"Solemn Reunion"

[OdileCondacin 0]

Note - Takes place before "Servo Nos", by Socom and Shadow.

 

Odile was starting to pace, glancing up at the hazy cloud-layer and then back to her wrist chrono repeatedly. "He said he'd send a shuttle," she muttered, too quiet for the rest of the rescue team to notice. Then, she supposed, it'd barely been three minutes since she'd commed Excalibur.

 

Patience really wasn't her virtue.

 

The Lady of the Lake entered the upper atmosphere and began a descent towards Odile's last coordinates, knowing her she'd be already griping. Patience was not a Xenexian virtue.

 

"Sir," the comm officer piped in. "That woman wants to know where you are..."

 

Corizon looked up, ears flat. Never failed. "Tell her I'll be there soon enough."

 

The gravel was well-compacted under her boots by the time the shuttle was in visual range, smashed by the constant pacing. A sigh of relief sounded as she tried to make out the name from a distance...

 

But something was amiss. It didn't look like a shuttle...

 

... oh, no ...

 

... not a shuttle.

 

Oh, gods, he sent his yacht.

 

Corizon swung the yacht around and brought it in for a final approach, a few feet from Odile. It would be good to see how the Xenexian was holding up after all these years.

 

Impatiently, for starters. She half stalked towards the little craft, half nervous (because she didn't want to break it, obviously), and, watching from a safe difference, waited for the hatch to open.

 

The hatch opened and the silver-haired figure clad in an admiral's tunic strode forth with a grin. "This is the welcoming party?"

 

Odile's eyes widened to saucer-size, and she was dumbfounded for what seemed a very, very long time, jaw slack. Then, suddenly -- there was only one word for it -- she pounced, catching the Dameon in a death-grip's bear-hug.

 

Now the blinking was left to Corizon who was embraced by the Xenexian who'd once served as his yeoman on the Excalibur-C some years ago. "Nice to see you too."

 

"You're here!" she happily proclaimed, nearly bouncing as she slipped into the yacht! "I never thought you'd bring down the shuttle yourself..."

 

"Well," he said as he followed the... giddy Xenexian carefully back into the yacht. (There are few things scarier in this universe.) "I couldn't just up and have one of my assistants take a craft off recovery, and the yacht wasn't getting any use..."

 

"We have to work quickly, if carefully," she informed with a nod, sobered for a moment. "The people aren't in immediate danger, so slow and steady with the tractor." She paused, smiling a little sadly. "Thank you for the yacht. It means a lot -- too everyone down here..."

 

He nodded at let her take the controlls. He knew it meant a lot to her, but he didn't push the point. "Take point..."

 

"Aye," she answered. "One-quarter tractor initiating." She glanced him over. "How'd Excalibur hold up?"

 

"About as well as can be expected," he said as he adjusted their position carefully. "She's seen worse..."

 

"Yes," Odile answered, narrowing her eyes at the Dameon. "And you, Captain? Er... no... Admiral, now..."

 

An ear lifted slightly, "Well, Lieutenant Condacin," he said, smirking. "Other than some emotional stress, which is to be expected, I am holding up. Can't let the humans see me all weepy because I lost my home."

 

She frowned decidedly. "I'm sorry, Sir... Well..." O'd'yl paused, considering. "If you ever wished, there's plenty of room in Condacin's grand hall for a much-honored guest."

 

"Oh," he said thoughtfully, "I appreciate it, but I still have the homestead on Dameon Prime and a place on Avalon..." His thoughts drifted to Avalon, Camelot and the Gamma Quadrant.

 

Odile nodded. "The offer's always open," she answered. "I had a little apartment -- just for storage, really, in San Francisco, but I never settled on Earth..."

 

"I lived there pretty much off and on since graduation," he responded as he once again adjusted their position to give her better access with the tractor beam. "I had a place in Tokyo..."

 

She swallowed hard. "Anything salvageable?"

 

"Don't know yet, haven't had time to look... there are people who need to be saved."

 

"Of course," she answered briskly. "Perhaps it's not all lost... and if it has been... it's only a house," she said softly. "Excalibur is your home."

 

"Yes," he said. "And Agincourt yours?"

 

"Agincourt and Xenex." Odile sighed, rubbing her temples tiredly. "I have been thinking lately, perhaps I've been too... detached... from Xenex..." She went quiet, nibbling her lip. "I've... worried that perhaps I should return home. Resign from Starfleet and go to Xenex -- help them there. Gods, after this attack, they'd probably adore having the help..."

