Posted by David Fergusson in IC: Good bye Joe
All hands had assembled on the Bridge, in the Forecastle Lounge, and in the Fan-Tailed Lounge, to watch and say goodbye as the four-man shuttle departed from the bay with its pilot and two passengers. Glen had wanted to say a few words about his XO, but he didn’t know where to start. He hadn’t always agreed with Joe about everything. Joe had actually told him that this would be the case when he had first joined the ship, and he had been proved correct. Joe was certainly a very different XO to Kord. Kord had worked from his vast experience, gained during a very long life, but that experience had not been aboard Starfleet Starships. Joe had been in Starfleet most of his life, but his decisions came from his gut and were instinctive. Glen had needed someone to challenge his decisions; to make him think a second time about an order. That act of challenge was good for Glen and had made him make better decisions. He was going to miss Joe in many different ways.

On the other hand, the Major had stayed aboard long beyond what was generally welcome, but Glen was forced to admit that he had actually done some good with his treatments for some of the crew who still had Post Traumatic Stress Disorders. Even though some of his treatments had seemed rather unconventional, they worked, and the Psychiatrist obviously knew what he was doing. However, having a permanent Psychiatrist aboard the Merrimack was bad for morale, for teamwork and for the line of command. Everyone aboard had felt as if they were being constantly watched and analysed. That couldn’t have continued much longer.

Cross watched from afar,she could not bring herself to tell the Cmdr ‘Goodbye’ .There had been a special bond between them that few could ever understand how deep it went .

The shuttle left right at the scheduled time, and it began its slow journey to take it’s two passengers back to the Alpha Quadrant. Most crew were sorry to see Joe, the XO, leave after such a short time, but happier to see the end of grumpy and difficult, Major Stanley Wong. There were a few shouts and cheers heard, a rendition somewhere of ‘for he’s a jolly good fellow’, tears and laughs. Soon, the darkness of space finally closed in around the distant image of the shuttle and it could be seen no more. Then there was a single flash as it jumped to Warp One and left the system, before switching to autopilot mode.

• Glen, CO

As the female doctor finally saw the flash ,she wiped the tears away and headed back to sickbay .

Cross CMO.