Holodeck 1, Rain Family Farm, Earth

Tiberius wore a plaid shirt, worn and faded blue jeans, and a pair of tan boots. He tilted the beige hat on his head to block out the glare of the bright afternoon sun as he strode for the stalls. In stall 2 he found his horse, Gibson. His old man had asked him why he’d chosen that name until Tib had explained it was from his favorite author. He’d avoided specifically saying whom, though, fearing that would have taken away some of the magic.

Gibson was a great horse. They’d grown up together and in many ways there was a kinship between them that transcended owner and pet. They were brothers. This would have been Gibson’s what? 31st birthday?

None of this was real. He knew that subconsciously. But it felt real enough to his hands. The heat of the sun on his skin. The tremble of Gibson’s flanks as he shook off flies. The gentle summer breeze that gusted through farm in the early morning. It was like walking back into a memory, or stepping into a future he never walked.

He laid his head on Gibson’s side. He’d missed home. More than that? He missed his friend. Leaving home, and leaving Gibson behind had felt like losing a part of himself. Getting the news while he was away that Gibson had passed away wasn’t easy. Lately? He’d been wondering if he’d made the wrong decision. Should he have stayed home? Run the farm with his father?

Tib eased the saddle onto Gibson’s back and began to buckle up the straps.

“Sorry bud, I’m a little rusty.”

Gibson snorted in response. As if to say “it’s okay. So am I.”

He was just finishing up with cleaning Gibson’s hooves when a familiar voice called out from behind him.

“Sir?”

He glanced back and saw his XO walking along the grass on the other side of the fence.

“What are you doing?”

He stood up and shrugged. “Needed some time to think. Felt a little homesick, so I thought I’d bring home to me.”

“And who is that?” She asked, pointing to the horse.

“This is Gibson. Not real of course. He was my first horse. Only horse, really. I used to ride him every day after school. Chores came first, of course, but after that? This big lug and I would hit the field and go for hours.”

“You must have been very close.”

Tib smiled with a nod. “Yeah. We were.”

“It must have been hard leaving him behind to join starfleet then.”

His smile fell. A heavy weight settled into his shoulders. He nodded again.

“Yeah. It was.”

“What would you have done had you not joined the fleet?”

He pursed his lips thoughtfully. “Probably run the farm with my old man. I always did like the animals.”

She pointed to the saddle. “Planning another ride?”

“I was, yeah. Would you like to join us? Midnight was a pretty mellow ride in his day.”

Tib gestured to the horse next to Gibson. A black horse with white spots above his hooves. It made him look like he had socks on. Tib always wanted to call him socks, but his father refused to accept that. He still thought it would have been a good name.

While Kael climbed over the fence and made her way over, Tib prepped Midnight and got his saddle situated and strapped in.

“Ever ridden before?”

“Not once.” She replied with a half smile.

“We’ll take it easy, then. Go ahead and put one foot here, and one hand here and you’ll just pull yourself up and swing your leg over, like this.”

He demonstrated how to mount for Lorena and then watched as she tried to repeat his movement. Midnight took it in stride patiently taking a few steps laterally to stabilize himself as she climbed up. Once she was settled in the saddle she gave him an affirmative nod.

“I really should have done this at the academy.”

“No arguments here. Follow me. Midnight should do most of the work for ya.”

He clicked a few times and gave Gibson a nudge and the horse broke into an easy stroll down a worn dirt path. He glanced back to see Midnight following Gibson’s lead. Soon the pair were side by side and Tib felt a pang of sadness. Lorena saw it plain as day in his face.

”What’s wrong?”

Tib sighed, shaking his head.

“Oh what’s the saying? In the end… We only regret the chances we didn’t take, the relationships we were afraid to have, and the decisions we waited too long to make.”

Lorena took on a thoughtful expression. “Lewis Carroll?”

“Nice. I was worried it might be too obscure.”

She shook her head. “It applies to a wide variety of things. Why reference it now?”

His gaze fell to Gibson slowly walking along beneath him. Not the real Gibson of course, but, it was as close as he could get anymore. Because he’d chosen to join the academy and try and impress his father instead of being who he wanted to be.

“Old regrets, and a life unlived. But anyway, come on. I’ll show ya around the farm.”

He was glad she’d poked in on him. It helped him stay just this side of morose. It was a good way to pass Gibson’s birthday. The only thing Gibby would have wanted more would have been some carrots. He’d chop some up in a salad later. He patted the horse unconsciously as the continued their lazy walk through a life he’d walked away from.