Well, Here I Am.

[Rov 0]

Thankfully the Manticore had stopped long enough for Rov's shuttle to catch up. He wasn't sure what was going on with the other ship but there was time enough for that later. Now onboard he was in his newly assigned quarters.

 

Suddenly, the room reminded him of his old quarters on the Illustrator. It was a nagging feeling he'd had the second he'd stepped onboard the ship. This was his first shipboard posting in years. All the memories of that time started to comeback. Mostly, he rememberd the crew he'd worked with. He had lost touch with so many of them. Where was Dirk? Dragon, Nelar, Bravo, Driver, where had they all gone over the years?

 

Where was Novar? He looked down at the leather band still on his wrist that Captain Kai had put on them both so many years ago. Did she still wear hers? Of all the women that had left him, Rov always figured she would be the one to return. That was probably why he had accepted starbase posts, so not to be hard to track down. But that seemed such a distant hope now. His wife's life had as many or more mysteries as his. Time would only tell if they would meet again.

 

And time would see him meet new people as he did before. Edwards, Rios, and Shulu from Starbase 48 had actually stayed in some contact after the war. His staff at Ceti Beta Magnus V were a good lot too even is he didn't manage as close of a relation as he'd liked. He was their commander and they never had great dramatic moments to bind them together. A pitty, even though Rov did enjoy going for a couple of years without anyone shooting at him.

 

This was a new beginning though. No pressures of rank at the moment. Pretty much no one knew where he was. He had time to visit with his daughter at the academy before leaving. Somehow that alone had given him a focus during this time of change that he'd never had before. Maybe perhaps he could end this next chapter of his life without murders, betrayels, abandonment, treason, or courtmarshel. Maybe.