[ussbansheec] Homefront
- From: "Moria Grace" <bansheec@xxxxxxx>
- To: <ussbansheec@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Sun, 18 Sep 2005 23:40:19 -0400
"Homefront"
Banshee Familes
Something wasn't right but Melanie couldn't put her finger on what it was.
She'd been having a bad feeling for days and when she'd gotten the note from
Admiral Kaelyre, she knew that she was about to find out why. Looking over at
Vevay as they waited for the lift that would take them up to the conference
room, Melanie felt a little stronger. Thank the Gods she was home when the
message came. I don't think I could do this without her.
Taking Mel's hand, Vevay smiled reassuringly. It'll be alright, she thought.
"Just a promotion for Grace," she said without really believing it.
Any time he ever came over to the mainland, there was trouble of some sort.
That was why Pila Maluhia never went much. The note from the Starfleet Admiral
had rather upset him with its vagueness and lack of detail so his younger son,
Tommy, was with him as they headed for the conference room at Starfleet
headquarters. Of course it had to do with Andy but why the big production? What
was going on? It worried the old man more than he cared to think.
Nightwalker's hand was on her shoulder and Vincent was by her side but Talibah
felt fear curl through her stomach as she walked through Starfleet HQ. Dark
dreams had been haunting her for days now and she hated it. "Elements, I don't
like this place," she muttered.
There was nothing Nightwalker could say. He, too, had been having the
nightmares. They'd lost something precious and he feared they'd never get it
back.
"It'll be alright, Vada, not matter what it is." Noah said calmly as he walked
along side Nightwalker. His v'rian, he adoptive cousins, would not be lost to
him or anyone else who loved them. The Great Wolf could not be that cruel.
Could it?
Annabelle felt sick as she left her lab and headed across HQ's grounds. Mac had
been at a meeting that morning so she would wait in the lobby of the Kirk
building for both of them.
Retired Rear-Admiral Ketchum had the shuttle pilot land on the platform at
Starfleet Headquarters, he walked out and across the courtyard towards Admiral
Kaelyre's office. The message was limited, just asking him to come at the
appointed day and time.
He hadn't been to the headquarters since he retired, spending his time on Alpha
Centauri watching over his own grand-daughter, as Tess was Captaining the
Avalon-E. But he had talked to the Admiral via sub-space many times, consulting
on affairs and such. Walking into the Kirk Building he took the lift towards
the meeting room.
Sara stood in her office looking out over the bay. She looked tired and her
eyes were still puffy and red. She sighed as she felt a pair of arms wrap
around her. "I'm glad you came with me, Imzdai."
"Where else would I have gone, Love?" Cyanah asked. "This is as much about
their children as it is about our daughter. We're all going to be in this
together."
Ming's arm was around Vilya's waist as they approached the conference room but
her eyes darkened when she saw the familiar Hawaiian faces headed there from
the opposite direction.
"Mr. Maluhia," Vilya said as she greeted the older man with a kiss on his
cheek. Tommy hugged her before she asked, "They asked you here too?"
"I don't like this one bit,"Ming grumbled.
"Me either, Reverend," Pila said darkly.
"Pila," Nightwalker grunted as he walked up behind Talibah and Vincent. "This
is not a happy meeting, I think."
Keith made his way down the corridor, he noticed the people ahead, he knew Ming
and Vilya. But the others he didn't. Clearing his throat, "I'm beginning to
feel the same way. Seeing you here Vilya, and Ming, starts to bring back some
memories. I wonder who else is invited" as he turned to look down the corridor
that he had just come. At that moment something tugged at his mind, but he
brushed it off.
Stepping off the turbo lift with V's hand still in her own, Melanie looked down
at the gathering crowd. "Hello everyone." She greeted softly as they
approached. "It's good to see you again, Sir." She smiled at Keith. "Vilya,
Reverend."
Keith smiled back.
"This is Pila Maluhia, sir, and his son Koma" Ming said to Keith. "Pila's older
son is the Marine CO on the Banshee."
"I'm Talibah t'Ghaladriel," the Romulan woman said quietly. "My son is Chief of
Fight Operations on the Banshee and my daughter is in Security there."
