One more Uncle
Posted on Fri Sep 18th, 2020 @ 10:18am by
Edited on on Fri Sep 18th, 2020 @ 11:48am
2,271 words; about a 11 minute read
Mission:
Episode 10 - New Home, Same Pioneers
Location: O’Flannagain Quarters
Timeline: MD008 2000 hrs
Enya sat in the chair with her pajamas on, her legs were bent and her chin rested on her knees as she waited for her subspace call to go through to Uncle Timothy. It had been a lot longer since she had talked to him so she was anxious for him to connect.
"Well if it isn't the most beautiful nine year old in the universe," Timothy said once the call connected. "You are looking really grown up these days. How old are you now, fifteen?"
“Uncle Timmy!” Enya replied with a huge grin. “You know I’m only nine!” She almost laughed at the look on his face and waited for him to say something.
“It’s Uncle Timothy to you, Squirt, and you know that,” he growled good naturedly. “Did your Mom Tell you to call me that!”
Enya shook her head, a smile on her face. “Nope. And if you ask me anybody else I’m not answering!” She didn’t want to tell on her Uncle Aaron. “What you doing?”
“Well,” he said with a grin. “I should say I was off giving orders like a good captain but the truth is I just got done in engineering, helping my chief on a project.”
Enya’s eyes widened in surprise. “I thought captains didn’t do that stuff anymore.” She waited to see what he said back to her.
“I don’t think you could ever take the engineer out of me if you tried,” her uncle said with a laugh. “Besides, I’m the captain so that means I get to do what I want.”
“Yeah right,” Enya rolled her eyes at him with a grin. “Uncle Tyler, he’s our captain, he says that captains don’t give orders all day long and people do what he says. It is a lot of paper stuff and you have to listen and sometimes be wrong.” She paused. “People look at you to help them and you gotta be able to.”
“He sounds like a smart Captain,” Timothy replied. “And he is right, our job has a lot of different responsibilities...” He paused, remembering he was talking to his nine year old niece. “Stuff to it.”
Enya could tell he was in his office. She had hoped he would be in his quarters so he could see his cousins. Uncle Timothy had twins, both boys which she thought was wrong. Their mom had died and no one told Enya anything except not to ask him about her. Maybe she wasn’t supposed to ask about them but she did anyway. “How’s the boys doing?”
“Paul and Pierce are almost six now,” Timothy said with a smile. “I‘ll call back when I go to our quarters and you can all see them.”
“Mom and Dad are busy,” Enya said. “In their room. Maybe you can call back tomorrow and talk to them. I called cause I had some stuff to ask you about bein an engineer.”
Timothy assumed it must be a school assignment. “Is there a sheet of questions from your teacher you need to ask me?”
Enya frowned. “No, It’s not for him, I am trying to decide what I want to be when I get old like you guys and I like Engineering so I called to have you tell me the good and bad stuff.”
“Well I’ll be damned!” Timothy said with a grin. “My little niece is thinking about taking after me!” That would make him proud. But then to be honest, he didn't really care what she did as long as she was happy.
“I was thinking about security too,” Enya said. “Uncle Aaron helped me a lot so now I want you to tell me about yours so I could choose.”
“How are you doing in school?” Timothy asked her. “Being am engineer takes a lot of schooling. If you’re doing well, you can probably start taking some basic subjects and at least one beginning engineering class in a couple years.” Timothy felt like he had been an engineer since he was around her age. “Do you like building things?”
“I have some LEGO’s my Dad got me. I like making stuff and then taking them part and doing something else.” Enya said. “He said he is going to get me some more.” She paused."And I do really good in school, my grades are always high." She hated failure and if one dropped she just worked harder.
Timothy was encouraged, he played with building things when he was younger as well but a lot of kids did and it didn’t necessarily mean they were cut out to work in engineering, it didn’t mean they weren’t either. “That is a good start but just some advice for you.”
“I’m listenin,” Enya said with a serious look on her face.” She didn’t want to miss a thing he said.
“What if I send you some simple models for ships,” Timothy said with a smile. “Your Dad or Mom night have to help you but it gives you a feel for building things.” He paused. “At the same time you might try having your Dad do some security things with you too. It might help you out.”
“That makes sense. I'll ask him,” Enya nodded. She thought for a moment. “Why did you become one?”
“Dad was always busy and there seemed liked things were always breaking down,” Tim explained the best he could. “With Grandma gone it was up to us to help out at home. I took some classes in school and then started looking up manuals on building stuff on the computer.”
“Weren’t you scared of getting in trouble?” Enya asked him. “I don’t think my parents would like it.”
Timothy grinned as he thought back to the times he took things apart and couldn’t get them back together and his father gave him hell when he got home. “I was but I started feeling a pull to see what I could do.” Timothy grinned at her. “If you are meant to be an engineer, you will want to work on engines and fix things that break.”
“Uncle Aaron says the academy is hard,” Enya said, waiting to see what he had to say.
