STANDARD DISCLAIMER: All characters and situations related to Star Trek are wholly owned by Paramount Pictures. All the characters from the "Magnificent Seven" TV series are property of Trilogy Entertainment, The Mirisch Group, MGM Worldwide.
Part One
Captain's Log Stardate 13.09.25.
The Dominion War is over.
Less than a week ago, the Founders signed the declaration of surrender on Cardassia Prime after fighting the largest military battle the Alpha Quadrant has ever seen. The allied forces of the Federation, the Klingon Empire and the Romulan Star Empire converged upon Cardassian space and fought their way back to Cardassia Prime and engaged the forces of the Dominion, consisting of the Jem Haddar, the Breen and the Cardassians. The Cardassians whom had been more slaves to the Dominion then they were allies, chose that moment to throw off the shackles of their oppressors and joined the fight on the side of the Alpha Quadrant. They paid a heavy price for their show of defection and out of sheer spite, the Founders ordered the orbital bombardment of Cardassia Prime.
Three thousand years of civilization and achievement was reduced to rubble in less than an hour.
The Alliance arrived on Cardassia Prime as the victors of the war but there was nothing to celebrate. Cardassia Prime was almost bombed back to the Stone Age. The Alliance fleet had lost a third of its ships and the casualty list was high. Good ships were lost and good people along with them. To my deep regret, my personal friend Captain Raphael Castille of the Venture was also lost at the battle of Cardassia with all hands. Personal regrets have been dispatched to his family and to his fiancée, Inez Recillos who is still on board the Maverick at this time, although understandably she has spent most of that time in her quarters, in mourning.
The Maverick came out of the battle well enough. We suffered minor damage, which was all but rectified at Deep Space Nine. There were casualties but fortunately, no fatal ones. We remained on DS9 for a few days following the surrender as Lieutenant Travis was recruited to aid the diplomatic core in the construction of the new treaty between the Dominion and the Alpha Quadrant. Most of the crew has requested shore leave and under Counselor Sanchez's recommendation, not to mention his endorsement, I have decided that a little detour to Pacifica might not be such a bad idea before we return to the Frontier.
Captains orders until then? Rest and relaxation
"I don't know Alex," Mary Travis said dubiously as both women waited for the turbo lift to deliver them to the bridge of the Maverick. "I mean what about Billy? I wouldn't feel right about leaving him."
"Oh God not this again," Alex groaned, wondering why they were having this conversation yet again.
It seemed that ever since she had suggested it, they had been discussing their trip to the Tethys Tourist Resort on Pacifica continuously. Although Mary had agreed to go, she had been teetering backwards and forward from her decision as she wrestled for her desire to get some well needed rest and her responsibilities to Billy.
"Didn't you tell me that Audrey King is organizing a field trip to the Oceanic Reserve for his entire class?" Alex looked at her critically. "He'll be up to his ears in pink nosed leviathans and all kinds of marine life with kids his own age. Didn't you tell me you wanted him to make more friends? Well I can tell you that boys his age don't tend to appreciate their mothers hanging around when they're trying to do that. It's a sure way to get beaten up."
Mary's jaw dropped open in horror. "It is not! My son would never get into a fight!" She declared indignantly
"Is this the same child that tried to rewire the replicator to produce nothing but Rigellian triple fudge sundaes? The same child who caused that same replicator to malfunction creating a continuous flow of green goop into your quarters until the Chief Engineer had to shut it off manually?" Alex looked at Mary smugly.
"Don't remind me," Mary shook her head in embarrassment. "Julia had to take the panel off while it was still oozing all that stuff and let me tell you, she's got a temper on her when she's properly upset."
"Being covered in green goop will do that to you." Alex pointed out.
"Okay," Mary let out a sigh of defeat. "You're right, he'll be fine."
"Good," Alex replied with a smile, aware that she would have to tackle this issue again at least a dozen times before they actually reached the resort. "Besides," she continued speaking as the doors to the turbo lift slid open and they stepped. "Think of it, room service for five whole days. Half naked men bringing you drinks with those little umbrellas in it, massages, moonlight swims…."
