12307.08 – 13:50 hours Ravenswood Hanger bay-
As Richard stepped into Ravenswood's Hanger, he noticed Alan, clad in greasy bright orange coveralls, bent over a disassembled engine. It was an older model, but with a little restoration, it was working nicely in the farm truck they had been puttering with the past few months. Richard had been flying a desk for nearly twenty-plus years but always felt at home in a hangar with tools scattered about and the sounds of work being done.
Seeing Alan focused on tightening a bolt and cursing when the adjustment didn't give him the reading he had expected, Richard took a bottle of cold soda from the replicator for himself and one for Alan. "Hey, what's the latest in this hunk of junk?"
Alan stood up to face him, a grin spreading across his face. "Either my calibrating sensor is off, or someone mislabeled that coax as a .47 instead of a .45." Alan wiped his hands on his jumpsuit before taking the offered soda from Skyler.
Richard pulled over a work stool. "So, I've been thinking…" Richard steepled his fingers as he tilted his head back and cracked his neck.
"About what?" Quizzed Alan as he took a sip from the offered drink.
"About Zeff." Replied Richard, picking up a wrench from the bench and turning it over and over in his fingers.
"What about her?" asked Alan as he pulled over his stool.
"Well, at our daily meeting, she informed me that she wishes to spend more time with her grandchildren. And with her partner just retired, they would like to travel and spend more time together."
"Zeff has been in Star Fleet since..." Alan calculated in his head, "I think she was at the Academy when Wolf 359 occurred. Wanting to spend more time with family isn't an unreasonable request." Alan shrugged.
"She has big shoes to fill. Let's be honest; being my second in command is not for the faint of heart." Richard chuckled slightly. "I spent most of the morning reviewing the current list of available candidates and recommendations to take over her position. The issue is that they are mostly desk pilots with connections up the chain. Their idea of 'command' is leading a wellness retreat on Risa. They have no real leadership experience." Richard rolled his eyes, and he took another sip of his soda.
"But what good field commander would give that up to deal with the administrative bureaucracy that is part of Zeff's job?" Alan scoffed.
"The choice is to put someone without a lot of real-world experience who can handle the administrative duty involved, or …" Richard gestured widely.
"... hire someone who strangles the first bureaucrat they meet with their red tape." Alan saluted him with his bottle. "Good luck with that."
"That is why I rejected ALL of them." Richard sighed and looked up at his friend's face. "Except one."
"Oh?" Alan's surprise showed from behind his dark glasses.
"The candidate has experience working in the field and held command positions on star ships and in educational labs." Richard continued looking at his friend, "He sustained an injury that prevents him from taking on a front-line command position."
"Ouch, that is hard, but so is wrangling a bunch of teenage hotshots who think they are the next James T. Kirk or Jean Luc Picard back into reality. It isn't considered the front lines but needs its own hazard pay." Alan agreed.
"You aren't wrong," Richard moved his head from side to side. On top of all that, I would need someone I can trust implicitly who rightfully earned the promotion of Commodore."
"I love you, mate, but you don't trust easily." Alan looked away to their current half-dismantled engine. "You and Robin both have been burned badly in the past and finding good officers you trust enough to hang your career on them won't be easy." Alan raised his bottle to his lips again, "So, who is this guy you found?"
"You," Richard said deadpan.
The bottle stopped halfway to his lips. "Be serious."
"I am," Richard smirked.
"Have you lost your mind?" Alan stood and turned to face Richard, his drink forgotten.
"According to our wives, that is debatable." Richard's smile widened.
"You want me as your second in command?" Alan pointed to himself with the bottle.
"Well…Yeah." Richard looked at his friend as if he was an idiot.
"It's a stupid idea, Richard!" Alan stood up quickly, pushing his stool to the ground.
Calmly, Richard ticked off things on his fingers, "One, I need someone who has experience working on small crew ships and has worked with cadets and young officers, which you have."
"Richard, for the past 20 years, I've run the design labs and supervised their early design testing."
Richard continued as if Alan hadn't said anything, "Two, you have been mentoring some of the hard-core cases that come into my program and have an 82% success rate getting their heads out of their asses."
"They 'conveniently' end up in my seminar classes, and I have had to deal with them, or I can't do my job." Alan said, frustrated, "The rest of the time, I'm on the Fleming doing research with bioengineers, hoping they create something to help other people like myself." Alan gestured at his glasses.
