Star Trek: Fortitude
Episode Five - ‘Forward’
By Jack D. Elmlinger
PROLOGUE
His quarters were dark. For some reason, he liked them that way.
Always, when he left for his duty shift in the morning, Ensign Jason Armstrong deactivated the lighting in his quarters. When he returned in the evening, he quite enjoyed having to walk in and turn the light back on himself. Maybe it was just some stupid reminder of home.
Being aboard a starship meant no sunrise, no sunset, and no sun whatsoever to set your day by. The young officer, Kentucky born and raised, was full of little quirks. No different that anyone else aboard, he guessed.
Throwing a few PADDS down onto his coffee table, he unzipped his uniform and removed the yellow-shouldered top half, flexing his tired muscles as he transferred his combadge to the light purple shirt underneath.
“Computer,” he called out,” activate lights.”
No lights came on. There was no response either. That was strange.
“Computer?”
Suddenly, Jason felt hands grab his neck from behind. They were strong, powerful hands, pulling him back towards whoever owned them. Slowly, they tightened, moving down from his neck muscles and across the top of his shoulder blades. His split second of anxiety and panic faded away when he realized what was going on. Letting himself relax, he let out a short groan of approval.
“Oh, that’s nice,” he whispered. “Damn, I’ve missed this.”
The hands stopped massaging his shoulders, moving down even further and seizing his biceps. They spun him around in a rough yet playful embrace. It was an embrace that Jason gladly reciprocated. One of the hands left his body briefly, moving over towards a control panel on the bulkhead beside them and tapped in a few commands.
As the lights came back on, Ensign Jason Armstrong locked eyes with the tall, handsome Indian man in his quarters and gave him what he felt like was one of the longest kisses on record.
ACT ONE
Captain’s Log, Stardate 40024.7;
We are, once again, making final preparations to return to our mission of deep-space exploration. With the unfortunate Klingon business showing no signs of resurgence, my crew and I are eager to return to our previous mission. We’ve also taken aboard a new arrival from Earth, an officer who will be filling the vacant position at Tactical on the Bridge. I’m looking forward to meeting him, despite my reluctance to boldly go with all guns blazing.. If we’ve learned anything so far, it’s that the Galaxy can be a hostile place.
“Good morning, Jay,” smiled the newcomer.
Rolling over and fighting to open his eyes in the peaceful haze of the early hours, Jason beamed with unbridled joy as he was met with the smiling face of Jim Morgan. They had been apart for almost six months while desperately trying to find an assignment together. Academy graduates were rarely guaranteed joint postings but Lady Luck was definitely on their side, this time around. This time, they would be simply meters away from each other, standing on opposite sides of the Fortitude Bridge.
“Good morning, new tactical officer,” he replied, letting himself be kissed on the forehead as his lover prepared to get dressed. “Meeting with the captain?”
“Over breakfast, actually, so you’ll be eating without me,” Jim apologized, searching for his second boot by miming his actions from the previous night. “Now, I know I threw your boots over there… So, mine should be…”
“I think you’ll like him.”
“Who? Captain Llewellyn?”
“Yeah, I think you’ll like him. I certainly think that he’s a good captain. Friendly, right off the bat. Real friendly. Not a big fan of shooting things, though.”
“It sounds like I’ll be a busy man,” Jim laughed, finally locating his missing boot. “It’s a shame too. I was looking forward to spending all of my free time with a certain operations officer, but I suppose if I’m tied up with blowing stuff out of the stars…”
“Funny,” Jason said, joining in the laughter. “Go on! Get going!”
He was about to leave but he had one final thing that he wanted to do first. Sitting on the corner of the bed in his lover’s quarters, he leaned over and gazed into his bright blue eyes. Lost in the breathtaking beauty of the gaze, Jason felt his body flex underneath a wave of goosebumps. It always happened but not it had a reason to.
“We did it, Jay,” Jim’s low tone soothed him. “We finally did it. We’re together and I just wanted you to know that I couldn’t be happier.”
“Me neither, Jim,” came the sincere, serious reply. “Damn, I love you.”
“I love you too...”
