Almost Heaven, West Virginia.

[Tyra Crawford]

====

[Robin Mayfair]

== Robin Mayfair Subplot ==

[Robin Mayfair]

Deep Space Nine drifted slowly past the viewport in Robin's quarters, and she turned to look at it idly, putting her book down. In the past (and not so long ago) she would have spent her time off happily playing tourist along the Promenade, seeing the sites where so much history took place. Now? She felt little except a vague distaste.

So Cardassian.

She paused.

What is wrong with me?

It was pretty obvious to those who knew her. Robin's mother had called a couple nights ago and had immediately sensed that something was amiss. And the nurse hadn't even been able to give any details due to the classified nature of the mission. They'd talked for a good hour and it had helped her mood, but the feeling hadn't lasted and she was right back to the same funk she'd been in for the last couple days.

Her thoughts were interrupted by a chime from the terminal, a sound indicating a message had been received. She got up, carefully placing the blue cloth-bound book of Mark Twain's Mississippi writings on the coffee table, and went over to it.

[From: Katerina Donovan-Grolik, Lewisburg, West Virgina]

Aunt Katy? Why would she be contacting me? And she lives on Earth now?

Robin hadn't seen her mother's sister since she was maybe four, and she remembered nothing. It wasn't just her age, it was because of the genetic condition that had ravaged the child's body and mind. She had almost no memories of anything before her enhancement, and by the time her family had returned from Adigeon Prime her aunt had moved away with her new husband, going with him to Denobula.

With a slight hesitation she pressed the 'play' key.

[Hi, Robin. I know you don't remember me, but this is your Aunt Katy.]

Her voice had the same musical southern twang than her mother's did and the nurse could instantly tell they were related.

[I spoke with your mom last night. We've been catching up ever since the colony upgraded its subspace communication system, making up for lost time. Anyway, she said that you had been goin' through some stuff and though you couldn't talk about it it was pretty clear that it was affecting you. She's worried, and I think I know something that might help. You're on shore leave, right? At Deep Space Nine? Well, I'd like you to come visit on Earth.]

Robin was surprised but intrigued. Getting away might be just what she needed.

[We bought a farm here a couple years ago and we'd like you to stay with us, but it's more than that. Your mother thinks you've been spending too much time in space. When was the last time you had an actual home? That freighter? The Academy? The Artemis? You need to get your feet on solid ground, 'touch grass' as they say, reconnect with nature, and spend some time away from a metal tube surrounded by vacuum. Sonjia said you loved camping and the outdoors when you were young, and we've certainly got that here. But more, we may have a real home for you.]

A picture appeared on the monitor. It was a small house, painted a cream color with dark red and brown trim, a gabled roof made of metal, and decorative shutters on the windows. Simple, but pretty. It sat partially up a forested hill, and in front was a small river with a bridge that led to a road.

[This is about a half kilometer from our house, and it belonged to a family friend who left it to the Starfleet Home Settlement Program when she passed on.]

Robin had heard of that but hadn't given it much thought. It was a program enacted after the Dominion War to help provide homes for Starfleet personnel. Serving in the fleet was risky business, and many Federation citizens wanted to do something to show their gratitude. They could donate homes or other property to the SHSP who would find interested personnel to live in them.

[Now, keep in mind we don't live close to anything. Probably why no one's been placed int he home yet. There's a transporter and a town replicator here in Lewisburg, but we don't have much more than a small shuttle port. The house isn't wired to handle a home replicator. Hell, the power grid around here can't handle anything of the sort, so it'd be strictly old-fashioned living. And we know you'd be away most of the time so Grolik and I would make sure to take care of things when you weren't here.]

Robin smiled. That was how she'd lived her early life. Having a replicator in her quarters was a luxury to her, not a necessity. She was intrigued at the idea. Very intrigued.

[Anyway, dear, let me know what you think. At the very least we'd love to have you. Love, Katy]

The message ended and Robin stared at the house on the screen for a moment and then tapped the 'reply' button.

[Robin Mayfair]

== Several days later ==

"Robin! How are you, sweety?!?'

