Crack in a Utopia

Posted on Sat Nov 8th, 2025 @ 6:40pm by Commander Robert MacDonald & Captain Riandri Nalam

1,309 words; about a 7 minute read

Mission: Mission 9: When the Stars Went Silent
Location: San Francisco, CA, Earth
Timeline: July 5, 2375 ~ 2 months after the Battle of Vulcan

The sun was shining over the Bay Area, and it was unseasonably warm for June. Market Street was crowded as usual, with beams of yellow sunlight lancing between the ancient buildings to dance upon the street, filled with civilians and Starfleet personnel. Despite being a rare, beautiful day, the mildly unpleasant scents of the bay hung lightly in the air—fitting, somehow, with the tension that clung to nearly every passerby.

Earth was a utopia. Poverty, crime, and suffering had all been wiped out. People lived in a post-scarcity society and were used to doing what they wanted, how they wanted, without fear. But that illusion had begun to fray. The first cracks showed during Admiral Leyton’s attempted coup, and now that Vulcan had fallen, the Dominion was knocking on Earth’s door.

Commander Robert MacDonald sat outside a little café on one of those flimsy wrought iron chairs favored by these sorts of venues—chairs that looked like they’d collapse at any moment under his bulk. He pushed his plate away, now littered with only a few brown crumbs, and leaned back to sip his tea.

Riandri stood in a pair of linen pants and a blouse on the corner across the road for a moment as she wanted her new XO to finish his food. In the mad rush that had taken over her life, she wanted to get a sense of Commander MacDonald before meeting him. After he set his tea down, she took a deep breath and strolled across the road. "Commander MacDonald, I presume."

Robert squinted up at her, the morning sun falling across his face. The tips of his fingers on his right hand tapped out the drum rhythm of "Loch Lomond." He took in Riandri, looking her up and down. "Aye, I am. What c'n I do for you, lass?"

Riandri smirked at him for a moment. "I'm Captain Nalam." As she spoke, she tilted her hand toward the chair across from him.

“Aye, Captain. It’s yer right as the senior officer, no doubt. But seein’ as ye’re not wearin’ the uniform, I trust ye’ll pardon the lack o’ a proper salute.” Despite claiming he wasn't going to stand in attention, his posture shifted in his seat, with his shoulders squared and his back rigid.

As she took her seat, she nodded over to a waitress, "Coffee, please." Once she sat down she pulled a small PADD from out of her bag and slid it towards him, "I wanted to come and find you myself. You have been selected to be the XO on the USS Denver, effective immediately." She watched him to gauge his reaction for a moment before continuing, "One could say the future of the Federation is on the line..."

"With all due respect, who made a bloody daft order like that?" Robert growled, his accent thickening as the words came faster. "I have a ship. I have a crew. I dinea need Command mucking about without so much as a how'd you do."

He stared down at the PADD but didn’t touch it. Orders were orders. He would follow them, aye. It didn’t matter what they said.

Riandri smirked slightly as she guessed what was going through his head, "Things are moving quickly, command is selecting individuals across the fleet that they view as the most qualified for the mission in question." She paused as the waitress brought over her coffee and nodded a thanks. "I understand the inconvenience when you have a ship and crew already, but all I can say is that it is important."

"An' what is this wee important mission?" Robert asked.

Riandri just nodded to the PADD, "Cannot speak on it here. Quick transport and I can give you the brief."

"Aye, well, no time like the present." Robert stood, reached into his pocket, and placed a few slips of latinum on the table beside his plate. Meals were usually free on Earth, but he always made a point to leave a small gratuity as a thank-you, even if money no longer meant much on the planet.

Riandri watched him for a moment before pulling out her combagde from her bag, "Denver, two to beam up."

"Acknowledged, Captain. Energising," came the disembodied voice over the comm-channel.

Riandri cast a glance over at Robert and smiled just as the world lit up with swirling blue light before reforming before them as the main transporter room on the USS Denver. "Welcome aboard, Commander. If you'll follow me, we can discuss the mission in the conference room."

"Och aye. Lead the way captain."

Riandri smiled slightly at Robert and started to make her way to the conference room. After several minutes of walking in silence, the two entered the room. Riandri gestured towards the seats, "Please take a seat, grab a coffee or anything you are after."

Without waiting for a response, she grabbed a seat and spoke, "Compture, seal the room." As the computer chimed in acknowledgement, she let out a sigh, knowing all too well what she was about to ask of this man.

"The war is not going well. Worse than that, really, it is only a matter of time until the Dominion arrives at Earth and razes it," she began as she pulled up the most recent reports from SFI and put them on the main display. "We have been tasked with preserving the Federation. And I need your help doing it. Command recommended you, but this is not a mission that someone can be ordered on; you must choose it."

Over the next ten minutes, she laid out the whole scope of the mission before stopping and letting it sink in for Robert.

Robert sat back; the seat seemed to wrap around him. He let the silence envelop them; the hum of the ship's systems filled the room. The wash of the air from the ducts felt cold in comparison to the heat of San Francisco, and it sent the hairs on his arms and neck on end. Or was it this briefing?

"Bloody fucking hell," he said at last in a low tone, almost inaudible.

"That about sums it up, Commander," Riandri said as she leaned back in her chair and let out a sigh. "Our best predictions are that the Federation will fall, but if we do this right, we may be able to save a bit of it." She let that hang in the air for a moment, "Can I count you in? We have a lot to do and no time to do it."

He drummed his fingers on the table. "Sorry lass, I have a family, and I cannae leave them."

"Then don't. Bring them with you. Your wife, kids, there is space for them. I could not, would not ask anyone to leave their family behind. We cannot take everyone, we are all leaving friends and people we care for," Riandri said with a cold matter-of-fact tone. "The choice is yours though."

“Och aye. D’ye ken a Highland woman, Captain? This isnae a choice I should make alone… but it’s mine all the same. I dinnae think there’s another way. When ye’re drownin’ and someone throws ye a rope, ye don’t call a council to decide. Aye, I’ll take yer offer.”

Riandri gave him a sad smile, "I am glad to hear that. We are in an impossible position but we must make the most of it." She stood and moved over to him and held out her hand, "Welcome aboard."

He took her hand and gave her a curt nod. "What do we do next lass?"

She looked at him and gave him a sad smile, "We get our feet back under ourselves and make sure the Federation survives."

 

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