So close and yet so far

Posted on Tue May 21st, 2013 @ 7:33am by Ensign Maximillian Cobyassa PhD

1,099 words; about a 5 minute read

Mission: Episode 2 - Whispers in the Clouds
Location: New Bajor Orbit
Timeline: Day 1 - 1900

Maximillian glanced out of the window of the transport as it came within sight of New Bajor. He still couldn't believe that he was actually going to be working and living on a starship. The thought of it still blew his mind. Hell this was only his fourth time in space! He was sure his parents thought he was insane, but as usual had been so preoccupied with work that they didn't really bother assuming that he would return in a year or two with his tail between his legs.

But he wasn't going to be beaten or scared that easily. Sure there was only a couple inches of clear polymer between him and the vast emptiness of space promising a quick and painful death.. and yes, he was going to be stationed on a military vessel heading out into hostile territory where there were plenty of enemies who would shoot down his vessel without a second thought. Was it his imagination, or did the transport he was on suddenly seem a lot smaller then when he had first boarded it?

Why hadn't they explained any of these dangers and threats at the Academy?? Wait. Now that he thought about it, there had been that one semester where all the classes had been brought together into the auditorium to explain what life aboard a starship was going to be like; they even had that flyer to sign and hand in. He had always assumed that it was just going to be some boring officer giving a long useless lecture to everyone about every single monotonous detail he did each and every day. Max had found out about the event in advance and had even managed to get a copy of the sign off form in advance. He had handed the signed form to a friend to hand in for him while he went off to raid the female dorms while everyone was away attending the lectures. [I] Ah, good times..[/I] he still had some souven... wait a minute, this wasn't the time for that. He was heading to board a starship that could very well be boarded by space pirates. Space pirates that might torture all the crew members trying to learn federation secrets. And those that didn't have any secrets they would... wait a minute.. did he have any secrets?! A small panic started to rise within him as he realized he didn't have any secrets worth stealing. [I] Maybe I could make something up?? [/I]


All his worries flew out of his head as he saw a magnificent starship through the view-port moving out of orbit. It was his first time seeing a federation starship this close up. It looked sleek, it looked sexy. It was an impressive sight. He wondered how his ship would look compared to that one. He flagged down a stewardess that was serving tea to a Bajoran couple a few seats ahead of him.

"Excuse me Miss, would you happen to know what model of ship that is?" he asked politely, pointing to the ship out the view-port.

"Let me see." the woman pulled out a small PADD and fiddled with it a bit. "That appears to be a Diligent class Sir. Its the USS Unification."

"Awesome." he muttered to himself, watching the ship move further out; its nacelles extending as it prepared the jump to warp. Hey, wasn't his ship a Diligent class ship too? They must be a really popular model. He tried to remember what the name of his ship was. "What was it again.. the USS..." he mumbled under his breath.

"Unification Sir." the stewardess offered a last time "If you'll excuse me now," she began making her way to another gentleman further back that was signaling for her to come.

"That's right..its the... WHAT?!?" The sudden spike in volume followed by him flinging himself out of his seat drew stares from those around him. "WAIT! It can't be.." He fumbled with the zipper on his carry-on bag as struggled to fish out his PADD in a desperate attempt to reassure himself that he was mistaken and that wasn't his ship that was departing.

"Sir, if you could please calm down and remain seated, we are coming into orbit."

The stewardess' words fell on deaf ears. Maximillian's heart sank as he saw the words on his PADD he was hoping to deny. He gripped the back of his seat tightly as he started to feel slightly light headed.

"That's my.. its my.. It can't be.. how could it.. Miss, we have to stop that flight! its my ship! it can't go.. its not my fault the transport is late.." his look of desperation told her all she needed to know about what he was rambling on about.

"Sir, please, have a seat." she said, eying another coworker who looked ready to call security if they were unable to calm the agitated passenger. "We are about to land. Once we land, you can speak with someone at front desk who can contact your ship and make alternate arrangements for transportation."

He saw the nacelles start lighting up "You don't understand... its my.. I can't miss..." his heart was pounding a mile a minute and his mouth babbling just as fast.

A final flash of light and the ship was gone. "NOOOOOOOOOOOOO..."

Max's cry died off as he crumpled into his chair, his mind a jumbled mess. [I]What do I do now? Do I go back to the academy and admit I screwed up? Or should I just go home, crawl into bed and pretend it was all a bad dream?[/I]

The rest of the flight was a complete blur. The stewardess had wandered off the moment he had calmed down and all he remembered was one of the maintenance crew telling him he had to get off because everyone had already left a long time ago and they needed to lock up the ship for the night.

It was only several hours later before he came to his senses and became rational enough to try talking to the front desk. They had already been filled in by the flight crew as to his disposition as well as his situation. They had already reserved him a private shuttle but wondered why it took 3 personnel and a security officer to help relay the information.

With a tired sigh, he began making his way to his next flight. It had certainly been a long day.


He sure hoped he wasn't fired..


Ensign Maximillian Cobyassa
Science Officer
USS Unification

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