Saying Goodbye

Posted on Thu Apr 15th, 2021 @ 11:01am by Ensign L'johk Adams & Commodore Keiben Haistro & Commander Peter Horn & Lieutenant Commander Melanie D’BrooNi- Haistro & Lieutenant Commander Junjie Han

2,381 words; about a 12 minute read

Mission: Episode 2 - Echoes Of An Empire
Location: Deck 2 - Holodeck 1
Timeline: Mission Day 13 @ 1100 Hours

ON

He was standing by the window of the small alcove that had been dubbed 'The Café' by the crew staring out of the window watching the warped stars glimmer by lost in his own thoughts. Less than twenty four hours ago he had learnt that a dear and close friend had died and he had been the one to order her on the mission. His jaw was locked, not allowing himself to show the emotion that was swelling and churning inside of him. Was this the real price of command and how had the great Captains of history dealt with the losses. Captain Picard had been the envoy of the Borg and had massacred millions at the battle of Wolf Three Five Nine. Captain Georgiou and the battle of the Binary Stars had lost most of her crew. Captain Sisko had lead the allied forces against the Dominion and had posted the casualties reports through that long and bloody war. Captain Kirk and his crew of fresh cadets when he went against Khan Noonien Singh and so many others. Keiben was a new Commanding Officer and had lost his first crewman under his command and it was like a searing wound.

He tugged at his Dress Uniform trying to bring it down from riding up across his middle but decided that it really didn't matter. He was here to say... He wasn't even sure he could form the thought let alone voice the word. How was he going to get through his days knowing his dear friend was gone, left in fact on a planet they could likely never return to, leaving her smile, her acerbic whit and humour behind.

Mel tugged her dress uniform uncomfortably. Another funeral. She knew Keiben was taking this one hard as he had been close with her. 'Im so sorry. I'm here' she said simply not knowing what else to say. She grabbed his hand and squeezed it gently.

The muscular large framed man seemed much smaller today as he squeezed her hand in return and put his free arm around Charlie who had come up on his other side and hugged her quickly.

Charlie it seemed didn't have any words to offer.

They still lost someone, Tam for some reason thought they could have gotten out of this event without a loss. Well, she was hoping anyway. She arrived to see some of the others gathered, and swallowed hard. She was going to miss Yelena Sidorov the lady sure had quite the wit about her. And Tamaska realized she still had owed Sidorov a drink.

"Charlie... I mean Yeoman Brooks, can I have a moment of your time before we go in?"

Keiben smiled at Mel and Tam as they entered the holodeck but gently caught Charlies arm in his hand, still looking as he had when they had found him he regarded the young women with a deeper appreciation for who she was becoming.

"I wanted to apologise to you for calling you kiddo and the like on the bridge... I was viewing you as a surrogate father figure and not as your Commanding Officer"

"Yeah but look it was a tough moment. I get that," she said. The sadness of all this really meant it was just a memory now during a crazy time. "It doesn't matter in the grand scheme of what was happening. Anyway lets try get through this. Do you have your eulogy ready? I brought a spare," she handed over a PADD. "Just in case."

"I know what I have to say but first... You impressed me so much. You took a stressful situation and you handled it like a seasoned and fully trained starfleet officer" he started to swell with pride knowing that Mel was more than proud of her her daughter but Keiben also knew that her biological father would be even more proud of how she handled herself. "With that in mind, we will be starting your formal starfleet training as of tomorrow. Each division will get to spend a week with you until you decide which division is for you. I have already forwarded on a letter of recommendation to Starfleet Academy and they have put you on layaway until you are old enough... Now, lets get in there!"

"Okay but Keiben I mean Captain. I'm really not interested in science. Not in any way," Charlie said quickly walking past him and heading for a seat.

Peter hadn't known the officer, but as a member of the senior staff he considered it a requirement, if not at least proper conduct, to attend the funeral. As Melanie hadn't allowed him to walk, he'd been resigned to the use of a hover chair. His right arm was hidden in a sling, hiding the missing limb. He looked very pale, and he felt as if his arm didn't belong to him. Thanks to being pumped full of drugs, at least he wasn't in any pain but he felt far from himself. As if his own body didn't belong to him. "Captain..." He murmured as he tried to glide past.

Keiben nodded at Commander Horn as he entered the holodeck closly followed by Ensign Adams and Lieutenant Han as he rounded the corner to enter the holodeck also.

The Captain was the last to enter the holodeck in a weak attempt o delay what was to come. It was inevitable though. Like a comet locked into its million year path it would arrive no matter what happened around it. The holodeck was set out like a summer day meadow, wild flowers dotted around the seating with an image of Yelena at the head of the scene. She was smiling back at everyone, the way he wanted to remember her.

He walked down to stand by the image, forcing his emotions in check and realised just how few had turned up for the service. It shouldn't have surprised him, most of her friends had passed during the attack before the USS Merlin had arrived to save them all, but it was still a disappointment.

"Yelena Sidarov. She always called herself the Russian bombshell because her vivacious personality was loved or hated. Personally I loved this women. She was the first person I met when I arrived on Copernicus... She took me under her wing, showed me how things worked here and she introduced me to true Russian Vodka. How she always seemed to have a bottle or two of the real thing I never figured out, and I'm sure more than a few of us have suffered the next day but she always seemed to be bright and fresh no matter how much she had consumed. One thing I do know is that she would hate the tears, the sorrow... She would want this to be a celebration of her life and I invite you all up to talk about the good times".

