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Post by Einar on Feb 26, 2019 16:27:55 GMT
That was an amazing log to read..the detail and feeling conveyed. Keep it up!
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Post by pscotty90 on Feb 26, 2019 17:30:42 GMT
Thanks. I’m enjoying writing for her. I didn’t really have firm plan for the log so she ended up surprising me a couple of times.
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Post by Tom Marsland on Feb 28, 2019 19:26:43 GMT
I really enjoyed this log and look forward to getting to know your character more!
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Post by pscotty90 on Mar 7, 2019 22:00:15 GMT
A Joint log with Spacedaisy
In the Family
Mari glanced up as Ensign Qoras stopped next to her, waiting to take over for the next shift. She smiled politely at the Bolian; she was so ready to be done for the day. “Anything interesting?” Thekk asked her as she moved and let him get settled at the science station. “Nope,” Mari’s answer came out a little more short than she intended and he looked her curiously so she tried to soften it a little, “It’s been all quiet. I’m gonna go…” she quickly escaped to the turbolift to avoid more annoying chit chat with him. He was a talker and she just wasn’t in the mood at the moment.
Elena gave Mari a concerned stare as she watched her duck into the turbolift and held out a hand to tell her to wait as she finished reporting Tactical status to Douglas, rushing and tripping over some of her words as she hurried. She gave the Commander a quick snap to attention before double-timing it into the lift too.
“Hey,” she said as the doors closed behind her, “You ok?”
Mari looked at her in surprise and then gave a noncommittal shrug, “Yeah, fine. Just ready to get off duty after all,” she motioned towards the closed doors, indicating the bridge, “that today.”
“Yeah, I know the feeling.” Elena sighed, her shoulders slumping down as she lost the stiff tactical officer facade she’d been keeping up all day, “Between the XO helping the Captain play catch up and Commander Douglas talking about nothing but the baby all day I was getting about ready to scream.”
She wearily ran a hand through her hair and rolled her head around her neck. Elena looked like she was about to drop.
Mari nodded, leaning back against the wall of the lift, “I understand completely. I’d say I need a drink, but I tried that earlier this week and it...,” she paused, crossing her arms with a sigh as she recalled the uncomfortable parting with Jer the next day, “it ended up in an awkward situation.”
“...Colour me intrigued.” Elena said, “We’ll have to get back to that. But if you want to blow off some steam I wouldn’t recommend drinking anyway. There’s no way you’d get a good sip of Vodka on this ship… I was going to go to the phaser range. Always helps me unwind. You’re welcome to join me.”
A brief silence hung in the air as Mari mulled it over.
“We may also want to tell the computer where we want to go before someone else wants to use the turbolift…” Elena added.
She blinked, laughed and instructed the lift, “Deck 9,” then joked, “before the Chief Tactical Officer decides to take the lift down to sickbay to see his new ‘uncommissioned civilian minor.’”
“Ugh. Don’t get me started on that.” Elena said as the turbolift hummed into life. “Honestly I’m not even a fan of having a family aboard a ship like this. Seeing the Commander so happy about his little bundle of joy just stresses me out.”
“I’m happy for them,” she didn’t sound particularly excited about it though, “Dr. Rousseau is a lovely person and I have found her husband to be surprisingly kind to me…” she stared at the closed doors as she tried to figure out what exactly she was feeling, “I don’t know, I just don’t see what the big deal is about a baby. Never felt that drive for parenthood.” She shrugged lamely at what felt like a thoroughly unsatisfying answer. Then she looked at Elena in confusion, “Wait, why does it stress you out?”
Elena sighed with a literal vent of frustration.
“Because… I don’t want to be in a situation where I have to choose between saving the Captain’s life or Soule’s life… Because I know I won’t be able to let that kid grow up without a dad like I did…”
The turbolift hummed to halt.
Mari looked at Elena in thoughtfully. “Yeah, you’re right. We definitely need to shoot things,” Mari said decisively as the doors slid open. She knew how that felt and wasn’t about to talk about it here in the corridor. She stepped out and glanced around, “I haven’t been down here since I was assigned to the Zorya. Which way…?”
Elena looked confused as she looked at each corridor too.
