Deep Space 13 Series

[Bobby]

Hi all,

This is a collaborative writing group, used to be known as a sim. I'll add more posts here as the story develops.

Episode 1 - The Arrival

Whilst the crew of Deep Space 9 triggered one booby traps left behind by the Cardassian's, the new crew of Empok Nor begin exploration of the station with trepidation, fearful of triggering another booby trap. Starfleet have sent along a large contingent of Engineers and Security personal to ensure the safety of the crew, as per a significant risk assessment of the situation. As time passes and more systems come online, there is a feeling of relief. However, several explosions from booby trapped equipment leads Captain Gardner to order an immediate halt of all work and reaches out to the Cardassian Union for assistance.

 

[Bobby]

// Betazed
// Episode Day -3, 1300
// Captain Peter Gardner & Lieutenant Commander Oceles Atumi

Peter looked up from his book, to look across the lake. Betazed had become his refuge in the last five years, a place he had only really felt at peace since the death of his wife. He had decided to move to Betazed as all he really wanted was to be left alone. His family, particularly his brother and sister, had been trying their best to help their brother. They were doing too much, from making him food and attempting to get him to talk to a Counselor.

Peter had refused, although that hadn’t stopped his long time friend, Oceles Atumi, from persisting with him. Peter had met Oceles whilst he had been studying at the University of Betazed for his Masters in Psychiatry whilst Peter was studying for his Doctorate in Psychology. Oceles had since become a Consultant Psychiatrist, one of the leading professionals in Psychiatry. He hadn’t given up on his friend and in ways that Peter begrudged, Oceles had gotten through to him.

He looked up to see the shimmering light of a transport beam, which receded to form his friend, in the new style of Starfleet uniform. Oceles held the rank of Commander Peter put a feigned looked of despairing on his face, which was met with a laugh from his friend as he materialised. “You forget, I’m telepathic, Pete.” Peter smiled at him and stood up. “I’m just about to have lunch, would you like to join me?”
Oceles nodded, excited. Peter was an excellent Chef and often cooked without a replicator. “I’m hardly going to say no. What have we got?”
They shared a lunch of Chinese noodles, with replicated meat, served with a tasty soup made from fresh ingredients. They talked about their families, current affairs and other non-important topics, that was until they finished lunch. Oceles leaned back after wiping his mouth with the napkin that Peter had provided. Peter could see he was about to say something that Oceles knew he wouldn’t like. He braced himself.

“Starfleet have sent me with a request, Peter.” Oceles said, almost blurting it out. He had clearly been waiting to say it since the moment he arrived. It had clearly caused him some trepidation, Peter could see this from his body language. “Whatever it is, you can tell them I said no.” Peter said, trying to make it clear that was his final word on the matter, although he doubted if Oceles would take that his final word. He stood up and picked up the bowl in front of him and the other in front of Oceles and took them to his kitchen and began washing up.

Oceles had followed him to the kitchen and leaned against the worktop by the sink. “You can stay here and pretend you aren’t ready, Pete, but you know as well as I do, yes what happened to Lannie has affected you and changed you significantly but 10 years have passed, Pete. 10 years. A decade. Despite you saying you never listen to me, I know that you have over the years, I know that has had an effect. When it happened, you could barely function, I remember, “Oceles began to shout now. Peter could tell this wasn’t anger, it was emotion.
They had a relationship like brothers and loved each other as brothers. “Because I was the one that came to get you, dragged you back here to be looked after. I remember…”Oceles paused, taking a deep breath and lowering his voice, still keeping the emotion in his voice. “I remember the pain, I felt it right along with you, Pete. You know as well I do, you aren’t in that dark place anymore. You are ready to go back into the world, you have been for a while.”

Peter had stopped washing up and was silently listening and processing what Oceles had said to him. He was right, he knew deep down. He had been hiding from the world, because he didn’t want to face it without his wife, the woman he had given his heart too. He knew Lannie would never of approved of the way he had lived his life since she had died, but that hadn’t been enough to shift his mindset. Whilst he was still not over the death of his wife, he knew that at some point he would have to go back to the world. He was 1/2 El Aurian and 1/2 Vulcan, even if didn’t have the lifespan of an El-Aurian, his life would be long, which was a reason for him to get on with his life but also a reason for him not to.

