Mother's Footsteps-A Masterverse Short Feature

knightraider6

No I would not give you false hope
On this strange and mournful day
But the mother and child reunion
Is only a motion away, oh, little darling of mine

I can't for the life of me
Remember a sadder day
I know they say let it be
But it just don't work out that way
And the course of a lifetime runs
Over and over again

No I would not give you false hope
On this strange and mournful day
But the mother and child reunion
Is only a motion away, oh, little darling of mine

I just can't believe It's so
Though it seems strange to say
I never been laid so low
In such a mysterious way
And the course of a lifetime runs
Over and over again

But I would not give you false hope
On this strange and mournful day
When the mother and child reunion
Is only a motion away

Oh the mother and child reunion
Is only a motion away
Oh the mother and child reunion
Is only a moment away
Paul Simon: Mother andChild reunion

Starfleet Academy, outside the 4th class dormitory, August 17 2412


Ensign Rena Der Tryhs looked around what had been her home for the last three and a half years. It’s strange how a few weeks, and an averted apocalypse changed one’s perspective. She had been looking forward to graduation this year-instead, she was commissioned early, after the events of the Battle of Goralis.

Which put her in what months ago would have been an amusing situation where she outranked Cadet-Captain Cambridge. Instead… hell, he should have been promoted early too in her mind, but in truth, only a handful of the cadets did - and most were posthumous. Like Hollister. She hadn’t known before that Cambridge and him were in a relationship - but then Cambridge always kept his social side to himself, and Hollister… well he was always spending so much time doing extra credit that no one really saw him in their off hours. Still the trip with Cambridge back to Halifax, to tell Hollisters parents what happened to their son, was a good one in her book. Cambridge may have lost his lover, but gained a family. Still, she knew he’d rather not have lost anyone.

“Was wondering what took you two so long,” came a familiar voice behind them. Cambridge turned around and actually smiled. “Trombley!”

The odd cadet smiled back at the both of them - he’d come back before most of the other of their classmates. After the battle, with travel time and leave, some of them weren’t even due back for a few more weeks. “Good to see you again, though surprised to see you Rena, I mean Ensign. Didn’t think you’d come back here.”

Rena just chuckled. “I had to make sure he got back safe, after the moose incident.”

Cambridge sighed and rolled his eyes. “I didn’t realize they were that aggressive… you’re never going to let me live that down are you?” he said with a rueful chuckle.

“Probably not,” Rena agreed. “So what have we missed around here?”

“Well lets see, Commander Lennox got relieved and thrown in the brig for attacking some civvie girl from Moab-”

“What the hell?” Both Rena and Cambridge said in unison. True he wasn’t one of their favorite instructors, but still.

“Yeah, though officially there hasn’t been much released about it, just rumors, but he is gone. Also, Blue Squad got themselves court martialed and kicked out, for harassing a cadet so bad he ended up in the hospital.”

Rena hadn’t had any run-ins with them herself, but she wasn’t fond of them. Fortunately she didn’t stand any classes with them except for Federation Law. “Is the entire galaxy going crazy?” she muttered.

“Oh, you missed the riots, though those weren’t around here - security in San Francisco kept a good lid on most of it, but there were curfews in a dozen cities, and part of Paris burnt to the ground in riots over stuff that was in that data dump back in August finally making it out.”

Rena and Cambridge looked at each other, eyes wide. “No way,” Cambridge muttered.

“Yes way,” Trombley replied. “Oh, and Lt Commander Westervelt said she wants to see you when you come in Rena, dunno what about.”

“Terrific…” Westervelt wasn’t one of her favorite persons - of course the fact that she was one of the many officers who had been punched by her mother years ago didn’t help anything. Sometimes she wished she’d used her fathers name instead…not that she ever knew him. Oh well, no time like the present. “I’ll go see what she wants - got to go back to my room to get a few personal things anyway.”


LtCdr Westervelt’s office

“You’re out of uniform, cadet.”

