A Starship on the Rocks

Posted on Tue Apr 8th, 2025 @ 6:21am by Michał Lipinski & Lieutenant Micheal Taggart
Edited on on Tue Apr 8th, 2025 @ 6:43am

1,272 words; about a 6 minute read

Mission: Resistance is Necessary
Timeline: MD002 - 19:00

Working the crowd and schmoozing his way around the more social areas of the starship Jane Addams, Michał Lipinski had met several members of the crew so far and more than a handful of refugees. He had been a refugee but with Lieutenant Commander Reeves' offer accepted, Michał had begun transitioning from displaced soul to someone soon to have duties and responsibilities as Captain's Yeoman. He had been hopping around from table to table spending a few minutes with people, listening to them and coming to understand how broken everyone aboard was. When there were so many fractured souls aboard it made him feel less ashamed and as though he didn't need to hide his own imperfections. These Borg had torn families apart and ripped the souls straight out of some people. One in particular had caught Yeoman Lipinski's eye.

He was a humanoid with nobody around him, just sitting alone at a table looking lost in thought but Michał couldn't help but notice that cold distant stare was more than just lost in thought. It was most certainly ensnared by the past, drowning is despair. It did not take an empath to know that was applicable to nearly the entirety of this starship in some way or another.

Lipinski proceeded to the bar area. Though the Jane Addams' bar was not his domain, he was comfortable behind one. He gave the inventory a good glossing over. Expensive shit, decent, average, and swill thought the Risian. Perhaps not the most textbook description, but fitting for him.

He snatched a bottle of Denevan whiskey, used the small replimat behind the bar to order two Glencairn whisky glasses with square cubes of ice in each glass. Cubes thought Micheł, it reminded himself of the description of the Borg vessel.

Lipinski poured two glasses and took them over to the man sitting at the table, placing one im front of him and the other at an empty seat which was quickly and promptly occupied by Michał himself. "You lost someone because of them" the Yeoman said, not missing a beat. "I don't talk to strangers either, not usually, but the whiskey helps break the ice."

Micheal was sitting alone, his eyes on the stars moving by the viewport. Though he was physically there, his mind was back in the Sol System. He could still hear the screams of his family as they were killed by the Borg. The emptiness in his soul was threatening to swallow him whole.

He was so engrossed in his thoughts, that he didn't even pick up the stray thoughts of the young man who had just sat down across from him. Nor did he recognize, at first, that the other man had said something. It took Micheal several beats to find his voice enough to respond, and it still creaked out. "W-what did you say?" He asked as his dark eyes turned toward the other man.

Michał gestured to the glass in front of Michael Taggart. "Whiskey. I poured you a drink" he said looking at the man who was now looking at him. Pain was peering out through those dark eyes.

"You looked like you could use it," added Michał. He didn't know if the man really wanted the added company of Michał himself, but he remained in his seat. "I took a bit of a guess on whiskey."

Micheal glanced down at the table, seeing the whiskey glass for the first time. "Thanks," he said softly, then shook his head. "But I don't drink whiskey. It makes me lose control of my abilities."

"Abilities. Betazoid?" Michał asked. He was uncertain about the man's species but those dark eyes certainly laid credence to it. "I'm not sure that's a bad thing right now. To feel all of...this" he said gesturing to the room of lost gazes and sorrow.

Micheal nodded, then his black eyes locked on the other man's. "I can already feel everyone's pain. If I start to drink whiskey, I start to put my own thoughts and feelings into the minds of others. So, no thank you."

"Thats a heavy burden," Michał replied pulling the glass back towards himself. Alright then two for me thought the Risian. "I'm sorry. I didn't know that you were Betazoid until you said something, and it sounds like you're very responsible by not risking that. I'm here because the Borg attacked the ship I was on, you?"

"I was on Utopia Planitia when the attack came," Mcheal replied, his voice a bit hollow. "My father, baby brother and....twin sister were on their ships when...." he didn't finish the sentence.

Lipinski reached across and put a measuring hand atop Michael's arm. "The Borg took a lot from people. My entire ship, the people I worked with. I can't imagine what you feel, losing your family. You're not alone here."

Micheal nodded slightly, a faint look of relief starting to soften the edges of his eyes. "Thank you. As you said, the Borg took a lot. I'm not the only one who lost their entire family. All I can do is live my life the best of my ability. That is what my parents would want for me."

Michał Lipinski nodded. "Patents do tend to want what's best for their offspring. They may not be here physically, you don't get to embrace them anymore. I'm sorry for your loss, but they would want you to live. You know that."

Lipinski gave a warm smile. "You need to always remember that. You carry them with you, and now there's a bunch people on this ship that are going to be counting on you."

He glanced up at the other man. "I will still be able to perform my duties as Chief Helmsman. As for my family, all I will be able to carry with me, are the memories of them."

"Don't underestimate the power of memories. Between memories and hope, those can fuel people to do incredible things" noted Lipinski. "Chief Helmsman. That's a lot more important than Captain's Yeoman."

This actually made Micheal grin slightly, despite his sadness. "You take care of the Captain's needs, which enables him to stay focused on the job at hand. Some would say that that is an important job."

Lipinski shrugged. "Vulcans always go on about their cryptic the needs of the many over the needs of the one or few," he paraphrased. "Well, I think the needs of the one, especially the Captain is what keeps the many together. So, that's how I'm going to tackle this new position they put me in."

Micheal nodded as he absorbed what the other man had just said. "Well, we all need to pull ourselves together and step forward 8nto this new world." He finished his drink in one large gulp, then put the glass on the table. Standing up, he gave Lipinski a friendly grin. "Thanks for coming over and talking to me. It helped a lot." He glanced around the lounge, then back at his new friend and future crewmate. "I'll catch you later. I gotta go take a shower, then try to get some sleep." He gave Lipinski another grin, then turned and made his way out of the lounge.

Michał watched as Taggart left. He was glad that he could help the other man even if it was just slightly. This was what this crew was going to be about, stepping up and watching out for one another.


~OFF~

Lieutenant Micheal Taggart
Chief Flight Officer/Helm
USS Jane Addams

&

Michał Lipinski
Refugee
USS Jane Addams

 

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