A Good Lighter - Part Four

Posted on Fri Mar 31st, 2023 @ 10:35am by Grand General Paul "Caveman" Antilles

Mission: Mission 120: All Along the Watchtowers - Part Two
Location: Various Locations - Antilles family home - Earth, SOL
Timeline: 0635Hrs - January 4th, 2394

Grand General Paul Antilles heard the howling wind outside, while the snow swirled fast. "Andrea was something else. She was a hard one to tolerate and deal with. Because she tolerated no nonsense on her watch, not even from me." Paul smiled. "There was one time that I said something stupid about farm animals, and she punched me in the arm. My arm went numb for about two hours after that." he then shrugged. "At the end of it all. Andrea is not your mother. You were not raised with war and service in mind. My older children were, and they all entered Starfleet." He paused. "Most of them have children of their own and one of their children will provide me with great-grandchildren before this decade is out."

"Yeah, keeping track of all the relatives is a major chore at times," Michael commented.

"Indeed, it is," Paul answered. "Andrea would have seen today as a waste of a day, with the weather outside. She was more of a summer person. I don't discriminate as I don't mind any season. I can find ways of making things interesting at any time of the year."

Patrica raised an eyebrow. "What was she like?"

"Andrea was one of the most caring, kind and supportive people I'd ever known," Paul answered his daughter. "Oh, she was hard, but she was fair," he added. "She had to be to survive a week with me, as she called it. She had four children. Four separate pregnancies. Then we took in two strays. One of those was an Andorian Shen. Mekka. The things she had endured were on a level that even I don't have words for. Yet, Andrea was able to become her mother. Thanks to her, I was able to become her father and we were able to help Mekka to be a better person and to lead a better life. You all know Mekka," he added. "She came to us when she was about the age of your younger siblings. Scared, frightened and able to read minds... You can imagine the level of torture she had been through to give her that ability."

Michael and Patricia both shared a look. This was a major revelation to them both.

"Yeah. Mekka doesn't tell people this lightly. What's worse is that she will pass this on to all of her children as well. Some will see her as a freak. But she's one of us." Paul commented. "Then there was Sarilla. She was a slave who was intercepted by chance. A member of the ship's crew found her. He stuck in a request with anyone who could speak Klingon to come to the medical facility. Andrea and I went and thats when we met Sarilla." Paul paused. "Both of those two being able to simply function in everyday life was an achievement. It was Andrea's achievement. I helped her, and I helped them." he paused. "Sarilla named one of her sons after me and one of her daughters after Andrea," he admitted. "I am still unsure if I am worthy of such an hour..."

Patricia raised an eyebrow. "Dad, why would you question the honour?"

"Because I should not be honoured for doing what's right." he paused. "Nor what's expected of me." he then shrugged. "Sarilla knows all of this, yet she and her spouse chose to honour me all the same." he paused. "Andrea was the heart of this family. She made sure that everyone knew how things worked. But she was able to have a successful career in Starfleet alongside me." Paul then huffed a sigh at his four children as Katrina and William had both come into the room and had taken a seat each, in addition to their elder siblings. "But this was the late fifties and early sixties. Things around the Galaxy were stable and peaceful. But things changed when the Romulans came back onto the scene in the mid-sixties. Right before we met the Borg."

"The Borg..." Katrina paused. "They are scary," she added.

"Shhh." Patricia hushed her younger sibling.

Paul slowly smiled. "Andrea and I always knew that we'd be the ones to fight the Borg. So she sent our children back to her family home on Alpha Centauri. She then began training to face this new foe." he regarded his four children with a look. "Remember what I said. She was the type to protect the Federation rather than see the sights." Paul explained. "So I trained with her. We found that bladed combat worked best against these things. Well, it did at first. But the Borg slowly got faster and stronger." Paul sighed. "But in the end, it was all for naught."

Michael knew that what followed was going to be good.

"It was thanks to the second major power that we encountered several years after the Borg... At the end of the sixties..." he paused a moment. "We quickly realized that we were on very poor terms with the Dominion." Paul then lifted his glass and took a sip.