Home Is Where The Heart Is

Posted on 02 Jul 2013 @ 7:30am by Captain Jonathan Holliday

641 words; about a 3 minute read

Mission: Episode 03 - Frontier
Location: USS Galileo - Deck 2 - XO's Office
Timeline: MD10 - 0500hrs

[ON]

Sleep had not come easily to Galileo's XO, he had spent the majority of his attempts to get some shut-eye tossing from one side to the other, adjusting the temperature of his quarters, fiddling with the light levels, before eventually deciding that it simply was not going to happen. Dejectedly, John gave up on the confines of his bed, slipped into his uniform, and made a slow trundle towards his office.

The reason for his sudden acute insomnia was clear - the deadline for the Excalibur transfer was almost up. His chance at a larger command was approaching and now he had to make a decision on whether or not he would take one more leap into the unknown, or keep his feet on the relatively firm ground of the Galileo.

Advice had come in from all sorts of angles, from El-Aurians, to fathers, to Captains, and not one bit of it had really helped him to make a decision. After all, how could someone else tell him how to behave in this kind of situation?

Collapsing into his chair as the lighting in his room powered up to a dull ambience, John logged onto his terminal, and immediately accessed the comm array, sending a signal towards Earth, and his contact.

"John Holliday. I was wondering when I'd be hearing from you next."

Riley appeared on the screen just as John had expected - the man never seemed to sleep, especially when work was involved. Even at the Academy, somehow he would manage to fill a full day of lectures and still have the energy to stay up all night without respite.

"Riley. I said I'd get you an answer and I have."

John felt every muscle in his body tense up, every nerve fire in unison, and every possible bubble of stress in his soul rise up to the surface. He had made his decision, but if it were the right one or not was an entirely different question.

"Well John - let's be hearing it. Come on now I have transfer orders to authorise."

With a sigh, John looked down at his desk, focusing on whatever object happened to be in front of him - a PADD, a stray isolinear chip, a duty roster for Alpha shift, anything that would give him something to pay attention to. After a moment, he looked back towards the screen.

"I won't be taking the Excalibur post. Thanks but no thanks."

Riley's jaw dropped so low that John wouldn't have been surprised if there was a black hole underneath his terminal. Almost flabbergasted, he leant a little closer to the screen.

"John - come on I'm doing this for you. The Galileo is no place for a soldier - they're scientists and researchers, in the backwaters of space analysing comets and soil samples. The Excalibur is out there making a difference - first contact missions, relief ops, you name it, they're there. Don't throw this away!"

"That's the reason why I'm staying. These scientists need someone who knows which end of the phaser is which to keep them out of trouble. Sorry Riley, but the only XO chair I want is this little Nova class."

"Holliday don't be a fo-"

At that moment, Holliday closed the comm channel. He had made his point, and quibbling semantics was a waste of his time. With yet another sigh, he accepted his place. Galileo might have been a small, poorly armed scout ship, but she was his, and that was the end of it.

Picking up a PADD, he opened a private message to his Captain, not wanting to disturb her whilst she was off-ship.



To : Saalm, Lirha - Commanding Officer, USS Galileo
From : Holliday, John - Executive Officer, USS Galileo

I'm staying.



[OFF]

CMDR Jonathan Holliday
Executive Officer
USS Galileo

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