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     Captain Daren |
Federation Station Deep Space Nine 22 Years Ago Lara Daren turned the corner and stepped through the doorway to her son’s room. It looked as though a plasma explosion had gone off. The bed was unmade, the floor hidden by various personal belongings, and a nearby bookshelf was in serious need of reorganization. She shook her head, not entirely upset, but rather disappointed. Her son William had shown so much promise in his classes onboard the station, but when it came to cleaning up things around him, he often needed some help. She bent over to pick up a few things including some shirts that had been tossed on the floor in a heap, and she heard him barreling down the corridor. “Hey Mom!” She turned, “Will, how many times have I told you that your room needs to be clean before you go off with your friends to watch the wormhole?” Young Will grinned, “I’m not too sure, really. But I got an A on that biochemistry quiz! This new teacher we’ve got is a total pushover!” He beamed, and then noticed his mother wasn’t smiling. “Alright, alright, I’ll do it.” <p>“It had better be done before your father gets back from Bajor or the next time you see the wormhole you’ll be 30, you understand me young man?” She didn’t like being so firm, but sometimes she just had to get her point across. He moaned his response. “Yes Mom.” An hour later, she returned to check on his progress. He had quite a job ahead of him, and she wasn’t surprised he’d still be at it an hour later. When she stepped in to look, he was carrying a stack of at least a dozen very large books from one side of the room to another. They looked so heavy, and so cumbersome, she was certain he would hurt himself. “Will!” She ran to him. “Why don’t you ever ask for help, hmmm?” “I…got…it…”, he began to say as she quickly took some of the heavy books away. He let out a sigh of relief, perhaps it was a bit more than he could handle, but that had never stopped him before. “There’s absolutely no shame in having to ask for a little assistance every now and then.” Lara smiled and began arranging the few books she had taken from him. “I guess I just wanted to show you and Dad I could do it on my own, that’s all.” He put the stack down on the floor. “In a family there’s no such thing as doing it on your own.” * * * * * * * * * * * USS Coronado NCC-97901 M64 Galaxy Now… “Get your people OUT of the crystal spire control room! No, as a matter of fact, get your people out of my facility! Recall your personnel at Once!” Captain William Daren stepped onto the bridge. Apparently something had happened to set Admiral Wallace on a rampage. Heated Admirals and Flagstaff wasn’t something Daren was particularly new with so he just paused and tried to get the details. The rumble earlier throughout Xanadu had been from the near initiation of the catapult from Colonel Masters while exploring one of the Crystal spire’s near the entrances to the second chamber. Daren had put most of the ship’s crew on rotating leave, that meant that at any given time nearly two-thirds of the crew were allowed to travel off the ship and be free to explore the surroundings of Xanadu or to take some personal recreation time while the ship underwent it’s repairs. This new order from Wallace meant that they would have to start sending out messages to all away teams to gather up and get moving so Coronado could leave Xanadu in the time allotted. The process generally wasn’t too difficult, with one small exception. “What do you mean Commander Tal isn’t with you? I thought you accompanied her to the surface, did you not?” Daren looked at the image of Commander Zunite Oswald on the holotank and she piloted the shuttle Diana back from the surface of Xanadu. “Yes Sir, but Commander Tal went off to speak with…” Daren interrupted. “Admiral Wallace.” “That’s right, Sir. She gave me the data we collected from our time on the surface and went off to talk to him. She should be in the Great Library with him by now.” Oswald seemed uncharacteristically quiet. She had a pretty good idea something had happened to cause the tension level within Xanadu to skyrocket. “Two hours ago I approved Tal’s request for transfer to this vessel. That make’s her my responsibility now, and if Admiral Wallace says leave then that is exactly what we do. We drop what we’re doing and we leave. I want you to go back there and…” Oswald looked down at the shuttles controls, “I understand Captain. I’m already on my way to the Library to pick her up.” “Good. If I understand Wallace’s wrath correctly she likely won’t be speaking with him for too long.” Daren took a seat in the new Command Chair and looked up. “Oh and Commander…” “Yes Captain?” Oswald gave off her signature sweet smile. “Do inform Tal that her transfer request has been approved. As far as in what capacity she is to re-join or little family, I’m still working on that. And it may just depend on how much she is willing to give up the influence of the man she’s speaking with right now.” Daren rested his chin in his hand. Oswald gave her Captain an odd look but decided not to ask what that was all about. “I’ll tell her.” “We look forward to getting you back here Commander. Engineering just isn’t the same when you’re away.” He smiled as the channel closed and crossed his legs. Just before the tirade by Admiral Wallace, Daren had been on his way to speak with Commander Tal about becoming his new Executive Officer. He was aware of her background, and knew she was up to the task. He did have his doubts however. She was an Intel Officer and he hadn’t exactly had the best of luck with the last Intel Officer to come through the corridors. He’d have to speak with her when she returned, lay out the ground rules, and see if she was willing to accept them for the chance of serving as his XO. Things had been pretty strenuous lately, but Daren liked to think he was doing well without having the full assistance of a second in command. Commander Tlaloco had been a great help, and Daren was suddenly reminded of something his mother had told him many years ago: ‘In a family there’s no such thing as doing it on your own’. He hoped Tal would agree to his rules, and accept his offer. But first he’d have to make it. Captain William Daren Commanding Officer (IC) USS Coronado NCC-97901 Sim Executive Officer http://www.jestertrek.com/coro2400/bodies/depts/command.html#co ******************* As portrayed by: Chris Catterson Long Island, NY ccatt@optonline.net |