Captain’s log, Stardate 05.24.2402

Captain Kirok Skyrunner recording…

It has been almost two weeks since we had captured the Vaadwaur Blackout station and helped shutdown the Blackout effect and seal off Underspace for good, after receiving a message from the Cardassians on how to seal it. Our friends, the Kyrennei, led by Kaelara were instrumental in helping to assist in stopping the Vaadwaur invasion, but at a very high price. They lost both Type IV Assimilator class cruisers and all three Probe class scout ships and a total of around eight hundred tactical drones, out of the five thousand that were in stasis, when both Assimilator class cruisers and all three Probe class scout ships were destroyed. However, the Kyrennei did gain a Vaadwaur Galt class Juggernaut ship and its full crew, now Kyrennei tactical drones.

After Kaelara’s people assimilated the Blackout station and all data available on it, I ordered the battle group back to Nexarion, the Kyrennei homeworld before we became trapped in Underspace forever. The Vaadwaur Blackout station was destroyed using tri-cobolt explosives, to ensure the Vaadwaur can never use it again. The USS Carlsbad is now in standard orbit around Nexarion, working with Kaelara to strengthen the friendship between her people and the Federation, for maybe one day their entry into the Federation.

Ship’s status is that we are still working on what repairs we can make without the need of Starfleet facilities. During the whole Vaadwaur invasion, I lost forty five crew members, all from the final battle the ship was engaged in during the capturing of the Vaadwaur Blackout station. Among the dead were most of the USS Carlsbad’s Sickbay personnel, including several science officers with medical training, and half of my security officers. They were all in and around Sickbay when lucky Vaadwaur torpedoes impacted in that section, causing hull breaches in that whole area.

My Chief Engineer, Lieutenant Commander Catersha, in conjunction with her Assistant Chief Engineer, Lieutenant Commander Flummox Vael, have both assured me that the ship’s structural integrity is still solid enough to get home. I can’t wait to get back to Starbase 72 and find out what happened to the Federation during this whole Blackout event.

End Log.

Captain’s Kirok Skyrunner and Sophia Rodriguez were taking a stroll through the corridors of the ship, as was a new routine they started when they came back to Nexarion. It was a way that Kirok and Sophia could reconnect as a married couple, especially after what happened to the late USS Thunderdragon. Neither Kirok or Sophia cared if the crew knew the Captain and Executive Officer were married. Every crew member had big smiles on their faces and chatted with them as they made their strolls down the corridors. It seemed to give the crew a big moral boost seeing their Captain and Executive Officer so happy.

The ship has been a buzz with damage control and engineering teams going over all the damage the USS Carlsbad took, especially with the area around Sickbay. Everyday for the last two weeks, their stroll always ended near where Sickbay was located, now just a hastily patched up section that looks more like a Borg ship then a Federation starship. They decided to go to the Arboretum to reflect and remember their lost comrades.

Captains Kirok Skyrunner and Sophia Rodriguez stood in front of a display of Earth roses, which happened to be next to a viewport. They stood next to each other, holding hands as they looked out the viewport, the stars they could see twinkling, as if the lost crew members were waving at them. Kirok’s voice was low and contemplative, his heart was heavy with the pain of his lost crew members and Sophia’s whole ship and crew, except for two other survivors.

“Do you remember their names Sophia,” Kirok asked her softly, his time just above a whisper.

Sophia’s gaze lingered on the remembrance plaque that Flummox made, from a piece of the broken hull, in honor of his friends and the ship he called home, the Akira class USS Thunderdragon. Her eyes tracing the etched names of every lost crew member, her ship family. Her eyes started to tear up, as she allowed herself to finally grieve for her lost crew. She stepped forward, gently placing her hand on the plaque. She started to sob uncontrollably as a deep well of grief and sadness rushed up from inside her. She broke down into tears and fell to her knees. Kirok knelt beside her, embracing his wife in a tender, reassuring hug. His eyes also were watery and his cheeks were wet from his own tears as the loss he took finally overwhelmed the emotional shields he had put up. As he knelt next to Sophia, he also looked at the plaque next to the one where Sophia has her hand on. It was one that Catersha made from a piece of the USS Carlsbad’s outer hull. As he started to remember his own losses, his grief and sorrow overtook him. They both stayed there for several minutes, lost in the grief they had kept bottled up. Sophia managed to start to compose herself, and found her voice.

“Every one of them. Lieutenant Commander Jenkins, who was my Tactical Officer. My Navigator, Ensign Amy Michaels, and her husband, Assistant Chief Engineer Christopher Michaels. I officiated at their wedding. So many good people were lost needlessly. They all gave their lives for my ship and for each other.”

Kirok nodded, his eyes clouding with memories. Kirok stood up first, then helped Sophia to her feet. They faced each other, reaching up to wipe the others’ tears away. They turned to look out the viewport again, looking at the stars. The stars twinkled like diamonds in the darkness, a reminder of the vastness and mystery of the universe. Kirok and Sophia stood in silence, honoring the memories of those who had fallen under their commands. Their crew members may be gone, but their legacy lived on in the captains’ determination to keep their ship and crew safe.

Sophia spoke up, her voice firm. “We’ll keep their memories with us, Kirok. We will keep moving forward, for their sake as much as our own.”

Kirok nodded, a small smile on his face. “For the crew, past and present.”

The Arboretum doors whooshed open behind them and they heard the voices of Commander Aramis Lionel and his new fiancee Chief Engineer Catersha. Kirok and Sophia turned around, watching them walk inside. Aramis and Catersha stopped just inside the door, when they saw Kirok and Sophia.

“Excuse us Captains. We didn’t know anyone was in here. We can leave,” Aramis said as he and Catersha turned to leave.

