—- USS Luna, Bridge —-

Lieutenant Pierre Lambert followed Commander Olivia Carrillo onto the bridge and took a position that had already been worked out with the captain at one of the rear engineering stations. A young woman nodded at him, and gestured to the console which was set up as close to a conn on the old Relian-class ships as you could get while still using touch screen technology. 

“Tactical assessment Lieutenant Jara,” Captain Cruz asked, as the viewscreen showed three vessels closing in on the USS Luna and the USS Boston.

”Three pirate vessels, all heavily armed,” Chief of Scurity Lieutenant Jara said, adding, “Three against one aren’t great odds.”

“Hail the pirates,“ Cruz said sitting down in her central chair. She nodded politely at the gnarled face of a biped from a species that she could not immediately place glared at her. Beside her Commander Carrillo took her own seat.

”I am Captain Adriana Cruz of the Federation ship the USS Luna, how can we help you?” Cruz asked.

“I am Tjora of the coalition,” he said, seemingly uninterested in exchanging pleasantries with the Federation vessel. It was clear that he was fairly confident in the overriding force that he had brought along with him and the Starfleet captain’s not wanting to risk conflict. It was this assumption that Captain Cruz hoped to push on, and to test to its limits.

”You know usually you pirates have a much more involved name like the Organization for Interstellar Peace,” Cruz noted dryly. She was starting to find that all these competing pirates and criminals was getting frustrating. Better to deal with a government, even as one as currently dysfunctional as the Klingon Empire than all these tiny titans believing themselves important just because they’d wrangled together a handful of ships. 

The pirate captain shrugged bored, “By right of salvage I claim the ship that we’ve discovered.“

The USS Boston was not a new ship, and did not have any technology that would make it particularly valuable. Yet it was still Starfleet and despite being a relic of the past Captain Cruz was not ready to give it up without a fight. She glanced over at Ensign Constable, and Lieutenant Lambert who nodded, they were ready.

”That’s clearly a Starfleet ship and we’re just having issues with the communication systems, you have no right of salvage,” Cruz said.

”Three against one give us the right of salvage Federation,” Tjora said and cut the feed. 

“Like we talked about people,” Cruz said, “Lieutenant Lambert, let’s change the equation.”

Lambert nodded, “Yes, ma’am.”

Using a touch screen only interface was not as intuitive as his old console back on the USS Boston, but the controls were mapped 1:1 onto the interface allowing the engineering station to become a remote conn allowing him to control his ship. First he brought the shields up and then fired his first round of photon torpedoes, and phasers. He then piloted the USS Boston toward the nearest pirate ship. 

“Raise shields. Jara give them a full speed of quantum torpedoes, full phasers,” Captain Cruz said.

Jara nodded and fired. The pirate ships, all three of them, began to back away.

”There’re doing the math on whether this fight is worth salvaging a century old ship,” Carrillo said.

”Let’s hope they don’t realize with nobody on the Boston we can’t load another salvo of torpedos,” Cruz said, adding to Jara, “Another round of quantum torpedoes Lieutenant.”

The USS Luna fired again and the pirate captain hailed once more. 

Tjora seemed just as bored as before as he appeared on screen, “Well, given that the ship is operational we’ll allow you to keep it Federation. I suppose it isn’t lost and found at all.”

One by one the three ships warped out of the sector leaving the two Starfleet ships alone. Lambert lowered the shields to the USS Boston and the USS Luna lowered her own shields before taking the older Starfleet vessel in a tractor beam and beginning the journey back to Starbase 86. 

“Good job Mister Lambert. Miss Constable, thank the rest of Engineering for getting the Boston back into working order at least long enough to do that,“ Captain Cruz said. She nodded at the two crew members and headed towards her Ready Room.

—- USS Luna, Tranquility Base Lounge —-

“To the last fight of the USS Boston,” Commander Carrillo said raising her glass of blueish liquid.

“To the Boston,” Lambert said, nodding. His face was serious. Though the Boston had survived and would likely go to a museum somewhere now, he felt like he should too. He was part of the crew that had died on the ship, and the only thing separating him from everyone else onboard was pure luck. 

“Something bothering you Lambert?” Carrillo asked.

”I read about Captain Scott, how he was trapped in a transporter for decades. And Lieutenant Riker,” Lambert said, “Out of time officers don’t last too long, we don’t fit in.”

”I read about Captain Montgomery Scott, he’d have been what a Lieutenant Commander when you left. But when he left he was an old man, he wasn’t looking to relearn how the world works. I can’t speak to Lieutenant Riker, I never heard of him, just Captain Riker of the USS Titan. The difference between you and Scott is that you’re young, and you’ll learn how things work now,” Carrillo said, smiling sympathetically.

”I never met them, the Enterprise crew, I suppose Spock is still alive,” Lambert said.

Carrillo shook her head, “That’s another story, and you’ll hear it. About the Romulan supernova and how that’s changed.”

Lambert fiddled with his glass looking glum, “It’ll take me a bit to learn.”

”We’re at odds with the Klingons now,” Carrillo said, “and friendly-ish with the Romulans.”

”Well Klingons never change,” Lambert said.

”You’d be surprised,” Carrillo said.

Lambert nodded.

”Starbase 86 is going to be exciting for you,” Carrillo said as she studied him. She felt for him, she was an outside on the ship, having just joined the crew that had been together in some way or another since the USS Anaheim, but as much as she was an outsider Lambert was from an entirely different era. While they had slapped a modern uniform on him, and assigned him his own room he was still very much the man she’d found on the USS Boston.

Lambert nodded, “Will you be my guide?”

”To Starbase 86, sure,” Carrillo nodded. 

Lambert gave a small smile, “Thank you, that makes me feel… more connected to something other than my old ship, and my old crew.”

”Us newbies need to stick together,” the Commander said, only half joking. 

The pair were quiet for awhile, starring out the window and each thinking their own thoughts. Space was big, bigger than either of them and they both felt along and lost. At least they’d found something to hold onto, even if the other person was as adrift and unmoored as them.