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Post by spacedaisy on Apr 21, 2018 6:38:32 GMT
Guest appearance by Dan as Oliver Savage
Stardate 11804.14
Elianna walked briskly along the corridor and to the lift. As the lift began its ascent to Station Ops, she lifted the padd she was carrying and read the message it contained again. The lift reached its destination and she stepped off, making her way across ops and toward Oliver’s ready room. As she drew closer, Torin called out, “He’s on the line with the Admiral!”
“I don’t care,” she replied tersely and proceeded to walk into the ready room without chiming or waiting for permission to enter as Torin watched on, wide eyed.
“...no I don’t know what to think.” he stops and turns hearing the door open and watches Elianna walking in. “Ummmm…. Hello.” points to the screen. “Kind of having a conversation with an Admiral here.”
“You need to see this,” she said as she crossed over to his desk and held the padd out to him, “it’s the message I received from Sahl.”
An eyebrow rises as he takes the padd, and begins reading over the message. After a few moments he looks up at the viewscreen. “I’m sending you this, you should see this as well.” he connects the Padd to his personal computer, and then encrypts and transmits the message to the Admiral. “We need to think about taking action here.” Oliver turns to Elianna, “Your certain this is from him?”
She nodded slowly, “The writing style and word choices, I believe it really is him. I mean, he didn’t say anything that only I would know about, so there is a chance that it could be a very good impersonation but...” She considered it for a moment and then shook her head a bit, “I just don’t think that’s likely.”
“This puts me in a rock and a hard place concerning our refugees.” he says while staring at the message.
“Oliver, let me get back to you on this.” Admiral Walkers voice called over the open channel, and then was replaced by the usual end transmission from Starfleet Command logo.
Oliver jerks a thumb at the screen. “Probably just made his decision much harder too.” he looks up at Elianna.
With her information now passed along, she felt suddenly a bit weary. Dropping down into the seat across from Oliver’s desk, she ran her hand across her face with a heavy sigh. “You don’t have to tell me…” she muttered.
“This is likely to lead to a fight, I’m certain that the Admiral isn’t going to let those refugees fall back into True Federation hands. But this is…” he paused leaning back in his chair. “This is an unexpected turn.”
She looked up at him sharply, “I should hope we wouldn’t be willing to let the True Federation get their hands on them again!” Elanna stood up somewhat abruptly, she knew herself well enough to tell when she wasn’t holding it together well. And this had sent her reeling a bit
“I should get back to sickbay.”
“I’m sure Walker will make sure that the right thing gets done, and if not we will have a tough decision to make on our end. But I’m not one to let those people go without a fight knowing the circumstances that await them just for doing what is right, you can be certain of that. I will keep you posted on what comes next. If you need to take a moment were not in a crisis right this moment, take a breather.” he was clearly concerned. “I know this is a lot for you.”
For a brief moment, as he said this her own emotions parted like clouds and she caught a glimpse of his own compassion and empathy for what she was going through. And she found it simultaneously comforting and calming. “Thank you. I will if I need to, I promise."
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Post by spacedaisy on May 5, 2018 2:10:41 GMT
Stardate 11804.28
“We’re missing a crate of Hyperzine!” someone called across the sickbay.
Elianna didn’t even look up as she heard Vott call back, “It was transferred to Ancillary Sickbay 2 twenty minutes ago. We should still have plenty here.”
“Dr. Kohli, you’re going to head up the surgical unit please,” the Chief’s calm voice was a veritable rock in comparison to the excitable shouts and flurry of activity going on, “I want Poole, Foster, Davies, Bell and Murphy with you.”
Standing quietly at her side until now, Emily asked softly, “Are you sure that’s enough surgeons?”
Her eyes remained trained on her padd with lists of names and assignments. Dr. Kohli’s dark eyes flicked nervously between the two women. He sensed that it would be a mistake to say anything, even though he tended to agree with Dr. Reed.
Still not looking up from her padd, “I am fairly certain that we may be seeing more overflow than the surgical ward can handle anyway. Assigning more doctor’s there will not help. I want as many doctor’s on the front line as I can get, we’ll only be sending the very worst cases to Dr. Kohli.”
She finally lifted her gaze to meet Emily’s, “I think quick treatment at the front end is going to be crucial Dr. Reed.”
Emily gave a barely perceptible flinch at the address and then cast a glance at Dr. Kohli who shifted awkwardly, waiting for some confirmation of his orders. “What are you waiting for Doctor?” Elianna’s voice rang sharply and he suddenly found himself the subject of an irritated gaze from his boss. The older man shook his head and muttered an apology before escaping in the direction of the surgical ward. Emily bit her lip and contemplated how to best approach what she wanted to say.
“Try being direct.”
Sudden anger welled up in her chest at Elianna’s statement, “Funny, I thought it was considered poor form to read someone’s thoughts without express permission.” Her voice was acidic, the sarcasm palpable.
“I don’t need to read your thoughts Emily, I don’t even need to read your emotions. You think my judgement is compromised because of the refugees. It’s written all over your body language.”
“Considering who it is, yeah I think it might be.”
Fury flashed in Elianna’s eyes as she took a step in closer to Emily, “You don’t know anything about me! Don’t pretend to know how anything affects me! Now why don’t you stop trying to babysit me, and do your job Lieutenant?”