“Enya,” Timothy spoke carefully. He didn’t want to scare her but at the same time he didn’t want to gloss it over. “It’s like this. When it comes to getting in to the academy you have to want it bad and work hard. They are very...” He thought for a moment to choose the word he wanted. “Picky...they are picky about who they let in. So once you decide, you need to make sure your grades are good and ask your teacher for classes to help you get ahead and show you are what they are looking for.”
“I like school and I am really good at it,” Enya said with a smile. “I don’t even mind the homework but I get stuck on stuff.”
“I used to daydream,” Timothy said. “That means my mind would wander. You just have to teach yourself to keep your eyes on the prize of going to be whatever it is you pick.” He smiled then. She was only nine years old and already wanting to set her career. “Just do me one favor.”
“What’s that,” Enya asked him, wondering what he wanted her to do.
“You need to work hard like I said,” Timothy said seriously. “But you need to be a kid too. You can be whatever you want, as long as you have fun getting there.”
“There’s a lot to think about,” Enya said. “I think you’re right though. For now I’m gonna just try a little of both and then pick.” She smiled at him. “I’ll work hard on school stuff and have time for fun with Mom and Dad.”
Timothy grinned “See, I always knew you got your smarts from me.” He loved being a captain and having his own ship, but as with all choices their were consequences, he didn’t get to see as much of his family as he wanted to. But the subspace calls helped.
“Thanks Uncle Tim,” Enya said with a smile. “Uncle Aaron says I get it from him and Dad thinks I am smart cause of him. Maybe I got all of yours.”
“I bet you did,” Her uncle laughed. “And your mother’s looks. You are just as cute as can be.” She reminded him of his Mom as well and yet there was also some of Quinn in her looks.
“Thanks!” Enya said with a smile. Then she grinned .”I have more stuff to ask, are you in a hurry?”
Timothy knew that his nanny would be putting the boys to bed if he didn’t leave soon and he decided to let her do it. It had been forever since he had talked to someone from the family and Enya was his only niece so he would talk as long as she wanted to. “I’m here until you need to finish your homework and go to bed.”
“Once you got on a ship,” Enya asked. “What’d you have to do to become a captain.” She was dead set on being one and nothing would stop her.
Timothy thought about his early days, especially after he graduated and was assigned to his first ship. “It takes a long time to get that far, Squirt.” He saw her look of determination. “You have to put in your time. You start out low ranked and you earn new ones over time. It depends on how hard you work and what they see in you as a person.”
“How long did it take you?” Enya asked him. She knew he hadn’t been a captain all that long.
“Well,” Timothy said with a smile. “I went up the ranks pretty standard to what you would expect but I wasn’t sure I wanted to be a captain.”
“How come?” Enya asked him. She thought everyone wanted to be one.
“I wasn’t all that sure she wanted to give up Engineering,” Timothy explained. “I loved what I did and I wasn’t looking forward to sitting in an office..”
“But your one now,” Enya frowned, feeling kind of confused at what he was saying.
“I was offered a position as second officer,” Timothy said with a smile. “I was still the engineer but I was on the bridge more and I found out I liked it.” He sat back in his chair. “So, I took the command testing and passed, worked my butt off for my promotions.”
“And here you are,” Enya said with a grin. “Everybody is happy for you!”
“Just remember,” Timothy said with a hint of caution. “Every job on a ship is important and...valued. That means that My command depends on my top officers all the way down to those doing jobs that some feel aren’t the best.”
“Okay,” Enya replied. She didn’t really get what he was saying, who would want to be anything but a captain.
“Look at your Mom,” Timothy said, using her as an example. “She took time off for a while because she wanted to be home with you while you were little. For her and your Dad that was the best job on the ship. And I bet it was pretty important to even your captain. He wants his crew to be happy.”
Enya saw what he meant. “You have been a lot of help, Uncle Timothy. I think both you and Uncle Aaron have given me what I needed to know.” She grinned. “Now I gotta decide if I want to protect people or work with the engines.”
“I’m glad we both were a help,” Timothy said with a smile. “You know we are always here for you and your parents.” He loved his job but family meant something to him and he would be there if they needed him.
Enya sighed. “I don’t wanna go but I have to get my homework done before I go to bed and my mom or dad are gonna come and tuck me in a while.”
Timothy smiled at the look on her face. “We can talk again soon, Squirt. I plan to call in a couple days to see how your mom and dad are doing.”
“I love you more than ice cream,” Enya said with a grin. She waited for what he would say in return. She loved this game they played.
“Well,” Timothy grinned as he looked at her. “I love you more than ice cream with hot fudge on it!”
“I got you this time,” Enya sat forward in the chair. “I love you more than the hot fudge with ice cream and whipped cream with a cherry on top of it.”
“You win this time,” Timothy grinned. “I’ll talk to you soon, Enya. Be looking for a package from me, I’ll be sending it soon.”
“Thanks Uncle Timothy,” she said with a smile. “Bye!” She reached forward and ended the call, then went to work on her homework. She wanted to get good grades because she had finally made a decision on what she wanted to do when she served like her parents did.
Enya Ó Flannagáin
Child, USS Pioneer
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