This was not what she expected in the least. “Excuse me Sir? I was promoted by Captain Monroe-”

“Who’s no longer in starfleet, lardass got his walking papers,” The greying haired human said. “Which means that your promotion is-”

“Valid.” Both of them turned their head at the new voice, Rena unconsciously snapping to attention in the Admiral’s presence. Kathryn Janeway just smirked. “At ease, Ensign - I had set to be notified when you returned to campus as I wanted to talk to you-and for your information, Lt Commander, yes while Kevin Monroe may no longer be in Starfleet - battlefield promotions also have to be signed off by flag officers. In this case,” she said producing a PADD , “Admirals LaRoca, ch'Harrell, and,” she said as she added a name to the list, “Janeway.”

Westervelt just stood there, glaring at Rena who had the brains not to look smug - though it was tempting. “Admiral, I was not aware that her promotion had been approved higher.”

“I know you had a beef with Monroe - and battlefield promotions for cadets are so rare nowadays I can see your confusion. But Der Tryhs earned her commission in battle.”

“Yes, Admiral.” Westervelt didn’t say anything more, though it looked like she clearly wanted to, as Janeway continued “before you leave, stop by my office Ensign Der Tryhs.”

Rena just nodded, managing not to look too wide eyed. Even though she was no longer a cadet, reporting to an admiral was different. “Aye Admiral.”

After the Admiral left, Lt Commander Westerfelt turned to look at Rena. “Ensign, I apologize - I truly thought that the promotion wasn’t valid-”

“It’s ok, Sir” Rena said, surprising them both. Neither one had gotten along with the other to be honest - but ever since Goralis… a lot of the ‘petty bull****’ didn’t seem to bother Rena as much “Mistakes happen - they only become a problem if they’re repeated, as you drilled into us.”

Westervelt simply nodded… the brash annoying cadet had been replaced by a confident and competent young officer. “Just keep that in mind, and you’ll do fine Der Tryhs.”



Admiral Janeway’s office, Starfleet Academy

She’d never been here-but then cadets who were summoned here were usually in either a world of hurt, or something had gone wrong with their family. Still the Admiral’s aide had smiled at her when she reported, so it couldn’t be that bad.

“Ensign Der Tryhs reporting as ordered Admiral” she said, almost but not quite saying ‘cadet’ instead.

The Admiral returned the salute “at ease ensign.” She smiled reassuringly. “this isn’t an official meeting by the way.”

“I kind of gathered that Admiral, you’re not in the habit of inviting ensigns to your office from what I understand” Rena replied...something was familiar in the room. She glanced at a holopicture of a group of cadets on the table by the window and blinked. “is that-”

The Admiral just nodded “Your mother was in my class at the Academy. Took me a while to get used to Tellarite humor to be honest, and arguing for hours about every little thing.” Kathryn walked over to the holo, and picked it up, handing it to Rena “we were in the same room our third year-she was one of the most natural pilots I have ever seen. You take after her in a lot of ways-It’s no wonder that you pulled off what you did with the Smedley Butler over Goralis.”

“I didn’t do that much, I’m sciences, not helm.” Rena said, the Tellarite snorting a bit.

Janeway just smirked “I’ll have you know, that the data from the Butler had been loaded into the simulators here. So far, no one, cadet or instructor have managed to keep the ship in orbit. If you were still a cadet, I’d recommend crosstraining to helm”

“But I like science Admiral.”

“So do I. Science is why I joined Starfleet- but I ended up in command. Starfleet tries to keep you where you want-but if you can do something else they need…”

“I understand that” Rena replied. “But-well, I didn’t want to be just thought of as a junior version of my mother.”

Kathryn just laughed “there’s not much danger of that-you managed three and a half years with less demerits than Ponta made in a month. If it hadn’t been for her talent-well lets just say that things were a bit different back then.”