“Tell me.” He said simply.

Oceles quickly went over the situation around the Trivas Sector and that Starfleet wanted an experienced Commander to take Command of Empok Nor and Starfleet wanted to reactivate Peter as a Captain to take Command. It was going to be a difficult assignment, that was not in doubt. But they wanted someone that could deal with the political turmoil that was evolving in the sector. The station itself, was currently being manned by a skeleton crew who were trying to get the station at least partially habitable.

Peter looked at him squarely after he had finished talking.”I…….need time.” He answered. Oceles shook his head.”No you don’t. You’ve had too much time. You need this.” Oceles replied firmly. “Take the job.” Peter pushed off from the side he was leaning against and went outside, into the hot sun. Oceles followed him out. They stood in silence for several moments, before Peter turned his head slightly. “Okay.”

 

[Bobby]

// Betazed
// Episode Day -2, 0700
// Captain Peter Gardner

It had been an early start for Peter and not to mention a late night. He had spent most of the previous day packing up the house of his belongings, which had strayed late into the night. He very much doubted he would get a lot of time in the near future to return here, the Station would become his home eventually, but he knew that was not a process that could be rushed. Somehow, in the past, he had felt like several places were home all at the same time. The Excelsior, Diogara Station and Diogara. Now that was all tarnished.

He paused, looking back at the house and the area surrounding it, taking it all in, then looked down at himself. The uniform had changed and he didn't yet feel comfortable in it. That was either because it was new or he wouldn't of even been comfortable in the old style. He looked back out across the lake, as the sun had started to peek over the mountains. He tapped his badge. "=/\= Gardner to Dauntless Quartermaster." He said calmly. "=/\= Chief Petty Officer Dovir here, Captain." came the reply within a few moments. "=/\= Chief, I've finished packing up, its in two large piles to the left of the house. It's ready for transport." He replied to the Quartermaster. "=/\=Understood, Captain. Standby." Came the short reply. Peter turned to the piles and waited. Within a minute, the first pile dematerialised, followed quickly by the second. "=/\= Transport complete, Captain. Are you ready to transport?" Peter paused a moment before replying.

It felt odd leaving here and it made him uncomfortable, uncertain. Oceles had been right. This place had been a way for him to escape, but he had made the commitment to do something that was bigger than just him. He knew he couldn't go back on that now. "=/\= Energise, when you're ready Chief." Peter had barely taken one breath before he dematerialised.

// Transporter Room 2, USS Dauntless, Excalibur Class

Peter quickly rematerialised on the transporter pad. He nodded at the Transporter Chief, who had worked with the Quartermaster to transport him up using the personnel transport, rather than the cargo transporter. He offered the transporter chief a small smile and nod as he stepped off and headed to the door. "Will you let the Captain know, I'm on board." He instructed. The Transporter Chief nodded and tapped a few controls on his console. Peter didn't wait for an answer. It was a short ride, maybe 4 hours, from Betazed to Empok Nor.

As the doors opened, he nearly bumped into an Enlisted Boilan. "Sorry." Peter said, side stepping. "Actually, Captain, I was just coming to show you to your quarters." He answered, a friendly smile on his face. "Senior Chief Petty Officer Dovir." He said introducing himself. Peter nodded, not particularly wanting to get drawn into a conversation. He proffered an arm, to show Dovir to lead the way.

Dovir took him straight to the turbo lift. The Petty Officer had been warned prior to meeting him that Peter probably wouldn't want to talk to much. The pair remained silent, until after showing Peter to his quarters, he had offered his thanks. "Captain Gardner, The Captain said that you are more than welcome to join her on the bridge at any point."

Peter nodded again. "Please pass on my thanks. Thanks again, Chief." Peter replied. Dovir nodded and turned away and the doors closed, leaving Peter alone. He turned to the replicator. "Mint Tea, Hot." he requested. The drink appeared and he picked it up, moving to the sofa and sat down. He hadn't needed quarters for such a short trip, but he had requested them. He preferred solitude, because he knew where he was going, he was unlikely to get much for a while. "Computer, lights 10%." he instructed and the lights dimmed. He finished his drink and felt his eyes draw closed.

