Victoire
Posted on Tue Apr 23rd, 2024 @ 11:15am by Ensign Evie Forde & Captain Ansel Benoit
1,578 words; about a 8 minute read
Mission:
Raising the Mast
Timeline: MD 1 12:30 Hours
This was the stupidest idea he'd ever had. Ans had suggested the crew break up and find the things they needed most, shelter, food and whatever technology they could get their hands on to try and contact the ship so they could get back to it. It was a longshot anyway, considering what century they were in but they couldn't just sit here and be discovered. Still, why did he have to end up with Ensign Forde? This looked like a deliberate attempt to his other officers, surely?
"Did you know the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland was created in 1801?" Evie said to break a bit of a deadlock of silence that was going on between the two. "Must still be a pretty new thing if the attitudes towards the Irish aren't all that great." she implied her previous encounter in the bar. Of course she left out the bit where she called into question the man's bathing habits. "Sorry, I talk when I'm anxious..."
"This is 1805 by our computer's calculations so yes. Please," Ans made a gesture with his hands. "Keep talking. Then I can answer and I don't have to think of subjects to keep the conversation going. Small talk is not one of my strengths. But since we are on the subject, How much do you remember of your Earth history, specifically the Battle of Trafalgar?"
Evie got the impression she put the captain on edge. Whether this was a good thing or not remained to be seen but he did seem a little awkward. "I like to think I did alright on Earth history in school, and the Academy. I do have a degree in history after all..." she said as she thought out loud.
"But the Battle of Trafalgar was fought on October 21st 1805, just west of Cape Trafalgar, Spain, between the British under Admiral Horatio Nelson, against a mix of French and Spanish ships under Admiral Pierre de Villeneuve. Villeneuve had been ordered to help bolster the French in southern Italy." Evie bit her lip in between speaking.
"However, Admiral Nelson's caught their fleet off guard and his tactics broke that fleet down and sadly he was mortally wounded by a sniper, later dying on his ship the HMS Victory. Although due to this victory, no pun intended, the Brits ruled the seas for the next 100 years or so..." Evie looked up at her captain to see his mood at what she had said. She shrugged and gave a weak smile, "I mean roughly that's what happened..."
"Excellent," Ans praised. "May I continue to pick your brain Evie?" He wanted to talk about the alien, they were far enough from anyone to not be overheard and even if a passer-by did hear something he was sure they would have no idea what they were discussing. Humans wouldn't come across an alien being for several centuries yet.
"Thank you." Evie grinned at the praise from Benoit. "And you can pick whatever you like..." she said long before her brain engaged. She looked away for a moment thinking why the Hell did she say that. It sounded stupid. "What's on your mind sir?" she asked trying to sound more professional than she just had been.
Fortunately he hadn't seemed to notice what she'd said exactly. "I was thinking about our alien visitor," he said the alien word a bit more quiet than the rest. "I'm still confused as to what being in this time period has to do with him or her. Humans weren't traveling the stars yet, or even putting things into orbit. Any thoughts on that?"
"There are lots of species that live a long time... maybe they were here?" Evie threw out as an idea. "I know some species have the ability to time travel and the fact they've sent us here kind of enforces that." she bit her lip as she thought. "I'm not quite sure Captain. I feel like I'm grasping at straws as much as you. If the HMS Victory is here now, is undamaged, then the Battle of Trafalgar obviously hasn't happened yet. Maybe that battle somehow affected this alien and their people?" she shrugged. "I can't see how a naval battle on Earth would do that unless they were directly involved."
"I never thought of that," Ans said, impressed by her thoughts of an alien race somehow infiltrating Earth and being here during the battle. He was quiet for a moment as he tried to remember the aliens exact words. "I feel as if we're being given a second chance. But I don't know how to fix it if I don't know what the problem was in the first place. Do we try to prevent the battle? Do we try to save someone destined to die? Do we do nothing? Starfleet Command doesn't exactly train for this situation. They tell us to stay out of the timeline, to not interfere but by doing so do we doom a race to extinction? My philosophy professor would love this. Makes my head hurt," Ans answered honestly.
"Not as hurtful as this binding." Evie commented on what was wrapped around her upper body to flatten her chest. She tugged at it a touch but soon let it go.
"I don't think we should try and stop it. It was a major battle in history and to do so could have major ramifications on our future." Evie spoke. "People have always said if we had the ability to go back and kill Hitler would we?" She asked rhetorically. "Some say yes, to save all those lives he would affect, others say no because even though he did those terrible things it pushed other nations to come up with technology, with equipment and ways of thinking that would stop him and his army. Also it set a precedent on how to not behave and brought about the creation of the then United Nations and a universal human rights declaration." she realised she was getting into stuff he didn't really need to know, nor did they help now.
"Sorry, I'm a history nerd." she laughed lightly. "But who's to say we weren't here during the original battle anyway? If we don't show ourselves to be from the future then future us would never know the difference..." she frowned. "I need to look at pictures of the HMS Victory now more closely... but my suggestion is to just be you sir. You're pretty amazing, eh I mean in leader sort of way." she placed a hesitant hand on his upper arm. "We all follow you, trust you, and know you'll do what you think is right. Plus if we go back and we'd mucked things up we'll never know." She teasingly grinned at him.
He gave a solemn nod realizing she was probably right. They were going to be forced to witness what would come. Whatever gestures she made were lost on him as he pondered their situation. "You're quite right of course. Thank you for illuminating the path. We charge forth with what we have, which is knowledge and heart. I'm terrible at speeches. I much prefer to read."
He grabbed her hand and spun her to the side of the road they were walking along. "I think I've been going about this all wrong. Instead of trying to fade into the background I believe our next step is to make sure we are on the HMS Victory. The closer we are to what happens the better we can see." Ans set off walking back towards the barn with Evie in town without realizing he hadn't let go of her hand.
All business. That's what Evie thought as she tried to make a somewhat uncomfortable scenario a little better, but the captain seemed oblivious making her huff her cheeks out a touch.
As she did so she felt him grip her hand and all over sudden she was spun to face the other way and was being pulled along the road. He had quite a tight grip but she felt his touch was nice and didn't want to say anything, even the odd looks that were being paid to them as it appeared two men were holding hands.
"I think you're right sir... but that does put us in danger..." Evie grumbled as she tried to match his speed.
"Are you afraid of a little danger Ensign?" Ans asked with just the hint of a smile on his face. It really wasn't amusing, their whole situation, but he couldn't help feel upbeat now that he'd made a decision. Suddenly he realized he was still holding her hand. "Sorry," He mumbled, dropping it. "Let's get the others back to the Victory, the HMS Victory, before it's too late."
"Well, sail ships aren't exactly known for their durability during a battle." Evie raised her eyebrows as she thought about the idea. She silently wished for proper shielding but that wouldn't be invented for sometime yet.
However, Evie was happy with the little pep in his step. Finally it felt like she was getting through to him but that subsided as he let go of her hand and apologised. She sighed as he began to move and shook her head at his lack of attention to details when it came to certain things. "Yes sir. Let's go."
Captain Ansel Benoit
Commanding Officer
USS Victory
Ensign Evie Forde
Alien Archaeologist/Anthropologist
USS Victory
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