The Family Business

Posted on Sun Jan 19th, 2025 @ 10:49pm by Captain Robert Burke & Lieutenant Marques Hunt

1,086 words; about a 5 minute read

Mission: EPISODE 1: SHAKEDOWN
Location: Ready Room
Timeline: Previous to Launch

::ON::

Lieutenant Marques Hunt had just recently came onboard a few hours prior. Approach the door to the Captain's office, he straightened out his uniform a bit, then pressed the chime.

Constructing a report to his immediate superior, Burke frowned and looked up at the disturbance. He had no visitors scheduled. Putting in a full stop, he cleared his throat and called out, 'enter!' and got to his feet, buckling his uniform with the shoulder strap and adjusting how it sat with a quick tug to the jacket's waist.

The door opened as Hunt entered the room. Quickly moving to the front of the desk the Lieutenant stood at attention. "Lieutenant Hunt reporting for duty, Sir."

Burke broke in to a smile, 'ah yes,' he said warmly, extending a hand to one of his new senior officers, 'a pleasure to have you come aboard, Lieutenant. Have you managed to find your way about, or were you directed straight to my office?' He adjusted his glasses as he took a seat and motioned for the younger man to do the same.I wonder what kind of man he is? he thought to himself as he regarded the shorter if slightly heavier man.

"Thank you, Sir." Marques returned the smile as he sat down as directed. "I made sure everything was situated before coming here."

'Efficient,' Burke nodded in approval, 'I like that in my officers.' He pulled up Marques' record on the data terminal built in to the Ready Room desk. 'So you're following in the family business I take it? '

The Lieutenant nodded. "My earliest memories involved starships and starbases. Guess it was inevitable."

'It must have been a tough childhood, travelling from place to place,' Burke replied. 'I don't come from a family that served, my parents were teachers on Titan, so we had a very stable childhood>' He chuckled, 'too stable perhaps, and that might have been why I applied to Starfleet in the first place - a way to see the galaxy.'

"Honestly my father spent a lot of time away from the family. Especially when he eventually got his own command. There were a few years here and there where we lived on a station together. But for the most part, it was me and my mother on Earth."

'Must have been quite a strain on your family,' Burke replied sympathetically. 'I'm sure you treasured the time you were able to spend with your entire family on the station together.' The Captain held up a hand and asked, 'would you care for a drink, or some food? I doubt you've had much time for either today.'

Hunt thought about the question briefly. "A glass of water would be fine, thank you. At a young age, I got the speech of honor and duty. Being so young it didn't make much sense and it was tough. What helped was that mother made it a point to have live in communities where other Starfleet families were around. Sharing the same experiences with other children made it not so bad. But to answer your question, I did treasure that time together."

As Hunt spoke, Burke keyed in a command to his desk workstation, and an orderly walked in carrying a tray with an empty glass and a pitcher of water. With a nod from Burke it was set down on his workstation, and he motioned to Hunt to help himself. 'Yes, the life of a Fleet family must breed some camaraderie when it's shared together - handy for these deep-space voyages.' Burke looked at Hunt and asked point blank. 'I imagine you had your choice of assignments, so why did you choose the Hecate?'

"Honestly I really wanted to fly your ship," he chuckled. "But seriously I heard the Hecate was to seriously get out there. Back to exploring. Seems like the Federation been so busy with a stand off with the Klingons. Its been the priority and now things are getting back to normal."

'Oh we're serious about it, you can be assured of that,' Burke replied, tickled by the younger man's enthusiasm for wanting to fly the Hecate. 'This opportunity of peace with the Klingons allows us to test the waters somewhat - we'll be travelling to the Klingon Homeworld as part of a convoy, then we're off across Klingon space and beyond their borders to explore the Beta Quadrant.' Burke shrugged, 'we would ordinarily send something a bit faster, but the Hecate can punch back if things go ... wrong.'

That news definitely peaked the Lieutenant's interest. "Across Klingon space. Never thought I would hear such word outside of the war being thrown in there. When do we ship off for this mission?"

'Not long, now, we're just waiting for Starfleet Operations to bring the last of our initial supplies aboard, and then we'll be for the off - I'd settle any personal matters you have within the week if I were you,' Burke replied with a kindly smile. 'We're not going to see home for a long time with any luck.'

"Not seeing home for a while sounds good to me," the Lieutenant responded.

Burke raised an eyebrow. 'Oh?' He thought a moment and could recall nothing from the man's file. 'Distance from home is sometimes a good thing, Lieutenant. I'm sure whatever your issue is time will change your feelings towards it.'

"Nothing wrong with home Captain. But I am eager to get back out into space. Being out there exploring the unknown excites me. I'll sit at home when I get old."

'Well said!' Burke responded with a laugh as he got to his feet. 'Well, I've taken up enough of your time, Lieutenant. I'll let you get in and settled - I'm looking forward to seeing your pre-launch report at your earliest convenience. In the meantime, is there anything you require of me, or Starfleet? I might be able to shanghai a few items considering the historical nature of our voyage.'

"I'm good to go," said Hunt. "Will have the pre-launch report as soon as possible."

'Thank you Ensign. There'll be a Yeoman to escort you to where you need to be next,' Burke with a warm smile. 'It's good to have you aboard.'

::OFF::

Captain Robert Burke
Commanding Officer
USS Hecate

Lieutenant Marques Hunt
Chief Flight Control Officer
USS Hecate
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