Star Trek: Mayweather
“ONE ILL TURN”
Stardate: 2381.71
Earth
An antigravity sled slowly lowered a coffin into the hole in the ground. It was draped with two flags, one the sky blue of the United Federation of Planets, the other the old green, white, and orange of ancient Ireland. While the old territorial boundaries no longer mattered, there remained territorial pride for some.
This was an old family, with an old tradition. Normally Starfleet officers were buried “at sea”, that is, sealed in a deactivated torpedo and shot from their last post, usually a starship. In this case, only a burial in the home plot would do. It was raining, a gentle spring rainfall, slickening the grass and dampening the dirt. Water beaded on the roses held in the hands of the mourners.
One of those mourners was Starfleet Captain Sean O’Sullivan, and it was his brother who was being buried this day. O’Sullivan smirked sadly for a brief moment. There was nothing to bury, besides the coffin. His brother had been vaporized, along with his ship, out in the vast reaches of the Alpha Quadrant of the Milky Way galaxy. But the elder O’Sullivan, the Captain’s mother, had insisted on a burial with a coffin with full Starfleet honors. The Captain appreciated the tradition in it, but he only felt the emptiness, both of his own soul and the coffin that had almost disappeared from sight. His mother started to weep again, and he rested a hand on her shoulder. She reached up, placed her hand on his as his brother’s coffin vanished below the ground.
O’Sullivan helped her to stand, and walked with her to the edge of the grave. She stared down at the coffin for a few seconds, then tossed her handful of roses down onto it. There was a small rainbow for a second, glittering in the arcs of water shed off the edge of the rose petals. O’Sullivan helped his mother back to his seat before returning to the grave. He knelt down to grab a handful of dirt. Standing up, he let it drift through his fingers, then he snapped to attention and saluted his brother’s grave. He stood for a moment longer, then returned to his mother’s side. The other mourners now passed by the graveside, some flinging flowers, others dirt, some just standing and staring. Most were family of some relation or another, others were Starfleet, comrades and colleagues. There were a few offworlders, but most were human. A woman of regal bearing and short stature paused briefly at the grave before returning to stand next to O’Sullivan. Her hair was done up in a bun and she wore the uniform of a Starfleet Vice Admiral. She said nothing for a second, then leaned over and whispered to O’Sullivan.
“We need you.”
O’Sullivan looked down to his mother and she nodded briefly before returning her gaze towards the grave. Most of the other mourners had moved off. O’Sullivan turned to the Admiral.
“Admiral.” He indicated with his hand that she should precede him. They walked a short distance from the graveside. She spoke.
“Captain, there has been an accident. Deep Space 15 encountered a meteor shower this morning, and her hull was breached in multiple places. We are putting together a relief and rescue fleet. I need you to command one of the ships we are sending. Your crew is already being assembled for you.”
“Admiral…” he began. She cut him off by raising a hand.
“I know. You were going to spend time with your family, but duty calls, Captain. You have my sympathies for your loss.”
Captain O’Sullivan looked over his shoulder. His mother was standing, talking with an uncle. He turned back to the Admiral. She was looking sadly up at him.
“I know what it is like to lose family, Captain.” And O’Sullivan knew that, too. Vice Admiral Kathryn Janeway was a legend in Starfleet. She had commanded her ship, the USS Voyager, lost for seven years in the unexplored regions of the Delta Quadrant and she and her crew had become family. Not all of their family returned home to their hero’s welcome.
“Allow me to say goodbye and I will be right with you, Admiral.”
“Of course.”
O’Sullivan walked back over to his mother. She already knew what he was about to say and she spoke first.
“Go, son. Seamus did his duty. Do yours. I am proud of you. So was he. Never forget that.”
He nodded, and hugged her. Turning he spared one last look at the grave, and the coffin within.
Returning to the Admiral, he sighed. “I’m ready.”
She touched a communicator on her breast and spoke quietly. “Two to beam up.”
Seconds later there was a sensation like a cold breeze from above, then Ireland, and Earth, vanished.
Space…the final frontier.
These are the voyages of the starship Mayweather.
Her mission:
To explore strange new worlds…
to seek out new life, and new civilizations…
to boldly go where no one has gone before.
a simple man 