“I know” Rena replied. “one reason I watched my step more than I probably had to was because of that. If it hadn’t been for her mouth and temper, she’d have been Captain of her own ship...instead of being promoted and demoted to and from commander six times.” She sighed. “But she believed in Doc Schrodinger-at least the last few years she’d stabilized and looked to actually be able to make it to retirement…”

For a moment, she saw the last glimpse of her mother, encased in fek webbing on the McGrath, then closed her eyes. “she didn’t though. She went down fighting at least, not a good way to go, but better to die on one's feet than on their knees.” Rena snuffled a bit-Tellarites didn’t cry as humans did, but the emotion was similar. “So, especially after that- I can’t repeat her mistakes. it’s not just my name I wear, but hers too.”


“I don’t think you’ll have anything to worry about Ensign Der Tryhs.” The admiral said kindly. “She was my friend as well. I know you were looking forward to working with Kevin Monroe...damn shame and to be honest, utter stupidity for him and others like him being booted out of the fleet because they don’t meet ‘human’ standards. Frankly, I think they shouldn’t be judged by those standards-a plain human like myself would have a hard time even walking in the gravity of their homeworld.”

“I agree Admiral-but my mom always told me, the best place to change something for the better is to be inside-rather than yelling outside the walls. They pay more attention to when you yell inside.”

The admiral chuckled “That sounds like her. Anyway, with his request out of the system, BUPERS will probably end up sending you to Tau Dewa like they’ve been doing a lot of their new ensigns-I think you’ve earned a more challenging assignment than that.” As the com chirrped she glanced at it. “And speak of the devil.” She sat back down behind her desk, and answered the incoming call. “Good morning Admiral.”

”Admiral Janeway, what can I do for you? I’m a bit busy at the moment.” Admiral LaRoca replied warily on the screen.

“I have an officer you might be interested in. With Monroe getting sidelined, I really don’t think Ensign Der Tryhs needs to be fed into the personnel mill.”

He relaxed a bit. ”She’s up for grabs? I want her.” He thought for a moment as he glanced at the file Janeway had sent him ”Don’t have much room in the Tib’s Sciences department, though the Megalodon can always use good science officers - I think she came up with that trick for detecting the Fek’ warseeds as well. I’ll have Barrister contact Personnel and claim her before anyone else gets a chance.”

Kathryn just nodded “I’ll have my people get her packet ready for him then. Thank you.”



Two days later, Transporter room, USS Megalodon

“Welcome aboard, Ensign.” A fit young Trill woman started speaking almost before the matter stream coalesced. “Lt. Sora Taute, deputy ops officer.” She extended her hand. Rena noted she was wearing the ConOps Sierra uniform with Eng-Ops gold trim.

“Thank you, sir.” She saw the transporter operator was dressed similarly, with Petty Officer’s insignia in place of the Lieutenant’s pips. “I guess I’ll need a new uniform, huh?”

“If you’d like; you’re in regulation,” Taute said with a shrug. “Most of us find the Sierra series to be more comfortable than the new Odyssey uniforms, is all. Follow me to your quarters.”

“Definitely more comfortable than the academy ones” she said as she followed the Trill. “look better too.”

“With so many exchange officers and civilian specialists on board, ConOps tends to operate with a relaxed dress code,” Taute explained, as she opened a turbolift. She abruptly changed the subject. “Have you ever been aboard an Odyssey-class before?”

“I toured the Enterprise-F last First Contact Day.”

“Okay, same basic spaceframe as ours, but our systems are very different.” The turbolift let them out on deck 11. “We use polarized disruptor weaponry, kinda borrowed from the Klingons. All of our systems are top spec developed for the Omega initiative. Your science stations will have the very best sensor systems available to-” her commbadge chirped. “Hang on.” She tapped it. “Taute here.”

”L-T, it’s Praller. The Megatooth’s weapons diagnostic still shows misalignment in the main induction coils. I think we may have a sensor fault, sir.”

“Okay, I’m on my way.” She closed the channel. “Sorry, Ensign, gotta go. Your room is number 1147, down this corridor, take your second left, then another left. It’s on your right. You can’t miss it. Settle in, then report to the bridge at change-of-watch at 1600. Your supervising officer is Sub-Commander Saehria. She’s a Romulan. Ex-Tal Shiar, but don’t mention that and she’s real nice. See ya later!” And she took off at a brisk jog.

