Echos

Posted on Thu Nov 12th, 2020 @ 9:15am by Captain Brett Watson

Mission: Dazed and Confused
Location: Ready Room
Timeline: MD 01

Brett stood at the window of his Ready Room watching the star field as it passed by. There was a feeling of emptiness and heavy-heartedness weighing on him in this moment. The Apollo had, once again, become the ship that people left too quickly. In the past week, he had lost his XO as well as his Chief Security and Tactical Officer of many years to transfers.

There was never an easy feeling when this happened. One of the things that Brett both prided himself for and kicked himself for was being the type of Captain that couldn't simply captain a ship. Instead, he treated everyone like a part of a family. When someone especially close, like Peter, left it cut deep.

He turned and looked at his desk. On it were a handful of pictures. There was one of him and Alanna with Elisabeth as a baby. There was another of Peter and himself in full dress at a party for some dignitaries. Finally, there was one of the entire Senior Staff prior to their time on "Artemis." "That's when it all started falling apart," he muttered to himself.

When the Apollo had crash landed on that previously unknown planet, a lot of people died in the following year. Since then, the ship and her crew had been under a lot of scrutiny. There was a reputation that the ship was cursed and people were almost forced to take the assignment just to flesh out her ranks. As it stood now, the Apollo operated just above the minimum crew for an Intrepid Class starship.

He sat himself in his chair and looked at each picture. He missed Alanna terribly on days on like this. He needed her comfort and guidance when he let himself get too attached. It was bad enough missing her, but missing his friends of many years who had just transferred was a different pain. It was too fresh. He also knew he'd have to fill Peter's seat. The Sec/Tac position had already been filled and he had refused the fleet's offer to send him a new XO. He already had someone in mind who he knew would be perfect for the job.

"Watson to Tigerlilly," he called over the comms, "report to the Ready Room."


Capt. Brett Watson
CO
USS Apollo