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
FredM

Captain's Final Personal Log - Stardate 1511.05

Captain’s Personal Log

Final Entry - Stardate 1511.05

U.S.S. Reaent, NCC-3345-G

 

Reflection can be a powerful thing. It is a tool and resource of the mind allowing perspective to be applied. From events of the future to evaluation of actions long before, the instrument of reflection some have argued is one of the most powerful capabilities of most intelligent species. Learning, knowledge, anticipation and expectation all have foundations based on this one simple trait. Through proper usage, great things can be accomplished with reflection. It can bring joy; it can bring sorrow. A trait that is a foundation to the concept of history...today it was all that was left.

 

Over a month had passed since the final return of the U.S.S. Reaent to Sector 001. Nearly a month since a final farewell. Yet in the immediate aftermath, in some ways, things had almost seemed as if business as usual was taking place. Activity aboard the ship had actually peaked. Corridors that had been silent were once again alive. A visit to Main Engineering might cause someone great confusion since the level of activity mirrored something normally seen during an emergency situation. Truth be told, in an odd way, the Reaent had been alive more now than in recent memory. Much to his shock, there had even been several crew berthing assignments the day after. Outside of a sudden replacement of familiar faces with new ones, if a person had been hiding under a rock they might not have known.

 

But then the moment had come forcing recognition of what had actually occurred. Like a stalker hiding in the shadows, it had struck with such power and force, it would stop a Pandarian in their tracks. For all the activity, all the energy and even the momentary glimpse of life, was fleeting.

 

It had been out of habit. Unconsciously, it was built into a routine that had been followed more than a thousand times. The alarm indicating the start of the shift had sounded. The same buttons had been pressed to silence it, the same actions taken to confirm the decision. Business as usual, the sounds of a normal day.

 

Until the doors opened.

 

A gift from the Almighty had been given at that exact moment. He had been alone, else others would have seen the painful anguish which immediately consumed his entire being to the point of tears.

 

Silence had once again been found, falsely hiding until the timing was just right.

 

He had walked onto a bridge, a ghost of its former self, for a shift that no longer existed. The once mighty command center of the starship Reaent was now dark, the few monitors or stations who were illuminated displayed a static message confirming monitoring by Starbase operations. Not a soul was present, no evidence of life existed.

 

Three weeks later, the final day of residency had come. While of course work would continue, it would be the conclusion for anyone to call the Reaent home. It had become public in the previous weeks that Starfleet Command was not currently pursuing plans for another vessel to bear the name anytime soon. As a result, a very real possibility existed that it would be the final day of residency…period.

 

The day had gone well, like so many that occurred in the last month. Of course, it was until the need for a particular record locator number. A minor inconvenience, the research simply required pulling a copy of a computer data file number from the Reaent’s last long range sensor scan for a mundane report intended to give context to archival processes of the main computer.

 

It was a simple task. But then he had run into a problem. Where was the log entry? The LCARS network was displaying copies of entries for other ships and installations, but not one for the Reaent. Why had this occurred? Was some moron’s stupidity with records really going to cause a simple task that should take 5 minutes to last 5 hours only because….

 

Silence made itself known. In part due to a mistype, it became clear why he was unable to locate the file. He was looking under a category of current and active operations. What he wanted was much further near the bottom. After some scrolling, there it was…where it had been all along.

 

As the day had come to a close, he stood staring down an empty corridor at the airlock. The night shift had concluded work hours ago and most activity for the day involving the transfer of excess equipment had been completed for the week. Silence once again moved in.

 

This time however, he met this phenomenon with a smile. The shift he had reported for weeks earlier out of habit would have been starting soon. The nerve centers of the ship would be alive with activity. The powerful might that was the Reaent would be engaged in another interesting excursion in the galaxy. It was here, in this moment, he realized it still was. Glancing up, then left and then right, the smile simply wouldn’t fade. Several moments later, the echoes of his departure were gone.

 

The chimes sounded and 2200 was upon her. She was alone, at peace, at rest…at the end.

 

“May the road rise up to meet you, may the wind be ever at your back. May the sun shine warm upon your face and the rainfall softly on your fields. And until we meet again, may God hold you in the hollow of his hand.”

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!


Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.


Sign In Now
Sign in to follow this  
Followers 0