"Which, three, if I'm not mistaken, you have won accolades for co-authoring some major papers with those students, one of which is your niece and goddaughter." Richard reminded him.
"I just designed the thing to help Jacob; I didn't expect Christine to do anything with it! I'm glad she did, but I just wanted to be my Godaughter's boyfriend, not make advancements in medical science.."
"And four, when I have needed someone to have my back, you have been there every time. Whether flying a shuttle in the middle of a volcano or being my oldest daughter's godfather, you have been there. If there is anyone I trust implicitly, it is YOU!" Richard stood and pointed his finger at Alan's chest, "Face it, Alan, you have a thing for inspiring young people. You know how to do the administrative shuffle, and you have my trust to call me on my bullshit."
"I can't just up and leave Robin!" Alan tried to explain, "My posting is on the Fleming. I took the position so I could spend time with my wife. Before that post, I was lucky to be in the same room with her every three months. She was being pulled all over the galaxy, and I had to be there for Grace and Sam."
"Grace is married, with a child of her own, and if what Jack tells me is true, she is turning heads with her work." Richard gestured out the hanger door, "Sam is kicking ass in his master's classes, as well as managing a farm of his own. If you worked on keeping him out of trouble, Beatrice does an excellent job. How often have you and Robin clashed over the littlest things lately?"
"I wouldn't call it 'clashing' Skyler. I love my wife, but there are times when I'm heading in one direction, and she needs to go a different one; therefore, I follow her lead as what she does is more important."
"And you called me an idiot." Richard looked to the ceiling in frustration.
"What?"
Richard looked back at his friend, "Alan, you let your career stagnate so you could follow Robin. That isn't fair to you."
"I didn't let my career stagnate for Robin." Alan snarled, "I had my life's work blow up in my face and take my sight from me! My career was gone, and all I had left was my family. Everything I had worked for up until that moment was gone. "
"And here I thought that the pity train had left the station ages ago, but it's ME who is the one who is the blind one." Richard countered.
"Why do you say that?" asked Alan bitterly.
"Because EVERY SINGLE TIME that you are offered an opportunity to rise to the occasion, you simply go and hide behind your disability. You keep saying how much has been taken from you because of the accident, but did you ever stop to think about how much you have given away?" Richard steamed.
"My life was over, Richard. If it weren't for Robin and Grace, I would have given up on life long ago." Alan got in Richard's face.
"You don't think I know that!" Richard was in Alan's face. "I know how close you came. I was right next to you, or did you forget?"
Alan removed his glasses, showing his once blue eyes, now cloudy from their sustained damage. He pointed to himself with his glasses, "I wanted to leave Star Fleet. What use was a blind pilot and engineer? There was nothing they could do for me when the lights went out. No fancy interfaces, no prosthetic eyes, nothing. I was useless to Star Fleet, but you convinced me otherwise." Alan poked Richard in the chest. "You pushed me to keep going."
Richard stopped and took a good look at his friend.
"So I did. With what little sight I had left, I pushed myself into my projects, hoping to leave a legacy behind before the lights went out permanently. That way, the sacrifice I made for my career would mean something. And then, one night, " I was reminded that my family was my real legacy, not some research project." Alan began to calm down. "I promised to have dinner with Robin one night, but I thought she wouldn't mind if I were a few minutes late. It was hours later before I returned to our quarters. I had the apology on the tip of my tongue when I walked in that door…" Alan's voice faded off.
"It wasn't just any dinner, was it?" Richard asked as he laid a hand on his friend's shoulder.
"Robin had gone all out. The good settings and candles were out. She even made my favorite meal from scratch." Alan chuckled sadly. "You knew how crazy her shift could be, and she had gone out of her way to make that night special."
"What was the dinner celebrating?" Richard nodded and squeezed Alan's shoulder.
Alan turned his face towards Richard, "She was pregnant with Grace." Alan tipped his head and sniffed, "And I didn't show up. My wife wanted to tell me the most wonderful news, and I was more concerned about leaving some legacy project than being there for my terrified wife." Alan looked at his friend, "I remind myself every day to have the pink knitted baby shoes that Robin knitted to tell me we were pregnant, sitting on my work monitor, so I don't forget what truly matters. "
"Which you tried to warn me about, but I didn't listen." Richard shook his head in sorrow, "Which is why you kicked my ass so many times." Richard smiled slightly and shook his shoulder.
