Chapter 54

The Fates are Cruel Bastards


Aboard USS Wildstar

November 30, 2377

11pm

"Another day, another dollar for Uncle Sam to deduct from my check," said a very tired Captain Stephen Ashcroft as he made his way down a hallway to his quarters.

"That's an old saying, if you don't mind my saying so. Even us Aussies know about it, despite the fact that Uncle Sam ceased to exist centuries ago and money's irrelevant in this day and age," replied Commander Litinova, clad in a one piece swimsuit after a workout in the ship's pool.

"Says you! I've got some gold-pressed latinum in a few accounts on several worlds, just in case I need it."

Litinova raised an eyebrow. "Well, do you now? And why would you have something like that?"

"Just in case I ever need some money. Trust me, I've been on enough away missions to always be prepared.," replied Ashcroft.

"'Be prepared', the old Youth Scouts motto. I was in them when I was a kid. Good times, those."

"Yeah, me too, back in the day. My dad was always away on his starship, and when he was home, him and my mom would be off on some romantic trip. So most of my male role models came from scouting."

"I guess I'm lucky my mom and dad was just a school teacher and he was home every night."

Ashcroft nodded his head, then pressed a button on his quarters to open the sliding doors. "Yeah, but me and my dad had some good times too. We butted heads a lot, but I still wouldn't have traded him for the universe."

Litinova smiled and wished him good night, and Ashcroft entered his quarters. His smile faded as he saw the photo of his first wife and child on his desk. The memory of Victoria and Brandon came to him again. It was aboard his first command, the science vessel Arcadia, and they were in the middle of a vow renewal ceremony when the Tholians pulled off a sneak attack. He watched in horror as a bulkhead smashed his wife,who was holding their son in her hands. The only good thing was that they never saw the heavy bulkhead smash down into them, so they never felt any pain. It didn't help him, though, as he still remembered that horror to this day.

Members of his crew rushed him out of there as they escaped the lounge, which had become exposed to space. Despite the best efforts of the force field to hold off the vacuum, the field failed and several members who were trapped in the room were killed in a cruel, gruesome fashion. The Tholian ships beamed in an away team and made off with some of the samples that the crew of the Arcadia had collected on their mission to the mineral-rich planet, Garka VI. Once they had the samples, they beamed back onto their ship and ran away.

When he made his way to the bridge, he soon found out that he couldn't stay. "Sir, the reactor's about to go critical! We've got to get to the life pods," said his chief engineer, Soshi Kato, before she was killed when her console blew up in her face. He didn't hesitate as he announced "abandon ship!" into the ship's communication system. Later, he had wished he had gone down with his ship, but he wasn't thinking as he made his way to the life pod. Moments later, they were shot away from the ship, pressed into their seats as they were accelerated away from the imminent warp breach.

Years later, he still would be brought to tears whenever he thought of them. His crew of 330 saw over 200 killed, as several couldn't make it to the life pods in time, or others died when their pods were destroyed by the shock wave from the core breach. The commission assigned to investigate his actions during the attacks quickly cleared him of any wrongdoing, and all the parents of those who had been killed had forgiven him for the deaths of their children, but it was years before he could forgive himself.

He fell asleep on the couch, too tired and emotionally drained to make it to the bed. In his dreams, his father came to him. Bernard "Buster" Hollifield was a captain himself at one time, but eventually earned promotion to admiral when Ashcroft was in his teens. He discouraged his son from entering Starfleet Academy, and was pleased his son entered UNC-Chapel Hill and earned a law degree. His pleasure soon turned to disappointment as his restless son entered the Academy anyway a year after graduating law school.

On the day of his son's graduation from the Academy, Buster Ashcroft was away on a mission to deal with the unrest coming from the Orion Syndicate. He found out just as he was making it back from a graduation party with his classmates near the Presidio. He broke down right there, never having the chance to make peace with his father in real life.

In his dreams, though, he'd long since made his peace. His dad walked up to him in the garden behind their old house, wearing his old style Starfleet uniform.

"You know, I once thought it was a bad idea for you to wear the uniform, but now I see you were a natural. Sorry that I kept you from doing what you were born to do for so long, my son."

"It's ok, dad. I know you meant well. You wanted me to have what you wished you had: a steady family life. I know that granddad pushed you to go into service, to continue the family tradition."

His father nodded, "Yeah, and I came to grow into it. But I wished I'd been able to have been promoted sooner so I could have been there for you more."

"At least you had a chance at a family, dad. As for me, I have my doubts."

"Never know, son. Love might just come knocking again, and it might be closer than you think. Just don't slam the door on it because of what's happened in the past. Remember, my first wife died just weeks after we graduated from the Academy, and I was lucky to have met your mother a couple of years later."

"Well, I'll try my best, dad. That's all I can do."

His dad came up to him and hugged him, which was something he rarely did in real life. "I know, son. That's all I ask."

The chiming of his doorbell awakened him. "Enter," he said, and Commander Litinova entered his quarters. "Sorry if I woke you up, sir,
but I just needed someone to talk to.," said the commander.

Ashcroft sat up on the couch and patted it, inviting Litinova to sit beside him. "What's the matter, Commander?"

"Please, do we have to be so formal, Captain? Call me Kate."

Ashcroft nodded and said, "Ok, you can call me Steven. Reminds me of an old Paul Simon song"Kate smiled and said, "Thanks, Steven." and she sat down beside them, and they talked deep into the night.