Sad at the beginning, rewarding at the end! Great story. It would have been damn difficult, I imagine, to get used to a Gorn in command. ::grins:: But it certainly is good to know that Starfleet has made such a big progress in a hundred years, when aliens were regarded as some sort of peculiarity at best.

Wow, you do like your ship history, don't you? ;-) You write it incredibly well, too.

It was very touching -- the farewell to the ship and crew seen through the eyes of a seasoned officer who survived a terrible war with honor and distinction. The nostalgia she would feel would indeed sink into bulkheads and stretch to every little would-be insignificant detail. And of course, people. What Indira went through was not only saying good-bye to the ship and crew, but more than that, it was saying good-bye to an epoch in her life, to all the sorrows and joys, pains and light moments. It's never easy to know that a part of your life has come to an end. I'm very happy she got promoted and now has something to be looking forward to! :-)

Author's Response:

I do like ship histories a lot.  I read a lot of old stories about WW1, WW2, Civil War, War of 1812, and the Revolutionary War naval battles and outcomes.  It's interesting to read how some of today's Navy ships treat their forebears/namesakes.  Read up on the HMS Enterprize some time :)