An Unexpected Guest

[AndrewLyon 0]

Despite all the advances in subspace communication, news seemed to always reach those ears that needed to hear it as fast as possible. From depths of space a ship that hadn't been seen in the Alpha Quadrant for over a decade was caught on sensors blazing its way back to Earth via Quantum Slipstream drive. The ship, USS Party Crasher, her captain Andrew Lyon, late of Star Fleet.

 

Lyon had joined the fleet during the Dominion War, when a client wanted several known felons captured, and brought to justice. Felons that various sources said were within the Fleet, given what these parties saw as Star Fleet's big red wall, they had helped Andrew Lyon join Star Fleet, with his alternative identity of The Hunter being something spoken of only at the highest levels of the Fleet, and then only whispered. This despite the unusual amount of personal equipment he brought with him.

 

Lyon had stayed on with the fleet for four more years after the conclusion of the war, with an honourable discharge. He had come to realize in the post-war fleet his place was no longer there, despite the paydays. It was those old loyalties that brought him here today. The last ship he actively served on (even briefly) was the USS Reaent. It hadn't taken too much effort via subspace to get him access to the festivities of the fleet decommissioning the ship.

 

With the Party Crasher safely landed on Earth, Andrew Lyon stepped off the transporter platform and mingled with the last crew of the Reaent as one of the countless guests in attendance. He wished he could say he saw a familiar face in the crowd, but he didn't. He ended up chatting up the late Chief of Security of the Reaent. It was only when he proposed a toast to their missing brothers did he realize how many people had come and gone over the years, and he couldn't help but wonder where they all were now. In an instant he saw the wrangled wreck of the Exodus crashed on some planet never to be recovered, stations abandoned by command over the years, friends killed in combat instead of returning to their loved ones.

 

He gave a salute to Admiral Fred as he appeared before the crowd and gave his final speech as the commanding officer of the Reaent. Who knew, maybe one day the fleet would resurrect this command, and maybe recall some of her officers to action? It was hard to say how long Andrew stayed at the festivities marking the end of the Raeant's journey. Over the years he had developed the ability to become a ghost, seen, but unseen. All that can be certain is that at one point late into the night a single coin was found stuck with the date of commissioning, and the date of decommissioning of the Reaent close to where he had been mingling, and that the Party Crasher had reclaimed her own heading out into the depths of space, her master's journey continued.

Edited October 31, 2015 by AndrewLyon