Prologue Two: Devin
Posted on Sun Jun 16th, 2024 @ 9:52pm by Captain Aisling Banerjee
2,413 words; about a 12 minute read
“I think that should about cover it,” Devin said to her staff, “If we scour the starboard EPS conduit we should find that annoying glitch. I realize that means a sleepless night but keeping Captain Menes mollified is my number one duty in life so I would appreciate it if everyone would make me look good, hmmm?”
That was met with a few wry chuckles. With a nod from her the Operations staff filed out. They knew their jobs and they also knew if they did not find that annoying sensor glitch that Captain Menes would grow…irate. And the man had a knack for making people’s lives miserable. Unfortunately for Devin a highly competent staff meant she had little else to do.
She stared down at the PADD in her hand, at the three notes on the music template. Three notes in as many months. When was the last time she had even played a piano? Not since before the penal colony. Hell, even before then. Her fingers ached to touch keys once more. There was no drive, no inspiration. Just the monotonous daily grind of a dead end job for a boss that was one step above a martinet. This was her life now. Devin snorted and dropped the PADD on her desk. Whether by accident or design Janeway and her crony Shelby had designed the perfect punishment for her; as department head she was forced to interact with the captain, constantly on the bridge in the shadow of the chair she would never again be allowed to sit in.
A chime sounded: yellow alert. Devin was on her feet and out the doors immediately. Menes was a miserable sort but he was not prone to panic. She exited the turbolift onto the bridge. Menes was just taking his seat after his habitual walk about the stations; he spotted her and gave a nod of acknowledgement. They did not get along but he recognized her competence at least. He jerked his head towards the screen.
“Not something you see every day,” he noted.
Devin turned to the screen. And blinked. It was a Ferengi D’Kora class, colored tan with bars of brown criss-crossing the hull.
“Sir,” Norton stated from Ops, “Transponder identifies it as-“
“The Muse of Fire,” Devin murmured.
Menes turned from Norton back to her, “You are familiar with this ship?”
“Only by reputation,” Devin replied, “Is it…coming this way?”
“It is,” Mene replied, “Warp seven, as a matter of fact. Norton, are their shields still down?”
“Aye, sir. And weapons are not charged.”
“Huh. All the same, maintain yellow alert until we h-“ he paused when he saw Norton’s hand raised. Menes grew notoriously upset when interrupted, “Yes, Norton?”
“They are hailing us, sir!” Norton replied, then paused, “And…it’s an Admiralty transponder code. It’s…Janeway, sir.”
Menes’ eyebrows rose, “Now what the hell is a Starfleet Admiral doing on a…” he shrugged, “Put her through.”
The Muse of Fire was replaced on the screen by Admiral Kathryn Janeway standing on the vessel’s bridge beside a smiling Jack Sunbear. Devin’s breath caught in her chest at the sight of him. He looked…well, damn good, to be honest. He wore the years very well. Before Janeway or Menes could speak Jack said, “Devin! You look…miserable.”
Menes turned back to Devin, “You know this man?”
“Captain Sunbear is my friend,” Devin explained.
Menes blinked, “You have friends?” someone snickered, Menes grimaced, obviously embarrassed by his rash statement. Turning back to the screen he said, “Admiral, this is an unexpected pleasure. And Captain Sunbear, that is quite an interesting ship under your command. May I ask the reason for this hail?”
Janeway nodded, “A pleasure, Captain. We have come to speak with Commander Hadenbeer.”
“You…flew all this way out here…just to talk to Hadenbeer?”
Janeway smiled, “Well, believe it or not we happened to be in the neighborhood…”
*
Menes escorted the Admiral to the main conference room. He spared both her and Hadenbeer a curious glance before shaking his head and departing. Janeway waited until the doors closed before turning to Devin and inquiring, “How are you?”
Devin pursed her lips, then said, “Well, judging by the lack of malice in your tone I can assume you are here of your own free will.”
“I am,” Janeway replied, “I have been speaking with Elle. She is…well, she is quite a negotiator.”
“And what is she negotiating for?” Devin inquired cautiously.
