Posted by Lieutenant Eldorin Asam (Chief of Security) in Onboarding with the CO

Posted by Captain Rende Asam (Captain) in Onboarding with the CO

Posted by Lieutenant Eldorin Asam (Chief of Security) in Onboarding with the CO
Eldorin was getting too old for this. He had a lovely estate back on Earth and was happy practicing his hobbies and exploring the country side. Now that being said Eldorin wasn’t sure there was a corner of Belfast he didn’t know of but still, retirements was wonderful and he had a good 400 years of it to look forward to. Then the message came in one fateful autumn afternoon and that spelled the end to gardening and tending to his duck pond. He knew one was coming just not when, but he knew at some point Rende would be recalled and recalled she was to a ship this time. Oh the posting was labeled as ‘a request’ and the position was worded as ‘for your consideration’ but Eldorin had been married for over 400 years and that amount of time really lends to some understanding between people. There wasn’t anything he could say or do to dissuade her, so instead he applied for a reinstatement as well and resigned himself to just being a grump for a while before they got into the swing of things.

Oh it was her choice of course, but Rende was going to take it. And Eldorin could grump all he wanted. If the corp of engineers had called him he would have been gone too, or heaven forbid they request he go to a ship in a battle zone to head up emergency ship repairs he would do it. And she’d re-up and follow him as his personal body guard. The man was an impressive fighter, but when he got tinkering with his engines he forgot everything else. They had spent the centuries taking turns as active and civilian. But they were always together.

And they would always be together. As much grumbling as Eldorin did, there was a small part that still looked up at the stars with excitement of the possibilities. Well he was back amongst them. Security chief no less, a bit less comfortable as Engineering but the century of experience of mercenary action did give him the needed knowledge. And besides, his experience might be 250 years old but tactics really haven’t changed that much.

As he swung himself out of bed he started muttering, “You know I liked not having an alarm clock…and a wonderful old house with my beloved roses” to no one in particular but he knew Rende was still about. He sighed and went to the kitchen to make his coffee when he looked at the counter with a sigh and said “Oh that’s right. I’m not in Ulster County anymore and my coffee pot is sitting on a counter top millions of miles away. Computer, replicate Eldorin Coffee 72 please.” He grabbed the cup, a near perfect replica that didn’t quite accomplish the goals. The scenery was wrong, the air smelled wrong, the sounds of the estate were replaced with groaning bulkheads and that ever persistent hum. He sipped and had a somewhat sour expression on his face as he said, “Computer.... ugh… it’s not right. Edit parameters…”

Rende walked up behind him and placed a mug in his hand. “You don’t think, dear, that I would drag you across the quadrant without your beloved coffee?” Sure enough it was his favorite. “Top left shelf of the corner cabinet. It’s full of your blend, and I have 3 more full crates in storage in the cargo bay for you.” She pointed to the far end of the counter where one of those lovely single or pot brewing machines stood, already cleaned from where she’d made the coffee. “AND I put one of those in your office too.” She kissed his cheek.

Eldorin smiled and embraced Rende after taking a sip. “You are the absolute best you know that?” He said with a smirk as he turned to the counter, “I keep saying you need glasses but look at me! I’m blind as a bat, thank you dear, I think I would honestly go insane if I had to keep trying to figure out what acidity level per micron I needed to get it right. I bet Eoin was surprised when you placed an order for not just the weekly bag but 3 crates! Did the Root & Branch have that much or did you have to have him transport it in for them to roast?” Root & Branch Coffee had been Eldorin’s favorite since they moved back to earth in 2172. Their Portview Mill had been running since 2016 and had survived both the Eugenics wars and WWIII. The Asam family had grown close to the Delany family that had been stewarding that business since the late 2030’s and Eoin was the current owner of the business. He strode over to the pot and put a hand on in with a smile.

“Oh he was shocked, no doubt, but happy for the order. Eoin put a rush on the order to get three crates, and we have a standing order for it too. A perk of being captain. I can spoil my husband with his favorite coffee. Unfortunately, I can not get orders of their Jambons delivered. So I’ll have to learn to make them.” A Jambon was a simple recipe of puff pastry squares filled with ham and cheese. Rende’s favorite. “I’ll miss Eoin and his family, but he promised to write. His little girl is starting school this year. She’s going to drive the teachers to distraction the way she has to touch everything.” Rende would miss the dig sites. Of course she knew exactly where to dig, she’d lived there after all. But the discovery was always worth it.

Eldorin said trailing off as he edited the minutiae of the program and would probably continue to do so for a while yet. He finished his coffee and had a breakfast of toast, baked beans, and an egg fried over easy with a dash of lemon pepper for good measure.

