The Sovereign-class starship at this inner planet, orbiting just parallel to the rings, merely registered the meteor's impact with the rings as a cursory observation; otherwise, it went unnoticed. Past the starship, within the atmosphere of the planet, lavender clouds drifted along with the jet stream produced by the planet's rotation. Continents were clearly evident, covering about half the surface. If the clouds were a light purplish shade, the oceans could be described as a deep magenta. The clarity of the water is striking... even from orbit, without sensors, the ocean floor could be seen, at least in areas where it was shallow enough for the star's light to reach the oceans' floors.
A shape separates from the clouds. It looks vaguely like a bird, though the clawed forearms underneath its wings would give more of an appearance to a gryphon than a normal bird. The creature opened its elongated, hooked beak, and a grovelly screech made its way past rows of small, sharp teeth. It swooped down towards one of the larger land masses, heading towards an impressively large mountain range. As it reached the highest mountain, its eyes noticed something shiny on its peak. Swinging in for a closer look, the "bird" glided on thermals, its large wings spread wide. As it approached the summit, it noticed a figure standing there. When the figure moved, the creature screeched and flew away.
He watched the bird fly off, just as he had seen the meteor strike the ring and careen away. Apollo breathed deeply, taking in the cool crisp air. He thought of trying to recreate the scene before him when he returned to the ship, but artistry as never one of his strong points. No matter how vivid, how clear the image was in his mind, he could never quite duplicate it on canvas, or any other medium. He didn't feel too bad about that, though... his memory recall was sufficient enough for him to be satisfied with just keeping it in his head. Besides, he was sure one of his crew would have taken tricorder readings, so he could use those to construct a holodeck program.
Apollo was normally a sobering presence. At just over two meters, his height alone was intimidating, without even considering that he had kept himself in peak physical condition, a sadly rare condition among Starfleet's admiralty. Add into that his eyes, bright enough to shine through the darkness, sharp enough to stab through to the soul, and you were met with a formidable figure.
This wasn't a normal time, however. This severe specimen of a man was softened at the moment by the fact that he was smiling. Before his return to Starfleet, a smile was indeed a very rare thing to see on him. Since then, things had changed... not only had he been promoted to admiral upon his return, but he considered himself highly fortunate to have been reunited with some very important people from his past.
First he came upon Montgomery Scott. Apollo knew him from the time Scotty served on the original starship Enterprise. The two had become fast friends, so it was a pleasant surprise to find his friend had survived into the 24th century. In fact, Scotty's bizarre story of how that came about rivaled Apollo's own tale. The former chief engineer of the Enterprise was now Apollo's current chief engineer on his ship, the Highlander, currently orbiting the planet.
The next person he certainly didn't expect to see alive was his wife, Samantha. He himself had seen his old ship, the Valiant, destroyed eighty years ago, with her and all other hands aboard. To find her here was no small shock... indeed, he had been just as surprised to discover he had been directly responsible for her return. He was adaptive... he recovered, and now she had resumed her place not only as his first officer, but also as his other half. She would argue that she was his better half... Apollo wasn't entirely sure that he'd disagree.
But the most shocking reunion of all happened just one short year ago. Apollo had been receiving some disturbing psychic resonances. He couldn't for the life of him figure out where they were coming from, and the ship's sensors couldn't register them. So he had done the only thing he could possibly do. In a feat that had taken most of his strength, he teleported himself to the source of the disturbances. Imagine his surprise to find himself aboard the bridge of the lost starship Voyager, in the Delta Quadrant, undoubtedly his furthest teleportation. She was engaged in a heroic effort to return to the Alpha Quadrant. Starfleet had been informed of the ships survival just a few months before his journey. To this day, they were still trying to find a shortcut for the wayward ship to use on her voyage home.
