Penny For Your Thoughts

Posted on Wed Jul 11th, 2018 @ 9:50pm by
Edited on on Wed Jul 11th, 2018 @ 9:50pm

1,267 words; about a 6 minute read

Mission: The Emerald Road
Location: Ready Room, U.S.S. Indefatigable

Time, a constant companion, clinging to the air like a stench that plagued Will as the Indefatigable raced on towards the location given to them. As much as he tried to not think it was too late the practical man, the Starfleet training had told him that for every action there were three outcomes, success, loss and the unknown. At last count in following his orders he'd violated numerous preconceptions of Starfleet, he had little doubt that a formal complaint would be made to the Council for his actions with the Klingons.

While Vash was important to Starfleet, she was important to him and he had little doubt that when they got home there would be some difficult and tough questions to answer. As Will sat in his Ready Room pondering over reports he thought back to his Academy days, lessons where the odds were stacked, ethical problems that the lecturers would pose to the class. Everyone knew the risks when they put on the uniform but Vash didn't wear one, but forces outside of his control had deemed that her past deeds needed settling and he now had to act.

Straight away he wished he had the Dreadnought back, an Ascension class capital ship would make this mission easier but in the other hand he understood that a smaller ship would cause less problems in the long run.

=^= Bradshaw to Hood. =^=

"Go ahead Lieutenant." Will spoke after he pressed the button on his desk console.

=^= Captain, we are running the engines at 117% of rated maximum, we can't keep this pace up for much longer. =^=

"How long can you give me?" Will asked already deciding that though delays were unacceptable, they were sometimes unavoidable.

=^= The engines are already showing signs of strain, 3 hours, maybe 4 but we risk permanent damage to the warp coils.=^= James didn't want to be the bearer of bad news but he didn't have a choice. =^= We were running hot to reach the Klingon ship sir. =^=

Will had not considered that, in his haste to get from A to B he'd forgotten about other critical elements. "Best speed to avoid damage to the engines?"

=^= I can comfortably give you another 2, 3 and we are pushing it, 4 and thats if your a betting man to risk the odds. If not, after 2 hours we would need to slow to Warp 7. =^=

Will rubbed his face with both hands, that was indeed a blow to the speed but if he lost his engines, he would be no use to Vash one way or another. "Very well, I will take the two, keep my informed Lieutenant." Then the channel closed. Sitting back in his chair he thought, pondered and wondered. Opening one of the drawers in his desk he pulled out a box, small, shiny. He opened it, it was a gift to Vash.

She didn't know it but it was approval for TPK to be rebuilt, signed by Admiral S'iraa. They had already begun work on it as part of the repairs to the Dreadnought while it was cleaned and cleared of any more of that organism that infested the ship. He'd hoped to give it to her the night she was taken, now it sat in his drawer with the hope that he'd be able to give it to her.

At his command was a capable ship with a talented crew and many of them had questions about his actions. There was little he could say, orders were orders and they were not privy to the information he was. He was banking on trust, trust of a crew that didn't know him for long and yet was asking them to take a leap of faith that this was the right thing to do. That his orders were the right ones to give.

=^= Hood to Dr Patrovski. =^=

=^= Xavier here Captain, what can I do for you? =^=

=^= Do you have a moment, I'd like to talk to you in my Ready Room, bring your medical kit. =^=

Xavier didn't hang about and made his way to see the Captain, he wondered what the man wanted that would need for him. When he chimed the door they opened and he stepped in. "You called for me Captain." Xavier could see that Will was suffering from the wrinkled brow, half closed eyes from strain.

"Indeed." Will spoke looking at the Doctor.

Xavier placed his medical kit on the table and ran a scan. 'Headache?"

Will nodded.

"When was the last time you ate?" Xavier asked as he continued to run a scan.

"A while." Will answered.

"I can give you something for the headache but food, that's something only you can fix." Xavier loaded a vial in a hypo and pressed it to Will's neck.

"Doctor, can I ask you something?"

"Of course." Xavier replied as he packed up his kit. "What's on your mind?"

"When you were trapped, BJ risked everything for you. She was prepared to throw away her career for you. I find myself in a similar situation, Vash is trapped and its up to me to step upto the line." Will started to speak. "I have my orders true, but Vash is important to me. I don't care about her past, I care about our future."

"Captain, if I may." Xavier slipped in to one of the chairs. "BJ is a remarkable woman, she has seen me at my worst, can't get any worse then dead believe me and yet she has brought out the best in me. I wouldn't change that for the world. For years I put off promotion, advancement because I was afraid, I was content, satisfied with what I had and then she came along and showed me how much more there was."

"I understand that as Captain you are discouraged from fraternising with those under your command. Vash is not under your command, shes a civilian. I understand the risks, with BJ is security and myself in medical there are things out there that could kill any one of us. Each mission could be our last, each kiss out of the door the final one." Xavier continued as he thought about BJ. "Yes I worry about her, I worry about when she does her job, worry when she goes on an away mission but that is what lovers do."

"You know I will be sending her to rescue Vash when we arrive." Will spoke.

"BJ wouldn't have it any other way, besides she'd sooner stun you then let you go down there yourself and I'd honestly not like to explain to Vash how you ended up dead. You ended up in Sickbay before remember, I'd not like to end up there myself. I spend enough time there as it is." Xavier joked in an attempt to lighten the mood.

"Ultimately Captain, you have orders so you are carrying them out. Starfleet wouldn't blindly issue these orders without some kind of failsafes in place. Get her back and let time sort out the rest."

"BJ must be a remarkable woman to bring this out of you. I remember reading your file when I joined the ship. Now...it reads like another person." Will spoke.

"When you find someone in your life Captain, and you know..." Xavier stood up and picked up his kit. "When you know, you will do anything you can to keep them safe and to keep them in your life." Xavier put the strap of the bag over his shoulder. "You do what you have to, BJ can do what she does and then you can tie this up and head home."

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