Old friends and new family

Posted on 22 Apr 2024 @ 3:13am by Ensign Mimi & Ensign Asha & Senior Chief Petty Officer Goldie Brown & Petty Officer 3rd Class John Hollenday

1,226 words; about a 6 minute read

Mission: Episode 19 - Tomorrow's Galileo
Location: USS Galileo-B, various
Timeline: Md01 immediately following 'we have a kitten'

".....and then me and Tali went to see the gardens of Masha-tor, they're so beautiful, I don't know how they got permission to use so much space." Asha spoke intently with Mimi and John as they made their way into the Galileo-B's mess hall. The room bustled with activity as the crew and a few members of the away team took time to eat and no doubt ask about their respective pasts and futures.

Goldie was seated at a table in the back so she could go over a PADD. She looked up to see the family enter and waved.

"Hey Goldie." Mimi called out, her sharp eyes picking up her now much older friend waving at them from the other side of the room. She led John and Asha over to her table. "Look what I found." She said excitedly.

Goldie grinned. "I wondered if you three would meet." She smiled warmly at the family. "If you're here to eat, you're welcome to share my table."

"I cannot believe you kept this a secret from me." Mimi said as she sat down opposite Goldie.

"That was my idea," Asha said and sat down beside Goldie. "I knew you would smell me out eventually, I'm very surprised it took you so long."

"Maybe she wasn't sure how we would react. You know given the circumstances," John added.

Goldie nodded. "And it was her decision to make, not mine." She smiled at the three. "I'm glad you found each other." However things worked out, she was glad they had this time together.

"I can't help but wonder though what is going to happen if say whatever the brass has in mind and if it is successful? The timeline might change yet again. Are we going to lose our daughter? The way to your home?" John tapped a finger on the table. "Look, I'm nothing but a simple nut buster, but even I can see that things could change, and not for the better."

"Billions of people won't have to die," Goldie said quietly. "You two were already together. That won't change. So you'll probably still have Asha. The rest...hard to say. Was it dependent on the war? Or was it something that would happen anyway. No way to tell. Me, I'm here looking back on the years since we worked together and I think of all the people who never had a chance and I want to see something better come of all this."

"Sorry, like I said, all that stuff is way above me. I like simple," John replied.

"If not finding the homeworld for a while longer is the only price I have to pay to prevent billions dying in a war, I would accept that." Mimi paused before adding. "I am sure my soon to be burri will give me Asha eventually." She began to chuckle slightly.

"Ama" Asha said with slight shock before joining in with the chuckling.

Spending this time with John and Mimi reminded Goldie of the time before the war and all the hope she had for the future. "Simple is good. And so are families." She grinned at the others. Maybe, if things worked out the way the admiral wanted, she might have a family of her own someday.

"Just don't hook up with a human," John teased her. "Who knows might end up with furless things."

"Love is more important, as you know," Goldie chimed in. "You love who you love. As long as they're a good person and treats her right, the rest doesn't matter."

"And John certainly treats me right, don't you?" Mimi chuckled and lay her head against his shoulder.

"I try, sweetheart." John gave her squeeze. He winked at Asha. "Besides she'd scratch my eyeballs out otherwise."

"And make sure you do not forget that." Mimi's claws gently tapped against the arm that was squeezing her, she looked up at him with a wide smile.

"Never will, the back of my legs remind me of that," John teased Mimi

Goldie smiled at her two friends. "I'm so glad you two are happy. There's not as much of that now with the war. It's even more valuable than ever."

"Just makes me worried, even with all that has happened along here about changing anything. Look, I'm only a nut buster third class, so I don't understand all this time line stuff. All I know is that I ended up with a beautiful daughter and I'm loath to take the chance if things change that it might not happen."

"You two were together before the war started. You'll have your daughter. What will change is that you'll have time with her," Goldie said. "Tens of billions of people have already died. That's a lot to weigh in the balance." She shook her head. "There are rumors that the Klingons aren't happy with the alliance. I doubt there will be more than a handful of Romulans left when this is all over. There's no guarantee there will be any of the smaller worlds left, either."

"I'm surprised the two of them ain't shootin' at each other already," John quipped.

Mimi nodded slightly in agreement. "I still cannot believe they managed to agree on an alliance against us, whatever is keeping them focused on us for so long has got to be good."

"I wish I knew," Goldie replied, shaking her head. "The Klingons are more paranoid than ever and the Romulans are fueling it by blaming us. Other than that, I have no idea. They don't tell us much."

"As far as I'm concerned maybe they'll turn on each other and take each other out. What's next? The Borg?" John quipped.

"The rate this war is going, there won't be many of us left to bother with," Goldie replied. "Borg, Tholian, Breen, Timelord. A mutual hatred of the Federation is the only thing keeping the Romulan-Klingon alliance together. Once we're gone, they'll take each other out, then whoever shows up next will get to clean up the mess." She was tired of fighting and tired of watching people die.

"Empires rise and empires fall. Maybe like Earth some will look back and wonder that for a short while there was a sort of golden age in which we at least attempted to get along," John replied.

Goldie just shook her head. He didn't understand. It wasn't just Earth or the Federation, it was everyone. Every species in the Alpha and Beta quadrants, and was likely to move to the Delta and Gamma quadrants before it was over. "Well," she said, putting her napkin on her plate. "I need to get back to work. Thank you for joining me. I'm so glad the three of you got together."

"And we need some food." Mimi said. "Thank you for being there for Asha Goldie."

Goldie hugged each of them. "I'll catch you later!" Then she left them to enjoy their meal, happy to see them together as a family.

"Now let us see what interesting foods have been developed in the last 25 years." Mimi said trying hard not to lick her lips.

OFF:

Senior Chief Petty Officer Goldie Brown
Operations
USS Galileo-B

Ensign Mimi
Asst Chief Ops
USS Galileo-A

PO3 John Hollenday
Engineer
USS Galileo-A
[Pnpc Allyndra]

Ensign Asha
Engineer
USS Galileo-B
[Pnpc Mimi]

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