They kissed once more, as if it was going to be the last time that they would ever see one another. Yet, it was with the passion and energy of their first time, all of those years ago at the Academy.
“... although you picked a lousy corner of space,” Jim joked upon the parting of their lips.
“All right, that’s it! Get out!”
* * * *
Today was a good day indeed.
This was always the most important part. He paused, taking a moment to straighten his combadge and flatten the front of his gold-and-black uniform. As satisfied as he was going to be with the results, he reached out to press the door chime, hardly noticing that his hand shook with excitement and anticipation. Jason’s reassurance that Captain Ewan Llewellyn was a friendly man had, thankfully, killed the nerves.
“Come on it!,” a Welsh accent called out from inside.
Stepping forward and allowing the doors to part, Jim Morgan found himself in the private dining room of the Fortitude. Seated there before him was his new commanding officer, who stood up to greet him, shaking his hand.
“Ensign, I’m glad to have you aboard,” Llewellyn said, returning to his seat. “I’m sure that I don’t need to tell you my name, right?”
“No, sir… uh, I mean, yes, sir… Captain, I…”
“It’s all right, Jim. calm down and take a seat,” the older man suggested, becoming the second person to reassure him in a matter of minutes and deliberately using his name informally. “While I’d expect a junior officer to stand on ceremony, your rank misrepresents your status. My new Tactical Officer and a member of the Bridge crew. You’ve moved up in your career. Congratulations are in order. Coffee?”
“Yes, Captain. Thank you.”
“We’re a new ship with a new crew,” Ewan continued as he poured,” but you’ll find out that we’ve all fitted together nicely already. Some might say that we were thrown together, however. You’ve read the briefings on the Klingon situation and the End, correct? As much as I hate to admit it, you’ll have your work cut out for you.”
“Indeed,” Jim agreed, slowly letting his guard down and relaxing for a moment. “To be honest though, sir, I’m ready for anything. I wanted to thank you for approving my transfer request to join your crew.”
“Nonsense. As my Vulcan doctor would tell you, it was the logical choice. Everyone of your Academy professors gave you a glowing review and your speciality in tactical systems and ship’s security made you stand out in the crowd of applicants. I had to wade through so many applications. I suppose it’s the curse of having one of the new Intrepid-class ships, but here you sit, Ensign.”
“You’re telling me,” Jim breathed with eyes wide.
“I understand that you were classmates with Jason Armstrong?”
Jim immediately froze up. He realized that he had made a fatal mistake in doing so, but there was no masking his reaction. He had heard stories of commanding officers who had literally banned relationships between crew members for fear of a relaxation of Starfleet protocols. Not to mention that his relationship with Jason was hardly ‘normal’ in some Human terms.
As he stumbled over his words, Ewan recognized his new tactical officer’s concern and raised a hand to stop him from saying anything on the subject.
“It’s all right, Jim,” he nodded, lowering his fork. “Let’s just say that it hardly went unnoticed at the Academy, and I wouldn’t have approved your transfer orders if I had any kind of problem.”
“Sorry, sir… Thank you, sir.”
“As long as it doesn’t affect your duties, it’s not my place to interfere with what goes on behind closed doors. That’s my general rule, right there. You must be very pleased to see him again. It’s been almost six months, hasn’t it?”
“Yes,” answered Jim as his mind drifted back to those six months. Those lonely, painful months that they spent apart. Realizing where he was, he snapped back to reality in time to stop himself from dropping his coffee cup. “If I may be so bold, Captain? Have you ever been in a relationship while serving in Starfleet?”
“You can always be bold, Ensign,” Llewellyn replied with his winning smile,” and in all honesty, I’ve never been a fan of long-distance relationships.”
“I guess you could call this posting long-distance,” Jim laughed, neatly steering the conversation away from getting too deep or personal.
“You guess?!”
On that note, the rest of their breakfast went by perfectly. Both men left smiling.
ACT TWO
There were no smiles in Main Engineering.
Scheduled to depart by the end of the day, the USS Fortitude had suddenly and very unexpectedly decided to blow out three EPS relays on Deck Fifteen. An investigation had revealed that there was no foul play. It had turned out to be a minor factory defect, but nonetheless, the relays had to be purged, replaced, and the system reset before Lieutenant Vuro could even engage the impulse drive. Determined to launch on time and deliver a good report for his Captain, Sollik was therefore far from smiling.
