The Beginning of the End

Posted on Fri Oct 2nd, 2026 @ 2:25pm by Ensign Henry Taylor & Tessa di'Orion

1,759 words; about a 9 minute read

Mission: Interim 3: Subspace Drift
Location: Cargo Bay/Tessa's Quarters

Henry was taller than Tessa, and while she was a better fighter, a quicker combatant and more willing to fight dirty, sometimes good old-fashioned physics could work in his favor. One of them had to stay in Sickbay and continue helping Kally get everything ready in triplicate for putting into port, and the other had to get to the cargo bay and finalize medical inventory to put in a requisition when they arrived.

Henry felt a bit bad leaving Tessa in Sickbay to Kally's sudden work ethic, but he wasn't going to lose an arm wrestling match to someone several inches shorter than him, no matter how strong she was. He didn't say it, but he was glad her uniform prevented her from using any distracting techniques she was fond of when they sparred, although her foot was running up and down his leg fairly aggressively at one point.

Given how long it had been since they'd had a proper resupply, they were low on nearly everything, and with T'Vel running the cargo bays like well-oiled logistics operation, the inventory didn't take nearly as long as he'd hoped it would.

He finished the requisition report for Kally, but before he filed it, he decided to check up on some other precious cargo. He stepped into Cargo Bay Two and went to the rear area where T'Vel kept the crew's personal cargo. He and Tessa had made frequent trips there when she was choosing what Tialan foods they would include with their meal. Henry had been introduced to new foodstuffs that were a strange mix of familiar, yet alien. When he could compare it to an Earth food, Tessa would get excited to try that and compare, although the replicated version was always a little different. When he had no frame of reference, she'd be excited she could introduce him to something new. He loved seeing her excited either way and as he approached the cargo area, he was smiling to himself at the thought.

That smile faded, however, when he saw how many containers registered as empty. They'd been away from Tial for weeks now, and while they'd tried to ration her supplies, he'd never denied her request for him to grab her a snack or "a taste of home." There was one stasis container with a pale, nearly white fruit that tasted like a melon and a mango had a child, some sharp cheese, and some nuts that looked like a brazil nut, but tasted like a candied pecan. There was also a storage box with a bottle that contained a drink he could only describe as a sweet, sparkling, almost fruity taste.

"A single grain of sand. All that's left of my boundless realm," he said to himself, quoting their favorite book. He made a note on his padd and filed his report, heading back to Sickbay.

---

The end of their shift couldn't come fast enough. And then it came. And then another hour and a half passed, before Kally declared they'd made enough progress and could turn things over to the next shift. Henry held Tessa's hand as they locked arms, trudging back to her quarters. Most of his things had been moved there as they were consolidating to see what they wanted to pack for their trip to Earth.

As the doors opened, he let out a yawn and undid the flap of his uniform top. "you know," he said, "part of me wants to tell Kally 'I told you so' about keeping up with paperwork and Sickbay's regulations, but part of me is just hoping when we get back from Earth, our new-and-improved Sickbay will run smoothly and she'll learn to maintain it this time."

He sat down on Tessa's small loveseat and sighed, taking off his boots and putting them to the side, then removing his uniform and dropping it onto his boots, debating if he wanted to change or just stay in a tshirt and shorts for the rest of the night.

"For my part, I hope that they come up with some better way of making lists so that I don't have to fill the same thing out THREE times." Tessa flexed one hand that had been holding a stylus for most of the day before stripping out of the uniform she wore and bending over the dresser as she picked out what to wear tonight. A t-shirt and a pair of shorts that she wriggled into as she felt the eyes of her boyfriend on her. "It was two different lists, one of items we had none of any more, the other was how much we had of other things. And I almost HAD you in that arm-wrestling!"

Henry made no effort to hide the fact that he was enjoying the view in front of him, smiling at her as she threw him a look over her shoulder as she slipped her shorts on. "Of course you did," he agreed with a cheeky grin. "And when you tried grabbing my hand with both your hands and was swearing in Tialan as you moved it a whole centimeter? That was all for show." He grinned at her, winking. He'd noticed he'd put on some muscle from all the training she'd put him through, and he was glad he could put it to good use in keeping her humble.