Vilya smiled at her. The Romulan woman had become somewhat familiar after her
son joined the Fleet. The elder gentleman with her thought the large family
would be a safe haven similar to his home on Dorvan V. "It's good to see you
again, Talibah, but I don't think I'm going to care for the circumstances."
These were the parents and family of her daughter's crew. Melanie's heart hurt.
Why would Star Fleet call together the families of the senior staff like this?
Noah noticed the dark haired woman go weak in the knees and quickly stepped
forward to catch her. "Are you alright, Ma'am?"
"I've got her," Vevay said kindly as she wrapped her arms around Mel. Kissing
her wife's cheek, she tried to smile. "It'll be alright," she asserted.
Nightwalker shook his head but said nothing. There wasn't a single thing about
this that was going to be alright and it actually scared him.
Tommy kept his hand on his father's shoulder. All Maluhias had the constitution
of rocks but Andy was a favorite of most of the family. He was their big
brother, protector, and friend. Nobody had ever lost a son in the family
before.
Drawing strength from her wife, Melanie pulled herself together and looked at
each of the others before asking, "Do any of you know why the families of my
daughter's senior staff are mostly all here?"
"I wish I knew something also. But having retired, I'm out of the loop." He
paused, realizing that most were the closest relatives for the Banshee crew,
and I must be here in place of Phillipa, as they are my grand-children and I am
their closest relative. He shrugged, "Perhaps we should go into the room, as
the hall-way is getting rather crowded, and find out what's going on."
Ensign Lee knocked on the Admiral's door before entering. "Excuse me Ma'ams.
All but the McEntires, the Hales, and Commander Garrity have arrived."
Sara turned from the window, her wife still at her side. "Tell the ones who are
here that I will be in shortly and inform me the moment the others gets here."
Ensign Lee nodded. "Aye Admiral." Turning sharply on his heel Ensign Lee headed
down the hall to the room the others were just filing into. Stepping in after
them he said, "Admiral Kaelyre will be in shortly. Please have a seat and help
yourselves to the replacatoir."
Pila found a comfortable seat where he could see everyone else. He knew some of
them only by face or name but it didn't matter. They were mother and father,
maybe grandfather and grandmother, even brother or sister. Whatever it was, to
have that many of the same sort of people in one place mean only one thing to a
man who was a police officer for so long. Andy, my boy, what have you gotten
into?
Anna, her hand in Mac's, walked over to Belle. "Hey sweetheart," she whispered,
her fear playing in her eyes and quivering her voice. Slipping her free arm
around her friend's waist, they all headed up to the Conference Room.
John was late. Lindsey rolled her eyes as she wandered into the Conference Room
alone only to freeze at the sea of scared faces. She recognized far too many as
belonging to the parents and/or relatives of the Senior Staff of the Banshee.
And my little girl only just transferred there. "What's going on?" she asked
carefully.
John all but ran into the room like a first year cadet running into his
classroom, sliding into his seat a though hoping nobody would notice. Kissing
his wife upon the cheek, he muttered, "Sorry I'm late," before looking around
at the others in the room. As realization dawned, he stood back up, shaking his
head. "Oh, hell no," he whispered, going white as he realized who these other
people in the room were, and what that most likely meant for his little Evy.
Keith stood in the corner, facing into the room. Walking was one thing for him,
which he still could do quite well at his age, but sitting and standing, up and
down, was another. He looked from face to face, studying it.
Annabelle walked into the room with Mac and Anna and froze. She'd been in
service to long to not know this wasn't good.
Ensign Lee walked into the Admiral's office to tell her everyone had finally
arrived. Sara sighed and thanked the young man before looking over at her wife
who caressed her face before they both headed to the conference room. The faces
that greeted her wasn't helping with what she had to do. Stepping into the room
she walked over and stood at the head of the table. "Good afternoon everyone.
For those of you who don't know me, I'm Admiral Sara Kaelyre."
Vilya glanced at Ming. He was definitely paying attention but she couldn't help
but notice he'd taken out his rosary. His fingers moved in a steady, slow
rhythm over the well used beads.
