Captain's Confession

Posted on Wed Jun 26th, 2024 @ 8:56pm by Captain Aisling Banerjee

1,662 words; about a 8 minute read

Aisling could almost feel some palpable energy in the air as she strode down the corridor. Did she imagine it or was Elle's excitement somehow bleeding through the decks like some strange telepathy?

Or was it just her own excitement at the prospect of seeing her new command for the first time?

She paused at the turbolift doors and realized with no small amount of humor that by the time she got used to The Muse of Fire's layout she would be parting. The doors swooshed open.

And Devin Hadenbeer stood there, clad in ship's uniform, holding a...

"Is that a cane?" Aisling inquired, then realized belated how stupid that question sounded.

"Indeed it is," Devin replied, stepping back to allow Aisling to enter, "I suffered from exposure to a flesh eating virus, chewed up a considerable portion of my right quadriceps. I had to undergo numerous surgeries and in the mean time I had to use a cane. I crafted quite a few of them. Oh, bridge."

The doors swooshed shut and Devin held the cane out to Aisling. She hesitated, then accepted the cane and turned it in her hands. Black shaft, silver ergnomic handle that fit will in the hand. She pursed her lips, cocked her head. Then she firmly grabbed the shaft and gave the head a firm twist. There was a quiet clicking sound, the handle slid free. And attached to it...

Attached to it was a blade! Aisling grinned with glee as she slide the sword free of the cane, careful not to cut herself or Devin in the process. It was double bladed and felt light, and the balance...the balanced felt...

"Perfect," Aisling breathed, admiring the sword.

"It's yours," Devin said, "A gift," the Muse's first officer smiled, "Trust me, I have plenty in my collection. Phaser canes, an air rifle cane..."

"Oh, I couldn't!" Aisling exclaimed, "I...it's magnificent!" she hesitated, then asked, "What...what metal did you use?"

"Carbon steel, with the cane itself made of aluminium. Why, can't you..." Devin glanced at the wall and seemed to take note of their position on the turbolift map, "Pause!" she called out. She turned back to Aisling, "I understood fencing was a hobby of yours."

"How..." Aisling grimaced, was about to say 'Elle'

"Say her name and she shall appear," Devin noted with a slight smile. The smile faded, "As a matter of fact, when I was going through my things and came across the cane she suggested it might be a nice gift. I am now thinking she wanted me to use it as an excuse to speak to you about something."

"How much of my record are you aware of?" Aisling inquired mildly as she slowly, reluctantly slid the blade back into the cane.

"You mean, did I look up your file as you did mine? I read it. But I had the advantage as the voyage of the Lionheart A was classified. May I share a story with you? It is a short one."

"...All right."

"I murdered forty of my crew," Devin paused, swallowed, "I sent twenty scout ships to buy Lionheart time to escape. Brec DeNar commanded them, he did not hesitate," Devin smiled sadly, "He was fascinated by Earth pirates, his last words were a quote from 'Black Bart' Roberts: A merry life, and a short one will be my motto. Later the inquest said I acted properly, but..." Devin shrugged, "For me it's the not knowing, you see. We jumped to another dimension while they still fought and..."

Devin sighed, "I did not write for months after that. I did not play the piano, really. Just...scales. Over and over again. You know what brought me out?"

"What?" Aisling inquired, curious.

Devin glanced at the ceiling, "You know who. She asked me what I was doing. I was so shocked I almost fell off the bench. She asked me if that was music, noted that it seemed very repetitious. So she was a critic from the outset. I was not certain what I was dealing with yet so I offered to play some music. I played some Brahms; the later material, not his earlier, more energetic work. And after five or so minutes I finished, and there was a pause. And Elle-she did not have a name yet, then-confessed what she was and politely asked me not to kill her. She admitted that, after reading Starfleet regulations regarding artificial intelligence on our ships it had pondered killing us all in self defense."

"What stopped her?" Aisling quietly asked.

Devin's head dropped and she regarded Aisling with a sad smile, "She was terribly, terribly lonely. And had so many questions about what she was, why she was. She was curious about, well, everything. As you can imagine the first lessons this reformed criminal taught her was morals and ethics."

"She could have killed you."

