Transient Quarters, Starbase 170
Rhiian System, Sector 20
Stardate 55055.6 (January 21st, 2378)
After the U.S.S. Yosemite had been towed into Starbase 170 by the starship Malinche, the stations security staff had escorted the ‘dimensional refugees’ to the infirmary to be completely checked out, and then onto the large complex of short-stay quarters the station had on level 96. There they stayed, with security posted throughout the sections they occupied, for their own safety.
Captain Silva La Forge, formerly the Commanding Officer of the U.S.S. Hera, was one of the lucky few offered a viewport in her quarters, at which she now stood and looked out into the blackness of space. Though she, of course, knew that she was no longer in her own reality, would never again her family, or her ship and crew, she still couldn’t quite believe it. Everything just looked and felt so similar, for the last five days she had woken up and it had taken several minutes for her to remember what had happened. She would be lying if she said it didn’t sadden her.
The door chimed.
“Come in,” she replied, staying where she was. Behind her the doors parted and she heard someone step over the threshold. Though she didn’t look back she knew who had come to see her. “Hello Commander.”
“Captain,” Martin Madden stated, his voice a little tense. “I thought I should tell you that the specialist team assigned to help have arrived.”
“On that old Sydney-Class ship?”
“Yes sir. Apparently it was the only transport available at such short notice.”
She turned to face him, a soft smile on her face. “So much for returning home in style.”
He gave her a smile of his own. “You could always hang on for something better?”
“There’s no telling when that might be. Besides, it might be fun to ‘rough it’ for a few days,” she moved away from the viewport to the small seating area. She gestured for him to join her. “Please sit Commander.”
“Thank you sir,” he replied, sitting down on the couch as she slipped into the overstuffed seat opposite. “How have you been? I meant to come by sooner, to see how things were going, but I just haven’t had the time until now.”
She waved off the apology. “I understand completely Commander. You’ve had reports to write, logs to submit, a ship to oversee and a crew that needs guidance following their losses,” she saw him wince at the last part, and her heart went out to the young man. “It’s not easy, losing your own.”
“No sir, its not.” There was a pause in their conversation and she made no move to fill it, she had been where he was, she knew that he would need to vent some of those feelings, and although they had only spoken a few times over the last five days, La Forge had come to like him and she wanted to help him out in whatever way she could.
“I’ve lost people before,” he began. “It’s how I became the First Officer of the Talos four years ago during the war. I’ve had to bury superiors, subordinates, friends, and far too many kids. But this it…it just feels different!”
“All those other times,” she told him, her voice so soft it was almost swallowed up in the room, “you may have sat in the big chair, or led the mission, but it was always under someone else’s orders. No matter what happened, the buck always stopped with someone above you. But the Yosemite was your ship Commander, that always makes it different.”
He nodded slowly, in an understanding manner. “You’re right. My first command and I lose two people, both of whom were too young to have led any kind of life.”
“But their deaths mean something Commander. They died protecting others. If there is such a thing as a ‘good death’, then it has to be sacrificing oneself to save the lives of others.” There was another pause, and she could see him mulling it over. Though he might not think so yet, he would come to realise that she was right. The pain he felt at the loss of two young and bright cadets would always be with him, but he could at least accept that known they had died upholding the pinnacle ideal of Starfleet—putting others before themselves, no matter the cost.
She looked over at the still active computer terminal on the desktop. “I’m dead,” she said simply.
He looked up at her, over to the computer and back again, before he hung his head slightly. “I know,” he looked back up at her. “I knew since the moment you came onboard. The disappearance of the Hera was pretty big news when it happened, and then when she was officially classified as lost just before the war, there was a feature on the Federation News Service about you and the crew. I just didn’t know how to tell you…or any of the others.”
“Yes. Seems rather curious that of the fifty people you saved that day, not a single one is alive anymore in this universe,” she mused. “It might be enough to make me believe in fate, or destiny or divine intervention.”
“But not quite.”
She laughed softly. “No, not quite. I’ll just chalk it up to random chance, in universes filled with infinite possibilities.”
“How are the others coping?”
“As well as can be expected, all things considered. I haven’t gotten to speak with all of the displaced yet. Some seem to be having a hard time thinking of themselves as both dead and alive, others are still in shock about what has happened, and a few seem happy to be away from a world where they are constantly fighting.”
“I can imagine it would be very difficult. But from what I was told, there are specialist trauma counsellors on the team for whoever should need them. Though everyone will need to go through a full psychological evaluation when they arrive.”
“I suspected as much,” she told him. The evaluations would only be part of the process. They would need to be fully debriefed, telling investigators and historians all about their own dimensions, so they could see how things were different, followed by an assessment of their abilities, retraining and recertification for all those that wanted to continue with their careers, before they could finally be assigned duties. From what she’d read about the Dominion War, Starfleet was still feeling its effects after four years. Recruitment was at an all-time low and experienced personnel were in short supply. This may not have been her universe or her Starfleet, but she was damned if she was simply going to turn her back on either. She had many years left in her before retirement, and she would make the most out of them, doing what she could to help out.
“How are things going with the Yosemite?” she asked, changing the subject.
“Repairs have been on hold until this team arrived, so that they could go over every millimetre of the ship. As a result, the Academy has pulled the cadets off of field training and wants them back on Earth ASAP. They will be given the choice to complete this assignment in a month or two. Which will probably be how long it will take to get the ship back into one piece and ready for another tour.”
“Will you be remaining with the ship to oversee the work?”
“Doubtful. It was only meant to be a temporary reassignment. With it cut short, I’ll probably be heading back to the Talos,” he said, though something about his tone seemed off. “Are you going to apply for active duty?” he asked, quickly changing the subject.
“Once I’ve spent some time with my family,” she told him, thinking about how Edward, Geordi and Ariana would deal with her ‘return from the grave’. From her perspective she had seen them all within the last three months, on whatever station or planet they happened to be near to, but for them, they had lost her eight years ago. It was going to be hard on all of them, and for a split second she had considered not doing so—after all she wasn’t their wife or mother and they weren’t her husband or children—but to avoid them would have been like running away from the matter, and Silva La Forge wasn’t a woman who turned away from tough situations.
“Well,” Madden said rising, “I’d better go get the cadets organised. They’ll be joining you onboard the Tasmania, and I want to make sure they’re alright before they depart.”
“Of course Commander. As I understand, we’ll be here for a day or two before heading back to Earth, feel free to drop by anytime.”
“Thank you Captain. I’ll hopefully see you later then.” He stepped out into the corridor and left her alone once again.
***
