From One Century to Another

Posted on Thu Jun 15th, 2023 @ 4:41am by Commander Patricia Cooke & Lieutenant Charlotte E. "Charlie" Yeager & Lieutenant Commander Tsukasa Izumi & Lieutenant Commander Lahki Bakshi Dr & Lieutenant Commander Rebecca Stevenson & Lieutenant Akira Kogami & Lieutenant Zelea Arlidd & Lieutenant JG Mailin
Edited on on Thu Jun 15th, 2023 @ 4:41am

1,846 words; about a 9 minute read

Mission: Auld Lang Syne
Location: Camp Khitomer
Timeline: 2 minutes until midnight

Patricia was lingering by the bar and looked up at the countdown displayed on a big screen. The energy at the party had changed, and upon seeing how much time was left of the year and thus, the 24th century as a whole, less than two minutes, Patricia could understand why. She began looking around at the partygoers, hoping to spot Tsukasa and Shouta somewhere in the crowd. She hadn't seen her exec and her son since Patricia had encountered them in the commanders lounge, and she was hoping that Tsukasa had remembered her parting words.

Lahki noticed how close it was to midnight. Hurriedly, she scampered to the bar-she wasn't much of a drinker but once awhile, like on holidays or her birthday, she'd have a glass of bubbly or wine. She ordered the Diamondfire Sparkling Rosé, and waited for the rest of the party to quiet down a bit. Her girl friends were in a corner-they were getting too crazy. She worried a bit about her friend Vila, who Lahki was fairly sure had a problem with drinking. She had asked about it, but didn't press. The woman would ask her in time, she was certain. Instead, she turned to her new CO, who she spotted. "Happy New Year," she said, sipping her drink. "Thank Goddess it's gone, right?" She said, a little bittersweet. It was the century in which her whole life had happened up to this point-her childhood, her joining the Fleet. Her marriage, the birth of her kids, her divorce. The 25th century hopefully held more.

"And a Happy New Year to you as well, doctor." Patricia responded with a nod, raising a glass of sparkling wine. "In fact, Happy New Century!"

Patricia was also well aware of the bittersweet moment of the 24th century coming to an end. It had been home to a lot of Patricia's best years, but she had also lost so much to the century as well; her grandmother, and not one, but two starships bearing the name USS Missouri. However, one thing that was lost to the 24th century would be returned by the 25th, for after the New Year's celebrations came to an end, the shakedown cruise of a brand new USS Missouri would begin, and furthermore, Patricia would be the one in the center chair, with none other than Tsukasa Izumi as her number one. It was a prospect that the young officer was most excited for.

Lieutenant Arlidd made sure she looked her best before she came to join the festivities. The woman wearing a gold uniform made her way through the crowd, offering smiled and polite greetings to people she passed. Zelea approached the Commander and the bar with a smile on her face she greeted her new superior officer "Commander Cooke this is a lovely party."

"Thank Starfleet and the Klingons for putting this on, Lieutenant." Patricia responded. She wasn't sure how this Bolian knew her name, but now wasn't the time for overthinking the little things. "Really, it's an incredible time we live in: The amount of cooperation that's been happening between all the major geopolitical entities in the Alpha and Beta Quadrants not even a quarter century removed from a destructive war is astounding."

"Not just the Alpha and Beta Quadrants," came a soft voice, almost as smooth as melted butter. From seemingly nowhere appeared the Vorta. His bright violet eyes swept over the assembled people while he smiled a perfect, congenial, smile. He was short for a Vorta, and dressed in the more formal robe like a attire. "As you would call it, the Gamma Quadrant was involved, in some small way."

"Puh-lease." Came a sarcastic response as Charlie made her way over to the bar. "In what way did the Gamma Quadrant help out? Last I recall, y'all didn't want anything to do with us after the treaty was signed."

"Trade and cultural exchange enriches the Dominion, in moderation, of course," the Vorta replied placidly. He smiled again, a bit too toothy of a smile though as it almost gave the impression that he might bite. "And to act like the Dominion has not been involved in small ways since the end of the way is to ignore the very nature of the Dominion."

Lahki stood off to the side, watching the interaction. "Well. Betazed is certainly grateful, but I think we've milked that horse long enough, so to speak," she said. Her own personal opinion was that it was time for Betazed to stand on its own two feet. "Alright, will I have to assign you all to bio beds and put on the shields?" She joked. She placed the glass on the table, and moved a little closer to the group. She was definitely among the oldest crew member, but she was, by now, used to that.

Tsukasa was currently occupied with a very sleepy Shouta. She had placed three chairs together and he had just dozed off. She couldn't help but smile as she also raised a glass for the new year.

"Hah, sorry I'm late, Patty," Akira sighed as she stumbled into the room. "I was held up by some old friends from the Juan Valdez who were holding a going-away party for me, and I..."