The words cut her like a knife and if Elianna hadn’t turned away, she would have seen a pained expression on Lt. Reed’s face. In that moment, any friendship that had existed between the two seemed to have vanished. “I’ll confirm the readiness of the ancillary sickbays, I’ll coordinate from Sickbay 3,” she left Elianna standing alone.
Oliver turned to enter sickbay seeing a lull in traffic but was nearly bowled over by a familiar face who was clearly in a hurry, the irritated look on her face spoke volumes as she looked up and was clearly about to scald him when she realized who it was she was looking at. “Hello Doctor Reed.” he said offering a smile.
She opened her mouth to say something, then simply held up her hands in a halting motion, then pushed past him into the corridor. “Good luck.”
Oliver was left standing in the doorway blinking in confusion before he turned his attention back to the Sickbay, stepping just in side the door and off to one side, watching for a moment. Finally deciding that it might be safe, he slowly approaches Elianna. “Hey, everything alright?”
“Hmm?” Elianna glanced up for just a moment at Oliver and then back at what she was working on, “I think we’ve got it under control, why?”
Oliver watched her for a moment before responding. “Under control?” he studied her for a moment longer. “You know that we’ve worked together for some time now, and while I believe that everything is under control in here.” he said gesturing around at sickbay. “I have sneaking suspicion that is not that case in there.” he said gesturing at her. “Anything I can do?”
Crossing her arms, she finally looked at him, “Is this really the time for this conversation? We have an enemy fleet coming within the hour, I have a sickbay to manage and we’re probably about to have our hands really full. Can’t anyone here just let me do my job?”
“I’m not trying to stop you from doing your job, but the well being of my crew and my friend is still important. I think were as prepared as were going to be for this.” he shrugged. “I figured I’d ask. Though if I can offer a little piece of advice, or at least an observation.”
Drawing a deep breath to try and steady herself, expecting she might not like what she was about to hear, Elianna gave a nod to him.
“He’s safe,” he said. “He will be on the station soon, and even safer. I know we’re staring down a barrel and it’s a lot to take in. I can understand your position, but they don’t know or understand.” he said gesturing to her staff hurring about. “When this is over you might want to at least have a chat with Emily, she seemed pretty upset on her way out.”
Elianna closed her eyes and rubbed her forehead, replying in a much meeker tone this time, “I will.”
He regarded her for a moment. “It’s going to be alright Elianna. I’m going to get out of your hair, I’ll see you when this is over. We’ll all sit down and have a good stiff drink.” he nods, and turns heading back for the door.
“Oliver,” she called as he was leaving, “You’re wrong about one thing. He’s not safe, he’s already dead. So let’s make it a double.”
He stopped at the door, and simply nodded and disappeared out the door.
Picking her way through the corridors, Emily was overwhelmed by the fear that seemed to have enveloped the station as they sat, simply waiting for the True Federation fleet. Starfleet personnel moved with purpose as they tried to prepare for the coming battle, while civilians rushed about, handfuls of things they cherished tucked into bags and cases. Children clinging to their parent’s hand as everyone pushed towards the “Safe Zones,” trying desperately not to get crushed by the throng. In the midst of it all, Security personnel could be seen directing things, barely kept it from becoming a stampede.
Managing to push her way cross current, she had just reached a corridor to the nearest lift when someone got a little too anxious and pushing. Like dominoes, people started to topple over, falling onto each other. Emily turned in time to see a small boy go down underneath the weight of a grown man and she quickly reached out to try and free him. She managed to pry him out from under the man and sat there on the floor cradling the boy who tearfully clung to her. As she caught her breath, she saw the closest security officer, getting things back under control. A young woman broke from the crowd, reaching for the little boy in a panic, “Oh thank you!” In a flash the little boy was wrapped up tightly in the woman’s arms. Emily nodded and gave her a faint smile and watched the woman and her son disappear back into the crowd to reunite with their family. She turned and slowly headed for the lift, trying to shake the dread that had now settled in her stomach. This war had suddenly gotten a little more real.
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Post by spacedaisy on May 19, 2018 9:15:07 GMT
Stardate 11805.12
The battle had stopped, but the hard work in sickbay had only just begun. With each damaged ship that was evacuated and every lifepod that was pulled in, more patients flooded the sickbays. Every once in a while she stopped long enough to check on the status of the auxiliary medical facilities and the numbers just kept rising. They already had to divert people from Sickbays 3 and 5. Elianna pushed the concerns about this out of her mind as she carefully repaired a damaged artery. A stray lock of hair had escaped her ponytail, tickling her nose and she blew it off her face in annoyance. She tossed her microsuture aside and held her hand out. Grasping a regenerator handed to her by a Med tech she didn’t recognize, she made quick work of closing up the epidural wound. “Set him up a transfusion and give him 4ccs of Terakine.”
In the next bed over a patient was convulsing and she glanced over at the doctor who had come to work with them from one of the ships that had been severely damaged and said to the nurse assisting him, “Get him some Morphenolog for the convulsions,” and then turned to see who else needed her help. She could see one of her newer medical officers standing just outside the overflow, she was assessing patients and directing them. Elianna headed over to her to see if she was doing alright.