“Right…” she watched her go, then checked her PADD. Fortunately she’d downloaded the deck plans, and managed to find the cabin without getting too lost. The door was already programmed for her, unlike smaller ships-she had the small cabin to herself. Dropping her bag at the foot of the bed, she pulled out a holo of her mother and her, on the day she was accepted to the Academy. “well Mom, I made it” she said as she set it on the desk. “of course..that was the easy part.” She grinned to herself. but the best part of her life, was yet to come.

worffan101

1. Der Tryhs made me laugh out loud at her name, and I unfortunately couldn't stop.

2. Janeway is waaaaaaaaay OOC here; the real Janeway was very much a Human-centric bigot, at one point even saying that she wouldn't do a perfectly viable thing because "that's not the Human thing to do". Which is the HEIGHT of arrogance in a Starfleet filled with aliens. Her pieces would have worked much better with a different character.


Otherwise: solidly written, well-executed, and you got the emotions down nicely.

Well done!

antonine3258

I find the Diane Duane approach on 'broad' statements like that easier to take for Star Trek overall - you've got Terrans but 'Humanity' is the larger ideals and optimism expressed versus the idea of being a singular species.


Confuses the heck out of a couple of Romulans, they're pretty sure there's only one flavor, but the Terrans don't seem to know.

I liked the piece a lot. I generally find the Masterverse pieces daunting to get into (My fault, not yours), but I enjoy the opportunities on these self-contained pieces to enjoy. Really good voice throughout.

gulberat

I particularly thought it was interesting to see Rena's way of dealing with her grief. It seems very fitting for Tellarites that they would remember a person in a very unvarnished manner, and that there would be no "don't speak ill of the dead" idea that would compel them culturally to idealize or whitewash anything the deceased did that was not good.

Now...ex-Tal Shiar? I am concerned for Rena now. There's probably as many "ex"-Tal Shiar as there are "ex"-Obsidian Order...way to go out on a cliffhanger!



I can't say I ever had the sense of Janeway being a Terra Prime/human supremacist type, and I do not recall seeing her treat Starfleet officers differently based on race (think poor Harry Kim would've seen a promotion or two if she were human supremacist!). Rather, I think she could be more xenophobic than anything: if it wasn't Starfleet, if it was outside the hull of her starship, it was suspect. If it was crew, it was probably OK.

So I see nothing OOC in Janeway's behavior here: this is a matter of Starfleet. The uniform places one in the "in group" for her, I think.



I also liked Diane Duane's take on the "many species of Humanity," myself.



BTW, simply for illustrative purposes, I wanted to point out how the Collins Rule worked for other completely nonhuman species. (This is something I discussed with the other Masterverse authors.). For my Pakled character, Lieutenant Gredevel, though his weight would have disqualified him as a human, he was treated according to a completely different baseline. My version of the Pakled makes them evolved for the taiga, and even the tundra if necessary; their entire physique, diet, etc. is not that far off from IRL Arctic megafauna, so he was treated according to that rather than human standards. Similarly, Alyosha is not judged adversely for the fact that his muscle mass is closer to an Elaysian than a human...his own species would likely consider him an imposing physical specimen, even though what *we* see is someone who can't walk without telekinetic support.

I suppose in the mind of whatever bureaucrat set up the rule for humans as they did, it was either subject everyone to the same rule, including natives of Hoffman's Folly, or rule them Augments who would become ineligible for Starfleet service. (And that rule is one I think is dumb since excepting the rare case when someone might have themselves resequenced at or beyond the age of majority, only the parents should be held liable. Though of course in cases like Denali and Hoffman's Folly, those who made the decisions to augment are as a general rule long dead, meaning IMO that liability for those species is now absolved.) Stupid and bureaucratic but that sounds to me like the kind of thing a career pencil-pusher would come up with.




So all that rambling is essentially to say that I see nothing wrong with knightraider's story.