"The Long Road Home" -- CONTINUED

CHAPTER 4

Later that evening...

Robert studied the communication carefully. He wanted to make sure the result he got from his inquiry was as favorable as his eyes were telling him it was. The week before he sent a communication to Starfleet Command explaining how much he hoped their search for his replacement was going well. Apparently, they had neglected to even begin the process, but once they did, it was a quick search. Somehow Robert hoped the search would be quick, but he didn't expect it to be so quick. It seemed like the month he'd been filling in as a temporary replacement for the spot that was vacated when Reytan Grax was promoted to the Commanding Officer position in the Fourth Fleet.

Looking at the PADD one more time, a tear formed in his right eye. He had enjoyed his foray back in the limelight as an Admiral. He had forgotten just how much excitement and intrigue the job could bring. But alas, he wasn't a spring chicken anymore. As Admiral James T. Kirk once said, "Galloping around the cosmos is a game for the young, Doctor." Perhaps it was time for him to hang it up after all. Dana needed him. His place was at her side as the husband he knew he could be. There was nothing more important in the whole universe as she was to him, so it was a no brainer. Now, he had to explain it to the young man that he had grown quite fond of, and who was looking forward to "galloping through the cosmos" with him. He had indeed become fond of Captain Brock Danner, probably because Brock's son Braden reminded him so much of his own grandson Ryan. The question now was when to tell Brock.

Dana took the news very well. She was actually looking forward to receiving him and their grandson back home on Earth. His decision to take Ryan with him on his ventures back out on the Farragut came as a surprise to both Dana and Ryan. In many ways, the two males were joined at the hip. Ryan went everywhere that Robert did, almost to the point that other Admirals rarely took the boy's presence as being out of place, even during really sensitive meetings. Ryan was quiet as a mouse, and made himself nearly invisible during those meetings. There were times when Robert himself had wondered where the boy had hidden. As usual, it was in a place that Ryan figured Robert was most likely to look... in plain sight.

Looking down at his watch, he figured it was time to take Ryan to get something to eat. He returned to their assigned quarters and collected the 13 year-old. "Ready to eat, champ?"

"You bet, grandpa. What are you in the mood for?"

"I was thinking maybe we could venture over to the Farragut and have dinner in the Starlite Lounge."

Ryan nearly clawed himself out of his seat. "Are you kidding me? Do you think we'll get to see Uncle Vic?"

Vic Salvatore had been the manager of the best eating establishment/bar on the Farragut almost ever since the ship had been dedicated. He had definitely served on the ship the entire time that Robert had. When Robert first stepped onto the ship, he was a Lieutenant Commander. During the many years he was the CO, he rose through every rank above it all the way to Fleet Admiral before he retired. Every step of the way, Vic Salvatore was there to congratulate him. "It's possible, I haven't checked to see if he's working this evening, but if he isn't, we'll drop by his crew quarters and see if he'll join us. How's that sound?"

Ryan's face beamed with a wide, toothy smile. "Perfect."

As the 'boys' made their way to the Farragut, Robert pulled Ryan into him and gave him a tight hug. "You know, you remind me so much of your dad when he was your age. You look a lot like him, but you also look like your mother. I know you never got to know her, but she was a wonderful woman, and you get your tenderness from her. I think that's why your dad always looks so sad when he looks into your eyes. He sees her staring back at him, and he feels so... lonely. He loves you, Ryan. Don't ever forget that. You are the best thing that ever happened to him."

Robert stopped, and pulled on Ryan's shoulder to signal him to stop as well. He turned the boy by the shoulder to look deep into his eyes. "You are the best thing that ever happened to him, your grandmother and me. You mean everything to all of us. Don't ever forget that either. You are a wonderful boy, and you're going to make a wonderful man, husband and someday... father. Just don't be in a rush for that last part," he finished with a wink. Then he nodded for them to continue to the lounge.

When they got there, they found that Vic was still on duty, but was scheduled off within 10 minutes. Robert told the host to summon Vic to join them if he wished. It only took about 30 seconds for Vic to appear as soon as he received the invitation.

