LtCmdr Connor Dewitt - A Bottle and a Friend
Tim
((Corridor in front of Crew Lounge, USS Khitomer, en route to Earth))
Connor carried three boxes. One was filled with a standard Engineering toolkit. He could repair half the ship with that, unscrew deck plates and rewire EPS conduits. None of that was his mission tonight. Ayemet had been asleep when he left their quarters. He couldn’t sleep. One thought had been chasing the next.
After the mission, these nights had become more regular. As soon as he closed his eyes, he saw everything at once. The phaser fire on the view screen, exploding consoles and he felt the shaking of the bridge. And in the next moment it was quiet. He was staring at the torpedo casing that contained Broms body. A Federation flag was covering it. He had spend a lot of time here before the ceremony, trying to figure out what to say.
It was these nights that he asked himself why he was out here going through all this. And it was these nights that he needed something to remember him. The Khitomer still felt like a new ship and it was time to change that. To make it a little more like home. For him, for his fellow crew mates and for all the ones that were not with them anymore.
He put down the toolkit a couple of meters before he would have reached one of the entrances to the crew lounge. It was the starboard entrance. Next to it, he put the other box containing what he had come here for. And then a third one. As he put it on the floor and opened it a rectangular box the size of a large plate was revealed accompanied by a tripod. Connor took both out and mounted the box on the tripod. Then he moved to the opposite of the corridor and put the tripod on the floor which left the box at the height of his chest.
A touch of a button made it come to life going through a short calibration cycle. Connor activated its voice control and took a deep breath before starting to talk.
Dewitt: Activate and load file Dewitt zero one.
The small box made a confirming noise before springing to life. A huge Federation insignia appeared on the wall bulkheads just between two braces that Connor would have to remove sooner or later. He wanted to have done this since they had come aboard. He had always enjoyed his time at this place on the Arrow. It had given him strength.
For a brief moment, he remembered one of the first time he had been there talking to Ar’Gorvalei after their mission to a Sheliak prison colonny. They di have their rivalries, but it had been a wholesome moment of connection.
((Flashback, Living history annex, USS Arrow))
Dewitt: Isn't it crazy to expect our minds to visit all those placeswithin a minute? Go back to my last talk with the Captain? Was I too frank with my feelings? Does he now think, I cannot handle anything? Thinking about that, we failed with a calibration in engineering that put Ayemet and Tallera in grave danger. Feeling that guilt. Then jumping to the next challenge ahead. How can we manage that one? Could we have survived 20 years of captivity... ::pause:: Believe me I know how to do that... I know the guilt, the insecurity... But most of that does not help me progress... It's just clogging up my brain.
Ar'Gorvalei: This … is not actually where I should be right now.
Dewitt: ::chuckling:: Yeah... This is definitely not the right place to be mindful. Which is why I usually only come here when I am in the mood... or to try to help a friend.
The two men's eyes met for a moment. Connor could feel Ar'Gorvalei's gratitude and a warmth of familiarity filling his chest.
Ar'Gorvalei: Thank you. I think … I needed to hear that.
((End Flashback))
Sometimes you just needed a place to remember the good things you were fighting for. The Chief Engineer looked at the Federation insignia on the wall, wiping away a tear from his cheek.
Dewitt: Remove the part in the lower right quadrant according to specifications Dewitt two two five.
A part of the deep blue background vanished along with one of the three sparkling stars. Connor walked towards the third box and opened it to retrieve a special keepsake he had retrieved from Deep Space 33 after the devastating Sheliak attack. A piece of bulkhead that contained the part of the insignia that he had cut out from the projection previously. He applied some glue to its back and affixed it in the right spot.
The man took a step back to look at his work. He had promised to himself to not be too perfectionist. He felt another tear rolling. With his vision impaired, he could not be either way.
Dewitt: Match the image to the piece of bulkhead and increase color intensity by 10%.
The image briefly vanished and reappeared. Connor nodded. The full insignia could easily be seen and it was apparent that part of it had been replaced by a piece of real bulkhead with a more worn off color.
Dewitt: Apply coloring.
The box next to him began to spin up its ventilators and worked its magic before it deactivated. As planned, the Federation symbol had been applied to the wall. Connor smiled thinly. The corridor in front of the mess hall would not be a private place. But it would be open to the full crew and frequently seen.
As got on his knees to remove another item from his box, he heard a familiar voice.
Ohnari: Response
Connor chuckled, wiping away another tear of nostalgia from his eyes as he took the bottle of whisky from the box he had brought. It was still intact and within a display box that could be affixed to the wall with a magnetic seal.
Dewitt: You shouldn’t sneak up on your second officer while he is vandalizing the ship.
His voice still was weak and he tried to clear his throat after he had finished that sentence.
Ohnari: Response
Connor stood up to look for the spot on the wall he wanted to place the bottle.
Dewitt: So what are you doing up so late?
The Chief Engineer took another step towards the wall and attached the box with the whisky bottle inside.
Ohnari: Response
Dewitt: Oh, I am just… I mean… ::clearing throat and stepping back::
Connor had not prepared his three minute pitch for a new history annex yet. Especially, because it was not an annex anymore. But it should be living, he was sure of that. And he wanted to invite anybody who wanted to put something here to do so. He had already made a mental node to talk to Ensign Zerva to put up something for Chief Vanta.
As he looked at the whisky bottle he had just put up in the display box, he felt his eyes fill up again. Brom had hidden these all over the place and Connor was glad he had found one of the Tellarite’s creations in Main Engineering on the Khitomer. They tasted awful, but Brom had been proud of distilling his own brand of alcohol. The Chief had been there to accompany Connor for all of his career. It had felt like a parent had been gone, like he had to finally grow up and fly on his own.
Ohnari: Response
TAG/TBC
LtCmdr Connor Dewitt
Chief Engineer & Second Officer
USS Khitomer
A239901CD3