The past few weeks had been a blur
for Markos. Shortly after arriving at Starfleet Headquarters after cutting short
his sabbatical, he was told of his new assignment. Kira, along with Nige, Dinara,
and of course Torasu, were reassigned to the USS Ronin. Perhaps it was fate
that kept these three friends connected to each other through the past couple
of years; then again perhaps it was the work of The Prophets.
For reasons beyond Kira's comprehension, he had been given a promotion along
with his new assignment. Apparently, Starfleet had taken heed of his former
Captain's notes in his service record. "A possible future in command…"
Markos could hear the words echo in his consciousness; those words were probably
responsible for this particular turn of events. After a hurried course in command
procedures, Kira was slated to take his place in his new position. This experience
was to be a first for Kira; he had never had thoughts of assuming a command
position before. In fact, during his entire life, he had always pursued a career
in medicine. Yet, when he thought back on his choices in the past few years,
he realized that with very few exceptions, he wouldn't change a thing. Kira
was actually looking forward to his new position and the unique challenges that
he would be faced with in assuming the role of first officer aboard a starship.
With these thoughts in mind, Kira approached the bridge of the USS Ronin. Kira had arrived on the Ronin a few hours ago, and was just on his way to meet his new Captain. During his brief time spent at the Academy, Kira had been able to learn a little bit about Captain Ryan Evans. Evans had started his career in Starfleet as a security officer, and had been able to move up the ranks to the position of captain with a lot of hard work. His former instructors at the Academy spoke highly of him, praising him for his enthusiasm and good work ethic. They also informed Kira that Evans was very approachable and very down to earth. With that information fresh in his mind, Kira took a deep breath and walked through the door that was the main entrance to the bridge of the USS Ronin.
Pausing to look at the scene before him, Kira made his way toward the captain's chair in the center of the room and stood at attention slightly behind Evan's chair.
"Commander Kira Markos reporting for duty, Sir." Said Kira in the most direct, authoritative voice he could muster.
In response to the announcement behind him, Evans turned in his chair to face his new first officer.
"At ease, Commander." Said Evans to the young man standing before him in a new red command uniform.
In response to the order, Kira took a more comfortable stance and tried to maintain an air of calm while looking his new Captain straight in the eye.
"Nice of you to join us on our little ship." Said Evans with his slight Welsh accent. "Care to join me in my ready room, Commander?" with a slight turn in his chair, Evans made his way towards another door on the bridge that led to the Captain's ready room.
"Yes, sir." Said Kira as he followed Evans' lead.
"Lieutenant McMillan, you have the bridge." Said Evans with his back turned toward the bridge as he entered the ready room with Kira right behind him.
Once the doors closed behind the two men, Evans moved toward his office chair behind his desk, leaving Kira to stand before him. Once seated, Evans briefly looked around his desk and found what he was looking for. Picking up a PADD, Evans began to read its contents.
"Commander Kira Markos. Looks like you've been rather busy these past few years. You've been assigned to two ships in the past three years, excluding your current assignment, of course. Both positions ended in commendation for excellent service, yet I wonder why you didn't stay aboard either of them for more than a year. Do you care to explain?" Evans looked over at Kira with a look of expectation on his face as he patiently waited for a response.
Kira was caught off guard by the question placed before him, but quickly formulated a response. "You are of course familiar with the events surrounding the USS Ilion. Well, I would have stayed aboard longer, except the ship was ready to explode."
"I'm quite familiar with your involvement with the ill-fated Ilion," said Evans in a serious tone, "but what about the Knight. Why did you want to leave so early after taking your position?"
"Honestly, Sir, I needed some time off. The death of Captain Osagawa and the threat of the Proletarians were weighing too heavily on my mind. I wanted some time to sort out my thoughts, and I decided that I needed to take a sabbatical in order to work through some things. I didn't think that I would be brought back to active duty for at least six months. But Starfleet in their 'infinite wisdom' decided to cut my leave short."
"Are you saying that you don't want this position, Commander." Asked Evans in a serious tone.
"No, sir; it was just unexpected. I chose to accept this position in hopes that it would provide me a chance to grow, personally and intellectually. I always have been the type of person who didn't shy away from a good challenge. This new position definitely looked like it would challenge me in those areas, so I accepted it, and here I am."
"The reason I'm pursuing this line of questioning is this, Commander; how long are you planning to stay aboard the Ronin? And, more importantly, do you foresee any problems with remaining aboard this ship for at least two years?"
"I know my service record seems to indicate that I have a tendency to jump around from ship to ship and not remain in an assignment for very long, but I can assure you, Captain, that I plan on staying aboard the Ronin for at least two years. Contrary to what you see before you, I don't enjoy moving from place to place all that often. I actually don't enjoy the whole moving process. I want to establish a place that I can call 'home,' and I believe that the Ronin can provide that for me."
"Just the answer that I wanted
to hear, Commander." Said Evans with a smile. "Welcome aboard the
USS Ronin."
