I’m only Human

Posted on Tue Feb 6th, 2018 @ 5:34pm by Fleet Admiral Donatella Figueroa & Lieutenant Junior Grade Ethan O'Donoghue

Mission: S01E02 D-8 With the Devil
Location: USS Musashi | Captain's Quarters

Ej had been awake for about 20 mins the young ensign was off duty for the most part today, but that also meant he had a few things to take care of. Grabbing his hoodie and his hat that he constantly wore off duty, he made his way to the mess hall for a cup of tea before he entered the gym for his daily punch bag session.somthing about today felt off, it was in the air around him making him choke on his words, standing by the replicator he made his every day brew and walked and sat enjoying the sweetness of the tea.

He hadent herd from his older brother in. A while Craig would always check in be it once a week or once a month without fail. Paddy did the same although he was close to graduating him self, so Ethan understood that he only called when he had the time. The tea was filling him with hope that Craig was alright and that all of EJ's anxiety was for nothing. However a fellow helms man made his way over to the ensign “Ensign the captain has requested that you meet her as soon as your able” Ethan looked at the helms man “I’ll go there now, get your self some rack time when you get off need ya fighting fit” he said as he clapped the young helmsman on the back as he left his cup in hand “Come on Craig get in contact don’t leave me hanging bro “ he said to himself as he stood outside to the captains ready room.

A Federation starship Captain had over a dozen duties, but of those duties there delightful times and difficult times. He or She saw their crew through the extremes of both. It was a long held honor and tradition that a Captain performed the ceremony of marriage aboard their starships. This came from way before the star fairing days to when the open oceans and seas were the frontier being tackled by the bravest of souls. This was not one of those times for celebration. It was not a joyous occasion where the Captain could do anything but deliver news, terrible news.

She had lost crew before. She had lost more crewmembers than she dared to ever admit. In these times, she often had to deliver the news of these losses to the family of deceased. Rarely did she ever have to deliver this news in person. Families were not usually permitted to serve together aboard a starship or space station without special circumstances and most certainly not without the Commanding Officer's consent. Fig had always had some distance and safety between her and the grieving family. She either delivered this sort of news by recorded messages sent via subspace when the distance was too far. Other times, it was on a open comm channel with the other party able to see or listen to her in real time.

This case. This situation had her pacing in her Ready Room for sometime before taking a seat behind her desk. This was one of the very few times that she had to deliver the news of a death to someone in person. What was further complicating was though she did not know the deceased, she did know the family member whom she would be delivering the news to. Ensign Ethan O'Donoghue's brother had ben killed in the line of duty. Now, it was up to Fig to be the bearer of this news.

The proximity detector alerted her to the presence outside her quarters. She had requested that EJ come meet with her. This was the sort of stuff that needed to be handled delicately and away from the rest of the crew. Fig was unsure how she was going to handle this. She reached over and pressed a control on a panel that unlocked the door. The doorway parted ways, sliding open and she saw an anxious ensign. Her tone of voice was not as light hearted nor playful as it usually was when addressing him. Yet it was also not as stern and commanding as when she was barking out orders in the heat of battle. It was sincere, firm, and somewhat shaken. "EJ, please" she said gesturing for him to enter and have a seat. She took a deep breath and looked at the young man as he approached her desk.

As EJ approached his commanding officers desk, a flood of emotion came over him. Knowing full well the captain dident usually call him to her ready room, EJ knew this was serious " What can i help you with Captain?" he said as a puzzled look crossed the young ensigns face. He hadent done anything wrong to his knowledge or maybe it was to commend him on his efforts on the last mission. So much was flying round his brain, that it was hard to concentrate "Can i by any chance have a cup of tea captain, helps steady the nerves ya see" he said still looking puzzled "Feels like im in some form of trouble" he said laughing a little and scratching the back of his head in a show nerves if anything else.

"EJ, you go right ahead and held yourself to a nice cuppa, and then come have a seat" she said calmly. Donatella watched the young man with his high spirits and youthful energy. The smile on his face was a flame, a light of hope and prosperity. However, it was a flame in which she would soon have to watch flicker and ultimately be extinguished. She waited for him to have a seat and she was preparing herself to have to call for medical.

The Captain took a deep breath. You have to do this she thought silently to herself and she tried her best to fight back tears. She was not a Vulcan and controlling her emotions was difficult for her. This crew was more than just a crew. It was her crew. It was her family. In such a short period of time they had been through so much. "EJ, you are not in any sort of trouble. I called you in here because I have recieved some terrible news, personal news that affects you. EJ, it's your brother Craig" she said with a shaky preamble.


EJ's face dropped, it was craig his older brother "Whats Happend Capt?" He asked shakidly, deep down he knew that if it was craig's death he most definatly would not be holding back on his next mission, this whole day had been one of those that he'd prefer to forget, but they were in the middle of the cusps of war.A war that was effecting everybody on this ship, EJ hated the klingons probably as much as he hated the fact that both of his brothers were in this war, one of them was training to join the fight and the other was right in the thick of it "Craigs....Not Dead is he Cap" He swallowed hard "Please tell me I dont have a funeral to organise?" he said as the lump in his throat became unbearable As the tears started erupting from his eyes.

