Maho's Christmas Carol; Stave One

Posted on Sat Dec 13th, 2025 @ 3:59am by Captain Maho Takahashi
Edited on on Sun Dec 14th, 2025 @ 1:00am

1,050 words; about a 5 minute read

Mission: Christmas Vacation
Location: Captain Takahashi's Quarters
Timeline: Christmas Eve 2397

Miyahara was dead, to begin with. There was no doubt whatsoever about that; Keisuke had been the one to finish him off on Braxus. Following the fatal phaser blast, Keisuke had proceeded to chop the late former admiral's head clean off his body. Miyahara was as dead as a doornail.

Of course, that had been before he was upstaged by the appearance of an Iconian, but the wispy figure of air and darkness hadn't changed the outcome that had already occurred. One year on from Miyahara's death, however, the Galaxy was a vastly changed place in the aftermath of the Iconian War. With so much death and destruction in the conflict's wake, Starfleet was in need of all ships on hand to help pick up the pieces.

This meant that there wasn't a surviving shipyard or starbase in all the Federation that would allow the Myogi to dock for her usual winter layup over the holidays, and as such, Captain Maho Talkahashi had no choice but to deny her crew their holiday shore leave. It was not something that she took great pleasure in, but rather a necessity in a shattered galaxy.

As such, on Christmas Eve, Maho found herself preparing to go to sleep in her quarters aboard the Myogi, as opposed to back home in Japan. Not there was anything wrong with her quarters, but it wasn't the same as being in either Kumamoto or Takasaki on Christmas Eve. Especially since she had promised both sets of her parents they'd get to meet their granddaughter this year. But it seemed fate would not allow for this to happen.

In the months following the end of the war, Maho had begun to rethink her stance on her predecessor: She had begun to see the neo-Confederate propaganda that Miyahara was right about everything as having some credibility. Perhaps, then, as Maho was tucking Kyoko in for the night, she could have sworn she'd heard Miyahara's voice calling her name from the Jefferies tubes.

With Kyoko down for at least the next few hours, Maho had begun her own preparations to go to bed. But, as she brushed her teeth, she heard Miyahara's voice again...

"Maho..." It called out in a forlorn tone.

Looking around with toothpaste in her mouth, Maho still couldn't seem to figure out where the voice was coming from. But, when she spit the toothpaste out and looked back up, Maho found not her own reflection, but Miyahara staring back at her.

Letting out a scream, Maho jumped back and ran from the bathroom. A sound of heavy chains clattering followed her as Maho saw Miyahara seem to step from the mirror before the doors swooshed shut.

"Takahashi to security! Intruder alert!" Maho tapped her combadge. "Takahashi to security!"

Any remaining color drained from Maho's face as the apparition of Miyahara passed right through the closed bathroom doors.

"Stay back!" Maho ordered, holding out a hand.

"Now, Maho, don't you recognize me?" The apparition asked. "It is I, Tanaka Miyahara. Your old mentor."

Maho was almost frozen in fear, and could only look the apparition up and down. There was a clear cut line on the spirit's neck where the head had been chopped from the body, and Miyahara's ghost appeared to be bound in several heavy looking chains, from which hung trinkets such as a warp core, a few nacelles, and torpedo casings. They looked like they would slow him down if he were to try and harm Kyoko, giving Maho the agility advantage.

"What kind of trick is this?" Maho demanded. "Did the Q Continuum send you?"

Miyahara's ghost shook its head, grabbing it before it toppled from the body after the shaking had stopped.

"No tricks." The ghost replied. "In fact, I've come to warn you..."

"Warn me?" Maho scoffed. "What? About the Tal Shiar conspiracy to take over the Federation? Try a fairy tale I don't know!"

"What, no!" Miyahara's ghost said. "In fact, conspiring with Sinisiub Pallis is one of the reaons why I'm here: Maho, you remember how we used to lock up innocent Starfleet officers with fraudulent evidence, so that they never saw another Christmas free again?"

"But, they weren't innocent:" Maho countered. "They were criminals!"

"No, no!" Miyahara's ghost replied. "I was wrong! And now, as punishment, I have been cursed to walk the stars forever, carrying these heavy chains for a lifetime of crimes against sentience! Unfortunately it is also a path that I have started you down as well."

"Started me down?" Maho asked. "But, after everything I've done to distance myself from you-!"

"Deep down, you still believe in all the things I did when I was still alive." Miyahara's ghost said. "If you want to truly turn the page, Maporin, you must listen to them."

"Th-them?" Maho stammered.

"You will be visited by three spirits tonight." Miyahara's ghost explained. "If you do not heed their warnings, your chains will be heavier than mine."

Before Maho could ask who or what would be visiting her, she heard the soft tone of the chronometer tolling marking the top of the hour.

"Unfortunately, that's all the time I've been allowed to speak to you:" Miyahara's ghost sighed. "Farewell, Maho..."

"Wait, Miyahara!" Maho pleaded as the apparition vanished. "Who is it that will be visiting me??"

Maho's question went unanswered as she was left alone in her quarters, Kyoko sleeping soundly in her crib, having slept through the whole ordeal. Once the adrenaline wore off, logic began to creep through, attempting to explain away what she had just witnessed as perhaps a silly effect someone in her crew had set up as payback for being denied Christmas shore leave.

"Real funny, Sinclair:" Maho grumbled, rattling off the first name that came to her mind as to who could have done this as she climbed into bed. "We'll see how much you're laughing once I..."

Maho trailed off as she contemplated the various ways the insubordination could be punished once she found out who it was. As she did, her mind relaxed and before long, Maho had drifted off to sleep herself.

Posting by

Captain Maho Takahashi
Commanding Officer
USS Myogi

and

The Ghost of Tanaka Miyahara
Apparition

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