Hourglass
Posted on Sun Mar 9th, 2014 @ 3:28am by Commander Eliana Masters
Mission:
New Frontier
Location: USS Bellerophon
Timeline: Current
“Miss Masters, we will be arriving at your destination in three hours. Please prepare your belongings for departure. Our time at station may be as short as a half hour.”
Eliana had always been in the habit of ignoring automated voices. She had grown up in a generation that blindly accepted terms and conditions all while silently hoping that the consequences for their laziness would never truly arise. Three centuries into life, she had yet to be burned, but the realization that the day’s events would bring about a new chapter in her life made her pay just a little more attention to the details than usual.
Of course, she already knew the message was coming. This was far from her first transfer. Transfers were a part of life as a Starfleet officer, especially one who had no intentions of trying to find his or her way back to sector 001 as quickly as possible. The routine was always the same – the same three hard-shell cases had seen her through the decades. One contained personal effects, one contained equipment and materials related to her work, and one contained clothes and uniforms. Two of these were sitting by the door, fully packed and ready to go as they had been when she arrived.
The third?
”Where do I get all of these clothes? Pa Has that dress always been that color? I should dye my hair that color, yeah I’d like that.”
Thoughts like this ran through Ellie’s head more often than she cared to admit. Before Starfleet regulations dictated that her hair color be “naturally occurring” for her species, her hair color changed seemingly by the day. Her options became limited by the aforementioned regulations when she joined Starfleet, and her arguments over the definition of “naturally occurring” had fallen on the deaf ears of those foolish enough to entertain her argument. Ellie knew she didn’t stand a chance at winning her side, but that was beside the point. For her, it was about the process – the means, not the ends.
“Ellie! You awake in there? Open the door!”
“In a minute dear!” Masters called out in a sing-song voice. As she caught a glimpse of herself in the mirror, she stopped to take a moment and reflect. Had her features grown any harder after another seven years in deep space? Most would not dare to insinuate that Eliana had aged a day since she was a cadet, but to her own, over-analyzing eyes, she could tell some subtle differences.
Of course, none of this mattered to Petra, her best friend of seven years and the person who she wanted to see most at that very moment. Seven years out of over three hundred, and yet, Masters felt as if she had known Petra for much longer. A cynic might scoff at the notion that such a short time span actually meant anything more than a drop in the bucket to an El Aurian, but Eliana prided herself on never associating with those types.
The doors slid open and the two friends immediately embraced. If Petra was on form, she would have already been packed and ready for her next assignment as soon as the orders had arrived. However, her job was never really done until she had made certain that Eliana had also packed.
“You’re going to be stuck on this boat for the rest of eternity if you don’t get packed missy,” Petra scolded.
“But mooooooooom, you’re the one that gave me all these dresses. I can’t help it that someone had to go and drag me along on a galaxy wide shopping trip,” Masters complained in sequence.
“Oh shut up. Here, listen to this while you pack,” Petra interrupted. “Turns out that the starbase you’re going to was captured by the Kzin Consortium during the war. They used it as a base of operations during the peak of their influence, but it didn’t last long. The Federation decided that just letting the Kzin have a Celestial Class Starbase wasn’t the greatest idea.”
“You don’t say?” Ellie was smiling.
“Hush. Pack. Now,” Petra was practically growling. “Anyways, before I was rudely interrupted from my awesome story, it wasn’t like we just let them have it. We certainly didn’t let them keep it, but in a final show of . . . solidarity? I don’t know, you’re better with words than me, basically what I’m trying to say is that they trashed the place. Big time. Not just the base either, there are orbital facilities in place around the planet of, uh. . . I forgot the name.”
“What is. . . Stratkas IV?” Masters answered with a question.
“Yeah, that’s it. Anyway, the cats made a huge mess of everything before they left, and repair efforts haven’t been. . . successful. Far from it, in fact, the article I’m reading here says that the main power cores are only just now being brought back online.”
That was certainly news to Eliana. Each and every starbase was a masterpiece of engineering, technology, and art blended together to create the pinnacle of what the Federation could accomplish. The idea of a major station in disrepair was foreign to most. Even Eliana could only think of a few exceptions in her lifetime. It was a major event if a base fell to another faction. For it to have happened twice in rapid fashion attested to the instability of the area.
“Hmm, well they certainly didn’t make this an easy one did they?” Masters asked the rhetorical question she thought many would ask in her situation. “Getting main power back online will be huge. A lot of things repairs themselves when the grid comes back up, but I guess I won’t know for sure what I’ve gotten myself into until we arrive.”
“Backbreaking work, that’s what.”