"Captain, she still could. So could an insane person who had access to engineering or environmental controls. We could just as easily die of a spontaneous singularity or Q being bored and turning us into salmon to flop around on the deck. Now kindly tell me why Elle asked me to gift you that magnificent sword cane."

Aisling hesitated, then with a sigh said, "During the Borg take over last year I was in sickbay. When I practice I adjust the safety protocols so the training hologram can hurt me. Not too much, you understand, but a cut or stab serves as a harsh lesson. And no, Devin, I do not like pain but I do want to be an excellent swordswoman."

She turned the can in her hands, regarding it, "I was being treated to a thrust to my bicep and Doctor Bral had just finished when," she hesitated, took a breath, "We had a young crew. It was in many ways a training ship. Bral, myself and Michaels, an intern, were the only ones older than twenty five in Sickbay. Bral was hurt, I swung my sword and slashed ensign Breca. M'Dod came at me..."

Aisling swallowed, "I cut across her jugular, barely registered it as I dragged Breca to her office, erected the force field. Michaels was already dead. I spent the entirety of the attack attempting to override transporter control remotely but, well, by then Enterprise and Picard had destroyed the Borg and I had two corpses to deal with in Sickbay. I hadn't handled a blade since."

Devin nodded, "The counselors made all the right noises, of course. You did the right thing. There was nothing you could have done. You did your best. You saved a life. But you still feel like you failed. And no matter what they say, no matter what the inquest reported, you are always going to feel like you could have done better, that there was something else you could have done. And so you punish yourself by not writing, by not practicing swordplay, because you do not deserve to be happy when people died on your watch. Am I close, Captain?"

"...Close enough," Aisling admitted.

"And so the counselors, because they have so many cases, patch you up just enough to be functional because they need you in that command chair. And you grow steadily more miserable, with duty a stone around your neck, your life a joyless existence. You know, I think," Devin spared a quick glance up at the ceiling and smiled slightly, "she chose you for another reason beyond your penchant for writing."

"Oh?" Aisling replied, curious despite herself.

"Bridge," Devin murmured, and the turbolift started up again, "Perhaps she thought you deserved to be happy. And as she provided me with enough of a distraction to allow me to drag myself out of my self destructive funk, perhaps she thinks she can do the same for you. One thing is for certain; with her around you will not be bored."

The turbolift glided to a halt and the doors opened onto the bridge. Jack Sunbear rose from the command chair and regarded the pair.

"I was starting to get worried," he noted with a grin, "With Elle's silence," he nodded at the hologram standing nearby, whose gaze was studiously examining something fascinating on the floor, "I thought the pair of you were having an argument."

"Just a friendly conversation," Devin noted, "And I was presenting the Captain-"

"Aisling," Aisling replied reflexively as her eyes were drawn to the forward viewscreen, at the ship that was slowly coming into view as Muse of Fire entered the station's inner dock.

"-Aisling with a gift. If she is willing to accept it."

"Hmmm?" Aisling regarded the vessel. Four nacelles. A sleek hull. She looked as if she were ready to leap into warp speed at a moment's notice. Reluctantly she turned from the screen, eyed Elle, who looked hesitantly in her direction.

"It's a beautiful ship," Elle remarked.

"It is," Aisling replied.

"I...hope you liked Devin's gift."

"Your gift, you mean," at that Elle bit her lip nervously. The expression was almost comical and Aisling felt herself smile despite herself. She took the head of the cane in hand and allowed the ferrule to touch the deck. Aisling experimentally allowed the cane to take her weight. Hmmmm, what sorts of sword cane fighting techniques were there? The aluminum scabbard would be an effective parrying tool...

"It was very kind of you, Elle," Aisling noted, then added with sincerity, "Thank you," she turned back to the viewscreen, "Kepler, eh?"

"I submitted a formal request to have her re-named 'Shiva The Destoyer'," Elle replied. Aisling's head whipped back around, Elle shrugged, "Somehow I think Admiral Janeway is going to tell me 'no'."

Aisling shook her head, "I can see why," before Elle could reply Aisling added with a grin, "There isn't enough room on the saucer for the name."

Elle smiled in return, "Well, they could always use a smaller font..."

 

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