“...non life threatening injuries should be sent to either Sickbay 2 or 6.” Elianna could hear her tell him as she approached. Just as he turned to leave with the assistance of another officer who looked like he had spent some considerable time in a smokey room, Elianna noted his ears seemed to be bloodied. “Woah, wait a minute. How were you injured?”
She used a small pen light she kept in her jacket pocket to check his pupils as his friend answered, “Our shuttle bay was damaged and caught fire. We had some injured stuck in there so he went to help get them out, but we had some transport crates we hadn’t transferred to the cargo bay yet that were unstable. The fire caused them to explode, he’s lucky he didn’t get hit by any shrapnel.”
“I… ducked…. behind a shuttle.” His pupils weren’t responding quite the way she would have liked, and she turned the pen off and tucked it back in her pocket. “We need to get him into the surgical ward right away.”
The girl sorting the patients looked at her in confusion, “Is he critical then?”
Elianna asked him, “Have you had trouble breathing?” He nodded with a grimace of pain. “He’s got percussive injuries, definitely to his ears and lungs, possible his intestines as well, and there is a likelihood of brain swelling so he needs to be monitored.” The girl’s eyes widened as Elianna draped his free arm over her shoulder and helped his friend walk him to the surgical ward.
“Dr. Kohli?” He was wearing full surgical get up, but he looked up at the sound of the CMO’s voice, “Yes Dr. Kestran?”
They helped the man onto the bed as Dr. Kohli looked back down at the work he was doing on a ruptured kidney. “As soon as you’re done there, this man needs your attention.” She jerked her head to motion one of his assistants over and said to him, “Get this man prepped for Dr. Kohli, run full scans and administer Trianoline right away.”
She gently guided his friend back out and snagged a hypo which she loaded and administered to him. “What was that?” He rubbed his neck where she had injected him.
“Dexalin, you have been breathing in a smoke filled room when you rescued him. It’s to help with your oxygen levels.Why don’t you sit down and take some slow, deep breaths.” She motioned to a waiting area seat and he nodded his thanks to her before she went back into the overflow area.
The doctor she had suggested Morphenolog to earlier was standing looking down at his medical tricorder with concern. “Something wrong?”
He started a bit at her sudden intrusion to his thoughts, “Nooo… well nothing serious. I got his seizure stopped and I’m treating him for shock now, but this is one of the True Federation prisoners.”
Elianna tipped her head as she gave him a curious look, surely there was something more wrong than that. He must’ve noticed her look and held the tricorder out to her, “From his scans he seems to be suffering from extreme fatigue and maybe even malnourishment. Why do you think that is?”
She eyed the readings for a moment and remember the last time they had dealt with a TF prisoner it had been the same way. Shaking her head she responded, “I’m not sure, maybe just the stress of the war. Let’s put him on a Polynutrient Solution though.” Turning to the rest of the room she raised her voice to be heard over the chaotic din of doctors calling for things, patients groaning and crying in various levels of pain and alarms dinging persistently, “I want any True Federation patients to be put on Polynutrient Solution as soon as their critical injuries are treated, and don’t forget to tag them for security! Once they are treated and on the Solution we can transfer them to Sickbay 4. Let’s stay alert and keep it moving people!”
She waved to a Security guard standing by the door and pointed to the bed where she had just been consulting. He nodded in understanding and moved forward to take care of getting the man squared away. Drawing a deep breath Elianna ducked out of the overflow again and into her office to touch bases with Emily. Hitting her comm badge she said, “Dr. Reed, how are we looking?”
Emily’s voice sounded rushed and stressed, “Not good, I just got word from Auxiliary Sickbay 6, they’re filled to capacity, I’m shutting them down until they can cycle some patients out.”
“We knew this would probably happen, they’ve prepped some holds as triage areas for us too, let’s start using them for the least critical.”
“Aye. I’ll contact Station ops and move some of our med techs and a few doctors to each of them.”
“Sounds good, and Emily?”
“Yeah?” her voice seemed fearful like she was waiting on another big complication she had to figure out.
“You’re doing good work, thank you.”
“Thank you.”
Elianna stood trying to give herself a moment, knowing that the constant emotional turmoil occurring in the sickbay was wearing down her mental walls. It was impossible to not feel it at this point, but she needed to at least not hear it as well. Finally she straightened her shoulders and headed back into the fray with a look of determination.
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Post by spacedaisy on May 26, 2018 22:48:30 GMT
Stardate 11805.19
Exhaustion.
Elianna had been running for nearly 41 hours straight in sickbay, having barely eaten anything or taken time to rest. Eventually the wounded had stopped coming in, and the crowded biobeds were slowly being cleared out as patients were treated and released. Now she sat at her desk, her office door closed, as though to close out the events of the last two days. She rubbed her temples as stress, fatigue and hunger came together to give her a monster headache. It didn’t help that she had been trying to keep her mental walls up for much longer than normal. She frowned at her mug, half full of cold coffee. Forgotten in the midst of her focus on writing up a report for the Captain.
The door chime rang, “Come in,” she called out without looking up from her console as she input the last of the numbers.
