The Right Place at the Right Time

Posted on Mon Jul 22nd, 2024 @ 9:47pm by Lieutenant Vincent Cavendish

543 words; about a 3 minute read

Mission: Mission 2 - Death is Only the Beginning
Location: Observation Lounge
Timeline: Before receiving the distress signal

ON:

The stars were different.

Vincent was old enough to remember a time when stars had been seen as the constant guiding lights on even the darkest of nights. Or in the darkest of times.

He had seen astronomers try and understand them…romantics try and capture them in words and paint…and the first brave souls try and fly to them.

Yet the thing that hadn’t changed throughout those valiant endeavours was the faith and belief that stars were the unwavering sentinels.

But here, and now, the stars were different.

Not only could Vincent see it from where he watched them in the observation lounge, but he could *feel* it too.

For the first time, the half El-Aurian, half Human man was standing in the realm of his foremothers.

Despite having served in Starfleet for over 70 years, he had never been so close to his mother’s ancestors. And that had been his motivation for joining this mission, to finally see if his mother’s stories had been true.

So while other crew members had taken on a slight edge of alarm with the recent turn of events, Vincent remained calm and content in the light of these different stars.

Vincent was exactly where he wanted to be.

He only wished he could share the moment with his family.

Helios would be fine without him around, his son had always been a fearless spirit of fire and steel.

He was more concerned about his daughter…younger, empathic, full of compassion and with a penchant for getting herself into trouble trying to fight for a good cause. Aurora had understood his decision to go, but understanding and experiencing were two different things.

A flash of familiar pain ripped through his chest as the thoughts of his children raked up the memory of his son who no longer drew breath. Who had died in a forsaken trench in no man’s land, in the mud and the rain, during a forgotten war that no one thought or cared about much anymore. It might have been centuries ago, but the pain was as sharp as ever.

As was the guilt…for having fought in that same war only to survive when his son had not. Then fighting and surviving two more world wars.

Vincent had made himself a promise after World War 3…that he would never fight any person’s war again. And he’d held firm on that, until Starfleet had made him break that promise. He'd been retired from the fleet for some time when the Dominion war had broken out, and they'd forced him back into service against his will.

Never again.

He'd been ready to leave Starfleet at the end of the war, after such despicable press-ganging. But when they'd offered him this post, with the promise of heading out to the Delta Quadrant, the once home of his mother's people...there had only been one answer. And the bastards had known it.

Still, Vincent knew better than to cut his nose off to spite his face, so here he was. Standing on the deck of a ship that was lost in space...but exactly where he wanted to be.

OFF:

Lieutenant Vincent Cavendish
Science Officer - Alien Archaeologist/Anthropologist

 

RSS Feed