Posted by Lieutenant Commander Peter Sigmundsson (Chief Intelligence Officer) in 12 Forward - Reminiscence

Posted by Commander Akorem Nevin (Executive Officer) in 12 Forward - Reminiscence

Posted by Lieutenant Commander Peter Sigmundsson (Chief Intelligence Officer) in 12 Forward - Reminiscence Posted by… suppressed (6) by the Post Ghost! 👻 Posted by Commander Akorem Nevin (XO) in 12 Forward - Reminiscence : Posted by Lt. Cmdr. Peter Sigmundsson (Chief intelligence officer) in 12 Forward - Reminiscence : : Posted by Commander Akorem Nevin (XO) in 12 Forward - Reminiscence : : : Posted by Lt. Cmdr. Peter Sigmundsson (Chief intelligence officer) in 12 Forward - Reminiscence : : : : Posted by Commander Akorem Nevin (XO) in 12 Forward - Reminiscence : : : : : Posted by Lt. Cmdr. Peter Sigmundsson (Chief intelligence officer) in 12 Forward - Reminiscence : : : : : -------Gerard’s Bar, Paris, France, Earth: 2371------- : : : : : They sat at their favorite roundtable at their favorite drinking hole on the planet. Four Officers in plain clothes, Starfleet Combadges stacked on one another in the middle of the table, frothy beers and mixed drinks surrounding them. Peter was finishing his latest drink “Did you hear? The Voyager disappeared in the Badlands, all hands lost. 150 souls just vanished” The ensign informed his group “Yes I heard, damn shame. I saw the Intrepid in Action, damn fine ship” The deep base of the bearded man on Peters left spoke, he was even larger than the gigantic security officer. “This business with the Maquis is all one disaster after another” The man straight in from of Peter spoke, he was handsome and knew it, he oozed charm and always lorded it over them. He was also the only one of the group who had been promoted over Ensign in the year since graduation “We knew some of the crew right?” The short and gruff man on Peters right said in a more hushed tone, he was still nursing his second drink whereas Peter and the others had already finished at least four “Yeah, the class of ‘70 Lost a few good souls today. Even that Engineering kid, the valedictorian” Peter said looking over to the man in front of him, Lieutenant Junior Grade Magnus Karlson “Yes, Cadet Kim. They made him the Bridge Ops Man, smartest kid on Campus” Magnus smiled sadly. “Well Raise a glass to lost friends and Comrades,” The Bearded Baldur said loudly “To the Voyager, may they rest in Valhalla” The rest of the group raised their drinks “To Voyager” The clinked their drinks together and finished in no time at all. : : : : : : : : : : ---------------------------------------------------------- : : : : : : : : : : ---------12 Forward Lounge USS Viking, 2394--------- : : : : : Peter sat alone next to the Viewport of the 12 Forward crew lounge. He held a sizable glass with blue liquid and mostly full flask next to him. : : : : : He slowly took one sip after another and stared at the distant stars. He pulled his left-hand closer and looked at his wristwatch. Nineteen years today. Nineteen years since the signing of the Treaty of Bajor and the end to the Dominion War. Twenty four years and change since graduation Day. He looked at the bottle of Romulan Ale. His box would be twenty years old in a year. Thirty Flasks for thirty years. The final to be opened on the eve of the Twenty-Fifth Century. One bottle a year, that was the deal. He took another sip as he placed on hand inside his pocket and grabbed a PaDD. Last nights Intelligence Reports. Patrol reports between Klingon and Romulan Space were the most interesting reads of the day. He finished his glass and placed it down and absentmindedly refilled the glass as he read the reports. : : : : : : : : : : Lt. Comdr Sigmundsson - CIO : : : : : : : : “Going that well?” the bajoran XO asked casually as he approached the tall CIO. It was unusual for the XO to be in the lounge at this time of day, however Antos was on the holodeck attending one of his school friend’s birthday party, so Nevin was free from his parenting duties for a few hours. : : : : : : : : Nevin respected Peter. By all accounts the Dominion War had changed him but Nevin didn’t know how. Nevin had been a child. An orphan of the war, adopted and raised by a cardassian couple. In many ways, the war had shaped Nevin too. The XO was off duty so was wearing his civillian clothing. He indicated to a nearby chair. : : : : : : : : “Mind if I join you, or are you expecting company?” he asked. : : : : : : : : -Akorem : : : : : : It took a moment before Peter looked up from his report, he’d heard someone approaching him but paid him no attention as he didn’t think anyone would disturb him. He looked at the Bajoran and his eyes started slowly moving from side to side as if he were reading a text in the air. All the information he possessed about the Executive officer came running through his mind merely by instinct. He smiled softly and waved his hand, offering him the seat “Please” He looked back a the bar and raised his glass at the nearest attending. A moment someone arrived with an empty glass and placed it on the table without so much as a word. : : : : “Thank you,” Nevin said, to both Peter and the barman. : : : : : “Nothing world-shattering, Some alien Crisis averted on the Magellan involving Romulans and Orions, Nothing major.” He took a sip again “Would you care for a glass? Romulan ale circa ‘63 I think” He took the unmarked bottle and looked around it “I’m…” He paused “I guess you could say I’m celebrating VE day. Nineteen years since the Signing of the Treaty of Bajor” He half smiled again “How old were you then, Sir? 13-14?” He asked as he raised the bottle offering to pour for the Bajoran. : : : : : : Peter Sigmundsson : : : : “Almost,” Nevin replied reminising. He remembered the day fairly clearly. He had overheard the Cardassian Doctor that was looking after him sending a message for his wife to come to Bajor. : : : : “It was the day that my foster parents gave up their own family, their home and entire life because they wanted me to grow up on Bajor,” Nevin said, “They felt it important I grow up around my people and learn about my own culture. I saw the bajorian people from a somewhat… Unique perspective.” : : : : He had chosen his words delicately, but was sure that Peter would understand what he meant. : : : : “As significant as the end of the occupation was, it was not the end of the war,” Nevin added after taking a sip of the blue liquid. : : : : : : -Akorem : : Peter nodded slowly. He wasn’t sure if the man would enjoy the ale, most people hadn’t drunk it before, only having been legalized for a short time during the war, and now with the destruction of Romulus, it was difficult to get any proper ale anymore. “Still must have been hard for them to hear about the Invasion Of Cardassia and the loss of all those people” He closed the PaDD and lowered it “I was in the Invasion Fleet, I was assigned to Special Operations With the Marine Corps” He raised his glass “Never Again” He chuckled dryly as he took another sip, he was starting to feel a slight tingling in his fingers, it was taking longer and longer to get drunk these days. A blessing in disguise he thought to himself “I retired after it, went to see the galaxy we’d fought for. I have to say a decade out there was proof enough that it was worth it” : : CIO Nevin coughed slightly at the unexpected harshness of the blue liquid. Given how much more sensitive to taste and smell that Romulans were than Bajorans he had expected something a little more delicate. Perhaps there was something that he couldn’t taste in the liquid that took the edge off, but he had no way of knowing or finding out for certain. The reaction had been similar to the the first time he had taken his father’s best bottle kanar. That flavour had grown on him over a short time so he was fairly sure the romulan beverage was not actually killing him in any way. He took another sip, this time a little more gentle than the first. “We’ll never know,” Nevin replied, “Only the way history records it will give any indication. One could argue that the occupation of Bajor was good for Bajor because it brought us close to the Federation. It brought an end to the d’jarra system and the limits that imposed on those of us of the lowest class.” Nevin indicated to his plain, uncrested single chained earcuff knowing that Peter would understand the significance of the symbolism, “But you say that to the families and friends of the dead… Well you can imagine the response.” -Akorem