Aunt Katerina barely waited for Robin to rematerialize before sweeping the tiny young woman up in a massive hug. Several others who had appeared at the same time laughed at her surprised look, but before the purple-haired young woman could say anything the transporter technician called out "Clear the pad, please." Evidently this sort of thing was common enough that the man said it with a rather bored tone of voice. Katy released Robin and they both stepped down. The nurse put her Artemis-logo duffel bag down. She was still in uniform and hadn't wanted to change until she got to Earth proper.

The transporter 'facility' wasn't much. The room reminded Robin of an old airport, decorated in earth tones with a lot of wood. There was an obvious intent to make the small round room look countrified, with a painting of an oak forest (complete with deer) along the wall behind the pad. The consoles and control panels were all done in wood. The equipment was clearly old, but kept in working condition. The nurse wondered if the pad was old Starfleet equipment. It looked like something out of a Constitution-class ship, and she wouldn't have been a bit surprised to find out it was. It only made sense, after all, to reuse 'obsolete' equipment, and such things were common on her colony world.

"I'm good, Aunt Katy. It's great to see you." Katy was as different from Robin's mother as night and day. Sonja Donovan was a small woman... Katy was not. She was over six feet tall, fit and muscular. If anything Robin was reminded of Mara back on the Artemis, though the Security officer was larger (and likely much stronger) than Katerina.

"Have you eaten, Robin?" It was a traditional greeting among the people of Iota Tau, and though Katy had been away for decades she hadn't lost that touch of home.

"Not for a while," she said with a slight smile. Robin wasn't sure what to say. She hadn't seen her aunt since she was a child, and didn't have any memory of this woman at all, not even a feeling of familiarity. She felt awkward. But she was hungry... but that was nothing new. She'd had some breakfast on Spacedock, but that was hours ago.

"All right, first things first then." She motioned Robin towards the large set of doors leading out of the transporter facility. It was clear to the medic as she exited that the personnel transporter was only part of it. There was a much larger building to the north, much more spartan. That was likely the industrial transporter building. A small town like this might need three or four pads for people, but it would have facilities for moving cargo. This was still very much a farming community, nestled in a valley in the West Virginia mountains, and a lot of people preferred non-replicated food.

"There's a great Tex-Mex place about a block away. The food is amazing, but the salsa and chips are flat-out the best in the whole region." Katy was definitely a relative. Robin's obsession with food didn't come solely from her engineered genes... her entire family loved nothing more than to talk about eating. 

"Sounds great. We mostly have replicated food in Starfleet, and it's OK, but I can taste the difference."

'Tijuana Tony's' turned out to be a hole-in-the-wall restaurant with only six tables and a small bar. The lunch crowd was just arriving and the two women secured a high-top before the rest filled up. The tortilla chips were fresh, and Katy wasn't lying about the salsa. It was literally the best Robin had ever had. She practically inhaled what was brought even before the server appeared.

"So look, Robin, what can you talk about?" Katy clearly didn't want to beat around the bush, and she wanted to get the difficult conversations out of the way first. "Like your mother said you've definitely been going through the wringer. She told me all about what you do. Chief Medical Officer of the Artemis. That's... well, it's amazing, especially at your age. But is it too much stress? Age brings not just wisdom, but experience... and emotional armor."

Robin swallowed the chip she'd been munching on. "No, it's not the job. Honestly I think I'm pretty good at it. It's mostly organizational and leadership. Make sure the department is running smoothly, make sure we're ready for a crisis, and keep a bunch of egotistical doctors from killing each other. And since my department is mostly filled with newbies, I mean even newer than me, I've mostly been able to keep the medics under control."

Except that we haven't really been tested in an actual crisis. Everyone can do their job when the ship's cruising at warp 5. The question is how it'll go when there are multiple holes punched in the hull and we've got enemy boarding parties... and the medics will still have to keep patching up the wounded. I hope we're ready, because that day will come.

Katy nodded. "So what is it?"

"It's the away missions I've been on. Each one, well, I feel like I'm leaving a part of my soul behind. I'm 27 and I've seen more death in the last couple years than most people see in their entire lifetimes. And Starfleet just keeps sending us on missions we're not trained for. I just feel sometimes that I'm turning into the cynical medic I've always despised."

Katy fixed her with a look. "So stop complaining and quit."