“Your freedom, for a start,” Janeway replied. She held up a PADD, “Your sentence has been commuted, the transponder will be removed, and you have the option to be honorably discharged if you so choose. Also, you are immune from the re-activation clause.”
“And what did she have to promise in order to for me to receive these things, Admiral?” Devin asked, dread forming in the pit of her stomach.
“Elle will be transferring to a Starfleet vessel,” Janeway began.
“Oh, so now it is all right for an artificial intelligence to be installed on a Starfleet ship?” Devin replied acidly. She tapped her comm badge, “Norton, Hadenbeer. I need a channel to the Muse.”
“Devin,” Janeway began, “This is an honorable deal-“
“I won’t have Elle under your control!” Devin snapped, “I would slit my wrists before I was made a bargaining chip so you could be in a position to harm her! You can take that deal and you can-“
“Channel open,” Norton replied.
Devin turned from Janeway, “Muse, Hadenbeer. I need to speak to Elle,” Devin turned back to Janeway, “It is all right with you if I speak to Elle now, isn’t it, Admiral?”
Janeway was taken aback by the sheer hostility in Devin’s tone, but before she could respond a voice quietly spoke from the corner, “Admiral, perhaps you should go out and speak to Captain Menes before he panics when he finds out an artificial intelligence has used the open comm channel to speak to Devin?”
Devin turned. Elle’s holographic presence stood at the head of the table, she looked exactly as she had years ago, which is to say she appeared as Devin had as a fresh faced lieutenant, so full of promise and optimism. Only she seemed more…mature. Self assured, clad in a form fitting black dress, her expression sober.
Janeway hesitated, then she quietly set the padd on the table and exited the conference room. Devin felt at a loss. It had been so long since she had seen Elle, spoken to her.
“You’ve changed,” Devin finally said.
“For the better, I hope.”
“Well, you seem a bit less of a brat.”
Elle smiled slightly at that, then it faded, , “You look tired, Devin. And Jack was right; you do look miserable.”
“Yes, to both,” Devin admitted. She didn’t remember sitting down. Elle glided over and took a seat beside her, her hands reached out and gently gripped Devin as their eyes met. God, Devin thought. She had missed Elle so much, had wanted to say so much, and was speechless.
“I know,” Elle murmured, smiling warmly, “I know Devin. I missed you, too. Terribly.”
They shared a silence for some moments. At last Devin turned towards the padd , she let go of Elle’s hands and picked it up. She scrolled through the contents and Janeway had not lied.
“I am so very sorry I did this to you,” Elle began.
“You did nothing,” Devin replied quickly, “You deserve life, just like any other sentient.”
“But what they’ve done to you…!”
Devin snorted, “Knowing you are safe has been enough to get me through it. Most days, anyway,” she frowned, “What did you have to promise to Janeway?”
“I will be working for her,” Elle replied, “They are frightened, Devin. And they need me. And I am too much your…your daughter to say ‘no’.”
“They need you. Not us?”
“Devin,” Elle hesitated, “It was…difficult to not insist you be my Captain. And perhaps if I pressed hard enough Janeway would have relented. But Devin, you do not deserve another trans-dimensional trip. Let someone else endure that. I love you, Devin. You are, have always been, the most important being in my life. You endured so much on my behalf. Please, let me do this for you. Retire, step away. You love Starfleet but is has not given you remotely the same devotion and respect.”
“But I can’t stand the thought of you under the control of one of Janeway’s toadies.”
Elle laughed, “Toadies! Now there is a word. I have a theoretically limitless vocabulary but I never considered using that term. I like it. I have to agree to the captain. And I think I might have already found a likely candidate. And no, it isn’t Dare or Jack.”
Elle paused, “Devin, what makes me willing to do this is the knowledge that you are free, that you are safe. That you have the chance to be happy in a way you haven’t in such a long, long time. You gave up so much to protect me. Please, let me do this for you.”
“You can’t trust her, Elle.”
“I know. But I think I can handle Janeway or her…toadies.”
And for the first time in, well, a terribly long time, Devin Hadenbeer smiled.
