"Carrying the Call"

[CaptainSDavies 0]

"Carrying the Call"

May 9, 2397

0508.30

 

Davies inhaled deeply, taking in the morning air and the scenery. The rounded tree-lined Blue Ridge mountains were in front of him and a fairly large twentieth century bricked house was directly behind him. He smiled, this was home. Slowly he turned around and walked up the paved walkway. Rufus, an intimidating Irish wolfhound, stood erect about a hundred yards away and watched Davies suspiciously as he ascended the porch.

 

After depressing the doorbell, Davies waited patiently already feeling emotions that he had not dealt with for sometime.

 

“Just a minute!” carried a voice, though weak. When about thirty seconds had passed, slowly the door opened to reveal a frail looking woman nearly half the size of Davies.

 

The woman’s face brightened almost immediately upon recognition of the man on her porch. “Simeon!”

 

Davies returned the smile and bent over to embrace her, “Mrs. Jenkins, how are you?”

 

“Oh, not too bad…all things considered.” She invited him into the house and closed the door slowly. “I have trouble doing some of the things I used to, but I manage.”

 

The pain in her eyes was evident. In a span of just two years she had lost both her only son, who was killed at Outpost 37 during the Dominion War and her husband, who died of cancer. This was more than twenty years ago, but Davies still could feel that she was searching for an answer, for a purpose.

 

“Tell me what you’ve been doing Simeon,” Mrs. Jenkins inquired while offering him a seat on the couch, “Are you still in Starfleet?”

 

Davies took the seat and thanked her, “I’m commanding quite a magnificent starship with a top-notch crew.”

 

“You are? Simeon that’s wonderful for you!”

 

“It’s the fruition of many years of hard work,” Davies replied, almost apologetically.

 

“I’m sure Sam would be proud.”

 

Mrs. Jenkins let her statement hang in the air and neither of them spoke for some time, each trying to suppress strong emotions that were just waiting for their opportunity to be released. Finally, Davies spoke up, “Mrs. Jenkins, I came here to visit you because I consider you my second mother. You were always kind and gentle with me and you provided the opportunity for Sam and me to build a durable friendship. Josh and John might kill me for saying this, but I considered Sam my brother more than I considered either of them.”

 

Water began to fill the eyes of Mrs. Jenkins as memories of Sam and her husband flooded her, “Oh Simeon, I don’t know what to say. You’ve done more for me and my family that I can possibly say. Even though Jim and Sam are gone, you have honored the Jenkins name as if it were your own.”

 

“It was the least I could do,” Davies replied, “Sam fought for our freedom, for our defense. In a lot of ways he was a bigger man than I was because he responded to the call to serve. It is every man’s responsibility to protect whom he loves…whether it is his family, his property, his country, his world; he has a moral obligation to protect that which he has. As I have learned from many years in Starfleet, idleness encourages mischief and mischief encourages evil. Eventually all that is good is threatened by all that is evil. Sam saw the threat the Dominion posed to our way of life, to our freedom, to our liberty and he met the challenge. In the end, he did pay the ultimate sacrifice, but he gained so much more.”

 

Mrs. Jenkins was sobbing and Davies went over to comfort her. He sat down and held her close to his chest.

 

“Never have I seen such selfless love,” Davies whispered, “Never. And that love displayed was the single reason I joined Starfleet. Each advancement in my career is a testimony to what Sam did and I will continue to honor his memory as long as I am living.”

 

Mrs. Jenkins looked up at him as the tears continued down her face, “You are a good man Simeon.”

 

Davies titled his head back and stared up at the ceiling, only he imagined that he was staring directly at heaven itself. He had pity for this woman, this mother who herself most likely deserved the highest honor for being the recipient of events beyond her control. Nevertheless, he had no words. Instead, he pleaded with his eyes fixed on heaven that peace and comfort would come to her at last.