Stardate 2419.06
McKinley orbital station, Sector 001
05:33 GMT
She found the silence soothing. A majestic observation lounge, which could hold hundreds, was, at this early hour almost completely empty. So fitting, she thought. Emptiness was almost a way of life for her, or at least has been, ever since the day the first person she truly cared for left, realizing she could never compete with that which was, in fact, her one true love – her career as a Starfleet officer. Married to the job, they infamously called it, and Commander Jessica Boorman was the epitome of that cliché.
She sat by a large transparent aluminum screen, staring at the vast docking bay filled with roughly dozen ships of different classes and sizes, and even though she was looking right through them, one particular vessel briefly caught her attention. NX-2000-A, the Excelsior. A Ganymede class research cruiser looked almost like a luxury liner, she mused. The huge, elegant tail that extended from between the nacelles, and housed two next generation impulse engines was reminiscent of ancient Earth aircraft, and held no apparent practical purpose. Somewhere along the way Starfleet actually embraced aesthetics, huh. Form over function. Gotta be a first. This had to be one of the most beautiful man-made structures she ever laid eyes on...
"This seat taken?"A man in his late forties stood above her with a silliest grin...Boorman couldn't help but to roll her eyes and smile. Timothy Hayden and she had quite a history together. Four years of serving under him aboard the USS Republic made him feel something like an elder brother to her, caring yet authoritative, goofy yet rarely wrong. About pretty much anything. He was her superior then, a ship's XO, and through those four years he saw her work her way up from deputy ops to chief of security. That was before Captain Ellington of the Sinai stole her and made her first mate, a position she held to this day.
"Heard you got passed for promotion again. They gave The Tar'Hanna to that creep Ronak. The guycouldn't hold a candle to you, Jess, you know this, right?" The expression on her face made him realize he misread her completely.
"How do you and Carrie do it?" Hayden heard pain in her voice and saw sadness in her blue eyes. A situation more than just familiar to him, practically a deja-vu. Knowing her for so long, he knew all about her chronic inability to keep those she cared for from leaving. It was as if Jessica Boorman was sentenced to loneliness. On the outside, this woman was a rock, and she acted like one too, but he knew better.
"Carrie knew who... What she was marrying from the get go. Now, you know I'd be lying if I said my absence was never an issue between us, but... I don't know, there are days when I miss her and the boys like crazy and start asking myself 'what's the point?' I mean, I could be playing catch with Josh and Eric right now, but instead I'm in the middle of god knows where, doing nebulae surveys and god knows what else... But this is who I am, hell; THIS is who Carrie fell for in the first place..."
"And the boys look up to you", Jessica said, with a warm and sincere smile.
"Yeah, they do." Timothy smiled back. A brief pause ensued, and they both found each other staring at the sublime space vessel at the other side of the screen.
"Jess..." he muttered, than waited for her to face him. She did, looking puzzled. "What... What are your long term plans at this point?"
"Why do you want to know?" she asked back, suspecting what was to follow, yet she showed cautious restraint, not wanting to get ahead of herself. That familiar don't-mess-with-me look on her face made him get to the point.
"I haven't selected my XO yet. You up for it?" She looked at the Excelsior once again and took a deep breath. A moment passed, and she faced Timothy again.
"Just when I thought I was finally rid of you".