Infinity's Arrow - Part Twelve

Posted on Thu Apr 15th, 2021 @ 4:36am by Captain Kayden Nell & Commander Alyssa Temetti

Mission: Mission 108: Grains of Sand
Location: Various Locations - USS Infinity
Timeline: 1345Hrs - October 21st, 2393

Among stars not yet seen or flown by Bajorankind or humankind, Kayden Nell flew on silent wings to the sounds of some classical music. He knew that his command, the USS Gallant would be heading out on a multi-year exploration mission out to the Gum Nebula to carry on from where the USS Titan left off as she had been recalled a year earlier due to the fleets reorganization and the issues pertaining within. Now, ships like the USS Gallant and with skippers like Kayden Nell would carry on from where the Titan and her contemporaries left off.

Kayden smiled as he beheld the stars he didn't know but would soon see with his own eyes when a female voice interrupted his reverie. "So, this is where you're hanging out." Commander Alyssa Temetti regarded her new commanding officer with a certain amount of amusement.

"Yes. I wanted to see where my next assignment would take us..." Kayden answered with a nod to the older human female as he turned to face her with a gentle smile on his face. "Why?" he inquired. "Are you about to rain on my parade?." he added

"Nope," Temetti answered. "I will admit that I too want to see these stars and places where nobody has ever been as yet." she regarded him. "I assume you have a plan on the matter at hand?" she asked him.

Kayden turned as he tapped the nearby display panel several times, the stars seemed to fade before a new set of stars appeared before the two officers. "Here... Not far from the Beta Stromgren supernova..." he explained. "We'll then travel more or less along this heading relative to the center of the galaxy... The endpoint is four thousand light tears away so we'll be going through the Gum Nebula and then we'll be heading out into unexplored space beyond it." he commented evenly. "Now it'll take a couple of months to finish fitting out the Gallant and then shaking her down, I want no surprises. Expected and unexpected. I want this ship and her crew to work together like a well oiled and maintained machine."

"I will need to make arrangements for Darmin then," Temetti answered as she nodded. "All of this sounds perfectly reasonable. I will see to it that this is done," she added.

"Alright," Kayden answered with a nod of his head. "How are you coping.?" he inquired, being concerned about his new first officer. It behooves him to make sure their relationship was stable and prosperous for both when leaving the starting gate as the two of them would be working together for years yet and he would finish off teaching her for her own command, if and whenever it came to her.

"We've not left yet... Ask me again in a week..." Temetti answered quietly. "It will be very different without my husband present... and it will be years before he and I are reunited, even under the best of terms," she explained. "I imagine it will be the same as you and Sarah..."

Kayden raised an eyebrow as this was something of a revelation. "How do you know about that?" as he regarded her with a look on his face.

"Oh, I know everything that happens aboard the Infinity," Temetti answered with a gentle smile on her lips. "Ensign Hasti likes strawberry and she hates sharing, its why she tries to grow them but she can never get the right amount of space she needs in the ship's arboretum to grow what she wants. She's always trying to acquire more..." she paused. "I know Ensign Kellog hates her room assignment, her roommate is a Cardassian who has a liking for draavid music, which drives her insane." she paused. "Lieutenant Meslina Amakaea has a thing for Jackson. Secretly, she wishes he would take her out back, bend her over a table and make her scream with extremely violent sex." as she frowned, it was clear that Temetti did not care fo what she was saying and it was also clear she did not care for violent and abusive sex either.

"That's deep..." Kayden answered. "As for Meslina. I had no idea... Maybe she has a thing for brooding human men... I always thought she needed to get out more." the Bajoran explained. "Maybe I missed something?." he added.

"Oh, no you didn't miss anything..." Meslina does need to get out more... Poor girl is so repressed. I doubt she'd know what to do if Jackson actually tried to bed her." Temetti answered. "Darmin has a crush on her but that's mostly because she is small, just what he likes in a woman..." she shook her head. "I think my son likes submissive women... Boy is he in for a surprise when he gets to the academy." as Temetti suddenly smiled. "So... About you and Sarah?"

"Had she and I not been offered separate commands. I would have made our relationship official... Maybe I could have proposed to her." Kayden paused. "I was considering marriage... Maybe even starting a family with her..." as he turned his attention back to her. "Now... I may never know what I had... But worse, I knew what I had and I knew what I walked away from for my command... So this had best be worth it..."

"I think it will be... and with the ageless technology become available. Maybe you and Sarah will have other chances down the road..." Temetti answered. "I know I plan to use the ageless tech at some point but I am in no rush..." she admitted.

"Fair enough. Bajorans do age a little slower than humans... I'll probably use the ageless tech too myself as well." he paused as he tapped the display once, the stars faded to back as the system deactivated itself. "So... you are to go Alyssa?"

"Yeah." Temetti let out a breath. "Its time to go. Let's not drag this out any more than we must.." and with that, he hefted his pack and departed the astrometrics lab, finding a Klingon-looking teenager waiting for him, with two bags in his care. "Captain. Mom." he addressed the two people in order.

"Ahh. Darmin." Temetti commented. "You ready to go?"

"No," Darmin answered bluntly. "It was either go with you or go with dad and you are both leaving for assignments that will separate us all. So let's go get this over with so I can delete today from my memory..." he commented quietly as he handed his mother her bag. She took it in silence as Kayden regarded him. "We can make arrangements-"

"No Captain. That will not be necessary... I will adjust." Darmin answered quietly before he turned and walked away. Temetti knew her son would have issues but she did not expect him to speak so openly of them. "That was unexpected," she admitted.

"Indeed," Kayden answered. "Shall we?"

"Yeah," Temetti answered, and with that, the two began moving down the hallway and within minutes, the three of them had left the Infinity behind for their new assignments.