New Friends

Posted on Mon Jul 18th, 2022 @ 5:31am by Lieutenant Johnathan Anderson III

Mission: S1 Episode 3: Phage
Location: ISS Vengeance, Shuttlebay
Timeline: Mission Day 2 at 1100
2461 words - 4.9 OF Standard Post Measure

After handing his station off to one of his department staff, Johnathan started take his way down to the shuttlebay. Hw had yet to see the new ship that was taking up residence in his space, nor meet to crew that came aboard with it.

As the turbolift moved deeper into the core of the ship, he quickly read over what information that was available about their guests.

Only the basics were listed, names and how long they had been in the Delta Quadrant and that they were guardians of a 7 year old girl.

In the shuttlebay, Kaleigh was making one of her 'visits' to the shuttle with Daphne in tow. Micheal was already there and Kae and Daphne came down after Kae's shift to spend time with Rebecca and Micheal.

A few moments later, Johnathan entered the shuttlebay. After speaking to his chief and issuing some daily maintenance orders, he turned his attention to the new ship in his domain. Looking over her lines, he could see that she was an Arrow Class Runabout, clearly heavily modified. His pilot's eye saw both the various modifications to her hull and how each one was done to keep the extra drag to a minimum. He had to admit, the work was expertly done. He wondered if the owners did the modifications, or if a third party was responsible.

Moving closer, he finally reached the craft and, seeing the ramp down, knocked on the hull. "Hello? Anyone home?"

Daphne was closest to the hatch, having been reading a book in the family's living area. "Kaleigh! Mike! Someone is at the hatch!" she called out as she put down the book and skipped to the hatch. She stepped out into view, and gave the Terran man a calm look. "Hello" she said.

Johnathan smiled a kind grin. "Hello, little one. You must be Mistress Daphne. My name is Lieutenant Johnathan Quincy Anderson the Third. I'm the Chief Flight Officer for the Vengeance. Do you know what that means?" He kept his place at the bottom of the ramp, so as not to make the young girl uncomfortable.

"I am 7, not 3." Daphne said "You are the head of the department of people that flies the Vengeance and the shuttles, well all shuttles except this one."

Kaleigh came to the hatch as Daphne stopped talking. "Daphne!" she said "Do not be rude!" She looked at the Lieutenant. "I am so sorry Lieutenant, she gets moods." She shifted so she stood between Daphne and Johnathan. "Micheal will be here shortly, what can we do for you Lieutenant?"

Johnathan chuckled. "It's okay. I remember being that same way at her age. As for why I'm here, well, I haven't had an opportunity to come talk to you all since you arrived and so, I wanted to come introduce myself, see if you need anything while your ship is in my shuttlebay." There was an honestiness and friendliness to his tone as he spoke.

Kae didn't bite. Instead she let her lips curve slightly. "Thank you Lieutenant, Would you like to come in?" she knew Rebecca would hide with strangers in the shuttle.

"Thank you, I would." Johnathan replied as he started up the ramp. "I gotta tell you, I am intrigued in what modifications your ship has. As a pilot, I love learning about new craft." There was a boyish earnestness to his tone and an excitement in his eyes. "For instance, I noticed the device mounted to the dorsal section than I've never seen before. What is that, if I may ask?"

Kae gave him a smile as she led him into the family area. "It's our automated fence." She said. "Some worlds have wild beasts and it gives us outdoor space that is secure."

Johnathan nodding, think8ng that the idea was a sound one. "Have you been to many worlds here in the Delta Quadrant?"

"As a family, just one really. While I saved them from the Ocampan Homeworld, I never actually set foot on it." Micheal responded as he entered the family area, finishing pulling on a tank top over his powerfully built figure. "Welcome to the Alexandria, Lieutenant. The only Terran craft to travel in two separate galaxies."

Johnathan turned to face Micheal, feeling the sheer amount of power that pulsed inside the bigger man. "Thank you, Captain. While I know you have been given your old chief rank, as this is your ship, I hope you will allowed to pay you the respect you are die, Sir."

Micheal grinned slightly. "While the decorum is appreciated, in here, there are no ranks. I'll call you Johnathan, and you can call me Micheal. Deal?"

The young pilot grinned and nodded. He then extended his right hand in friendship. "Pleasure to meet you, Micheal."

Micheal took the offered hand and shook it. "The pleasure is mine."

Johnathan then extended his hand to Kaleigh. "A pleasure to meet you, Kaleigh."

She shook his hand "Kae" She said "easier to say really."

Johnathan grinned as he replied. "Kae." He then gave a friendly wink to young Daphne.

"So," Micheal spoke up. "What can we do for you today?"

Looking back over at the mountain of a man, Johnathan nodded. "Right. Actually, I came down to see how you all were settling in and if you or your ship required anything."

Kae looked at Mike. "I am not sure if we do. Do we love?"

Micheal considered the question. "Well, other than a few items to refill our spare parts supply and some fuel, I think we might be good."

Johnathan thought about it for a couple beats, then nodded. "Sure, just submit a request chit to Chief Finley and he'll make sure all is provided." He paused a moment, then asked, "On a personal note, I was wondering if, during your travels, you may have picked up a few precious stones that you would be interested in selling? I don't have much, thanks to our current location, but, I would be willing to pay what I have and work the rest out in a barter agreement?"

Kae raised an eyebrow "Thats a very... strange request there Lieutenant." She smiled. "may I enquire as to why you are asking?"

The young pilot blushed slightly. "Well, I just asked Kassandra Selin to marry me, but I still need a ring. And, she deserves something original, something no other woman in the Empire has."

Micheal thought about it, then said, "Excuse us for a moment, John. Kae?" He tilted his head back towards their bedroom.

Kae nodded and followed him back into the bedroom with a soft "Daphne behave" to their ward. Once they were alone, Kae raised an eyebrow at Micheal.

Speaking softly to his wife, Micheal said, "Well, this is certainly an opportunity to build an alliance with one of the senior officers on the ship. And as he is marrying your boss, that can only help us more. I say we fulfil his request. "I have a few stones from Andromeda that would certainly fit the bill. What do you think?"

"Sounds good. Maybe pass a bit of the metal for the band from there too if he needs it." Kae replied cautiously.

Micheal nodded in agreement. "Now, what price should we ask for these rare items?"

"I am not sure. Lets make it a trade situation, for the first time. Maybe also he agrees to allow us to take trips whenever?"

Nodding again, Micheal replied. "Sounds good. Why don't you head back out and tell him the details, while I collect the items from our safe." He leaned down and kissed her gently, his right hand softly running over the slight bump of her growing belly.

Kae smiled and kissed him back before heading back out. She joined Johnathan in the family area. "So we believe we can assist you. Micheal is getting the items right now. No payment in the cash sense will be needed, just something in trade?"

Johnathan was clearly very happy by the turn of events. "Of course, so long as it's withing my purview, what did you have in mind?"

"Well permission to leave the ship whenever." Kae said "With notice and disclosure of course. We are used to a bit of... freedom, shall we call it."

Johnathan thought about it, then replied. "While ultimate permission will need to come from the Captain, I will certainly speak with him on your behalf. I do know that he has already enlisted Micheal's services as a scout, so, as long as you file the appropriate departure and leave forms, as you are both back in Imperial service, I don't see any problems with ensuring your ship is fully fueled for any trips."

Kaeligh smiled at that. "Thank you Lieuetant."

Johnathan nodded and smiled. "And I will do you one more. To keep others from poking their noses into your business, not only will I not reveal, except to my finance of course, exactly where I acquired these materials. What you found before joining us is rightfully yours." He paused briefly before adding, "Of course, going forward, perhaps we could work out a deal of allowing me a small percentage of anything you find out there? In return, I'll ensure that your ship always has top billing on repairs and resupply. Unless we are in combat, of course."

"I am sure that can be worked out, after all reasonable people can always work things out." Kae replied.

"Agreed," Micheal added, his deep voice rumbling slightly in his broad chest. He then handed over a small pouch. "Inside are all the raw materials for you to craft this ring of yours."

"Good! Thank you!" Johnathan nodded and grinned as he took the pouch from Micheal and gently placed it inside his uniform jacket.. "Then, in that case, I shall take my leave of you now. Thank you again, for everything." He nodded to each of them again, then turned and left the ship.

When he was far enough away, Rebecca appeared. "My sensors picked up no deception on his part, Mistress, Master. It is my opinion that, for now at least, he can be trusted."

"For now" Kae said softly. "His fiancée is very standoffish. For good reason from what I have heard."

Micheal looked over at his wife. "I heard a little of the story. Apparently she just found out that she's the Captain's illegitimate daughter."

"According to scuttlebutt, the former chief of intelligence was a real jerk. He gave her triple shifts, blamed her for when things went wrong, screamed at her, put her agoniser on to go off every 30 minutes for 90 seconds. The Intelligence Team says she watched him die. And didn't help save him."

Micheal frowned slightly. "I'm sure there's more to it than we know. Rebecca, see what you can find out in the ship's memory." He added as he looked over at Rebecca's avatar.

"Yes, Master. It will take a little bit of time, to ensure I am not detected."

"keep yourself safe Rebecca" Kae said firmly. She turned to Daphne "How is your school work?'

"Fine" Came the reply. "Rebecca checked it already."

"Good, then you can go play"

Daphne grinned and headed off to her room on the shuttle.

Rebecca nodded and then her avatar vanished, leaving Micheal and Kaleigh alone in the family area.

Reaching out, Micheal gently pulled her against his chest. "Our own empire may be delayed in its creation, however, this is a good place to possible grow a power base to work from. A lot can happen between here and Terra, my love."

"I came to the conclusion a while ago, that we may need to break from here to accomplish our goals, or we could stay and play the game and use our spoils to give our little girl in there, the powerbase she needs to take back her family life and become a major player."

Micheal looked over towards Daphne's room, then back at Kaleigh. "Everything we do is for both of our children, beloved." He spoke softly and placed his right hand on her belly. "They are the future of the Empire, be it here in the Delta Quadrant, or back home."

Kae nodded. "Agreed Love" she said softly. "And we will make sure they have the very best."

He nodded, then embraced her. "I love you, my Queen."

"I love you My King" she whispered as they stood there wrapped around each other. "We should not stay too long though here. Its nice having this as a bolt hole but we need to be seen to make an effort."

He nodded. "We will sleep here tonight. Starting tomorrow, we shall use the quarters that were provided to us. While you are working in their Intel department, I'll split my work hours between their bridge and here, ensuring our ship is always ready to launch at a moments notice."

"there is no daycare... " She sighed "We will need to work with that."

"She can stay here, under Rebecca's watchful sensors. She has already been completing the class work that Rebecca assigns her. I see no reason to change her routine."

"Becky is the best babysitter" Kaleigh smiled up at him.

"Becky?" He asked with a smile. He moved over to the table and sat down. As he did so, he gently pulled Kaleigh along to sit down on his lap.

"Daphne calls her that. If she was corporeal Love, I think I would have had to fight her for you." Kaleigh curled against him.

His chuckled softly. "While I'm sure she would have tried to pursue something before we became a family, now, she knows her place and who is the only one for me. Giving her a physical form will allow her a better ability to protect us from any danger."

"I know. I am researching it." Kae smiled at him. "Still, I think she does love you, as much as her programming allows."

He nodded. "Of course she does. Her programming is linked to mine. She will always be driven to care for me. However, I have successfully modified her programming to know her place."

Kae nuzzled his neck as she relaxed into him. "I am glad I do not have to fight her for you." she said softly. "I am not good at sharing either."

Wrapping his powerful arms around her, Micheal whispered. "I am yours and yours alone, for as long as I draw breath, my love."

Kaleigh smiled and snuggled into him. "Good. Our children will need you here." She said softly.

Micheal gently kissed the top of Kaleigh's head as she cuddled against him. "I'm not going anywhere, my love."


~OFF~