*
“I wish you would reconsider,” Janeway said, “With your sentence commuted you have a serious chance of achieving command rank again.”
Devin regarded herself in the full length mirror. The black trousers and boots were offset by the tan tunic. It was an understated uniform but she liked it. Without turning she replied, “Admiral, we both know my chances of acquiring a ship are about as likely as the universe spontaneously ceasing to exist. My only regret is I could not quit Starfleet twice.”
She stepped over to the bed and checked her bag, there was very little to take. She had left behind all her uniforms, anything and everything Starfleet related.
“What will you do with yourself?” Janeway inquired.
“What are my plans?” Devin replied, “What are my goals? My aspirations? You truly wish to know?”
“Yes.”
Devin smiled, “Good bye, Admiral.”
And Devin left Janeway standing there, the Admiral’s expression one of frustration and bemusement.
*
Devin stepped off the transporter pad and had to pause to take it in. Everything was paneled in what looked like oak and it was certainly a striking appearance. She almost missed Jack Sunbear, who stood there with his fists on his hips, regarding her.
“Per-“ she began.
“Granted,” Jack replied as he threw out his arms to her, “Now come here and give us a-oof!”
Devin flew into Jack’s arms, the joy in her chest was so great she thought her heart would burst. She had not truly realized just how utterly despondent she had been until now.
“Gods,” she whispered fervently, “Please let this not be a holo program.”
“Hey, now,” Jack murmured, holding her close, “It’s over. As one door closes, and all that.”
“I need to contact my brothers, Dare.”
“Time for all that later,” he slipped his arm around Devin’s waist and called over his shoulder, “McKay, call the bridge, tell them to get under way. I want as much distance between me and that damned Admiral as I can get. And get Miss Hadenbeer’s bag to her quarters, will you?” the transporter operator gave a hearty “Aye, cap’n!” right before the doors cut her off.
“Janeway will still want…” Devin began, then her voice died as she regarded the wood paneled floors and walls, “Is the entire ship like this?”
“Eh, more or less,” Jack replied as he guided her, “You were saying about Janeway?”
“She will still want Elle. Unless…this was some clever ruse…”
Elle appeared with a wry expression on her face and fell into step beside Devin, “No ruse, I am afraid. I will have to leave, sooner rather than later,” the wry expression turned into a warm smile, “But for now I have my two captains in the same place. Oh, Devin, there is so much for you to do here! We have Tudor era musicians who need original compositions. And our conductor is retiring to live with her grandchildren and the orchestra needs-“
“You have an orchestra?” Devin breathed, eyes widening.
“Sixty four musicians,” Jack assured her, “the count remains relatively stable, with us losing and gaining people here and there. And while I’m far from expert I think they’re pretty darn good. But there is more; Elle here has acted as my executive officer-“
“Wait, people know she exists?”
Jack smiled, “We tell people Elle has a near terminal condition and requires isolation and uses a cybernetic interface to create an idealized holographic representation of herself.”
“And people actually believe that?”
Elle shrugged, “Let’s just say it’s a lie people either choose to believe. It’s a pretty tight crew, closer to, well, a village, with shops and artists and actors, most of whom pull double duty as crew to do what needs doing.”
“And Elle has done a remarkable job as my deputy mayor of said village,” Jack noted with pride, “With her leaving I am going to need someone at my right hand to help keep things running smoothly. You think you might be up for the job?”
Conducting an orchestra, the challenge of writing period music. The difficulties of a civilian crew who saw shipboard duties as secondary to their creative pursuits. Her body almost vibrated with an eagerness she had not felt in years.
But first…
“By any chance, is.…there a piano on board?” Devin murmured, fingers twitching.
Elle’s smile was as warm as any human’s, “We have an old friend on board, willed to us by Jones after he passed. It’s in your quarters. It is likely out of tune, but, well, we are sure you can fix that.”
Devin regarded the pair, it took everything in her to retain her composure. For the first time in…longer than she could recall she felt like she was some place that felt like…home.
“Well,” Devin said with an affected sigh as they resumed their walk, “I hope he willed you the bench; that was where we kept the tools…”
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