The Road So Far [4/4]

Posted on 18 Aug 2022 @ 6:21pm by Lieutenant Aria Rice
Edited on 23 Aug 2022 @ 6:34pm

1,604 words; about a 8 minute read

2388 – USS Nova, somewhere in the Alpha Quandrant

I love myself today
Not like yesterday
I'm cool, I'm calm
I'm gonna be okay! - Bif Naked, ‘I Love Myself Today’

Ensign Aria Rice smiled as she materialised on the USS Nova. Her first ship, in space. Like, really in space. She looked around with awe, taking in all in. “Hi!” she waved at the transporter Chief, who looked at her as if she had lost her mind.

A small ship, but it was perfect for her. Her first posting in Security, wearing the uniform, doing what she had to do. She loved it. She had graduated and was so, so proud of herself. She had sent an holograph of herself in her graduation uniform to her mother, but had not gotten any reply back. She hadn’t expected one, but had found herself disappointed.

Even so, this was a brand new spanking adventure. She was ready! She could do this! She could make a difference!



2389 – USS Galileo

When did I become so cold?
When did I become ashamed?
Where's the person that I know?
They must have left
They must have left
With all my faith - NF, ‘Paralyzed’

The USS Galileo had taken on an ensign who had lost a tiny bit of her shine. Just a smudge, just a hint. But not enough.

"Ensign... that was not a request, that was an order... please don't make this any more difficult for me than it needs to be."

"Please note my objection to this order, even if I have to obey it.”

"The doctor does not appear to be getting anywhere with it. I just do not trust anything it says and does."

"It's a he. No matter what he says and does, whether it is true or not...he is not an it."

"In short? 'Blah blah, you all suck, blah blah, I am ashamed of you, blah blah, if you don't like it get a transfer, because I am emotionless and don't care and worth a hundred of you useless children'! I can't deal with it."

"You know it's not true though, right? Right, Aria?"

"I...when he said it, I exploded. I told him to screw himself, so...I might have thought less of myself when I said it. When I swear, that's me getting defensive..."

"Get away from him!"

"HEY, come here you monster! Want a piece of me?!?"

"Put those bloody flames out! Shit…”

"Is anyone else hurt?"

"Not sure if you guys have noticed, but we are currently running on one security guard for an entire away team, which is far less than standard protocol. We have no choice but to return to the Galileo, now. It's my responsibility to keep you all safe and I can't do it with a half-burned out phaser. We need more Security, we need new weapons, and we need to regroup..."

“Good to see you Lieutenant. . . Report."

"The shields are at 12 percent and remaining. We have two phaser arrays operational, both on the port side. No torpedo launchers forward, but the aft one is still working alright, but she doesn't like my controls. Fires when she wants and hits whatever she wants."

"You have been through so much. You should be proud of yourself for surviving all of this."

"Permission to be relieved, Sir?"

“I am going to ask you to hold out here for a little longer. I am going to go check on our teams across the ship. I am very proud of you, my friend."

"Yes Sir. Thanks.”

Every battle, every confrontation, every change, ever new danger the universe threw at her, shaped her. And through it all, that little commbadge stayed close, its jagged edges reminding her that she wasn’t alone, not truly.

Until she got another transfer, leaving her Galileo family behind.



2390 – USS Saratoga, outskirts of Federation Territory

Forget the bull in the china shop
There's a china doll in the bullpen
It's all in the wrist, fire from the hip
Talk a little shit, roll thick
Whole clique
Let's begin like - Dessa, ‘The Bullpen’

“You know what I like about you, Rice?”

Aria looked at the prisoner, a smuggler, a small smile coming to her. “What’s that, D’avin?” she asked, reaching for a piece of popcorn, throwing it in the air and catching it in her mouth. She kicked her legs in celebration.

“You’re a survivor. Like me,” D’avin said, sipping his water as he studied her. “You have this girlish giggling thing with a smart mouth going on. But there’s something there as well that is a lot…harder.”

