Homecoming

Posted on 07 Jun 2024 @ 12:09am by Lieutenant Commander Camila Di Pasquale & Commodore (Brevet) Harvey Geisler

1,762 words; about a 9 minute read

Mission: Shattered Unity
Location: Flight Deck
Timeline: June 19, 2390 || 0530 hours

With all of the chaos, there was not a chance in hell that Harvey was going to miss the Kwando's official return. It had been four days... five days... since the away teams had left. Commander Di Pasquale was the only one who hadn't come home yet. Technically, she was already back, considering she was leading some of the search and rescue efforts now, but it wouldn't be official until she stepped foot aboard the Black Hawk.

Harvey exited the turbolift just as the Kwando was finishing its approach. The Flight Deck was abuzz with activity. Shuttles coming and going, not to mention the fighters that were towing floating escape pods towards the vicinity. All he could do as he stood and watched the organized chaos was think, What a fucking day...

Camila was a different looking woman than the Chief of Security that had left the ship nearly a week before. She set the Kwando down with a bump and sat in the cockpit for a moment, just staring at the activity in the shuttlebay and the activity in her brain. Finally, she shut the runabout down and wearily got up to make her way off of it, the hatch coming down slower than it should.

Since she wasn't in her regular uniform, and hadn't seen the inside of a fresher in a few days, she was rather ripe, and her clothes were dirty and would have offended a Tellarite that didn't have anything better to argue about, but one would have argued about that. She saw the Captain and made her way towards him. "Captain." she said with a tired voice and haunted eyes.

Harvey glanced behind the woman to see several survivors pour out of the runabout behind her. Clearly, her search and rescue efforts had proven fruitful. "Camila," Harvey greeted with a genuinely warm smile. He did not expect her to return the smile for a myriad of reasons. "Welcome home."

Camila looked at the Captain and noted that he looked a bit ragged, too. "Permission to come aboard with survivors," she said belatedly.

"Permission granted," he said, reaching up to adjust his cover. It wasn't often that he'd worn it, but Camila's mental observation was correct. He was running ragged. He heard several sets of rushing footsteps, and a glance to his left quickly informed him that a medical team was scrambling towards the newest arrivals to assess their injuries for triage. "You did pretty well," he said, turning back to her, "leaving those breadcrumbs for us to follow."

"What the fuck happened to Unity, Harvey?" she snapped, her mood dangerously deteriorated after the unexpected search and rescue after working with the colonists. In her head, she couldn't even bring herself to call them pirates any more. "The survivors I talked to didn't even know the support ships had been destroyed or who attacked the station!"

Harvey didn't even glance up to see who'd heard that, though he was certain it would have turned a few heads. "The best we can figure... sneak attack. The methods match what happened with the Gaittithe, though the result is far more lethal and destructive. Not a single member of each ship's senior staff was left alive. Computers damaged beyond repair. Whoever's doing this doesn't want us to know who it was. We even have a derelict Jem'hadar ship out there, and it doesn't look like it was them."

Camila paused when she saw several people staring at her and lowered her voice. She certainly didn't look like the Chief of Security at the moment and wasn't acting like one. "It wasn't the...pirates, either, Captain," she said more quietly even though he hadn't accused them of being behind the attacks. "I went with them all the way back to their colony."

The brevetted officer blinked, a bit surprised by the admission. "You... went to their colony? As what, a mercenary?" he had so many questions, but he was only focused first and foremost on the specifics of her mission.

"Yes," she responded. "I wanted to find out where their base of operations was, but I found something much worse." She paused for a moment. "They were stealing probes from the Gaittithe and basic supplies. They're using the probes as weather satellites, Captain." The disgust in her voice was obvious, but not at the theft of the probes.

"Weather satellites?" Harvey asked, a fresh look of surprise washing over his face. "Who uses probes as weather satellites? They weren't exactly designed for that." He closed his eyes and shook his head. "Wait." He blinked several times, confounded by this information. "The pirates we chased away from the Gaittithe were trying to take off with industrial replicators and similar hardware. You mean to tell me, there's no theft of weapons in all of this?"

