A Second Chance

Posted on 27 Dec 2014 @ 11:46pm by Commodore Da`nal of the House of Varal

1,807 words; about a 9 minute read

Mission: M13-A: From the Old to the New
Location: Earth
Timeline: Prologue - Part 2 - a month after the hearing

Deciding to spend some long over due time with his family, Da`nal took an extended leave, taking his family on a long over due vacation. He had hunted in the Amazon with his son, taken his children to Rome, the battlefields of the Europe continent, the fields of Gettysburg, the Smithsonian, they toured the ancient historical sites of Japan...where their human ancestors could trace their linage to the Samurai warriors of old. Now they were enjoying the heat of Earths sun as they moved through the ancient ruins and structures of the Egyptian desert. As they looked out at the Pyramids of Giza his thought were interrupted as someone spoke to him.

"Excuse me, Commodore Da`nal?"

Glancing to his side he acknowledged the question from the uniformed officer. "Yes, can I help you?"

"Sorry for interrupting your leave but you have been assigned to Theta Fleet sir. Admiral Burke would like to see as soon as you conclude your leave."

Taking the PADD he nodded. "Thank you Lieutenant."

As he placed the PADD in his bag his daughter looked up to him. "Are you going away again?"

"No...Whatever happens, whatever our future holds; we will do it together. Now, where do two want to go next?"

They both began to rattle of destinations and all he could do is smile.


[Three Days Later - San Francisco]

Commodore Da`nal stepped into the headquarters for Theta Fleet and over to the Ensign manning the reception area. "Ensign, Commodore Da`nal to see Admiral Burke."

Before he could respond the Admiral emerged from her office. "Commodore Da`nal, perfect timing. Tom is the shuttle ready?"

The Ensign nodded, "Ready and waiting, ma`am."

"Good. Da`nal walk with me."

A little surprised at the abrupt turn around but fell in with the Admiral as she led the way to her shuttle.

"So Commodore are you ready to get back to work?"

"To be honest with you Admiral I have been considering returning the to the Empire to..."

Burke stopped and turned towards him as she stepped into the shuttle. "Really? What would it take for you to keep that pip on your collar?"

"Well Admiral it would have to be something important...something that wouldn't separate me from my family again."

A wide grin spread over her face as she pointed at him. "Good! I have just the thing."

They took their seats and as the shuttle lifted off Burke turned her chair to face Da`nal. "What area of the galaxy do we know the least about?"

Da`nal wrinkled his brow at a question a elementary school student could answer, but he answered the question. "The Alpha quadrant beyond Cardassian/Breen space and the Gamma Quadrant. Why do you ask?"

"I ask, because a missions is being put together to solve that problem."

Now she had his undivided attention. "What kind of mission?"

She leaned back crossing her legs and lacing her fingers together. "The kind of mission that Starfleet used to be known for, one that will make history."

"Go on..."

"Well the ship will depart from Earth and stopping at DS9 and then head out through Ferengi and Cardassian space heading to the Irdran end of the Bajoran Wormhole for the trip home." She paused to gauge his reaction.

Da`nal was understandably tongue tied. Such a mission, if successful would be unprecedented. Even when Admiral Janeway and her crew had been pulled into the Delta Quadrant they at least knew that they would be facing Borg on their trip home. "And what do you want me to do? Coordinate the passage through Cardassian space? Help select the officer to command the mission?"

Shaking her head and his questions. "No...those arrangements have already been made and I was wanting YOU to command the mission."

One question after another began popping into his head but his reply was none of them. "I...my ship is destroyed, I was relieved of my command, demoted, and you want me to take on a mission that could have unknown even historic ramifications?"

"Yes. I looked over your record. You have combat experience, you know how to deal with the unknown, you have experience overseeing multiple ships, Marines..."

Da`nal interrupted. "Wait...you said multiple ships?"

"Oh yes you will have two escort ships, that's why the stop at DS9. You will meet those ships there before heading out. I am not going to order you or anyone for that matter for this mission, but I want you to consider it."

Bowing his head slightly, "I am honored that you would consider me for this, but what type of ship would I be taking, it would have to almost completely self-sustaining. It would have to be..."

She cut him off as she waved her hand towards the shuttle's front windows. "...like that."