"You said that every time I was allowed to step up in Star Fleet, I turned it down, citing the loss of this." He gestured to his face in a circle. "And you are right. I used it as an excuse so that I could safely say No. No, I don't want to take that deep space mission with my sensor drone designs because it would make me miss my daughter's first birthday. No, I won't take that Captain's promotion because it would require me to be away so much, I would miss my son's first steps."
"The only way I could convince you to take that Captain's promotion was if they set up the sensor and propulsion labs in the sol system." Nodding, Richard reminded him.
"It was the right time; Sam was just entering upper forms and had been accepted at the Oxford Academy. He would spend most of his time there, and Grace was in the Academy by then." Alan shrugged. "Robin and I had our house in San Fransisco. I had my lab in the basement. Until then, there was no reason for me to be anything more than Mr. Admiral Robin Scott."
"Then Grace and Jack turned the whole world upside down." Richard chuckled.
"That they did." Alan removed his glasses and wiped his eyes. "My daughter was married. Sam spent more time in the Raven's Nest than in his room in San Fransisco. It was time to step out into the light again. My designs are now being used to investigate this new frontier by my protegee, my daughter, my Grace. My work is being noticed again. After 25 years, I am finally back in a position with my work that I can say is better than before my accident. I'm finally stepping out of Robin's shadow, doing my own thing. Why the hell do you want me to give all of that to be your second in command?"
"Alan, I wouldn't have picked you if I didn't think you could do it," Richard reassured him. "As I said before," Richard counted on his fingers again. "Captain Alan Scott has extensive experience working on small crew ships and with cadets and young officers. Despite the challenges he has faced in his career, he is an excellent mentor to the hard-core cases that could be some of our best officers with the right guidance. On top of helping those hard-core cases, you have guided your students toward major discoveries and have won accolades for co-authoring some major papers with those students, one of which is Lieutenant Janice Christine Holtz. Think about it, Alan. I need someone with this specific qualification, and you have all of them."
"Maybe," Alan tried to find a good argument, "I'm sure there are more qualified people than me."
"Mate, you were at the side of Admiral Robin Scott as she was forging tricky diplomatic waters. You can tell me she didn't bounce ideas off you when she was at wit's end."
"Well…"
"You know both the correct way and the real way to push through the red tape system to reach the necessary outcomes." Richard held up his next finger, "When working on those small projects in the short-range research ships and working in the dynamic labs, you forged your skills and connections with those junior officers and cadets. How many of those new officers still call you for advice or to celebrate an achievement they would never have achieved without your support and brand of ass-kicking."
Alan rolled his eyes, "You are exaggerating that a bit, Mate."
"While others only see the flagships moving across the board, you see how the little things connect us all." Richard held up the last finger. "And you know what it takes to be a good commander and leader. Hell, you and Robin saw something I still don't understand in me."
"Beneath all that swagger and false bravado was an officer who knew what was right and did what was best for his crew." Alan couldn't help but dig a little at Richard, "Even if he did scratch things up a few times."
"Some more than others." Richard glared at him. "Alan, the point is, I'm not asking you out of pity, nepotism, or favors to your wife, none of that. You have the credentials, and you have my faith and trust. If I do this properly, I will need a good right-hand man, and I want it to be you."
"Richard, I don't know…"
"Sam's in college, and it wouldn't surprise me if he and Bea married soon. Grace is happily married to Jack and has my adorable nephew. Robin is doing good for the Federation by doing what she loves best. And if you think being away from her a couple of months at a time will make her lose love for you, you don't know your wife very well."
"Hey, I told her she could trade me in for a new, undamaged model," Alan laughed.
"Robin has always said, 'Don't waste good.' If you don't take this chance, you are wasting the good she knows that is in you."
Alan eyed Richard warily, "She already has my bags packed, doesn't she?"
"Maybe…."
"Fine, I'll do it, but on one condition."
"Which is?"
"I want the Avonby as my ship."
"You will be a Commodore; why would you want that hunk of junk?"
"Same reason a Vice Admiral likes his Nebula Class."
"The Avonby needs repairs and upgrades, and your crew will have to work together so that it runs smoothly given its size…..." Richard faded off, "And that is exactly why you want it."
Alan smirked at him.
"Fine, but you have to start shadowing Zeff tomorrow so you are up to speed before the next training session."
"Then we better get this thing buttoned up quickly unless you plan to pour coffee down my throat all morning to keep me awake in your meetings." Smiling, Alan tossed a wrench to Richard. "That is IF Mr. High and Vice-Admiral Skyler still know how to turn a wrench?"
