Father And Son

Posted on 29 Nov 2012 @ 4:19pm by Captain Jonathan Holliday

1,624 words; about a 8 minute read

Mission: Episode 02 - Resupply
Location: Sol System - Mars - Utopia Colony
Timeline: MD06 0300hrs

[ON]

Having retired to the guest quarters of his family home once Lieutenant Coleman had been escorted to her room, John had spent the last few hours attempting to sleep, albeit a futile endeavour. No matter how often he tried to switch off his brain and succumb to slumber, he simply could not get the thought of his father's brash and abrasive behaviour out of his head. John had risked his career, as well as his father's life in order to try and save him, and now that the old man found himself back in the land of the living, he had given up on anything that could have been deemed a kindness.

Throwing the blankets from his body in disgust, John sat bolt upright in bed before deciding that he was unlikely to rest any time soon. Grabbing his uniform, the XO slipped back into the trappings of his rank, before attaching his commbadge to his chest and heading out into the hallway. So late at night the rooms of the Holliday house were silent, with only the most minimal of lighting to guide a traveller. Having spent years of his life living here however, John was able to move around virtually with his eyes closed, knowing exactly where each and every obstacle was located and how best to avoid knocking off one of his mother's prized trinkets, or dislodging a certificate that his father had attached to the wall in order to maximise his own ego.

Eventually, John found himself in the living area of his parent's home, surveying the modest collection of photographs and family mementos that littered the shelves around the room. Nothing of course that would ever indicate a child from this family went into Starfleet. There was no graduation certificate hanging up, no copies of John's promotion documents hanging up to show the success of the only child, instead there was simply no mention of any child beyond the age of a young teenager.

Moving towards the far wall, John spotted one picture in particular. The last time that he had visited Earth with his family and hadn't been a member of Starfleet. It was the first time that he had ever seen Headquarters, or the gounds of Starfleet Academy, and from that moment onwards, he had know that this was the place he was destined to be.
His parents had both been happy then; exploring museum after museum around San Francisco, and taking in the rather different scenery of Earth compared to the much younger terraformed landscape of Mars.
Reaching out, the XO picked up the framed image, bringing it closer to his eyes to allow him to study them in greater detail.

"Back before you decided to disobey your father. I remember that trip John."

The silence was broken by a voice from behind him, almost whispered, undoubtedly so as not to wake up his sleeping wife, or indeed the El-Aurian woman that his son had brought into their home unnecessarily.
Turning to follow the sound, John saw his father in his nightwear, clutching a glass of water in one hand, and a PADD in the other; still working away at whatever project he had dreamt up regardless of the early hour.

"I didn't disobey you old man...I chose my path and I followed it. And I haven't done too badly at it either."

The son replied, gesturing towards the pips on his neck denoting the rank of Commander that had recently been bestowed upon him. Some people could spend their entire lives in Starfleet and never reached anywhere near the command ranks, indeed there had been people on his previous postings that were twice his age, but never advanced beyond the rank of Lieutenant. John however, had made it almost to the top, in fact, he would be ready for his own command in no time, if Captain Saalm had been anything to go by; being given command of her own ship without that elusive fourth pin to start with.

"So you've become a big-wig in a military organisation - doing well at something I don't approve of doesn't really distinguish itself as an achievement you know?"

Sighing, John returned the picture to the shelf, knowign that he could argue and argue until the sun itself went out and he would never get anywhere with this man.

"That so-called military organisation is the reason you're still alive right now Dad. If I hadn't joined up and wasn't serving on Galileo then the good Lieutenant in the room down the hall never would have given me the medication I needed to save you."

The older Holliday stopped dead in his tracks on the PADD, tapping just one more command before throwing it down onto the chair, and calmly placing his glass of water down onto the waiting coffee table.

"What you don't think I'm grateful to still be alive? You think that this all means nothing to me that I somehow survived a supposedly lethal and uncurable disease?"

"Well you could at least have the common decency to show it! Dammit Dad, I could have ended up in a Starfleet prison colony for this, doesn't that even ring true with you?"

"Of course it does! I'm not a monster John I'm just constantly reminded every day that you aren't the man I wanted you to be!"

Sighing, Robert made his way around the room to collapse into his favourite chair; the one place that John could vividly remember his father spending plenty of his downtime during his childhood, surrounded by PADDs and without a care in the world.

"Not the man you wanted me to be? Dad! I'm not a scientist, I'm a soldier, and a damn good one! I kept a whole ship full of people alive when the Klingons would have turned us all into debris without a moment's hesitation!"

John bit his tongue before carrying on any further. It hadn't occurred to him that his father was not authorised to hear th ins and outs of his son's mission reports, especially when they were as confidential and indeed secretive as Starfleet had classified them. His father however, quickly latched onto the sentence that had been all he needed to understand his son's situation.

"So that's what the young lady you brought home with you was on about huh? Saving lives? Heh...young lady...she's old enough to be my great grandmother..."

John had to stifle a laugh, he was so used to people forgetting that El-Aurians had a much more youthful appearance even past the age of a century that the remarks people gave to Evelyn revealing her age had become almost blended into background noise.

"Don't let Lieutenant Coleman hear you say that...she's got a wicked way with words if you get on her bad side."

"Just like your mother." Robert replied before breaking down into laughter himself. it was no secret that Claire was the dominant force in their household, capable of cutting down any resistance from her husband or her son with only a single look. After a few moments, the strain of such laughter caught up with Robert and his chortles descended into a light bout of coughing, before he grabbed the glass of water he had earlier deposited and soothed his throat with a deep drink.

"You ok dad? I can have Medical here in a heartbeat you know?"

"I'm fine boy...you don't need to show off your fancy Starfleet privileges around here you know...."

"Have it your way old man."

"So....you really saved all those people out there? Against, who was it you said, the Klingons?"

John flinched as his father repeated classified information to him that as much as anything else would have earned the XO a court martial if it was ever spoken in front of the Admiralty. He had done no such thing, as far as John was concerned, he had simply taken over the post of leader to maintain the chain of command, as was his duty.

"I...took command in a crisis, that was it dad. I just kept things together until the Captain got back....nothing that any other officer wouldn't have done in my place."

"That might have been true....but it was you in that chair...and nobody else...if....if my boy really did save those lives....then who am I to argue with his career choice?"

John's legs would have given way under him in shock if he had not have had something to lean against. The words his father spoke were ones that he had never expected to hear in the older man's lifetime.

"That almost sounds like you approve Dad....hell that almost sounded like praise? I think you need to go back into that medical centre."

"You'll do nothing of the sort! Damn doctors poking and prodding me all day...never again! And don't think of this as me approving you being in that damn Starfleet....just....I understand why, ok?"

"Good enough." John replied, without any further words. There was no point trying to push the issue any further, but the pride that John now felt in his chest knowing that at least to a degree, he had his father's approval, was satisfaction enough.

"Good...now get the hell to bed. Your mother will have me strung up if she sees her boy up this late - Starfleet Commander or not."

"Aye Aye Sir." John replied with a smirk, enough to make his father shoot him a look that even his mother would have been proud of. With a final moment's pause, he headed back to his bed.

To be continued...

[OFF]

Cmdr Jonathan Holliday
Executive Officer
USS Galileo

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