The Chance of a Lifetime

The day of the USS Phoenix Launch:

Ashlyn Scott was sitting in her father’s flat in Livingston, just south-west of Edinburgh, Scotland on Earth. She had visited earth at least four times each year to reminisce with her father and two brothers. She missed home sometimes, but whenever she was home all she could think about was being off-world…learning, exploring, reporting the goings-on. This vacation was only different because her mother’s ship was in drydock for three weeks, giving the entire family a chance to reunite. Commander Evelyn Scott, Ashlyn’s mother, was first officer on a Sovereign class cruiser.

It was day three of Ashlyn’s vacation when the family was interrupted at tea by Ashlyn’s communication device, not dissimilar to the old hand-held communicators of Starfleet’s 22^nd century, though this one was newer, and sleeker…and made for civilians. She excused herself from the table and went into the living room before opening it. The tiny screen on the device lit up with her editor’s face. “Ashlyn…you’re never going to believe this…but they said yes.” The red-haired woman stood in her family livingroom in shock for a moment.

“What? Just like that…no stipulations?” she asked, her thick Scottish accent denoting her heritage. She had expected that the admirals would have a long list of demands to allow something like this.

“Just one….Starfleet Command gets to censor any classified information you may try to put into press” He knew her well enough to hear the objection before it was formed, “Don’t worry….they are inviting me to personally work with their press department on this. They’re going to give a damn good reason for any censorship. I know how you feel about blacking out parts of the press…but I think they need this as much as we do.” He continued, pushing past the objection without giving her a chance to speak, “This is the first real deep-space exploration in more than a decade….Starfleet wants to get their exploration image back…they’re as tired of being pegged as Earth’s military defense force as we are.”

“When does she launch?” Ashlyn asked, already worrying that she had made a mistake…she didn’t like censors at all, and really didn’t like the idea of the admiralty going over her work with a fine comb.

“Well, that’s the bad news….about 30 minutes ago. We’re working on a plan to get you on a ship to rendezvous with them before they’re too far. I think you’re going to have to cancel your vacation…the admirals told me your briefing is tomorrow at 0600.”

Ashlyn nodded her understanding, “Thanks boss, I won’t let you down.”

“I know” were the last words before the comm line went dead. She sighed, wondering how to explain this to her father and brothers and after a moment she felt eyes on her and turned to see her mother standing in the doorway leading to the hall from the kitchen.

“How long have you been there?” She asked her mother.

“Long enough. What ship?” she asked in a calm voice, curiously, “And who’s commanding?”

“The Phoenix, a Vulcan named Syntron.” Ashlyn said, putting her communicator away in one of her pockets. She wore utilitarian pants with cargo pockets most of the time, a habit picked up from years of reporting in places where keeping your things close to your person and secured would come in handy….and keep you from losing everything.

“I’ve heard good things about that…the new Avenger class.” She said, trying to recollect the name, “I met him once…odd facial hair.” She smirked, “But he’s a good officer. Don’t worry, your brothers and your father will understand. You know them, work always comes first.”

Ashlyn nodded and moved closer to her mother, hugging her, “Thank you.” She was thanking her for a lot more than the comforting words. She knew her mother understood what it was to be away from home for more than a year, and knew what it was that Ashlyn was getting into. More than that though, she was thanking her mom for helping to prepare her for this moment, for accepting that this was her chosen path, and knowing society would be better for it.

A few minutes later she broke the news to the men in her family and all were understanding, and supportive. Mostly, everyone was excited to hear the news that Starfleet really was going to be sending a true exploration mission again….even those outside of Starfleet felt that humanity needed to get back to the basics of exploring space; even the people who would never leave the ground.

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(Apologies for taking so long, work's been killing me with about 65 hours per week.)

Ashlyn left the office of Admiral Vega with a bit of a headache. Not only had she already been through the Starfleet training required of all civilian correspondents, but she had spent half her childhood aboard a starship. To have to go through a three hour lecture about the importance of protocols was not something she really wanted to spend all morning doing when she reported for her  final briefing before leaving Earth Spacedock for her rendezvous with the USS Phoenix.  She stopped in the reception area of the admirals office outside her main office and placed her thumb and forefinger on either side of her nose to rub her closed eyes to try and will the stress away. The lieutenant there smirked at her, “Feeling alright?” She asked knowing that the admiral wasn’t entirely happy about the civilian’s mission.

“I’m fine.” Ashlyn responded straightening herself and putting on a brave smile. “Can you tell me how to get to the USS Bellville?”

“Of course,” The lieutenant responded, pulling out a pad and handing it to Ashlyn, she proceeded to explain the route she would want to take to get there. “She’s slated to launch in just under an hour I believe.”

Ashlyn thanked her and set about the path through the corridors and turbolifts of the station. Since the last war, Starfleet had been struggling to get more civilians on board ships, and as a result, almost everyone she passed was wearing a uniform. Most didn’t take a second glance at her in her civilian attire and her non-regulation silver stud-piercing through her right nostril, but a few heads did turn as she walked by. She had gotten the piercing almost a year ago, after a rough break-up with a bloke she had fancied. She kept it because it was to her a small symbol of her freedom from both that relationship and from the rigors of duty in a Starfleet life. Sure, she was a correspondent and was about to embark on a long-term mission as a reporter on an exploration voyage; but she was still free, and when they got back she could change fields as she wished without having to get approval from some admiral.

Before long she arrived at the docking seal that served as an umbilical to the small Intrepid Class ship. She was greeted by security officers at the entrance and after a brief authentication of her identity she was allowed to pass through the long personnel and cargo tube to the ship. She was met on board by the Chief of the Vessel. She was an older woman, slightly greying and with a bit of a non-commissioned-officer gruffness to her. In many ways, she reminded Ashlyn of her own mother. The chief escorted her to the captain’s ready room where Ashlyn was given another run-down on protocol up to the prescribed time for the ship to launch. It was even more obvious to her now that Starfleet was too militarized. Only when she had covered earth’s military forces had she been briefed in triplicate on the same thing…she was sure the third protocol speech would come once she switched ships again.