We Meet Again

Posted on Wed May 11th, 2022 @ 12:21am by Captain Ivan Petrov

Mission: S1 Episode 2: Caretaker, Part II
Location: Delta Quadrant, various locations
Timeline: Mission Day 7 at 0000
2138 words - 4.3 OF Standard Post Measure

Their last night on Indigo Prime had passed quietly. Micheal had risen about an hour before Kaleigh was ready to be awake, so he used the time to shower, get dressed and head into the cockpit, to do a final pre-launch check of all ship systems.

Kae entered the cockpit a short time after him, showered and dressed. "Daphne is having breakfast, then she will stay in the lounge" She said as she took the co-pilots seat.

"Good," he replied. "Rebecca, please make sure she is entertained and does her homework."

"Of course, Master."

Micheal then looked over his controls again. "We are showing green across the board." He looked at Kaleigh, in her seat in front and slightly to the left of him. "Go ahead and retract the fencing system, sweetheart."

Kae retracted the fence with a few presses of buttons. "Retracted. We are clear."

Micheal nodded wordlessly. He then activated the landing thrusters. Slowly, the Arrow class runabout lifted off the surface of their planet.

Kaleigh watched the sensors. "No ships in range, we are good to break atmosphere" She reported. "Course is ready"

Micheal nodded as he spoke aloud, "Rebecca, activate Shadow Mode."

Rebecca's avatar popped into being on the cockpit to both of their left sides. She nodded once. "Yes, Master. Activating Shadow Mode now."

Outside, several small hatches opened and the programmed nanites flooded out along the entire hull. Once they were all in place, they activated, rendering the Alexandria II nearly invisible.

Back inside the ship, Rebecca reported that all systems were showing nominal operation.

"Thank you, Rebecca," Micheal replied. "Please ensure Daphne both does her school work and is then entertained. This could be a long trip."

"Yes, Master," she replied, then vanished.

Once she was gone, he worked his controls. "Course and speed are locked in, you ready, my love?"

"Lets go see what the Ocampa is hiding My Lord" She said with a smile.

He gave her a loving wink, then after manipulating his controls, the Alexandria II leapt to warp speed. "At current speed, we should arrive at the coordinates of, whatever, is producing that energy wave in, fourteen hours."

"We should drop out a distance away, go in on impulse." Kae suggested.

Micheal nodded. "Agreed." Once he saw that they were safely at warp and the Shadow Mode was working perfectly, he sat back and sighed. The conversation about Petrov was still in his mind. "I know that you said everything was fine, and Daphne did too...I just...it's still eating at me the look in her eyes, and yours, when I exploded like I did at dinner."

Kaleigh turned back to her console. "Well, you will have to work on it won't you."

He nodded to himself. "I'm sorry. I told you that I was...am...a beast." He got real quiet as he sat there. Deep in the back of his mind, a tiny voice was starting to laugh at him. See, moron? I told you that one day they'd see who you really are. Why do you think she really wanted to leave that planet? It's to find someone else, so she can take Daphne and run as far from you as she can!

"She will be fine. It just takes time." Kae said.

Micheal heard the tone in her voice. He was almost afraid to ask, but he had to. "And...and you? I'm guessing that..as soon as we get home, you'll...you'll want to take Daphne and leave...won't you?" His voice got real quiet at the end.

"You are putting words in my mouth Micheal and I do not appreciate it." Kaleigh stated turning to face him. "I Married you. I love you. We will get through this. People can be mad at one another and still love each other." She turned back to the console.

He felt some of the pain in his heart vanish as soon as she said that she loved him. "I'm sorry. I..I've never been in a serious relationship before. I love you and Daphne with every fiber of my being!" He got up from his command seat and moved around the console, coming to kneel down on her left side. "I'm sorry, Kae." It was clear by the look on his face that he meant what he said.

Kae touched his face with her left hand. "I know. Lets concentrate on our mission, and tonight, we will talk more ok?"

He closed his eyes and gently leaned into her touch some. He reached up with his right hand and gently took hold of her hand. He then turned his face to his right and softly kissed the inside of her palm.

Kae gave him a small smile. "We have work to do."

Micheal looked upinto her beautiful face. "I'll do better," he whispered. "I promise. You both deserve my best."

"We both will do better Micheal. This is not going to be easy, we both know this."

He nodded and smiled softly. "So long as you are by my side, we can accomplish anything!"

Kae nodded and then turned back to check their course. "I will go back and check on Daphne." She said standing.

He nodded and stood, giving her room to move. As she started to move away, he reached out and gently pulled her I to an embrace. "I love you, Kae," he whispered to her.

Kae hugged him back. "Just get us there" And she went to check on Daphne.

***Nearly Fourteen Hours Later***
When they were to the point that passive long range sensors would be able to read their target area, while at impulse, Micheal brought the ship to a dead stop. "Rebecca, verify that all systems are still in the green and plot an escape course, incase Kaleigh and I are incapacitated by whatever we find. Above all else, Daphne is to be protected. Comply."

Rebecca appeared next to Micheal. Though she didn't look like she liked the orders, she still nodded in affirmation. "Yes, Master. I will ensure Young Miss is kept safe, even if it means the lives of you and Mistress." She bowed her head and, with a sad look in her eyes, vanished.

Kaleigh brought up her scans. "Hmmm. tracking on the pulse is in. If you bring us around to the heading I am sending you, we should make it to the location in 5 minutes."

