SIM:Nicholotti Forward Unto The Future
((Docking Ring, Deep Space 224))
Though this was a walk she’d taken time and time again, the whole thing felt so different this time. The people might have been familiar, but the uniforms were different and their purpose was different. With the Artemis set to launch later that day, and the Excalibur due on station near the Tholian border tomorrow, time was one thing they didn’t have a lot of.
This time, there would be no catching up en-route. This time they would move along separate umbilicals and into separate ships. As the dark metal of the corridor gave way to the massive transparent aluminum windows, Kali stopped and took in the view. Brightly lit, the new paint seemed like it might not have even been dry yet as the Artemis sat there. Behind it, the hulking and much larger form of the Excalibur almost seemed like a guardian standing by.
Yet, Kali knew that the Artemis was far more than what it seemed. She had teeth, to be certain, but beyond that, her crew was capable of anything. She’d seen it first hand.
The group stopped at the window.
Nicholotti: She looks ready. ::Looking to the new command officers next to her.:: Just like you.
Genkos looked over at her and felt a deep weight in his chest. He took a deep breath and pushed a curl behind his ear.
Adea: Do you think so?
Addison took a moment to look at Kalianna, deeper than she had previously, before nodding slightly.
MacKenzie: She does. She trained us, after all.
Yogan thought about the wide arc his Starfleet career had taken since he left the Academy. When he stepped aboard Resolution for the first time three years ago, he couldn’t possibly have fathomed the adventures he would have with the three people who stood beside him right now. Nothing lasts forever, but the fact that they would be separating today—that their futures were diverging, literally in different directions—didn’t feel right.
Yalu: Yeah. ::beat:: Wow, I guess this is really it.
The Artemis’s commanding officer clasped her hands behind her back, taking a moment to look out at the two vessels. Both were familiar - one was exceedingly so, and one she was only just getting to know.
MacKenzie: The Tholians can’t possibly be ready for that imposing presence. ::gesturing toward the Excalibur.:: I only hope that the crew they gave you to replace us is up to the task.
Kali’s eyes never left the window. The backfill officers had already arrived and made themselves known. The ship was preparing to depart just as the Artemis was. And while there was no doubt in the command officer’s mind that the new additions would live up to their Starfleet training…
Nicholotti: There is no way to replace you.
Now she turned and allowed her crystalline blues to take in the officers next to her, hoping the sentiment was more than understood.
Despite having died seven times, Yogan still had yet to master the art of the goodbye. Some luxuriated in a long, drawn-out, emotion-packed farewell. Others preferred a simpler, “Till we meet again.” Yogan and most of his past hosts were of the latter persuasion, and he knew the same was true of the others.
Yalu: They’ll serve you well. ::beat, smirks:: Kirky will see to it.
Genkos stayed silent; he knew not what to say to someone who had mentored him for three years, and loved him for two.
MacKenzie: Just don’t be too easy on them - you certainly weren’t on us.
She offered only the slightest of side smiles.
Kali returned the look in kind.
Nicholotti: And just look where that got you.
Tilting her head ever so slightly towards the window, she indicated the ship just on the other side of the docking umbilical.
Genkos looked at the ship, and felt a lump catch in his throat.
Adea: She’s beautiful.
Time, as it were, was always far shorter than she might have preferred. Here and now, it was running down. They both had their orders and this time it took them in opposite directions. Kali sighed and turned towards the captain of the Artemis…her friend.
Nicholotti: Don’t be a stranger. The galaxy isn’t so big that you can’t call on a friend if you ever need to.
She put out a hand. Addison raised hers and shook it.
MacKenzie: I think you’ll find it’s impossible to keep me out of your hair. If you have any doubt, ask Captain Rahman.
Adea: You know I’ll take care of her, Kalianna.
Call on a friend. Those words landed hard for Yogan, not because they were surprising or untrue, but because of the seismic shift they made in their relationship. Yogan was delighted to count Nichol—to count Kali—among his close friends, but he would likely never cease to think of her as the Commodore, his first great captain. Thanks to the bonds of friendship they’d forged while serving together, ‘captain’ and ‘friend’ complimented each other just fine.
But while all four of them were friends, the connection between a certain pair of them went far deeper. Yogan glanced at MacKenzie. He didn’t need Betazoid telepathy to know she was thinking the same thing. There was one more farewell left to be said, and it deserved to be said in private. Yogan scrolled through the PADDwork in his mind to come up with a non-awkward exit.
Yalu: ::to MacKenzie:: Captain, maybe we could take a look at that empty compartment adjacent to the Operations Center on Deck 5? I’ve got a couple of ideas to run by you.
Addison held her eyes on Nicholotti just one moment longer before nodding to Yalu.
MacKenzie: We’d better get to it, then.
Yalu: Fair winds, Commodore. The Tholians won’t know what hit ‘em.
Addison pointed at Nicholotti.
MacKenzie: I meant what I said, and I know you won’t, but don’t let the Tholians give you any crap.
Kali couldn’t help but smile and nod.
Nicholotti: I won’t.
As the two walked away, Kali tried to keep the storm within her mind from raging. On one side, pride surged in just how far the woman had come, and all that she was about to accomplish. On the other side, there was sorrow, churning her mind in deep crimson tendrils that almost hid the deep cerulean that normally resided there.
It wasn’t long before they faded from view. Slowly, she turned back to the one who would be the most difficult to see off. Words failed her as her crystalline eyes found his endless black ones.
Adea: So… This is goodbye?
If there was any strength in her left holding back the emotions, it fell apart at those words.
Nicholotti: I don’t want it to...I can’t.
She broke then, silent tears welling up in the ocean of her eyes.
Adea: Not forever, not even for very long. Please, every dull moment, I want to hear about it.
There was a kind of promise there that was like a life preserver thrown to a drowning victim in the middle of a stormy sea.
Nicholotti: You will. And I want to hear the same from you.
Adea: Of course.
Two simple words, containing so much raw emotion. Their connection, however far they might be, would always be strong in their hearts and minds. He gave her the tiniest of smiles, one into which he poured all his love, and his will to carry on.
Letting her hands find his, she gripped them perhaps a little too hard, committing the feel, the scent, all of it to memory. In a few minutes she would have to put the mask back on and play captain, but for now, at this moment, she was simply Kalianna.
Nicholotti: Just make sure you come home to me. I need you.
Echoing words spoken what seemed like lifetimes ago, she counted on history to repeat itself.
Adea: Always.
And just like they had back then, she let his mind take over hers, colored tendrils of love and care and hope and so much more intertwining with the cooling thoughts of her own. Forehead to forehead, she lingered in his embrace, knowing that there were no promises of tomorrow.
There was only hope. Hope that this would not be the end.
[End]
Commodore Kalianna Nicholotti
Commanding Officer
USS Excalibur - A
R238605KN0
&
Commander Addison MacKenzie, M.D., Ph.D., FASFS
Commanding Officer
USS Artemis-A
Captains Council Magistrate
V239601AM0
&
Commander Genkos Adea MD
Second Officer & Chief Medical Officer
USS Excalibur-A
G239502GS0
&
Lieutenant Commander Yogan Yalu
Second Officer & Strategic Operations Officer
USS Artemis NCC-81287
D238804DS0
Return to Kalianna Nicholotti