Emily entered and dropped heavily into the seat across the desk, her frame almost seeming to crumple into the chair. Elianna eyed her for a moment, taking in the dark circles under her eyes and disheveled state of her uniform as she reported in, “All the sickbays are open again. Limited capacity, but at least they’re open.”
She spoke easily, so Elianna assumed their disagreement had been forgotten in the chaos of incoming wounded, but it would need to be addressed at some point. “Finally some good news.” Some point, but not yet. “I saw your reports, you did well keeping things moving smoothly.”
“Thanks.” The word was exhaled, like a weary sigh. “Vott came and took over Sickbay 2 so I could get some rest. Did you need anything else from me?”
Elianna shook her head and Emily drug herself back out of the chair with a slight groan, “In that case, I’m going to go sleep for a couple days straight,” she paused as she took in Elianna’s appearance, “You look like you could use some sleep too.”
Elianna rubbed the back of her neck and laughed mirthlessly, “Thanks a lot.”
“I mean it, you should take a break Doc.”
“I will, just need to send this report to Captain Savage and then I’m leaving.”
“Alright, have a goodnight then,” Emily said as she left.
Fifteen minutes later, Elianna was following her out of the sickbay. The corridors were calmer now. Not less busy, but people weren’t panicked. There was a sober feel about the place as everyone came to terms with what had just happened. It was as if people were sleepwalking through their normal routines. She didn’t think much about the people and places she passed on her way to her quarters. All she could think about was getting a drink and laying down in her nice comfy bed.
Entering her quarters, she shed her medical jacket and let it fall in a heap on the floor just inside the door. She couldn’t bring herself to care about making a mess. She crossed to her replicator, “Hot water with lemon and honey.” The teacup of her own personal concoction for moments of weariness appeared and she picked it up, taking a cautious sip. The warm liquid slipped down easily and she sighed contentedly. The soft chime of her computer indicated she had a message waiting. She walked over and took a look. It didn’t take long to realize it was from Sahl.
Sahl.
She had been able to forget for a while. Sure, it took an entire battle, not to mention massive casualties and wounded, but she had been able to forget for a while. For a moment she stood there, frozen with indecision. And then she reached out and tapped the screen, turning it off. She could deal with it tomorrow. Right now, she wanted to sleep.
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Post by spacedaisy on Jun 2, 2018 16:54:27 GMT
Stardate 11805.26
Elianna sat silently in her personal quarters staring at her computer console. Her fingertips tapped a nervous rhythm on the desktop. She chewed at her bottom lip, as her dark eyes burned holes in the blank screen. All through her duty shift she had tried to ignore the message she knew was there, waiting. Yet somehow it was always lurking at the back of her mind. This giant looming thing that she knew she had to address at some point. Right now she could hide on the station. It was such a large place, and there were so many sickbays and many more ways she could avoid anyone or anything if she wished. Soon things would change. In a matter of hours she would be on the Tempest, and no doubt so would he. Hiding was about to get a lot harder.
When that first message had come through, she had just moved on instinct. Johnny and Sully kept reminding her that it wasn’t her husband. She knew that it wasn’t Ezron, but they couldn’t understand that all of his experiences and memories were there. And as long as the Sahl symbiont was alive, a small part of Ezron would still be alive as well. It mattered to her. But seeing this new version of Sahl; talking to him and being in the same room with him... She knew that it would make the loss of her husband more real. So hiding was safer and far less painful, but she couldn’t hide forever.
A trembling finger touched the screen and it sprang to life with vigor, oblivious to the emotional turmoil it was creating. She saw the small blinking icon in the corner indicating a waiting message. As she tapped it, the message opened. She felt the tiniest bit of relief as she saw that it was text only.
“El,
I hope you don’t mind if I still call you that. It seems wrong to call you anything else. I’m sorry about the circumstances of my arrival. I know it’s less than ideal. But then, nothing seemed to go ideally for us, did it? Us. That’s not exactly right, you would think by now I would have the hang of this after three lifetimes. It’s different this time though. When Ezron died, he hadn’t given up hope that you were alive. I’d like to see you. I think it would be good for both of us.
Jerzad Sahl”
She stared thoughtfully out of the viewport and tried to ignore the anxious knot in her stomach, wondering why things had to get so complicated.
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Post by spacedaisy on Jun 8, 2018 10:57:59 GMT
Stardate 11806.07
Elianna excused herself, citing the need to see how things were going in sickbay. She escaped the bridge with relatively little notice from anyone. Though she thought she detected a concerned look from Oliver and strangely enough Ensign Wythe as well. The door slid shut on the TL, obscuring her from view and she crossed her arms as she waited anxiously for it to reach the destination. The doors opened again and she stepped out on Deck 8. She walked purposefully down the corridor, watching the room numbers until she finally saw the one she was looking for. She stood in front of it for a long moment until she finally drew a deep breath and stepped up to tap the chime.
“Come in,” an unfamiliar voice beckoned her.
Elianna stepped forward and the doors opened for her. She tugged subconsciously on her uniform and then crossed the threshold into the guest quarters where Jerzad Sahl was staying. As she came into the room, she saw him standing at the table setting down a glass of water. He was tall; taller than Ezron was. His brown hair was scraggly and tousled, his frame very thin. She had heard from the medical personnel who had seen to the refugees that they were very malnourished when they arrived. She could see the truth in that now for herself. Jerzad looked up at her and seemed frozen, staring at her.
