Two days ago, Garek stood, and spoke, at possibly one of the toughest ceremonies he had ever been to. The burial of two of his best engineers and closest friends. Now, that ceremony was but a memory in the back of his mind. The images of his two best friends getting shot were still fresh in his memory. He could still remember the look of shock and horror as Ek'Ra turned, only to be incinerated. Then, possibly one of the greatest acts of heroism he had ever seen soon followed. Galen jumped and took a phaser blast for him.
Garek now stood in front of the warp core assembly, looking at the Alpha engineering team. It was 0800, the beginning of their shift. Captain Maruu used the last of the dilithium crystals' energy to make a warp jump to a nearby asteroid belt that contained deposits of dilithium crystals. A class M planet was nearby, and reachable by two-hour flight under impulse power. This would be the ideal place to take on supplies.
"Alpha team." Garek nearly choked on his words. He swallowed and began again. "Alpha team. I'm sure the memories of our two lost comrades are fresh on our minds, but we have to put them past us right now. Captain
Maruu has handed us the assignment of getting this ship up to top condition, and I want to make sure that it happens. Ensign Antilles, congratulations. You've been nominated by your fellow teammates as the new leader of the group."
There was a small applause from the group of twenty. Ensign Antilles, a young, female engineer stepped forward. She was 5'9", 110 pounds, with brown hair and blue eyes. She captured the attention of her fellow teammates when she first joined a few years ago. She has grown in respect, confidence, and knowledge in the eyes of the rest of the team.
She smiled and stood next to Garek. "Thank you, Sir." She took the PADD that Garek handed to her and turned to face her fellow crewmates. "I know that I will probably never be able to replace Tom Galen. I'm sure that his and my styles are not exactly the same..." There was a slight uproar of laughter from the group. Jennifer Antilles always addressed problems by their importance, and put much effort into her work. She wasn't the one to go kicking things. "...but I hope to capture the essence of his knowledge in all the work that I do. He has left a legacy for us, and I can only hope to live up to it. Thank you all." She returned to the group receiving a few pats on the back and a small round of applause.
Garek smiled and began again. "As I was saying, Captain Maruu has handed us this project, and I don't want to let him down. Ensign Antilles."
"Yes, Sir," she replied.
"Get your team to work. I want the starboard warp nacelle repaired in two days. I also want the hull breach on Deck Three repaired by today." Garek wanted to see how the new team leader would handle this.
"Yes, Sir!" She smiled and turned to her team, handing out assignments.
Lieutenant Tomme was casually heading down the corridor towards the main science lab, when she crossed paths with Commander Lataro. She smiled and continued walking on.
"Lieutenant, might I have a minute?" Jon turned and jogged to catch up with her.
"Of course, Sir. What's on your mind?" Jenara had a pretty good idea about what was on the Commander's mind, but she was going to let him ask the question anyway.
Jon began. "I was wondering. Could you tell me exactly what happened a few days ago? All I remember was having a drink in the lounge, then waking up in my quarters."
"Of course, Sir," Jenara started. "I helped you back to your quarters. You were obviously intoxicated, and there was no way that you would've made it back to your quarters by yourself. You also said that I was cute." She quickened her pace and started walking away.
"No I didn't!" he yelled out after her. Did I? "Don't get any ideas! I'm a married man!"
"Not a problem, Commander!" Jenara made her way down the corridor. Jon turned and smiled, making his way to the bridge.
Captain Maruu was in sickbay, sitting on a biobed. Dr. Nori was looking him over with a tricorder.
"Really, Stephen, I see nothing wrong with you. Heart rate is normal, brain functions are normal. Well, if you could call your brain functions normal." Nori smiled.
"I'm sure there's something wrong. It hurts right here." He pointed to his upper lip.
Nori waved the biomed sensor over his lip, scanning it. "Well, I don't see anything wrong. You want me to kiss it to make it better?"
"I think that might be the problem." The two smiled, and she gave him a kiss.
"Is that any better?" Nori smiled.
"Surprisingly no. I think that it's still injured." Stephen returned her smile.
"Now I know it's a mental problem!" The two laughed, and smiled at each other.
The day flew past rather quickly. At least, for most it did. Captain Maruu and Dr. Nori set a dinner date, Commander Lataro surprised K'Lara with a bouquet of flowers while she was exercising in a holodeck program. Lieutenant Benton and Ensign Lan exchanged stories of their various adventures in tactical and security positions. By definition, the day was perfect for all. Except one.
Garek sat by himself at the end of the counter on the first level of the new lounge. He sat sipping synthahol that was supposed to taste like whiskey. As far as he was concerned, there really was no substitute for the real thing. The taste was there, the burning of his throat as the liquid went down was there. However, the same effects weren't there.
Dweezle made another pass past the Chief Engineer. It was 2100 hours, and his shift had ended. "Another round, Chief?" Dweezle asked.
Garek looked up. "Sure, why not?" He sighed and then watched the brown liquid fill the glass.
"Something gnawing away at your insides, Chief? If it's a cat, I'll gladly take it from you." Dweezle offered a smile, hoping to see a positive response.
"Nope, not a cat. Feels worse then one scratching away at my insides though. That, and my head." Garek rubbed his left temple.
"Think it's the synthahol? I heard that it gives some people headaches."
"That's not it. I've grown a type of immunity to it. Looks like the real thing, tastes like the real thing, but it just isn't the real thing." Garek finished off the synthahol, and put the glass back down on the counter.
"So, what is eating you up?" Dweezle was determined to get an answer.
"It's Galen and Ek'Ra. I just can't seem to get them off my mind." Garek frowned.
"I thought you put Ensigns Antilles and Celchu in charge of Alpha and Beta teams?"
"I did. It's just not the same though."
"Well, just let me know if you need anything else. Okay?"
"Sure. Thanks, Dweezle." Garek gave a weak smile.
Dweezle smiled back and headed back down towards the other end of the counter.
Garek still sat, staring into his empty glass. He hoped that somehow he would get over the loss of his friends.