How the Time Flies

Chapter 8

The first thing Julian does when we get back is drag the three of us down to the infirmary. "I'm fine! Really!" I state. I walk in to the infirmary to find my sister standing there with her arms crossed waiting for who I guess was me. "Don't do that to me again." She states running over and hugging me. "Um. Sis. I can't... breath... really...hurts." I manage to mutter out. "Sorry." She says standing back. Julian sits me down and then grabs his kit. "Alright. I should have you out of here in....10 minutes." He states smiling to me. "Now what hurts?" He asks looking at his scanner, to me, then back at the scanner. "Everything..." I mutter. He lets out a slight laugh and then gets to work. He was right, in 10 minutes I was my normal, genetically enhanced self. "Spock, if you want I can-" I get cut off by him saying "Dinner would be acceptable captain."
"Right. Good. I'm going to go file some reports, the normal stuff and then I'll meet all of you around 1900?" I ask. "Sounds good to me." Julian says fixing up Vala. I nod and then head off to my office on the bridge. As soon as I walked on to the bridge, everyone stood up and commander Nog said "Captain on the bridge!"
"At ease." I say smiling slightly and looking over at Nog. One ensign who I'm guessing is new looked like she was trying to hard. "Ensign, at ease before you sprain something." I say to her. She nods and then sits down at her console. "Captain." Nog says when I come over. "Commander." I state benign formal. We both chuckle at how serious we were being. "I'll be in my office if you need me." I say to him. Then I walk over and sit down at my desk, the door closing behind me in my small room reserved for me. "You know...I should get some fish like Captain Picard...he always said it was calm and relaxing to him..." I say to myself. I am about to get up to grab some coffee when I get a call from Commander Data. "Sir you have a priority message from Admiral Janeway." He states. "Very well. Thank you." I say. I lean back in my chair, Admiral Janeway shows up on my screen. "Max! It's good to see your alright." She says. "Yes, well...how are things at Starfleet Command?" I ask her. "Actually, Max. That's what I called to talk to you about." She states, her face going from smiling to straightforward in under a second. "Oh is this about Admiral Pike? He told me about how he got a new position as principal of SC!" I say. "Max...your father didn't get the position. In fact he got something better than that. A few weeks ago Star Fleet decided they needed someone as a captain for the new ship called the Prometheus. Your father volunteered, its mission was secret and was to scout out and protect the borders of the Neutral Zone." She says. "Well, I've had secret missions before. I understand why you couldn't tell me. In fact, why are you telling me this now? I don't have clearance." I say. "Admiral Pike went MIA with his ship a week ago. We searched as much as we could, we finally found some life pods, but it was no where to be found. We rescued the 20 life pods with people on them. The whole crew was accounted for-" I finish her sentence and say "Accept my father."

"Yes..." She says sadly. "The crew has told us that he stayed on board to try and stop the computer malfunction that had to do with there cloak. The Prometheus was taking heavy damage from 3 Romulan Star fighters. Your father knew how important this ship was to Star Fleet. It was the newest ship out there and our most advanced." Admiral Janeway states. "And here I thought my ship was..." I mutter. "Max, I'm sorry to have to tell you this. But Admiral Pike, is dead." She states. I press end on the call, not even wanting to hear the sympathy. I sit there, staring at the computer screen, waiting for my father to call and tell me he had just gotten lost, or for there to be a big mistake. But there was no mistake, Star Fleet didn't make those mistakes. The father I had known since he rescued me from Delta IV was gone. I didn't cry, no that was above me. I pulled out the photo of him and I, sitting at Christmas dinner last year. I had not seen him in person since then, I'd gotten calls, I had gotten them up until the new position. He was suppose to walk me down the isle at my wedding, and he had promised he would. Little had I known that he was dead by then......I walk out of my office and straight to the turbo lift. I catch a side glance from Nog, he smiled over, but then looked worried when I didn't smile back. I head up to My quarters to get changed for dinner with Spock, now is not the time to think about your father I think to myself. "You okay?" Julian asks when I walk in. I couldn't lie to him, could I? "No." I state starting to get ready.

"What's wrong?" He asks putting down his dress uniform and sitting down next to me. He gave a serious look. "Admiral Janeway called to tell me that Admiral Pike is dead." I state. "Tay, I'm so sorry." He says. I get up pushing aside the fact that he was dead, and got ready. "Taylor, if you want you could-" he starts to say. "Stop, I know what your trying to do. Im not going to take time off during the middle of a war. That's why I got this job. I knew the moment that I got into this mess that there was a chance of someone I love dying okay? Every single time I get close to someone they get hurt, or die, or...the worst thing of all, I tricked them into dying for me!" I snap at Julian. "Tay. Shh. It's okay..it's okay." He says holding me when I sit back down on the couch after getting dressed. "If you want me to cry I won't." I state. "I'm not expecting you to, trust me. I know you well enough by now, don't I?" He says smiling at me. I nod and then get up, "Well, we need to get going, dinner with Spock and Vala." I state. "We still have 20 minutes before we need to meet them. Take some time to cool down a bit." He says putting his hands on my shoulder and sitting me back on the couch. "You better not bring Ezri into this." I state. "Wouldn't think of ever doing that..." He says. Then he goes off somewhere. "Dang it Julian." I mutter. He comes back 5 minutes later and says, "Alright, so, I called admiral Janeway and she told me what all happened. She said that the ship was no where to be found. What if he got the cloak working?" Julian states. "As much as I want to believe it. He's gone! They saw the explosion Julian. The ship was vaporized. I read the report for myself." I say. "But just theorize come on! That's what you majored in!" He says. "Theoretically if he got the cloak working, he would be safe, but since they are near the neutral zone he wouldn't be able to signal for help, and if the ship is as damaged as I think it is. He would be a sitting duck in the water. All theoretical of course. And second, I minored in theoretically astrophysics with a major in computer sciences." I state. "So you think he's still alive?" I ask. "Well. Yes....and no." Julian says.
"What do you mean by yes and no?" I ask confused. "I think he got the cloak to work but then the ship blew up, everyone saw something blow up, but after an explosion they didn't see the ship because somehow the cloak was still working." He says. "Ah. Well, thanks for the clarification. Doctor." I snap at him still angry about my father. "Let's go, we're going to be late for dinner." I state.