The Weight of Survival

Posted on Fri Oct 9th, 2026 @ 2:24am by Lieutenant Commander Devon Hunt

880 words; about a 4 minute read

Mission: Kintsugi
Location: New York; Earth

Devon had arrived on to his childhood home in upstate New York with Jasmine and Anthony. His daughter was the least happy about having to leave the Tokyo but upon arriving children had been extremely happy about seeing their grandparents and cousins. At the home also were his brother Jerome's children Perea, Othello and Marie.

Jerome and his wife Talon were stationed at Xindu Station. When the Iconian threat was deemed serious, they immediately moved their children to Earth. A decision, Devon wished he had made with his own family. But honestly, the attack on Starbase 234 was unexpected. Standing in the backyard by the pool, he watched the children playing in the water. Though there was a lot of fear which reminded him of all the talks on Earth during the Dominion War. This place was still considered paradise and was one of the most protected worlds in the Federation.

Walking out the back door was Captain Kenneth Hunt, who had spent the last two weeks on Earth. After the loss of his ship, the Meridian-C, Kenneth had no clue where Starfleet would send him next. His surviving crew who had been cleared to return to duty had been quickly reassigned due to the war effort. Including his wife Kimora. As for himself, almost daily briefings with the brass. When he heard that his cousin Devon had arrived on Earth, he decided to pay a visit with his own children Drayton and Alonzo.

Spotting their cousins in the pool, the two twelve-year-olds Drayton and Alonzo ran to the pool, jumping in with their clothes still on.

"Damn it boys," Kenneth called out. Seeing how excited their cousins in the pool was to see them, he simply decided to let it go. Walking over to Devon, the two men embraced each other.

"Sorry about your ship and crew," Devon spoke. "But glad to you all made it okay."

"Once again, I am sorry about Anya. Heard that you were able to bring her back to Earth."

Devon nodded. "Yes, she needs to be buried among family. There was no way I was going to just have her buried on a random world. How is Kimora?"

Sighing, Kenneth clearly wasn't too happy. "Reassigned to the Myogi. My entire crew that survived the battle has been reassigned all over the place. Which lets me know that Starfleet has no intent on giving me another ship anytime soon."

"Sorry to hear that. But they'll put you back in the fight before you know it. In the meantime, we get a chance to catch up."

"Its that Kimora was telling me the same thing last night," Kenneth admitted. "Surprisingly, she is handling the transfer much better than I am."

The young man didn't seem too surprised at all. "How are the boys handling it? They've spent the last couple of years with both of you."

Kenneth looked over in the pool where all the children were playing with their cousins. With smiles on their faces, he glad to see them happier than they have been in the past week or so. "They didn't take the news well at all. And since the Meridian was lost, they haven't been the same. Which is what I suppose should be normal."

"One reason, I decided to bring Jasmine and Anthony to Earth," Devon spoke up. "First what happened on the Starbase, then with the Tokyo going into battle. I needed my children somewhere safe, so that I could do my job effectively without worrying about things blowing up around them."

"Kimora and I had the same idea. Then Starfleet kept redirecting the Meridian to various Task Forces due to the Harolds sporadic movements. And we just never had the chance to remove the civilian population off ship. Alonzo is clearly sad all of the time, but Drayton seems to be suppressing his feelings. This kid is half Vulcan, but also Human and I wonder if that's healthy or some detriment?"

Devon observed his older cousin. The man they all looked up to who had a couple of years on all those in their generation. He always seemed to have the answers. But now that they were all in their forties, the realization came that he was just as Human as the rest of them. "I don't think you're supposed to have all the answers. But there are those out there who likely have experience working with children like Drayton.

"I'll look into that sometime tomorrow," Kenneth said somberly. "Today, he gets to be a kid with his cousins. All I ever wanted was to be in Starfleet. At that age you don't think about the losses. Only the gains and the victories."

'Kobayashi Maru."

The older cousin looked over the younger and started to grin. "I hate no win scenarios."

"But it was supposed to mentally prepare us for moments like this," Devon reminded. "At least that was the purpose of that whole damn exercise."

"Can one really truly prepare for the possibility of death," Kenneth countered. "Or even being the survivor when their people have died."

Devon scratched his chin. "It certainly never prepared us for losing a spouse."

==========
Lt. Commander Devon Hunt
Chief Security/Tactical Officer
USS Toyko

Captain Kenneth Hunt
Former Commanding Officer
USS Meridian-C

 

RSS Feed