"None, Sir," Camila stated. "Not that I saw. They're desperate for supplies. They practically begged me to stay when I gave them water, rations and some basic medical supplies from the Kwando." The look in her eyes expressed what she had seen as she remembered it again.

Harvey recognized that look. As a former medical professional, he always found himself sympathizing for those who were suffering, even when he had had that chip on his shoulder. "What exactly are you saying?" he asked Camila. "Are you suggesting that there's a Robin Hood and some Merry Men out here?"

"I don't know what I'm saying," she admitted. "I don't know all the facts. Someone is tipping the colonists off to 'caches' of supplies, be it destroyed starships, bases or other. They show up to collect it and get branded pirates and we go after them."

The Commodore frowned as he didn't know what to think about this either. "But you're definitely sure that it's not pirates that are doing it. I think Commander Reynolds noted something similar when we found him on the Gaittithe."

"I tried to find out more about this Kelinor, too, but it's next to impossible to get near him," Camila added. "I'm not even sure what role he's playing or who he's playing for."

"If he's playing for any team other than his own," Harvey remarked. In their last encounter, Kelinor certainly seemed like a wild card, but he didn't seem like the type to take orders. "When was the last time you had some rack time?"

"I slept in the runabout...two days ago," Camila said after a moment of thought. "I have Raktajino for blood at this point and I'm not done yet." She stopped again and rubbed her eyes as she looked at his collar. "Do I need sleep or did you suddenly become a Commodore?"

Harvey chuckled, still having not yet adjusted to the reality of his new situation. "I think the answer to that is both. You need sleep for certain. And, as of a little more than an hour ago, I received a battlefield commission to Commodore. It's not exactly anything I was working towards, other than it just gives my voice a little more weight when dealing with the task group."

"I don't know if I should offer my condolences or my congratulations,." she said. "However, I do owe you a full report and you'll get that before I get sleep."

"Thanks," he muttered. It was amazing how it felt. There was now a lot less metal on his chest, yet it felt ten times heavier than before. "I look forward to that report," Harvey stated. "And, I know SAR and other recovery efforts are in full swing. I'm tempted to order you to bed, but I'll let you make that determination on your own. You were missed at Tactical. Not that Karn hasn't done a great job. But I know for what's coming, I need my Chief of Security at full strength."

"You'll have me, Sir," Camila said. "I'll coordinate with him and get the reports from Ensign Mitchell and Commander Reynolds as well for the Gaittithe if they haven't already submitted them by now." She had no idea what had been done since she separated from them and went with the colonists.

"Great," Harvey said with a smile. It was a pleasant feeling, having the gang back together again. It felt like it had been years since that had happened. "Whatever you decide, let me know. Just assure me you'll get some actual rest before diving back into life as we know it."

She couldn't help it as she started to laugh while staring at him. "Back to life as we know it? Sir, this is hell if we're awake or asleep."

The Commodore chuckled in response, which soon turned into a laugh of his own. "Ain't that the sad truth? Part of me dreads the day that most others consider normal. What the hell will we do then?"

"We set up and ambush and get them before they get us," Camila suggested.

Harvey laughed harder than he should have at that. He would certainly attest that the woman before him was far better company than Ensign Karn, not that it was the poor ensign's fault. "I'd expect nothing less from someone with impressive violin skills."

"I can't remember the last time I played it, to be honest," she admitted. "My violin was destroyed on the old ship."

He was amazed that she hadn't replicated a new one since that had happened. Then again, when would one have found the time. "Then, Miss Di Pasquale, I think it's time for you to hit the sack. Get at least two full REM cycles in, then report back." While he knew he needed Camila now, Harvey also knew that she would be far more valuable once she got some genuine rest.

"One will have to do," Camila said. "My personnel have been running double without me being here and I'm not going to keep making them do it."

The Commodore would not argue, especially since he was built from the same stock. He wouldn't try to sleep himself until Unity could be seen from the rear airlock. "Your discretion. If nothing else, I'll leave you to it."

"Aye, Commodore," Camila said and mustered a faint smile as she turned and headed for the nearest turbolift. She had much to catch up on and little time do it it, but a shower and sleep were on that list.

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