Robin felt a flash of anger. This woman may be her aunt, but she didn't know her, and... and she felt the anger fade away. She was right. This was the job Robin had signed up for. Had fought for. Had earned. Of course it was stressful. Of course it was sometimes ugly and dangerous. Of course Starfleet didn't know what it was doing half the time. How could it? The whole point of Starfleet was that it was there to solve whatever was thrown at it. Unknown worlds, weird anomalies, enemies of the Federation. It all had to be figured out. The brass screwed up a lot, but was there a field where that wasn't true? 

You improvised, and you adapted, and you fixed the goddamned problem. And there were going to be times you took the 'L.' In the last mission the team had performed very well, despite being at each other's' throats half the time. The biggest loss had been the death of D'Mar and Chief Elias' inexplicable decision to confess to the cloaking device. But the team had handled the Callisto debacle professionally. Starfleet may have been looking to hang Tyra Crawford up by her pips, but they were idiots. They'd given her an impossible mission, and somehow she survived it. 

I mean Jenny Braggins engaged in mutiny and they let her keep her fourth pip and even gave her a new ship. Starfleet should have just done what they're so good at, covered the incident up, told Elias and Crawford to never speak of it again, and walked away.

Robin realized he hadn't said anything. Katy had let her think without saying anything further. "You're right. Maybe I'm too young for this job, enhancements or no. Maybe I'm too naive. But I fought to get into the Academy, and I did so well on the Artemis that they made me Head Nurse and then CMO. I think I told myself that they were just giving me the jobs because no one else would take them, but truth is they're premium postings. I mean, it's the frikkin' Artemis. My Captain and former chief gave the CMO position to an Augment."

And they did so despite the carnage by the previous Augment CMO.

She wasn't sure if she felt better, but Katy was at least helping her sort through things. Truth was she loved her life. She loved the Artemis, her friends, her sometimes stressful job, and she could deal with the rest.

"All right, Robin, just think on it. For now you're on vacation. I've arranged for a showing of the house tomorrow."

The food had arrived. The young woman had ordered a burrito stuffed with enough fillings it should have imploded into a black hole. For now all thoughts of ugly away missions and death were banished. There was just good food and good company, and a lot of catching up to do.

[Robin Mayfair]

"So what do you think?" The real estate agent couldn't help but look hopeful; evidently the house had been listed for a while, and she wanted someone to take it so that the SHSP wouldn't have to keep up the maintenance. Earth was a post-scarcity world where people weren't supposed to care about things like money, but that didn't mean that maintenance,  repairs, and other expenses that came with a home magically vanished. Someone had to do them, and those someones expected to be compensated.

Robin had known the house was small, but caught herself before she commented. Compared to the ranch house she'd grown up in the house was a cracker box. One and a half bedrooms, a single bathroom, and a kitchen that opened up to the living room with a bar table. A good-sized front porch and a screened back porch for whiling away the evenings. There was a utility closet with a washer/dryer, and outside was a shed for things like mowers. The nurse wondered if the home even came with a lawn care drone.

But she liked it. It was cozy, and she'd basically lived in tiny spaces for years now. Her quarters on the Artemis were the largest space she'd had since running away from the colony, and that was only because she was a privileged department head. Most crew had to make due with a single room, often with a shared common area. And her quarters on the Triple Seven had been less than 120 square feet. 

"I like it. Especially the view." Which was amazing, looking out over forested hills and the Appalachians in the distance. There were still roads here used for ground vehicles and bikes, several nature trails nearby, and farms nearby. "I'm just not sure I need it. I'll be away most of the time and the place is going to sit empty. I kinda feel bad about that."

"Don't, sweetie." The agent's drawl was thick, so much like Iota Tau that Robin felt a twinge of undeserved nostalgia. She'd hated Iota Tau. It was dry and barren, hot and barely inhabited. And so stifling to her enhanced mind that she could feel the boredom even now. This place was so green. "That's what our program is for. No one should have to spend their entire life in a metal box. Even if you're only here a couple weeks a year having a place to call home can give you some stability. And the good Lord knows that people in Starfleet need that."

Robin considered. The house not having a replicator didn't bother her. She still did laundry even on the Artemis, unlike most crew. She could cook, and the place did have an old-fashioned refrigerator. Despite its older nature it still had complete access to Earth's information and entertainment grid, or would if she hooked up a holotable. It was a fifteen-minute walk to town where there were replicators and transporters, and that thought made the young woman very interested.

