Arrival Part I

As the Apollo class transport vessel Chaffee dropped out of Warp above the planet Mellstoxx III after its long journey from Earth, one young man in particular had a lot on his mind.

Jason Devron sat on the edge of his bed, wearing just his pale blue shorts and t-shirt he’d slept in. It had been an uneasy sleep.  He wasn’t troubled by the fact he would be soon setting foot on an alien planet, the first time he’d ever be doing so.  Nor was it the fact that he was there to commence his third year of training in the Starfleet Academy.

No, the biggest issue on his mind was the fact that up until 6 months ago, Jason Devron did not exist.   He had no idea as to the time and effort it must have taken to create this new identity for him.  Or why in fact someone had even bothered going to all that trouble. What debt did he owe them and how and when would he be required to pay it back. They’d chosen to protect and hide him from those he’d betrayed at such a young age.  People who he’d felt a connection with, and trusted.  All Jason knew was that the man he had once been; was dead.  Heck, they’d even managed to magic up a body.  It had been on the national news.  Local restaurant destroyed and seven killed in anti-alien violence.

Despite being born around six years after the Dominion War had come to a conclusion.  Events within it had still helped shape his life.  He’d grown up seeing the haunted look on his mother’s face though for years he never understood why. When the news came, letting her know that her younger sister had been killed when the USS Valley Forge was destroyed.  People said she seemed to age a decade overnight.  She became totally withdrawn from friends and society in general.  His birth had been meant to help heal her wounds, but that never happened. A woman who had herself never left planet Earth, having already lost her wonderful sister in war light years away would eventually lose her husband to a new job far out in space.  At first he’d wanted revenge, to get into the Starfleet Academy and make someone pay, for not only destroying his mother’s life but killing his aunt who he’d only seen in photos and holo-vids.  However things had changed dramatically in the universe before he reached the age of 16 and could join the Starfleet Academy. His mother pasted away in October of 2397 not long after he’d been accepted.  Leaving him alone in the world.

Having done brilliantly in the exams and practical side of the Entrance Exam, he’d only just scraped through on the psychological examination. It was at this point in his life having been singled out by the very man who’d conducted his evaluation he found himself mixed up with a group of Earth separatists.  ‘Earth First’, they called themselves and boasted about how their movement was growing in strength across Europe and parts of Asia. People who’d grown sick of the Earth always getting itself mixed up in the problems of other races. They were more than happy to see him join Starfleet and help them with their aims of getting aliens off the planet, and giving Earth the freedom they felt it deserved.  Claiming they already had others working within the Federation.  Which having already met with one, he was more than ready to believe.

When the time came he joined the campus based at Cambridge, in the UK.  Known as a seat of learning for centuries, it had become an additional Starfleet Campus to deal with increased number wishing to join up. He studied and worked hard like any other of the two hundred plus Cadets based there.

It was during his second year when he discovered the group he was with planned to plant a bomb inside a local restaurant used by many of the training personnel, and he would be placing the device.  He knew he couldn’t let something as horrific as this happen. He felt ashamed of himself for even getting mixed up in all this. Having formed a kind of friendship with a pair of Grazerites, on Earth as part of an exchange program, this young man had started to realise how his feeling towards aliens in general had been twisted and manipulated.  But as he came forward to reveal what the plan was, he felt his involvement would see him locked up for life.  However someone had other ideas.  The bomb would be planted as instructed, but would detonate prematurely, supposedly killing him and some of the staff working there.  The building would in fact be empty when these events would unfold.

They made sure at least one body was pulled from the rubble and the body identified using the DNA acquired from two of his own teeth.   Security teams would be on standby to track down and arrest those involved.

Some four months later a cadet by the name of Jason Devron arrived at the Starfleet Academy located in Marin County San Francisco to complete his second year of cadet training prior to transferring to Mellstoxx III where he would start his third.

