The Long Way Forward

Posted on Sat Sep 5th, 2026 @ 2:01pm by Captain Marc Steyn & Leia Beaumont

1,695 words; about a 8 minute read

Mission: Season 1 Episode 2: The Garden at the Edge of Night
Location: Ten Forward Lounge

ON

The first few days aboard Genesis had passed in a blur, and for once Marc had managed to carve out an hour that belonged entirely to himself. He sat alone in the Ten Forward lounge, an amber drink resting within easy reach as he turned the pages of a battered hardcopy of The Count of Monte Cristo. There was something comforting about the weight of a physical book in his hands, deliberately disconnected from the endless stream of information that otherwise followed him wherever he went. For a little while, he could simply be Marc rather than Captain of Genesis.

Beyond the broad observation windows, the universe had become something almost surreal. At warp, the stars no longer appeared as pinpricks of distant light but stretched into long, shimmering threads across the darkness, converging towards the vanishing point ahead of the ship. It was beautiful in a way he had never quite grown tired of, though the quiet was increasingly interrupted by the steady trickle of minor system faults. An environmental regulator here, a power fluctuation there, a sensor relay that inexplicably stopped communicating with the main computer. Nothing serious, but enough to keep Engineering busy and remind everyone that Genesis was still finding her feet.

Marc took another slow sip and returned to his book, allowing the distant hum of the ship and the warped stars beyond the glass to push those concerns from his mind. He had reached another page when movement near the entrance caught his attention. He glanced up almost absently—and stopped. Leia. For a moment, everything else seemed to fall away, the book remaining open in his hands as he watched her enter the lounge.

Something stirred inside him that he had spent years convincing himself was gone for good. There was regret, sharp and immediate, because the very thought of moving forward felt perilously close to leaving Sarah behind. Guilt accompanied it, as though allowing himself to feel anything for someone else somehow diminished what he had shared with his wife. And yet, beneath those emotions was something he couldn't deny—something exhilarating, frightening and undeniably alive. Leia had made him feel again. Marc lowered his eyes briefly to the pages, though he was no longer reading them, before looking back towards her and wondering, perhaps for the first time, whether moving forward truly meant leaving the past behind.

Leia hadn't noticed who it was at first. Her eyes had gone straight to the book. Not a lot of people these days read a proper book. They either read on screens, had the computer read it too them or lived the story in the holodeck.

Her heart skipped a little beat realising who it was. He read proper books too. This crush was never going to go away.

"Good evening Captain. You know, when I taught older teens back in Finland I had that on the reading list," she said. "Brilliant for them to explore the themes of hope, justice, mercy, forgiveness and vengeance. Do you think David would enjoy it? Maybe I should add it back in to the syllabus."

"Trying to convince David to read is like trying to teach a tribble to appreciate Shakespeare," Marc said, a growing smile betraying the amusement he found in the ongoing battle. He waved her towards the chair opposite his table as though her joining him required no invitation at all, his gesture easy and familiar. "I'm beginning to suspect he'd rather spend six hours in a Jefferies tube than voluntarily open a book."

His gaze lingered on her for a fraction longer than it should have before he caught himself and returned his attention to the book in his hand. It was becoming an increasingly familiar problem around Leia—those small moments when his thoughts seemed to move ahead of his better judgement. He had spent years carefully keeping that part of himself buried, and even now, with the feelings beginning to stir again, he was determined not to rush them. Sarah was still there in the quiet corners of his mind, and the idea of allowing himself to care for someone else carried a complicated mixture of feelings.

Marc gestured towards the chair once more, offering her a warm smile.

"Anyway, enough about my ongoing war with a fifteen-year-old's reading habits." He leaned back slightly, studying her with genuine interest. "How are you settling in on Genesis?"

“Very well, especially as in a strange but not unwanted twist of fate my twin brother is also here working in your security,” Leia beamed. “It had been a while since I had seen him in person and now I can see him much more regularly. What about you though, how are you settling in and are you enjoying that book?” She asked.

