Love's Found

The small ship approached Surplus Depot Z15. Arwen and Marge looked through the viewport of the cargo ship they had taken passage on. The pilot, a Yiridian, turned from his seat to look at his two passangers. A Vulcan and a human, both female. The human had a large scar covering much of the left side of her face, some kind of round eyepiece over the presumably missing eye. Short cropped brown hair. Slim. Wearing civillian clothes. The Yiridian knew an ex soldier when he saw one. The Vulcan woman was a different matter. She looked young, though you could never tell with Vulcans. Also slender, her jet black hair was tied into a large ponytail that freely hung down to her shoulders. She seemed... a little more emotional than a normal Vulcan. Though she didn't burst with emotion, there was a definite twinkle in her eye as she gazed at all the ships.

"This your first time at a junkyard?"
"A shipyard it is." Arwen kept gazing out the window. Her voice was calm, as one would expect, but there was a great deal of warmth to it. He wondered what her backstory was. He was like that. He liked to know the people he encountered. "Well, this here is one of the finest examples of lost treasure in this sector. I hope you find what you're looking for."
"I'm sure we will."


The cargo ship docked with the main station. Once he checked the ship was properly powered down, he stood up. "If you ladies would care to disembark. I believe this is where payment occurs."
"Yes, of course." Arwen took out a small bag from one of her belt pockets and handed over the Gold Pressed Latinum. The Yiridian quickly counted it and tucked it away, leading the women off the ship. "Well, it was a pleasure to fly with you. But if you excuse me, I have some things to take care of." With a respectful bow of the head, he locked his ship and walked away. Marge turned to Arwen. "Now what?"
"I guess we find the Station Quartermaster. It used to be Klim Dokachin but I believe it's a human now." The two women worked their way towards the station operations centre, figuring that was the best place to start.




Arwen and Marge spent the next few hours pouring over the details of what was in the junkyard. Most of it was scrap. Ships that were barely holding together. But there were a couple of choice picks. Marge held out a PADD. "What about this?" Arwen took the device and looked at the information. A YT-1300 class light Freighter. Some heavy damage to the hull, and the deflector needed replacing, but it was fast and with plenty of cargo space. "A possibility. But it will take what credits we have left to repair it. I have only just gained my Trader's License. Until we build up a pool of repeat customers, we need something cheaper, so we will have some credits in backup." Marge just grimaced and went back to the PADDs. Arwen stood up and moved to the window, resting her arm against the panel. "Somewhere out there is our ship. I can feel it." Arwen looked out at the vast amount of junk floating. Ship hulls, mostly Federation in origin, hung silently. Suspended as if comatose, waiting for someone to wake them up. Her sharp eyes spotted something in the distance. The long shape of the vessel held large cubes either side of it's spine. A perfect ship for them.


"Marge. I can see a Tuffli out there."
"Tuffli? That would be perfect. But they tend to be pricey." Marge was silent for a bit while she scrolled through the listing. She blew out a long breath. "Yeah. That's... way too rich." Arwen turned to her friend. "How rich?"
"Let's just say we need to do a lot of hauling before getting one of those."

Arwen turned back to the window. She would captain a Tuffli one day. That day would just have to be another one. As she watched her dream ship, she noticed something started to float from behind it, as if trying to take a peek. It was hard to see at this distance, but it looked like an old Starfleet ship. A flat saucer connected to two nacelles. "Marge. Am I seeing an Akira class ship out there?"
"Akira? I'd be surprised for one of those to be there." She stood up and joined her Captain at the window. Using her eye piece, she was able to see better. "Ah. No, it's an NX class ship. Same shape as an Akira, but upside down. Although that one looks like it's upside down, so... yeah, it looks like an Akira."

"NX class? I've heard of those. Small, fast, nimble and with enough cargo space, at least to get us started. How much is it?"

Marge checked her PADD. "Pretty cheap. NX classes don't tend to have many fans. Starfleet didn't exactly build alot of them back in the day. Their frames were not built to go faster than Warp Five on the old scale." Marge looked Arwen in the eye, seeing that gleam again. "No. An NX ship is not why we came here."
"Are you sure? We came here for a ship. That ship had a crew of... what? Eighty tops? And that was a full crew compliment. We won't need half as many." Arwen turned to Marge. "I think we've found our ship."
"Are you crazy?"
"At least view it before making your mind up."
"Ok. But I'm not promising anything."





Arwen entered the Bridge. Power had been restored by the Quartermaster, so they could have a full inspection. Arwen paused only a single step outside the lift. It was like stepping back in time. She imagined the ghosts of this ship's previous crew, exploring space that was now taken for granted. What the crew must have felt when they returned home that final time, knowing this ship had safely carried them through danger and brought them back. Only to be consigned to a scrap yard. She looked at the wall, running a finger gently over the dedication plaque. Below the ship's name was a list of everyone who had brought it life. She read each name, a faint smile tugging at her lips when she read the ship motto: 'Can't take the sky from me.' Realising she was showing a trace of emotion, she quickly forced herself back to an emotionless state. After all, she was going to start her Kholinar training soon. She had to be better than that.


