The New Normal

[Angel Ryder]

Starbase Byron -- Orbiting newly 'birthed' planet - Terra Alpha

Admiral Nicholas Ryder was sitting behind his desk in a rather large, well appointed office in the 'Command Ring' part of the mushroom dome. Four tables were cluttered with tools, parts, projects and other various tech 'gear' that lined the side wall. Learning back on his chair, he watched a large holographic display as he made a call.

"Oh c'mon... you have no assignment... what is taking so... Ah. Angelica!" Nick said as he stopped rocking backward.

"Making your own calls dad. I'm impressed, where's your new girl anyway? Kassie usually calls me." Angel said as she slipped her sunglasses down and took a sip of her drink. "You do know I still have another week of leave. I'm on a beach, I have a drink in my hand, a newly made bikini and I'm watching a super cute surf instructor teach a bunch of kids on my beach."

"How would you like a Command position on a Starbase?" Nick said with a smile.

"Hard pass." Angel laughed and shook her head. "I hate station duty. I'd rather be back as an Ops Chief."

"You'll have a ship. Brand new bird. USS Seraphim." Nick replied and floated an image of the ship.

"And... is this still a Section 31 front like the last one?" Angel raised an eyebrow. "Mata Hari was a great ship and I think we did a lot of good." she sipped her drink and smiled. "S31 has been keeping the frontier regions of the Federation safer than Starfleet lately."

"I agree and yes, S31 is sponsoring some of it." Nick replied. "Council has decided that 31 should be feeding more Intel and pulling their weight. But this planet... it's kind of a back up plan."

"Your favorite kind." Angel said and sat up in her chaise lounge and looked at him more closely.

"You know me too well kid." Nick said with a warm smile. "And I'm bringing us all together. Your brothers and sister have agreed, it may take a minute but you're the last one. And I only waited to ask because I knew you were on leave after the way things shook out."

Angel smiled slightly and chuckled lightly. Looking her father in the eyes, she saw how much he had missed her. For most of her formative years, she had been at his side. Everyone teased her that she'd be doing his job eventually. Took a war with the Borg to realize that she had to forge her own path, that she had to be her own officer, make her own way. BUT... there was that tiny part of her that was very much a 'daddy's girl' and missed his counsel, his sense of humor and just being near him.

"You really want us all back together don't you?" she smiled softly. "Alright. I'm in. Whatever you need me for."

"Wow... from Hard Pass to whatever you need me for." Nick chuckled lightly and touched the screen. "I missed you kid. You were always sort of my 'heir'."

"Dad." Angel cleared her throat. "What's really going on? You haven't assembled the whole family like this since like... the Borg War. And even then that was because I got my legs blasted out from under me and we thought I might not make it." she closed her eyes. "You thought you might not make it too.

Nick stood up and the camera on his desk followed him. "That's... why I want you at my side. There's things going on here that I need well... I need as much back up as I can get." he gestured to a model on the table. "Terra Alpha... which is still a placeholder name, but I fear it'll stick... it's being developed as a world that could support a second capital or a sovereign world and alliance on its own."

"Whoa... sounds like it could be a breakaway world." Angel crossed her les and leaned over. "So I guess mom was right all along?"

"Well, she always was a pessimist. One reason why we split." Nick replied. "Or the sleeping with other men."

"Or women." Angel muttered under her breath.

"Wait what?" Nick raised an eyebrow.

"Nothing... nothing... mostly." Angel winced and sipped her drink. "Sooo... dad. I assume if you want me to take over something, I get to pick my team right."

"Yes... but what about..." Nick started to say when Angel held up a finger.

"You don't want to know. BUT I will say, she's someone everyone has slept with." Angel said and cleared her throat. "Jena."

"Oh... well... Jena's... Jena. I mean..." Nick blushed.

"Oh seriously you too?" Angel's eyes went wide and she started to laugh at the obsurdity.

"No... no. Not me. Tony. And... Uncle Steffan..." Nick winced. "And... "

"THERE'S MORE?!" Angel slapped her forehead.

"Olivia, Kirby and Marcus." Nick chuckled.

"Oh well... that I understand." Angel nodded her head. "Hell I was there. I mean, they're a thruple. Three chicks one dude. Although Marcus knows he screwed up and Kirbs and Olivia will not let him live it down. Zeke's a cool kid though. I think he could have Captain potential."

"I used to think Marcus did too and then he rode my Harley off a building." Nick shook his head as he remembered. "I loved that bike."

"Marcus broke three of his limbs." Angel replied and gave him a look.

"And Kirby broke the other." Nick said with a laugh.

"I missed you dad." Angel said and finished her drink. "Give me a few weeks, wrap things up here on Earth. I'll be there."

"You got it. Oh and Angel... I'll send over the dossiers and the reports for this place. There are some... interesting anomalies here. " Nick stood up and saluted her. "I'll call you later. Captain Ryder."

"I'll look forward to it. Admiral." she said with a crisp salute. Knowing that someone must have come in, they always knew when to switch from informal to formal at the drop of a hat.

Closing her communicator, Angel tucked it into the pocket of her long beach wrap and looked up at the azure Hawaiian sky. "I'll miss this place. There had better be an island like this on that planet." she mused and slipped back into her sandals. Walking back to her beach house she smiled to herself, she had just been promoted to Captain despite a temporary demotion due to her refusing to take a recall when she took extended leave to spend time with her daughter., Trinity, when she had contracted a nasty infection and spent the better of part of three months bed ridden. But she was proud of her daughter, despite not spending nearly as much time with her as she would have liked as she was growing up. Of course, she had her when she was still in the Academy and slept with her brother's girlfriend's foster brother. In so many ways she was very much like her father and in many ways she had inherited the worst of her mother. Like being a better girlfriend than a wife. Married ten days after her 19th birthday, she had her daughter about 4 months later and divorced less than a year later when they spent more time apart than together. His father was the CO of the USS New Zealand and reminded her so much of her own father, they decided that Trinity would stay with Nathan on the New Zealand so she could concentrate on her own career. Nathan was already basically set up to be on that ship, but she was not a science vessel kind of girl. She had her own ambitions and it was a mutual and amicable split.

