No Farewell

Posted on Tue Jun 22nd, 2021 @ 9:03pm by
Edited on on Wed Jun 23rd, 2021 @ 6:06pm

Mission: The Mentarin Effect
Location: USS Dakota

It was his last hour on the USS Dakota. A transport was scheduled to board the ship at 1400 for his new affectation. His room was perfectly neat. He had taken the time to clean everything. He was already done packaging. Truth be told, there wasn't much to carry with him. Everything he had here, he could replicate again.

It was expected of him to do a last tour of the ship to say farewell to everyone. The emotions would be high, he knew. He remembered when he graduated from Starfleet Academy. It was one of his first time living the apprehension of everyone leaving each other. He had several friends from the Academy. It was true that, as it was said back then, he never saw again several of the cadets he learned to know well. It was such an experience. Today was completely different. It was now accustomed to those farewell. And everytime, they were so fast. Aside from the rising emotions, there was not much time to exchange conversations. These last few minutes were nothing compared to all the time spent together. It was the years spent together and learning to live with each other that mattered. From the USS Dakota, he would have long lasting memories. He had made a lot of friends there. WIth some, they had reached a level of mutual understanding and cooperation that would be hard to find again. So he was indeed leaving a lot behind.

His first stop was with his direct superior, Lieutenant-Commander Dajira Alekh. She was one of those with whom the bond they created would be greatly missed.

"Lieutenant, I thought you would never come" she said when she saw him at the door of her office. He stood at the entrance of her office, waiting for her to invite him in, which she did.

"Leaving without saying goodbye, it would have been very rude." he said before accepting her invitation to sit.

She grinned. "I know you well enough to know you don't like farewell."

"You are right I don't do it for myself. Yet, it is important for my friends and shipmate to have the opportunity to say goodbye. I won't deprive them of that opportunity. Especially if it can relieves them from some of the pain of seeing me leave. It would be selfish to ignore their needs."

His superior gave him a long look. She was sitting in a rather comfortable way, in diagonal on her seat with her legs crossed and standing on her right heel. She finally blinked and moved to face him.

"Speaking of their needs, are you sure about your decision?" she said. She was taking a more serious tone. "I still don't get it. If this was anyone else, I would be sure it was for another reason. But with you, is that really it? You wanted to give Jason the opportunity to be an assistant chief?"

"Jason is a very skillfull officer. He is very dedicated and he has such a tremendous knowledge of engineering. However, he lacks some of the confidence to stand up for himself and ask for that position. He likes it here, so he doesn't want to leave to seek that promotion either. So my decision was logical."

"I can't believe you would sacrifice yourself to give him the opportunity." she said, with some resignation in her voice.

He looked at her. "It's not a sacrifice. Yes, we made a great team and the USS Dakota will always be in my memory. But so will I create bonds with my new shipmates. And I don't have anything holding me back. I don't have any wife. I can take an assignment at the border of the Beta Quadrant, which is not the case for so many officers. And the USS Resolution were in need of an assistant chief engineer. So all that combines, the choice was easy to make."

"Speak for yourself" she blunted. "When I first saw your request, I thought you were out of your minds. And even after you tried explaining to me several times why you decided to leave, I couldn't accept it. I still can't to be honest. I accepted your transfer request, but I don't want you to go. So, I'm here, begging you to stay. And I promise I will look for every chance to give Jason the opportunity to progress in his career."

"I am thankful for your words. I have made my decision. When we are in the middle of it, it is always more difficult to have a clear mind on what is best and what is not. Before I made the decision, I made sure to be relaxed and to have thought this true. I'm certain of my decision."

She exhaled. She didn't even tried to hide how disappointed she was. Sometimes, he hoped he could understand what it felt like. He wanted to help her. It was one of the reason why he preferred to avoid farewell. Seeing people in pain, having trouble with their emotions and being unable to rely to them. With experiences, he knew what words to say to appease them. Still, it didn't provide any understanding of what was going on inside.

"Sir, it has been a tremendous honor serving under you. You have been a mentor and a friend. You taught me so much, I wouldn't be the man I am now if it wasn't from you. I'm really thankful. And whatever the distance between me and you, the influence you had on me will always follow me. And we will see each other again, I promise."

She started smiling, yet rising her right eyebrow. "Are you trying to cheer me up? It's working. But promising me we will see each other again. That is so un-Vulcan-like."

"It is not a lie. The chance we meet again are quite high..."...he paused. "No, you are right, it must be the influence you have on me. "