Be Brave

Posted on Sun Jun 21st, 2020 @ 3:45am by Captain Tobias Rao & Emilie Temple
Edited on on Wed Jun 24th, 2020 @ 6:53am

Mission: New Moon Rising
Location: Luna Ship Yards
Timeline: Following "Sail Away"

ON:

The Pandora was still a stream of luminous blue warp particles in space when Emilie Temple's shuttle docked with the Luna Ship Yards. Having made the last minute dash from her home on Earth up to the docking base, carrying her little girl Katrine in her arms, she was hoping to make in time to board the Pandora.

"Excuse me!" She cried, pushing her way through the crowds with Katrine held tightly to her right shoulder. "Out of the way!"

Emilie had been too eager to get off the shuttle to hear from the pilot that the Pandora had already left. She had been too focused on getting to the boarding tunnel to notice that the launching ceremony was over. She was too busy trying to settle Katrine, who was anxious over her mother's anxiety, to realise that she was simply too late.

Finally Emilie had pushed her way to the front of the crowd, right to the large bay window of the Observation Deck to see.... nothing. Nothing but the empty space where the Pandora had been. Finally it dawned on her that she had made her last minute decision several minutes too late and instead of rushing onboard the Pandora to reunite herself and Katrine with her husband Nycolas, she was simply left looking at the empty docking bay. It had taken all her strength and determination to face her fears just in order to leave Earth, she wanted to show Nyx and herself how brave she could be. Sadly, that wasn't to be.

Wanting to cry but not wanting to upset Katrine any further, Emilie slid down the bulkhead and sat forlornly on the floor. Katrine looked up to her with curious blue eyes.

Having seen The launch of the Pandora from her dockyard instead of the bridge of the Palatine, Tobias felt pride in seeing of the newest Luna into her mission.

Knowing that the Palatine was due to leave shortly to rendezvous with the Pandora, he turned and headed towards a turbolift...before seeing a lady and her child sat leaning against the bulkhead.

As others walked by, Tobias stopped and kneeled down to them. "You know, there are more comfortable spots to watch a starship depart than here," he said before noticing her forlorn look. "Is something wrong my dear?" He asked.

Emilie sighed, wiping her face. Katrine looked up to the Captain with quiet reserve, too shy to say anything.

"I tried so hard to get here," Emilie began, her voice softened, "I wanted to surprise my husband and join the Pandora. He didn't think I would be able to make it but I couldn't stand the thought of us all being separated." Her face dropped a little, trying to hold back the emotions, "But I was too late."

Tobias recognised the woman and her child almost straight away. "Are you by any chance Emilie Temple?" Tobias asked. If he was was right, he realised that the Palatine had its first taxi fare waiting to go...

Emilie looked at the man with confusion, finally seeing the details of the officer in front of her. She noticed the uniform and the pips, so she pulled Katrine off her lap and stood up straight.

"Captain, I'm sorry," she replied, "Yes, I'm Emilie Temple. How did you know?"

Tobias smiled gently as he explained. "I was lucky enough to meet with your husband to discuss his orders before his ship was due to leave," he said. "He showed me a picture of you both."

An idea immediately bloomed in Emilie's mind, as all the bravery she had once conjured to leave Earth but had immediately deserted her when she saw the Pandora had already departed, returned to her body with renewed power. She could still make it on board, she could still reunite with Nycolas and conquer her fear.

"Captain Rao, I need to ask you a big favor," Emilie began with a smile. "Can your ship catch up to the Pandora?"

As he stood to face her, Tobias guided her gaze towards the docking port opposite of their position. "You see that starship there? Thats the Palatine...my ship...and she's very capable of catching the Pandora," he explained. "Do you need a lift?" Tobias offered.

Emilie's face turned into a bright smile, as she internally gathered the courage to make one more leap of faith. Sure the fears still plagued her mind, but she was making a conscious decision to put her happiness, and that of her family, first before her fears. She would have given the Captain the biggest hug if it wasn't so inappropriate to do so.

"Yes! That would be amazing," She replied breathlessly. "I couldn't possibly thank you enough. I mean, is that okay, you won't get in trouble from Starfleet?"

Tobias winked as he answered. "No, not at all... Besides Starfleet likes open thinkibg officers...they won't mind what they won't know..."

Emilie stooped down again and looked at Katrine, the little blue eyed girl looking to her mother and smiling.

"Do you hear that?" Emilie asked, "Captain Rao is going to take us to see Daddy."

Katrine burst into a big smile, "Yay!" She cried, and unlike her mother was free from social constraints so immediately latched onto Captain Rao's legs to give him a big hug.

Tobias reached down and gave Katrine a small hug in return before standing tall again. "Right, do you have everything you need? We can beam aboard from here you know?" Tobias explained.

"Oh!" Emilie gasped, "My luggage was still on the transport. I was in such a rush to get here I almost forgot all about it." She laughed a little, wishing the Captain knew that she was usually a very coordinated and organised person. She wouldn't normally make last minute decisions to fly off into unknown regions, despite her ever-present fear telling her not to. Instead, she just smiled apologetically, "Do you mind if I make arrangements to have it transferred to your ship first?"

"Absolutely my dear, we'll leave when your ready," Tobias confirmed.

"Thank you, Captain Rao," She sighed in relief. "You've been a miracle to me."

"I aim to please...I'm usually pretty successful at it too..." Tobias added.

With a kind smile, Emilie picked up Katrine again and made their way back to the docking bay to gather their belongings. She was still breathing heavily, still that little voice in her head telling her this was a bad idea. But Captain Rao's generosity and assistance was putting her mind at ease. She wondered if she would have found a way onboard the Pandora without his help, but that was still a premature line of thought. Bravery and kindness had brought her this far, but they were not on the Pandora yet. They still had to catch up to the ship - one final leap of faith before her family was reunited again.

Once Tobias had been updated that the luggage the Temple's had with them on the Transport was transferred to the Palatine, he made sure to get them both on board and to get the ship ready for departure. Tobias made sure that the Temple's were settled and that the helm had a maximum slipstream course was laid in to catch up with the Pandora. Despite having a later departure time set by the dock, he knew there was a window to leave without causing the dockmaster too much hassle.

Now onboard the Palatine, sitting in the lounge by the window, Emilie was trying to temper her nerves and excitement.

She leaned over and kissed Katrine on the head, as the Palatine began to power up her engines.

She smiled, "Here we go."

OFF