Rende was standing in the living room staring at a series of pictures. One was herself and Eldorin in Ireland, Eldorin holding a tiny baby in one arm and the other around her as they both looked at Tabris. Another was a boy, about 3, covered in mud, the biggest smile on his face, a red and silver multi tool in his hand. The last was Eldorin and Tabris, at about 16, covered in grease and oil under the hood of a 1967 Austin 1800. She reached into her pocket and pulled out a very old and dirty Swiss Army knife. Made of metal and plastic it was a child’s training knife. Etched into the handle was ‘Tabris’ in a child’s script. It was the first thing Tabris had learned to etch when Eldorin taught him to use the tool. She placed it on the shelf with the pictures. “I miss him, Eldorin, every day.” Tabris had died during WWIII. They’d watched the building collapse on him, Rende had tried to go back in and get him. She had thought he was right behind her, but when she’d turned around she could see him through the window right before the whole thing collapsed.

What they didn’t know is that the building had collapsed but by all the miracles attributed to the gods in the universe the rubble didn’t come down in small pieces but large chunks, the outer decking of an upper floor came down in front of the window and the other falling debris made it impossible to know that he was still alive. A few broken bones and plenty of scrapes, but alive. From Tabris’s perspective, a bomb went off overhead, he was getting out of the apartment with his folks that had come to visit and he made sure they got out first. The roof was creaking and the blocks cracking as he stopped to help a neighbor for a split second, just a quick arm wrapped around the elderly woman to help her get out was all it took for the building to go. He looked up at his folks and saw his mother looking back with anguish as within a matter of minutes the building came down. He woke up later, how long he didn’t know to find himself alone. What was left of Ms. Niven was an arm, the rest covered by rubble thousands of pounds heavy. But the rest of this tale shall be told later.

Meanwhile Eldorin put his arm around his wife’s neck and nodded with a smile. Not a happy one for the present, but of those memories past where there was a longing for the days gone. The little baby had put up quite a fight when he was born as he was quite happy in his incubator and didn’t see a need to be forced out. It was what lead to his name, Tabris means ‘fighter’ in Middle El-Aurian and given that they were likely never to meet another they thought it was fitting. When he was three he found that tool in the mud, and if you’ve never tried to pry something pointy and dangerous away from a toddler it doesn’t matter how many mercenaries you’ve fought in your life nothing is as harrowing as a determined 3 year old covered in mud. That old Austin 1800 though, that was where Eldorin and Tabris truly bonded, he shared his mechanical aptitude and introduced his son to plenty of words that Rende would rather he hadn’t. He leaned his head onto her shoulder and saw that small tool, a survivor as much as they both were. Now if it were anything else he’d rib her for being sentimental but he knew how much it affected her, hell he knew how much it affected him. “I do to Rende, I do to.”

She leaned into him, her head tipped towards his and reached up to hold his hand that was on her shoulder. She stared at the photos with him for several more long moments. But then, the moment had to pass, but he’d always be there, in those pictures. Oh she had more of Tabris as he grew up, but these were here favorite. The day Tabris had been born had been terrifying and beautiful. She’d faced down all number of opponents, armies, fighters, but nothing prepared her for the heart stopping terror of being told your baby is in distress. Rende hadn’t needed to be empathic to know how scared that announcement had made Eldorin, but he’d stayed beside her the whole time. In the end they had their perfect baby boy. She had another picture of that day in the mud, and it was one of a very proud Tabris, toothy grin, holding up the pocketknife while Eldorin lay in the mud, totally defeated by the filthy toddler, a huge smile on his face too. There were small reminders of Tabris everywhere. An origami rose he’d made her in art class once, still in the tiny glass vase that Eldorin had helped him purchase at some side of the road souvenir shop. They were everywhere and some now put in storage, in protective coverings to stop them from becoming damaged. There had been a fig tree that Tabris had planted and raised from a seed. Rende had gone back to look for it when they returned to Earth, but the land where it had been planted had been cleared to build a shopping center. She’d hoped to save it, another part of her little boy she could hold onto.

As he buttoned the clasp of his vintage uniform that looked far more in place in a museum than onboard a late 23rd century starship and said. “Alright honey, I’ll see you at noon for our ‘official meeting’?”

Eldorin, COS

Rende took a deep breath, nodded and straightened her uniform. “I’ll see you then. It’s time to go meet the XO. A Maxwell Watley.” Other than to read his name Rende didn’t read his file. She would read it, later, but first she wanted to get an unskewed opinion of the man. She finished off her own cup of coffee. “Mess hall? Oh no it’s called 12 forward, or my ready room?”
Rende Asam, CO

“I wish you the best, and why don’t we do 12 forward and grab some lunch” He said as he finished his and placed the mug in the sink for handwashing. The mug itself was a sloppy at best hand painted and sculpted piece that Tabris had made when he was 13. The boy had been working in pottery class and did his absolute best to make a cylinder with a handle and painted it blue and gold with yellow stripes. The boy was beaming when Eldorin opened it for father’s day 1990. It had been his mug ever since.

Eldorin, CoS

Rende straightened and smoothed the crease of his uniform jacket. “There, now you look presentable. I’ll see you at 1200 and I’ll bring more coffee.” She kissed his cheek and then with a cheeky grin and almost more sass than Eldorin could handle, “No go keep my ship safe.”
Rende, CO