“Uhm… You’re asking me? I’ve barely been on this ship a month. Why do engineers have to make all these corridors look the same? Hang on…”
Elena jogged down the corridor immediately in front of them and disappeared out of Mari’s sight.
“Found it!” she yelled.
Mari laughed and followed in the direction she had just disappeared down. “I just assumed being, you know, tactical, you were already acquainted with the security type areas of the ship,” she commented with a shrug as she joined her in the phaser range.
“I learn them as I need to,” Elena said as she punched in her security code to open the weapon’s locker. “I haven’t had a need to come down here until now.”
She instinctively handed Mari the curved grip of a Type Two Phaser as her other hand reached into the locker, emerging with a heavy looking compression rifle that she slung over her arm.
She took the phaser offered her and then eyed the compression rifle warily, “You didn’t secretly invite me down here to murder me or anything right?” She grinned jokingly and then looked over the range. “So aside from Lt Cmdr Douglas being exquisitely happy, what necessitated a trip to the range?”
“Aside from it just being fun to shoot things?” Elena grinned back, “At least it’s a chance to feel in control on this ship for once.”
She stepped into the circular zone marked out on the floor and hoisted the rifle to her shoulder.
“Oh yeah, I forgot to ask. What level can you shoot up to?”
Mari smirked as she set the phaser, “Start it where you like, I think I can probably keep up.”
Elena laughed to herself as she let Mari get into position.
“Computer, begin at level twelve.” she ordered.
A pair of blinking balls of light began to fly around the dark walls of the room, alternating between blue and yellow. They moved fast and zig-zagged around each other before a third light alternating between the two colours also appeared, and then a fourth. Elena seemed to freeze for a moment as her eyes moved around the room, then fired as one of the lights blinked to blue. A bolt of energy leapt from the rifle and hit the light, and making it disappear. She turned her hip and fired again, hitting the next one just as easily.
It had been a little while since Mari had been on a phaser range. Now she stood in the circle, for a couple seconds watching Elena. Then she grinned and turned to face away, watching the lights move for a beat, widening her stance and lifting her phaser as she followed their movements. Two of the lights circled each other and then suddenly diverged, one zipping to the left while the other went up. Out of the corner of her eyes she saw a third move into her peripheral vision on the right just as she fired off two shots in succession. One of the lights blinked and changed colors before darting off behind her, and the second shot narrowly missed as she turned slightly to land a shot on the third light. She rolled her shoulders to loosen up, a little irked she missed one.
“I understand where you’re coming from, about families I mean.” She landed another shot on one of the lights with satisfaction as she said it.
Elena tensed up a little as she said it, causing her next shot to go wide. Mari heard her let out a low grunt of exasperation.
“That they don’t belong on a starship?” she asked as she took another shot that missed again, closely followed by a third that finally hit its mark.
Mari heard the grunt and glanced over her shoulder for a second, then back as a light nipped past her, hovered and took a sharp turn to suddenly flit farther away. She rushed her shot and missed, then followed it with a second that connected. “Yeah, I mean I understand your reason for feeling that way,” she thought of her own experience growing up without her father, “But the doctor and her husband knew the risks and felt it was still worth it. Plenty of officers have families, some with them on their ships, some not. We all know what we’re going into when we sign up, right?”
Elena had her back to Mari but she could see the tactical officer’s back was tense as she twisted and turned to shoot at the targets. She was firing more wildly now. Still hitting more often than not but even Mari could tell she was making mistakes.
“Yeah but the kid didn’t sign up for anything.” Elena said, with a growing amount of anger in her voice, “He didn’t ask to be born out here in space. He didn’t ask for his parents to be putting their lives on the line when it might mean he has to grow up without them.”
“Hey, are you alright?” Mari had lowered her phaser now, the lights forgotten, and was looking at Elena with some concern. She wasn’t a counselor, but she was pretty sure this wasn’t really about the new baby on board.
“I’m… I’m fine,” she said forlornly as she lowered her rifle and let the next few targets pass her by, “I’m sorry, family stuff just gets me worked up… Forget I said anything.”
She raised her weapon back to her shoulder and started firing again. Still seemingly not focussed enough to try her best.