"Admiral! Ryan! Well, isn't this a pleasant surprise. It's so good to see you both," Vic said genuinely while Ryan gave him a hug and Robert shook his hand heartily. "I've gone ahead and come off duty, so I'd be delighted to accept your invitation to join you gentlemen for dinner. I've asked Rheanne to be our server this evening. I don't think you've met her yet, Admiral. She's one of my best wait staff members," he said and then leaned in whispering, "and she's my fiancée."

Robert sat back from the whispered comment with a broad smile on his face. "It's about damn time, Vic," he said. "And please, call me Bob. We're both off duty, and I've known you for a very long time. We were friends before I was ever the Commanding Officer on this boat." And so they were. Robert had used Vic as a sounding board for a long time. They shared a special friendship, and when Starfleet wanted to scrap the restaurant on the ship, Robert immediately went to bat and used his influence to keep it from happening. Robert had to call in a lot of favors for it, but he considered it to be well worth it. "Is it public knowledge?"

"Come now, Admi... Bob. Do you think I would have whispered if it was? Oh look! He she comes now."

Both Robert and Ryan strained to turn to see the woman. Somehow, Robert was expecting some very young woman at least half of Vic's age. Instead, he found a very attractive and elegant woman who seemed to be right about Vic's age. She was indeed a very handsome woman, and looking at them together, they did indeed make a really great looking pair. Of course, he would have no way of knowing, but she appeared to be beyond child bearing age, so Vic would likely never have to worry about changing diapers.

The real surprise was what happened when she opened her mouth. Her voice was soft and voluptuous. If was smooth and silky, and pleasant to the ears. He speaking voice was just as beautiful and sultry as she was. For a moment, Robert was almost jealous with lust himself. Bringing himself back to his senses, he realized that the woman had just introduced herself and asked what he wished to have for a drink. He may never have noticed had he not heard Ryan ask for water. He also asked for water at first, but then Vic interrupted and instead asked that she bring them a bottle of wine, circa 2356. "A very good year," he insisted, "if I do say so myself, and since I just said it, I do say so myself." He turned and winked at a giggling Ryan as he finished.

"Grandpa, I need to use the restroom," Ryan said softly.

"What? Why didn't you go before we left?"

"Duh. Because I didn't need to then, silly."

Robert stood up and let Ryan slide out of their side of the booth. As soon as the boy slid from earshot, he turned to Vic and said, "Kids."

Vic waited for a moment for them to both get comfortable before he said what had been on his mind since he first got the abrupt invitation to join them. "So, you want to tell me what this is all about?"

"What? It's dinner."

"Mmm hmm," Vic hummed out loud. "And I'm the King of Argellus Prime. You weren't scheduled to board this bird until the day before we depart, and there are hundreds of eating establishments on that starbase. What's going on?"

Robert swore to himself for being so obvious. "Oh, all right, damn it. I need to give him some news, and I'm afraid it's going to hit him hard."

"Oh, boy," Vic said. "What is it?"

"It's a couple of "it's,"" Robert said. "First, I'm going to be going back into retirement. Keep that very quiet, because not even Captain Danner knows that yet. I won't be hopping around from mission to mission like I'd planned on it. I asked Starfleet to replace me with a permanent solution for the fleet, and they saw fit to grant my request."

"Yeah, okay, but that would seem like good news. Your wife would undoubtedly love to have you both back home, and I know that Ryan would rather spend his down time with Dana than he would waiting for you to come home every evening alone in his quarters on this old bird. So, what's really the problem?"

Robert grumbled something under his breath, "Alright, damn it." Robert looked around him to make sure that Ryan wasn't in ear shot. "He's going home."

"Yeah, I thought we'd already established that.

"No, Vic, not to Earth with Dana and me. He's going back home to his father on another starship."

Vic sat back deep in his seat trying to grasp the immensity of the moment. Ryan started living with his grandparents full-time just after he was born and his mother died. He'd never spent more than 3 weeks at a time with his father, so to all of a sudden be thrust back into his father's care would be awkward at best. "When are you going to tell him?"

