54: Home Sweet Home

Home Sweet Home
by Zander Blakeslee
71226.1400
Current

--=USS Serendipity=--


“Wow.” Was all that Zander could say to sum up the sight of his new quarters. He dropped his bag onto the floor as he surveyed the room.

Room would not be a proper description. It was closer to a small two bedroom apartment. Starfleet had come along way in improving the living conditions of its crews.

The quarters consisted of basically three rooms. A large living space with a couch and love seat located centrally, a dining area with a table and chairs off to the side near the replicator and a desk and chair with the standard computer accesses to the opposite side of the space.

Two bedrooms were set to either side of the living space. Both were the same size but the décor varied. One held two small playpen/cribs as well as a bunk-bed setup. A closet and two dressers were also in the room. A single window looked out into the starlit sky.

The second bedroom was obviously for the adults. A rather comfortable looking queen bed sat under the window; two dressers and a closet were also in this room. Each bedroom had its own ajoining bath.

Everything in the quarters was the typical Starfleet sterile royal blue and grey color scheme, including all of the bedding and toiletries. Zander smiled as he knew that Sam would quickly make it their own with her personal touches.

He made his way back over to his belongings, which had already been beamed into the center of the living room. He rooted through the pile of boxes until he pulled out a long, onyx colored wooden cylinder. He quickly inspected it to make sure that there was no damage to its mirror surface.

Satisfied that it had arrived as he packed it, he popped the end cap off and withdrew a long, ornately decorated Oriental bag. He untied the bag and slid it down and off of his most prized possession, a katana.

He carried it over to the wall and proceeded to hang it over the main video monitor in the living room. This sword had been given to him by his father, as it had been handed down to him. The weapon had been in the Blakeslee family for generations.

The story of how the rare Japanese sword came into the Blakeslee family had been lost though out the years. The best anyone could remember was it had something to do with a long lost relative being stranded on a remote island in the South Pacific during the Second World War on Earth.

The stories varied, according with of his relatives told the tale. In some versions, the aforementioned relative was stranded on the island with a Japanese soldier and after trying to kill each other for weeks, they both found out the only way to survive was to work together, and eventually, they became friends. When they were finally rescued they exchanged gifts; his relative receiving the sword and the Japanese trooper.

Another version told of his relative fighting though numerous soldiers on the island and then taking the sword from the body of the last officer to fall before him.

Zander did not really care about the true history of the sword. All that mattered was that it was his to care for, and then to hand down to his eldest when the time was right. Even considering that the sword was as priceless it was razor sharp, and fully functional. In fact Zander was quite good with it, and he owned several trophies as proof of this.

He stepped back and surveyed his handy work to make sure that it was centered and level. Satisfied, he turned his attention back to unpacking the remainder of his belongings.


=^= Bridge =^=


[BEEP]

“Oh come on.” Zander tapped a few more keys on the tactical console. He looked at the results and sighed.

He tapped his badge. “Lt. Blakeslee to engineering.”

[Lt. Hayden here. What can I do ya fer’.] Came a strong southern accent.

“I am still having issues with the long range array up here. You guys still working on it?” Zander asked, as he folded his arms across his chest.

[Aye chief. Sorry ‘bout that. We’re still ‘aven issues with the conduits. We’re ave er up fer ya in a bit.]

“Just let me know when I can start my preliminary long range scans. I need to calibrate the weapon systems before we go anywhere.” He rubbed his eyes. They were still waiting for their chief engineer. He really hoped that the situation would improve once she got here.

The Serendipity was not only a new ship but a new variant with systems specialized to support the even newer design, Alchemy. As with most new vessels she had some growing pains. Unfortunately these were magnified by the special design of not only her configuration but also her systems.

She was in desperate need of a shake down.

Unfortunately it seemed that any shakedown cruise would have to be wait. Word had come that the Alchemy was on her way so the bulk of the staff would be committed to getting her back online. The good news was that the senior staff would be arriving with it, or at least very soon afterwards.

The help was very sorely needed.

He sighed. This was going to be a interesting adventure, indeed.


Lt. Zander Blakeslee
Chief of Tactical
USS Serendipity NCC-2012