Title: Star Trek Falcon –
Episode one: Spread your wings
Rating: Fiction K+
Chapter: 1 of 10
Summary:
Captain Danielle Dolch has just received her first
command, the newly upgraded USS Falcon. While the last few updates and tests
are being conducted she and her crew arrive at the space doc for their mission
of exploration near the Neutral zone.
Disclaimer: The Star Trek universe
belongs to paramount pictures, I’m just borrowing it and using it as a
playground.
Author Note:
This is really just a
hobby project that I work on because I like doing it. It is based on a story
that I wrote almost 10 years ago. Characters and plotline have been improved
and I promise that this time around, I will do a spelling and grammar check.
Chapter one - The appearance of
favoritism
There was an uncomfortable silence. Nervously Danielle
pulled on the sleeve of her uniform. At first she had been unsure whether this
whole thing was a good idea. After all, people were going to say Mick only had
gotten the position she had just offered him because he was her brother, or
that she had only offered him the job because she didn’t want him to end up on
a war vessel patrolling the Neutral Zone, which had been everything but neutral
lately.
On the other hand, she couldn’t think of anybody more
qualified for the job, even though she had given it some serious thought. “So,
what do you say?” She didn’t bother to try to smile, he would see right through
her anyway.
“You want me as your Chief Engineer?” Mick paused for
a moment. “Are you sure that’s even going to work? No offence but aren’t we
kind of familiar and stuff? I can’t say I can see myself following your
orders.”
He clearly had the same concerns she had. She couldn’t
help but to smile now. “Can’t you just see past the fact that I’m your sister?”
“Do pigs fly?”
“Depends, do they have wings?”
He smiled back at her. “Unlikely, but not impossible.”
Slowly the smile faded from his face. She let him think for a moment. She
couldn’t expect him to immediately say yes to something she had spent weeks
thinking about before reaching her final conclusion. She wanted the best, and
if that just happened to be her brother that didn’t change a thing. She still
found herself unwilling to settle for second best. “Who did you have in mind
for the rest of your senior staff?”
She handed him the data pad that had been sitting on
the table the whole time. He picked it up and started reading while he took a
sip of his coffee. “That’s actually a pretty impressive list you got there.” He
said as he looked up. “But why the hell haven’t you selected a science officer.
This is a mission of exploration right?”
“I had selected Lieutenant Turek, but he declined. He
had also been offered a spot at a research facility that he found, I quote,
‘quite challenging’.”
Mick rolled his eyes. “Am I out of line saying that
the pointy eared idiot actually did you a favor saying no?” She gave him a look
and he smiled. “Aw, come on, you know I’m right here.”
“And you still wonder why I made it to starship
captain and you didn’t?”
He took another sip of his coffee and laid down the
pad. “I never said I did, politics just aren’t my thing I guess.” He paused as
he glanced back at the pad. “Aren’t you going to request another science
officer?”
She sighed. “No, I don’t know anybody else who stands
out in the field. Any random officer will do as far as I’m concerned.”
“You want a suggestion?” He leaned back into his
chair.
She gave him a questioning look. “Since when do you
even know any science officers?”
He shrugged. “I worked with her on my last assignment.
She’s sort of young but I think she really has potential.” He paused and
studied her face. “You like potential right?”
She picked up the pad from the table. “What’s her
name?”
“Ensign Emma Zinck.” He replied and she entered the
name in the database. As the file loaded on the pad her attention was drawn to
the picture of the ensign in question. Emma Zinck turned out to be quite
handsome with her long blond hair, bright blue eyes and wide smile. As a matter
of fact, she exactly fitted Mick’s taste in women.
She threw her brother a look. “Are you sure you don’t
just like her to be a part of the decor?” She asked before taking another good
look at the picture.
“Just read her file. If that doesn’t convince you I
don’t know what will. It’s better than mine for crying out loud.”
“It’s not like that’s impressive.” Danielle mumbled as
she quickly scanned the file. It wasn’t bad, far from actually. It wasn’t the
best she had come across selecting a science officer, but overall it was better
than average. Ensign Zinck had not only been accepted into Starfleet academy at
her first application, but also managed to graduate in the top ten of her class
four years later. She was inexperienced though, ensign Zinck had never been
assigned to a starship before. Her previous assignments were mostly temporary
assignments on outposts or star bases. Which only left her with one question,
“Where did you meet her anyway? Wasn’t your last assignment on the USS
something?”
“The USS Unicorn. Yeah, I was. I met Emma when the
outpost she was assigned to needed our assistance. It was some sort of engineering
problem I won’t bore you with. I was part of the away team.”
“So you two are on a first name basis?”
He rolled his eyes. “That’s what you got from what I
just said?”
There was a silence. “I don’t know Mick. This might
not be a good idea.”
“How is this not a good idea?”
“This might not
be a good idea because you obviously have a personal connection to ensign
Zinck.” Danielle felt as if she couldn’t stress the word not enough in this
sentence.
Mick threw her a skeptic look. “So? It’s not like you
are avoiding the appearance of favoritism seeing the fact that you asked me as
your Chief Engineer. I don’t see the problem.” He paused for a moment to study
his sister’s face. “You wanted the best right? Well, this is it.”
Danielle sighed. She knew her brother was stubborn. It
had been one of many reasons why he never made it to command, but she knew he
wasn’t stupid and having to spell everything out to him was becoming somewhat
tiresome. “It’s a problem Mick, because I already asked you. One staff member I
can explain using the term ‘coincidence’, but for some reason, that doesn’t
work the second time around.”
“You’re talented, I’m sure you’ll find a way to
explain.”
He smiled at her as she shook her head. “Flattery will
get you nowhere Mick. So what will it be?” She put down the pad on the table as
she looked at her brother. He leaned towards her a little.
“I’ll be your Chief Engineer if ensign Zinck will be
your Science Officer.” He got out of his chair and looked down at his sister.
“Let me know when you’ve figured it out okay?” Without saying another word, he
walked off.
Danielle cursed herself. He hadn’t set foot on the
ship, or even accepted his new position as Chief Engineer, but he had already done
exactly what she had been afraid he’d do. She rubbed her forehead and glanced
over at the pad on the table. How bad could it be really?
Getting up Danielle checked her coffee cup, it was
empty. She got her coat of the back of the chair and picked up her pad and the
empty cup. While she walked off to her next meeting she made a mental note to
at least make her brother sweat for a couple of days before letting him know
she accepted his terms.
No comments:
Post a Comment