All of Earth would be open to her. Lunch in Paris, a spa session in Tokyo, dinner in orbit, and sleep in her own bed at the end of the day. Endless places to explore. And Earth was centrally located, so returning to duty after shore leave wouldn't take so long, especially with the high-speed shuttles that took passengers around the Federation.

Well? What am I waiting for? This is a free home. What am I going to do, say 'no?'

"Y'know, I think I'll take it."

The agent grinned. "Thought you would, sweetie. I'll have the paperwork sent over this evening." She reached into her bag and took out a small envelope. "Here are the house keycards, though it can be set to biometric access if you like. This area is the type of place where you don't have to lock your doors, really. Just be careful of bears; don't leave food out." That got a laugh out of the nurse. She knew the drill. Kravyk cats on Iota Tau were the same way... but they'd occasionally hunted humans. "Anyway, dearie, I'll leave you to it. You have my comm number, so call if you have any problems, and we'll talk tonight." She let herself out, not in the least worried about leaving the odd young woman alone in the empty house.

Home.

[Robin Mayfair]

== Ten days later ==

The small house was much more comfortable now that Robin had ordered some furniture that she liked from the replicator catalog. She'd used a ton or replicator credits, probably half a year's worth, but it didn't matter since she would be away most of the time. She wasn't sure how to decorate it. Plants were right out (unfortunately) since she wouldn't be home to care for them. Her Artemis quarters were full of them. Robin had to admit that she'd grown to have a bit of an obsession with greenery since leaving Iota Tau.

So as evening settled in she had flopped down on the couch wearing only a bathrobe, relaxed after a long and ridiculously hot bath. PADD in hand the Artemis CMO poured over a series of new medical protocols that would need to be implemented. Robin didn't really have mixed feelings about her genetic enhancements aside from feeling they sometimes made her socially isolated. Definitely less so since being assigned to the ship where almost everyone treated her as just another human. The protocols were dry and tedious reading under the best of circumstances, and she was immensely grateful for her augmentations as she flipped from page to page taking only a couple seconds to memorize each. The work of hours, cut to minutes. After that there was some leftover spaghetti in the fridge and a holo-show about the Napoleonic Wars... she still had half a season to go of the overly dramatic (in a fun way) series.

So she was surprised when the door chime sounded.

Aunt Katy? Who else would show up here, especially unannounced.

She opened the door and stood dumbfounded as she stared at the last people in the entire galaxy she had ever expected to see on her front porch.

"Mama? Papa?"

[Robin Mayfair]

"Do you usually greet visitors in a bathrobe?" Karlos Mayfair asked, his voice stern and disapproving but with a hint of humor. Her mother, Sonjia, rapped her husband in the arm with a light punch. "Hush, Karlos."

Robin snapped out of her stupor, or at least was functional enough to speak. "Come in, come in!" She hugged them both as they entered. Her parents hadn't left Iota Tau in their entire lives save for when they took their daughter off-world to find a cure for the genetic disease that had been killing her. "I can't believe you're here! I mean, it's great to see you, but... why?"

That got a chuckle out of her father. "Why not? We've earned it. Rachelle is taking care of the ranch and I think we've earned a vacation. We asked Katy not to tell you it could be a surprise." Robin's parents took the seat on the couch she offered them while she pulled up a chair. Her father put down the small bag he had been carrying.

"Do you have a place to stay?" the young woman asked. She had a smaller half-bedroom but it wasn't set up for visitors. Robin had considered getting a pull-out sofa bed in case one of her friends visited; she just hadn't ordered it yet. Having guests was still an idea that took some getting used to. She rarely even had them on the Artemis.

"Orbit, dear," her mother said with a smile. "The Grant Hilton Station."

Robin had stayed there the first time she'd visited Earth, courtesy of Captain Cardon. She had been preparing to force the issue of her admittance to Starfleet Academy. The view from the Hilton was astounding, floating above North America's eastern seaboard. It was actually visible on a clear night from her new home. "Did you walk here from the station?" she asked, and her mother nodded.

