Sadness and Hope

Posted on Monday 27 July 2020 @ 15:03 by

Mission: Ghost Ship
Location: Chief engineering office
458 words - 0.9 OF Standard Post Measure

The soft sound of 19th-century country music flowed through the air of the somber office as Bree leaned back in her office chair and gazed at the wall across from her. The wall that held the family portrait that had been taken years before. Her family... her brothers, mother, and most importantly her father. Her chest tightened as her focus rested upon the strong man within the picture, her father.

His death had taken them all by shock. Dustin and he had been out checking on the cattle when her brother had said that dad had grabbed his chest and nearly fallen off his horse. A heart attack had taken him right then and there.

While leave had been granted to both her and her other brother from Starfleet. The return back hadn't been easy on either one of them. Dustin had promised to keep them in the loop and take good care of their mother. But, she had known well enough how much of a bond her parents had to each other. High school sweethearts, they had been married for just over 50 years. Would her mother really be able to handle life without her father? Bree sighed softly as she pondered that, a hand lifting go brush away the tear that threatened to escape her. Damn it, she'd cried enough!

Of course, their father had set stipulations on a few things with his will. The man knew of course that his children would drop everything to be there for the family. But he also knew that his starfleeters needed to follow their dreams and keep to the skies. That was why he had left the main part of the ranch to Dustin, but both she and Derrick had also been given a good chunk of land to one day retire to… as long as they finished their time with Starfleet.

As her gaze drifted from the family picture to the painting next to it she smiled a little. Her three horses grazing and roaming on the land that would one day be hers. The mountains in the background, the lake off to the side. Yes, someday perhaps she’d be able to retire and have a family of their own there.

The ding of an alert sounded from her computer, yanking her back to the present and her eyes moved instantly to what had caused her thankful distraction. Downing the last of her water, she rose and headed out of the office to catch up with Doyle for a quick check-up on things before she needed to go see the issue at hand. After all, she had a long time to go before she could retire.

●○ Lieutenant Breana Rathburn
Chief Engineer
USS Merlin