Normally crew quarters like the one Jason was in would usually have two people sharing.  But right now at least Jason had this one too himself and had folded the top bunk up against the bulkhead wall to give himself a little more space.  His fellow cadet and roommate for the journey from Earth was currently in sickbay for observation. It was a modest sized room with limited storage space, a workstation, replicator and a couple of chairs along with the beds.

The room had two doors; one led out on to the corridor the other a washroom and sonic shower.  And it was towards this second door he headed.  After a quick shower and shave, Jason dressed himself in his Cadets uniform.

With the aid of the ships computer he brought up a holographic representation of himself.  Whereas a mirror was flat and afforded a person only a limited view of themselves, this allowed you to walk around your own image and make sure everything was in order.  Jason checked himself over from every angle before brushing a fleck of imaginary dust from his right shoulder.  Satisfied he couldn’t look any better he dismissed the hologram and started about packing the rest of what few items he had with him.

 A few moments later the ships intercom gave its familiar electronic whistle. “All cadets to main shuttle bay.” Came the gruff voice. “Departure is in thirty minutes.  That’s three zero minutes.”

As Jason stood by the door to these quarters for the last time, some ten minutes later, he was left to ponder before he exited his room.  Who was that mysterious man dressed all in black?  Despite having no visible insignia or marking of rank, he seemed to convey an air of authority.  Jason had witness Officers accepting this man’s orders without question, though sometimes begrudgingly. This was the man who’d kept him out of prison and given him this new name.  Jason hoped one day to discover who that old man was.  

He slung his kitbag over his left shoulder and headed along the corridor to the nearest turbo lift and entered just a few seconds after reaching the door. “Deck 13, Sick bay”.  Jason was head off to check on his roommate.

Dinari Lyambo was a tall slender young man with ebony skin of Namibian decent.  He was the youngest of six kids.  All the others like his parents had joined the medical field in some shape or form.  Dinari however was an Engineer, or at least hoped to be once his training was complete.  The family disappointment as he’d once said during a chat they’d had one night.

Jason checked with the ships doctor who confirmed the other cadet was fit and able to return to training, whilst Dinari finished dressing behind a screen in the corner.  As the other young man stepped out dressed in his own cadet uniform and holding his bag by his side, he flashed a bright cheery smile at the nurse as she passed by carrying a PADD.

“Behave” Jason called across the room just load enough for the nurse to hear.  The other man did his best to look both puzzled and indignant at the same time.  But failed completely as the smile returned to his face.  As the two of them closed the gap between each other, Jason asked the taller man a question. “How exactly did you manage to get food poisoning from a replicator?”

“It is not my fault the stupid machine is unable to understand my great old Oumas’ favorite recipe.”

Jason couldn’t help smile a little, Dinari had on more than one occasion mentioned what a wonderful cook his grandmother was and how she often cooked family meals rather than replicate them.

They both headed back to where the nearest turbo lift was and joined a half dozen other cadets who like them where all heading for the shuttle bay.  A short while later 37 of them where assembled together in a small room just to one side of the shuttle bays landing pads.  Through a large window Jason and a few of the others watched as a pair of Type 7 Shuttlecraft came in to land swiftly yet gracefully.  Neither appeared to be warp capable and showed slight signs of their age.   The closest carried the prefix ‘B’ in a maroon colour half the height of the craft, whilst the other had an ‘E’ in the same colour.

In one corner of the room a Lieutenant stood at a lectern   Reading out the names of cadets and which of the two shuttles they would be boarding, along with others that belonged to the Chaffee itself.  Roughly fifteen minutes later shuttle ‘E’ lifted up off the pad and followed its companion towards the planet’s surface.

Five shuttlecraft swept downward from the USS Chaffee towards Mellstoxx III, banking slightly to port before entering the planets upper atmosphere one at a time.   The planet was covered in a thick blanket of cloud so very little detail would have been visible had any of the passengers been able to see outside.

The trip from starship to touchdown on the planet’s surface was smooth and uneventful and took just over ten minutes.  The cadets all disembarked and under the direction of a Chief Petty Office, who introduced himself as Chief Merryweather, headed towards the academy’s administration building. A large circular building located within stunning gardens.  Within a small conference room they were greeted by Commodore Bale, the man who was in overall charge of the training facility.

