Home Is In My Veins

Posted on Mon Apr 25th, 2016 @ 7:06am by Lieutenant Tristan Balor

1,636 words; about a 8 minute read

Mission: Pathways
Location: Starbase 171 Holosuite

ON:

Tristian sat on a large log in front of a burning fire. At his side, and impaled in the ground, was his trusted Gestari blade, a trusted complain since he first left home. He sat there wondering about his family. What his mother and father were doing at this very moment. Was his mother cooking his favorite meal? Was his father sitting with the camps elders, sharing old stories and sweetened wine? Was his little brother, Sebastian, reaching the time where he was learning to hunt and would Caleb, and twin sister Serena, ever come back home?

As he tossed some more grass onto the burning fire, he heard a sound in between the cracking of the flames. Slowly, with his eyes still forward, he eased his hand do to his boot and gripped onto the handle of his hidden blade. Once he heard the sound of leaves being crushed under a boot he rose up quickly, hidden blade unsheathed and in his hands as he turned to face the figure approached.

“Hello, Tristan. I hope I didn’t disturb you.” Admiral Hunter, or Max as he came to be called in the Intelligence Community, said as he stopped and smiled slightly. He was pleased that, all this time away from an assignment hadn’t started to slow Tristan down, but he also recognized the homesick look in his eyes since he had seen it many times before.

Tristan couldn’t help but smile as he lowered his hands from his attacking stance and nodded at the arrival of his friend, and mentor. “Admiral Hunter. It is good to see you. Please sit down and enjoy the warm fire and peaceful night with me.” He said as he gestured to another log by the fire.

“Tristan? How many times must I tell you to call me Max?” Max said as he walked over to the log and sat down.

“As usual, Admiral, as many times as it takes.” Tristan replied as he sat back down and tucked his blade back into his boot.

Max placed his hand outwards toward the fire, taking in the heat. “I see you’ve begun to enjoy the wonders that is the starbase’s holosuite. How does it suit you?”

“It’s strange.” Tristan replied. “I know this is all force fields and lights. It’s all smoke and mirrors to simulate whatever a person’s heart desires, but the sensations. The textures. The smells. It all feels real.” He said softly as he looked into the fire before looking over to Max. “It’s all meant to trick the mind, and sometimes the body, into believing that outside these walls that you are not surrounded by the vast cold nothingness of space.”

“I wouldn’t say that. Outside these walls isn’t nothingness.” Max said as he looked over to Tristan with a smile. “Beyond these walls are new worlds. New civilizations. A vast Undiscovered Country that Starfleet has set out to uncover slowly and peacefully. You’re right, these holosuites are meant to remind us that we aren’t surrounded space, but that’s not really a bad thing. It helps officers, like you, to remember where they came from and what their fighting for.”

Tristan nodded, looking back over to the fire as a smile formed on his face. “Yes. You’re are correct, as always, my friend.”

Max looked around for a moment. “So, is this home? Talent II?”

“Yes.” Tristan answered as he looked around with a smile. “A wooded area up north. Close to a village called Barestorm which runs along the river Frix. My clan once rest here for a time when I was a boy. The villagers of Barestorm were kind enough to give us provisions, instead of trying to sell them to us like most places have. That was one of the first times I never felt like an outcast.”

Max nodded his head and smiled. “I can understand. Have you ever thought about going back? Even for a visit?”

Slowly, Tristan shook his head as a sigh escaped his lips. “When I made the decision to leave my clan and join Starfleet, I did so on bad terms. My father and I fought through most of the night, with my mother trying to stop us from coming to blows. My little brother lay crying in bed from all the noise. When I walked away, I remember my father telling me that should I return I would have no family. No clan to come back to.”

Max cleared his throat slightly. “I’m sorry, Tristan.”

“Don’t be.” A smiling Tristan replied softly as he looked to Max, holding back tears as he spoke. “I’m not. I don’t regret my decision to come to Starfleet. My journey has brought me many different places and introduced me to many different people. Many worlds I would have never known existed had I ever stayed back on Talent Prime.”

“Yes, but to leave things the way you did.” Max replied softly.

“As a boy, I once left my clan to find the illusive Golden Shifter, a creature from a story. I spent three days and nights, wondering the Abandoned Wilds, in search of the Golden Shifter in order to prove to my father that he existed and I was such a skilled hunter that he had to let me go with my brother on the next hunt.” Tristan stopped for a moment, smiling a bit as he remembered the memory as if it were only the other day. “On the last night, I ate some Pygmy Berries, that didn’t seem to agree with me. As a got ready for another night, I heard rustling coming from the brush. I thought it was the Golden Shifter. Perhaps, like in the story, he was driven by his curiosity to my fire. I thought that now would be my chance, so I reached over to the bow and arrow I have made and turned back only to find myself looking, not at a Golden Shifter, but a Gray Howler. I felt my stomach getting worse and worse as the Howler crept closer and closer. As I closed my eyes, I thought to myself, that this was it and I would never see my family again. Suddenly, he was driven away by my father and a small group of hunters from my clan had been searching for me. The last thing I remember was seeing my father’s face before passing out. For a whole week he refused to talk to me. I thought the silence would never end until, one night, he sat at the foot of my bed and said that tomorrow he would get me ready to go out on my first hunt. I was shocked because, I thought, after what I did he would never let me do anything again. That’s when he looked at me, smiled, and said ’Tristan. You will always be driven by your heart and I, as much as I try, will never be able to keep you from listening to it. However, I can prepare you. I can teach you what I know, and hopefully, you will learn how to survive long after I am gone. I cannot teach you how to stay out of trouble, but I can teach you how to escape it. Your heart will guide you on many adventures, and you will face many of beasts, but as long as you remember that which I have taught you, I will always be by your side and I will always be proud that my blood flows through your veins and guides your adventurous heart.’”

“He sounds like a very great man.” Max commented with a smile.

“He is.” Tristan added as he looked back toward the fire. “And I know that no matter the words, no matter the conflict, that my father is responsible for the man I am today. Deep down inside, he knows that I will always follow my heart and that the lessons he taught me will always keep it beating for days on end. I’m not mad at him for pushing me away, because I know no matter where I am, home is in my veins.”

Max nodded his head, smiling proudly before looking over to Tristan. “I finally have another assignment for you. The USS Hyperion will be arriving soon and I want you one it as their new Chief of Intelligence. I think you’ll do well there.”

Tristan nodded, before looking over to Max and smiling. The memories of his family and the telling of the story brought some deep emotions to the surface. He knew there was nothing to be ashamed of, but he did his best to keep it at bay as he took the assignment with a smile. “I will be there, Admiral. And I will do my duty to the best of my ability.”

Slowly, Max stood up and looked down to Tristan. “I know you will, Balor. They will be lucky to have you.”

Tristan looked back toward the fire, smiling, as he spoke proudly. “May the spirits of my ancestors guide me on my journey and keep those I keep close to my beating heart safe from harm and the ice cold hands of death.”

“Safe journeys, Tristan.” Max said softly before walking off into the night.

“Safe journeys, Max.” Tristan replied in return.

OFF:

Lieutenant Commander Tristan Balor
Chief Intelligence Officer
USS Hyperion

&

Admiral Maximillian ‘Max’ Hunter
Head of Special Operations/CID Director
Theta Fleet

 

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