"Not to mention the midnight activities," Ezra Standish remarked playfully as he came up along side them and with a grin of pure mischief.
"We're going there to relax." Alex bristled, even though it was not entirely a lie.
"Sure you are." Buck Wilmington said with a completely straight face as he looked over his shoulder at them and then flashed a more knowing grin at Chris Larabee who sniggered in complete awareness of his meaning.
The entire senior staff was at present on the bridge as the Maverick closed the distance between itself and the pleasure world of Pacifica and the idea of rest and recreation had put everyone in a playful mood, quite understandably considering the trials they had faced recently. The view screen before them revealed the stars ahead and the ship was cruising towards it destination at a comfortable speed of Warp 7. At the rate they were traveling, they would arrive at Pacific in little more than a day. Although it was possible to get there faster, Chris saw no reason to push the ship to its limits. Besides, there were some that wished time to make their vacation arrangements and other details needed to be worked out, like crew rotations for one.
Even the atmosphere on the bridge seemed similarly relaxed as evidenced by the banter and the subject of conversation that was currently being bandied about. Tethys Resort like many others in Pacifica was being visited by almost everyone requesting shore leave. As almost 80 percent of Pacific was covered with water, virtually every piece of land on the surface of the planet was employed in the business of tourism. The main body of Pacifica's inhabitants lived beneath the surface of the water in large underwater domes called Pavilions. Next to Risa, Pacifica was the Federation's most popular holiday venue.
"Mr. Wilmington," Mary gave him a look as she and Alex split up. The science officer took her usual posting while Mary returned to her seat next to the command chair at Chris' side. "Unlike your last trip to Risa, we are going to the Tethys Resort for a vacation, not a seven day orgy." She said with a hint of haughtiness in her voice.
"Hey," Buck shrugged with no sign of repentance having come away from that particular holiday very rested. "An orgy is an overstatement." He looked at Mary oozing pure innocence.
"Not according to the number of women who communicated with the ship to say goodbye when we went to get you." JD quipped from his place at navigation control.
"Shouldn't you be making sure we don't crash into a star or something?" Buck retorted giving the young man a glare of annoyance. However, JD appeared equally unrepentant and responded with an even more infuriating grin then he had when he made his earlier statement.
"Face it Buck," Chris Larabee who occupied the centre seat responded. "Your exploits are known far and wide throughout the ship."
"And written across bathroom walls in a dozen star systems." Alex chuckled.
"What can I say, it's my animal magnetism." He grinned devilishly and exacted a groan from the women present and ripples of laughter from the men. "Women can't resist me."
The women in the room rolled their eyes in collective sarcasm before Alex found herself saying. "And that ranks up there with the mystery of Atlantis and riddle of the Sphinx."
Buck however, was not about to be put down so easily and added cockily. "Don't worry, one day it will come to you girls too."
"Unless you want to be cleaning EPS conduits for the rest of your term as my first officer, you better pray not." Chris drawled, giving Buck a look that bordered on mischief and menace that Buck had to think about it for a second as he tried to guess whether or not Chris was joking.
"Thank you for the vote of confidence." Mary gave Chris a look of mock hurt. "Do you not think I'll be able to resist Mr. Wilmington's considerable charms?"
"Well…." Chris started to stammer.
"Come on Mary," Vin Tanner interjected, wishing to save his captain. "Its not that hard to resist Buck, all you need is a good flea collar."
"Hey!" Buck exclaimed.
"Nice save Mr. Tanner," Mary returned her gaze to Chris, indicating that he was nowhere out of trouble yet and that they would discuss this later.
"So where are you and Julia going Ezra?" JD inquired, deciding that it was necessary to move to a less volatile subject in order to save his captain.
"Oh there's a nice romantic little inlet on the far side of the planet. Remote, luxurious and definitely made for two individuals who want to bask in each other's company." Ezra said with a grin, believing this time he had picked the perfect getaway for himself and the lovely Miss Pemberton.
"That's not all." Buck sniggered under his breath.
Ezra glared at him. "Unlike you Commander, the sole purpose in my life is not to bed Julia. Engineering took the brunt of the damage during our engagement in the last battle of the war and I believe she needs a perfectly restful place to recuperate."