Over the next few hours the 37 new arrivals were introduced to some of the training personnel and two Cadets who were there to show them around the complex.  Starting first with the dormitories they’d be staying in whilst on campus.  They dropped off their bags, those like Jason in their third year would still be sharing rooms but anyone starting their four year of cadet training would have a room to themselves. They then continued the guided tour.

The Starfleet Academy on Mellstoxx III was an immense complex covering a circular area some ten kilometers in diameter, only rivalled in size by that of Starfleet Academy’s main campus in San Francisco. 

Jason’s first day on the planet was almost drawing to a close when having just finished his evening meal in one of the campus dining halls and stepped out into one of the many gardens, he was approached by a lieutenant commander who he saluted.  “If you’d care to follow me the Commodore wishes to see you in his office.”

A moment of dread filled his mind, but the officers face betrayed no sense of might be happening. He had been merely sent to do a job, and was carrying out his orders.  After a brief walk, Jason again found himself within the administration building.  Following the lieutenant commander, they both entered a turbo lift, which took them to the top floor.  As they headed along first one corridor then another Jason made a mental note of everything he passed.

The Commodores secretary asked his to take a seat whilst she buzzed to announce his arrival.  It was only five minutes which seemed like forever, before the door to the Commodore office opened and Jason was asked to step inside.  He came to attention and saluted. “Sir”

“At ease cadet,” the word where spoken without the merest hint of friendliness, a totally contrasted to how the man had been earlier that day.  Jason took a quick look around the room.  Behind the Commodore was a map covering the local star system with the star Mellstoxx at its center and the seven planets that orbited it.  Over to the right was what looked like a painting of a Constellation-class star ship passing Jupiter.

As Bale sat down in his large black chair one side of his desk, he motioned for Jason to sit in a smaller chair opposite him.  He taped the top of the computer monitor screen with his right index finger, twice.

 “I’ve been reading through your report.  Both of them!”  The last three words were spoken with more emphasis.  “I’m the only one in this entire establishment with a high enough clearance to do so.”  The Commodore brought his hands together on the desk interlocking his fingers.

“Frankly the whole thing reeks of Section 31.  And if you are in any way part of some clandestine scheme they’ve cooked up to bypass the relevant channels you’d better get off this planet pretty damn sharp”

Jason gathered his thoughts before replying to the accusation.  “Sir, I know I’m here under a false name, but I assure you I’ve not been sent out here on some secret mission by this Section 31 as you call it.”

Bale raised his hand signaling for the young man before him to stop.  He knew section 31 had been around from almost day one.  It had gone from legend to pariah, been a savior of mankind one moment and nearly its destroyer the next.  An organization which felt the rules that governed every citizen of the Federation didn’t apply to its members, no matter how tightly anyone tried to monitor and control their actions.

But Bale realised this cadet now seated before him had risked his own life, even if unknowingly to save many others.  Lives which included some the Commodore knew personally.  Someone had felt this young man was worth protecting and giving a second chance to.   The question remained, was he worthy of this second chance.  Had one act been enough, could he be trusted?

 “I’m going to give you a chance.  But I will be keeping a sharp eye on every action you take from now on.  The slightest slip up and you’re on the next ship out. Understand?”

 “Sir, yes sir”

 “Now get out before I realise what a stupid old fool I am!”

 As the cadet left his room Commodore Bale took one last look at the file on his screen before closing it.  Jason Devron as everyone would now know him was a remarkable person. Starfleet had received its fair share of rogues, mavericks and misfits over the decades.  People that didn’t exactly fit the perceived idea of a model officer.  Some had turned out to be fine officers.  Their fellow crewmen could trust them to get the job done; trust them with their lives even, if the time ever came.  Others had proved to be as big a danger to those around them as any enemy they may have to face. As to which one had just walked out of that room, only time would tell.  But he would be watched.  The Commodore had a duty to this academy and the Federation as a whole.