“Yeah? Wow, did you like…go to telepath school or something?” she asked before she frowned. “Hey, not a Betazoid are you? Because I am so totally not consenting to you probing my mind and feelings.”

“And there we go…deflecting,” he tutted before he looked down. “Like you’re worried people will see that deep inside of you, to see that…strength and determination inside. Bet you have all sorts of delicious little insecurities and issues.”

“Oh trust me, I got more issues than a Vulcan safety manual,” Aria retorted, her eyes not meeting his. She let out a breath, shaking her head. “Stuff happens, you know. I can’t dwell on it too much. I’m here, I’m doing what I was meant to do. The road was just a part of the adventure, both the good and the bad.”

“Quite a speech,” he said, just watching her for a moment, taking a slow, deep breath as if he could taste the emotion in the air.

“You know what I love about Starfleet?” she asked, her eyes oddly gentle before she smiled. “I mean, what I really love about it? Cutting the bullshit?”

“Tell me,” D’avin said, curious as he stood, to stand close to the forcefield.

“The mercy,” Aria said, her voice gentle before she nodded. “The way Starfleet is able to make friends with old enemies. The morals of interfering is really, really annoying. Like, some peeps just need their heads bashed together. But it is the mercy about it that matters. You don’t shoot someone in the back. You don’t throw away a life. There is redemption. There’s hope. And you…just have to be the best you are. If that means you are letting your Captain be the best by just being the support role, isn’t that…great too? You don’t have to be the hero in the holonovel. You can be the one that brings the coffee, which by the way is the nectar of the gods. Because you’re part of something bigger and better.”

“You, dear, are an idealist,” D’avin laughed, shaking his head.

“I know! Isn’t it amazing,” she smiled before she stood, rolling her shoulders. “Okay, let’s get you to see the XO…” she lowered the forcefield, gasping when he suddenly pulled her in, his arms around her. “Okay, shitty move!”

“Sorry, Starfleet…I guess I don’t live up to the stories,” he said before taking her into a chokehold.

Aria’s eyes narrowed as she tried to breathe, her hand going to her pocket. She pulled out the broken commbadge and stabbed the sharp edge into his side, pulling away when he cried out with pain. She kicked him hard in the chest, using it to jump back, reactivate the forcefield. “Shitty move!” she shouted, wiping the blood on her uniform before putting it back in her pocket. She tapped her commbadge, breathing hard. “Rice to Medical, send a doctor to the brig to patch up an a-hole.”

“I told you…” D’avin said, grinning, gripping his side as his dark eyes watched her. “You are a survivor.”


Present Day, USS Galileo-A, Bridge

So raise your banner, fight your war
Break the silence, no remorse
Won't die within
Raise your banner, won't you come
Fight the venom, the good die young
Won't die within - Within Temptation, ‘Raise Your Banner’


Standing in the middle of the carnage of the bridge, with a Klingon in the Captain’s chair, Aria felt a cold rage she had not felt before. A cold, dark thing in her centre, a fury that reminded her of her father. She had once seen that cold steel, when she was very little, and there had been a fight. She had been pushed against the wall, and her father had managed to break up the fight without raising a finger.

The rest was instinct as she pitched her voice firmly, keeping it even. “Belay that.”

She took another step forward, her feet carrying her. A part of her felt detached, as if she was just watching it from afar. Her hand close to her phaser, ready to fire. But more, it was her looking into the Klingon’s eyes, feeling no fear, only determination and a righteousness in knowing she was right. “This is a Starfleet Ship, with a Starfleet crew. And you are in my chair, Kuran. I am the Captain here now, until we have retrieved commander Tarin. If dead, this ship remains mine. If alive, I step down to XO, under her, not you. That is the way of Starfleet. That is the way on this ship.”

When she sat down in the chair, she had never felt more like her father’s daughter in her life.

[End]

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