 

"I thought about it..." he said thoughtfully. "Leaving the fleet when my homeworld was besieged by the Dominion. And again when they made me a Captain and tossed me out into the Gamma Quadrant...

 

"I thought about it after the Romulan War too..." he said, leaning back in his chair. "I've seen so much death, so much suffering a pain. I started to ask myself was it worth it. Was it worth the emotional wear and tear, was it worth the headache of command. Especially when they gave me these pips..." The Dameon pointed a clawed finger to his the two boxed pips that represented his rank as a 'rear' Admiral, upper-half. "It's a big decision. Deciding how long you want to stay committed. I've spent most of my life in service to the Federation. I've shed blood, both mine and others, on more planets than I care to remember.

 

"In the end though, it comes down to something really simple..."

 

"Yes, Capt -- Admiral?" O'd'yl corrected a second time, quietly.

 

"You have to decide if all of the sacrifices you been made are enough... if the sacrifices you've made are so great that you've filled your duty. I told myself once that they were... that the Federation had asked so much of me, so much that I'd done more than they'd done for me. Then it hit me...

 

"That's not what it's about. I pledged my life to the Federation so that I could protect those who cannot save themselves. Yeah, I could walk away now. I could let someone else fight this war, but then would I be honoring my oath? I pledged to protect and serve the Federation. If I walked away, would I be doing that? Would I be giving them the best chance to win? How many people would suffer so that I could retire happily and not worry about a a few trivial inconveniences?"

 

Odile was silent for a long moment before answering. "I didn't... think... so much of oaths and honor when I joined Starfleet," she admitted. "You know Xenex -- I mean... we're Federation, but so loosely. It wasn't so much allegiance, but... an escape.

 

"But now I don't know... I feel as if I'd be turning my back on friends if I left, and some of those people," she added, with a pointed glance at the Dameon, "are as important as Xenexian kin, now. I've never been...afraid of getting myself killed, but... what if something happened to someone like Harper if I were back on Xenex pretending to be of use there? I don't know if I could forgive myself." She sighed. "Potential guilt is a powerful motivator, almost as much as honor."

 

"My parents both died when the Dominion besieged my world," he said with a thoughtful nod. "People I knew my whole life died. The world I grew up on... it was changed forever.

 

"For a long time... I questioned myself... questioned if I should have followed the path I took... becoming a Starfleet officer. I blamed myself... that I should have been there when the Dominion attempted to take my world.

 

"Then it came to me that one more person wouldn't have mattered in the end. That by staying in Starfleet I was serving a higher purpose. I was doing more than just protecting my homeworld; I was protecting every citizen of the Federation. How many lives had I saved on hundreds of worlds? Yes, it hurt me to know that I couldn't do anything but watch from a distance, and then only through the scattered reports of our forces in the area about what was happening on my home... but my duty, my service to the Federation was a higher calling."

 

Grimly, a small smile spread. "Though I'm not exactly the brilliant Corizon," the Xenexian commented wryly. "I suppose I could be... useful..."

 

"I am sure Medusa would appreciate your continued talents. I am certain she values your unique perspective as well."

 

" 'Odd', is the term, I believe." She grinned, looking more like her usual self. "Though, matters of honor and duty and glory aside, there's been a small question raised over the validity of field commissions...."

 

"Given our current situation," he said, his tone quickly switching from introspective mentor to career officer. "I don't think anyone would particular raise a concern to that commision being rolled over to a full time appointment."

 

He smirked, dubiously. "And if they do... I am sure someone in Starfleet Personnel owes a certain Admiral a favor... or three."

 

Odile bit her lip to avoid grinning wider (and failed), bouncing slightly in her chair. "If that's so, then I'm sure there's a former yeoman on Agincourt who'll owe you about a life debt."

 

Grinning, showing his fangs for the first time in the conversation with his former yeoman, he nodded. "Get them in touch with me... I'll make sure the paper work is handled. We have far better things to be doing than quibbling over a field commission."

 

Aye, aye, Sir!" Condacin snapped off a crisp, if slightly lopsided salute, not wiping the grin off her face.

 

"And... Ah-Windu?" she asked, managing the Dameon pronunciation slowly, if almost perfectly. "Thank you -- a lot."

 

"You're welcome... Oddly," he answered with a wink.

Edited June 12, 2008 by OdileCondacin