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Posted on Sunday May 31st, 2020 @ 6:28am by Master Chief Petty Officer Charles Payne
Edited on on Friday July 3rd, 2020 @ 4:31pm

862 words; about a 4 minute read

Mission: S1-A1-Ep. 1: Spectrophobia
Location: Personal Quarters of COB

Dedicated to the memory of Richard Herd.
A fine man, A great actor.
Carry ON Admiral Paris.


Death is not the opposite of life, but part of it.
-Haruki Murakami-

ON:

The computer sounded right on time, as always. No time for anything else. It was 0400. Time to get up and get a start on this beautiful duty shift. Charles Payne jumped out of bed just like he always had. He had time enough to get out of bed, get into a shower. Have breakfast. Then, be out the door and still be on the bridge 15 minutes early for shift. There was a philosophy that was drilled into Payne since he was a cadet.....IF you are 15 minutes early, then you are right on time. And IF you are right on time, you are 15 minutes late. Payne still held to that.

As Payne awoke and climbed out of bed, he stretched. Then yawned. Then, he started to walk into the bathroom. Payne had a secret. He liked both sonic and water showers. Both had their merits. But most often, he would turn on both. It kind of made him feel double clean. As he turned on the sound, and the water at the same time, he slithered into the tub. it was the steam that gave him the feeling of coming alive after the slumber. He took it all in for a few seconds. Then, Payne grabbed his lazer razer and started shaving. He slowly started to feel human again.

Once his shower was done and over with, and he was all shaved he donned a brand new clean uniform. Pressed and perfect, just like always. After that Payne walked to the replicator. "Eggs Benedict with sour dough toast with butter and venison sausage. with peach juice and coffee...double cream, double sweet." He said. and it appeared before him. Payne took the tray and sat at his desk. He liked to go over his itinerary while having breakfast. He turned his computer screen to notice a subspace message addressed to him. It was from Star Fleet Command. From the office of Admiral Paris. Payne smiled. "Looks like he can't do without me after all." He said as he activated the message.

On the screen was Lilly. Admiral Paris's personal assistant. She looked stunned.

=/\= Hi Charley, its me Lilly. I have some bad news. I wanted to be the one to tell you. Charley, I know you were close to the Admiral. so this will be hard to hear. I don't know if you knew. But Admiral Paris was battling cancer. And last night, he lost the fight. I'm so sorry Charley, but Admiral Paris has passed away. It came on very suddenly. There was nothing anyone could do. I don't know what else to say. IF you need me, you know where to find me. Lilly out. =/\= There was a tear streaming from her face as she deactivated the message on the screen.

Payne sat there in shock for a few seconds. He was glad that Lilly was the one to tell him. He had known her for as long as he knew the Admiral. And, since she was a civilian, she could actually get away with calling him Charley. It took awhile, but he found it endearing eventually. Come to think of it, she was the ONLY one who did.

Payne was surprised to say the least. After all, he didn't know that the Admiral had cancer. And most forms of it had a cure, MOST. Payne's eyes started to water. He had worked with the Admiral for some time. Even he admitted they made a great team. He looked at his plate of food and pushed it away. Suddenly, he was not hungry anymore.

Just then, the computer rang another alarm. It was time to head out to work. Payne got up, and walked toward the door. From a small table beside the door, he grabbed his swagger stick. Payne looked at it. It was a present from the Admiral for his current post. He looked at it. It was polished African black wood. with polished silver on both ends on the top of the handle it had the symbol of Star fleet carved on it. and around the top, it had the ship's logo of the USS Poseidon. with the ship's name engraved as well. and the call letters, NCC-42635 below that. The other end came to a point. It was beautiful. Almost looked like it could be art. It was just like the ones the senior drill instructors at the Academy used.

Payne knew that this was more then just a gift. It was a message. It told Payne that the best way to honor a fallen comrade is to do your job to the best of your ability. So Payne wiped a single tear from his eye. Then walked through the opened door to his quarters. This was not just a new day. But this day would be the best day ever. It was dedicated to the memory of a great man.

OFF:

Master Chief Petty Officer Charles Ermy Payne
Chief of the Boat
USS Poseidon

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