Welcome to Star Trek Simulation Forum

Register now to gain access to all of our features. Once registered and logged in, you will be able to contribute to this site by submitting your own content or replying to existing content. You'll be able to customize your profile, receive reputation points as a reward for submitting content, while also communicating with other members via your own private inbox, plus much more! This message will be removed once you have signed in.

Sign in to follow this  
Followers 0
Ambassador Moose

... It's Just See You Later

-=/\=- ...It's Just See You Later

SD 10105.15

 

"What choice do I have? I've been asked to represent the Federation to the greatest threat we've faced in decades. You've seen their technology. I have to do what I can to keep them in check."

 

"You heard the Cap...The Ambassador."

 

"Moose... you're leaving?"

 

"For awhile. Take care of my ship?"

 

There was an air of unreality on the bridge as all around them, crewmembers came to attention and slowly moved to offer Moose a salute, that ancient and traditional gesture of respect. Samantha felt so distant from the entire event; even Ziggy, without whose arm she might have just plopped down to sit on the floor, seemed to be on the other side of a thick haze, an emotional barrier that made Sam feel like she was navigating through space without sensors.

 

Moose was leaving the Arcadia. He had accepted the appointment as Ambassador to the Coalition, which of course meant that he would have to stay where the Coalition was.

 

Ambassador Moose exchanged handshakes with crewmembers, ignoring the impatient sighs from the Coalition representatives who had come to offer him the position. Samantha, unconsciously leaning more and more heavily on Ziggy, tried to sort out all the feelings that were hurtling through her. She would kill for a dose of the psyrillamine right now, to quiet the rush of thoughts and feelings that were crowding mercilessly into her mind. She hadn't felt this... out of control, in a while, not since the Rothschild incident. First of all, it was an absolute disgrace that she was crying -- on the bridge, in uniform! After all, the man wasn't dying, he had simply accepted a new post, one that would take him away from the ship on which Samantha served. He wasn't even leaving the Fleet -- just moving to a different branch of it.

 

Secondly, she was twenty-two years old, not two. She had grown up in the fleet; she knew that change and movement were par for the course in this lifestyle. And it wasn't like she'd never see him again -- it would just take a bit of doing, the same way it did to arrange visits with any other member of her family, now that she had a career and a life of her own.

 

So why did it hurt so much, that he was leaving?

 

She didn't have time to analyze that curious sense of loss, that sharp pinch of panic at the thought of him leaving, because the impatient Coalition reps finally persuaded Moose that it was, indeed, time for them to go -- and for him to leave with them. The panic started to rise in the back of Sam's throat, a fluttery desperate feeling. Moose bade a final farewell to the crew on the bridge, and turned to the turbolift, but Sam felt like her feet were glued to the floor, she couldn't move, couldn't make a sound. And at the door of the turbolift slid open, Ambassador Moose turned to Samantha. "Commander Riker -- walk with me."

 

She felt almost giddy, like a child allowed to sit at the grown-up's table. She shook loose of Ziggy's hold, the fickle child given leave to play with her favorite uncle, and moved to stand silently by Moose's side. Jeron Moset and Melora were chatting quietly with each other, addressing an occasional remark to Moose, who would nod or give a brief answer in response to an interrogatory. Samantha simply stood by Moose, staring at his hands, then at his face, then back at his hands, as if she could memorize every detail about him.

 

"So does this mean that things have improved between you and Mr. Stardust?"

 

Samantha smiled, moved easily out of her head and into the turbolift. "No. We have spoken, though... has Ziggy told you anything about the time he spent off the Arc?"

 

"Such as?"

 

"Such as, Thomas Riker is still alive. And he has a daughter, to whom I apparently bear a striking resemblance."

 

Moose turned to her, one eyebrow raised. "He met them?"

 

"Just her, I think. I don't even know her name."

 

Before Moose could respond, the turbolift doors slid open, and Samantha followed Moose down the corridor to the shuttle bay, where the Crème Brulée sat waiting for her passengers.

 

"We will ride aboard with you, and will take our shuttle in tow," Jeron Moset announced imperiously, and without waiting for Moose's leave, ushered Melora onboard before he climbed in himself.

 

Moose and Sam watched their retreating backs; while Sam thought it was the height of impudence, Moose's face was unreadable. And then Moose and Sam were alone.

 

"Well."

 

"Well."

 

Samantha shuffled her feet. "I'm going to miss you, Moose."

 

"I'm not leaving your life, Samantha -- just the ship."

 

"I know."

 

"I'll miss you too."

 

"We'll stay in touch, though, right?"

 

"Of course we will."

 

Sam grinned. "Just think -- when you have Ambassador stuff with the other Federation Ambassadors, you'll get to see Aunt Lwaxana."

 

"Lwaxana Troi is a lovely woman. You just don't like her because she can see right through you."

 

"And you just *like* her because she finds it amusing to tell you what she sees."

 

Moose chuckled, Sam's heart lurched, and before she could think about it, Samantha wrapped her arms around him.

 

"I love you, Moose."

 

Moose said nothing, but tightened his arms around Samantha in response. They stood, quietly, for a moment. Then Moose kissed her, gently, on the top of the head before he released her and, without turning back, boarded the shuttle Crème Brulée.

 

Samantha stood staring out the bay doors until long after the shuttle had dropped out of sensor range.

 

Lt Cdr D Samantha Riker

USS Arcadia NCC-1742-D

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
Sign in to follow this  
Followers 0