"I'm sure," Buck said with a wicked glimmer and then rose from his chair. "Well since our able science officer is here, if you don't mind I'll make myself scarce."
"Please." Ezra remarked and shook his head in a mixture of resignation and amusement when Buck took himself off the bridge.
Mary was still staring after him like an unruly child making his escape before turning back to the conversation at hand. "I think it's a nice idea." Mary commented. "I know she's looking forward to it." In truth, Julia had speaking of nothing else since they had discovered that Pacifica had been their intended destination for some well needed shore leave. Ezra was correct in saying that Engineering staff had been pushed to their limits during the last few days, what with holding the ship together during the battle and putting everything together after it had ended.
"What about you Captain?" JD asked, always burning with curiosity over what was happening on the ship.
"We're going white water rafting on the Trident River." Vin answered automatically.
"I can never appreciate how you two willingly indulge any recreational time you have to such pursuits." Ezra frowned in disapproval, even more so than usual.
The Trident River had its origins from the only mountain on the planet, where three powerful rivers that converged into one and the result was a river that was one of the fiercest and most challenging venues for the activity of white water rafting. The force of the trio of waterways draining into one had created currents that were known to tear boats to kindling if one was inexperienced at the sport. Ezra felt the captain's safety was one of his principal responsibilities, whether on the ship or off it and unlike a holodeck program, there were no safety protocols in real life. Anything that went wrong could have uncomfortably permanent ramifications. However, Ezra had recognized the glimmer of anticipation in his Captain's eyes the moment Vin had suggested the idea and guessed that any objections he made was going to be duly noted, tabled and then rejected.
"Ezra," Chris wished he did not have to go through this every time he left the ship and went on vacation. He never had to worry about such things when he was first officer. Why was it such a big deal because he was now Captain? "We will have our com badges on us at all times."
"I still have reservations on how effective they will be if any misfortune should occur." Ezra persisted.
"Well you can always come with us," Vin grinned at him mischievously. "You know, keep an eye on Chris for yourself."
Ezra merely looked at the officer of the con and replied simply. "Have a good trip."
She should have gone home.
If she had been smart, she would have.
However, when the time had come to make that decision, Inez Recillos found that she could not. The pain inside her was still too raw and she did not want to face her family's condolences because all that would do was make her remember him. She was barely holding herself together, trapped inside this darkened room where she did not want to hear of or speak to anyone. How could she be expected to cope if she went home? They had grown up in the town of Val Verde together, every road, every building and tree in the place held some significance in her memories of him and going back there would force her to remember every torturous fragment of her world that was Raphael Castille.
There was this ache inside her breast that was so sharp that she could not breathe at times. The feeling would not go away and as Josiah had said when he came to visit her a day or more ago, she could not remember for sure because Inez seemed to have lost any sense of time. In space that was easy enough to do when there was no sun to mark the passage of the days. Outside the window of her quarters, there were only stars that seemed to pass by as the ship continued on its journey, speeding past with complete indifference to her pain.
She always knew it could happen. She had heard about the women who had suffered the loss. As a bartender, she had heard all the stories from men and women alike who had suffered the same tragedies, she thought then that if it came to it, Inez Recillos was capable of handling the possibility of a losing Raphael in the line of duty. What she thought and what was were too completely different realities. It was unlike any pain she had ever experienced in her entire life and it sapped away at her strength and her will to live like a hole in her soul that was letting that she was escape into oblivion.
During the first few days, it was Mary who had been her most constant supporter, having lost her husband in the same manner during the last battle with the Borg over Earth. Inez had drawn comfort from the widow but eventually not even Mary's words of understanding could penetrate her grief and she had withdrawn, appreciating that Inez needed solitude to deal with her sorrow. Inez did not know whether time would be enough. Although friends dropped into see her, she could not seem to get her mind wrapped around their presence and their attempts to help had little or no effect.