She flopped down on the loveseat next to him, then kicked her feet up to drop her head into his lap to look up at him. "I should have had you." She stuck her tongue up at him.

"You still can," he said, stroking her hair and winking.

Her eyes brightened at the knowledge he still found her attractive. "Later, later, there’s a more important question: What's for dinner tonight? I was stuck with the hard work, so you get to decide."

Henry thought about it, then remembered what he'd found in the cargo bay and his smile dropped. "Angel," he said, quietly, "when I was in the cargo bay, I took a moment and checked on your personal stores."

“Oooo, that was a good idea!” She saw his face fall and that concerned her, “What’s wrong? Are we out already?”

Henry sighed sadly. "Well, you've got one of those melon-like fruits, some cheese, some nuts, and a bottle of cider. Enough for a good snack for you, but that's all."

Tessa’s face fell at the sound of just how little of her home was left and she curled up as she turned to face away from him, “Oh.. Well, at least we had a good time and got my diet worked out, so I suppose it had to happen at some point, didn’t it?” She was saying the right things, but her voice sounded dull, losing the life it had to it.

Henry's heart broke, seeing her like that, and he briefly contemplated hijacking the ship to return them to Tial for resupply. "On the bright side," he said, "the replicators have scanned quite a lot of it. I know it's an approximation, but it might do for the time being until we can go back to Tial." He took her hand and gave it a squeeze. "And you have my word, I will take you there."

She squeezed his hand back almost desperately, rocking back and forth next to him, head still on his lap, “I was gone for over a year before, yet I never felt like this.. it’s been only about three months, hasn’t it? Yet all I want to do is go home.” She was clearly in need of comfort. “But to get there, we need a ship that can pierce the Veil and sturdy enough. What if Chimera doesn’t go back? What if we’re here and we’re sent even further away? There’s no guarantee that we’ll ever be coming back this way.”

"Of course there is," Henry said with complete confidence. When she looked at him in surprise, he smiled at her. "I promised, so it's happening. No further discussion. You and I will visit Tial. You owe me a tour, and I owe your mother a mountain's worth of Delavian Chocolates. Plus," he moved the hand he was holding down to her abdomen, "once you're pregnant, that'll mean we will someday have to introduce our child to its grandparents, and its culture."

He looked into his favorite pair of cornflower-blue eyes and gave her hand one more squeeze. "Humans have a saying: home is where the heart is. I haven't been to Earth in four years, but right now? I'm home. I hope...I hope you can someday feel the same, and I'm here for you no matter what."

“I’m sorry, Henry..” Tessa said after she’d rolled back on her back to look up at him, “I guess I’m just… not used to it. I didn’t have your fancy Academy to get me used to the thought and the actual absence.” She gave him a brave smile, “I know I’ll be fine, especially with you, but I just..” She sighed, reaching up to wipe a tear away from one eye, “I’ll get better at this, I promise you. It may not be today, or tomorrow, but eventually. Just have patience with me?”

"For you I have an endless supply," he said, smiling gently. "Can I tell you a secret?"

“Always, Henry, you know I’m usually good for it.”

"I was homesick for a long time," Henry said. "Truth be told, the academy doesn't really do anything to prepare you for homesickness. They mention it, they talk about writing letters home, using the holodeck, et cetera, but when it hits, and it hits nearly every single one of us, it still hits hard. What makes space farers like you and I special is that while we miss our homes, we go and we build new ones. We build a life among the stars, away from everything we held dear, because we bring a bit of home with us." He put a hand on her cheek, wiping away another tear. "And when we get back to Tial, you'll visit everyone, show me everything, and we'll ship out again knowing we'll return again."

He got a cheeky grin and tapped her nose. "Besides, I still have to marry you first."

That got a giggle out of Tessa as she shook her head, “Oh Henry, you’re so silly.”

 

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