The Time Has Come

Posted on Mon Aug 19th, 2019 @ 5:58am by Lieutenant JG Gallia Norris

Mission: Mission 2: Heaven On Earth
Location: Deep Space Station K-7 over Sherman's Planet
Timeline: during R&R
681 words - 1.4 OF Standard Post Measure

"Well, Ah'm quite sorry to tell you, lads." Captain Richard Norris, retired from Starfleet to a life of drifting, smirked as he laid down his cards, "But tha's a straight flush, ten high diamonds and that pot is mine..." As he reached into to pull the latinum to himself, a hand on his wrist stopped him, "Is there a problem, Ed?"

Ed'inoch, a Naussican bounty hunter and ravenous poker player, snarled, "That's thirteen hands in a row, hoo-mon!"

"Yeah," Johnny T., an underling in the Orion Syndicate interjected, "Nobody's that lucky, you son of a bitch."

"Gentlemen, haff you considuhed that, pehaps, poker just isn't your game?" Richard laughed, "Pehaps mahbles?"

"Or maybe you should shut up old man." Johnny T. replied, pulling his weapon out of his waistband, "Maybe the boys and I want our damn money back? How about that?"

"I'm not shure I heard you right, Johnny. Do you think I'm cheating?" Richard asked amiably, never one to get worked up, even with a gun in his face.

"Yes, hoo-man!" Ed bellowed, "We know it!"

"Why, Ed, are we having an issue?" Richard asked, totally emotionless save for raising his right eyebrow.

"You know what, screw this." Johnny T. snarled, reaching across the table to grab the old man by the throat.

A punch impacted the punk's throat, a punch thrown so fast nobody saw the old man's hand even move, and sent him to the deck gasping for breath, "And what haff we learned?" He asked, standing to leave with his collected winnings, that made the end of this place anyway, "Gentlemen, if you'll exchuse me." With a nod to the others at the table he left, heading for his shuttle, the Royal Flush, and his next destination, wherever that might be.

[[A Day Later]]

With fuel and supplies purchased by other people's money on board, Richard Norris had set off into the Beta Quadrant, the crumbling, ancient K-7 growing smaller in the rear view. Engaging the cloaking device built into the... requisitioned Romulan military shuttle so as to avoid any unpleasant run ins with the local Klingon authorities, he set his speed to Warp 7 and his bearings for the Alpha Quadrant before leaning back in his chair and closing his eyes.

An hour later a ringing comm brought him back around, "What?" He murmured through the haze of half sleep.

"So, I tracked down your family, Rich." The woman on the other side, an arrestingally beautiful woman with closely cropped gray black hair replied, "And good morning to you, too."

"It's not morning here..." He said, stopping to check his chronometer, "Nevuh mind, yesh it is. Good morning, Melissa."

"You've got three living descendants, Rich." Melissa answered, "An adoptive grandson and a biological Granddaughter and your other granddaughter's daughter, an Andorian human hybrid..."

"Andorian?" Richard paused a second, "My, my, things haff changed a lot." He knew his son was dead, along with the daughter in law he never met, but learning of an Andorian child and, apparently, a dead granddaughter was a surprise even for a man who made his living never being surprised.

"The grandson is XO on the McKinley, they're headed towards the Gamma on a star charting mission, going to be out for a year." Melissa continued, "Your granddaughter, however, is the Ops Manager on the USS Elysium, which is docked at Earth, there's a chance you could meet up with her when Elysium returns to DS9 if you hurried."

"Melissa, my love, whatever'd I do without you?" Richard replied smoothly.

"All the good stuff." Melissa shrugged. Even though he'd never taken her up on it, the door was always open for him at her place.

"Oh, come now." Richard sneered, "There never has been, and never will be, anyone but you."

"Tell me another one." She laughed, "I love fairy tales. Dawson out."

Richard shook his head and laughed as she vanished from the screen, adjusting his course for the Bajor sector, it was time at last to make things right while he still had time.

-Off