Captain Acacia
Posted on October 20th, 2023 by Emilaina Acacia

A red alert was blaring, the bridge of the Gale hazy with smoke and lit by sparking consoles. Captain Acacia stumbled on her feet and looked around, taking stock of who was still conscious. 

The ship shook again, and Emily plopped down into the Captain’s chair. 

“Status report,” she ordered, and there was movement from the battered crew. 

“What’s left of their ship is still firing, Captain,” the Ensign at tactical tapped away at her console. It was Torinessa, Emily’s younger sister.

“We’ve had to shut down the warp core to prevent a breach,” came the call from engineering. Lieutenant Commander Averianna, the eldest of the three Acacia sisters, was coordinating repair efforts from there.

“The lab is still intact, security is holding off the boarders from it now,” Commander Kate Harper answered from the science console. 

More reports came in, each painting more of a grim picture than the last. As Emily was trying to think what to do, Tori was busy firing on their mostly disabled enemy. She managed to take out the last of their weapons, and the shaking of the ship mercifully stopped. 

A comm came through from Commander Kuari, chief of security, letting the bridge know that the enemy had breached their line and made it into the lab. 

Emily shook her head, thinking out loud, “How did they even know we had the samples aboard? Moreover, how did they know where to find them?”

“Maybe their scanners are more accurate than ours?” Lieutenant Alexis Wright suggested from the OPs station.

“Maybe they got the schematics of our ship?” Lieutenant Doc Navarro offered from the navigation console. 

“They’re not exactly classified, but how would they have gotten them so quickly?” Emily pondered. 

“Captain…” Wright trailed off, and her tone told Emily it was bad news. 

“Yes?”

“Someone downloaded the ship schematics to a PADD approximately… thirteen hours ago,” Wright said solemnly. 

Emily nodded thoughtfully, rubbing her chin, “Can you say who?”

“No, the computer actually says it was the science department’s robot.”

“Their robot? Oh man, I forgot about that thing. Such a minor detail,” Emily shook her head, “So who would use the science robot as a proxy to cover their tracks? Who even has command codes for the robot?”

The bridge crew looked at each other, and Emily slowly raised a finger to point accusingly at Kate. 

“In fact, I think very few people have command access to the science robot. What’s more, I happened to overhear your chat with Dobbs, about a certain grudge—“

Kate interrupted that thought by drawing her phaser and pointing it at Emily.

“—Oh, now we’re talkin’!” Emily grinned. 

“Those artifacts belong to the Kalorkians, and you’re going to return them,” Kate hissed. 

“If we don’t get them to Jaya, the people there will starve when we can’t get their weather system back online,” Emily held her hands up, talking to distract Kate while Tori was sneaking up behind her, “Besides, they were made on Jaya.”

Kate anticipated the sneaking and spun around, but she was too late. Tori slapped her phaser out of her hand, then the two began a well-choreographed fight scene that spanned most of the bridge. Emily picked up the phaser but let the fight scene play out for a bit, evidently amused.

“Lowell to Doctor Acacia,” Emily’s real combadge spoke. 

“Computer, freeze program,” she said, Tori frozen in the follow-through of a punch to Kate’s face, “Yes, Lieutenant?”

“Call for you from another Doctor Acacia. Shall I route it to your quarters, your office, or the holodeck you’re on?”

“Dad?” she thought aloud, “Uhh… route it to my office. Thank you.”

Emily resumed the program, shot Kate with the phaser set to stun, then saved her spot in the game before closing it out. She couldn’t help smiling to herself about the spectacle of her infirm younger sister kicking the crap out of her soul sister/captain. Customizable holonovels were a special kind of fun. 

She stopped by her quarters to change into civilian clothes so she wouldn’t be walking around in the wrong rank and color. She chose a simple blue sweater tunic with grey pants underneath, checking herself in front of a mirror and patting the woven top down. 

Emily made her way to Sickbay, plopped down in the seat at her desk, and opened the comm link with her dad. 

An older Betazoid man appeared on screen in his uniform complete with the blue CMO coat design he’d chosen for himself. He had started reading a book while he waited for Emily to answer, so it took him a second to notice that she had appeared. He jumped at the sight of her smiling face. 

“Ascha… how long have you been there?” he complained. 

“Just a few seconds, don’t worry, pachi,” Emily assured him. She let a moment pass, but she just had to ask, “Why the call?” 

She resisted the urge to say ‘Is someone sick?’ She and her father were close, but primarily communicated via text and recording. Some news major enough to warrant a live call was bad, so Emily was apprehensive. The look on her father’s face wasn’t a somber one, though. 

“I have big news, kai’i,” the man let the moment simmer before dropping the hammer, “Admiral Voracek has finally talked me into accepting that promotion.”

Emily gasped and covered her mouth with both hands, then slowly drew them back to reveal a grin, “Woah, really?”

“Really really. I’m going to be taking command of Sanctuary, one of the hospital ships in the first fleet.”

“That’s incredible, pachi! I mean… Captain Acacia,” she saluted pointedly, with a jokingly serious face. 

“At ease,” the man joked back, “There’s still some paperwork and a bit of time, but soon, yes.”

“That’s awesome. I’m gonna tell everyone they have to listen to me because my dad’s a captain,” Emily smirked. 

“I hope that works for you,” her father replied jovially, “Oh, and one more thing!”

“Yes?”

“Your mother is going to be on the ship with me. Your cousin Hadriel and his wife have agreed to look after the farm for us, so I was finally able to convince her to come to space.”

“Oh? That’s so nice. Just gotta be careful of her—“ the man joined in and they spoke the last two words in unison, “—motion sickness.”

“Yes, I know. I have insisted on one of the best pilots in the fleet,” he chuckled, “This will be a great new era for us.”

“Well, for what it’s worth, I’m so proud of you,” Emily mused. 

“And I of you, CMO Acacia,” her dad replied. 

“The only one now!”

“So you finally get to be the best CMO Acacia,” the man teased. 

The two made some more small talk before finally hanging up. Emily sat in silence with the news for a little bit, grinning to herself. 

“Captain Acacia,” she mumbled, playing with the puzzle toy on her desk, “has a nice ring to it.”