Into the Fray

Posted on Sat Aug 3rd, 2019 @ 12:27pm by Lieutenant Winford Simril PhD

483 words; about a 2 minute read

Mission: Canary
Location: Haumea Colony
Timeline: MD 02

It was just for one night. That was the promise Simril made to himself when he decided he would join Starfleet. He couldn’t have imagined he would have lasted more than one night in the identity-destroying behemoth of an organisation. 34 years later, and Lieutenant Commander Simril had received his marching orders. The anonymous machine had told him his next stop was Haumea Colony and so he was happy to “jump ship.”

His last Starfleet posting was to Deep Space Station K-7. As the station’s Chief Science Officer, Simril was responsible for a team of Starfleet officers and crewmen working in the station’s labs. A big part of the role was analysing deep space readings from Klingon space to look for any kind of anomalies. The other part was working on protecting the station itself from diseases and contaminations brought onboard from passing traders and civilian vessels. It was not Simril’s kind of work - as an expert seismologist, Simril found himself far more comfortable working in an office on academic research, or on a station analysis planetary data.

But where better to send a temperamental intellectual than a station full of unwanted Starfleet officers? K-7 was outdated and unequipped to deal with any kind of emergency. It existed to operate in a kind of dormant, yet active, state. As his time at K-7 wore on, Simril became more and more frustrated at the lack of support and the lack of a mission. He began by making his concerns known to the station commander, and then higher up the Starfleet chain of command. It took 18 months before he was informed that he would be assigned to a new Starfleet role as soon as possible.

It took another two months for Starfleet to tell him that would be on Haumea Colony. It was located on the surface of Xaeprea, another posting deep within the Beta Quadrant. It was built upon the remnants of the old Kane Colony, and the Command Centre was the re-purposed saucer of the USS Io. The Colony’s Starfleet complement was still looking for a Chief Science Officer - there had recently been issues dealing with the climate of Xaeprea, so a geophysicist was particularly welcome.

As for Simril, escape was welcome. The “challenge” of Haumea Colony was either something that would interest in, or the staff under him would be competent enough for him to focus on something actually worthwhile. Simril was old, now. Never mind having the will, he didn’t even have the energy to fix everyone’s problems anymore.

A passing light escort had been chartered to give him a handful of civilians and Starfleet crewmen passage from K-7 to Haumea Colony. The journey took some time, but upon arrival, and beaming down to the planet, Simril couldn’t help but feel an inkling of optimism. Who knows what the future could bring.

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