The Stand

[Craven 0]

Jack Craven walked into his quarters after a long shift of surveying the Astrophysics lab, having the entire team run diagnostics...three times. Running spot checks on the Science Lab's equipment. Thre times. And full diagnostics of the sensor grids - all of them. Three times.

 

Ever since he had returned to Excalibur he had spent the entire time checking and rechecking every single piece of equipment that fell in the Science Department’s domain. He hadn't even had time to talk to his Chief, Itzhak. Nor had he even seen the new Ensign assigned to Science. And then there was Quelsar. He had thought the two of them had begun to develop a good working-rappor, and he had hoped to capitalize on that, and perhaps trade academic papers they might have been working on. But there was no time. Jack had been on top of every Science Section like blue on a Bolian.

 

"When it comes to crunch time, son, keep youre head up and your stick down." his father had always said.

 

Maybe he was doing too much. Maybe he was pushing himself too hard. Deep inside he knew that, even if he were trying to do too much, the young man from Canada wouldn't slow down - he would just do even more. His career meant everything too him. But then, so did staying alive.

 

Now, lying on his bed, Craven wasn't thinking about how the officers in Astrophysics had leered at him when he had interrupted their rather laid-back shift, nor about how he had been too busy to even say "Hi" to his fellow Science Team - something which he did indeed regret. Instead Jack was thinking about a comment he had overheard in the corridor.

 

A young enlisted crewman was rattling off to his partner about the impending combat, and how he hadn't joined Starfleet to fight, he had joined to explore.

 

When Jack heard this he nearly wanted to scream.

 

Yeah we're going to war, and yeah...that sucks. he thought. But this kind of thing comes with the territory.

 

Closing his eyes he had asked himself again and again if this sort of thing really did come with the uniform. Everyone on the ship was talking about it.

 

"There comes a time, Jack, where you have to decide what's worth fighting for." Those were his father's words too. Words that had never rung more true than they did right now.

 

This, what he had now, what the Federation had now, was worth fighting for, he thought. Sure this wasn't his father's Federation any longer, but dammit there was still something deep down at its core.

 

Something pure.

Something free.

Something worth fighting for.

 

Worth dying for.

 

Jack didn't like war any more than the next man or woman. But he knew that sometimes, unfortunately it was necessary. The Federation was in an era of a stand. A stand against those who would come to do it harm.

 

The Borg, the Dominion conflict, and now the Scorpiads and Al-Ucards. Each struggle was different in its own regard, but they all had one thing in common: Fear.

 

Regardless of the political agendas, Jack knew he was fighting for a single purpose: So that the rest of Humanity...the rest of the Federation, would be rid of the fear, at least for a while. The concept that fear drives civilizations from order to chaos...and chaos to order was timeless, but it was something that young Craven was just coming to grips with.

 

On the outside he'd never admit it, but that is why he fought. He didn't want to be afraid of what was out there. And right now, he was scared.

 

Opening his eyes he looked out his window at the stars streaking by. More than anything he wanted to be able to look at them with wonder again.

 

His eyes began to well up.

 

Staring out at the thousands of suns flying past at warp speed, a single tear streaked down his cheek.

 

I wonder if the stars know...I wonder if they know how hard we're fighting...for them.

Edited May 26, 2006 by Craven