Days Gone By - Part One

Posted on Mon Nov 11th, 2024 @ 2:40pm by Captain Nycolas Temple

[2383 - Lucis V]

Dark heavy clouds rumbled and roared as the Starfleet transport descended slowly through the atmosphere of Lucis V, passing through a growing tropical storm. Sitting in the cabin of the craft, Lieutenant Nycolas Temple was staring out of the port window watching the clouds with a dour expression. The thick storm clouds were blocking his view of what had promised to be a beautiful planet surface below. He frowned as raindrops started splattering against the window. A rolling wave of thunder passed through, causing the shuttle to shake uneasily.

Over the past eight years in service of Starfleet, the young Nycolas Temple had developed quite the career filled with excitement and adventure. His aptitude for tactical operations and off-the-grid reconnaissance had seen him recruited into Starfleet Intelligence for the past two years. Nycolas didn't see himself ever sitting at a console on a starship, far too dull of an existence; he wanted to be where the action was. He loved the execution of a precise plan in some far-off world, or disappearing into the night like an empty shadow. He had developed nicknames like The Ghost, the Wolf, and Agent Grey. He had found his calling in the world of S.I.

His new assignment, however, was already proving to be more subdued than his usual adventures.

“Lieutenant Temple.” Came a stern voice.

Nycolas turned away from the window and looked over to Commodore Thurston, his Intelligence handler, who was sat in the seat opposite. “Yes, sir?” Nycolas asked as he snapped to attention.

“What is your mission parameter again?” Thurston demanded, for the tenth or twelfth time during this trip. The older officer had seen Temple grow from a fresh recruit out of the Academy with plenty of zeal and far too much impulsiveness - to a more refined, tactical agent. He had considered Temple to be his protégé, with a wide career in Starfleet Intelligence ahead of him. Thurston had joined Temple for his assignment to Lucis V, like a father sending his son off to his first day of work. "Why are you here?"

“To serve as Chief of Security for the colony of Lucis V.” Nycolas repeated automatically without blinking.

“What is Project Angel?” Thurston asked, tilting his head.

"Never heard of it." Nycolas shrugged; his face neutral.

"There are three flowers in a vase." Thurston said formerly, "The middle one is green."

“Project Angel is to secure the region of the Lucis system for future expansion of the Federation's borders." Nycolas replied automatically.

"How?" Thurston pressed.

"Gather intelligence on the civilizations on Lucis two and six, determine their candidacy for Federation membership, monitor for activity from the Cardassian union, and identify potential threats to the security of Lucis five." Nycolas responded.

The shuttle shook again as thunder rolled past them once more, causing Temple to blink.

Thurston raised an eyebrow, "An opinion, Lieutenant?"

"No, sir." Temple's eyes snapped forwards.

"You may speak freely until this shuttle lands." Thurston replied, leaning back in his chair casually. "The middle flower is green."

"I am concerned about this tropical storm, sir." Temple answered honestly, nodding his head to the side window. "What if the environmental conditions prevent my ease of access to and from the planet. I will be unable to attend to missions as easily as I am used to."

Thurston regarded the question for a moment, then gave a slight frown. "You don't like being stuck on a planet, Lieutenant."

"I prefer freedom of movement, sir." Temple replied, eyes locked forward. "It allows me to do my job."

"This will not be a one-and-done situation, Nycolas." Thurston lectured, "You may be positioned here for quite some time. And that is exactly why I have chosen you for this. You must learn to adapt to an environment and to immerse yourself within it. You have achieved great success on smaller singular missions. But you need to gain experience in long-form reconnaissance, developing relationships with your subjects, and learning through acclimating yourself. This will be pivotal to your advancement."

Temple gave a slow nod. None of that sounded exciting to him, but if his mentor Thurston believed this was what he needed, Nycolas was going to do it.

"Aye, sir. I am grateful for the opportunity." Nycolas nodded. "The USS Wellington will act as my cover?"

“Yes, should you need it. The Captain is a member of Project Angel.” The Commodore responded.

“Aye.” Temple nodded curtly.

“Anything else?” Thurston asked, “We haven’t touched ground yet.”

Temple tried not to give a wry smile, as much as he appreciated his mentor's tone. Thurston always had a sense of the sardonic to him which Temple himself had started to mimic. “What of the Cardassian threat, sir?” Temple inquired, “The intelligence gathered so-far has been inadequate to judge their threat level. What if we have underestimated their presence in the region?”

