Thanks to all who have reviewed. It's so fun getting reviews! I'd like to also thank Ladybug the 3rd for help and ideas, and the title, and Anarra for help, too. If you people like my story, you would also like the stories by Ladybug the 3rd and Anarra. Read and review, then go read their stuff!
Disclaimer: The late genius Gene Roddenberry and several of his cohorts own Star Trek, and it's characters. Any unfamiliar characters which, up to now, are all of them, belong to me, my imagination, and the people who live in my head and tell me what to do.
Enjoy my pretties, and your little dogs, too! (Lucky included)
Ensign Zandile Rey engaged the autopilot of the shuttlecraft and got out of the pilot's chair to stretch. She had been sitting in that chair for two hours, lost in thought and grief over her mother's death and funeral. She was so glad to be heading back to the Enterprise. In the few months she had been serving aboard the ship, she had already made it a home away from home. The Enterprise, Galaxy-class, registry NX 1701-E, (A/N: This takes place after the series ends and the Enterprise D explodes in the movie) was still several hours away, giving Zandile time to think.
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(Flashback) Zandile's stepfather, Commander Marshall Carsen, stepped up to the podium to say his piece at the funeral. Zandile was sitting in the front row with her half- siblings and Captain Park, the captain of USS Freedom (the ship her mom and step dad served on). Her half siblings had tears in their eyes. Mark, her brother, was 20 years old and an aspiring marine biologist. Her sister, Lynette was 15. She wanted to join Starfleet, but she still had a couple of years to decide her future.
Commander Carsen cleared his throat, and opened his mouth to speak, but no sound came out. He appeared to be fighting his grief stricken mind for control. He won the battle, and with difficulty, began Lieutenant Tamara Rey- Carsen's eulogy. "Tamara was the love of my life. She was brave, beautiful, and funny… I loved her so much. She gave me two wonderful children and a great stepdaughter. I… I can't do this." He surrendered to his grief, and walked briskly offstage, his eyes wide, grief- filled, but tearless. (Flash forward)
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Zandile woke up with a start; the computer terminal was beeping. She rubbed the sleep out of her eyes; she hadn't even remembered falling asleep. Zandile pushed the comm link open button on the terminal. Captain Picard's face appeared on the screen. "Hello Ensign, I see you are arriving ahead of schedule, and with a new shuttlecraft, too. How did you acquire that?"
"Captain! Hello! I didn't realize I was so close. I must have been sleeping longer than I thought. I got the shuttle from Admiral Rabelo. He must have heard about the shuttle that was destroyed two weeks ago. He said it was killing two birds with one stone to send me back here with a shuttle and save the transport ship a run to the Tanuga System."
"Very good thinking Ensign. Please come to my ready room after you dock," said Captain Picard, "Enterprise out." The screen showed the Starfleet insignia for a split second before the readings from the navigational sensors returned to the screen. The autopilot was still on; the rendezvous point was still the same, and there was still 20 minutes before the shuttle would reach the Enterprise, so Zandile let her thoughts wander again.
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She remembered the last thing Ambassador Tarik had said to her before he left the funeral. (Flashback) He had gone alone because his children had school, and his wife (Zandile's newly discovered stepmom) had no desire to go. Not even Zandile's stepdad really knew who Tarik was. Commander Carsen knew that Zandile had invited Tarik, but that didn't stop him from giving her a strange look when Tarik came to the reception line at the end of the funeral so he could talk to her. Tarik had said to her, "Ensign, I would like you to know that if you ever need to talk to me, I will be available. I think that is the least I can offer. I hope that you do not make judgements about me because I wasn't there for Tamara or you. I would have helped her, If I had known. I must return to Vulcan, I have a peace conference to attend soon, and I need to read about my case. I will be in touch if you wish me to be. I wish you well on your career." (Flash forward)
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Beep! Beep! Beep! The proximity warning stirred Zandile out of her thoughts and back into the shuttlecraft. The Enterprise was looming on the viewscreen. The communicator chimed again and an audio link from the shuttle bay came through. "You are clear to dock, Ensign Rey."
Zandile fingered the controls expertly; the shuttle zipped into the shuttle bay, and landed on the floor of the bay. Several engineers, including the chief engineer, entered the shuttle as Zandile was exiting. They greeted her, and Commander La Forge stopped her, just as she was about to leave the bay. "Ensign, welcome back. Nice shuttle, the captain told me you'd be bringing another ship to replace that one we couldn't fix. I just wanted to know if you noticed anything odd with the ship on your trip."
"No, Commander, she pilots like a dream. The engineers at headquarters have updated the internal systems and worked out a few bugs that were in the old class of shuttles, and added some new equipment. Really nice stuff, but I'm not an engineer, so I can't tell you much more than that."
"OK, then. The captain still wants to see you, by the way." La Forge replied.
"See you later, Commander." The shuttle bay doors swished open and Zandile went off to the captain's ready room to check in and get her duty roster.
"Hello Ensign." Captain Picard turned in his chair to face Zandile as she entered the ready room. "I hope your trip went well. My condolences on the death of your mother."
"Thanks, Captain. The trip was very relaxing in that new shuttle."
"Yes, I would think so. We might be needing that shuttle, I have a mission for you."
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Here's the cliffie I promised! Don't worry, there will be bigger ones later. I need to keep all of y'all interested!
So, is it terrible? Is it good? Is it the best piece of writing you ever saw? Please tell me! Review!