The Ties That Bind Us

Posted on Sun Jul 27th, 2025 @ 11:12pm by Lieutenant Commander Casey Washburn

453 words; about a 2 minute read

Personal Comminique
To: Dr. Joran Maz, Civilian Consultant at Jupiter Station
From: Lieutenant Commander Casey Washburn, USS Tokyo
Code for immediate transmission


My Dearest Joran,

I’m writing to you from the small confines of my new quarters aboard the USS Tokyo. I’ve just finished unpacking some of my boxes (including that little holo-frame you gave me on Trill) and I thought of you halfway through stowing away my tool kit. The Tokyo’s corridors are a little narrower than I remember the Republic’s, but the hum of the engines is every bit as reassuring. I’ve already found my favorite view—on Deck 7, aft, you can look out into that ribbon of nebular gas clouds we mapped last year near Epsilon Eridani. I’ll have to send you a holo-image once our sensors have better resolution.

There’s something both exciting and a bit unsettling about the first night in a new ship. I spent the afternoon calibrating the engineering console in my quarters and lining up the tool boards—I know how much you love order in your lab, so I’m doing my best to match that here. I even discovered the replicator has a decent version of your favorite Trill herb tea, so I brewed a pot and raised a mug to you. The aroma somehow made everything feel more like “home,” though I’d trade all the replicator settings in the universe just to be sharing it with you in person.

I have reported in to Captain Aisaka, and I will meet the rest of the senior staff in due time. I can’t wait to tell you all about her—she’s as no-nonsense as you warned me she’d be, but already I can see the same spark of curiosity in her eyes that first drew me to Starfleet. I’m looking forward to settling in: learning the Tokyo’s quirks, meeting the engineering team (a lively bunch, by the looks of things), and—most of all—sending you updates at every turn. I feel your encouragement with me already, Joran, even though we’re across light-years.

I miss you more than I thought possible, especially now, surrounded by gleaming consoles and humming warp coils. Take care of yourself on Jupiter Station—don’t let the grav plating give you too many headaches, and try not to stay up all night wrestling with your quantum entanglement experiments. Rest up so you can tell me all about your latest breakthrough when we next speak. Until then, know that every hum of the reactor, every starlight vista I glimpse through the viewport, carries my love to you.

Yours, in every timeline,

Casey

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