"Tonight. That's why I brought him here. I wanted you here because besides me, you are the closest thing to family he has in this region." Robert shifted and pulled a picture from his tunic. "Remember that day?" It was a picture that Robert had taken the year before he retired as the Fleet Commanding Officer of the Fourth Fleet, and as the Commanding Officer of the Farragut. Robert, Ryan, Vic and Demitri Petrolof were camping out on Teloga IV, a lush jungle like planet with almost no animal life beyond insects. They had been swimming all day in a small lake with water that was so clear, you could see the bottom of the lake, which was easily 15 meters in places. The surrounding forest was lush and serene. If Earth had ever known such a splendor, one would be hard pressed to know it.

"Of course I remember it. All four of us ended up sick. We should have known that a planet with no animal life larger than a beetle may have extremely high numbers of protozoan life forms. I'll never forget it. And through it all, Ryan never stopped smiling. I bet it's still one of his fondest memories."

"I'm sure you are right, Vic. Even with the fever, I still enjoyed every moment of that trip. I think that's when the bond between Demitri and me really took hold. He's served me well ever since as my aide."

Vic looked Chadwick over. The years hadn't exactly been kind to him. Gone was that glimmer of life in his eyes. Yes, perhaps it was time for Robert to hang it up. "Is this what you really want?" he pressed.

"Sure, I have other copies of that picture on Earth," Robert responded.

"Nice try, but that wasn't what I meant, and you know it."

"Damn it, Vic!" Robert replied a tad too loud, drawing attention from some of the tables seated nearby. Lowering his town almost to a whisper, Robert squeezed out, "I know it isn't. Of course I don't know if this is what I want, but damn it, a boy should be with his dad. As much as I would love to be, I'm not his dad. His dad loves him very much, and in many ways, he only asked Dana and me to take care of him so that he could grow up with a mother and a father figure. Now that he's old enough, he can fend for himself when Justin needs to leave him alone in their quarters."

Before Vic could respond, he spotted Ryan approaching the table. He nodded so to Robert, and they quickly changed the topic of conversation.

CHAPTER 5

A few hours earlier...

As he stepped from the turbolift and entered Sickbay, Brock realized the hallways seemed largely deserted. Of course, in all reality, they were. With more than half the crew aboard the starbase for shore leave, the ship was being staffed with only a skeleton crew covering the most important of posts, such as Engineering, Security and of course Command. Almost the entire Science department was released for shore leave, as was most of Operations. Some of the systems upgrades to be performed actually required a vacuum environment, which was the reason for shutting down life support on the necessary decks. They needed to be decompressed in order to achieve the necessary vacuum environment.

Doctor Frank Markinson would be one of those departing the Farragut for shore leave; however he would not be returning, save for his going away party in less than 48 hours. After spending most of his life in service to Starfleet, the last 7 years on the Farragut alone, he would be retiring and seeking transport to Risa for a month long excursion before heading back to his home on the human colony on Tenellis III. He planned on hanging a shingle when he reached the colony to perform minor medical services for old friends until he just wasn't physically capable of performing anymore. The search was on for who would be the new Assistant Chief Medical Officer on the ship. When the Chief Medical Officer position came available years before, Robert Chadwick had wanted Frank Markinson to put in for the post, but for whatever reason he just couldn't be convinced to do so. Even the man that ended up ascending to the post had wanted Markinson to put in for it. Frank had been Craig Mather's mentor on the Farragut, and would be sorely missed upon his departure.

"You wanted to see me, Doctor Mathers?" Brock said after passing through the doors to Sickbay. He saw Craig sitting at his desk in the office beside the main Sickbay treatment room.

"Yes, Captain," the doctor responding coming to his feet, "I would like to hope that we are going to come to be friends, sir, so if it's not too forward of me, please call me Craig." Dr Mathers smiled genuinely.

"Perhaps it might be better for us to maintain a professional demeanor towards each other," Brock started, but then thought about the relationships between Commanding Officers and their Chief Medical Officers through history, starting back with his predecessor he was most fond of, Captain James T Kirk and his infamous CMO, Dr McCoy. "Then again, perhaps not," Brock responded. "To be honest, Craig, I think it probably is time for you and me to get to know each other better. When we aren't in the presence of anyone else, you have my permission to call me Brock."