Sophia walked towards them. “Please don’t,” she said in a soft voice.

Catersha stepped forward to Sophia, seeing her eyes red from crying. Catersha embraced Sophia in a warm friendly hug as Aramis stepped up behind Catersha, hugging both ladies. Kirok slowly followed suit and it became a self healing group hug. Aramis looked at his friend and Captain.

“We are sorry sir. We didn’t know you would be in here,” Aramis apologized.

Kirok gently clapped Aramis on his back.

“No apologies needed my friend. This place is for the crew. Sophia and I chose this moment to pay our respects for our honored dead and grief for them,” Kirok responded. “We can give you some space. We have some things to attend to before we meet with Kaelara and Aximo tomorrow morning.”

“Thank you my friend,” Aramis said.

The ladies broke up their embrace and Sophia gently took Kirok’s hand and led him out of the Arboretum, leaving Aramis and Catersha to pay their respects. Sophia and Kirok continued walking around the ship. They were impressed with the amount of repair work being done in the two weeks since they destroyed the Vaadwaur Blackout station. Their stroll ended in the ship’s Lounge, where they sat at a table near the viewports.

***

Lieutenant Tom Bradley was working hard on the torpedo launcher in the port torpedo bay, when the doors whooshed open. The hydrospanner he was using slipped out of his grasp and rolled towards the door. Tom cursed at the tool and stood up to go retrieve it. As he turned to walk towards it, he froze in place. Just inside the doorway was both Captain Skyrunner and Captain Rodriguez, shocked at what happened. Bradley stood at attention.

“Captain Skyrunner, Captain Rodriguez, what can I help you with?”

Sophia bent down to pick up the hydrospanner and walked towards Tom, Kirok walked to inspect the launcher mechanism.

“Think you dropped this Lieutenant,” Sophia said gently, handing the hydrospanner back to Tom.

Tom took the hydrospanner from Sophia. He looked at her, then at Kirok, then back to her. He swallowed hard.

“Thank you Ma’am,” Tom replied.

Sophia gave him a friendly smile, replying, “you are welcome Lieutenant. What is wrong Tom?”

Sophia asked him in a more personal way, hoping to make a more personal connection, hoping he will open up to her on what was bothering him.

“Nothing…nothing is wrong Ma’am,” Tom replied short and direct.

Before Sophia or Tom could say anything further, Kirok inquired, looking directly at Tom.

“Lieutenant, what are you working on here? The launcher mechanism looks operational.”

Tom turned to look at Kirok. His face could barely contain whatever was bothering him. As Tom stood there, unable to give a reasonable answer to his Captain’s question, he looked at the floor.

“Lieutenant, the Captain did ask you a question. He does not like being ignored. Trust me, I’m his wife,” Sophia commented, giving Kirok a playful wink as his attention snapped to her at the comment.

Tom looked up at Sophia, then looked to face Kirok as Kirok slowly walked around behind his wife and to Tom’s left side, stopping mere inches from him. Kirok’s gaze was somewhat stern looking, whereas Sophia’s face looked warmer, more friendly.

“Lieutenant,” Kirok asked Tom again.

Tom turned to face Kirok fully.

“I’m sorry, sir. I had no reasonable answer to your question.” Tom started to answer, keeping his eyes locked onto Kirok’s. “All the losses we had from the Vaadwaur invasion…all those men…my men!”

Tom’s face started twisting into a scour as his anger busted through, lashing out in general. Not at Kirok, even though he is the one who triggered the emotional volcano that just erupted. Tom was venting his anger in general. Kirok saw the emotional outburst that Tom was displaying and eased off his tone and facial expression. Sophia stepped up next to Tom, placing a hand on Tom’s shoulder. Sophia asked Tom in a soft tone.

“Your men?”

Tom looked at Sophia, answering, “yes Captain. My men. The whole Security department were all men I handpicked from the Academy and Starfleet Security.” Tom started to break down in tears. “I personally trained all of them.”

Tom completely lost it and broke down in tears, in front of the Captain and the First Officer. Both Kirok and Sophia embraced Tom, giving him a reassuring hug.

“It is ok Tom. It is fully understandable ok how you feel,” Sophia said softly. “I know exactly how you feel. I lost my ship and almost my entire crew. I feel like my heart has been ripped out by a bloodthirsty Klingon.”

“Lieutenant,” Kirok stated softly, “I have new standing orders for all my crew. All officers of the USS Carlsbad are allowed to cry when needed. Captain’s included.”

Tom looked up at Kirok’s eyes, seeing they are still red from when he cried with Sophia in the Arboretum earlier.

“Sir,” Tom inquired.

“Yes, Lieutenant. All my crew members are allowed to cry,” Kirok answered. “We will be heading home to Starbase 72 soon for repairs to the ship and much needed R&R. Can you hold it together until we get back home?”

Tom looked in Kirok’s eyes for a few seconds. Kirok can see that Tom was digging deep to resolve and cap off his emotional volcano. Tom started feeling his anger tapering down. He started nodding to Kirok.

“Yes sir, I can…I will, Captain.”

Kirok gave Tom a reassuring smile.

“Thank you Tom. I know what you are feeling and we will have time to grieve later,” Kirok said. “Can you do a full weapons inventory and tactical systems status report?”

Tom stood up straighter, replying, “yes sir. Right away Captain.”

“I knew I could count on you Lieutenant. I would like that report before we head back home, once I finish talking with Kaelara,” Kirok ordered.

Captain’s Skyrunner and Rodriguez left Lieutenant Bradley in the torpedo bay. They finish their ship-wide stroll and end up in the ship’s Lounge for a late dinner.