Chapter Text
Ariel was right. She did spend more time in the ready room than she did in her own quarters, thought Captain Leone as she stared out toward the stars. She brought the cool glass of iced tea to her lips and took a long quaff from it. The heavy base of the glass felt good in her hand when she brought it back down to rest atop the smooth surface of her desk.
Iced tea first thing in the morning helped shake the cobwebs of a deep sleep, she had discovered during her time as a lieutenant serving aboard the starship Victory. The smell alone woke her up, like a strong brew of fresh coffee. Coffee might have been the first choice of many captains, including her own mother, but it often left Leone with a sour stomach. Tea became her best-tasting alternative.
By the time she finished with the one glass she allowed herself before starting her morning duty, she settled into the chair behind her desk and began to review the reports filed the previous night. Not all of them, of course, but the ones marked for her special attention by her acting executive officer. Every now and again, Leone's lips would curl up into a smile as she read some of the notations scribbled into the reports.
Ariel's wit laced the reports of the chief engineer, who made unofficial accusations of Petra's scrutiny of Mister Saleb's completed alterations to the ship's navigational deflector seem as though she really had the hots for him, rather than contempt for what he had done to her ship. Leone laughed out loud a few times before she closed the file and pushed herself away from the desk to stride out onto the nearly empty bridge.
"Good morning," said a too-cheery Greg, seated in the executive officer's seat.
"Good morning, Greg," replied Leone as she sat next to him. "You know, when you have the conn, you can feel free to use my chair. It's incredibly comfy."
Greg rose from the seat and stood to address her with his hands behind her back. "I'm sure it is, sir, but I wouldn't dare presume sit in your chair while you're on deck one."
"My, oh, my... you are getting very good at this conn-sitting, Greg."
"Sir?"
Leone divided her attention between the right-hand console of her chair and him. "I mean, you outmaneuver three enemy ships with a tractor beam and fancy flying, and then you're acting like a respectful XO keeping a watchful eye on the ship while the captain's amusing herself in her ready room."
"I guess so, sir."
"I meant it as a compliment. You've done really well for yourself since you got here."
"I appreciate that."
"I'm sure you do. So, let me ask you a question."
Greg tilted his head, but nodded. "Of course, sir."
She sighed. "You have four years' service in Starfleet since graduation... why haven't you put your name forth for consideration for promotion to full lieutenant?"
He reseated himself next to her, not wanting the conversation to drift to the operations station, where a chief petty officer sat watch. Lowering his voice, so as not to raise the ears of their comrades, he nearly hissed at her, "Kryssie, why're you bugging me about my career?"
Leone leaned over and smiled as he used her rather ancient nickname from when he was a child. "That's 'Captain Kryssie' to you, young sir." Off of his pained expression, she chuckled softly. "You don't think I'm not going to hear it from your mother?"
"God, leave her out of it."
"Tell her, that. It'll save me a lot of trouble."
Greg raised a hand to his forehead. "I'm not asking for any special treatment, now. I'm just doing my job."
"And doing it really well, Greg. I entrusted you with the ship, and you didn't let me down."
His cheeks warmed and colored red as she praised him. "Do me a favor, please... don't put that in your report. Next thing you know, I'm going to be expected to do that on a regular basis, and I don't think I could handle that kind of pressure."
Leone smirked. "Oh, Greg... if you didn't want that kind of pressure, you're in the wrong place, my friend."
"With all due respect, Captain Kryssie, I think we're all in the wrong place."
They said their goodbyes, in spite of their slight bitterness that they would leave them behind to take care of their own war. Prime Barris expressed his sadness to see Ariel leave there part of the Beta Quadrant behind, but she assured him that he would find someone in the future to see his considerable needs. That exchange drew an amused glance from Captain Leone.
When it came time for Saleb and Belkis to bid them farewell, they offered to provide Farragut with extra personnel to see them through the long journey home, but Leone refused. She saw through the obvious ploy to convey refugees safely into the Federation, but enough regulations had been mangled for one excursion.
Barris shook hands with Leone. "While I can't say this for certain, Captain, I sincerely hope this isn't the last time we'll meet."
"With all due respect, Prime," she replied, "we've got our own problems to handle back at home. But, thanks all the same, for your generous hospitality."
"If you should ever pass this way again..." start Saleb.
"We'll be sure to look you up," promised Leone.
Petra maintained a vigilant watch on the quantum field generator attached to the deflector. She personally reconfigured her engineering console to provide her with real-time data from the subsystems affected. By the time she finished, the engineering station looked nothing like a standard matter/anti-matter reaction chamber-driven propulsion monitor, as it would under normal operating conditions.
Captain Leone ordered the ship to a safe distance from the fortress, but not too far outside the defense perimeter, in case they should fall under attack by wayward members of the Tristnor Hegemony. In spite of Mister Saleb's constant assurances that the field wouldn't harm the fortress, she did not want to take any chances.
After a small period of system adjustment, Petra announced her satisfaction, "Ready, here, Captain."
"Thank you, Petra," replied Leone. "Wilson, take us to general quarters." She wanted everyone to be alert and ready, in case the worst happened. However, being that they would be inside a quantum field, she wasn't sure if a typical abandon ship order would be carried out while the ship was in a state of quantum flux.
Wilson nodded. "General quarters, aye, sir." The computer made the appropriate announcements and the klaxon wailed twice before silencing.
"Let's get this circus on the road," muttered Leone. "Petra, activate your new toy."
"It's not my-"
Leone raised a hand. "Don't care. Let's go home."
Petra called out, "Aye, sir. Engaging reinforcement of the structural integrity and inertia dampening fields, now. Stand by for quantum field generation."
"All stations secure for quantum field entry," ordered Ariel from the operations console. "Captain, the hatches have been battened down."
"Device online. Quantum field generating from the navigational deflector," reported Petra.
Wilson added, "Confirmed. Deflector dish outputting quantum field, slowly."
"Acknowledged," said Leone with a nod.
Ariel said, "Field stabilization rate at twenty-five percent and rising."
Leone flexed her fingers on the edges of her armrests. "What's our entry point?"
"Ninety-seven percent, Captain. Mister Saleb's instructions were quite clear."
"Call out the rates, Ariel."
"Aye, sir." Ariel's voice continued their count, "Thirty-six percent. Forty-seven."
When the field rose in stabilization to eighty percent, Leone called out, "Here we go, people. Hang on to your asses."
"Field entry in five seconds," said Petra.
Farragut entered the field, losing sensors as it did the first time. The viewscreen deactivated without any relevant data being fed to it, and the expert handling of the ship's systems made for a smoother ride within the field. Leone barely felt the vibrations through the deck of the ship, allowing her to maintain her composure. She waited patiently for the ship to either be destroyed or depart the field.
The field outside the ship dissipated, allowing the sensors to get clear reads on the local region of space. The viewscreen image returned to show stars once more. "Ariel?" she asked, quietly.
"One moment, Captain. I'm scanning," replied Ariel, her eyes moving over the display.
"I just got a Federation timebase beacon," announced Wilson happily.
Ariel nodded, "The computer has confirmed the present star positions as Federation territory. We're three million kilometers away from where we left." She whirled around in her chair, a large grin on her face.
Leone rose from her chair, unable to hide the joy from her face or her voice. "Wilson, all hands, please."
"Aye, sir." Wilson sounded the boatswain's whistle to call the attention of the crew.
"All hands, this is the captain." Captain Leone stepped forward and placed a hand on Ariel's shoulder. She squeezed her gently as she informed her crew, "We're home."