“The Cardassians couldn’t organize a piss in a river at this stage, they're still a mess.” Thurston remarked unkindly. “Intelligence will be relying on your assessment for this. Raise the alarm as soon as you feel it is necessary."

“Aye, sir.” Temple nodded.

At that moment, the shuttle broke through the dark clouds and the sunlight beamed back into the shuttle. Temple looked out the window again and saw a beautiful green planet below. The majority of Lucis was covered in tropical plants and trees, a landscape of lush and exotic fauna as far as the eye could see. In the midst of this vast greenery, there was a city. In a clearing around 3 kilometers in circumference, there was the Lucis V colony. Once a settlement, now a vibrant developed mini metropolis in the middle of this tropical jungle.

[20 Minutes Later]

Commodore Thurston and Lieutenant Temple's shuttle had finally touched down on the landing pad of Lucis' main government building. It was a tall tower of glass, giving a 360-degree view of the world around them. While Temple's belongings were being sent to his quarters in the Starfleet compound, Thurston and Temple made their way up the tower to meet with the colony's government.

Standing outside of Governor Fleuret's office, the two became immediately aware of raised voices having an argument inside. One of them was a younger female, the other an older male. Nycolas assessed the male was further away from the door, likely seated; while the female's voice seemed to be moving around, pacing back and forth. Thurston and Temple side-eyed each other as the Governor's secretary entered the room to announce their arrival, causing the voices to dim.

As they walked into the office, Governor Fleuret stood from his desk with a put-upon smile. A young blonde woman turned to face the officers but did not smile. Fleuret was indeed the older man, around fifty in age with greying hair and a politician's smile. He immediately extended his hand out to the officers.

“Commodore,” Fleuret beamed as he shook Thurston's hand. “So kind of you to come in person.”

“It’s always a pleasure to visit Lucis.” Thurston replied warmly. “I bring you my finest Security Officer, Lieutenant Temple.”

“So young for a Lieutenant! It's a pleasure to meet you.” Governor Fleuret extended his hand and Temple shook it briefly. “I hope you come to view our humble colony as your new home, for as long as you are here. This, uh, is my daughter Emilie,”

Emilie Fleuret did not extend her hand to either of the officers, but she did give a curt nod of welcome.

“Uh, yes, well we’re so glad to have Starfleet’s presence on the planet now." Governor Fleuret continued, “it will bring assurances to our continued safety.”

Emilie opened her mouth to speak, which Nycolas noticed, but she clearly changed her mind and just sighed loudly.

“My lieutenant is a skilled Security tactician and officer trainer.” Thurston said, “The security detail we will be installing at the colony will see to your protection, Governor.”

Again, Emilie went to speak but this time she received a stern look from her father, and she just sighed again loudly.

Thurston picked up on the exchange and, as he was known to do, just had to ask. “I hope our presence here will be a positive one. Are there any concerns?”

"My daughter is part of the civilian council," The Governor tried to explain, sheepishly.

“We have concerns.” Emilie interjected, unwilling to have her voice diminished. She looked between Thurston and Temple, though Nycolas had kept his eyes locked forward at all times.

“Please,” Thurston indicated for her to speak freely. "Starfleet wishes to work closely with all governing bodies of Lucis."

“The Lucii on Lucis two and Niflheim on Lucis six are our nearest trading planets and regional partners. They are at peace for now, but they have fought against each other before.” Emilie continued, “Two months ago, the Lucii detected a Cardassian ship around seven lightyears away. Then again, one month later, the same ship flying past at a distance. When we try to speak to the Niflheim, however, they say they've not detected anything at all."

"Did the Cardassians come near to your planet?" Thurston asked, tilting his head.

"No." Governor Fleuret quickly said.

"Yet." Emilie rejoined. "The Lucii believe the Niflheim are lying. They trade with each other now, but they still do not trust each other. The Lucii believe the Niflheim may have reached out to the Cardassians. They believe if we have called in Starfleet, they will call in the Cardassians."

"We will have the USS Wellington look into it immediately." Commodore Thurston replied assuredly. "The Cardassians will not risk a war with the Federation at this time. If we need to send a Task Force here to show that the Federation is in full protection of this region, we shall do so."

Governor Fleuret beamed, "See, Ems! This is why we need Starfleet."

"Yes." Emilie reluctantly agreed. She looked between the two officers again, noticing the younger one had barely appeared to move while they were talking. She crinkled her nose at his stiffness.

"Come, let us show you around our office." The Governor excitedly declared, "You'll love the views!"

