happened. When John F. Kennedy was shot, when the Towers fell, when World War 3 ended, when first contact was achieved, when the Borg Cube was destroyed, and now this. A question that would be asked and answered for years to come.
Where were you, when Data died?