Craig looked happy, but deep within he wasn't sure how well this fragile attempt at getting to know each other would work out in the end. Captain Danner had been friendly enough, but never really seemed like the type to reach out an olive branch to his own crew. "So, what can I do for you, doctor?"

It took a moment for Craig to remember what he wanted to talk to his Captain about. What they had just discussed had his mind wondering and he needed to regain his center. "Um, oh yeah," he finally recalled, "I wanted to talk to you about an idea I had for Doctor Markinson."

"Okay, you've got my attention, what's on your mind?"

"Frank was a doctor in Starfleet for over 30 years. He spend the last 7, almost 8 of those years on this ship, and in all reality, he should have been the one to be the Chief Medical Officer here. I'd like to see him promoted to Commander, or in the alternative Lieutenant Commander, just before he officially retires."

Brock furrowed his brow in confusion, "That sounds like a really good idea, Craig. I'll do it at his retirement party just before he is officially relieved of duty."

"Yeah, um about that," Craig started cautiously, "no offence but I don't think it would mean as much to Doc Markinson if it came from you as it might if it were to come from someone like Admiral Chadwick, with whom he worked with here first."

Suddenly, Brock understood what Mathers was hinting at. "I see where you are going with this, Doc. I'm not offended at all. It makes sense to me. I'll talk to the Admiral about it later tonight, and we'll formulate a game plan. Is there anything else you need from me now? If not, I'm going to take my wife and son to have dinner with the CO of the starbase tonight."

"Nothing that I can thank of. Thanks for hearing me out, sir."

"No, thank you for having the guts to come to me with it. Frank was a different kind of guy, but he was well liked. I think he deserves the recognition. See you later, doc. Remember, stay off decks 12 and 13, or you may find yourself dead really fast," he said as a departing remark, and while chuckling.

Meanwhile on Starbase 11, Holosuite 12

"God damn it! It fucking hurts!" shouted Kelvin Clarke. "Holy shit, man. Get some help!"

Calvin tapped his comm badge, "Holosuite 12 to Sickbay, medical emergency. I need some help down here."

"Acknowledged, Holosuite 12. Help is on the way," an unknown voice answered.

Calvin looked over his friend's injuries. Even to the untrained eye, it was obvious there was displacement over the bones in Kelvin's left leg. Calvin's eye wasn't untrained. He had gotten his medical degree before he went on to specialize as a psychiatrist. It was a rather interesting situation for him to be the ship's counselor on the Farragut, but it wasn't too unusual. Usually psychologists were the ones to receive those posts, but occasionally there would be a psychiatrist that wanted to foray on the edges of space playing counselor for bruised minds and egos. In the current situation, it worked out for the good anyway, as Calvin immediately recognized the fractured femur and possible fractured hip of his friend Kelvin Clarke. Of course, they had grown to be much more than just simple friends, and while both felt the attraction and desire to take it to the next step, it was a subject neither had ventured to broach, and a line that neither had tried to cross, although secretly they both wished the other would.

"Fucking hell, I've never hurt so much in my life!"

"Language, Lieutenant," Calvin chided.

"Screw my language, Cal. This fucking hurts!"

"Just hang on, Kel. You hit hard," Calvin said trying to sound as supportive as possible. Kelvin had been working on a rock climbing wall, and when he got 12 meters up, he lost his grip and fell. Being the macho asshole he tended to be, he was climbing without ropes. The safety features of the system kept him from dying, but they were turned down enough to make the experience at least halfway believable. "Stay with me, Kel. I know it hurts, but you've got to stay with me."

Calvin could clearly tell that Kelvin was going into shock from the internal blood loss. He knew that fracturing either the femur or the pelvis could lead to catastrophic internal bleeding. Fracturing both could be a cluster. Kelvin's face was starting to go pale, and Calvin was concerned that the medical team may not get there in time. He kept replaying the moment that Kelvin fell, and the sickening cracking noise that was made when he hit the ground.

"You're going to be okay, you hear me? Just hang on...," he hesitated but finally whispered, "I love you."

Just as he said it, Kelvin passed out, and the medical team arrived.

TO BE CONTINUED...