“I…” Mari drew a deep breath to gather some courage, she didn’t usually talk about this stuff, “I know what it’s like. My parents died when I was young. But it wasn’t because they put themselves in danger, it was just dumb fate. It can happen anywhere for any reason.” She shrugged at the uselessness of it all. A light zoomed in front of her and she fired at it viciously, as if it were the cause of the trouble.
“That’s how my dad died.” Elena replied quietly, “He worked at Starfleet Command during the Dominion War when the Breen attacked Earth…”
She wasn’t even trying to shoot any more. The rifle just hung limply in her arms as she stared at the wall.
She was struck in the moment by how young Elena was. It reminded Mari of herself, when she was younger and the pain was still so fresh. “I’m sorry.”
“It’s ok. I mean I never knew him. I was still a baby when he died. But I grew up with that absence, you know? And then when I joined the Academy… Well let’s just say the uniform came with a lot of baggage.” Mari saw her quickly wipe away a set of tears from her face, “Papa was a scientist. He worked out of a lab on Earth and beamed home to my mom every night. Until one day he didn’t. And neither did two-thousand other people… Like you said, it’s just dumb fate, right?”
The words sounded so callous when they were repeated back to her. “I didn’t mean to minimize anyone’s loss…” Mari searched for the right words, “I just mean, Douglas could die in a freak snorkeling accident on a family vacation and it would be the same result. If we get so tied up by our pasts, we’ll never be able to do the job.” She frowned a bit as she glanced down at the hand now holding the phaser loosely at her side, hiding the tattoo in her palm. Not sure if I don’t need that advice more,” she silently wondered.
“Oh I get that…” Elena sighed, “But no matter how I try I can’t shake this feeling…”
She looked smaller somehow. Her voice was cracked and weak, like a child’s. But though the rifle was now hanging in her limp arms Mari could tell she was still gripping it so tightly her knuckles had turned white.
“I’ve never told anyone this before.” she said as she dropped to the floor and crossed her legs, the rifle now cradled in her arms, “When I was at the Academy I volunteered at an orphanage in Berlin. It was for the kids of Starfleet officers who had died and had nowhere else to go. There weren’t too many. A few dozen maybe. Mostly human but a couple of other species…”
She seemed to quieten for a moment and Mari could see that she was struggling to get her words out.
“All the kids loved me there. I’d go three or four times a week, sometimes straight after class so I was still in the uniform. They treated me like I was a big sister.” she smiled as she talked about it but tears were starting to fall down her face again, “But there was this one little girl, Lily. She was about six years old. She’d never talk to me. I couldn’t get a peep out of her for months. I tried everything. So I talked to her counselors and it turns out she was aboard a starship where both her parents were officers. It got attacked by… something… No one knows by who or what, but the Bridge was destroyed before the Captain could even order red alert. Her parents grabbed her and were heading to the escape pod when there was a hull breach. Both mom and dad were sucked out into space right in front of her, and the only reason why she wasn’t was because the structural integrity field came online just in time for her to bounce off it. Clever girl somehow managed to get herself to the pods before they launched.”
She looked up right at Mari, tears streaming down her face and her lips quivering.
“Can you imagine? Six years old and seeing that? In the end I told her how sorry I was. How I was there as her big sister and she could tell me anything and… Then she shook her head. She pointed at my combadge and said ‘you’ll just die too’.”
Elena broke down as she finished. Burying her face into her hands as her arms were still wrapped around the rifle, clinging it to her.
Mari tensed up, her emotions at war within her. Compassion telling her to hug Elena, share with her. Her experience telling her to keep her distance, don’t let her close. She shook her head and looked at the ceiling for a second, knowing what she was about to do and wondering what had gotten into her this week.
Sitting on the floor next to Elena and setting her phaser aside, she wrapped an arm around her in a hug. “I’m going to tell you about something I’ve only told one other person.” Mari spoke evenly, if not somewhat quietly, as she began, “I was born into the ruling class on my homeworld. When I was seven, there was a civil war. The lower two classes revolted and they either murdered or drove out most of the upper two classes. My father was killed and I was alone. I spent so many years in hiding. And it became my life, all that fear.”