That wasn't what had caught his attention the most. What truly shocked him was the person sitting behind the helm of Voyager at the time of his appearance: Allucia Banks... his own sister. She was even a Lieutenant, which meant she had been serving there for a while. They had an emotional reunion, and a little adventure with Q. It took some coercion to keep Q in line, a task made infinitely more difficult because his son happened to be a chip off the old block. But in the end, everything turned out for the better. The Continuum had toned down his abilities, taken away some of those he didn't particularly want to lose. But he could live without them, and they left him with the ones he used more often.
He had returned to the Highlander, though not without giving the Voyager crew a little "gift." While it may not have taken them to the Alpha Quadrant, it certainly should have boosted their morale enough to make make it seem that home was that much closer. And the information about a quantum slipstream drive, in one of the reports he brought back with him, was certainly encouraging enough to Starfleet; enough that they had their best scientists immediately looking into the option, not just for Captain Janeway, but for other Starfleet ships as well.
Going through those thoughts again broadened the smile on Apollo's face. His reverie was cut short, though, when his combadge chirped. He reached up to tap it. "Racer here."
"Admiral, are you going to stay up there all by yourself, or would you care to come down and join us?" Sam said, ensuring that Apollo missed none of the sarcasm in her voice. However, she continued her thought unspoken. :Seriously, it would be nice if I could spend shore leave with my husband instead of having him brood high on a mountain top.:
:I was not brooding,: came his terse reply. :I was merely reflecting on all the good fortune I've recently had in my life.:
:Well, couldn't you do your reflecting down here... with the rest of us...: her thoughts took on a more seductive flavor, :at my side?:
She certainly knows what to say and how to say it, he thought to himself with a smile. "Okay. I'll be right down."
"Should we have the ship beam you down or should we send a shuttle?"
She knows better than to ask that. He grinned mischievously, figuring that she had to make the request out of respect for protocol. "No need for either."
She picked up a trace of his thought. "Apollo!! Don't you..."
"Racer out." He closed the connection before she could get another word in. He straightened, tugging on his tunic. Apollo took one last look around, at the majesty of the scenery.
Then he jumped.
It was a beautifully executed dive. Taking a short hop up, He seemed to defy gravity for a moment (a feat he would have no problem accomplishing), before jackknifing and plummeting through the clouds. He stayed close to the cliff face, but he more or less kept his body straight as an arrow, dropping at an incredible speed.
Down at more or less sea level, a moderate group of people were enjoying themselves in the beautiful weather. Most of them were oblivious to the conversation that just went on. Some of them were relaxing in a lagoon-type lake, while others were frolicking along the shore, engaged in various types of recreation. Three people in the water were the only ones who were aware of what just took place. "Is he doing what I think he's doing?" This concern was voiced from the ship's Tactical officer, Circe Pa'arvalis. The Andorian looked completely startled.
"He always did have a flair for the dramatic," said the chief engineer. Sam had thought that Montgomery Scott would have been the one of the last people to come down for shore leave, but considering the events that took place while Apollo was away on Voyager, it was not entirely unexpected. While their commanding officer was in the Delta Quadrant, they had been busy in the thick of the Dominion War. Of course, Apollo had returned in time to see it end... she felt he wouldn't have had it any other way. He had known even before going to Voyager that things were building to a head, and the Highlander certainly contributed her share in the final battle. At the least, he might have been disappointed if he had missed the action... at the most, Sam believed that if he hadn't sta in that center chair, they might not have made it through the conflict. As it was, they had plenty of close scrapes during the battle, quite literally in one case, as they had narrowly avoiding becoming victim to a Jem'Hadar kamikaze run.
"I don't think I want to look," Sam said, though her gaze never left the sky. Of the three, she was the only one floating on a type of inflatable raft. Her two-piece swimsuit did much to match her eyes. Circe, not to have been outdone, was wearing something that could only marginally have been called swimwear. Dental floss was more appropriate. But it not only matched the color of the land around them, it also highlighted her blue skin. Or rather, her blue skin highlighted the swimsuit.
Suddenly, they could hear a high pitched whistle in the air. Scotty thought it sounded like the shell of a phaser mortar. "Incoming," he said, without much excitement in his tone.
