Later Days {Star Trek Enterprise Fan Fiction}

We Meet Again

A day before the NX-01 finally ended its mission, Chip Masterson held a final Movie Night. "This is a classic," he had said, "the first James Bond flick, Dr. No." But he hadn't joked about the film, or even mentioned who was in it, like he normally did. There was no discussion afterwards, either, for his mood was the same as that of the remainder of the crew – somber.

It had only been a few days before that Tripp Tucker had died. But Captain Archer, inexplicably, had insisted on the showing of the final movie. And so all that Chip had added was the one final command, "Roll it, Aidan."

Only a few people had attended. Apart from Chip Masterson and Aidan MacKenzie, Travis Mayweather had put in an appearance, as had Doctor Phlox and some of the MACOs, like Nanette Myers and Eric Forbes and Ramih Azar. Plus there were a few of the others, like Sandra Sloane and Judy Kelly. Ethan Novakovich from the Science Department was also there. And that was about it.

Travis thought about that last Movie Night a little bit, as he flew Shuttlepod One for one last excursion. He had a few passengers – Susie Money and Michael Rostov. Plus there was Captain Archer himself. They were leaving the Enterprise for good, and were the last ones off.

He had touched down carefully, as he always did, and grabbed his duffle. "Got any plans?" the captain asked as Rostov and Money departed.

"Nothing much," Travis admitted, "After your speech I had no plans so, I dunno."

"I've got a new ship, the DC-1500, the USS Zefram Cochrane," said Jonathan Archer, "I'd like for you to be my stick and rudder man again."

"Thank you, sir," Travis said, "how soon do we get underway?"

"At least a month from now. Reed's starting paternity leave, and he'll be gone for three years. I've got Aidan filling in at Tactical and he'll be promoted. Phlox is heading back to Denobula, so we'll have an interim CMO, a fellow near retirement named Cyril Morgan. T'Pol is going back to Vulcan. She'll be replaced at Science by an Ensign Lucy Stone, who comes highly recommended. Hoshi will stay on at Communications but will be the Acting First Officer while Malcolm's out changing diapers. Hoshi will be promoted to Lieutenant. I'd like to do the same for you – the promotion, that is."

"I appreciate your confidence in me, sir," Travis swallowed a little before asking his next question. "And who'll be the Chief Engineer?"

There was quiet. "Jennifer Crossman Ramirez. José Torres will be her second. But, uh, it'll be a while before we depart. I, uh, I think we need to do a little mourning. I know I do."

"Understood," Travis said.

"I'll be in touch," said Jonathan. He left.

Travis walked to a nearby transport station, duffle swinging in his hands. "Where to?" asked the girl at the ticket window.

"Anywhere that I can get to in an hour."

"There are lots of places," she said, "Hey, aren't you one of the heroes of the NX-01?"

"I'm nobody," he said, "Can you show me a map of where I can go in an hour?"

She highlighted a map of North America on her PADD. "From San Francisco, you can go to over three-quarters of the continent in one hour."

He thought for a moment, and pointed. "There."

"Very well, sir. One ticket to Philadelphia. One way or round trip?"

"Round trip."

=/\=

Two months elapsed before he got the call. "Come," was all that the captain said.

He got onto the transport at the Bala Cynwyd station and saw a familiar face. It was MACO Neil Kemper. Looking at him, Kemper said, "We meet again, Mister Bond."

Travis smiled a little, grateful for having had a bit of time off to mull over recent events.

There was a letter on his PADD from Reed, now a Commander, filled with news of the baby, Declan. There was a note from his mother, with a picture enclosed of her and his brother, Paul. There was a note from Doctor Phlox, mentioning the news on Denobula. There was even a short missive from T'Pol, expressing a wish that he and the rest of the Cochrane's crew would be safe throughout their mission.

But he neglected them all in favor of answering Neil. "Yes," he said, "we meet again."