Star Trek: The voyages of the USS Apollo

Chapter Twenty Three: Project Apollo

As they were walking over to the turbolift, Captain Kusa Dax appeared in front of them and said "Admiral Quinn Sir. The U.S.S Homecoming will be ready to head through the Bajoran Wormhole in two weeks Sir." Admiral Quinn shook hands with Kusa and said "That is good to know Captain. We were actually just about to head to the Bajoran Shipyards to get a final inspection of the ships before they head out later this month. Would you care to join us?" Kusa then answered "Yes Sir." The four officers then headed for the turbolift and as they got onto it, Admiral Quinn said "Shuttlebay One." The turbolift then sped down to the Shuttlebay and some conversation between Harry and Kusa began. Harry turned to his right to face Kusa and said "So Kusa. I heard that you've had Dax in you for about a year now. How does it feel to have the memories of so many people in you?" Kusa thought back to all of her memories and said "Well it certainly doesn't make me dislike gambling anymore than I used to." As the two laughed at this little joke, Harry asked "So how does it feel to finally meet Vice Admiral Chakotay?" Kusa was still wrapping her head around the fact that she was about to meet Vice Admiral Chakotay, THE Vice Admiral Chakotay. She was a bit overwhelmed, but gladly answered "It will be an honour to meet the man who was not only Voyager's First Officer, but the man who helped get Voyager home in more ways than one. I heard that Commander Reginald Barclay's son will serve as his First Officer." Captain Kim nodded and said "Yeah. Reginald Jr will be serving as First Officer. He's so nice ya know, once brought coffee for a meeting. I'm guessing that he gets that from his mother."

The turbolift then finally stopped at the shuttlebay and when it opened they were all surprised to see the most famous money loving Ferengi on Deep Space Nine: Quark. Quark was now well into his old age, but still ran the Bar that his own nephew Captain Nog frequently visited while on shore leave. Quark had with him a Padd that he handed to Admiral Quinn as he said "Admiral Quinn good to see you. Now I need to talk to you about making the seventy sixth rule of acquisition potentially being taught at Starfleet Academy: Every once in a while, declare peace. It confuses the hell out of your enemy." Admiral Quinn handed the Padd back to Quark and said "We're Starfleet. When we seek to declare peace, we declare peace. We DON'T attempt to use it as a means to trick our enemies so that we can defeat them." The four Starfleet officers then continued walking to the nearest runnabout as Quark followed them and said while trying to stop his golden dollar bill necklace that he got from an antique store on Earth from shaking "Well if you don't like that rule of acquisition being taught, how about the one hundredth and twelfth rule of acquisition? Which is "Never have sex with the boss's sister". How do ya like that?" As Admiral Quinn closed the door to the runnabout, he calmly said "No Quark. Now go preach those rules to some other Ferengi or something."

Admiral Quinn then closed the runnabout door and Quark started angrily knocking on the window as he said "Hey! What about the one hundredth and twelfth rule? "You can't make a deal if your dead". Come on Admiral, it'll help them be prepared for negotiations!" Just then Quark realised that the runnabout's engines had come online and Starfleet officers were yelling at him to get away. When Quark realised it was too late to run he said "Uh oh." and the runnabout flew out of the shuttlebay at full thruster speed and sent Quark flying and screaming into a box of crates! As two Starfleet officers helped Quark up, Quark angrily said "Let go of me!" and ran towards the edge of the shuttlebay. Quark then started yelling at the now far away runnabout "Come on! How about the two hundredth and fourteenth rule!? "Never begin a business negotiation on an empty stomach". Come on Quinn it's great!" That was when Quark felt Nog's hand grab his shoulder as the now Captain said "Uncle. You do realise that they are too far away for you to hear them?" Quark then realised how true that was and turned around to see dozens of Starfleet Officers struggling not to burst out laughing. Quark realised that they had seen him yelling out like a mad man and began walking away while angrily muttering something to himself about Admiral Quinn having no respect for Ferengi traditions. As Quark walked into the turbolift and the doors closed, the Starfleet officers in the shuttlebay all burst out laughing at the hilarious piece of spontaneous slapstick comedy they had just witnessed.

The Bajoran Shipyards were a magnificent sight indeed. Built two years after to Dominion War in 2377 the Shipyards were where more than one hundred Starfleet ships had been built and maintained over the years. Stationed in three of the docks were the star ships Rhode Island, Homecoming and Pathfinder. The three ships that had been chosen to journey into the Gamma Quadrant to find the U.S.S Apollo and return it and it's crew safely home to the Alpha Quadrant. The journey was estimated to take almost two decades, but it would be worth it if it meant that all one hundred and two members of the Crew would be returned home. As the runnabout doors opened and Admiral Quinn, Admiral Janeway, Captain Dax and Captain Kim exited they saw the ships being outfitted with the weapons and technologies they would need to survive this long journey. The Rhode Island and Homecoming were Nova Class ships like the Apollo and would serve as support ships to the Pathfinder, an Intrepid Class ship that had been in service for over ten years. Commanded by Vice Admiral Chakotay, they had explored strange new worlds, sought out new life and new civilisations and boldly gone where no one had gone before.

In two weeks it would be the time for these ships to begin a long journey through the Gamma Quadrant to bring Apollo and it's crew home. But first the ships had to be fitted with all the equipment they needed for a long journey into the Gamma Quadrant. As Kusa gazed at her ship being refit with a Warp Nine Core, she heard a familiar voice say "Fine ships aren't they." and looked to see Vice Admiral Chakotay himself! The former Maquis rebel had been in Starfleet for many years and now his hair was completely grey and his tattoo was still very visible. Chakotay shook hands with Janeway and said "Good to see you again Kathryn." Chakotay then shook hands with Harry and extended his hand to Kusa, offering a friendly handshake to her. Kusa shook Chakotay's hand and nervously said "Vice Admiral Chakotay Sir. It's nice to meet you Sir." Kusa then awkwardly saluted Chakotay. But he simply smiled and said "Please. Call me Chakotay." Chakotay then looked at Admiral Quinn and asked "So Admiral Quinn, how are the families of the Crew doing?" Quinn then answered "They are overjoyed to hear that the Crew are alive and the escape pod we used for the funeral has been recovered and the items inside returned to them. I'm sure that they will be more than happy to see the Crew returned home safe and sound." Chakotay agreed and said "Alright then." Chakotay then turned around to face the three ship fleet that would be under his command during this long journey and confidently said in a way that seemed like an inspiration to Kusa "Now come on everyone. In two weeks we get to work on bringing the Apollo home."