She had emerged from her quarters long enough to be present at the memorial that was held for the Venture and all its crew. It was one of many such events that filled the calendar at DS9 following the battle at Cardassia. Inez had gone through the ceremony in a stupor, barely aware of anything as her friend converged upon her, offering support even though she was too racked with guilt to be aware of very much. A part of Inez could not associate the cold surface of the torpedo tube he had been encased in for his burial as Raphael, not when it was little more than two weeks ago they had made love inside this room when he had come to see her.
All the plans they had made for after the war, how she was going to finally come on board the Venture. She understood his reasons for not wanting her on the front lines. In truth as risky a mission as it was to stand in the frontier between the alpha and delta quadrants, it could not possibly be as dangerous as one that the Venture had undertaken in maintaining the front lines of a war zone. Raphael knew that dying was a possibility. Too many starships had been destroyed during the war and it was a fate he would not allow her to risk and so he had asked her to take something out of the way.
Inez obeyed because she loved him, never really believing that he would die. Apart of her still refused to believe it and another part who knew better, was twisting up inside with despair.
She had been sitting in her quarters since then, doing nothing, moving through the set of rooms like some ghost, wallowing in sorrow, with no wish to do anything else when she heard the gentle trill of someone at her door. Inez groaned inwardly, having no wish for company and yet not possessing the lack of regard to ignore her caller. Dragging herself out of the bed she had been trying to hide in for as long as possible, Inez padded to the door, grabbing her silk robe at the same time and pulling it over herself.
Inez resolved to herself to get ride of whoever it was at the door as quickly as possible for she had no need for visitors or well meaning friends at this time. She did not wish to be rude or hurt anyone's feelings for simply trying to help but she had little tolerance for intrusion either. However, upon opening the door, Inez found herself faced with the one person she had least expected to see throughout all this.
"Buck?" Inez exclaimed with genuine surprise. "What are you doing here?"
"Hi Inez," he said with a sympathetic smile. "I came to see how you were doing."
Inez was still too astonished by his presence to do anything more than invite him in.
Her relationship with the first officer of the Maverick was strange to say the least. She knew he was interested in her romantically but then that was not saying much because there was not a single woman on board the Maverick that had not at one time been paid attention by Buck Wilmington. What made him different from most philanderers she supposed was the fact that he never considered his dalliances with the opposite sex as something to be discarded when his interest had waned. They always parted as friends and almost all the women whom she spoke to, talked about the relationship with affection. Which confused her immensely about why he would be so determine to add her to his collection? While he had a shocking attitude to his relations with women, he was also surprisingly sensitive and genuine cared about how they felt and he was always careful not to hurt them. If she had not known this for a fact, Inez would have looked upon his presence here as being in the absolute worst taste.
"How have you been Inez?" Buck asked as the doors slid close behind him and he let his gaze sweep across the room. If it was not for the air recyclers, he was certain the room would smell stale. Looking at the uneaten food on the pile of plates on the side of her bed and the fact that almost everything else remained untouched except for that part of the room, Buck had a very good idea just how she was doing.
"My fiancé just died, how do you I think I feel." She did retorted and immediately regretted her words.
"I'm sorry," he immediately apologized wishing he had managed to put his question forward better. Of course she was not going to be feeling well. "I didn't mean…"
"No, it's alright." She remarked, feeling more guilt than he did. "I'm not doing too great as you can see."
He could see but he refused to pass judgment. He had no idea how she felt but his experience with Chris years before had helped him understand the grieving process to some extent, enough to know that it was the people close by that made the difference. "You're entitled."
"Thanks." She smiled faintly at him, pleased that he was not unloading on her with advice and platitudes. "To tell you the truth I'm not really in the mood for company."
"I know," he answered making no move to enter the room any deeper than where he was. In truth, Buck was here more for his own sake than anyone else's. He was going crazy not knowing how she was faring and needed to see for himself that she was alright. Of course, this was not far removed from what he had expected. She was naturally going to be shattered following Raphael's death. He had seen how they had been when the captain of the Venture had come aboard enough to know that she had loved him deeply and perhaps always would. "I'm not going to stay long. I just wanted to see if you were alright and if you needed anything."
"Always the first officer huh?" She teased a little.