She stood just inside the door, feeling very uncomfortable and he seemed to recover himself, “El…”
Hearing that nickname come out of a stranger’s mouth was unsettling, and she said tersely, “I think Elianna or even Doctor Kestran might be more appropriate."
His face fell a bit, but he nodded slowly, “I’m sorry, Elianna.” Jerzad motioned to the replicator, “Can I get you anything to drink?”
“No, I’m alright thank you.”
With another nod he motioned to the couch, “Would you like to sit?”
“I think this might have been a mistake, I should go back to my post…” she turned to go, but stopped when he called out to her, “Elianna, please wait!”
Seeing her stop he went on, quieter now, “We really should talk. Please.”
Elianna turned back around, finding a face she didn’t recognize, but aware that he knew everything there was to know about her. “What is there to say?”
“Ezron died believing you were still alive. What happened to you?”
She crossed the room and sat down on the edge of the couch, “We were on a mission to investigate a distress call, things went very wrong and we ended up caught in an explosion caused by an experimental drive. According to our First Officer, some kind of alien life form intervened. I don’t know how exactly it happened, but when we woke up after the explosion, twenty five years had passed,” she looked up into his gentle blue eyes and gave a half shrug, “That’s all we know.”
Her eyes studied him for a moment while he seemed to be thinking about this information. Searching for something of Ezron in him. Some mannerism or look, or anything, but finding none. Then commented softly, “Ezron was supposed to be transferred to the Tempest, we were only two weeks away from finally being on the same ship.”
“I remember. He was transferred onto one of the ships that was in the search instead. When the Tempest crew was presumed dead, your family had a memorial service on Betazed. He didn’t attend. He just didn’t accept that you were gone.”
Standing up she paced the room back and forth in agitation, “Why are you telling me this? Don’t you think I feel guilty enough as it is? My husband died and my entire planet was occupied during the war. I wasn’t there for any of them!” Stopping in front of the couch now she turned a troubled look out the viewport.
Jerzad stood and placed a hand on her shoulder, “You didn’t let me down El, you didn’t let anyone down. You can’t hold yourself responsible for surviving. You couldn’t have changed anything.”
She felt her eyes well up with tears and drew a shuddering breath, trying desperately to keep her emotions in check. Her words were barely a whisper when she spoke again, “I wish I could believe that.”
Reaching out, he pulled her close into an embrace and she instinctively rested her head against his chest, finally allowing herself to cry. He pressed a soft kiss to the top of her head. There it was, that little mannerism, that part of Ezron that knew how to comfort her. But instead of comforting her, it felt wrong. She pulled back and angrily wiped the tears from her face, “You aren’t him, don't…”
Without giving him a chance to respond she fled the room. She didn’t look back until she was on the turbolift. The doors closed but she stood there in the small room, trying to get herself under control again. Finally, she straightened her shoulders and commanded the lift, “Bridge!”
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Post by spacedaisy on Jun 26, 2018 5:01:10 GMT
Stardate 11806.23
The log began recording with a long silent moment. Elianna could be seen sitting in the dark in her quarters staring off at some unseen point, a vacant and weary look in her eyes. After some time she spoke haltingly, “Today we witnessed... the depth... of the True Federation’s cruelty and... their complete lack of principles.”
“We’ve seen atrocities over the years, we’ve known there is evil out there. But,” she shook her head in disappointment, “But the True Federation, they were part of us, and I can’t fathom becoming so willfully blind to the inherent value of life that you would murder people simply to prove a point! That you would strip them of their dignity and force them into labor camps…” Elianna finally turned her gaze directly into camera as she went on, “I thought humans had moved past this centuries ago. That they had learned the ends don’t always justify the means. It turns out they can still be the same oppressive and self serving creatures that they ever were. And it doesn’t end with humans, there are many species represented in the True Federation. Driven by fear, we’ve all discovered the worst of ourselves in this war.”
There was another long pause as her gaze fell on the photo of Ezron on her desk, “This is the first time I’ve been glad he died. At least he didn’t have to see what became of the Federation. And the very worst part was seeing Sully…” she shook her head again as she thought back on it. “He was ready to kill those prisoners. I’m not sure he wouldn’t have. I don’t know what stopped him. He’s losing himself in this war, in winning at any cost. I understand, when watching those people die it seems so imperative to stop them. I just hope when all is said and done, we can all live with who we’ve become. That we can look back and be proud of who we were in the face of the crimes of our enemy. The ends don’t always justify the means.”
“Computer, end log.”
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Post by spacedaisy on Jun 30, 2018 22:10:17 GMT
Stardate 11806.30
Elianna sat on the couch in her quarters, legs drawn up under her. She had a mug of tea in one hand and a padd in the other. She blew gently on the hot liquid and the steam curled lazily out of the mug. Lifting the padd, she snuggled back into the couch to read A Tale of Two Cities. During her time in the Academy she had acquired a taste for classic Earth literature.
“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of light, it was the season of darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us...”
The door chime interrupted her reading and Elianna tossed her padd onto the coffee table with a sigh as she stood up to answer the door. She stopped and glanced down at her linen pants and tank top. She was dressed for bed, not visitors. Grabbing her sweater from the back of a chair, she slung it around, slipping her arms into it and pulling it closed as she reached the door.
