Quest Log

[MajorZStarDust 0]

 

 

In the quarters of Marine Lt. Col. E.D. Quest

 

Dana Quest sat in in full battle uniform, minus her battle armor, holding her sleeping infant son in her arms. She stared at two things sitting on her desk before her; trying to fathom whether or not the Captain was going to do what Dana knew needed to be done, Prime directive be damned. Get their people. Leave no one behind.

 

Captain Moose....this "new" Moose, not the one she'd first come aboard and reported to when she joined the Arcadia, and grown to hate over time.... had not committed himself when she had talked to him. But, something in her told her "this" Moose was a different man, and something in her wanted to trust that he would do the right thing. She would never have trusted the other Moose to do so. And the "other" was now her Cousin David's adopted father. It should have been "this" Moose. The universe was fouled up beyond belief.

 

She gently kissed Michael on his forehead, and her eyes glanced at the computer screen where she read again...for maybe the 20th time, the Last Will of her aunt, Commander Kelly Quest, Executive Officer of the USS Falcon, lost with all hands in the battle for Cardassia....

 

It wasn't the standard taped last will and testiment.....the one generally updated when battle is near.....sterile in it's environment.  Kelly Quest was dressed in jeans and sweatshirt, standing next to a remarkably beautiful Appaloosa mare.  First appearances gave one the feeling that an *info-mercial* was forthcoming.  Her hands carressed the animal's face a moment, and then the camera....apparently operated by another person....panned over a beautiful expanse of land.  When the camera panned back to her, Kelly looked into it and smiled warmly.  Then she spoke...

 

"Hello, David.  Since you are watching this, that time that you and I spoke of on occasion has come.  I am gone.  It's a time that comes for all of us, David, and you must not become bitter because of it.  And, remember, where ever this journey has taken me, I will always love you."

 

"My last wishes are simple; you and I have already discussed most of them.  This ranch is to be yours and Dana's..equally.  There are over a thousand acres, so I'm sure you can keep from getting in each others way if need be."

 

Kelly smiled and her eyes were bright.

 

"I want Bess," she nodded toward the mare, and stroked her mane, "to go to Ziggy.  Besides me, he was the only one she's ever taken to.  The rest of the herd, goes with the ranch, of course."

 

"There are some papers that I have sealed and left with the JAG office in San Francisco.  They are for Chris.....Captain Moose.  If you are still a minor, David, I am requesting that Chris become your legal guardian.  It's no reflection on Dana; but she's young, and has a lot of growing to do herself.  I know she'll understand."

 

"There are so many things I wish we'd had time to share.  Life is so very short.  I wanted so much to see the man that you will become.... to watch you become a father...... But, time has caught me up.  The life I chose comes with these risks."

 

"Where ever your path leads you, son, remember that I am proud of you....and I love you very much.  Tell Dana that I love her very much, too."

 

Kelly paused, "And, when you see Chris......tell him.......tell him....."

 

She smiled.

 

"Tell him I love him, too"

 

Her image faded......

 

 

But, now Kelly was reportedly alive...and so was Marty. Marty.....Dana let out a sigh, and remembered that it was the day that she and Ziggy had held the small service for Dana....no remains, ofcourse....on Earth, that Ziggy had found out by accident that she was carrying his child....a child that should be Marty's.  Marty had left no Will. He'd never followed protocol and made one; something he'd been reprimanded about on several occassions. Her last moments with him..before he and Ziggy boarded a shuttle to take Ziggy to Marine basic training were short.  He'd handed her a small box. She glanced at the open box sitting next to her compter terminal, open.

"When I get back, we'll open that," he'd said with a smile.  She remembered how many times he'd proposed to her. And how she'd always turned him down, not believing families belonged on starships. Marty and Ziggy had both been reported killed in the explosion of the shuttle. Ziggy returned. Marty did not. Ziggy told her he'd seen Marty die in a prison they had been taken to. She glanced down at the sleeping child. How things changed.  

 

She was so torn. She still loved Marty. Yet, she'd also realized that she loved the father of her child too. It had all become so complicated. Why hadn't she just married Marty, and lived life as it came? Others did.  Now she refused to marry Ziggy. He'd proposed many times before, and after Michael's birth; but this man loved Sam Riker, and Dana knew it.  He would be father...never husband.

 

The chime on her quarters startled her, and when she jerked, it woke the baby. Without Dana even realizing she was near, Katie appeared and took him "I got him, Cuz'. Time for him to hit the sack anyway."

 

Dana kissed him once more, as she handed him to Katie, then walked to her quarters door, activating the open control. There stood Ziggy and Sam Riker.  For a moment, Dana felt a flush of jealousy as Sam smiled sweetly at her.  Their eyes locked, and Dana felt a sudden unease. The eyes.....

 

 

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