Walking out of the room, Thurston and Governor Fleuret took the lead and the Governor immediately dived into his best promotional speech about the building's various cultural motifs. Nycolas trailed behind by several steps, arms locked behind his back as he assessed the security implications of a completely glass-sided building.

Suddenly Emilie appeared by his side, matching his walking speed. “What do you think about that, then?” Emilie inquired, "The Cardassians?"

“I trust in Commodore Thurston's assessment.” Nycolas responded simply, never faltered in his unemotional tone.

“But this is to be your assignment.” Emilie insisted, “Surely it’s your job to consider all the factors?”

“My job…” Temple paused and looked sideways at Emilie. “Is to follow the orders I’ve been given.”

“Oh.” Emilie looked disappointed. “One of those, huh?” She commented before walking ahead, ending the conversation abruptly.

Nycolas frowned a little and went back to his surveillance.

[One Month Later]

Time had passed since Nycolas Temple first came to Lucis V. He had spent that time getting acquainted with the planet and his new security detail. Opposite to the main government building was a Starfleet compound where he and his team worked out of. He had quickly began turning it into a training and drill encampment, lest the officers stationed on the colony had visions of a tropical holiday. No, this was a place of work, study, routine, exercise, testing, and scheduled downtime.

As much as he hadn't expected to, Nycolas was loving his leadership role. Thurston had been right; it was what he needed.

What he didn't love, however, was the occasional and sudden tropical storms that would hit the planet and drench the colony's city. It would be a clear and sunny day one minute, then thundering torrential rain the next. On this day, Nycolas had just been visiting the Governor in the main building when a downpour stopped him from returning to the Starfleet compound across the road. Not wanting to get his uniform soaked through - yet again - Nycolas stood in the foyer and watched the rain through the glass windows.

"Caught out again?" Emilie spoke up as she approached from behind. She had noticed the officer standing there looking forlorn at the rain and couldn't help but comment. Their conversations over the last month had typically been curt and short, the Lieutenant was always business first. But Emilie was still determined to try and find the person under the uniform - if there even was one to be found.

"Aye, ma'am." Nycolas replied, looking out the window and raising his eyebrow.

"You really need to learn to gauge when these storms are going to hit." Emilie lectured with a slight smile. "I saw you get soaked-through last week."

"I thought I could tell by now without looking at the computer." Nycolas admitted, "But my meeting with Governor Fleuret took longer than I anticipated."

"I bet." Emilie smirked as she stood next to the Lieutenant, almost at his shoulder. "Much to discuss."

"Yes." Nycolas simply nodded.

"Who would have guessed that the Cardassians were building a secret base on Lucis six's second moon." Emilie marveled sarcastically. "And the Niflheim had apparently no idea about it."

"Not me." Nycolas shrugged, still staring outwards.

"Hm, what a strange occurrence that this secret Cardassian base that no one knew about somehow developed structural issues, forcing the Cardassians to abandon it." Emilie added, shaking her head, "Even stranger still that the base's collapse and destruction actually led to it being revealed to everyone, and forcing the Niflheim to condemn the Cardassians' presence in the region."

"Not everyone can build bases like the Federation." The Lieutenant remarked, not meeting Emilie's tone or line of questioning. "The Cardassians should have built theirs better, I guess."

"Right," Emilie nodded, "Say, I'm glad you're back from your shore leave on the Wellington, Lieutenant."

"Thank you," Nycolas turned and gave a curt smile.

"Two-days is rather short for shore leave." Emilie remarked, a knowing glint in her eyes. "Isn't it?"

"It was only a short visit, yes." Nycolas answered, returning his stare back to the rain. "It's easier to speak with my brother up on Earth from a starship in orbit then it is from down here. And I like to catch up with him once a month."

"Ah." Emilie smirked again, "I see. Well, now that you're back, perhaps you should take my father up on his offer to come to dinner with us?"

Nycolas swallowed hard. "I- um, would like that. But my schedule is very tight."

"You're going to have to loosen up sometime, Lieutenant." Emilie replied. With a smile, she opened up the foyer doors and started to walk out into the rain. She put her arms out, embracing the water as it poured upon her. "You might just like it."

Nycolas couldn't help but smile as he watched Emilie depart, his eyes following her as she skipped merrily down the street. He waited a minute before he too walked out into the rain. He stood for a moment and felt the first few drops fall upon his face. Then, he started bolting towards the Starfleet compound as fast as he could.

OFF