His mood failed to improve when he saw Ensign Jim Morgan stride into Engineering and gaze up at the swirling blue warp core like a child infatuated with a plaything. The value of taking on a new officer at such a crucial stage in the mission profile eluded him. He hurried past the Indian tactical officer, his hands filled with tools and his mind hoping that he wouldn’t get stopped for a chat.
“You must be Chief Engineer Sollik,” Jim called out to him, shattering the Suliban’s hope, even though it didn’t slow him down. “I’m the new tactical officer, Ensign Ji-”
“Jim Morgan, yes,” growled Sollik. “Your reputation precedes you. I suppose I should welcome you aboard, but I have my hands a little full, right now. I’m afraid you’ll have to take a number and get back to me.”
“My reputation?” Jim was taken aback, but only slightly.
“I was an Ensign myself once, serving aboard those training ships that the Academy uses for war games,” the Chief Engineer told him,” and one day, we had Tactical Class 9-G almost write off a Constellation-class vessel. I was the one who had to crawl around in the Jefferies Tubes for four weeks, afterwards, resetting all of the damaged conduits… by hand. I ended up on medical leave for a further month, having my spine reset.”
“Ah,” the new officer realized, bowing his head. “Sorry about that.”
“There’s no need to apologize, Ensign. We were all doing our duties. My problem is that you managed such a destructive feat with training weapons. I dread to think what you’ll annihilate when you’re placed in charge of the real ones that we have here.”
Ensign Morgan felt himself smile, although given the circumstances, he didn’t particularly want to. After all, Sollik was his superior officer and it had been a rookie mistake back at the Academy that had caused him previous pain. Surely, he hoped, that things had moved on and they could work past it.
“I was wondering if you could do me a favor,” he decided to press on.
“Oh?” Sollik turned, pausing in his work.
“I noted that you’re about to replace three faulty EPS relays.”
“Please don’t tell me that you had something to do with…!”
“No! No, no, I’ve learned my lesson. Don’t worry. Besides, I only just arrived. I haven’t had time to screw up and, as you say, annihilate anything yet… sir.”
“What do you want?”
“I was wondering if you could divert one of them to the lateral phaser array. One of them is a redundant backup, and I’ve done the calculations. From what the reports say about your first few forays into the rest of the Beta Quadrant, it sounds like you could use the extra firepower.”
Sollik was about to bite his head clean off his shoulders, but he relented. He was having the same thoughts as Jim was about the past being the past. Still, he was a Suliban and they had exceptional memories. You could absolutely grow and learn, but a reckless person would always remain reckless at heart.
Slowly, he reached out and accepted the PADD from the new tactical officer, giving it a quick glance with his yellow eyes. Initially, it looked only, but he wasn’t about to sign off on the idea.
Not just yet.
“I’ll read through your proposal.”
“Thanks,” Jim smiled, genuinely this time,” and again, I’m sorry about the spine.”
* * * *
Sickbay was the next stop.
It was routine for all new officers to report to Sickbay for a full medical scan and to log their personal medical files with the Chief Medical Officer. Sitting in her office, catching up on last minute paperwork regarding a status report for the Captain, Doctor T’Verra raised her head, only slightly to observe Jim Morgan walk in and head towards her.
His youthful excitement could use a quick lesson in patience, she decided. Carefully, she finished typing out the report onto her PADD as he waited, wondering if he should speak up or let the Vulcan, who was more senior in rank to him, initiate dialogue.
Finally, T’Verra finished her work and stood up from her seat. “Ensign James Morgan, I am Doctor T’Verra. Welcome aboard.”
“Thank you, Doctor. It’s an honor to be here.”
“I did not realize that you were a fan of my work,” she observed.
“Uh, I mean… it’s an honor to be aboard.”
“Then you should be more careful with your words, Ensign. It would be a logical precaution for someone who is assigned to the Bridge. One never knows when a dialogue with a new alien species might arise.”
“Yes, Doctor, um, sorry. I’m here to submit to a bioscan and to transfer my personal medical records over to your database.”
