Changing of the Guard - Part Three

Posted on Fri Sep 30th, 2022 @ 5:05am by Captain April Yamaguchi & Franklin Armstrong

Mission: Mission 108: Grains of Sand
Location: Various Locations - Starfleet Command
Timeline: 1605Hrs - December 1st, 2393

Grand Admiral April Yamaguchi sighed softly. "You really are a glutton for punishment April," she said aloud, the sound of her voice was something that she found oddly soothing at this moment in time as today was her last day being assigned to Starbase One Hundred and Five as the Commanding Officer of Starfleet Forces of Beta Quadrant. She had already done the changeover with her successor almost an hour or so earlier, now she was to finish packing and be gone from the Starbase so she could head to Earth to take over her next posting.

Yamaguchi couldn't recall the last time she had taken an assignment on the ground of anything. Now she was going to be spending her days in San Fransisco itself. Yamaguchi wasn't sure of what was worse for her. The fact that she was uprooting her entire family in one move rather than leaving her husband and children here so they could focus on their studies. Yamaguchi knew that her husband was annoyed with her on the matter. Yamaguchi had been considering retiring from active duty as well so she could raise their children.

Franklin was relishing the chance to finaly become a Chef and run his own kitchen. He also wanted to become a full-time stay at home dad.

Yamaguchi regarded the small bag that was sitting on what used to be her desk. She recalled how many times she would sit at her desk, boots off with her feet up on the desk as she did her paperwork. A smile crossed her lips as to how many times that she and her husband had enjoyed sex in this very room. The number of times that Franklin had pinned her over the desk and then he had had his way with her. The thought had her smile despite her depressed mood.

The doorbell beeped at her, startling Yamaguchi out of her reverie. "Yes... Enter?" she called a tad too quickly. This indicated to her visitor that he had taken her by surprise.

The doors parted and in walked Franklin Armstrong. He heard the doors close again behind him.

Armstrong approached his spouse. He was wearing a pair of blue jeans and a grey sweatshirt. About as far from the uniform as one could get and still look decent. She in contrast was wearing the uniform skant with the knee-high boots and the mini-skirt. "How's the packing going.?" Armstrong asked of his spouse. He knew that this was a sensitive time for her and that she would be unhappy with recent events. He decided to be gentle on the matter at hand.

"I'm almost finished. Just these last two items left." Yamaguchi indicated the two pictures. She gently picked one of them up. "You and me on our wedding day," she explained as she handed it off to him. "You looked good in your dress uniform," she commented with a wide smile on her lips. "Of course, we had to be gentle with taking it off... My dress, on the other hand, did not survive the night." as she suddenly grinned at him.

"Yeah. Well, you were already pregnant with the twins." He smiled as he handed the picture back to her. "We should be going. The kids are waiting for us..." Armstrong commented.

"I know." Yamaguchi sighed softly. "Hopefully the kids will have an easier time on Earth than they did here," she commented. "I would prefer to settle them in another location other than San Fransisco. For obvious reasons," she added. April suddenly sighed when she finaly said what was bothering her. "I actually don't want to leave." she suddenly said aloud.

"A little late for second thoughts now, April," Armstrong answered quietly. "You were seriously considering retirement and since you accepted this position along with the promotion. You are stuck now for another couple of years at least. You can't retire now." Armstrong tried desperately to keep the harsh sting out of his words but on some level, he knew that he had failed. The look in his wife's eyes said as much as well.

Armstrong sighed softly. "Come on. Let's finish packing so we can get this move over with. Then we can find a new home and maybe the kids will experience the light from a real star for the first time in years." as he gently plucked the second picture out of his wife's hands.

Yamaguchi regarded her spouse in silence. "We had a lot of good memories here," she commented quietly.

"Yes. We did." Armstrong answered. He looked down at the picture of his wife and all of her siblings in the normal uniforms. "The same as we did at Starbase Twenty-Four and at Starbase Twelve," Armstrong commented. "I had not anticipated opening anything on Earth," he admitted as he handed her back the picture in his hands. "Come on April. Let's get going," he added softly.

Yamaguchi nodded her head as she quickly packed away the picture in question before she slung the bag over her shoulder. "Let's go." and with that, she turned and went out of this office for what she was sure was the last time.