“Yeah, you’re probably right. I won’t feel too bad, knowing that I’m sacrificing so that those lucky few can gallivant across the universe in the newest, sleekest starships doing who knows what in who knows where,” Eliana laughed for a moment, letting the moment settle before continuing on. “Seriously though, you deserve it Petra. If anyone can keep an entire ship happy, you can do it.”
“You’ve always been there to help me. I couldn’t have done it without you. It’s going to be weird without. . . well, you know.”
Silence reigned as it usually does in deep space.
“No use avoiding it now,” Eliana muttered. “I’ll miss you Petra, I really will. I’ll do my best to keep in contact. . .”
“. . . and I’ll do my best to convince my new captain that we need to resupply from Starbase 80 every time – no exceptions.” Petra completed the sentence.
“Deal,” Masters smiled. “Now help me pack! I, for one, have no plans of missing my stop and being stuck on this rust bucket for any longer than I have to.”
[Three Hours Later]
Those few souls that had booked passage aboard the Bellerophon were gathered in the ship’s mess hall, anticipating the moment when the ship would drop out of warp and shove them into their new lives. In a corner booth, Eliana and Petra sat sipping tea and listening to the hum of the engines as the stars streaked by the window.
“Ladies and gentlemen,” a voice came over the intercom. “Our stop at Starbase 80 will be cut short due to an updated deadline at our next waypoint. We might be able to spare a half hour, if that. We apologize for any inconvenience.”
Eliana simply shrugged at the news. Life was certainly proving to be more interesting than usual. Nearby, a few children were counting down from various numbers, trying to time the exact moment when the starbase would fill up the window. She couldn’t help but join in their game.
Fifteen, she decided.
She only made it to four before the ship dropped out of warp. Every pilot worth their salt knew the docking process by heart, but everyone had their own way of complying with the requirements. Differential thrust, maneuvering thrusters, impulse power, tractor beam – it just depended on the situation and the pilot.
“Oh no, no, no, no, no!”
“What?” Petra raised an eyebrow.
Looking across at her friend, Ellie realized she had thought out loud and quickly dismissed her outburst with a wave of her hand. No one cared if the closing rate between the dock and the ship was a few meters per second too fast. As long as they were there safe and sound, right?
“If you’re leaving us at Starbase 80, please report to the starboard air lock. All others, be reminded that the ship will be leaving in a half hour. Plan your time accordingly.” Masters recognized the voice as belonging to the captain. Time waited for no one, least of all ship captains.
“Walk with me to the lock?” Eliana posed a question to Petra.
“Of course.”
Cases in tow, Ellie and Petra walked with others that were on their way to bigger and better things. Many were simply connecting to other means of passage through the war-ridden area. Safe travel and the area of space around the former Federation/Romulan border were mutually exclusive. It was a calculated risk, but if Masters and the rest of the Starbase 80 crew had anything to say about it, things were about to get a lot better – at least in their neck of the woods.
“Here, I want you to have this,” Eliana reached around her neck and unclipped the necklace that she wore on most days. “Maybe it will bring you some luck, not that you need it.”
“I got you something too,” Petra replied, handing over a small, well-wrapped package. “Don’t open it until you get to your room. Oh, and I almost forgot. I totally hid a tray of your favorite cookies in your bag when you weren’t looking. I hope they don’t confiscate them. They shouldn’t right?”
“I’ll fight ‘em if they try,” Masters grinned. Dropping the suitcase to her side, she hugged her best friend for maybe the last time. “I’ll miss you. I hate goodbyes, they’re the worst.”
“Don’t be ridiculous. This isn’t goodbye. Just a, well, ‘see ya later’ kind of thing.”
Masters laughed. Terrans – the eternal optimists.
“Have a safe trip. Take care of yourself,” Ellie squeezed Petra’s hand tightly.
“I will. Now go, before I have a breakdown.”
There was nothing left to be said. Words were a woefully inadequate way to say goodbye, but the words that she had chosen would have to do. Eliana took one last look over her shoulder before she made the walk onto the station. She turned the corner and just like that, a page turned in the storybook that was her life. Masters couldn’t help but feel very small and lonely – a stranger in a foreign land. She knew that the feeling would pass, but for now, the wound was fresh and she was vulnerable. For now though, she could get by behind the mask of being a senior officer aboard a Federation starbase. Behind the mask, the turmoil continued.
C'mon Ellie, pull yourself together. Smile a bit, it won't kill you.
"Commander, if you'll follow me. Welcome to Starbase 80."
Eliana Masters
Director of Flight Operations
Second Officer