At that point, Apollo burst through the clouds, heading straight toward them. Even knowing he was heading their way, the trio still looked shocked. At the last second, Apollo pulled sharply out of his dive. Circe and Scotty dunked underwater; Sam fell in, having flipped over on her raft. The water churned from the air disturbance, but the admiral himself avoiding getting wet. He looped and whirled through the air laughing. Others saw the spectacle, pointed, and laughed with Apollo.
Sam surfaced, sputtering water from not being able to completely prepare for her dive. She didn't look too pleased. Apollo came back around and hovered three feet above the water, looking as though he were laying on his side, head propped on his arm. "Hi there. Miss me?" He said with a smile.
"Why, of course we did, dear. This wouldn't have been a proper shore leave without you." Then she grinned, and Apollo caught the evil in the grin too late to save him. At a glance, Sam, Circe and Scotty all grabbed Apollo and pulled him into the water. Now it was their turn to laugh.
He burst back up, coughing, before he joined his friends in laughter. "I guess I deserved that," he said, splashing his wife. They got into a major water fight before his badge chirped again. "Racer here," he said. Good thing combadges were waterproof.
"Highlander here, sir. We just got orders from Starfleet."
"Understood. We'll start beaming aboard. Racer out." He deactivated the link. "Things start returning to normal already, eh?" The trio nodded their silent assent. Apollo touched his badge again. "Racer to Highlander. Begin beaming up the shore leave parties. I'll view our orders as soon as I'm aboard..." he looked at himself, "...and sufficiently dried off."
About half an hour and a dry uniform later, the doors to the turbolift opened, and Apollo walked onto the bridge, followed closely by the rest of his command crew. Instead of heading for the ready room though, Apollo headed straight for his chair and sat down. "Patch those orders to my station, Commander."
Commander Louis Browning complied, sending the communication to the small panel on the right-hand arm of the command chair. Apollo keyed in the codes to accept it, and sat in silence, perusing the orders. A small smile crept on his face, and Sam raised her eyebrow. "Admiral?" she inquired.
He looked up. "I was right. The Federation is already returning to normal. We've been assigned on a milk run." Smiles spread across the bridge upon hearing that. Apollo inputted other commands into his chair. "Admiral's log, stardate 53427.4. The Highlander has been assigned to go to the mining colony on..." His eyes widened a little at the name he read. Making sure it was no mistake, he read the name of the planet again and snickered. Now the whole bridge crew looked at him strangely.
"Hehehe... the mining colony on the planet..." More snickering.
Sam sidled up to him. She spoke in a low voice. "Whatever it is, it can't be that funny."
"Oh? Hehehehe... wanna bet?"
She put her hands on her hips. "You have to finish the log, sir." She glowered at him.
Apollo was physically attempting to keep from laughing now. "...the colony on... hehe... Slartifartbast..."
Chuckles issued around the bridge. Sam smiled, and said, "Apollo, it's NOT that funny."
His face was contorting with effort. "Oh yeah? Hehehe... Slartifartbast."
"Apollo, stop it... Hehe."
"Slartifartbast."
"Hehehehe... cut it out..."
"Hehehehe... Slartifartbast."
That was it. He couldn't hold it back anymore, and started laughing, loud and hard. Sam quickly joined him. Soon the whole bridge crew was wrapped up in belly laughs and guffaws. Apollo wasn't helping much; every moment or so, he would repeat, "Slartifartbast," and start whole new round of laughter. He was practically falling out of his seat, and Sam was leaning on him for support.
After about five minutes, the laughter died down. Several of them wiped tears from their faces. It still took Apollo more time to compose himself enough to realize that the log recorder had caught the entire thing. "Ummm... hehe... computer, scratch that attempt. Start new log entry."
The computer chirped and signaled it was ready. He took a couple of deep breaths.
The Highlander has been assigned to the mining colony on...
The Highlander moved gracefully out of orbit and maneuvered around the outer planets before shooting into warp.