round 23 Cmdr Mitchell - Making Peace and Saying Goodbye

[Blueheart]

(Shuttlebay Exit- USS Atlantis)

::Mitchell sat near the aft edge of the Atlantis’s shuttle bay exit. The only thing between him and the cold vacuum of space was the mag-con field that kept the atmosphere inside when the doors were open. He had the area to himself since the ship only had a skeleton crew aboard, just an in-port watch was aboard and anyone who hadn’t gone on leave.::

oO And I’m probably the only one who made that choice. Oo

::He volunteered to take the in-port watch since he didn’t feel much like celebrating or ruining anyone’s else good time. Plus he could do the whole brooding thing on the ship without affecting much since the in-port watch was mostly caretaker items, such as checking in crew reporting to the ship, or going on leave. And could be done from a console at the airlock just as well as on the bridge.::

oO Plus that white jacket just isn’t me. Oo

::But he had been down here for a couple of hours now, staring out into space, letting his thoughts play out. Long enough to go from standing to sitting with his back and head against the wall. The past two years had seen some significant changes in his life, especially the past few months. Leaving the Discovery for the Shipyard, then her being declared missing and that desperate search. The return of the ship, then the mission on the Odyssey. Then Tyr’s retirement and the decommissioning of the Discovery. and then the reassignment to the Atlantis and the new sector.::

oO Maybe I should stayed gone….not have come back... Maybe I should have be lost with the Discovery went she went missing… Maybe I should just hang it up….Oo

::He shifted position slightly, and got to his feet to stretch his back.::

oO I feel like hitting something, but can’t exactly punch a forcefield. Enough momentum and my fist would go right through this field. Its designed to hold atmosphere in here, but still allow shuttles through, so I could pass through it with enough momentum. It’d probably take a running start, but I could…Oo

::But the concept of simply stepping out into raw space after all his encounters with it just didn’t seem right. It almost seemed like it would be betraying the memories of all those in head, the lost and the departed. ::

oO I’ve nearly died at least twice from the effects of being exposed to raw space as part of the consequences of wrecking two fighters and several shuttles. Guess I’ve gotten sloppy or slow over the years. Oo

::As his thoughts turned to all the years he spent flying fighters, there was one memory he still had to face. The memory really. He reached into his pocket and removed a box. Naturally, he thumbed it open to look at the contents.::

oO These were supposed to be the things that held us together. But in the end, they were never used. Oo

::A pair of rings sat inside the box, the first custom fitted for the ring finger on Perin Anders’ left hand, the other for his. They were actually part of a set of three, machined out of pieces from a wrecked fighter. But the third, the engagement ring, was gone now. The last time he’d seen it, it had been on Perin’s hand where he had put it before he left her on the surface of Ba’ku.::

oO I always intended to go back for her…to pick up where we left off when her memories returned. Or to start anew if they didn’t. But that option’s gone now. She’s gone…Oo

::He’d come down here to make peace with himself, but he hadn’t really solved much. If he didn’t, he wouldn’t be much good to the ship and crew. Just he hadn’t been for the last three months he’d worked on the Delta Bravo project. Only the loss of the Discovery had drug him out of the funk. Then all the other events happened and he’d ended up right back in this funk.::

oO Guess there’s really only thing left to do…Plus, I know she’d approve of us drifting through the galaxy together. Oo

::He flipped the box closed, brought his arm back and whipped forward in a pitching motion. This is what made a mag-con field different from a standard force field. It would let items in motion with momentum pass through. The box left his hand and passed through the field and out into raw space.::

oO Just like my name sake did in that movie. Space is just my ocean. Oo

::He took a deep breathe and let him mentally struggling subside as he watched the box drift away. A few minutes, the small black box would be lost to sight, and simply be one more piece of cosmic debris drifting through space.::

oO Good bye Perin. Oo

::He closed his eyes to let the moment pass. Then it was done. That was all he could do. Now to return to his duty and get on with his life.::

tbc

Commander Rode Mitchell

USS Atlantis

NCC-74682