// Two Hours Later

Peter had drifted off on the sofa after he had drank his tea and had been so for around two hours. However his sleep was disturbed, when the sound of the door chime made him jump. At the first chime, his brain didn't register it, as he was still slowly waking up. The chime sounded again, this time registering. He stood up. "Computer lights, 70%." He instructed and the lights raised to a normal level. "Come in." He called, his stomach beginning to twist at the oncoming social encounter.

"You were really going to sit here for the entire trip, weren't you?" said the person as the doors opened. The first thing he noticed was the rank pips, they were a Captain. The next thing he noticed, the Captain was female. He hadn't met or heard the name of the Captain of the Dauntless, but as soon as he saw her face, he recognised her immediately. "Melifa?" He breathed out.

Melifa Thrall had been his trusted right hand for almost 7 years on the Excelsior. She had only been his First Officer, but she had become a trusted friend, advisor and confident. She smiled warmly, genuinely. He stepped up to her, a genuine warm smile spreading across his face and he pulled her in for a hug. She laughed lightly, warmly, and embraced him back. She didn't need her telepathic abilities to recognise he was extremely pleased to see her. Although, using her telepathic abilities, she could tell he had been broken, practically beyond repair, but he was, remarkably trying really hard not to let it ruin his life. Then, she immediately felt guilt well up inside her and squeezed him tighter.

She had tried to reach out when she had heard about Lannie's death, but had received no response. As she surreptitiously continued listening to his thoughts, she had, at the time, not realised how deeply he had been affected. Even his brother and sister had given up eventually. She should've tried harder, she silently realised. But with the plans in place for the future, she would ensure they stayed in contact. But, it would not do to dwell it right now and she pushed her emotions aside. "It's so good to see you." She remarked, as she slowly broke the embrace.

Peter smiled warmly at her, gesturing to the sofa. "How are you?" he asked, his eyes darting to her legs. "And you're walking! I assume the physical therapy went well?" Melifa had been injured during one of the Dissidents firsts attacks on the Station. She had dealt with this psychologically very badly and opted to return to Earth. From the Delta Quadrant, it had been hard to keep in touch and up to date on her progress.

She nodded as she took a seat on the sofa. "Yeah, turns out you were right." She said, pointing to her head. "Most of it was up here."

They talked for a while, two old friends catching up, but they had carefully skirted the issue of Lannie, but Melifa felt compelled to bring her up. "Peter...." She said finally, her tone changing, cautious. Peter leaned back. He recognised the tone of the voice. It was the same tone whenever someone was about to bring up his deceased wife. He braced himself." I am so sorry about Lannie." Peter nodded slowly, his eyes glazing over as memories appeared in his head. Memories of himself, Lannie and Melifa on the station. He shook them away, as he felt the despair that was living inside him threaten to engulf him and turn him back. He felt a warm hand touch his and squeeze. He looked down saw Melifa had taken his hand.

Melifa smiled warmly at him. She was impressed. She saw clearly, using her telepathy, he was resolved to starting again. No doubt the pain and despair would get the better of him from time to time, but for someone that was so in love, this was no surprise. Even though it had felt like only 10 minutes, neither of them got the chance to say much else as the stars outside shifted from what they looked like at warp, to what they looked like when travelling at sub-light speeds. "=/\= Bridge to Captain Thrall." Melifa's comm badge chirped. She sighed, gave Peter's hand one last squeeze before releasing it and tapped her comm badge on her chest. "=/\= Thrall here Commander, go ahead." She answered.

"=/\= Captain, we've arrived at Deep Space 13. Shall I alert Captain Gardner?" the voice of Commander Tomoot, her First Officer responded. "=/\= I'll make him aware, Commander. Place as in standard orbit, at station keeping. Tell Transporter Room 2 to prepare to transport Captain Gardner and alert the Quartermaster to transfer his belongings and the supplies. Thrall Out.=/\=" She tapped her badge, closing the channel.

