Posted by Commander Luka (Executive Officer) in Runabout to Athena

Posted by Lieutenant Junior Grade Rovan Moor (Engineer/Pilot) in Runabout to Athena

Posted by Ensign Allison Fleet (Scientist) in Runabout to Athena
Posted by… suppressed (4) by the Post Ghost! 👻

Snip

Rovan laughed quietly, and adjusted his arms to hold her better and tighter. He dropped his head to hers, his cheek against her hair as he filled himself with the smell of her again. “You were always with me,” he told her, still almost whispering as he couldn’t bear to talk louder in case the universe woke up. “In my heart, where you have always been. I love you so much, Allison Fleet.” He squeezed her all the tighter, and raised a hand to run his fingers ever so gently through her hair.

“I love you too,” She said softly, still trembling ever so slightly.

“I’m not leaving you again,” he said to her, “I never want to be without you Allie. I’m sorry I went away, I’m here, and I’m yours.” He raised his head from hers and looked down at her, easy since she was a little shorter than him.

She pulled away slightly so that their eyes met, staring into his yellow eyes with a slight twinge of anger still present in her orangey-brown irises, hidden behind the relief, happiness, and fear that had been filling her last few minutes. The question still in her eyes. No more secret missions.

“No more secret missions, ok. I Got it.” Then he grinned at her and bit his lip slightly. “We have, a few hours. I arranged for a bit of time to do something before we get to the Athena. There’s something I want to show you. Come with me Allie, okay? Trust me, I’ve spent far too much time apart from you to just let you disappear into the Athena for endless Check-ins. We have some time to be us.”

Lt j.g. Rovan Moor
Engineer/Pilot

She finally smiled properly. “Your impatience nearly gave me a heart attack,” she huffed, punching his shoulder lightly. “Or did you forget that I don’t like Transporters?”

“Not for a moment,” he grinned down at her, full of mischief. “But if I had performed a hard dock to the other Runabout, that might have given it away. Besides, doing it this way meant it was just me and you.”

She leaned against him again. “I missed you so much. I missed your heartbeat, seeing the smile in your silly eyes, the sound of your breathing in the morning…” She trailed off, looking at him and burning the image in her mind. A moment passed, and she remembered something. “Before you dazzle me with whatever you have planned, I’ve got something for you,” she turned, pulling away from Rovan and reaching for her bag. Out came the knitted socks and the t-shirt, which was wrapped around something square-ish. She pulled it out, unwrapping the small package from the t-shirt and holding it out towards Rovan.

“What’s this?” Rovan asked her but took it carefully. There was a weight to it for sure. His eyes looked it over for a moment before returning to Allison.

“Happy Birthday,” she said with a small grin as he took it in his hands. “It’s a couple weeks late, but better late than never…” When unwrapped, the gift would reveal itself to be a collection of small ship models suspended with pieces of thin string from the ceiling of the glass box, each ship no larger than his hand but intricately detailed. One ship was an NX-class model, another was a Mythology-class, another was the same as the Genesis. Each ship had, painted on it, the accurate registration numbers.

He held it up before him and looked over the models without saying a word, picking out the details in each and marveling at the time it must have taken to create. Judging by the markings on the models, each was hand made and not replicated.

If he turned the box a little to look more closely at the models, he would see there was one more model, a small cargo vessel that would look strikingly familiar to him as it was the same as the one he had grown up on. Allison had a slightly nervous smile plastered on her face, obviously not totally certain if he would enjoy the gift.

Ens. Allison Fleet, Science

“Oh wow.” He said as he looked at the ships. It was an emotionally stunning gift for him, holding for each of them a ship that was important from their past, the Enterprise NX-01 and the Jaagar. Both of the ships that Allie and Rovan had served together on were also there, the Genesis and very shortly, the Athena. “Allie this is wonderful,” he placed the glass case of models on a nearby table and turned back to her, wrapping her in his arms again. This time though, he kissed her firmly on her cheek before pulling her in tight to his chest. “Thank you, I love it. I really do.”

Letting go of the embrace Rovan held her by her shoulders and smiled, “Lets go and see what I got you, shall we?” He narrowed his yellow, catlike eyes mysteriously and turned for the Runabouts Bridge, looking back at her just before he began to walk. “Fancy being my co-pilot? It gets lonely up there without anyone to talk to.”

Sliding into the pilots seat, Rovans hands moved over the controls with quick ease and seconds later, the Runabout had come around and entered Warp. The ships sensor system that Allie had before her showed their destination as a small planet in a system only half an hour away at their current Warp speed. There were 5 planets in the system, but this one was the only one that supported life. All 5 planets had multiple rings around them. On the screen, the system was shown as the Iota Aquilae System and the planet was called Arda.

-------- 30 minutes later ------------

The Runabout dropped out of warp and was soon in orbit above the small planet. It’s rings stood out from this angle, multiple rings of icy rocks that reflected the light from the systems star. It was a world that had undergone terra-forming to make the barely habitable surface much more livable for humanoids. It had few native terrestrial lifeforms and large area’s were still being developed, mostly dry plains and desert. The planets landmasses were surrounded by large oceans in which life thrived, and the developed regions were now highly fertile grassland and new forests. In these area’s the terrestrial life had thrived in the new conditions. Humans had placed the first colony on Arda 60 years earlier, and had become a large agricultural colony that made use of the surprisingly fertile soil. Of note, the planets beaches were becoming a popular holiday destination.

“Here we are,” Rovan said, looking over at Allison while he entered a new series of commands into the controls. “I know you aren’t a fan of transporters, so this time, we’re going to land.” Looking out the window he pointed to a large area of green on one of the least developed looking landmasses. “Right there, you’ll see.”

Lt j.g. Rovan Moor
Engineer/Pilot