She hit the button and as the door slid open she found herself looking into the face of Jerzad Sahl. Just as she opened her mouth he interrupted her, “Please don’t shut the door in my face, I just need a few minutes to talk to you.”
With a deep breath and a pause, she stepped back wearily and motioned for him to come in. He entered and walked slowly into the room, taking it all in. Her quarters were cozy, she liked to relax when the day was done and her personal space reflected that. He stopped at her desk and picked up the photo , looking down at it with a smile. Turning it so she could see he commented, “I remember the day this was taken, I was…”
“Stop!” Elianna crossed the room quickly and snatched the framed picture out of his hands, “Of course you remember it, you have all of my husband’s memories. But you aren’t my husband!”
As she stood there glaring at him, the only thing she saw on his face was a look of contrition. “You’re right, I’m sorry.”
She set the picture gently back down on the desk and gave a small sigh. She was tired of all the fighting, the tension. Everyone at each other’s throats and here she was treating Jerzad with as much hostility as she got from Johnny or Sully seemed to be projecting onto everyone.
“I’m sorry, it’s been… really tough lately. We saw,” she choked up for a moment in recollection of what had happened to those prisoners. She finally gave a shake of her head, at a loss for words to describe what she had witnessed. Instead she went down another track, “I’m sorry Jerzad, I can’t imagine what you went through on Valt.”
Her dark eyes looked at him with tender sympathy and he drew a deep controlled breath, “I appreciate that. I didn’t know anyone at that camp that I’m aware of, but in different circumstances it could have easily been me.”
“What do you want to talk to me about?” The weariness had returned to her eyes. Sympathy for his situation didn’t make her own uneasiness over letting him in go away, he could see that clearly.
“This is complicated for me too. I just can’t leave without…” He stopped and walked a few paces away then turned around and came back, looking suddenly frustrated and almost desperate. “When your husband died, he believed you were still alive.”
“I know, you keep telling me that.”
“No, you don’t understand. I didn’t know it would be like this. None of my previous hosts ever died with that kind of unresolved situation hanging over them. You can’t understand what that does, I couldn’t have understood before I went through it.”
He paced back and forth again and she leaned against the edge of the desk, trying a gentler tactic to help him get to the point since he seemed very aggravated now, “What is it?”
“El,” he lifted his hands in an apologetic gesture, “Elianna, Ezron died holding on to hope that you would come back. That feeling of waiting for something that is missing doesn’t go away. Ever since I have been joined you have been like a spectre of someone I never met, haunting me. You’ve always been there.”
Jerzad’s face was gaunt and as she studied it now she realized it was lined with more worry than Ezron’s had been. At least before she had disappeared. Was that what his face looked like after she had gone missing? Had the worry and the waiting aged him?
“I never knew you, but from the moment I joined I have felt a sense of being incomplete.” HIs blue eyes held a pained look as he met her gaze.
Elianna stepped forward, reaching a hand up to rest on his cheek and he closed his eyes as she did. “Then I hope that knowing I am alive and well will help you to find some peace. You don’t have to put yourself through the ringer anymore because of Ezron’s unfinished business.”
His eyes opened again and where she hoped to find some relief she saw instead just as much anguish, “No, don’t you see?” He took her hand from his face and clasped it in his own, “I remembered what you were like and how you made him feel, but when I saw you in my guest quarters…” he dropped his gaze with a slight shake of his head.
“Seeing you took my breath away,” he spoke softly with his eyes trained on their hands, as if terrified to see how she would respond to this, but still pressing on recklessly, growing more bold, “I’ve never felt anything like it before.”
“Jerzad, that’s just part of being a joined Trill. You’re experiencing my husband’s emotions.”
He looked up at her once more, confident now in what he was about to say, “No Elianna. I know the difference between my emotions and the residual emotions from previous hosts. I love you, I’ve never known anything so clearly in any of my lives.”
Pulling her hand free from his grasp she drew back slightly, overwhelmed by this confession and his eyes seemed to plead with her, “You can tell. See for yourself.”
As Elianna realized what he was suggesting to her, it felt like a vise had clamped around her heart and was squeezing it tightly. The idea of opening herself up to what he was feeling was terrifying. He stepped closer, forcing her to lift her chin to look up at him, “Please.”
Finally she acquiesced, reaching out with her mind, opening herself up to all he was thinking and feeling. Almost instantly she was overwhelmed by them. They were so intense it was nearly disorienting. Passion and longing inundated her and she wobbled slightly, unprepared for it. He caught her around the waist to support her and her eyes flew open in surprise. “I don’t understand.”
He smiled, knowing that she did understand, but just hadn’t been ready for it, “I love you.”
Once again though, she drew back, fearful now of such strong emotions and the way it affected her. It felt less like love and more like infatuation or obsession.Turning her back to him she moved over to the viewport, just wanting to avoid looking him in the eyes. Afraid of seeing everything she felt from him a second ago reflected there. It was too much for her. “What is it you are hoping will come from this? I mean, aren’t joined Trill supposed to avoid their previous lives and connections?”