"What's going on, Admiral?" Melanie asked.
Sara looked at each face before taking a deep breath. "As most of you know the
Banshee was sent into the Badlands a month ago to investigate a matter there
concerning a wormhole." Sara paused before going on. "Two weeks ago we received
our last communication from the Banshee. Shortly after that the USS Yorktown
was sent to investagte the lack of communication with the Banshee. Since then
the USS Crazyhorse and the USS Tripalee have also been sent to investagte. All
three ships' reports are the same." Sara paused again. Her heart was tearing
into pieces and it was all she could do to keep it together. "The USS Banshee
and her crew have been officially listed as MIA."
Annabelle went white. Her only son lost to a wormhole in the Badlands just like
his father.
"They're just missing?" Melanie asked.
Sara nodded. "There's no sign they've been destroyed, they're simply not there
or anywhere else for that matter."
Talibah shook her head. "No," she whispered. "No, this cannot be. My son, my
daughter."
A softly sucked in breath. That was all Tommy heard from his father but the
look on his face was more than enough. He finally looked old to him. "Ke
kaikaina..."
"All of our children," Anna gasped as a hand flew to her mouth. "Gone? Just...
just gone."
Sitting there, grim faces, Nightwalker frowned. That was what he'd felt. Their
absence, not just death, but complete lack of existence in any Realm. "How do
we get them back?" he said.
"First, I want you all to know that I'm not merely standing here as an
Admiral." Sara looked over at the tiny redhead standing just off to her left.
"Our daughter's the executive officer on Banshee." Turning to look at the man
who'd asked the question she replied, "We have had to send the ships I spoke of
before to other assignments but we are prepared to send yet another team in to
find out what happened and where they are."
As if on cue the doors hissed opened and a tall woman with dark blonde hair,
light brown eyes, and Captain's pips walked in.
"Your just in time Captain Hale." Sara said as she watched the woman walk in.
Miranda blinked at the group of people and then paled at the sight of not only
her own parents but her Uncle Mac and her Aunts Anna and Belle. Turning to the
Admiral she came to attention and nodded before walking over and placing her
hand on her mother's shoulder. The look in the older woman's eyes was scaring
the hell out of Miranda but she didn't let it show.
"Captain Hale and the Tempest as well as Captain Davis and the Fernchruch-C
will be dispatched at the end of the day to the Badlands." Sara told them all.
"The ships are top of the line and will be able to find out far more then the
previous ships." She once again looked at each face in the room. "I have no
intentions of this becoming another Voyager."
Mac had long since stopped hearing her, eyes wide with despair. Not again. No
way this can be happening again. That's when it struck him. The date. Two weeks
ago....fourty years ago...the same date. It was the same damned wormhole! It
had to be. He looked from Anna to Belle and back before shaking his head,
rising to his feet, his anger all that was keeping his heart from breaking, and
striding purposefully toward the door.
"I also fully intend to reopen the Pathfinder project which will be under the
jurisdiction of the Garrity Research Project." Sara added looking pointedly at
McEntire who ran the program along with Annabelle Garrity.
"Oh God, please don't run away, Mac," Anna whispered. Instead of following him,
she clasped her hands in her lap and tried not to die.
Miranda looked down at her father with a 'do something' glare which made her
look very much like her mother.
Vilya glanced at Pila and shook her head. She knew of at least two others
aboard whose parents were as old as he was. There was no way she'd let them
hear the news from a cold letter.
When he didn't turn around, Anna felt her chest collapse. "Fuck this," she
muttered as she, too, pushed to her feet, "I'm not dealing with this on my
own." Tears in her eyes, she tried to storm out but a large, tall presence
stopped her.
"But you're not on your own," Nightwalker said in calm, even tones. Then he
addressed everyone in the room. "None of us are alone in this. We must share
this pain, we must work together to get them back."
Sara wasn't sure who this man was but she was grateful to him. "And we will get
them back."