Arwen walked to the centre chair, resting a hand on it's back, slowly taking in the entirety of the room. "You've been resting a long time. Your days of exploration are long past, but you want to fly again. That's why you showed yourself to me. You sensed we would take care of you, let you see the stars again. I won't promise you an exciting life, but I can promise you a long life." The deck started vibrating, as if in response to Arwen's words. The Vulcan moved to the helm and worked some of the controls. The engines had powered up, the ship drawing in life from her once quiet heart, now beating proudly once more. The turbolift door opened and Marge stepped out. "Main power is back online. The ship is flyable, but we should probably replace the main deflector when we get chance. Some of the engine systems are in desperate need of replacing, but we can at least get her to a starbase for upgrading. If you still want this ship."
"What do you think Marge? Is this ship one you could see yourself on?" Marge looked around, thinking her answer out carefully. "Yes. Yes it is."
"Good. Then we'll tell the Quartermaster he has a deal."
"There is one more thing. He said we can't use the official name Starfleet gave this thing, but he's willing to alter the transponder ID and repaint the name on the hull free of charge."
"Free?"
"Something about a favour he owes someone. I didn't press the issue. Do you have a name in mind?"
"Yes. Evenstar."




It took less than a day for the changes to be made. Arwen sat in the Cpatain's chair, stroking both armrests. She had decided to remove the dedication plaque from the wall, but kept it in the ready room as a momento to the ship's proud history and those who called her home before. Marge sat at helm, firmly gripping the joystick. "All systems are reading ready Sir."
"Very well. Bring Impulse engines online and ease us out of the debris field." Marge had voiced concerns about taking the ship out with only the two of them, but they couldn't very well sit here until they could gather a crew. They could at least be getting the ship upgraded in the meantime. That was one good thing about Starfleet. They always helped civillians out, free of charge. Marge reported they were clear of the field. Arwen straightened in her chair. "Warp One. Engage."


The old ship gracefully slipped from her resting place, engines glowing in a surge of power as for the first time in decades, if not longer, the vessel tore off into space. Marge reported everything holding steady and speed gradually increased towards Warp four. Suddenly the ship started shuddering. Marge frowned, becoming concerned. "Sir, the plasma injectors have locked open. Helm has become unresponsive."
"Can you shut down the engines?"
"Not from here. I need to get to Engineering."
Marge got up and ran towards the turbolift. Arwen checked the console. They weren't going to hit anything on this trajectory at least, but they couldn't stop. Arwen moved to the communication station and sent a distress call before retaking her seat at the helm. She tried everything to slow the old girl down, but nothing worked.

"I understand you've been wanting to be let free, but calm down. To run before you have walked will simply wear yourself out." Arwen realised how illogical it was to talk to a ship as if it was a living entity. Still, she couldn't help but feel a connection to ships. Probably because of her childhood. It was still illogical. The sound of transporters caused her to turn around. A Starfleet team had beamed onto the bridge, consisting of a female Trill, an Andorian male and an alien whom Arwen didn't know. He was tall and lean, dark skinned and with some spiked horns in place of his ears. He had a yellow scar across his right cheek that looked like he had been clawed by an animal some time ago. The alien stepped forward. "I'm Captain Stunshock of the Federation vessel DarkFyre. We're responding to your distress call."
"Captain. It appears our plasma injectors have fused open." Stunshock instantly turned to the Andorian. "Engineering will need you. Go." Both officers left the Bridge. Arwen raised an eyebrow. "I'm curious Captain. Would protocals normally dictate you hail a vessel before boarding it?"
"You're a ship in distress. And no one answered our hails. We matched our warp field to enable us to transport over."
"You were not concerned about hostiles?"
"We only detected two lifesigns. And my First Officer is on our ship, ready to spring into action at a moment's notice." He smiled. "This isn't my first day in the chair."
"No. But it is mine."
"Well, hopefully it will be the first of many." The ship stopped shuddering as the engines cut out, causing the ship to drop from warp. The Andorian came over the comm. "Bosip to Stunshock. We've deactivated the engines by cutting the entire core. The ship is running on emergency backup power, but I'd feel better getting the crew evacuated and towing this ship to the nearest starbase with a drydock. The systems down here are not only ancient, but they're a mess. It'll take more than I've got to sort it out."
"Understood Bosip. Head back to the DarkFyre." He turned his attention back to Arwen. "The DarkFyre can tow you. Meanwhile, would you care to join me for some lunch? I'd be fascinated to hear how you ended up with this ship. It's not exactly one you see these days."
"I would be delighted to Captain Stunshock."

Arwen liked this Captain. She sensed this could be the start of a beautiful friendship...