"Something like that." He remarked not meeting her gaze and averted his eyes so that she could not tell what was truly running through his heart. At this point, it would not be well received.
"Thank you." She said quietly. "I'll be okay in time." Inez confessed and surprised herself when she found herself believing it to be the truth.
"If you need anything…." he started to say, letting his emotions escape a little more than it should have. "I'll even listen."
Inez was touched by the sentiment even though she was unsure what motivated it. Before this point, she had been less than subtle in her belief about his conduct with so many women. There was no reason for Buck to bestow kindness upon her and, yet she sensed it was not some tasteless effort to impress her.
Whatever else it might be was something she was not equipped to deal with right now, no matter how much the idea surprised her.
"Audrey!" Josiah Sanchez said with an exclamation of pleasant surprise upon seeing the suite of rooms he used as his office in the capacity as ship's counselor. While the Counselor was accustomed to seeing Lilith, King dropping in at random intervals to see him, it was the first time he had ever seen her mother in these offices. Not that he did not mind seeing Audrey of course. Since meeting the lady in the thick of the recent Dominion attack on this ship, Josiah had occasion to run into her during their day to day existence on board the Maverick. "What a nice surprise. What can I do for you?"
Audrey seemed nervous and on a woman of her vintage, it seemed particularly endearing. Of course, Audrey may have been in her early forties, but she still looked every much the beauty with dark auburn hair and inquiring blue eyes that seemed to reach into the soul and grab you by the throat if you were not careful. Josiah as rather stunned by his description and had not realized that he thought so much of her before this point. Feeling somewhat unsettle by that thought, Josiah shook the notion out of his head and decided to focus his mind on why she was here.
"You know that I am organizing a field trip to Pacifica for my class." Audrey said trying hard to force the words out and wondering why she ought to be so nervous about such a simple task.
"Yes," Josiah nodded. "Lilith mentioned something about it. I think it's a wonderful idea."
"Thank you," she smiled nervously, and Josiah found himself admiring the way it seems to light up her face before being revisited with the same discourse that had impressed itself upon him earlier. "The problem is we've seemed to hit a little bit of a snag. Lieutenant Holden was going to assist me in chaperoning the children and it appears she's come down with a case of the Kaltorian flu and needs to be quarantined for the duration. I've tried the other teachers, but they've organized outings of their own for their classes and I really did not want to disappoint the children. They had their heart set on going."
Josiah could attest to that. Lilith who was almost always accompanied by Billy Travis these days, had talked about nothing else and would be terribly disappointed if the trip were cancelled. "That's unfortunate, I know she was really looking forward to it."
Audrey cleared her throat and then got to the point of her visit to his office. "I was hoping that perhaps you would consent to coming in Lieutenant Holden's place."
"Me?" He exclaimed.
"Yes," Audrey replied. "You're wonderful with children and Lilith said you have been to Pacifica before."
"Yes," Josiah nodded, his mind whirling at the idea. In truth, he had no plans for the furlough and vacation was not something he had really given much thought since Ayla's passing. This was mostly because time spent doing nothing would usually caused him to start thinking about his wife and by extension, remind him how much he missed her. "I used to vacation there with my wife and our children when they were young enough to appreciate it."
"I'm sorry," Audrey looked dismayed at being the reason for dredging that pain. "I understand if you don't want to do it. I just thought…."
"No, it's alright." Josiah moved quickly to allay any such fears she might have at bringing him pain. It had been a year since his wife had departed from this life and he could not avoid the places where they had been forever. After all, did he not tell his patients who suffered the same loss, when it was time to move on. This time the advice was for a patient closer to home. Physician, heal thyself. Josiah thought.
"I'll be happy to do it." Josiah announced taking a deep breath and deciding to let nothing hold him back.
"Really," she beamed radiantly at his acceptance. "The children will be so pleased. I know Lilith will be."
Somehow Josiah had a hard time trying to distinguish whether she was not a little happy herself that he was joining her and did not have time to ponder the issue before she had left his office again. However, when she had gone, Josiah was suddenly struck with the idea that he was going to one of the most romantic places in the quadrant with a woman who unsettled him.
Physician, heal thyself suddenly meant very little.