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Cptn Swain

Don't Bury Me Here

“The Beacon Hill is on their way back,” Asher said, glancing over to his guest, Captain Tylen Gail of the Montreal. “They found the base, but it had been abandoned for some time.”

 

Stocky and soft-featured, Tylen cut a less-than-imposing figure. It was Swain’s first time working with him, but so far had found him to be pleasant enough. He and the Montreal had been assigned to the Gamma Quadrant for nearly three years and he was quickly proving to be a useful asset, filling in some long-held gaps in Swain’s knowledge of the inner politics of the quadrant.

 

“Mmm,” Tylen said with a nod, drinking a cup of tea. “What about your team?”

 

Asher wrinkled his nose. “Nothing yet,” he said. “The ambient radiation makes narrow band communications difficult, at best. The planetary authorities depend on a fairly sophisticated transponder built by the Dominion.

 

“Though they’re due to return sometime this evening.”

 

Tylen nodded again, shifting his heft in his chair. Though he’d heard mixed reviews of Asher, but so far he seemed even-tempered enough. He only hoped that if things went awry, as they were prone to do in the Gamma Quadrant, that would continue.

 

“And the other two?”

 

“The Olympia’s teams are still on Teval, but they seem to think its the same case as Atrol. The Wasp and Courageous haven’t reported in yet, but they did have the most remote of the systems to look into.”

 

“So they’re pulling back then? I suppose that has its good parts...”

 

“And the bad,” Asher added, looking to the window. “Hopefully this doesn’t come to it, but I think the Admiral made it pretty clear he’d prefer us to give them a bloody nose at the very least.”

 

The portly captain sipped his tea, reading what he could from Asher. Being in the Rhongomyniad Fleet, the Montreal had spent the better of the last year on patrols of the outer-edges of Starfleet’s so-called “zone of control.” They’d had far fewer encounters with the pirates than most and far fewer than the Excalibur. He wasn’t sure how he felt, yet, about this lurch towards aggression.

 

“Don’t take this the wrong way,” he finally said, “but I got the impression you did, as well.”

 

Asher turned back with a shrug. Strictly speaking, he was neither dove nor hawk. He knew and accepted the reality that Starfleet was a military and that at times, the sword was as important as the olive branch. Still, he’d asked himself a dozen times or more how he’d feel if he weren’t involved as directly. “I won’t lie,” he finally said, “They caught me with my pants down and try as I might that’s on my mind.”

 

Tylen nodded. He respected Asher’s candor. “Can’t say that I blame you.”

 

“To be honest, I am hoping that the show of force will be enough to send them underground for a while. With everything going on with the Dominion...”

 

“If it’s not one thing,” Tylen said warily. “It’s another. Sometimes I wonder if this is all worth it, you know?”

 

Asher nodded. “I remember when we first discovered the wormhole,” he said, leaning back in his chair. “I couldn’t wait to explore the Gamma Quadrant. It was a new frontier. Everything we’d always talked about back at the Academy...”

 

“Careful what you wish for,” Tylen said, though it was clear he shared the sentiment. “We all thought we’d be the next Kirk.”

 

A small smile crossed Asher’s face. He always wanted to be Sulu, Kirk was a little too over the top. “You know, it’s funny. How well did you know Ah-Windu?”

 

The question caught Tylen off-guard. He paused, lifting an eyebrow for a long moment before answering. “Checkers?” he used Corizon’s call-sign. “We taught at the academy together in the 60’s, but I didn’t really know him you know?

 

“Then when Montreal was stationed out here, I got to know him a lot better. Why?”

 

“I found a note from him tucked away in his desk the other day.”

 

“From him, to you?”

 

“No,” Asher said. “It was for his first officer in the event he died in the line of duty.”

 

“Oh?”

 

“It just read: don’t let them bury me here.”

 

Tylen’s eyes widened, but Asher continued. “I decided to leave it there. I don’t want to be buried in this godforsaken place either, and I am tired of having to bury other people here.”

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