They walked from T’Verra’s office and out into the main Sickbay where Jim hopped up onto a biobed while the Vulcan fetched a tricorder from a nearby instrument tray. As she initiated her scans, he felt the initial buzz of the first day wearing thin. Walking up next to Jason was absolutely magic this morning, and the breakfast with Captain Llewellyn had far surpassed his expectations. However, coming from Engineering, he had a less-than-stellar introduction to the Chief Engineer, and the frosty lessons of this seemingly elderly Vulcan Chief Medical Officer had worn away some of the layers of enthusiasm and bright-eyes wonderment that he had been living on.
It was approaching mid-afternoon already. As T’Verra scanned his midsection, he felt his stomach rumble in protest about being half-empty. It was a loud rumble, and an eyebrow was raised in typical fashion.
“You are in perfect health, Ensign Morgan,” was the result of the scan. “Your personal medical records have been already transferred, but you need to authorize them. If you would on your way out, enter your personal code at the terminal?”
“You’ve got it. Thanks, Doctor.”
“One last thing,” she concluded. “Unless you would like to return here later after collapsing from exhaustion, I would recommend that you partake in a nutritional supplement at your earliest convenience.”
Great Vulcan humor. How hilarious.
Maybe Jason was free for lunch.
ACT THREE
“So… what’s the first day’s verdict?”
Armstrong and Morgan sat opposite of each other across a plate of sandwiches in the Mess Hall, enjoying sitting together over a meal for what felt like the first time in eternity. Swallowing a large chuck of roast beef, Jim took a quick sip of coffee before he answered him. He was aware of a few pairs of eyes watching them eat. News spread fast on a starship of this size and with a crew of one hundred and fifty souls, give or take, when people paired up, it hardly went unnoticed.
“Surprisingly good, actually,” he nodded in reply. “I got knocked down a peg or two by the lovely Doctor T’Verra, and it turns out that I’ve been the cause of a serious injury to our Chief Engineer in the past, but otherwise… yeah, good…”
“Whoa, whoa, hold on a second there, partner! Back up… you injured Sollik?”
Across the Mess Hall, as the two lovers became engrossed in their conversation, the very subject of their discussion entered to grab his own midday meal. Joined by Lieutenant Arden Vuro, who had met him halfway from Main Engineering, Sollik immediately noticed the two ensigns chatting and he took a table far away from them.
“Observe,” he indicated to Vuro.
“You mean the new guy?,” clarified the Bolian helmsman. “He and Ensign Armstrong seem to be becoming fast friends.”
“Didn’t you know?” Sollik frowned, leaning forward. “They’re lovers.”
“Really? Wow, that’s got to be some lucky posting coincidence.”
“You don’t find it… unsettling?”
“Why? Do you?”
Sollik sighed, leaning back and letting that question hang unanswered in the air for a few moments. He even leaned over to the nearby replicator and conjured up his beverage of choice before resuming their conversation.
“My people have always viewed mating as a serious undertaking,” he finally continued, obviously choosing his words carefully. “The emotional bond between a husband and a wife comes much, much later after the offspring have been conceived. After all, what’s the point in such a fruitless relationship? What can they possibly hope to achieve by cohabitating like that?”
“I don’t think that Ensign Armstrong and Ensign Morgan would call their relationship fruitless, my friend,” Vuro pointed out to him. “I can see your reasoning clearly, but I’m afraid that I don’t agree with it.”
“Oh? Would you sleep with another male, then?”
“Don’t be silly. It comes all down to personal taste, but regardless of that, a relationship is much more than simply producing the next generation of one’s species. While the Suliban might not agree, Bolians can be very much appreciative of the strength of an emotional connection. It would appear that Humans are the same in this respect. I mean, look over there. Look at them…”
Sollik twisted around in his seat slowly, and saw Jason and Jim laughing with each other, clearly both very content with their situation.
“... have you ever seen that Ensign Armstrong is happier? Be honest.”
“No, I suppose I haven’™,” admitted the Chief Engineer, returning to his drink.
Vuro then asked him,” Do you find it offensive?”