“Yes, but it’s because we’re supposed to be adding to the experiences of the symbiont. You know what I feel for you isn’t what Ezron felt for you. This is a new experience for me. I’ve never felt like this for anyone in any of my lifetimes.”
She stood silently looking out into space until he finally spoke again, “I want to be together. You could leave Starfleet, I’ve had enough of the True Federation and Starfleet. This war that I nearly became collateral damage in. We could get away from all this and find somewhere to settle down and make a life together.” His voice was fringed with anger at the two factions even as he made his plea to her.
“I need to think,” her reply was flat and tired.
“That’s fine, I understand…” he hesitated, wanting to hold her, to assure her of the future they could have together, but her body language told him she wasn’t ready for that. So instead he excused himself. “I’ll let you have time to think. You know where my quarters are once you’ve decided.”
Elianna continued staring out the viewport, even long after the door had closed behind Jerzad.
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Post by spacedaisy on Jul 4, 2018 5:56:03 GMT
Before continuing, read the following: Joint Post with Dan as Oliver Savage
Stardate 11807.01 Emily looked up from her padd as Elianna rushed into the sickbay, “I’m so sorry!” The CMO gave her an apologetic look as she slipped her medical jacket on. With a shrug, Emily replied, “It’s fine, I just started your rounds for you. Reviewing notes from the overnight shift.” The Station’s sickbays had continued to be busy as more wounded came in from the ships returning from Seleyan Sun. As a result Emily and Elianna met every other day at the start of the shift to make sure communication between main sickbay and the ancillary sickbays was maintained. It wasn’t as chaotic as it was at the start, but that was in large part to Emily’s excellent work coordinating everything. It allowed Elianna to focus on Main Sickbay and the more critical patients. She lifted an eyebrow and held out her hand to take the padd from Emily, “You didn’t have to do that.” Emily smiled and handed the padd to her boss, “I figured I could help you get started while I waited for you.” “Well I appreciate it,” she replied as she looked over the notes Emily had already made. “Looks like Lt. Travino can be discharged today.” “Yeah, that’s what I thought as well.” Elianna grinned at her, “Of course you did. I can finish these after our meeting, shall we?” She motioned to the office and Emily headed that way. As they settled in on opposite sides of the desk, Emily eyed her curiously, “It’s not like you to be late, is everything alright?” “Everything’s fine, I just didn’t get a lot of sleep last night,” she replied as she turned on her computer console. Emily frowned slightly, something felt off, like Elianna was hedging something. And there was something different about her. She leaned forward with an excited sparkle in her eye and exclaimed, “You were with someone last night!” Like a deer in the headlights, Elianna shot her friend a wide eyed look, “What? No!” “Oh my god,” Emily’s hand flew to her mouth, covering it in surprise, “you’re blushing! You were with someone!” “I definitely don’t want to talk about this,” she cast a quick glance to the main sickbay, hoping no one was close enough to hear this conversation. “So it’s serious…” “Emily!” “It is serious! Doc, how come you’ve never mentioned anyone to me?” Her face looked crestfallen, disappointed that Elianna didn’t feel close enough to confide in her. Emily considered Elianna her closest friend, and thought that it was mutual. “Seriously, can we not talk about this now,” she asked with a pleading look in her eyes. “Is this because of what happened before the battle a couple weeks ago?” Emily looked genuinely hurt now. With a small sigh, Elianna realized the time had come to make things right, “No, but I’ve been meaning to talk to you about that.” “Look, I’m sorry I questioned your orders in front of another doctor, I just-“ Elianna held up a hand, cutting her off. “You were right.” “I was right?” Emily looked shocked, she hadn’t expected that. “My judgement was a little clouded by my situation. I shouldn’t have spoken to you like I did.” “No, you were right! We didn’t need too many doctors in surgical, we needed them on the floor.” “Emily, no matter whether my decision was right or wrong, you knew I was struggling. You were looking out for me. I want you to know that it means a lot to me. You are not only a fine doctor, you’re a good friend and someone I’m glad to have in my corner. Not to mention that you’ve become indispensable to me as far as running the medical department here.” Emily’s mouth hung open for a moment at this. Elianna had never expressed those things so openly before and it was both surprising and touching. “Thank you,” she finally said with a grateful smile. “Now can we get on with this meeting?” “Wait, you really aren’t going to tell me anything about this guy? It isn’t the trill is it?” Her voice took on a disapproving tone at the thought. In an even voice and with a tense look Elianna replied, “No, it’s not ‘the trill.’ If I promise to tell you everything, can it wait until later? Preferably off duty?” “You swear?” “To the gods.” “Alright,” Emily conceded begrudgingly. “I attached a requisition list to my regular report this time. With the constant flow of patients from Operation Seleyan Sun we are running really low on some critical supplies.” It was amazing how quickly she switched into business mode. Elianna nodded, “Is this for all the department or just Sickbay 2?” “I compiled it from a survey of all the sickbays. I got your head nurse to submit what you needed here” This was why she appreciated Emily so much, she anticipated their needs before Elianna even had to think of asking. She nodded, “Great, I’ll put in the request, but be aware that our supply shipments aren’t moving as quickly with the recent losses we’ve had. Are we in danger of running out of anything?” “I think we could be ok for another week,” Emily seemed hesitantly optimistic. “Alright. How is the personnel situation? Do I need to request any extra help as well?” “I actually was hoping to talk to you about that. I think we should do a mental wellness check in with the staff that are dealing with the most critical patients. I’m concerned that those in the wards losing the most patients may need a break. It can really wear down morale. We may want to rotate them out.” Elianna leaned back in her chair and looked out into the sickbay again, this time more thoughtfully as she considered Emily’s suggestion. “It’s hard to shuffle people out and in. Consistent staff means consistent treatment for patients.” “Low morale leads to fatigue which leads to mistakes,” Emily countered calmly. “Yes… alright, I’ll contact the counseling department and we will set up some quick check ins with all the staff in the most critical wards in the next three days. I’ll have them submit their results to you.” “Perfect. I’ll use their recommendations to decide who to move where and get that to you. Is there anything else you needed?” Elianna’s eyes skimmed over the remainder of the report, casualties, number of patients currently in the various sickbays, quick glance numbers of varieties of treatments that occurred since the last meeting they’d had. She gave an absent minded shake of her head, “I don’t think so.” Emily recognized the look on Elianna’s face, it was the one she got whenever her mind had already moved on to the next thing on her list. Which meant their meeting was over, so she stood up and commented, “So drinks after work?” “Hmm? Yeah maybe. I’ll let you know.” Shaking her head, Emily left for her own sickbay, leaving Elianna to compile the latest casualty report in solitude. She had a feeling they probably wouldn’t be having drinks today.