Da`nal left his seat as he looked out over the pilots shoulder at the ship within the massive maintenance frame. Even through the frame he could see tell tale shape of an Ascension class starship. Only a handful of that particular class had been completed and here he was being offered the command of one.

The shuttle pilot entered the framework near the starboard aft quarter of the ship and slowly flew over the ship. Looking back at the Admiral, "That is a BIG ship."

The shuttle bay was a visible web of organized chaos and pod after pod of supplies were brought in and a wide variety of craft landed and was lower on the ships external elevators into the shuttle storage level. Admiral Burke's shuttle landed on another landing pad above the shuttle bay. As the elevators lowered them into the ship the Admiral spoke. "The pad we landed on would be used for any 'foreign' craft that you may need to bring aboard and allows for the quickest access to the diplomatic areas of the ship."

"There isn't time to show you everything, but we will hit the key areas...and you can explore on your own later."

The first stop was the promenade area above the diplomatic facilities. Stepping out of the lift he looked out over the area. From his vantage point the were spaces available for wide variety of venues surrounding a park like setting. It was more than a arboretum, it was more like a biosphere with a stream and pods, shade trees, grass, and flower trimmed walks that extended for hundreds of meters. Above him where two levels with spaces for more shops, cafe's that could all look down at the greenery or out over the view. Every other ship had a small green space or had to rely on holodecks for such and environment. The Ascension had a living breathing environment and it was clearly obvious that this would be a highly used area and the social nexus of the ship. They walked the length of the area and in the forward section of the area was areas that can be configured for any number of sporting events. Ideas for a departmental tournaments or other completions popped into his head.

After that they examined the 2 Engineering area both with dual warp cores; with one pair running vertically and the other set running horizontally.

Their next stop was to look in on the shuttle bay. The arrived in time to see several fighters being lifted and position by specially place tractor beams into their storage and launch racks. The shuttle/fighter bay as massive as was the storage and maintenance facility below the bay. As they stood there a burly Chief in flight deck orange came up to them.

"Admiral...Commodore, is their something I can do for you?"

Da`nal looked at the man. It was obvious from his tone that he considered them to be intruding. "No Chief. The Admiral was simply showing me the area. From the look of things you have things well in hand. Are you staying with the ship or just here to get her ready for departure?"

"Oh I'll be staying sir. If you think I'm gonna get things the way there are supposed to and then let some knuckle dragger screw up all my work you're out of your mind....sir."

Burke smiled at the exchange, thinking that these two would either get along perfectly...or they'd kill each other. "Well we'll get out of here and let you get back to work."

Nodding to the Admiral the Deck Chief turned and started yelling at some hapless deck hand trying to to too much at once.

The Admiral's tour ended on the bridge and as they stepped out of the lift the thrill of being on a bridge flowed over him, a feeling only those that had held command could know or understand. The bridge, like the rest of the ship was huge. Holographic consoles hovered over their respective stations as crews calibrated interfaces or coordinated the ships departure preparations.

Burke stayed at the edge of the bridge and watched as Da`nal walked the bridge, examining its features and complexity. His hand gliding over the railing as he approached the command area. He stepped up to the command platform looking first at the command chair then to the view screen and the larger observation window behind it. When she saw him take a deep breathe she knew he was hooked. "Well?"

Da`nal knew he wanted this second chance, but he had more to consider than his own desires. Even with Klingons living longer than most humanoids 70 years was a long time. However the honor gain by such a mission would be extremely beneficial to his House, the Empire, and the Federation. "Who knows about this mission?"

"Right now it's Top Secret...only need to know."

"This is going to be a diplomatic nightmare once it comes to light."

Burke nodded, "Any suggestions?"

"There will be only one way to keep things from erupting unnecessarily. That the the major powers be to allowed to have ambassadors assigned to represent their governments. That should keep the major players calm."

"And what about the Cardassians, the Breen, the Ferengi..."

Da`nal smirked slightly, "That'll be Starfleet's problem."

"Then I take it you have accepted my offer. Good, I had a feeling you would but there was one more thing I wanted to show you."

Despite all his inquiries she was silent, even as their shuttle lifted off she would say nothing. The shuttle flew along side the ship and up over the top of the saucer section. She pointed out the window and he looked out as the shuttle arched passed the crews completing the registry number of the his new ship. His head darted back at the Admiral who was just sitting there smiling.

"You're welcome."

 

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