Ensign Luna happened to walk into 12 forward. He was holding her doughter Cerenity. The child was nearly 2 years old now and very smart. Luna saw the XO and CIO she smiled at them. Then took her doughter to the other side of the room. She found a place to sit and set Cerenity down to play.
Ensign Luna

Nevin also smiled a nod at Luna & Cerenity. He remembered when Antos was that easy to please. Sit him down on a playmat with a few toys and he would play happily for hours. Now he was a typical boy that was starting to understand the world around him.

Peter gave the winged security officer a half nod as he looked back at the Bajoran. “The Second Great Worl War on Earth did many terrible things to many people across the surface of our planet and it took time for many to rebuild. My country, however, prospered after it and grew beyond the poor farmers colony it had been for nearly a thousand years” He half smiled as he took another sip “It’s the act of rebuilding and bettering ourselves that makes struggles worth it, not falling into despair after such horrors” He half smiled at his XO “Bajorans are a prime example of this, like you said.”

Peter

“By comparison to humanity, the Bajoran people are still children. I often pray that my people will learn from the experience of others,” Nevin said. He took another sip of his drink. The flavour was begining to warm on him as he expected. “I was speaking metaphorically, ofcourse. As you know, I’m not religous,” he addded after a brief moment

-Akorem

Peter gave the Commander a bemused look. He did, in fact, know the man’s surprising lack of religion for a Bajoran. A single footnote in the man’s Intelligence file. He wasn’t sure if that was public information or not “Tell me about yourself Commander” he said as he took another sip not betraying a single emotion.

CIO

“There’s a lot in my file, that I’m sure you’re aware of. Orphan of war, adopted and raised on Bajor by cardassians. Single parent, homosexual,” he said sipped the last of the contents from his glass. “Actually, I dunno if that’s in the file but it’s not exactly a secret. What is it you’d like to know?”

-Akorem

Peter smiled at his remark, his sexual orientation was infact in his Intelligence file but the fact that Starfleet Intelligence knew thoise things was at best a State secret “A file doesn’t paint the picture of a mans experiences. What was the Academy like for you?” He asked as he swirled the contents of his glass slowly.

Peter

“Nevertheless my file is probably, particularly about my childhood tends to be a counsellor’s wet dream. Now the academy. That was exciting,” Nevin said, “Before attending the Academy, the furthest I had travelled from home was Deep Space Nine for my entrance examinations. Earth is so bright and warm compared to where I lived on Bajor. Even the run down areas of the cities are clean. I thought it was a dream, I never realised such a place was possible. No homelessness, no poverty, no starvation. Before living on Earth, I thought that these things were just ‘hidden from the brochures’ so to speak.”

He paused momentarily, “There were a lot of firsts for me too. I guess I kind of grew up late.”

-Akorem

Peter understood the man’s meaning “It’s sometimes difficult to imagine pain and suffering of that sorts when you grow up in a fairly literal Paradise” He emptied his glass, there was a slight twitch but not much else. “I didn’t leave really leave Sol until After Graduation. I uh.. My father Captained a Civilian Cargo ship, He’d planned to take my to Alpha Centauri During my First summer break at the Academy.” He smiled somberly as he poured into his glass.

Peter

Nevin sensed there was something that Peter was avoiding mentioning.

“You know Antos was born on the Olympic and has been ship-hopping with me ever since. He’s only ever been groundside for holidays,” Nevin said, “Makes me wonder what memories he’ll have of ‘home’ when he grows up. Will he even have somewhere he considers ‘home’?”

-Akorem