<USS Avalon> Weighing In Decisions by Lieutenant Anthony Manson

Weighing In Decisions

by Lieutenant Anthony Manson

Computers are everything a person needs in this day and age. And then again, 
they are exactly the things I could take large objects and throw it at them 
just to show how frustrated I was with it. Locking out the computer core and 
all access through the ship had left little room for me to get a way of 
unlocking them. In effect of my work and that of Alders- and a few others that 
joined in this little encryption venture- we all had to unlock all systems one 
at a time. The only thing I knew we were all grateful for was the fact that 
each character for the encryptions had no more than four passwords through each 
level. But there were a lot of systems. Weapons, engines, the computer itself, 
life-support, and everything else that was locked out of the ship except 
engineering. Other than the fact that the bridge had regained the command 
systems, the rest of the ship was still under lock down.

So beginning two hours ago just as the Octavius made contact with us, Alder, 
Phillipa, some others I wasn?t all too familiar with, and myself took upon the 
task of getting the encryptions out. Since most of them were under my or 
Alder?s command codes and patterns, it wasn?t too hard. The last of course was 
to have the Captain reactivate full command of the computer core.

Systems everywhere were still erratic. Repair teams were out and bustling 
around attempting to mend things. That was their field, for me, I was already 
done with the sensor systems, and working my way through communication, 
deflectors, and shields. Oh, one thing I did notice was the tension level. It 
went down more than ever expected, and I felt as if I could breath again. Which 
was why I probably not hearing Alder when he blurted something out, "...all 
fully functional."

"Say what?" I replied.

He looked at me, "I said, I got the navigation, weapons, and internal sensor 
arrays full functional. Not to mention the transporters. The bridge shouldn?t 
have any problem getting full access to it now."

"Oh...yeah, sorry- just a little distracted."

"So, how?s it like?"

I smiled a bit, "how?s what like?"

"Playing the Captain. How did it feel?"

"I dunno, I mean...it was different. Something about it that made me feel 
secluded more. But at the same time open to all. I dunno, it wasn?t as if I got 
a lot of time being a ?captain?."

"Yeah, but it must have been unique."

I shrugged, "yeah, it was unique for all the time I got to be ?in charge,? so 
to speak. But you know, I was never really in charge."

"You could say that. But the captain let you take that first moments of it, I?d 
like to experience that one day...though I can?t say under the same 
circumstances." Alder looked at me and just stared. One, I would?ve been rather 
put off by now for someone staring at me. Two, I 
liked...loved?...liked...loved... him too much to object. And three, I mellowed 
a little I think since my days at the Blackwell. 

"What do you see? I?m not a hydra you know?"

Alder chuckled, "you look nice in those Captain pips. Ever thought of aspiring 
to go that far in the fleet? And what the hell?s a hydra?"

I shook my head smiling, "it?s a Greek myth, a creature of two or three heads- 
or something like that. As for fleet, I don?t know. Maybe, but I doubt it." I 
looked at my console, "Well, we?re almost done here, the next stop is the 
bridge. Just another ten more systems to go, and the lockouts to the computer."

Alder nodded, I think he knew I was shrugging off more touchy feeling stuff 
that he knew I wasn?t all too good with. I knew he had his own insecurities- 
who doesn?t- but I really did appreciate his understanding. It made my stomach 
drop another foot closer to the ground is what it did. My next thought was what 
was going to happen to the crew once we got back home. I did remember reading 
very briefly- since at the time was the least of my concerns- about memory 
erasure after prolonged stay in a time period. If that was the case, all time 
from entering to exiting would be erased. That would mean all that Alder and I 
had been through would have been for nothing. It was then I thought, "Alder, 
when we?re done, there?s something I want to...share with you. I?m going to the 
bridge, stay here and monitor the systems, if I have any problems, or you see 
any- we can coordinate things better."

Alder nodded, "alright...What is it you wanted to share?"

"Best leave that until tonight. See you soon." I hesitated a little, knowing 
what I had in mind. Nothing against the crew mind you. In fact, it could help 
any telepaths on this ship...as for the rest...I don?t know...maybe I?ll keep 
it to myself for now. I turned and left.

I wasn?t about to lose my memories. First order, check systems and temporal 
guidelines. Second issue at hand was debatable depending on the temporal 
guidelines. I really do hope that the memory erasure part was for some extreme 
cases. The back on mind told me that this was extreme enough that I didn?t need 
to check the guidelines, but to make sure. Never know, maybe Starfleet wouldn?t 
erase our memories.

I wasn?t about to lose my memories on my personal life. The rest they can take, 
but the personal, that?s different. 



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