Finding A Way To Approach A New Future

Posted on Mon Jul 22nd, 2024 @ 2:04pm by Commander Benjamin Jamesson & Ensign David Kipling

Mission: Remnant
Timeline: Day 395
1944 words - 3.9 OF Standard Post Measure

Benjamin sat looking around his new operations centre that engineering had created for him. He had been happy to just have anything and anywhere but he was pleasantly surprised that the space had been made for him. He had never been one even as Exucitive Officer to order things around, people had wanted to be engineers under him because of his ease and gentle going style of command. He glanced around and noticed the bottle of hooch that had been left by McManus as a congratulations and as well as payment for helping him stabilise the still process.

“Come in.” He called as the chime rang out through his new office.

David pushed the button on the keypad and the door slid open. He stepped inside and, not sure of how to proceed, defaulted to the Academy norm: come to attention and report in.

“Ensign David Kipling: reporting, as ordered, Commander,” David reported. Two milliseconds before he spoke, he had decided against a parade ground bark as the tight confines of the Commander’s small office would have made a horrendous echo.

The former executive officer looked at the man confused at the formality but he remembered that the man was still stuck 3 month's ago. Over 100 days ago he had been the most senior officer onboard other than the Captain, he had not watched how things had changed and shifted to what they were now. “Sit Ensign.” The man instructed kicking out the chair from his desk.

David blinked, taken aback by the sudden informality of the situation. He glanced down at the chair casually offered to him, its fabric inviting yet somehow intimidating. There was a moment of silence, where only the steady rhythm of his heartbeat in his ears filled the quiet room. It was a hesitation that lasted for several beats, a brief period of time where he seemed to question his own actions. Eventually, he succumbed to the unspoken invitation and lowered himself into the chair, his body sinking into the soft cushion. He tried to maintain composure, to keep his confusion hidden behind a mask of calmness. But despite his best efforts, the bewilderment bubbled up, painting a clear picture of the internal turmoil on his face. He was certain that his confusion was as clear as day to anyone who looked at him.

Ben had given the man time but when it had been a month without them having a proper catch up he decided to act on what needed to be done. He might not be the man's officer in charge or department head but he did want to know that the man he had led and escaped with was okay. "I am not about to chew you out here. I am no longer your executive officer or department head but I am I guess checking up on you in another type of way." He started holding up the glass jar that held the booze. "Want some?"

As Jamesson’s words filled the room, David nodded in understanding, his focus solely on the speaker. Unconsciously, his body began to mirror the less formal undertone of the moment, the rigidity in his posture subtly softening. He began to comprehend that this was not an occasion bound by the stiff protocols of the Academy but rather a more relaxed and casual setting. This realization, slowly seeping into his consciousness, allowed him to ease into the situation, letting go of the rigid military posture he was accustomed to.

David felt a smile tug at the corner of his mouth when his former XO offered him something from a glass jar. The liquid, completely devoid of color, sloshed back and forth in the jar enticingly. David was weary; he’d had a shaky experience with homebrewed liquor before. Nothing serious or detrimental to his health, but enough to make him cautious.

“I don’t know if I trust this Atlantis’s still quite yet, sir…but there’s no guarantees in life. Yeah, sure…I’ll have a snort,” David finally conceded.

Ben knew that feeling well. He had been like that as he held a pistol at Beth's head as the pod had been grabbed from space. He had stumbled out ready to attack to only find people wanting to help him and everyone else he had managed to bring along with him. "It grows on you." He said quietly. "The ship and the people onboard. They are similar but different. Leroux is alive. Morgan died instead of her. An Andorian doctor is on board. Sloan was a romulan." He started to list off a couple of facts he could remember before taking a gulp of the hooch. It was hard stuff but it helped sometimes to numb things.

David listened as Ben listed off several differences between their universe and this one. At first, David had taken the news very hard, breaking down and openly weeping in Sick Bay. The thought of losing his family and everything he’d known his whole life had been too much. In the days since David had dedicated himself to this ship and this crew. If this was all the universe would allow him, so be it. He’d put everything he had into this crew and this ship.