She trailed off for a second, remembering, “Even after I was able to live freely again, I was still afraid that someone would realize what I was and then…” Mari wasn’t even sure what she was afraid would have happened. She went on, “So I tried to hide who I was, I just kept my head down. Until I had to make a choice, to take a risk for someone that I cared about or stay safe. I was more afraid for her; she needed my help and I couldn’t ignore that. After I took that risk, my life changed drastically and eventually I could see that I hadn’t been living before at all. I’d just been surviving; getting by while hiding from all the things I’d been afraid of all that time.”
Mari squeezed Elena’s shoulder reassuringly, “It’s not easy taking those risks. Yes, it could end badly. But isn’t it worth it? Isn’t it better that Lily is alive and for the time they had, her parents loved her? I’m sure there are moments it’s terrifying for the Doctor and her husband, but they aren’t letting it stop them. They aren’t just getting by, they’re living.”
As she considered it, she felt something like envy for them. She didn’t want what they had exactly … but she had stopped living after Zeke died and she hadn’t even realized it until this moment. Mari sat in silence, lost for the moment in her own thoughts.
Elena didn’t say anything. She leaned into the hug and Mari felt her shoulders relax. She could see she’d let go of the rifle now and slowly let it drop to the floor in front of her with a slight clatter as her arms reached back up and reciprocated Mari’s hug.
They hugged for a long moment until finally Mari gave her one last squeeze and leaned back. She grinned at the thought of how silly they must look at the moment and said, “Come on, let's go get some dinner or something before someone comes in and finds us sitting on the floor.”
Elena let out a girlish laugh and followed Mari up onto her feet.
”That definitely sounds like a good plan,” she said, ”I could use that drink after all.”
She wiped away her tears and just like that the security officer was back. She smoothed down her gold uniform and stood up straight, standing right next to her, Mari was struck by how much taller she was than her. Just a few seconds ago Elena was a girl crying in a heap on the floor, and now she stood a good foot above her with no hint of hurt on her face.
Ensign Volkova grabbed the two phasers off the floor and judiciously placed them back in their locker, being careful to check and recheck that the locker had been locked and sealed after she’d closed its latch.
Mari was at her side as the doors to the range slid open but stopped as Elena peered out and looked both ways down the corridor with a perturbed look on her face.
”What’s the matter?” Mari asked.
”Can you remember which way the turbolift was?” she said, drolly.
There was a beat as the two women stared at each other, then burst out laughing together.
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Babs
Lore Committee
Posts: 210
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Post by Babs on Mar 8, 2019 0:02:18 GMT
So at first I almost stopped reading when you trotted out the 'families don't belong on starships' theme. I braced, expecting to read a strangely hostile speech from Ensign Volkova about arbitrarily disliking children, who somehow can't stand the sight of a new father being happy after the arrival of his new baby, especially after a tumultuous premature entrance into the world where he thought he was going to lose both the baby and his wife. If I'm being honest, that part alone almost turned me completely off of Volkova, and possibly made me hate her and wonder if she kicks puppies for a hobby. However. I didn't stop reading, and I'm glad I pushed through to the end. You turned it around, and now, although I obviously don't agree with her about families not belonging on a starship, I do understand where she's coming from and respect the difference of opinion. Well done you two.
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Post by pscotty90 on Mar 8, 2019 0:17:06 GMT
Stay tuned, Babs cos Elena is pretty much at the stage where she’d die to keep your new family together.
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Post by spacedaisy on Mar 8, 2019 0:19:20 GMT
Lol Babs. Glad you stuck it out. Takes all kinds, right?
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Babs
Lore Committee
Posts: 210
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Post by Babs on Mar 8, 2019 0:45:33 GMT
awww I'm actually thinking that Volkova and Izzy should have a conversation, if Elena's willing to visit the baby.
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Post by pscotty90 on Mar 8, 2019 0:51:32 GMT
She definitely would be. Elena loves kids anyway. She just has a lot of hangups about parents. But it wouldn’t stop her from interacting with any of the three of them. In fact she tends to attach to people pretty easily.
