The Gift

Posted on Wed May 29th, 2024 @ 5:09pm by Captain Ansel Benoit & Lieutenant William Neil

1,051 words; about a 5 minute read

Mission: The Trafalgar Roll
Timeline: Prior to "Pinpoint"

William looked upward as the turbolift took him to the bridge of the USS Victory. He still thought he was a little crazy for taking this posting, but given the reference he'd been given he couldn't really turn it down.

The doors slid open and he took a look around at the bridge. It was a hive of activity as everyone was preparing for leaving the station. He took a slight detour over to the comms console and ran his fingers over the edge of the panel. He'd make sure to familiarize himself with the manuals and other ships of the class soon enough.

Without any more hesitation, William walked over to the captain's ready room and pressed the chime next to the door. He waited patiently, reaching into his pocket to run his fingers over the small wooden lion there.

"Come," Ans called, tugging down his uniform as he leaned forward in his chair. He looked up as the younger man entered and gave him the smallest hint of a smile. He was never very good at playing things emotionless and all new people on the ship deserved to be welcomed in his opinion.

"Have a seat Lieutenant. Would you like some coffee?"

"Thanks Captain. I'll take it black." William replied with a friendly smile as he sat down in the chair across the desk. "Just here to officially report for duty."

He fished out the small carved animal from his pocket and placed it on the desk. "And to give you this." William turned the little wooden lion so that it faced the captain. It was small, could easily fit in the palm of his hand and William had carved it in such a way that it looked like it was resting.

Ans handed him the cup of black coffee and glanced down at the lion figurine that appeared to be handmade. He was just about to reach down and pick it up when Tangerine came out of nowhere and tried to nibble on it. "Hey," Ans said, scooping her up. "Not for you." He looked up at William. "It's beautiful. You have quite the talent there." He realized he was holding one of his pets and gestured. "Sorry, this is Tangerine. There's another one around here called Clementine. I hope you don't mind them running loose. They get cooped up so often."

"Not at all, we all get cooped up sometimes." William replied with a smile. "And thanks, it's a hobby of mine. I've got a few of my favourites with my kit, but I usually give them to others. It's rare to find something that hasn't been replicated."

"Indeed. I personally always wanted to learn to paint but either could never devote the time to it or never had the proper place to learn any technique. Someday . . ." He briefly thought of putting paint on the guinea pigs feet but thought better of it when he realized how fast they could move and how much paint would be everywhere but on the paper. "Where do you come from?" He of course had William's whole background, but he liked to hear what people thought of themselves.

"My family has some land near the St. Lawrence in North America." William replied. "Mostly just a place to hang my hat when I wasn't beating around and exploring. Or as my mother would say 'giving her gray hairs'." He smiled at the memory of his mother, and even through the gray she still had the warm smile.

"Where do you hail from Captain?" William adjusted himself in the chair, getting comfortable.

"A tiny town in Saskatchewan Canada." he replied. "My parents were traditionalists and we grew our own food the old fashioned way. Honestly I understand their point of view now though when I was a child all I wanted to do was dream about getting away from there. Sometimes I dream of being back there with my sisters." He didn't mention that one of the sisters was deceased though Ans thought he probably would give anything for the chance to hug her again.

"I can understand that pull. My brother has enough of to make up for my seeming lack of it." William chuckled. "We'd go wandering off together as kids and he'd be home again before nightfall and I'd still be exploring for the rest of the weekend. Then when I get back I'd get yelled at for worrying our mother and he'd get yelled at for 'abandoning' me in the woods."

William smiled at the memory. "And then we'd do the same thing the next weekend. Rinse and repeat."

"I'm glad you're not one of those stubborn folk. They're far too hard to get rid of," Ans crossed his arms as he leaned back in his chair. "I know it's been a while since you've been on a starship. Anxious to get back into the routine of things?" He put it another way. "You won't get bored if we don't run into any Romulans looking for a battle?"

"Routine is nice sometimes." William replied, crossing his legs as he leaned back himself, this was turning into a casual chat and he always rathered those. "I'm in this for the adventure Captain, exploring strange new worlds and all that."

"I've had my share of fights and while I won't shy away from one, I won't begrudge you for not looking for more." William shrugged.

"Good. I generally don't go looking for them. Too much paperwork. But if one comes our way I want to be prepared. I don't expect any trouble though. Our first mission should be a simple check in at Deltine II. They received a supply ship two months ago so they should still be fairly well stocked but they've had some new colonists dropped off and we're going to make sure they're nice and comfortable." he gave a small shrug. "Easy Peasy."

"Sounds like a good start to get our sea legs so to speak." William replied with a grin. "If there's nothing else Captain, I'll get to my station and get up to speed with what needs to be done."

"No, I have nothing else. Get settled and welcome aboard Lieutenant."

Captain Ansel Benoit
Commanding Officer
USS Victory

Lieutenant William Neil
Chief Operations Officer
USS Victory

 

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