David tipped the glass back, the harsh, clear liquid cascading across his palate. It hit hard, no doubt. He felt his chest tighten reflexively, and his eyes started to water a bit. But, he exhaled sharply, getting all the vapors out. “I…uh…I don’t know…” David fumbled with his words. He took another swallow of the booze and tried again. “I don’t have anything here, sir, not like I did back home. But I’m not going to quit, either,” he blurted out with more confidence than he felt. “If all I can have is this and what this universe will give me, then that’s more than others have,” he said, motioning to the walls. He was feeling the liquor now; he set the unfinished glass back next to the jar and pushed it away from his reach.

"It is hard to explain to everyone here that yes our Atlantis was lost in space but we had a chance to get back but here we are a whole universe away from our home and then this distant." It was hard to fathom for him let alone explain to someone who had not been brought by the Jan Kowalski across alternate universes. "You have me, Nish, Hughes and the others that are still asleep but you also have this crew. They are for lack of a better phrase wanting to love us as much as our crew did." He said thoughtfully.

“Is there any hope that we’ll get back to…uhm…our universe, sir?” David asked. He didn’t want to get his own hopes up but he also didn’t want to let the question go unasked. A quick flash of his family gathered at the holidays pushed its way to the front of David’s mind and he had to work very hard not to let his emotions get the better of him. He quietly cleared his throat and focused on the commander’s response.

Ben had not been expecting that question at all but he shook his head quickly. It should have been the question he had thought the man would ask but he had expected anything other than that. "Unfortunately not." He downed the glass and poured another one. "We are here and not dead like Smith wanted. It was an accident, a glitch in his plan and we got very lucky." He admitted.

David swallowed the truth hard. He didn’t notice the single tear roll down his cheek as he numbly stared at the deck. He nodded once and then, wordlessly, took the glass off the desk and threw its contents back in a single gulp. He set the empty glass back in its place and exhaled hard. “Nothing we can do then…” he mumbled. He put out a preemptive hand over the glass, signalling he didn’t want a refill, and looked the other man in the eyes. “Well, then all we have is each other, sir,” he started. “That is…this crew and our Atlantis crew, I mean,” he finished. He nodded again, sat up a little straighter and smiled a tight, small smile.

"They are not bad people. Have you met anyone familiar yet other than Chief Petty Officer Manishie Karalo or Nish as she goes by now?" It had been hard to wrap his mind around at first that there was 2 of them. But he had slowly worked out the rest way to tell them apart and one wearing red trim and the other yellow certainly helped now.

“No, sir…not yet. I’ve met some of the other crew…the ones from this universe, that is. But I’ve also been trying to keep busy,” David explained. It was a sensitive subject for him; he’d never been that social to begin with.

“But I’m sure I will,” he added optimistically. David side-eyed the hooch sitting on Commander Jamesson’s desk and shivered involuntarily. He shook his head slightly as if to dismiss the notion of having another snort. “To be perfectly frank, sir, I wasn’t all that social on our ship. Nothing against anyone…just not a big “people” person, you know,” David said, feeling the compulsion to explain himself.

Benjamin found himself wincing a little at the fact he knew the other engineer was not a people person but he really needed to get the man to understand that it might need to change. "David you need relationships with people onboard. We might never get home and you cannot live in isolation." He said gently trying to make the point without bashing the whole man apart again.

Ben opened his mouth to respond but paused for a heartbeat. Was Commander Jamesson saying something else here…

“Sir, I remember reading about this idea from before warp technology called ‘generation ships,’” David began. He paused, gathering his thoughts, and then went on. “Essentially, the personnel on board were either married couples or encouraged to pair up and…uhm…continue the crew… for the duration of the voyage,” David explained clumsily. “Is that where we’re at, sir,” he asked bluntly.

Benjamin could not deny that they were close to that being a real possibility as it had not been on his ship yet but after a year it was a potential in their future. "Potentially Ensign." The man admitted. It would not be possible for everyone as there was an imbalance of the crew and personal preferences.

David nodded and let out an audible sigh. He’d feared this was the case…

An errant thought ran through his mind: how long before their Atlantis would have been in the same situation, he wondered.

“I see, sir,” David managed after several heartbeats.

“I will do what I can, sir…now that I better understand what’s going on,” he went on. Truth was, he would. He thought of himself as a man of his word.

“Maybe I’ll start with the folks from our ship first…kinda…hit up the familiar faces first, you know,” he went on, around a shrug and a loose smile.

Benjamin had been holding his breath as the man started to come around enough to make sense of things to move forward. “It sounds like a good idea.” He approved. “My door is always open.” He added hoping he was on the list.