A New Beginning

Posted on Sat Jun 26th, 2021 @ 7:02pm by

Mission: The Mentarin Effect
Location: Deep Space Five/ USS Resolution

He had been offered guest quarters on the starboard side of the ship. They were on there route to Deep Space Five, so Starfleet Command had requested them to bring him to the Starbase. Karatek had the intention to use some of the facilities the ship had to offer. But for now, he was sitting on the floor, leg crossed, and his eyes closed. At first, he had prepared a candle and he was about to meditate. He had a lot on his mind and meditation would sure help him find the serenity he used to enjoy.

The thought of the friends he left behind was freely circulating like a fly in a summer house. As it moved around, it continuously caught the eye of his cautiousness who could not concentrate on anything else. So instead of chasing it away, he decided to embrace it.

In spite it was an emotional day for his shipmates, and an unsettling one for him to try to navigate through such volatility, there was something about it that made it worthwhile. It was during those kinds of moments that people confided. Some of the revelation had been surprising to say the least. One such example was Ensign Narato. He was one of the engineering officer. As he was a young officer who wanted to learn, Karatek had taken upon himself to teach him some of the things he needed to know. Narato always seemed to be embarrassed when they did. He had come to think that Narato didn't agree with how he was handling some of the situation. So it was quite the surprise when Narato revealed how much it meant to him. There was also Lieutenant Triax. They were at a stage in their relationship where Karatek wondered if it could go a step further. She was a very smart woman, who was strong headed, a great leadership and who also wanted to raise a family. They had been talking so many times, sometimes at the mess hall starting with several officers and eventually ending with only their two talking for hours. She had showed sign of interest. However, knowing she had a boyfriend, even if their relation was like a rollercoaster, it was against his value. And when she finally broke up, it was the realization that she wanted to wait a little before having kids. She wanted to live and take profits of life. She wanted kids, but it was a great responsibility and, relating the experiences of her three older sisters, life after a kid was not the same. Responsibilities, have to care for someone.... you would never have the same freedom again. For Karatek, that was an issue. He couldn't wait that long. Contrary to most species, he didn't had the luxury of being able to chose when was the time the have a family. The biological clock was ticking. He never told that to her. At least, not until now. She knew, she said. That was why she didn't press it harder. But if time hadn't been against them, she would have. They came so close to kiss. He could hear her heath beat increasing as they were talking about it. He could sense her struggle. But he couldn't. He could still hear her suggestion "Let's try it and see where it leads us." But he couldn't. When the moment would come, his situation would force her decision for her. He couldn't do that to her. It was one of the reason he had to leave.

The ship finally slowed down to impulse. A few parsecs ahead, he could see Deep Space Five. One of the most important Starbase Starfleet has. Strategically located close to the Klingon border, it was also an important center of operations to supervise all the trading activities in the area. As the ship docked, Karatek took his first step in years on the starbase. The last time he came here was four years ago. He was on the Rhode Islands then. They stayed at the station for a few days. He still remembered the restaurant on the promenade. As he was hungry, it was a good moment to refresh the memory.

The restaurant was always full of customers. They had hundred of tables and they were all taken. All except a few places at the counter. As Karatek moved around to look for someone to leave, he spotted the perfect spot. It was a small table, for one or two people. It was a bit separated from the other tables, making it more private. And from there, you could see the stars, especially the neighbooring star of Korvat who, like the table, really stood apart from the other stars by its size and brightness. The waitress didn't took long to see him.

"I have never seen you before. It is your first time." she asked.

"You are right. You must have a lot of new customers." he replied.

"Yes we do. And you can generally tell them apart." she mused.

Karatek looked around. Several people were looking at him. "Apparently, you are not the only one to suspect. Though, it makes me wonder. Do you have a lot of regulars"

"Them....don't mind them. They are always mindful of new faces." she said smiling. "So, what is it going to be."

"I will take the Lenari Salad" he said. As the waitress left, Karatek pondered why so many people looked at him. He quickly looked if anything was amiss... a torn cloting or something caught in his hair. But no, nothing that could explain the attraction he had. He decided to leave it be.