Kei stepped to the front row and took a seat that had been kept free for him, fighting back the swell of emotion he was feeling for the loss but determined to laugh about her life and love for it. Now he just hoped that some of the others would stand up to talk. He needed the time to pull himself under control once more before the end. The final goodbye.

Mel stood up sensing Keiben needed others to say something. "I didn't have the pleasure of knowing Yelena as well as some of you but she had a reputation of being .. well the vodka stories are infamous. And I certainly," she smiled a small smile, "Aided a few of you on the morning after.

If anything in honour of her, I urge you all to join me in toasting her with a real shot of vodka after this ceremony. I believe she would have wanted that. She was an alien archaeologist. An anthropologist. In the trip down to the planet on the away team, she was so excited at what we might of learnt of the T'Kon. It is my belief that in the place she is now, at peace, the mysteries of civilisation's that were her life's work are now revealed to her.

Junjie stood up and walked to the front and slowly turned to face those assembled, He appeared to be a bit shaken before composing himself briefly .
" Yalena was and will always in my mind, a brilliant, passionate and dedicated researcher. She worked hard and loved a good laugh, She was colorful and insightful and loved what she did. I was just getting to know her and considered her a friend and would have liked to get to know her better. " He paused briefly collecting his thoughts.

" She lived her life doing what she loved and was an example to those around her, Even if she didn't know it. I will cherish the memory of this wonderful friend, even though it was only briefly." He turned and glanced at Yelena's image and then back to the crew. " I hope you all can live as she did. Have the passion for what you do, live your life to it's fullest and never be afraid to show your family and friends that you love them. This is what she taught me by example, and I shall always remember it." With that said Junjie returned to his seat and sat down.

Amalia snuck in almost at the last minute, she wanted to say goodbye to the scientist. She didn't know if it was okay but, she wanted to pay her respects, she went to sit next to Adams.

Tamaska walked up to the front, stood there gazing at Yelena, then turned to look at those gathered. "Yelena, she was a brilliantly vibrant woman. She actually got me to come to a party or two, where we painted our toenails gossiped of the men we loved, or found rather attractive." she looked at Keiben. "You know she had the hots for you, sir, I am sure you might have picked that up from time to time." giving Keiben a wink.

"Oh and also" Looking at Adams, "She told me.. That Adams fellow he is one mighty fine looking man."

Then Tamaska looked at Mel" She had told me that you were a wonderful woman and she had the most fun when you came to that one crazy party. I believe we were sporting some new hats, that looked vaguely like lampshades?"

"Then there is you, Charlie. Yelena said that you were very strong, creative and had a lot of brains, you are one smart cookie." Tamaska commented. She then looked back to the image of Yelana, "It looks like I will be drinking that bottle of vodka without you. I'm going to miss you something fierce." Tam's voice cracked on the last part as she made her way back to her seat, where she buried her face in her hands trying to stem the tears from falling.

Amalia rose to her feet and walked up, "I will miss her, she was teaching me Russian phrases and we had some good laughs. I wish she had been here longer." that was all Amalia could say, as she went back to her seat.

Peter watched the people who stepped up with a semi-detached interest. He found it hard to keep his attention to the words spoken, but he did his best to at least look awake enough. Since he hadn't known the woman - at least not to his current lacking recollection - he wasn't planning on stepping up to speak.

L'johK spoke next from his seat, the pride in his voice was evident for all to hear but also tears in his eyes.
"Yelena was a proud, strong women. I first met her, and I think we may be starting a running theme here with her, in a bar on Starbase three zero eight. She drank me under the table which is some feat given I have the constitution of a Klingon" he chuckled a little at the memory of her trying to lift him out of the bar and carry him back to Copernicus.

"She tried to carry me back to Copernicus, somehow still mostly sober while I wouldn't have even been able to untie my shoelaces... She even taught me a few things about Mok'bara that I still use today, and she is the only one on the crew that could pin me... given she was half my size as well... As a Klingon we don't use the word 'miss'... It is not honourable but she taught me that holding onto friends and their memories keeps them alive in others around us... I for one will miss her and I will be joining you for that drink Commander to honour her memory!"

L'johK put his hand on her image as he moved past her, his Human half taking over as he started to silently cry but he didn't try to hide it, instead he wore it like a badge on honour and as a matter of pride.

Neshia arrived and walked to the front, she had missed most of the speeches but, she wanted to say something about the loss of a fellow scientist. "I only got to associate with her a few times, I liked her and she will be missed. She was so excited to be going on this expedition. I..I..." she broke down and went to sit, she was feeling all very emotional right now.

Sensing that was the final speaker Keiben stood once more, still forcing back his own emotions that were assaulting his defences. It was through force of his own will that he kept from breaking down... that would come later, in private when he was able to mourn his friend in his own way.
"All rise please" he paused to give the gathering a moment to do as asked. "Let us never forget the sacrifice but most of all lets not forget the person... and I expect everyone here to be reporting for duty tomorrow with a Vodka induced hang over... Now I believe some of the other crew have organised a get together in the mess hall. That concludes this gathering!"

END

 

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