A/N: As a reminder, this weird version of Star Trek is based on my life, so there's no telling what will happen because life is unpredictable.
Ode to A Starship by Lina Shay
Chapter Thirty: Final Mission
Everyone in the astrometrics lab was complaining about Vause and his incessant talking. It was true that Vause tended to voleteer information that no one really wanted to hear. I did remember an instance were he told an irrelevant story of him getting a Narcadian cuss word tatooed in a strange place on his body. That was more than I needed to know. But I couldn't believe they were complaining about him more than they had about Andrannon.
"Oh, no! Here he comes," grumbled one of the officers.
Vause came up and announced to the department, "Captain Paris has instructed all department heads to announced that the Wasatch is being decommissioned at the end of the month."
General shock filled the astrometrics lab.
"Decomissioned," I whispered to myself, not quite believing it.
"If I were you, I would think about where you would like to be reassigned," Vause added.
B'Liz, Jala, Sisma and I were talking about the decomission over dinner at Sisma's quarters.
"It's so weird," Jala muttered. "We aren't going to see each other anymore unless we all request to be assigned to the same place."
"I have been meaning to do some research into the Boisen plague," Sisma said. "I will probably request to go there."
"You don't want to be on a starship?" Jala asked.
"No," Sisma shrugged. "Don't get me wrong. I have loved traveling among the stars, but I think this plague is going to only get worse. Besides, I'll still have Peter if I want to go anywhere."
"I think I'll probably return to the Morgan," I voiced. "I did really like it on the Morgan. It was the first ship I had ever been assigned to."
"The Morgan is as good a place as any," B'Liz shrugged.
"Maybe I'll try to get assigned to the Morgan as well," Jala said. "That way, we can still hang out all the time."
"And I can come visit you guys," Sisma pointed out.
We were all talking contentedly until it hit me. I think Jala may ahd realized the same thing I did because we looked at each other.
"Wait," I muttered. "I'm not going to be reassigned. I don't think I will continue in startfleet."
Sisma and B'Liz looked at me.
"I'm quitting starfleet to be a Vedek," I went on, hoping they didn't make a big deal out of it.
They didn't. B'Liz seemed rather indifferent to the idea, and Sisma said it was neat. I was glad for their tame responses. I would have gotten embarrassed if they had gone crazy over the idea.
From then on, it seemed like someone had to announce when something would be our last together. Jala pointed out when we played out last holonovel together. Sisma told us when she gave her last annual physical of the crewman. They were really going emotional over missing everyone. I felt bad that I wasn't being emotional about it. I guess I would miss them, but I wasn't going to miss them until they were gone. I wasn't really thinking too much about it. Besides, I was getting a little distracted by the rules of engaging in the Vedek order. There were a lot of texts to study and habits to encorporate in your life. With that and preparing the astrometrics data we had collected over the last year for datastream transmission to starfleet, things were begining to get hectic.
There was a reception one night, just to say goodbye to everyone. I couldn't believe how many people there were on the ship who I didn't know. I kept hoping to see certain people, but I didn't see them. Dustin and Josh had been transfered sometime during the year. When I saw Whitley and Tiffany, I thought of Bryce and looked around that area for him. It took a moment for it to sink in that he wasn't there. Sisma and I were both having a hard time being there. We told Jala and Colban that we were leaving and then went back to Sisma's quarters. B'Liz was there. She avoided ship functions when possible.
I didn't want to go back to my quarters, so I ended up sleeping on the floor between Sisma and B'Liz's beds. I left the next morning before either of them had woken up. I took a long sonic shower and then began to pack all the things in my quarters. You can never start packing too early.