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Post by Einar on Mar 8, 2019 6:49:54 GMT
Fantastic log you two. And please let's try to remember that logs are IC and it's okay for a RP character to have strong opinions that do not align with ours. There is usually a good reason as we saw
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Post by aoibheni on Mar 8, 2019 10:09:52 GMT
::adds "freak snorkeling accident" to the list of activities for Betazoid R&R.::
No, but seriously, you two, thank you for writing such a lovely bonding log. It's lovely to see characters start to make friendships in the face of adversity, and this is a great example.
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Babs
Lore Committee
Posts: 210
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Post by Babs on Mar 8, 2019 14:31:33 GMT
Agreed, Einar. And we're actually gonna do that conversation IC, in a joint log. I think it will be fun.
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Post by pscotty90 on Mar 12, 2019 22:36:25 GMT
A joint log with Babs.
Family Friend
It had been a couple of days since Elena’s complete breakdown in front of Ensign Lenali. She was still a little embarrassed over the whole thing. It had been quite a long time since she’d cried like that, but at the same time it’d felt good to vent a lot of the stuff that she’d been holding in for a long time.
Life had otherwise gone back to normal right after. She was back at her post the next day with just a minor hangover and since the crew were still on light duties she’d spent much of her off hours either reading in her quarters, hanging out in the mess hall or getting a workout on the holodeck. Still, something was gnawing at her in the back of her mind.
She had a feeling of helplessness again and she couldn’t figure out why. Part of the upside to starfleet training is that when you perceive a threat you know instantly how to take action. But when you feel anxious for no discernible reason you have no idea how to act. She found herself casting about the ship aimlessly sometimes, her hands red and white from squeezing and rubbing them together every few minutes as she wandered around. If anyone asked she just told them she was going for a walk or performing a security check. But the truth was she had no idea what she was doing.
That was exactly what she was doing when she found herself in sickbay.
The NICU was tucked away into a quiet corner of sickbay, down a short hallway on the far end of the main ward, past a left turn into a corridor, then a quick right turn and through a security door. People weren’t usually back here without having a good reason to be.
Izzy had been spending almost all of her time here at her newborn son’s bedside since they had brought him home to the Zorya only a few days ago. Unexpectedly born too early, he was very fragile and needed to be kept warm in an incubator; his underdeveloped lungs needing a ventilator to aid his breathing. Her forays away from the NICU were rare, and even when she did manage to peel herself away, it was as if she’d left part of herself behind.
As such, she wasn’t really paying attention when she managed to just narrowly avoid a collision with the new tactical officer somewhere after the left turn into the corridor and before the quick right turn that led to the NICU.
“Oh! excuse me! Ensign.. Volkova, is it? Can I.. help you?” She eyed Elena curiously, wondering what she was doing back here.
Elena snapped to attention. She couldn’t help it whenever a superior officer addressed her when she wasn’t expecting it.
“Yes ma’am! Sorry ma’am! I was just…” she suddenly realised how ridiculous she sounded and allowed herself to relax slightly, turning to face the Doctor, “I just thought I’d come round and see how the baby was doing… How you both were doing.”
She sounded a little nervous, and suddenly felt like a little girl who’d got caught someplace she wasn’t supposed to be.
“I’m sorry if I intruded…” she added.
“It’s alright.” Izzy relaxed somewhat, giving Elena a smile. “You’re welcome to come in. We’re.. um, we’re doing ok under the circumstances.” The haze of new parenthood showed in her eyes; red rimmed and sleep deprived as they were, and her face seemed to have an extra tension of worry. “But I appreciate you checking in on us.”
She pressed in the code for the door and held it open for Elena. “You’ll have to scrub in, this is a clean environment.” She entered, moving past the security door and a nurse’s desk, stopping at a wash station nearby. Izzy scrubbed her own hands, and then once Elena had followed suit, she led her down another short hallway to a small room. “We’re in here.”
Inside, the incubator was set up with easy access to medical personnel with several monitors and consoles around it to keep the baby’s environment and medications regulated. A bed was set up against the wall nearby along with a couple of chairs next to the incubator. The new parents had obviously been spending alot of time in here; the blankets were rumpled, and a few plates and cups that they hadn’t quite cleaned up yet were sitting on a small table next to the bed. A fragrant display of various congratulatory flowers were set on a shelf along with several toys and other baby gifts scattered around the room.