Her voice trailed off as she spotted a familiar face seated from just across the room- one you'd have to have lived under a rock for the past decade not to have immediately recognized. A person whom- alongside her more famous twin sister- had set a precedent for aspiring young Starfleet Officers the Federation over.

"Holy shit," she gasped in disbelief. "Tsukasa Izumi?!"

Tsukasa held one finger against her lips, the universal sign to be quieter as she glanced down at Shouta whose head rested on her knees. He was fast asleep, no doubt staying up this late took it out of him.

"My God," Akira whispered, moving over to shake Tsukasa's hand. "It's an honor to meet one of the Izumi sisters in person, Ma'am; I fondly remember that Patty- I mean Commander Cooke and I writing a turn paper on the Epsilon V Incident back when we were in the Academy."

"And it gets better," Patricia whispered excitedly. "Because Tsukasa here will be joining us aboard the MO as our Executive Officer!"

Akira blinked in astonishment. "Who the hell did you have to sacrifice on the altar of good fortune to get one of the Izumi Sisters as our XO, Patty?!"

"If I knew, I'd tell you..." Patricia giggled, running a hand through her hair. "Honestly, the past couple weeks have felt like a dream that I haven't woken from yet!"

"That was one of my sisters first missions," Tsukasa said with a smile. "That's the mission she met her husband too, well ex-husband," she added with a wry smile.

"Yeah, I just hope I'm not the disposable officer to propel you into the center chair..." Patricia giggled nervously, looking up at the clock and noticing that it was getting close now. "Oh look, it's getting close now! 10... 9..."

"...8..."

"...7..."

"...6..."

"...5..."

"...4..."

"...3..."

"...2..."

"...1..."

"HAPPY NEW YEAR!"

A collective cheer went up as a shower of balloons and confetti rained down from the ceiling. No one present could say that the 24th century hadn't been without its fair share of ups and downs- The Tomed Incident, the emergence of both the Cardassian Union and the Romulan Star Empire as major galactic superpowers, the Battle of Narendra III and the signing of the Second Khitomer Accords, First contact with the Borg Collective, the discovery of the Bajoran Wormhole, the first considerable exploration of the (previously-hypothetical) Delta Quadrant, the Dominion War, the Titan System Incident and the discovery of the Kam'Jahtae, and so many other noteworthy events- but now, with the ringing in of this new, 25th century, the slates were wiped clean, and before them lay another hundred years of boundless opportunities.

As the balloons and confetti fell, the DJ began to play a popular Earth song that was often sang to ring in the new year, and as such, had since been translated into countless languages, and the partygoers began to sing in their preferred language:

"Should old acquaintance be forgot,
and never brought to mind?
Should old acquaintance be forgot,
and auld lang syne.

For auld lang syne, my dear.
for auld lang syne,
we'll take a cup of kindness yet,
for auld lang syne."

Arlidd knew the song well from her days at the Academy and she was singing right along.

Better late than never was Rebecca's motto. One she carried very close to her chest as she walked into the room looking around. She had been meaning to get her watch checked for proper timing but never had the time to get it looked at. As she heard the music, her face developed a slight frown but not before making her way toward bar to place her order, "One Cherry Midnight Slushie, please." She said sliding the instructions on how to make it off her screen to the near by bartenders open network. She found herself leaning as she awaited the drink, taking in everything and every one all at once.

Too many people approached at the same time for Lahki's brain to keep track of names. The Betazed woman quickly calmed herself-and everyone else-slightly, and then smiled at the others. "I am Lahki," she said, saying it like "lucky"-"CMO." She said, then sipped at her drink. Group introductions were much better, in her opinion-she wouldn't need to repeat herself. Soon, it was time to count-down, and she smiled big as they did!

As soon as the ball dropped, she excused herself to the group. "I am going to go find my friends. It was lovely to meet you all!! I'll see you all again soon!" She bounded off towards her friend Vila's loud laughter, leaving a whirl of perfumed vibrations behind her.

"See you later, Commander!" Patricia waved with a smile.

Patricia took a moment to really take in the scene before her; the amount of faces gathered; some old, some new. Though she would have to verify that some of them were indeed assigned to the MO, she couldn't help but feel pride in knowing that these people were under her command, and that the Missouri would be in good hands.

It was now a new century; and with it, many new possibilities, and Patricia couldn't wait to see what it had in store for her and the crew of the USS Missouri.

Posting by

Commander Patricia Cooke
Commanding Officer

Lieutenant Commander Tsukasa Izumi
Executive Officer

Lieutenant Commander Lahki Bakshi
Chief Medical Officer

Lieutenant Commander Rebecca Stevenson
Chief Science Officer

Lieutenant Zelea Arlidd
Chief Engineer

Lieutenant Akira Kogami
Chief Security Officer

Lieutenant Charlotte E. "Charlie" Yeager
Assistant Chief Flight Control Officer

Lieutenant JG Mailin
Chief Diplomatic Officer

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