"The book is..." Marc paused, considering it for a moment before a faint smile appeared. "It's all right. I have to admit, I'm not enjoying it quite as much as Les Misérables or The Odyssey, but it'll keep me occupied." He slipped the leather-bound bookmark carefully between the pages before closing the book and setting it aside on the table. His attention returned to Leia, and for a moment he simply looked at her, finding himself once again caught by that inexplicable pull he was trying very hard not to acknowledge too openly.

"As for settling in..." He leaned back slightly, a more relaxed expression settling over his features. "I've been calling Genesis home for the last few months, really. I was aboard while she was being fitted out and prepared for launch, so by the time we actually left Earth, I already knew half the corridors better than I knew my own house." His smile softened as his eyes met hers again, lingering just a fraction longer than necessary. "The ship feels familiar. The crew are starting to feel that way too." He hesitated, almost imperceptibly, before adding, "Although I have to admit, there are a few people aboard who are making the place rather more interesting than I expected."

Leia smiled gently. She didn't know if he meant her but it was nice to conjure he did.

"This is my first posting on a Star ship. It feels very big to me. Although I know there's a lot of places as a civilian I'm not allowed.

I've only ever been on a Star ship for a couple of weeks total before. I had a trip out to Vulcan when I was learning for my teaching degree. It was fascinating to see how they run their schooling. Even more so to stay with a Vulcan family for a couple of days and get a feel for their culture. ShiKahr is quite the architectural marvel but Mount Seleya - we couldn't go into some of the areas but I can see why the Vulcans go there for religious and meditative pilgrimages. The energy there is very different," she said her eyes sparkling. "It will be interesting to see where your mission takes us and whom will be met."

"The Vulcan's do have an ancient and proud heritage," Marc began, but the thought was abruptly cut short by the sharp chirp of his combadge.

"Bridge to Captain. We've got a number of other system issues. You asked us to keep you informed."

Ensign Hale's deep baritone carried through the tiny speaker, a welcome reminder that despite everything, the bridge crew were still doing their jobs.

Marc mouthed a silent apology towards Leia before tapping his combadge to open the channel. "Which systems this time?"

"Cargobay Three has lost artificial gravity, and the magnetic seals around the shuttlebay doors have disengaged. No one was hurt—the forcefield engaged in time."

Marc closed his eyes for the briefest moment. Another failure. Another system behaving in a way it simply shouldn't.

"Acknowledged, Bridge. I'm on my way."

The channel closed, and Marc looked back towards Leia, genuine apology etched across his features. He hated leaving the conversation unfinished, particularly now, when he'd finally allowed himself to acknowledge just how much he enjoyed her company.

"Forgive me, but apparently the ship has decided it requires my attention." He pushed himself to his feet, collecting his book from the table before pausing. For a moment, he seemed to wrestle with whether to say what was clearly on his mind. Then, almost to his own surprise, he smiled.

"How about dinner in my quarters?" he asked. "Not tonight—I suspect I'll be rather busy putting out fires—but sometime very soon?"

There was a vulnerability in the question that he couldn't quite hide. It was a simple invitation, yet somehow it felt like far more than that. For the first time since Sarah's death, Marc was consciously allowing himself to make plans that involved someone else.

Leia could barely contain a wave of happiness suddenly inside of her chest. “Thank you. I would love to have dinner with you.”

“You would.” Marc beamed, the smile coming far more naturally than he intended. For a fleeting moment, he caught himself wearing an almost boyish, thoroughly goofy expression—hardly the image one expected from the captain of a starship. He quickly reined it in, clearing his throat and attempting to recover at least some semblance of dignity.

“In that case…” He hesitated, the smile threatening to return. “Tomorrow?”

It was phrased as a question, but the hopeful tone made it sound almost like a statement.

Before Leia could answer, the doors parted with a soft hiss. Marc paused for the briefest moment on the threshold, glancing back at her.

“Tomorrow, then,” he said, this time with a quiet certainty.

And with that, he stepped through the doors, leaving Leia alone in the lounge—and himself walking down the corridor with a smile he was having considerably more difficulty hiding than he would have liked.

He was so confident she didn’t even get chance to respond. Leia watched him go and nodded with a laugh, “Yes sir,” she said after him. She assumed he would send her details of what time he expected her and where his quarters were.

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