Actions

Work Header

Rating:
Archive Warning:
Category:
Fandom:
Relationship:
Characters:
Additional Tags:
Language:
English
Series:
Part 6 of What The Future Brings
Stats:
Published:
2022-11-02
Words:
578
Chapters:
1/1
Comments:
11
Kudos:
99
Bookmarks:
2
Hits:
637

First Steps

Summary:

Shran returns to his vessel, but he and Archer get some surprising news.

Notes:

So I think I lied about taking a break, I’m just addicted to writing this out and I’m loving it more and more.

Thank you to everyone reading and enjoying it. It inspires me to keep going. :)

Work Text:

The next morning, Shran was granted a clean bill of health and officially discharged from his treatments in sickbay, so long as he promised to continue using the awful cream Phlox had prescribed him for his arms if he wanted the scarring to clear.

What had remained of his previous night in sickbay was rather lonely. He had left the mess hall shortly after Archer had and couldn’t help but feel a little guilty for pressing Archer too hard.

Shran had spent the time in his biobed not sleeping, just replaying the harsh encounter over and over in his mind, antennae in a sad droop.

But today was a new day. He would try not to let the happenings of the night before affect him too much. He had appearances to maintain, after all.

Shran was being escorted by an ensign to the airlock, where a shuttle was waiting to pick him up. He left confused and disappointed as Archer never came to say goodbye.

~*~

Shran breathes a sigh of relief when he’s aboard his own vessel. The crisp, chilly air of the Andorian life support system a welcome reprieve from the relatively hot and humid environment on the Enterprise.

He finds his way to his quarters where he immediately changes into his guardsman uniform, but does take the time to admire his new scars. Three surprisingly clean claw marks from his right shoulder to his left hip, impressively light enough that you could only really see it if you were looking.

Damn, Phlox really did know his stuff.

His arms are already turning the same shade of blue, the mottling having reduced significantly thanks to the awful cream.

Shran immediately feels more like himself, dressed once again as a true guardsman.

An incoming message on his desk grabs his antennae’s attention first, then he looks to see it himself.

He answers.

“Commander Shran,” the General greets, sounding displeased.

“General,” Shran acknowledges.

“We’ve been in communication with Starfleet.” His pronunciation of the organization is clunky.

“We have an assignment for you,” Admiral Gardner explains to Archer, back on the Enterprise. “Rather, we’re assigning someone to you.”

“Go on,” Archer encourages.

“You’re being sent to the Terran Flagship Enterprise to act as the official liaison of the Andorian Imperial Guard,” the Andorian General continues.

“After all, you’ve already got a Vulcan first officer, who indirectly acts as a representative of her species, and a Denobulan doctor,” Gardner points out. “Starfleet believes that it’s not only appropriate but long overdue that we have representation from all our allies serving on our starships. Who knows? One day, we might have entire crews of species of all kinds, working together in some kind of… federation.”

“I understand,” Archer replies, unsure if he’s overjoyed or despondent from this development.

“I understand,” Shran replies, unsure if he’s overjoyed or despondent from this development.

“We’ll be in touch with the details,” Admiral Gardner finishes.

Archer can only nod.

“Gardner out.”

The screen quickly flicks blank.

Archer stares at the black screen. His mirror image stares firmly back. His expression is truly unreadable as he genuinely cannot define the emotions whirling inside him.

Shran isn’t able to respond before the General ends the transmission. The screen pops up with details of the posting which Shran scans quickly.

Position description: Liaison between the Andorian Imperial Guard and His Majesty’s The King of Greater Andoria and the Terran Starfleet.

Duration: Indefinite.

You’ve got to be fucking kidding me.

Series this work belongs to: