Journey to Cygnus through the past

Posted on 30 Sep 2022 @ 4:38am by Lieutenant JG Christina Hartley

1,289 words; about a 6 minute read

Mission: Outbreak
Location: Runabout Yenisei

Christina leant back in the pilot's seat of the Runabout Yenisei, a gentle music playing in the background. K'tress was sound asleep in the back; she hadn't been able to sleep whilst everyone was packing, so she had been over excited.

Finally, Christina had managed to get K'tress asleep, but the last two days of travelling had been very exciting for the young girl. Christina couldn't blame her; she herself had been spending time improving the warp speed of the runabout, just to shave off as much time as possible from the journey.

She had also increased the efficiency of the phasers of the runabout by seven percent, but that had just been a coincidence that she had found a way to do that. Her main goal, however, had worked well, and she'd managed to cut twelve hours off the travel time by improving the warp field and the structural integrity field of the runabout.

With the music playing, Christina smiled; it was the same music that had been playing at the wedding, for her and Kin'Fuji's first dance. That day had been the most magical day of her life, until K'tress had been born, of course.

On the cockpit screen, Christina was playing the video of the wedding, watching herself and Kin dancing slowly to the music. Kin's dress had been based on a Japanese design, and had been so perfect. Christina's dress was her mother's wedding dress, altered for her slightly, and it had flowed freely. She had worn her grandmother's tiara as well; her grandmother had been in tears of joy at seeing Christina saying her vows.

They had managed to book a large field for the wedding, which was good given how many people had arrived. Kin's family was a large one, as was the Hartley clan. Even her Uncle Plase had made it, after pulling a few strings. She was so glad he had been there; after all, he had been the one to give her the path she wanted in life, even though he hadn't planned to at the time.

Still, being an engineer had always been an option, given her father was a damned good engineer, but up until she was ten, she had felt like she had no choice in the matter. She'd had a natural gift for engineering, an eidetic memory, and she could easily understand mathematics from a young age, just seeing the patterns where others saw chaos.

And yet, until that day on the Sentinel, before it had been launched, Christina had just wanted to do anything but engineering. When she had seen the problem that had been missed, she had immediately known what to do. After Plase had complimented her, she had felt good inside, knowing she had made a difference, and that... that had been what she had been looking for.

However, she had still been trying to fix herself. Until she had met Kin, she hadn't known why she was broken inside. Kin, however, taught her that she wasn't broken, she was just in the wrong body. And now, here she was, a beautiful young woman, married to a gorgeous woman with the most adorable daughter, and they were going to be together again.

That night had been hectic. Christina had made some urgent calls to a few friends and managed to get a large supply of fresh meats and vegetables, now in storage lockers, enough to last the family two years at least. Christina loved Kin's cooking, and she enjoyed cooking as well. She also had the designs for the kitchen for the family quarters she'd been assigned on the Cygnus.

That day she had been told her transfer to the Cygnus had been denied had been one of the worst of her life. She had Kin had threatened to resign, they'd gone to Admiral Jameson himself, who had bluntly told them that Starfleet Officers didn't get to pick and choose their assignments, and he was the one who would decide her future, and only Kin had stopped Christina from knocking the man out.

Knowing that he'd been overruled by Admiral Savok, a friend of her Uncle's, had given Christina a sense of joy and satisfaction. He had been there as she had finished loading up the runabout, telling her that he needed her back at Utopia Planetia. She had enjoyed the moment when she smugly told him that clearly, he wasn't going to decide her future, and that he could go to hell, before getting on the runabout and taking off.

She didn't care if she never worked at the shipyards again; she would always be with Kin'Fuji and K'tress. They were her family, and she loved them completely.

The screen was showing their final dance of the wedding night, and she had remembered talking to her father afterwards. He had told her how proud of her he was, and the reason for his tears was that she didn't need him in her game that was life.

Christina had chuckled softly, slapped the back of his head, and hugged him, telling him she'd always need her daddy. After all, he had been the one to create the voice changer choker she had, and he had been there through all of her appointments. He had taught her everything about engineering, and he had been the best father any girl - any child - could ask for.

Then there had been her Uncle Plase, who had actually wept when she thanked him for guiding her so well, and giving her the encouragement she needed. He had changed her life for the better, and that had been the moment he had wept happily. Of course, Christina had cried happy tears as well.

Now, after all the years that had passed, she was finally going where Plase had promised her she'd be; on his ship. She would earn the role of Chief Engineer, that much she had sworn to herself.

The first day of the trip had been spent studying every report of the Cygnus, every specification, every detail of the engines, and studying the complete history of the Nebula Class line of starships.

She smiled as she felt a tear rolling down her cheek as she and Kin kissed on the screen. Christina reached out and touched the screen. "Soon, my love, very soon," she promised.

As the console beeped, she shut off the image, removing the isolinear chip of the wedding, and placing it back in its case, before dropping the runabout out of warp.

In front of her was the massive Cardassian built space station Deep Space Nine. She wasn't fond of Cardassian technology, but the design... there was something beautiful about it. She hated the history, but still... that wasn't where she was going.

She opened a channel to her final destination. "USS Cygnus, this is Runabout Yenisei, requesting permission to dock," Christina said.

"Runabout Yenisei, this is Lt. Vujanic aboard USS Cygnus. Welcome aboard, Ensign. You are clear for Shuttlebay One. Please report to Commander Larsen as soon as you have unloaded your belongings," came the voice of the Vulcan Ops Officer that Christina had met before, on the Sentinel. "On a personal note, Ensign, it will be agreeable to see you again. This is where you should have always been"

"Thank you, Vujanic," Christina said. "I'm looking forward to seeing you again too."

The channel closed, and as she piloted the runabout towards the Cygnus, one thought, one feeling, ran through her.

She was, at last, home, where she belonged.


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A post by

Christina Hartley
Engineer
USS Cygnus

 

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