A nurse was sat next to the incubator, and looked up at their arrival. “I’ve just changed him and swapped out the milk in his feeding tube. He’s doing fine. Did you have a good break?” “Yes, thank you Dej.” Izzy gave her colleague a smile of gratitude. “Thanks for taking care of him. I’ll see you later.” “Anytime Doc. Just let me know if you need anything.” Dedoja stood and exited the room, leaving Izzy to her visitor.
Izzy settled herself into the chair that the nurse had recently vacated, and offered Elena the second chair after taking a small toy from the seat and setting it on the shelf. “Please, sit down.”
She leaned over to the incubator, checking in on Arun, who was currently sleeping fitfully. His body was swaddled in a standard hospital flannel baby blanket, his little hands curled up next to his face. An endotrachial tube and a feeding tube were attached to his mouth and nose, the top of his head was nearly swallowed by an elfin-looking handknit cap that one of the nurses had made for him. “Hello Arun,” she cooed to him. “This is Ensign Volkova.”
Elena smiled warmly at the sight of the little one, despite his frailness he was beautiful. She sat down next to Izzy with her hands clasped in her lap, still feeling somewhat awkward but more relaxed than before.
“Hi Arun,” she said in a whisper before turning back the Doctor, “He’s adorable, ma’am.”
She leaned over in her chair, wishing he would open his eyes so she could get a better look at him. “Thank you.” Izzy smiled, gazing at her son. Arun slept on, oblivious to both his mother and Elena peering into his little chamber. Izzy put a hand inside to adjust a tube that he had pulled on in his sleep and he stirred, his little face contorting into a mewling cry. She stroked his back and made a ‘shh shhh’ noise to calm him and he relaxed, then his eyes fluttered open giving them a sleepy stare.
Izzy realised she hadn’t spent much time talking with Volkova yet aside from a few exchanges on the Bridge. “So, have you spent much time around babies?” she asked curiously.
“Uhm, not much. My cousin a little when she was born, but I was ten at the time.” she said, ”When I was in the Academy I spent a lot of time volunteering at an orphanage so I have loads of experience with kids in general, I just don’t usually see them when they’re this young.”
She thought about the youngest kids she saw at the orphanage. Probably as young as three and they seemed so small, yet so grown up compared to Arun.
”I’ve always been pretty good with kids.” she said with a small smile as she stared at Arun, ”Guess I just speak their language.”
“An orphanage? That’s an unusual choice for someone on the tactical track. What made you decide to volunteer there?”
She let out a low chuckle.
”Oh, long story. Suffice it to say I lost my father when I was very young, and my mother and I became estranged after I joined up, so I guess I felt like a bit of an orphan myself.”
Elena went quiet for a moment and sat upright on the chair, adopting a more formal posture.
”Honestly, I always wanted to help people. It’s why I decided on Starfleet. I guess that’s why I volunteered to help those kids too.”
It sounded slightly practised. It was the line she always told her instructors at the Academy whenever they had asked her a similar question.
The practised tone wasn’t lost on Izzy. She could tell there was more behind the words, but she didn’t want to press Elena, especially not in a casual conversation. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to bring up painful memories. But you seem to have turned it into a strength in deciding to use those experiences to help people.”
“Yeah,” Elena said with a level of mock confidence, “I try to at least. Still trying to figure out how Commander Douglas does his job day after day though. I’m not sure I’ll ever have that kind of strength.”
She smiled softly. “I won’t lie, he had a difficult childhood, similar to your experiences in some ways. But he’s got an incredible amount of internal strength, in part because of that. More than most people give him credit for I think.”
“Yes I think I can see that…” Elena said quietly, leaving a moment of silence between the two of them again.
“Ma’am, if you don’t mind me asking,” she said again, “Doesn’t it make you scared? I mean… Raising a family on a starship. Having the Commander potentially putting his life on the line every time we go on a mission… But both of you chose to stay on board. Don’t you worry about what could happen?”
She shrank away from the Doctor slightly. Almost expecting to be admonished by her superior officer for asking something so personal.
