Unfinished Business
Chapter 58 : Rumbles
December 2279
The captain of the Enterprise sat in his ready room, having listened to the communique from StarFleet Command for the fourth time. He still found it difficult to believe what he had heard, and surely there was some way that he could circumvent these orders. Surely. He heaved a great sigh, and rose from his seat, pacing about the room. He did not want to leave the Enterprise. He most certainly did not want to spend the remainder of his time in the service stuck behind a desk. Why were they so insistent? At least they had given him a short time to prepare, to finish out a portion of the current mission. He would not have to pack and go tomorrow. Still. It was not what he wanted.
Over the next few weeks, he found the time to speak privately with each of his senior officers. Each of them expressed displeasure at the news that was spoken. However, none of them seemed to feel that there was anything he could do to prevent it from happening. He swore each to secrecy, until he must reveal his departure to all, yet still, somehow the idea seemed to leak out, and there were rumbles about the ship, talk among the crew. He saw eyes turn in his direction, voices suddenly quiet when he walked by. Not what he wanted at all.
As the end of the year drew nearer, he realized that this would be the last year that he celebrated these holidays in space. The last year that he would see a brightly decorated tree sparkling against the lights of the stars going by. The last year he would stand expectantly under replicated mistletoe tied to the overhead plates of a metal corridor. The last year he would sample Scotty's special punch. He sighed again. So many things that he would miss.
Perhaps, if he was lucky, there would be other trips out into space, occasionally. Nothing like living permanently on a starship, but still, surely there would be opportunities now and then, if he kept his eyes and ears open. Inspection tours, perhaps.
He began to wander about the ship, remembering all the things that had happened during the years that he had been the captain. He had memories about almost every part of the ship. Good memories, bad memories. Times when the ship had been invaded, when even the minds of the crew had been invaded. The years had been full, one experience piled on top of another. There had not been many stretches of time when things had been quiet, not on this ship.
And when he lay upon his bed at night, after these excursions, he realized that all these different experiences had molded him, stretched him, changed him. He was who he was today because of all these things, and all the officers and crew who had served with him throughout those years. Some of whom were still here on the ship, in its current crew. Others were gone, either serving on other ships or retired, or killed in action. Those he regretted, but it happened. It was part of life. Part of his life. And he would not trade those years for any other thing that he might have done. This life had suited him perfectly. If he had to move up, he would do so, but he would never give up the hope that he would have more years on a starship sometime in the future. He would have to work at finding a way to ensure that. Surely he could find a way if he tried.