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Post by spacedaisy on Jul 19, 2018 0:59:26 GMT
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Post by spacedaisy on Jul 30, 2018 5:31:40 GMT
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Post by spacedaisy on Aug 13, 2018 20:05:57 GMT
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Post by spacedaisy on Aug 14, 2018 18:34:08 GMT
Stardate 11808.11
“Doctor Carmichael?”
Julie lifted her eyes to find Syta Zh’venas, an Andorian nurse who had transferred to the Tempest during Seleyan Sun. Though she had volunteered her services at Odyssey through the worst of the wounded flooding in. Syta looked very nervous and unsettled about something now, which wasn’t a surprise. She was a sweet girl, but she was very gentle and timid. It seemed uncharacteristic for an Andorian, which was probably why she ended up in Starfleet instead of staying on Andoria. It made her a fantastic nurse though.
Giving the young girl a warm smile, Julie asked, “What can I do for you Syta?”
“I was just on my way here…” she hesitated again, tugging nervously on a long white lock of her hair and biting her lip as if trying to decide if she should tell Julie this.
“Syta, if something’s wrong, it’s better to tell someone so we can fix it.”
“But what if it’s someone?”
Concern edged into Julie’s voice, “Especially if it’s something wrong with someone. What happened?”
The girl tugged even more of the lock of her hair, her antenna drooping slightly giving her an air of uncertainty, seeming unconvinced, “But what if it’s someone important.”
Setting the padd aside that she had been holding until now she guided the nurse into Dr. Kestran’s office and into the chair. “What’s wrong Syta?”
Closing her eyes, Syta poured forth her story, “On my way here I ran into Commander Derringer. He was laughing like… I’ve never heard anyone laugh like that before! There were a couple other people there too, from engineering I think. He… he was laughing at the Captain! And the things he said…” here she looked down into her lap as if she couldn’t think about it anymore.
Finally she looked back up and Julie could see tears rimming her eyes, “when I was transferred to the Tempest I heard that Captain Savage was a good and fair commanding officer, that the crew was like family. But if his own First Officer feels that much contempt for him, how can he possibly be a good CO?”
As if a dam had burst, tears flowed down Syta’s blue hued cheeks and she looked fearfully up at Julie, “Am I safe here?”
Julie felt a surge of compassion and she knelt on the floor, grasping both of Syta’s trembling hands in her own. “There is always danger on a starship, I can’t promise you will be safe. But I can promise you that most of this crew is like family. You are part of that family, we will always look out for you. I will always look out for you.”
Syta nodded with a sniffle and freed one of her hands from Julie’s, wiping the back of it across her cheek to clear away the tears there. She slowly steadied her breathing until it seemed she had regained her composure, “I’m sorry for panicking…”
“Don’t be, I understand. Why don’t you go get yourself a drink of water and take a minute to gather yourself, then report back in?”
Syta nodded again, this time with a grateful smile as she stood slowly and moved towards the door. She stopped in a moment of indecision and then suddenly turned back around and wrapped Julie in a tight hug, “Thank you Doctor Carmichael!” Then she quickly released her and hurried out of the room before Julie barely had a chance to even process it.
Her blue eyes watched through the window as Syta left to get the drink that she had suggested. For all the comfort she had offered Syta, Julie was actually very concerned. She turned away from the window with a heavy sigh and tapped her comm badge, “Dr. Carmichael to Dr. Kestran.”
“What can I do for you Ensign?” Julie wasn’t sure, but she thought she detected a tension in Elianna’s voice that wasn’t normally present.
“If you have a minute Doctor, I think I might need to talk to you.”
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Post by spacedaisy on Sept 28, 2018 8:33:10 GMT
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Post by spacedaisy on Oct 14, 2018 11:43:47 GMT
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