Closure
Posted on Oct 23, 2015 @ 1:37am by Commander Jacob Crichton
Edited on on Oct 23, 2015 @ 1:38am
Mission: Civil War
= Closure =
(cont'd from "On Merit")
LOCATION: USS PHOENIX
SCENE: Main Engineering
STARDATE: [2.15] 1022.2103
Shortly after Kane had left, Jake Crichton had hurled himself into a painstaking series of calibrations on the shift's computer systems, making sure everything was running at optimum efficiency. With all the extra hands, it was finally possible to have the PHOENIX truly operating at 100%, and Jake had every intention of getting there in time for the big day. If a fight was coming, Jake wanted to debut the PHOENIX in her full glory.
"Might even add a cool racing stripe down the side," Jake commented to John Maynell as the two men wedged themselves through a tight corner to access an antimatter injection array underneath the warp core.
"Jake," Maynell said, as he passed a fresh infusion coil up to Jake from their toolkit. "You haven't said anything about Kane's offer."
"Racing stripe," Jake repeated. "We were talking about the racing stripe, John."
"I'll get the techs to start replicating some lightning bolt decals while we're at it," Maynell deadpanned. "In the meantime, he offered you the second officer job."
"I know," Jake said. "I was there."
"You have to take it," Maynell said, taking the old infusion coil from Jake's hands and replacing it with a hyperspanner.
"It was an offer, not an order."
"Think about how it will look on your resume," Maynell said.
Jake laughed. "We're about to save the Federation, John. I think our careers will take care of themselves."
"Do it for the experience, then," Maynell said. "Look, you've pretty much mastered running an engine room--"
"What do you mean 'pretty much'?" Jake interrupted.
Maynell ignored him and continued. "But bridge command is different. You have to get a feel for it. Maybe you aren't as busy on night watch, but it will give you a chance to get used to thinking 'big picture'."
"I don't know," Jake said. "They always say, engineers make bad captains."
"Who always says that?"
"They," Jake said. "The royal they, I guess."
"I don't think that's a saying," Maynell said.
"Whatever," Jake said. "The point is... I like to *do*, you know? Details are my job. All that delegating, all that big picture stuff... I don't think I have the head for it."
"I think you do," Maynell said. "It'd be a change of pace for you, sure, but Jake: you know how to inspire loyalty and you get the best out of your people. What else is there?"
"A lot, I'm sure," Jake said. He passed the hyperspanner back to Maynell. "Coil's replaced. That should correct the phase variances we were seeing in the warp field."
Maynell inspected a tricorder and nodded. "Field variance within normal range," he reported. "That's the last of the damage from the Amaterasu fixed, too. The ship's almost back to 100%."
"We'll get there," Jake said.
"Are you going to take the job?"
Jake thought about it for a moment, then shrugged. "Ahhh, what the hell. Maybe it'll give me a chance to catch up on my reading."
There was more to do, and Maynell and Jake parted ways shortly thereafter, each off to perform repairs or diagnostic or calibrations of their own. Then Jake looked up, and four hours had passed. He rubbed his eyes - he was working late again, but with all the extra hands it had become much easier for him to find a babysitter for Ben and Dahlia. He was glad for the time he'd gotten to spend with them during their period of rest, but now that things were moving again, Jake had gone right back into it. It wasn't as bad as it had been - all the extra hands had definitely been a lifesaver, and Jake was able to leave Rochemonte or Maynell in charge when he felt he needed a rest - but there was still a lot to do, and Jake wanted his hand in as much of it as was possible.
Jake got up, made sure the techs assisting him knew how to carry on in his absence, and decided it was time to clock out for the day. He made his way back to his office, approved a small stack of work requests. Jake had delegated many of the more clerical aspects of his position to Maynell, who discharged them with grim efficiency, but some items still required Jake's personal authorization. Once he'd chewed his way through the paperwork, he shut down his workstation and the lights in his office, and started for the door. The door swished open, and Jake was startled to see a form already silhouetted there. Jake stepped back, to make room for Eve Dalziel to step in.
"Jake," she said with a warm smile. She noticed the lights were out in his office. "I'm sorry, you were just leaving for the night, weren't you?"
"Yeah," Jake said. "But I have a minute. Computer, lights."
The computer chirped a reply, and the lights in the office came back up. "What can I do for you, counselor?" Jake asked.
"We haven't really had a chance to talk after what happened to Thomas," Eve said. "You knew him better than most of us. I know you took his death very hard."
Jake still carried some grief for Thomas Varn, and he felt it reawaken in his heart at the mention of his name. But it was a pain he'd gotten used to now; Varn had been a colleague, and a friend, someone who had been there for much of Jake Crichton's career. But he was not the first friend to die in the line of duty, and Jake had a dark notion that he may not be the last. All he could do now was focus on the situation at hand, and hope to honor Thomas Varn's memory by working hard to protect the people, and the Federation, he had spent his life defending.
"Tommy was a good man," Jake said. "He, uh... well, let's just say we lost a good one."
"And we all feel that loss," Eve said. "If you ever need to talk..."
"I'm okay, counselor," Jake said. "But I'll let you know if I'm ever... you know..."
"Please do," Eve said. "Actually, I'm not here to talk about Varn. There's something else I thought you should know."
"What is it?" asked Jake.
"You used to serve with Evangeline Montoya?" Eve asked.
"Yeah," Jake said cautiously. "On GATEWAY Station, with Varn. Foster was there, too. So was Kane, for a while."
"I understand you were all stuck on the other side of the Bajoran wormhole," Eve said. "When it closed."
"Yeah," Jake nodded. "It's part of what led to the 2nd Dominion War."
"You must have some conflicted feelings about her, then."
Jake narrowed his eyes. "Why are you asking me all this?"
"There's been some news," Eve said.
"Did she... wake up?" Jake asked. Eve noticed an odd combination of hope and dread in the engineer's tone.
"I'm afraid not," Eve said. "Her condition is unchanged. Same with Embry."
"Then what's this about?"
"She's being moved off the ship," Eve said. "Embry, too. Captain Kane had arranged for them to be moved to a hospital ship, where they can received more permanent care."
"Oh," Jake said. He wasn't sure how to feel about this. "That's it?"
"That's it," Eve nodded. "I just thought, after what happened with Varn, you might want to say goodbye."
"Goodbye?" Jake repeated. "Montoya was helping that psycho Rawyvin Seth. She got Solomon Arn killed. She's not the woman I knew anymore. She doesn't deserve a goodbye."
"It wouldn't be for her," Eve said. "She probably couldn't even hear it. But Jake, we don't know if she'll ever wake up, or if you'll ever see her again. This is a chance for you to find some closure. Losing Varn must have made you think a lot about those days on GATEWAY. In a way, you've lost Montoya, too. You didn't get the chance to say goodbye to Varn, but I think it would do you good to say goodbye to her."
"Like what, she's a proxy for Varn?"
"Not just him," Eve said. "All of it. GATEWAY. The war. We've got some hard times ahead, and not everyone going into them will get a chance to make peace with their past. You shouldn't miss the opportunity."
"I don't know," Jake said, shaking his head.
"Jake," Eve said, resting a hand on his shoulder. "I think you should do this. I can't promise it will help, but I think you'll regret it if you don't."
"I'll think about it," Jake said.
"That's all I ask," Eve said, smiling.
=[/\]=
NRPG: Not long, just a bit of set up,
SUSAN: Hope I did okay with Eve!
Shawn Putnam
a.k.a.
Jake Crichton
Chief Engineering Officer
USS PHOENIX