Second Impressions

The lift doors slid open revealing the rather expansive command center of the USS Horizon and Redding stopped short at the sight of it. Slightly in shock he murmured "I'm not sure the Ajax's cargo bay was this big" but straightened his shirt and went into the room.

"Excuse me lieutenant, have you seen captain Kheren? I need to report in."

A human male with slightly alien features turned to face him "Commander is it? you must be our new first officer then? welcome aboard sir. Master chief petty officer Hollett at your service commander." And gave a friendly kind of smile. "Aye sir, he's in his ready room, right over there sir" and pointed starboard at a door.

Almost without thinking about it Redding took his outstretched hand and shook it firmly. "Good to meet you Chief Hollett, if you'll excuse me." and walked away.

He checked his uniform again and signaled his request to enter. and thought to himself I can't believe this, I'm actually a little nervous.

The door opened and Redding took three brisk steps in "Commander Neil S Redding reporting for duty Captain."

The Andorian captain was just taking out his brew from the replicator when the tall, powerfully built man entered. He looked up at Redding with pointing antenna, noticing the features of the older admiral in the young man's face. The power, the incisive mind, the energic will were easily notcieable and true to the record of the original officer. But there was something new, fresh in there as well. It was hard for Kheren to see in this young officer the old one who had manipulated his careeer years ago and even cast doubt over his nature. And so, not one to accept preconceived ideas, even if they were his own, Kheren  then left his cup on his translucent desk to go meet him.

"Commander Redding; welcome aboard the Horizon. Can I offer you something?"

"I think you already have sir, the best spot on the flagship" and gave a crooked smile. "But if that's Katheka you have there, I wouldn't mind a cup, Sir."

"Negative; it's Cardassian Fish Juice at room temperature. But one Katheka cup coming up," said Kheren, bringing the Andorian version of coffee, which contained of course none of the cafeine poisonous to his kind, to hsi Exec and inviting him to sit before his desk where he himself sat with his pungent beverage.

Neil still marveled at the wonder of a replicator, anything at the touch of a finger. How could people of this time be so sealant about it? He of course remembered using them thousands of time thanks to the implanted memories, but they still felt new to him.

"Our first officer aboard the USS Ajax got me used to the stuff during a pilgrimage to the Wall of Heroes on Andoria."

He took a drink and frowned slightly.

"Hmm.. well, it's not like 'home' is it? but it's still not bad." and took another drink.

"I would not know, Commander; I never drank the stuff... and I left Andoria many years ago," confided the captain.

Then he looked outside through the large window adorning one wall of his office, where could be seen the sprawling immensity of the starbase outside of which their ship was anchored.

"What do you think of the Horizon, Number One? "

"I think sir that my personal quarters are larger than the entire bridge of the Ajax, an excelsior class vessel, and it was the largest ship in the fleet at the time." He said with a little shake of the head. "Even in my collective memories nothing comes even close, but then I seem to recall mostly escorts under my command." And tuned back to face his captain. "I think of the Horizon as the biggest, most ambitious responsibility in Lotus fleet and I can't tell you just how much I'm looking forward to meeting that responsibility captain." There was a slight smile on his lips and a gleam in his eye as he thought about the task ahead.

"I can share your feeling," Kheren said after a sip of his thick, grey beverage. "My previous command was an Ambassador class and she was by far the largest vessel in our fleet; yet, this one dwarfs it so much that I wonder when I will find myself lost on some lower deck at one point. "

His four oculars went straight to the eyes of the commander.

"But you are quite right. This assignement is a major challenge and responsibility on a scale unequaled so far. I am glad we will face this together. Regardless of what happened to you, what I know of your qualities as an officer and a human being are definitely what this vessel will require. "

The Andorian was silent for a moment, still studying his first officer with keen eyes before he spoke again.

"And what do you think about serving under my command?"

"Your one of the most highly decorated officers in Lotus fleet with a proven track record and while I can't speak as to weather your the best for the job or not, I can't see those being bad reasons to give you this assignment sir. "

Then he gave Kheren something of a questioning look

"If I might ask captain.. have we met before? I have the strangest feeling I know you from somewhere, The memory integration process hasn't been perfected and I still have a few gaps I can't account for." Then gave a cynical smirk "And a few I'm sure I never will recover.." and sipped his coffee. "But if we have met before, I don't recall it."

Kheren looked at him for a few seconds before answering.

"Not exactly. We never actually met face to face... but if you look into Starfleet records, notably those of the former flagship the USS Lotus... or maybe personal records of yours... you will find that you had quite a hand in my early career... that is, in your former life. To be blunt, quite a heavy hand at that... even filed suspicions of me being an Undine infiltrator during the Borg war. "

The Andorian stood up and went to the large transparency to silently look outside for a moment. Without turning, he then spoke again with an almost absent tone, almost as if he was speaking to himself more than to the man seated behind him.

"I must admit, Commander, I had been resentful about it for a long time. Being judged on appearances alone and because of  how different I am is what drove me away from Andoria; to go through it again in Starfleet was making me fear that I would have no choice again to leave everything I held dear behind... that, in the end, there was no place for me in this universe..."

He then turned to face Redding again.

"When I learned that you were going to be assigned under my command, I did have some apprehension at first, because of this past resentment. But although you are the same man that used me for his own purposes once, you are also a different man, a man that has been transformed through some unfathomable ordeal in a way no one can truly evaluate. If anyone in this universe should understand how deep this can go and not to judge someone by his past or nature, it is me. "

he walked to come before his first officer.

"As far as I am concerned, Admiral Neil Stanley Redding is another person. You are Commander Neil Stanley Redding, Executive officer of my ship and I welcome you as a young, dedicated Starfleet officer eager to prove himself worthy of the responsibility he has been offered. I will work with and judge the man at my side, not the man in my mind. I want you to know that."

An almost uncomfortable silence held the room for several seconds before Redding decided how best to respond to this information. "Star fleet intelligence would tend to agree with you captain, most of 'Admiral Reddings' records have been sealed and I as a commander I don't have the proper clearance to yet review them. I can't express just how.. annoying, that is." and placed his cup into the replicated and watched it vanish.  

"But I think I know what the basis of his distrust was sir, from what you say, there is only one reason you might have left Andoria because your 'different'. You see the Admirals closest friend, the first officer of the Ajax? well I remember him dyeing.. poorly, trying to avenge the death of his son.. my Godson in fact." Redding took a breath but there was no hint of anger or sorrow in his face. "I later beat him in a match myself, the only death match I'd ever been in, even when I was among the Klingons."

Then straitened up again "That man was a Mutate and he destroyed the only man I ever called a friend, and I don't regret his blood on my hands, not in the least." His face twisted in disappointment "My only regret is that although I can remember it, I just can't feel it. Admiral Redding was a different person, he did things because they made sense to him at the time they happened. But I wasn't really there, if you get my meaning, I Known my best friend was killed by someone like you, but I didn't feel him die." He held up his fist and clenched it "I remember ending the life of the man that killed him, but the rush of the kill, the satisfaction of hearing his last breath? nothing."

"What ever bias or prejudice feelings he may have had for you sir died with him sir, as far as I'm concerned your another example of the best star fleet has to offer in ship captains." and stood smartly near the door. "Will there be anything else captain? there a lot of people out there for me to watch over."

"Negative, Number One. I am glad the ice is clear between us. Yes pLease attend to your duties. I will be waiting for your first report about ship and crew readiness for launch. Dismissed. "