"Supplies?" Peter asked, quick to avoid their previous conversation. "Yeah, rations, bedding, industrial replicators and food replicators. I've got to head back to Earth but I'll be back in a week or so with more supplies." She left out that she wouldn't be returning in the Dauntless. Peter nodded and stood up, Melifa led the way, exiting the temporary quarters, heading to the transporter room.

As they entered the transporter room, she looked over to the Transporter Chief. "You're relieved, Crewman." The Crewman turned and left the transporter room. Peter turned to her and smiled. "Hopefully, I'll see you around more often." He said, as they had a quick embrace again. As they stepped back from each other, Melifa smiled back. "I've been assigned to this area of space for the foreseeable, so you'll be seeing a lot more of me." She answered happily.

Peter smiled widely. He was happy. At least he had one familiar face to be around. As he stepped back up to the pad he replied. "Thank god for that."

She laughed and moved to the transporter control panel. Not waiting for him to say he was ready, she executed the transport, happy that she go to see her friend but sad it had ended so quickly.

 

[remember...]

Good story I quit star trek in 95
don't. Know much about ds9 though.

 

[Bobby]

// Deep Space 13
// Episode Day -2, 1100
// Captain Peter Gardner

Peter materialised, not into Operations as he expecting, but onto the Promenade. And it was mess. Much like the pictures of Deep Space 9 he had seen when Starfleet first took over. "Welcome to Deep Space 13, Captain Gardner." a voice said to his left. He turned to see a Tiburon male whom he knew as Kabad Devep, the Lieutenant Commander who had assigned as the Skeleton Crew Commanding Officer. "Thank you Commander Devep." He replied, offering a small smile and his right hand out.

Kabad took the offered hand with his right hand and shook it, returning the smile. After the brief handshake, he motioned for Peter to follow him. "Apologises for the mess, Captain. We've been focusing on getting Ops and living quarters habitable again. Right now, the promenade is the only place with breathable atmosphere and we are bunking in the empty shops." he said pointing as they went passed a shop. "We have set you up in a large booth Captain upstairs, in the bar." he said motioning again as they went passed the bar. "Starfleet have dispatched a SCE ship to us and that will be here in a few days. Once they get here, we can seal the breaches in the hull in the living quarters areas." He paused, allowing Peter to listen and digest the information he had just shared.

"Thank you, Commander. Do we have a base of operations setup down here?" He asked, looking about as if looking for something obvious. Kabad nodded, motioning to the right and turning, walking into a small shop. Peter could see this was being used as a base of sorts. They had been given several consoles and equipment that enabled them to have comms, internal and external sensors. "Very good. When will Ops be ready?" He asked of the Tiburon man. "I think by tomorrow lunchtime." He answered briefly. Peter nodded. "Okay. I want morning briefings, between you and I, along with whomever passes for Security Chief and anyone else you think should be there. Do we know of any other crew arriving?" He asked.

"Most of them are arriving with the SCE ship, Captain." He answered. Kabad felt a little uncomfortable, talking about the crew arrivals. He had hoped that Starfleet were going to promote him to serve as the Executive Officer at least, but that hadn't happened. Peter detected Kabads emotional state and took an accurate educated guess as to why. "Commander, be in no doubt that your hard work and effort here will not be unrewarded." He began. "Starfleet wanted an experienced Command Team here due to what we know is coming. You're experience isn't in that area and right now, you'd be wasted here. I was going to ask you to stay on, to command the night shift, but Captain Thrall is going to need a Executive Officer. You have been selected for that position, along with a promotion to Commander, congratulations." He said smiling. "She will be back in a week and will pick you up then." He finished.

Kabad looked surprised. He understood why he was wasn't chosen to the Executive Officer of the station. He was disappointed, but that didn't last one when he realised he had been promoted and would be serving as an Executive Officer regardless. "Thank you, Captain." Kabad managed.

"Now, I expect whilst you remain onboard Deep Space 13 that when you are on duty, you are in the correct uniform." He said in a mock stern tone. Kabad gave a little laugh. "Understood Captain. Apologies. Can I please be dismissed to correct this and carry on with my duties?"

Peter smiled and nodded." Absolutely, dismissed, Commander."

 

[Bobby]

Good story I quit star trek in 95
don't. Know much about ds9 though.

Thank you.