Walking into the house that her mother had given her as a 'I'm sorry for being a bitch' gift, she looked at her uniform that was draped over a chair, she had taken to actually sewing and tailoring her own uniforms after she found that Starfleet was embedding trackers into the weave of replicated uniforms for quite some time now. They denied it but being an operative of Section 31 she knew the truth. In many ways her paranoia lead to creativity. Her hand crafted uniforms were sturdier and more comfortable. Everyone used to tell her that she should start her own clothing label and she had about four dozen designs that she could make almost from scratch in an evening. One upside to her father's augmented DNA as part of her own genetic soup. 

She tapped a wall panel and opened a communications channel and pulled on her uniform jacket before it connected. "Hey Price..."

"Angelica Ryder? Bloody hell... what are you callin' me for?" A handsome English accented man in a tailored suit said as he set his communicator down at a pub he was in.

"Not a booty call. Not that I want your booty anyway. Well not in the way you think." Angel teased.

"Just like your father, never serious." He rolled his eyes.

"I think my father is going to need someone with your experience and your political pull. Terra Alpha project. Ever hear of it?" Angel inquired as she sat down.

"I have, Council isn't exactly pleased with the notion of a new sovereign world, I'll admit there are some rotten states in Paris. Far too much infighting of late." Jon Price said as he sipped his beer. "Earth is fracturing politically, ever since Mars, there's more talk of decentralizing. What if something like that happens here?"

"So dad isn't the only paranoid one?" Angel raised an eyebrow and hummed.

"Hardly, yet at the same time they are trying their best to tighten control. I'll be honest, I think the Queen wants me gone. I'm far too vocal." Jon replied and crossed his arms. "I'll look into it, perhaps I can get in as liaison or something... get me off world for a little while at least."

"That's why I called. I think we may need you there. Just the way dad spoke, he's never tried to assemble the family like this." Angel looked at the screen. "He's usually been content to let Starfleet assign us, but to take an active role in that... there's something big."

"I'm flattered you called." Jon said with a slight smile.

"Jack always speaks highly of you and you're one of the few politicians I trust." Angel said and cleared her throat. "Besides, dad did vote for you to be on the council."

"I know. Alright... I'll see what I can do. I won't lie, been considerin' a change anyway." Jon smiled over his mug. "My bastard of a father is driving me insane."

"He'd drive anyone insane. How is he not in prison anyway?" Angel shook her head and rolled her eyes.

"Because he slips bribes and shags the right people." Jon said with a disgusted face as he swallowed his drink. "Less said of him the better. Oh I'm getting another comm, I'll talk to your father when I get a moment." he said and hung up.

Angel tapped her chin. It was a risky move making a call to him, but it could be useful. Her father was no politician, but if a breakaway world was possible, then he'd need some real politicians to help. She had served with Jon before their CO asked him to do something that made him resign his commission, she considered doing the same, but instead filed formal protest and had him removed from Command, partially due to his not following protocol but also because he was covering up his own improper conduct. Jack had been a university chum of his from Oxford and they had formed a friendship. She wasn't quite her type, she had this impossible dream of finding a creative genius like herself that wasn't a complete lunatic. Of course, she never could quite make long term romantic relationships work.

"Incoming communication from Marine Captain Marcus Ryder." the computer intoned.

"Hey little bro." Angel said as she saw the shaggy haired Marine on her screen. "You need a haircut."

"I know... hey sis, what the fock is dad up to now? I just got orders to deploy to this rock called Terra Alpha. What the hell is a Terra Alpha?'

[Angel Ryder]

"Glad you asked." Angel chirped. "Dad apparently wants all of us serving in the same system."

"Shit." Marcus winced and ran his hand through his hair. "That's an Epsilon 13 protocol for sure."

"Oh you know about those protocols." Angel raised an eyebrow and muttered. "I thought Kirby made you forg... " she chuckled and smiled. "Yeah... its probably nothing but you know dad."

"Made Kirby make me forget what?" Marcus said and held up his finger. "You know I have severe mental trauma from all the times you guys did that to my head. You know I still count 'One two three Florida five six seaweed. Right?"

"Still?" Angel winced. "Yikes. Okay then I suppose Kirby was right not to neuralize you again."

"Only reason I agreed to the three way partnership we got with Olivia. Besides, Liv needs the stablity too." Marcus said and sighed. "I trust mother isn't coming."

"Oh hell no. I'm still amazed that woman isn't in a prison but I'm biased." Angel said as she felt the side of her throat absently. "I had no idea what she had done to Olivia in the name of 'training'. In any case, your entire unit will be redeployed here. Including Olivia's baby daddy. But I need you to help head up whatever airspace force, I don't know half the names on the list of pilots, but they seem green."

"Well that's what Marines do tend to wear." Marcus teased.

"You do know I outrank you in so many years little bro." Angel said

"Sorry ma'am." Marcus said with a slight pout.

"Ma'am me later. I'll send you what I have, see if you can make some sense out of it. I'll see you all within a couple weeks." Angel said and snapped him a salute. "This could be fun you know."

"Beats the assignment we're on now. Nothing but guard duty."