“I’d be lying if I said that I was comfortable serving alongside them, but it’s something that I can live with. Perhaps it has something more to do with what Ensign Morgan caused back at the Academy training grounds than his choice of sexual partner.”
“Hold on… what?”
* * * *
Once again, a table in the Mess Hall delved into the previous encounter shared between the new tactical officer and the chief engineer. A general understanding was reached by those who would observe the future interactions between Jim Morgan and Sollik. The first possible dent in the strong unity of the Fortitude crew that had been enjoying had formed.
Well, it was only a matter of time.
* * * *
There was only one last member of the senior staff that Jim had yet to meet. He got his chance while on his way to the Bridge, already excited about taking his post for the first time and preparing to get underway.
“Ah, ha, the new guy,” said a female voice from behind him.
“Uh, yes… yes, Commander,” he confirmed, noticing her three rank pips and instantly stopping his walk to snap to attention.
“Okay, you can stop that for a start, or you’ll be late for your shift,” Valerie Archer smiled, gesturing for him to carry on. “Is it James or Jim?
“Jim, if you don’t mind.”
“Commander Valerie Archer. Welcome aboard. Any problems, any questions, any time of the day or night, you come to me, got it?”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“We run an efficient ship,” Valerie laughed,” but unless it’s an emergency, I prefer either my rank or my name. My first name, Jim. Got that too?”
“Can I take notes,” he joked, turning a corner and heading for the nearest turbolift.
“If you don’t mind me saying, your name doesn’t exactly suit your appearance,” was the next observation that she ventured. “You’ve got an Indian heritage?”
“My grandparents were from Bangladesh,” Jim revealed as he was completely used to people wondering where his American accent and American name came from. “They moved to San Francisco when my mother was eight. She married an architect, staying in the area, and eventually… well, here I am.”
“San Francisco?”
“Born and raised. I suppose that explains the fascination with Starfleet Academy. Since as long as I can remember, it’s been model starships and school trips to the grounds. I even recall tripping and grazing my knee when I was about ten in the Academy gardens. The kindest man, Boothby, helped me up and took me to the medical wing. He was the first person that I looked up when I eventually got to join.”
“Ah, Boothby,” Valerie remembered with a smile. “He got me through my senior-year finals with a few cheeky Rigelian memory tricks.”
“Visualization is the key?”
“You too, huh?”
They both stepped into the turbolift and the commander ordered it to the Bridge. She could feel Jim standing next to her, his tension mounting with each passing deck. This was his big moment, his first steps out onto the Bridge of the USS Fortitude, NCC-76240, his new posting and first major assignment as a department head and as a senior officer. It reminded her of her first posting.
With a smile, she gave him one last piece of advice before leading him to his own thoughts. “Eyes on the viewscreen,” she whispered,” not Ensign Armstrong.”
“Word travels fast,” he replied.
Epilogue
Underway at Warp Seven, with the parting blessing from Rear Admiral Edward Blackmore aboard Starbase 499, the Fortitude was speeding past the already explored sectors and heading off to chart the great unknown. It had been difficult for him to tear himself away from the Bridge, wishing he could stay there, forever, and just be part of the atmosphere. Unfortunately, as it stood, there was little for a tactical officer to do while traveling at high watp through empty star systems. The shields and the weapons were fully charged and ready to go. Ship’s Security was tight and the sensors revealed no possible surprises on the horizons, either from the End or some other unexpected alien quarter.
With his work done for the day, Ensign Jim Morgan returned to relax and unwind and to process the day’s events in his mind.
Opening the door to his quarters, he found everything bathed in darkness. “Computer, lights.”
No response. The lights didn’t switch on and the computer didn’t respond.
With a smile, Jim guessed what was about to happen and turned around to face Jason before he had a chance to get the drop on him. Laughing, they embraced each other and staggered back from the closing door towards the comfortable bed awarded to senior bridge officers.
“Do I have to start locking my door?,” Jim asked playfully.
“You mean that the new Chief of Security doesn’t lock his own door?,” Jason retorted. “Oh, that doesn’t bode well. Perhaps, I should tell the Captain.”
“You can tell him in the morning.”
“It’s a deal.
The End…