After a few minutes of waiting where he looked upon that shinning star, the waitress returned with his salad.

"I hope you enjoy it." she said. People were starting to talk around them. People were standing up. "You will have to excuse me" she said suddenly. She walked right away toward a man Karatek recognized immediatly. He couldn't remember the name, but he remembered he was the admiral assigned to this sector of space. The admiral exchanged a glare at Karatek, and nodded, before turning his attention to another table. "You can take my table and my seat." said one of them. As soon as he stood up to give his place, he moved toward Karatek. He couldn't understand why, but the man seemed angry. "Was it so difficult to make a little sacrifice to show some respect to someone who gave so much to Starfleet?"
Karatek raised an eyebrow at the remark. "I wasn't aware this table belonged to the Admiral. It wasn't written anywhere so it could not be expected that I knew it was his table." The man seemed skeptical.

Without hesitation, Karatek stood up and went to see the admiral.

"Sir, I apologize if I have taken your seat. I haven't seen any indication this table was reserved. The table is yours." Karatek said with sincerity.

The admiral didn't say a word at first. He could not say what it was, but there was still something going on. "I am sincere sir. You can have my table. it was simply a misunderstanding."

Instead of replying back to him, the admiral rather looked towards the waitress.

"See what I was telling you about. Perhaps it is time that I address this matter." he said.

Karatek was not sure what he meant.

The admiral finally turned to him. "You have done no wrong. This table doesn't belong to anyone.". Then, he raised his voice and started addressing every officer around. "Even when based on good intentions, when some people ought to have privilege that others doesn't have, even when the privilege was given by choice, nothing good comes of it. I appreciated when some of you give their table to me, but I made a mistake. Now, it has become a rule that no one except me can sit on this table. This is wrong. Admiral are not, we are all equal and no one should be more entail to sit at this table. So from now on, I will seat at the table that is available. And if that table is available on design, I will sit elsewhere anyway." he said.

Almost everyone around had hidden there face, most looking down at the table to avoid the look of the admiral. It was a very interesting scene. It reminded him so much about some of the conversation he had during sociology classes.

"So, Lieutenant. I am the one who apologized. I should have stopped this a long time ago. If I had, this would have never happened." the Admiral said. "So, what is your name, Lieutenant."

"No need to apologize sir. I understand it wasn't intended. One thing led to another and very few could have expected such outcome." Karatek said. "It's Karatek sir."

"Oh!" the admiral said. "So you are the new assistant chief engineer on the USS Resolution."

Karatek was surprised an admiral would know about such things. "I'm surprised you know about the transfer."

"Well, Lieutenant. I wouldn't normally know. But every crew transfer between fleets from two different sectors need to be approved by both fleet. While I never take the decisions, to be honest, I'm always informed when they approve such transfer. So I remembered your name from one of those reports."

Karatek nodded in approval. That made perfect sense. There would not be that many fleet to fleet transfer, so it made sense the admiral could remembers the few names on that list.

"Not that I want to preach for my fleet. The USS Resolution has an outstanding crew." the admiral said.

"It's very good to know, especially from an admiral. It will be interesting to join such a valuable crew." Karatek replied. Everything he had heard about the ship were very positive. The USS Resolution really seemed to be outstanding, to use the admiral word. It would be indeed interesting to experience it first hand.

"Now, you will have to excuse me Lieutenant."

"Of course sir. Thank you"

....


Karatek had to wait two days at the starbase before the shuttle was ready to departure. He just got word that the shuttle had docked on hangar bay 32-D-73. Having nothing else that needed his attention here on the starbase, he headed directly to the shuttle, his few belongings in hand.

...

The shuttle was docking with the USS Resolution. The Galaxy-class ship were quite the ship. While it was an older build, it was the most massive ship of the fleet. The ship was impressive, size, crew complement, families, performance, firepower... Never had he served on a ship with so many people on board. It would be interesting and also challenging.

As the docking hatch door opened, Karatek looked to see who would be awaiting him.

"I'm Lieutenant Karatek, the new Assistant-Chief Engineer. I have just been assigned to this ship." he said.