Izzy continued to stroke the baby’s back, looking to her son’s small face with a wistful smile as he fell asleep again. “Every day.” she answered eventually, looking back to Elena. “I don’t think there’s been a day since I learned we were pregnant that I haven’t been scared silly about the ship being attacked, or of there being yet another war. Especially now, since the Bok’nor pact was signed.
“But, you know what? Even if we’d stayed on Earth to raise him, working in the safest jobs possible, there’d still be risks. I don’t think there’s a parent alive who doesn’t worry that something might happen and their child would be left without them. It’s just the nature of being a parent.”
“But I look at the risks and weigh them against the wonder and beauty of being of being out here; how much it teaches you and makes you grow. It’s an incredible gift really. I think the rewards far outweigh the risks in the end.”
Elena nodded and smiled. It was nice to feel the confidence that the Doctor had. The feeling of someone much wiser knowing something you don’t and so you just take it on faith that all is right with the world.
“I don’t know if I’d ever be able to make that decision.” she said after a time, “But you’re right. It is beautiful out here. I remember the first time I left Earth when I was fifteen… Seeing space for the first time… I think despite everything, the best part of me is out here.”
Izzy gave her a knowing nod. “Being able to see that beauty is what allows us to give the best part of ourselves to others.. Like those children in the orphanage.” “And of course I worry, but if I let myself slip into fear and negativity, I’m no good to anyone.. least of all him.” She looked to Arun again. “It might sound naive to say so, but I’d much rather think that in spite of it all, things are going to be ok.”
Elena thought about her next words very carefully. So much so that she could feel her anxiety on the rise again with the blood pumping through her head and being very aware of where she was arranging her hands in her lap. She didn’t want to sound like she was intruding on their family or as though she was implying more than she wished to. More than anything though, she just didn’t want anyone else to know how much the thought of this baby had been eating away at her.
“Doctor,” she began very slowly, “I just want you to know that I’ll be looking out for him. The Commander I mean. I’m going to make sure he’ll be ok”
“Thank you,” Izzy replied with a soft smile, accepting Elena’s offer in the spirit in which she intended. “That means alot to me.”
Elena nodded and got to her feet, straightening her uniform and clasping her hands behind her back.
“I think I ought to be going. I have a report to finish up for the morning,” she said, “Is there anything I can get you, Doctor? Something to eat? A book maybe?”
She chuckled. “I’m fine, go ahead and do your report. The nurses and other doctors have been ridiculously attentive, along with Soule. He’s even made himself a babycam for when he’s on the bridge.. But you’re welcome to come for a visit anytime.”
“Thank you, Ma’am. Just let me know if I can help in any way.”
With that Elena turned on her heel and made her way out of Sickbay. She felt calmer. Vindicated, maybe. As though she was now justified in how she’d been feeling. At the very least, she felt as though she might be able to sleep easier.
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Post by pscotty90 on Mar 25, 2019 18:18:04 GMT
A quick joint log with Aoibhe and Spacedaisy.
Team Ensign!!! - Part 1
“This is wonderful” the young Bajoran announced, her hands clasped together on her bag-laden lap. Her hair was dark with a slight curl that made her whole head come alive when she moved. It complimented her tanned skin beautifully.
All three of them were sitting on a piece of marble art close to where they had met. The sun was shining and there was a slight breeze. It was exceedingly pleasant.
She smiled nervously at her two new friends. “There are many people out there looking for stolen treasures,” she told them. “I’ve come up against some of them during my own searches and I know a lot of them haven’t the best intentions, sadly.” She pinned her dark eyes on the two young officers before her. “The Black Market is filled with artifacts stolen from ancient civilisations. It’s heartbreaking to know that, out of context with their surroundings these pieces lose so much of their value to us all. Our understanding of our cultural evolution is made poorer each time a looter gets there first.”
“I want to trust you with all this,” she said, gesturing to her leather bag, “but I hope you understand that would be foolish.”