"Doctor's orders. Your father has a strict diet and exercise regimen, and that includes walks. It does him good, and besides, this is beautiful country. That got a lighthearted grumble from Karlos.

"How's your doctor friend? Doctor Sydesh? I don't feel like I got the chance to properly thank her for saving my life."

"She's fine, papa." Robin didn't go into Beka's troubles and injuries. That was a private matter. "I made her my Head Doctor."

Her father laughed. "You too seemed as thick as thieves. I can't believe you're Chief Medical Officer. I mean, don't get me wrong, I'm proud as anything of you, but they don't usually give nurses that job, do they? Especially..." His voice trailed off.

Robin was surprised that she wasn't annoyed. He was right and wasn't trying to be patronizing. A nurse being made a medical department head was extremely unusual, and an Augment even more so. Julian Bashir had been CMO of Deep Space Nine, but when he'd been given the job it had been considered a backwater posting and his enhancements had been secret. A position like that on a ship like the Artemis? Unheard of.

"Yeah. But I've been doing a pretty good job, at least if my performance reviews are accurate. And I've completed my training for command. Hopefully I'll be a Lieutenant Commander by the time I return."

"Really, dear? That's wonderful!" her mother exclaimed. "Command? Do you see yourself becoming Captain someday?"

"No way!" Robin laughed. "I mostly went for ell-cee just so I would have a bit more rank to boss around doctors. They don't like being told what to do by nurses. I can't even imagine sitting in the big chair, especially since I look so young. Nobody would take me seriously." She got up. "Can I get you anything? I have some milk and juice in the fridge. No replicators out here."

"Water, please," her father said with a grumble. She could tell he wanted something stronger, but he knew his daughter wouldn't have a drop of alcohol in the house. He stood up and started looking around. "This is your new place? Seems nice. 'Bit small, but then I suppose more would just be a waste when you're hardly ever here. Could definitely do with some decoration." He reached into the bag and pulled out a well-worn stuffed gray rabbit.

"Muffin!" Robin exclaimed with delight. Her favorite childhood stuffed animal, one she'd had before she was enhanced. It had gone to Adigeon Prime with her, and playing with it was one of her earliest memories after her mind began to knit itself back together and grow. She hugger her father again. "Thanks so much, Papa!"

"Of course, my girl. Don't get separated again. Take her with you to that ship of yours. It'll remind you of us."

"Papa, I could never forget," she said with a sniff.

[Robin Mayfair]

Robin spent the next week catching up with her parents, making up for years of lost time. They spent their days seeing the sights on Earth, and returned to her home in the evenings.

The young Mayfair told them of her experiences in Starfleet, leaving out only the classified information such as the attempted theft of the Slipstream technology from Utopia Planitia. She did tell them that she'd been forced to kill someone, a conversation that took place in New York City, in Central Park. They'd stopped and had dinner at the Tavern on the Green restaurant, and were wandering through the park afterwards. In an hour they had theater tickets, a Broadway revival of the old show "Annie."

Her father nodded glumly. "Part of the uniform, I suppose. You've chosen a dangerous life, Robin. I still can't say I approve, but I'm proud of all you've accomplished."
She sniffed. Her father didn't give out praise lightly. "Thanks, Papa. Not all of Starfleet is so dangerous, and most of my days are just routine. But the Artemis is the ship Starfleet calls when they need something done."

Often even when someone else would do the job better.

Her parents were leaving tomorrow, and so was Robin. Shore leave was over and the recall alert had been given. They would have breakfast tomorrow at the Sunny Side Diner on Spacedock before parting, one of Robin's favorites and newly reopened after the disaster of the attempted Borg takeover of Starfleet several years ago. She viewed it as a good omen, a sign that maybe things were getting back to normal after the chaos of the last few years. With any luck the Borg were well and truly gone, and without that looming threat maybe the Federation could get a little breathing room.

Yeah, right. Don't be naive. The last few missions should've taught me not to be such a Pollyanna.

She didn't share her pessimism with her parents. There was still the lingering feeling that things were slowly falling apart. Regardless, she had a job to do, and this trip (and seeing her parents) had at least made her feel better. Life went on, after all. She began to sing for her parents.

"The sun'll come out, tomorrow, bet your bottom dollar that tomorrow, there'll be sun..."

== ETL ==