Home

Posted on Mon Aug 17th, 2026 @ 8:11am by Lieutenant Michael Amato & Ensign Tobias "Toby" Dienstag
Edited on on Mon Aug 17th, 2026 @ 8:12am

619 words; about a 3 minute read

Mission: Mission 6: Echoes of the Interphase
Location: Deck 5: Dr. Amato's Quarters
Timeline: M6 MD08 (2268.10.11) 1600

With the ship underway, life aboard the Midway was returning to normal, whatever that was. Dr. Amato was walking down the corridor towards his quarters after his first duty shift. Somehow he made it through. Although shore leave was short, it felt like it dragged on. Mike still wasn't sure how to process the family visits. Toby’s family was so warm, welcoming and happy to see Mike again. Mike's family… well he and Toby were an afterthought as always. He just kept playing the events over and over again in his head. He hadn't mentioned anything to Toby about it.

Mike reached the door with his nameplate on it. He sighed before stepping inside.

Toby was lying on his stomach on Mike's bunk, reading a massively thick book… Something in ancient Greek by the look of it. His feet were in the air, covered by black socks. He was munching on a granola bar and humming away. He looked up and saw Mike, “Welcome home,” he said with a smile, before looking back down at the book.

Mike took off his uniform boots and tossed them by the door, same with his blue uniform tunic.

Toby looked up slightly as each item impacted against the bulkhead.

Mike looked around his cabin which was surprisingly clean. Normally there was a dirty coffee cup and work all over the table, a pair of sparring gloves forgotten on the floor. Not now. The bookshelf was filled with numerous books of random subjects in a variety of languages. He only recognized his surgical manual and Casino Royale. Even his movie tapes were neatly organized by title. He couldn't help but notice Toby's tridimensional chess set.

“I see you moved some more stuff over,” Mike commented.

“Yep,” Toby responded, not looking up from the book.

“Have you met your new roommate yet?” Mike asked.

“No, but I can, if you want me to,” Toby responded, looking up again from the book, “Do you want me to?”

Mike's usual bored facade melted. It was replaced with a look of panic. “I just thought,” he started but then trailed off.

“About what?” Toby asked.

“Well, after all this time you finally met my parents…” Mike said.

“And?” Toby asked again, in his usual naive sort of way.

That you'd want some space from me… Is what Mike thought but couldn't say.

Toby’s puppy dog eyes always had a way of quietly reassuring the troubled young doctor. “You want one?” He held up the granola bar.

Knowing Toby, granola was probably the last thing in it. Mike shook his head slightly and then just stared at Toby as his attention returned to his book. Mike just stood there and watched. Toby looked quite at home in his black Adidas sweatpants, faded blue Academy T-shirt, humming away eating some mushroom and Vulcan root leaf snack bar on Mike's bunk.

Mike finally approached the bunk. Toby slid over automatically, still focused on the tome.

“Any good?” Mike asked, looking over.

Toby met his gaze, wide eyed, “Oh,” he said, finally putting the book down, “This is the theoretical basis for two of the competing theories the Daystrom Institute recommended for closing the Interphase. I wanted to make sure I remembered correctly, since I had last looked at this a few years ago when I got it for a bit of light reading…”

Mike just smiled as Toby explained the book, how it connected to the work he was doing, how Commander Hanous said he and Commander Heartfilia trusted him and everything else that had happened that day. Maybe this was what home was supposed to feel like.

 

RSS Feed