Tales From The Lonely Nacelle - Vol. 4

Posted on Sat Mar 29th, 2025 @ 10:57pm by Major Chiyo Shimada & Lieutenant Tatsuo Shimada

1,219 words; about a 6 minute read

Mission: Younger Years
Location: Various
Timeline: Immediately after 'Tales From The Lonely Nacelle - Vol. 3'

Previously, on Star Trek: Tokyo:

Tatsuo was hoping that it had just been the alcohol doing the talking last night, for previous women who weren't gone the next morning that Tatsuo had thought were cute while intoxicated were ugly as sin when sober. But even as they sat down to breakfast, Chiyo still looked so damn beautiful. If he didn't manage to get her contact information over this meal, he would hate himself for the rest of his life, because it should have been a crime to let a piece of tail this fine slip between his fingers...

And now, the conclusion:

"So, you seemed to know that show I was watching on the viewscreen." Chiyo spoke.

"Was it that obvious?" Tatsuo joked. "Yeah, that was Mach Go Go Go: Restart. It was the late 20th century adaptation of a mid 20th century manga series called Mach Go Go Go, better known outside Japan as Speed Racer."

"Really?" Chiyo said. "You seem to know your manga there..."

"Well, when you grow up with parents that run a manga library, you tend to become proficient in the craft." Tatsuo said. "And you remember the series whose creator they named you after."

"How closely did they name you after him?" Chiyo asked.

"They did something unusual for Japan and gave me a middle name." Tatsuo explained. "So my full name is Tatsuo Yoshida Shimada."

"Now, that's dedication." Chiyo giggled. "Now, about that manga library; is that something like that manga museum in Akihabara?"

"That's exactly like that, because that's where it's located." Tatsuo said. "You seem to know quite a lot about Japan."

"Well, every now and again, I have to make a trip to the motherland." Chiyo explained. "Visit family and friends out there."

"I see..." Tatsuo said. "So, why Arizona, then?"

"Well, business opportunities were better if we're based out of North America." Chiyo explained. "I suppose the pre-World War III notion that the United States was the greatest country on Earth never fully went away, huh?"

"Well, sort of..." Tatsuo conceded. "You do have things like Starfleet being based in San Francisco, which was American prior to United Earth, but then you have Federation government offices in Paris over in Europe."

"Okay, I'll give you that." Chiyo said. "And it's not like Japan is entirely a lame duck, as the Daystrom Institute is located out there."

"So, what kind of business do you do?" Tatsuo asked, changing the subject.

"Oh, freight and transport." Chiyo responded.

The hell is wrong with you, dude? Ask her! Tatsuo's subconscious told him naggingly as Chiyo explained her family's business.

"So, about what you said last night..." Tatsuo interjected when Chiyo had finished talking. "Were you serious?"

"As a heart attack." Chiyo sighed. "You know, I'm going to miss this: You certainly showed me what it's like to be a woman, and it'll be hard to find another who'll treat me like that again."

"Who says you have to?" Tatsuo asked.

"I beg your pardon?" Chiyo asked.

"Who says it has to end here?" Tatsuo suggested. "I can tell both of us don't want this to end, so why does it have to? If, you were serious last night, and are... Back on the market, per se... I'd love to take you back off the market, if you get where I'm going."

Chiyo blinked.

"So, this means...?"

"I'd like to see you again." Tatsuo summed himself up.

Chiyo sat stunned for a moment before reaching into her purse and pulling out the pen and pad of paper she had snatched from the room.

"And if you're serious..." Chiyo said as she popped the cap off the pen and began writing on the paper. "I'm not too far away from here. This really was just a girls' trip to the next town over."

Once Chiyo had written down her contact information down, she tore the sheet of paper off and handed both it and the rest of the writing materials to Tatsuo.

"Well then; Arizona girl." Tatsuo smiled as he proceeded to write down his contact information. "Maybe one day you can come visit me in California. We can go to the beach... Or better yet, since we both have family in Japan, maybe a trip to the home islands? Walk on a beach on the other side of the Pacific?"

"That would be wonderful." Chiyo accepted as Tatsuo handed her the pen and paper back. "Might give me a reason to look forward to going home..."

Once Tatsuo and Chiyo had cleaned off their plates, all that was left was for Tatsuo to visit the front desk and check out. As the Starfleet cadet stepped out of the motel's office, he heard the hum of a transporter beam as Kisad Materialized on the sidewalk outside.

"Ready to head back to base, Grasshopper?" Kisad asked as Tatsuo drew near.

"I, uh... Think I got her number." Tatsuo muttered as he flashed Kisad the piece of motel paper on which Chiyo had written her contact information.

---

[19 years later...]

Ever since that day, Tatsuo had retained that piece of motel paper. It had seen its fair share of beatings in the nearly 2 decades since Chiyo had first inked it up, but Chiyo's contact information remained as legible as had been when the ink was fresh.

The night before Tatsuo was to make good on a promise he was 14 years late on, and pledge his life to Chiyo once and for all, he was up late writing his vows. Sitting at the desk in the darkened living area of his family's quarters, listening to the muffled sounds of his soon-to-be wife and their daughter tag team snoring, Tatsuo had hit a snag in writing the vows. The words just wouldn't come.

Reaching into his pocket, Tatsuo pulled out the battered piece of paper and looked at it for inspiration. As he stared into the paper's years of creases, the inspiration suddenly hit him:

Pulling open a drawer in the desk, Tatsuo found where Chiyo kept old-fashioned paper clips, perfect for this application. Selecting one, he placed it on top of the motel paper which he set on the desk before picking up the pen and giving the ball point a good click:

Attached to the back of these vows is the piece of motel paper you scribbled your contact information down on.

And the following day at the alter, the piece of motel paper was clipped to the back of the sheet on which Tatsuo had written his vows, true to the words he had written:

"You gave up everything, even a normal life for our daughter, just to find and reunite with me." Tatsuo finished reading off his vows. "That speaks volumes to your courage, bravery, and strength in the face of deafening adversity, and it's that kind of brave, courageous woman that I feel comfortable spending the rest of my life with: Chiyo, I promise to love you in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish, till death do us part, and that is a promise that I feel is worth keeping."

A Mission post by

Major Chiyo Shimada
Marine Commander
Second Officer
USS Tokyo

Lieutenant Tatsuo Shimada
Acting Captain
USS Redemption

 

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