Keith had remained silent throughout the exchange and let the information sink
in. Finally he moved, "Admiral, I would like to offer my consulting services to
the plans. I've served with most of you, and requisitioned a new ship when the
'Avalon Children' were born. We were a family, I wanted to make sure that you
stuck together, and we will stick together now. We will be a family once again,
with our children and grand-children."
"Thank you, Sir." Sara nodded. "Welcome aboard."
Pila finally lost the cold, sad look in his eyes then turned those eyes onto
his younger son. "The admiral has a point, Tommy. It's just another form of
ohana: for us and for them, out there..."
Mac, who had stopped just beyond the doorway, stepped back in past the tall man
and wrapped his arms around his wife. "I'm sorry, sweetness. You're not alone.
I'm sorry." Looking at the others assembled there, his eyes finally rested on
his former captain."Thank you, sir."
Leaning into Mac's hug, Anna said nothing but her relief was clear in her eyes.
The smile Nightwalker gave her, though, said it all for her.
"For any of those wishing a transfer to the new Pathfinder project they will be
put through. Any civilian willing to sign on as a consultant will be accepted."
Sara announced. "The powers that be have granted my request to head this
mission so we are all truly in this together.."
Vincent hadn't said a word but he looked at Talibah. It was up to her. He knew
Joseph didn't like him but he was still Talibah's son and that was enough for
him. And there was Tabetha, too.
"I don't know what I can offer," Talibah said quietly, "but you have all the
skills at my disposal to use as you see fit." Raising her eyes to Vincent, she
silently asked for his help, too proud to voice it.
"Count me in, too," Vincent stated, gently squeezing Talibah's hand. "I know
more than enough or too many sorts of people and their languages to not do
something."
Nightwalker grunted as he eased himself into a chair. "I've been around long
enough to know things a lot of people don't. My methods may not be conventional
but I'll help in my way."
"The Fenchurch is yours," Vevay said simply. "It's a bit like taking a sledge
hammer to cure tooth-ache but she's fitted out for three squadrons of fighters
and three of runabouts at the moment, with plenty of room to spare. Just tell
me what you need and we'll get the techies onto changing her layout."
"We picked up the specialist in temporal wormholes on our way in." Miranda
reported. "My ships ready to head out."
Sara nodded and looked at both of the Captains. "I'd like a moment with you
both this afternoon."
Miranda nodded.
Vilya shared a look with Ming. They both knew at least one of the parents she
was going to call would be on the Admiral's step faster than Humanly possible.
"My teams and I will be heading to DSVP at the end of the week." Sara told
them. She suddenly felt so very tired. "That's where all three ships will
return to once the Banshee is found. I hope to see all of you there to welcome
them home very soon."
"How long?" Pila asked finally. "Do you have any idea how long this might
take?"
Sara shook her head causing auburn and sliver hair to dance over her shoulders.
"No, I'm afraid we don't."
"I don't plan on waiting that long. The GRP has a ship of her own, and I intend
to ship out and begin the search this evening. Any of you who'd like to
accompany me aboard her is welcomed." Mac told them all as he held his wife
and Belle both closely. "We're going to go now to prep her departure, unless
there's something else?"
"Command will not agree to send another ship, Mister McEntire." Sara replied.
"And I can not allow you to go with them because then all the parents would
want to go."
"Let me repeat...the GRP, the non-profit, non-military, completely independent
foundation....has a ship of her very own...that will be departing
tonight...with or without your consent, as I'll resign my commission here and
now if that's what is required, and any of you who'd like to come aboard are
welcomed." He reached for his communicator and pips, prepared to hand them over
if necessary. Either way, he would be searching for his children tonight.
Sara was ready to lash out but Cyanah's hand on her shoulder made her stop long
enough to think. "I can not stop you from doing whatever you'd like while on
vacation, Mister McEntire."
Mac nodded gratefully, "thank you," he whispered, his voice filled with emotion
as he held both Anna and Belle tighter.
"I'll be keeping in touch with all of you." Sara told the room. "If you wish to
remain close to HQ then my staff will see you get into the guest quarters on
campus." Sara nodded her head and then took a padd from her ensign as a single
the meeting was over.
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