Anywhere But Earth

Posted on Thu Dec 1st, 2022 @ 2:11pm by Lieutenant JG Evelyn Stewart

787 words; about a 4 minute read

Mission: A Deserted Planet Is No Tragedy
Location: Shuttlecraft Apollo
Timeline: MD 14: 0730 hours

“They can’t be serious.” Evelyn said seemingly to herself as she checked on the impulse manifolds before looking up at the display of a grizzled captain in front of her again. “Amphitrite is in the middle of nowhere.” she complained.

She could see how Captain Naal sigh heavily as he listened to her complain. His eyes following her around the cabin of the shuttle as she worked. She was agitated and clearly wasn’t pleased with the posting. “It’s in a crucial region between Federation space and what was the Romulan Empire.”, he says to try to pacify her. “This is an important step towards furthering relations between ourselves and the Romulans.”

Evelyn stopped her diagnostic and gave the image a skeptical look as she shook her head. “This isn’t Bajor.” She reminds him, calling out the attempted parallels Starfleet Command has been trying to draw about this partnership. “Romulans do not want to join the Federation. They can’t be trusted, everyone knows that, especially now that half of them want to be like Vulcans. This is all just a publicity stunt drawn up by both sides to deal with the fall out of what happened with Mars.” She said cynically of the speculation to why Starfleet and the Romulan government came to an agreement over the usage of the seabase.

Captain Naal sighed heavily, his face confirmed for her that she wasn’t alone in her skepticism. “Maybe so, but that doesn’t change the fact that we have an opportunity here. You have an opportunity here, Evelyn.” He says, trying to keep the woman focused.

Evelyn set her jaw to keep her annoyance in check as best she could while grabbing a toolkit and realigning the impulse thrusters. The shuttle she was given on Upsilon was an older model that hadn’t seen maintenance work done in nearly 15 months. She spent most of her trip doing routine maintenance to get the shuttle to standard. “It’s a sea base, Captain. How much flying do you expect me to do if I am planetside?” She asked sarcastically.

“You have also been assigned as chief helmsman for the USS Somersby while assigned there.” He reminds her.

“Great.” She says sarcastically, replacing a dead power cell on the backup systems. “Which isn’t even going to be flight worthy for what, another six months?” She asks the display rhetorically before shaking her head and getting back to her work. “I have been training pilots on Episilon for two years just to be transferred to a do-nothing post in the middle of no where.”

“You could always return to Earth, finish out your career sitting at a desk, reviewing simulations and weeding out cadets who can’t hack it.” He reminds her of the two years she spent fresh out of the academy under him.

Stewart scoffed at the idea that she had an actual career in Starfleet. She knew punching Admiral Weston was going to hurt her career, but she didn’t realize how much. This flight from Upsilon III to Amphitrite was the longest she had flown a spacecraft in nearly two years and she had to pull every string she had on the outpost to make it happen instead of taking a transport.

Evelyn turned her attention back to the display of the man who took a chance on her, possibly hurting his career in the process but she would never know. She knew Captain Naal would never tell her either way. She shook her head, they both knew she wouldn’t want to be stuck on Earth for the career, and that she had no real prospects outside of Starfleet. She couldn’t just be a civilian pilot, she was capable of more than that. The leash was being loosened, ever so slightly, and even Evelyn couldn’t deny that.

“No, of course not.” She admitted. With a heavy sigh of her own, Stewart returned to her seat at the helm.

“Listen, Evelyn. Amphitrite maybe in the middle of nowhere, but it also means Starfleet Command has little influence out there. This is your chance to show what you are capable of and what kind of officer you are without Starfleet politics getting in the way. Got it, Kid?” Naal points out.

Stewart nodded in understanding. “Yes, Sir. I understand.” Taking a breath she looked at the navigational system. “I am due to reach Amphitrite within an hour. I should let you go. But…thank you, Captain.” She said sincerely.

The man simply nodded before the display went out. Focusing her attention on getting the shuttle in order, Stewart focused on getting back to work and preparing the shuttle for arrival.

 

RSS Feed