"Ensign" replied the Captain solemnly, looking down for a moment. Keep it together, Fig she reminded herself as she could feel the struggle within herself. She was losing this battle. Fig felt it...something had come from the corner of her eye and was trickling down slowly down her cheek. She kept her head down, her face away from EJ as she quickly wiped the single teardrop. After a shakey exhale, she pulled herself together. Looking back up at him she mournfully nodded. "There was an attack, several fatalities, and I'm afraid Craig was among them" Fig said breaking the news. "Words cannot express my condolences for your and your family's loss, EJ."

EJ Felt the drop, everything was spinning and falling all at the same time "Craigs...Dead" he said shakidly, the war hadent even started and the losses had already been mounting "Im actually broken capt, i cant believe it" his cup of tea was shaking in his hands, the emotions running through him ranged from anger to complete dispair "The klingons had better hope they dont cross me, because im going to make them pay for what they have just done to my family" The irish accent and fire in him was rising and that wasent good for anybody let alone the klingons "So ive lost craig, the federation is at war with a species that basically looks at war as a mode and now were all left to deal with the damges" that fire in EJ's soul was alive and kicking "Captain im requesting that we have the memorial aboard the mushai, i think as his brother id want his final send off to be on a ship that meant somthing" he said drinking his tea as the tears started falling.

"A species we are dangerously close to a war with" she said, not meaning to correct him, but she needed to for the sake of being his Commanding Officer. "The Klingons have not officially decalred war nor the Federation. Believe me, I know how frustrating that information is. I fought the Klingons for several years in what some call a war and others refuse to give it such a name" she said shaking her head. "They will PAY, EJ" she added reassuringly.

Seeing him in tears made her heart ache. "This next mission, I am assigning you to one of the boarding parties. You deserve that much and Craig deserves to have a memorial wherever you feel would be best. If you want it on the Musashi, then it is happening on the Musashi."

EJ was still crying "Thnak you, Boss. I feel like I need to blow somthing up and maybe well that'll happen" His cup of tea was still shaking "Thank you captain I'm preety sure my father and my family will appreciate it, however I do have some good news for you my little brother Paddy has finally chosen his assignment for after his graduation from the academy and well it looks like you will have two O'donnahugs to deal with" he said slightly laughing through the tears.

I am not sure how I feel about having two of you aboard my starship. One of you is quite enough of a handful for me, but I do not really think this isthe time for me to think about getting Paddy placed elsewhere. EJ could use family right now more than ever, and if need be, I can deal with reassigning his brother later on she thought to herself. Then again, I may end up finding that they both make this starship greater she added mentally. "I look forward to having a look at his personnel record. I will be sure to have the Second Officer and Executive Officer be on the look out for his orders to report. What is Paddy's background if you do not mind my asking, EJ?" asked Fig as she wondered if both were helmsmen.

"Paddy unlike me went with navigation, couldent face following craig into security or my father into the medical profession, so decided he 'd follow me into bridge crew" he said smiling "Paddy is a lot less to deal with hes more like my mother, But is fiercely protective just a warning" he said laughing "Paddy and me have always been close, looked up to me the stupid kid" he said laughing again through the tears "I looked up to craig so thats where my agressive streak comes from" he said smiling again.

"Boy after my own heart" she said with a small smile. "Nothing against helmsmen, EJ. I just have an understanding with Paddy's career choices. I was a navigator myself before I found myself in the Captain's chair. Helm and Navigaton are two of the most crucial positions aboard a starship. They very much are the left and right hands of starship operations. Navigation helps with finding the safest and quickest routes to take, often studying stellar cartography star charts for hours if not days on end. Without them, you helmsmen would be finding blindly into that dark abyss" she said trying to get him laughing and focusing on good news right now. "Then of course the flipside is without you helmsmen, we aren't getting through astroid fields and flying anywhere anytime soon."


Ej Laughed "He was always better at not getting lost" he said as recalled all the times him and his siblings played hide and seek " I was always good a steering us in the right direction Paddy was good at finding the right way and Craig led us there" He said all of them served a different place aboard a ship, he only wished craig had reassigned before the attack "Captain would you mind helping me with feuneral preperations?" he asked his commanding officer, she was like a mother to him in many ways and he respected her as such.

Fig took a deep breath as she looked at her young helmsmen. This is a bit out of my comfort zone she thought privately. However, she could not remain quiet. She needed to respond to him and help him through all of this. With a nod, she was non-verbally agreeing to it all. “Ensign, I would be honored to help you prepare everything. Though you may want to discuss a memorial service with Commander Samuels. As Ship’s Chaplain, he is the best we have for spiritual matters” she explained.

EJ understood maybe it would be a good idea to speak to commander samuels, these next couple of weeks were going to be hard expecially for him and paddy EJ knew this and had to prepare him self for that "Of course captain, that was my next port of call after ive eaten, but after that I will prepare my self the mission captain, I’ll check back in with you soon captain" he said getting up "Thank you for allowing me to have the funeral on board" he said placing his cup down on the table walking towards the door he smiled "Also captain Congrats you'll make a great mother" he said walking out of the door into the hall way.

Captain Donatella Figueroa watched as the young helmsmen saw himself out, but his parting words left her speechless. A good mother? She was not sure how to even take that, but somehow hearing it brought a wave of joy over her. In a way being the Captain of such a diverse and sometimes young crew did make her a bit of a mother. ‘Thank you’ she silently mouthed as the doors shut behind Ethan. Then, the emotions all hit her at once. Now, in private, she could let herself feel the pain and sorrow.