Letters Home

Posted on Thu Oct 14th, 2021 @ 9:35am by Lieutenant JG Camille Lévesque PhD

Mission: Season Two - Incidentals
Location: Camille's Quarters
Timeline: Shortly after “Second Meeting for a first time"

[ON]

Ma chère,

This ship…c’est spectaculaire!

Camille Lévesque had almost forgotten the thrill of working on a Starfleet vessel. For three years, she had been Chief Science Officer on another starship, the Victory. It spent its time in the Delta Quadrant in the earliest years of exploratory initiatives. Well before the current efforts. But the Victory was a true military vessel. It protected Starfleet assets in the region and only occasionally did any real exploration. Her department was tiny, and the ship’s sensor apparatus was mostly for tactical, not science.

I suppose I should have started by telling you I arrived safely. My shuttle landed on Ketram. I stayed with some other new crewmembers until the Pennsylvania shuttles landed. Funny story; the Captain flew the shuttle that picked me up, but he kept his rank and identity hidden. I didn’t know it was him until I visited his Ready Room later that evening!

Still, much good work was done. They made discoveries, charted planets, and published findings. Camille’s knowledge was put to great use for the good of Starfleet, and she in turn got to peek at any curiosity she could see and expand her horizons, even if the opportunities to do so were fewer and farther between than she would have liked.

He’s different from Captain Kennit. Much more approachable. He’s former Security but he knows the value of his science team. I think we’ll work well together.

It was also on the Victory that she met the love of her life.

I miss you, Nicole. More every day. But with these letters, I feel closer to you. Even if I wait days or weeks for the reply.

Dr. Nicole Anderson was the ship’s CMO. She and Camille had worked closely together in Camille’s first weeks aboard, as they had to identify the cause of an illness affecting Federation species. That work had brought them truly close, and before long they were romantically involved. When they could visit Federation space again, they visited each other’s homes (Camille’s outside Montréal, Earth; Nicole’s in the city of Ancient Grace on Rigel V). Their love grew deeper with every month, and then every year. When Camille accepted a position at the Daystrom Institute’s Centre for Exobiology Studies on Alpha Centauri VII, the two left the Victory together, Nicole eventually becoming Head of the Ancient Grace Hospital. Alpha Centauri and Rigel weren’t exactly next door to each other, but they made it work. They’re in love, and love finds a way.

I’ve been exploring the ship. Nebula-class. We’ll be doing a lot of charting, mapping, exploring. Scientific research. And we're very well equipped for the job!

For three years, Camille was a senior researcher at the Centre for Exobiology Studies. She had a team of ten, an old Sydney-class ship for use as an excursion craft, the Frances Wagner, and the freedom to do almost anything she wanted. She didn’t have to fight for data, or argue about aligning the sensor array a certain way, or justify herself to her superiors. If she or one of her team had an idea for an experiment, they did it. There was oversight, but it was about logical, rational things like personnel safety, environmental protection, and cultural contamination.

Camille spent about two thirds of her time on Alpha Centauri VII (or working remotely from Nicole’s house on Rigel V). The remaining third was spent on the Frances Wagner, traveling from planet to moon to starbase, all across the Federation and well beyond its border, conducting a variety of studies with her team.

I’m glad I spent those years with the Institute. I think my team and I accomplished a lot. The universe is a little better understood because of us, and the adventures…I’ll never forget some of them.

Heh. Remember when you came with us on that genetic survey on Ivor II? You found that trail that took us to the beach. I gathered samples while you surprised me with a picnic dinner. That sunset over the red-tinged ocean was one of the most beautiful things I’d ever seen, and I got to see it with you.

The freedom afforded to Camille during those three years was amazing. Any idea she had, anything we wanted to test or explore, she could do. But over time, one question began pulling on her consciousness: why? Her goal in life was to learn and to spread knowledge as freely as possible. But that purpose was only good on paper. In practice, she began feeling listless. Without purpose. Her work was in the service of knowledge, but not really in service to anyone or anything else.

She and several of her team members had been on such an excursion to the Delta Quadrant when the graviton catapults went down. They finished their mission on schedule, but could not return home. Camille was shaken, but her team had it worse. She kept them distracted by finding more things to do, more places to visit and study, but that was only a delaying tactic. They needed purpose. A mission. One that meant something.

I’m giving up a lot to be on this ship. Smarter move might be to stay with the Centre. But I think I need this, Nicole.

And so Camille sent a message through the Pathfinder back to the Centre, formally resigning her position, and another to Starfleet Command, requesting to be reinstated. She gave command of the Frances Wagner to her deputy team lead and went on her way. At Iota Station, she was informed that the Pennsylvania needed her.

And it felt good to be needed. To have her work be for more than knowledge for knowledge’s sake, but to be in support of a larger mission.

It feels good to be on a starship again. The facilities here are incredible! An older design than the Victory was, but the science facilities are very advanced. I'm going to do good work here, Nicole. I can feel it.

And so here she was. She met the Captain and the CMO. She had begun exploring her labs, which were much larger and better equipped than she remembered on the Victory. About as good as what she had at the Centre, except mobile and directly attached to a top-of-the-line sensor array. And crewed by brave beings who were also there to defend Federation ideals.

She missed home. She missed Nicole. But she was ready to be put to work.

I understand my parents invited you to visit for little Julie's birthday. I hope you're able to go. Please give my family all my love. Tell them I'm fine, and I'm doing something I truly care about.

Also, say hello to Penny for me next time you see her.

Ashau du,

Camille

She let out a sigh. "Computer. Process letter for transmission to Dr. Nicole Anderson, Ancient Grace Hospital, Rigel V. Send with next data package."

[OFF]

Lieutenant jg Camille Lévesque, PhD
Chief Science Officer, USS Pennsylvania