"Got the coordinates." Micheal started to punch into the new navigational information, then executed the maneuver.

"There is something else out there." Kae said "Sensors are not getting a clear reading. Advise going in very slowly."

Micheal nodded. He was starting to get a bad feeling. "Rebecca, rig for silent running."

"Yes, Master." The AI then shut off all non-essential systems, cutting their energy signature was even less than what Shadow Mode did.

Once that was done, Micheal started to move the ship when, suddenly, Rebecca speaks up. "Master, my long range sensors are detecting a massive battle taking place over the Ocampan homeworld!"

"Kae?" He looked over at his wife to see what she could determine.

Kaleigh looked at the scanners as they came closer. "Micheal... Look at this.. its a Terran signature! A-Am I reading this right?"

"What?" He gasped. Pulling up the image that the sensors were reading, he said aloud, "Rebecca, clear up the image! Is that a Terran ship?!"

"Yes, Master," her disembodied voice replied. A few beats went by, then the image started to become sharper and more focused.

Finally, the image became crystal clear. "The ship's markings do indeed match Imperial Naval starship markings that are on file, Master."

Micheal just stared. He had never seen a ship of this design before. "What's her name, Rebecca?"

As Rebecca replied, the screen image shifted to show the name as well. "ISS Vengeance, Master."

Kaleigh was staring at the image. "What... do we do?"

"We hail them," Micheal finally said, after a few beats of silence. "They're still Terrans!"

"Hope so" she said softly. "Hailing frequencies open"

"ISS Vengeance, this is Private Terran Ship Alexandria II, do you read me?"

***ISS Vengeance***
Captain Petrov looked back at the officer manning the Ops console for the absent Lieutenant Vali and frowned.

“An Imperial Runabout? Confirm.” He ordered with a scheptical tone. The Ensign worked quickly at the console and then, after a few seconds, looked up at him and shook their head, indicating they still couldn’t identify the location of the alleged ship. “On screen.”

The screen changed to the view of a man…or something resembling one, as the left side of his face was machine.

“This is the ISS Vengeance, Alexandria. Your designation isn’t in our registry. Explain yourself immediately.”

***ALEXANDRIA II***
Micheal was dumbstruck for a few beats. Of all the luck.... "Admiral Ivan Petrov," he spoke slowly, his voice starting to fill with emotion. "Excuse me," he corrected himself. "Captain Ivan Petrov. I never thought I'd see you again." He sat back in his command chair, a dangerous look in his right eye. "You have some explaining to do as well, Sir. Or doesn't your most loyal of former officers, operators and personal bodyguard deserve it?"

Ivan looked into the right eye of the man on his screen and, slowly, his own eyes grew wide and dramatic. Could it really be him, after all these years and in a place so far from home?

"Mad Dog Robertson? Is that you?" he asked, his eyes not straying from the screen. The older man stood from his seat, his eyes planted on the screen in disbelief. "What are you doing out here? And...what happened to you?"

"I might ask the same of you, Ivan." Micheal was quiet for a few beats, then shook his head slightly. "However, clearly now is not the time for such a conversation. Do. You require any assistance?"

Ivan hesitated with the specific answer to that question for several pregnant moments, his mind racing from threat to benefit and back again until he wasn't sure what to say or do. Eventually, he managed a simple answer.

"We have devastated the Ocampa Home Group...the Kazon are temporary allies." Ivan said, his eyes darting to those of his XO for the briefest of seconds; he saw there uncertainty and question. "Come aboard and we can talk it all out in person, yes? I'm sure Yana and the kids would be...pleased to see you again."

The news they just heard caused Micheal's right eye to grow a bit larger. "Wait...your family is here with you?!" He glanced at Kaleigh again, then back at Ivan. "Do you have room in your shuttlebay for an Arrow-Class runabout?"

“They are.” Ivan said, smiling a bit. He knew the man had always loved his family and had heard from Yana that he was a source of support and protection for them after he had to leave until Mad Dog himself had gone missing. “Lieutenant, what needs to be done for us to make room in the bay?”

Johnathan turned his seat around and replied to his Captain. "With the current state of our auxiliary craft, there is just enough room on the main level for his ship, Sir."

Ivan looked back up at the viewscreen and nodded to his old bodyguard. He looked over at David, his new one.

“I’ll meet you down there, Mad Dog.”

On the viewscreen, Micheal nodded. "I'll see you in a moment, Ivan. Alexandria out." The image of his face switched back to open space in front of the Vengeance. There was nothing there but debris from the recent battle.

Suddenly, off to the lower right corner of the image, there was an odd shimmering. Then, where they had seen nothing before, the sleek shape of an Arrow-Class runabout started to appear. It wasn't becoming visible like a decloaking vessel as they knew it. Instead, it was as if several blankets were being pulled off of the small ship in different directions.

Ivan watched as the ship decloaked, if that's what it could really be called. His mind worked. What threats were before them? Where had this old underling and family friend come from, and what was to happen next.

"Guide the runnabout into the bay and start running scanned diagnostics; nothing intrusive. I want to know what we're dealing with, but I don't want to violate them..at this point." Ivan ordered. "Commander Cain, you have the Bridge."

Once the runabout was fully visible, it moved aft of the Vengeance, towards her shuttlebay. Once it was in position, a landing request alarm was heard on the bridge.

=/\=Petrov to Yana Petrova. Come down to the Shuttlebay, dear. We've got a surprise on our hands.=/\=

END