Mari laughed, finding the comment entirely silly given the situation, “I could have just kept it instead of returning it to you.” She wondered what help the woman thought they could offer. “How certain are you that these sculptures will be there? Maybe looters already got there first…” She glanced up at the Three Sisters image on the banner fluttering gently in afternoon breeze above the museum entrance. Ezia thought for a moment, then nodded. “If they had been found, I doubt it’d stay secret for long. For a start, there are at least three collectors I could name who would go crazy. These people have spent a lot of money on pieces with, at best, real dubious providence, and this would wipe their value right off the map. OOf!” she added, considering that possibility, “There would be a lot of Cardies with a serious case of buyer’s remorse. That will be something to behold.”
“Also where do you think they are?” Elena chimed in, “We’re not exactly in a position to start digging up the Central Gardens of Rixx.” The young Bajoran smiled. “OK, so, um. Here’s what I have.”
Ezia outlined her theory in simple terms, discussing the burgeoning Black Market trade routes that had sprung up in this sector as the Dominion expanded its reach, how Gul Dolor - the Cardassian commander responsible for the main invasion force on Betazed - had a history of looting a planet’s historic wealth and passing prize specimens back through the ranks as the vanguard advanced. She described him as a common thief, on a massive scale. “His hold on Betazed was never complete, and by then the cracks were already appearing in the Dominion Alliance, so I suspect once he got his hands on the Sisters he would have found his route blocked by the Founders. So, you have these priceless artifacts in your grasp, but you can’t get them off planet. What would you do?” she turned to her new friends and gave them a questioning look.
The two officers glanced at each other and Elena shrugged.
“Presumably hide them somewhere where no one else will find them,” she said, “I remember one of the theories was that they were broken down and reformed into another shape but surely if Dolor wanted them for his own profit he wouldn’t have taken the risk.”
“Exactly!” Ezia smiled warmly. “So, what we need to do is look at Dolor’s time planetside - I have a day-by-day account of where he went right here -” she patted her bag, “and work from there. Maybe with your help I’ll get closer to finding them than I have on my own.” She hugged her bag with a growing look of relief. “You have a ship, right?”
Elena’s back stiffened in response to Ezia’s last question as she went back into her Security mode.
“We may be able to give you access to a ship, yes,” she said, chillier than before, “Tell me though, Ma’am. What interest does a Bajoran have in a Betazoid relic in the first place? Beyond the Cardassian connection, of course.”
Mari snuck a glance at Elena, before returning her attention to Ezia. She was very interested to hear her response to Elena’s question. This was sounding like more investment than just the two of them would be able to offer on their own. After all, they were just a couple Ensigns…
“Isn’t the Cardassian connection enough?” Ezia replied, her eyes wide. “The Cardassians had a hold on my world for so long that they stripped it at their own leisure of anything they thought had value and destroyed so much more. Some of the stories would make your heart weep,” she said, her voice filled with remorse, “I guess I don’t want to see the same thing happen here. We have a far better chance of recovering Betazoid artifacts, and I guess I just want to be on a winning team for once.”
Ezia felt the knot in her stomach harden. “I don’t need to be on a ship or anything, in fact, I’d prefer to be planetside. But some of the data chips I have are encoded, and I just don’t have the skill or facilities to decode them. Dolor’s schedule is among them, and, and..” her voice quivered, she coughed to settle it and continued “... I am worried if I delay any longer in locating them someone else will get to them and they’ll be lost forever. Word travels fast in the conspiracy community. It won’t be long til someone gets wind of my visit to the museum.”
It was hard for Elena not to feel sympathetic for Ezia. Still, she felt her duty was to protect the ship from harm, herself and Mari included.
“What do you think?” she asked Mari, “Think you can decode the data?”
“Sure, I can take a look at them. Worst case scenario, I hit a wall and can’t decode them.” She gave a half shrug, “Can’t hurt to try anyway.”
Ezia beamed, and clumsily rummaged through the satchel's contents. Her dainty hand emerged clutching a small box within which was carefully placed Cardassian data rod. She offered it to Mari. “Never hurts to try, right?”
Elena and Mari shared a passing glance again as they took the rod from Ezia. Mari palmed it as Elena cautiously looked around the city streets.
“Well…” Elena said, “I guess this really has become a working vacation.”
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Post by Einar on Mar 26, 2019 11:29:24 GMT
More please!
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