Five Years Away

Posted on Fri May 1st, 2015 @ 2:23pm by Commander Ashley Kennedy

Mission: The Night Cries
Location: H Deck and Bridge, USS Farragut
Timeline: 2278.47: 0925hrs

Ash almost felt like skipping as she strode down the corridor on H Deck toward the turbolift stop that would take her up to the bridge. This was unusual because she never felt like skipping.

She’d just finished conferring with her two ordnance officers and the ordnance chiefs and went to great lengths to explain to the officers - one a lieutenant junior grade who should know better and the other an ensign who should also know better - how important it was to effectively maintain phasers and torpedo launchers. She shared a knowing glance with one of the chiefs - a crusty old Caitian with long grey whiskers and shrewd green eyes - and instantly knew where the brains of her department could be found.

Nevertheless, she had five years to try and mould the two junior officers into respectable, competent Starfleet officers and she fully intended to do just that. By the time their cruise aboard the Farragut was over, she’d have them promoted and ready to take on their own weapons departments! She’d learned more than just advanced tactics under Elsa Gunning’s tutelage and she planned to follow the captain’s shining example.

What a tremendous loss Elsa Gunning would be. Not just for Starfleet or for the mission, but personally for Ashley Kennedy. In a very short time, Gunning had transcended in Ash’s mind from a malevolent antagonist, bent on causing her pain and anguish, to a harsh but wise mentor. The countless hours of torment had all been for a reason. A reason Ash couldn't see at the time, but her mentor most certainly could. In the end, she came out of that course ten times the officer she was when she went into it and that was solely down to the influence of one person.

Now that person was gone. Ash had had plenty of mentors in her time - from Professor Wycliff to Captain Galloway - but none had made such a profound impact on her as Elsa Gunning. She reached the turbolift stop and hit the call button, then waiting with her arms crossed. As she waited, Ash thought about how she owed it to Captain Gunning’s memory to live up to the potential she saw in her. That was why this five year mission was so important to Ash; it was her chance to really prove herself.

Five years! Five years of risk. Five years of discovery. Five years of exploring strange new worlds. How could anybody not be excited by that? she thought as the turbolift arrived and she stepped in. “Bridge,” she ordered.

Of course, the mission gained even more significance for Ash in the hours since her mentor’s life was brutally cut short. She was now first officer and a full commander! That wasn’t in the script, it wasn’t supposed to happen that quickly. But it gave Ash enormous confidence that it wasn’t just Elsa Gunning who had faith in her. Clearly, Commodore Slayton and Captain Rackham saw something as well. It did mean, however, that the pressure was well and truly on her to perform. If she failed in this opportunity, she wouldn’t just be letting down the memory of Elsa Gunning; she’d be destroying the trust of her new captain. That was simply not an acceptable outcome.

The lift doors open and the bridge beeped and squeaked and chatted away before her. It was marvelous! The refit crew had tried some new things with the bridge and completely reworked the interfaces giving it a sleek, state of the art feel. Not only that, it was actually bigger than any bridge she’d ever served in. Her eyes quickly found her own console, in front of and to the right of the captain’s chair.

The captain’s chair! She’d never been closer to it than she was right now. She’d taken the chair plenty of times aboard the Cherenkov and even on the Corvus, but somehow it was different knowing that she was first officer. She wouldn’t just be sitting there as officer of the watch anymore. No, when she sat in that chair, it would be as the person responsible for taking command should anything happen to Captain Rackham. She didn’t want to think about anything happening to Aiden, but it was a consideration. She had to be ready for it; it was her job.

She sat down in the centre chair now, enjoying the crisp freshness of the material and holding on to the armrests with an air of regal authority. It wasn’t her chair; she knew that. It was now Aiden Rackham’s chair. She’d have her own someday. If she made the most of this opportunity, she would stand an even chance of having one of her own at the other end of this mission.

Five years, she said to herself, allowing a smile to crack her usually stoic face. She looked around the bridge at the crew working busily to get the ship ready for launch before her eyes settled on the viewscreen. It showed a slice of Cestus III on the left and a muted starscape to the right. Out there, the next five years were waiting for her. And beyond that …

Let’s get it done.