A Good Lighter - Part Six

Posted on Sun Apr 30th, 2023 @ 10:58pm by Grand General Paul "Caveman" Antilles

Mission: Mission 120: All Along the Watchtowers - Part Two
Location: Various Locations - Antilles family home - Earth, SOL
Timeline: 0645Hrs - January 4th, 2394

Grand General Paul Antilles heard the howling wind outside. He let it soothe his agitated state. "Under normal circumstances. I would have been able to take my wife's broken body home and bury her on the world of her birth, with her family in attendance. Which all of this did happen. I had to break the news to my children that their mother was dead. But I was unable to tell them. I mean. How could I?" he rhetorically asked his youngest children. "I was numb to my own pain and suffering. How could I help them, when I couldn't even help myself..." he paused. "So I contacted my wife's father... and I told him what had happened after I apologized for bringing him such unhappy news. That his daughter was dead."

"What happened?" Patricia asked.

"Oh, he understood. He knew Andrea was a soldier. She was not an explorer. John knew that Andrea would die wearing the uniform. In his eyes, his daughter was a hero for her actions in saving the USS Victory, on that fateful day. She got the medal of honour for preventing a warp core breach while Klingons were trying to take engineering." he paused. "So I took Andrea's body back to the world she called home. We buried her under the stars she loved so much." Paul was fighting his own emotions at this point. "The funeral was at dusk. It was stipulated in her will."

Michael sighed softly. He wasn't sure of what to say on the matter

William and Katrina were both fighting tears at this point.

"When the matters of the family were settled. I went back into the field and left my children in the care of their grandparents." Paul paused a moment. "The war was still coming and I knew my place was going to be on the front lines." he sighed softly. "Several months went by. The issues with the Klingons were settled in a ceasefire, of sorts. " Paul sighed. "Then the Dominion invaded the Alpha Quadrant... That was when the Cardassians joined the Dominion, this gave them the foothold they so badly wanted. Then the Klingons were driven out of Cardassian space once and for all." Paul smiled softly. "Thats when Captain Sisko, in a stroke of true genius. He was able to reinstate our treaty of alliance with the Klingons." he smiled. "Captain Sisko got the medal of honour for that little stunt." he smiled. "The Klingons brought their fleet to Deep Space Nine... So did Starfleet."

Paul slowly smiled. "I was sent as part of Admiral Galhouly's task force. He was commanding the fleet from the Venture, but I was commanding a Galaxy class carrier variant." he slowly grinned. "My first true command," he added. "But the story of Andrea isn't quite finished. Just because she was dead, does not mean that she stayed dead."

"Wait. I don't understand." Patricia commented. "She was dead... How does someone simply come back to life?"

"Thats because I was getting to that," Paul answered. "If you recall what I said earlier about things being normal..." he regarded his children. "Thats when I received a visit from a very powerful entity, named Q. You all have heard of him."

Michael frowned. "Don't they call him a prankster?" he inquired. "Like the Norse god, Loki?." he added, to illustrate his point.

"Thats a distinction without a difference," Paul answered quietly. "Q decided he wanted to celebrate my birthday." he paused. "My birthday party was an extra drink in the officer's mess," he explained. "I was not in the mood to party and my crew were a little too confused on preparing for the war that we knew was coming." he sighed. "Q showed up and the next thing I know. I'm on Earth, or at least I think it was Earth." he frowned while he thought about it. "Of course, I wasn't having it so Q felt I needed to lighten up a little. So he took me to the local gift shop and said I could have anything in the store."

"You weren't interested. Were you, dad?" William asked his father.

"Oh, gods no," Paul answered quietly. "Suffice to say. Q was not amused." Paul smiled. "He said as much, thats when I punched him and then demanded to be returned to my ship. Q decided to give me what I sought after giving me his present."

"Andrea," Patrica answered. "He resurrected her." she smiled. "Then what?" his daughter pressed on. She wanted to know how this tale ended.

"Yes, he did. He brought her forward in time, by almost six months. She knew something went wrong when everyone had heard she died. So she looked into the matter, and discovered the manner of her first death." he paused. "It wasn't easy for her to process. But at this point in time, we had far larger problems to worry about. Andrea was promoted to Commander and assigned to command one of the other ships of the line. So she and I were parted again. Due to assignments." he then sighed. "The second attack of the Borg came and went and then Captain Sisko decided to mine the entrance to the wormhole. This started the Dominion war." Paul sighed softly.