Hope

Posted on Fri Jul 5th, 2019 @ 12:21pm by

1,012 words; about a 5 minute read

Mission: What Stalks The Night
Location: CIO's quarters
Timeline: 0400

[Before]

A field medical tricorder did what it could to repair some superficial damage to her body, but failed to heal the deeper injuries she had sustained over the last few weeks of battering it had endured.

Near physical and mental break point, the intelligence officer fell asleep on her couch, curled up into a little bundle until her alarm went off at 0400.

[Now]

When the alarm went off at 0400, the fog of deep, exhausted sleep refused to lift quickly from the body lying uncomfortably curled up on the coach. The chime persisted and the computer voice chimed in too, which forced tired eyelids to open. Tavana wanted to shout at the alarm and jump up, but her limbs refused point blank. All that happened was that Tavana tumbled off the couch onto the floor. The shout was merely a groan. Her jaw wouldn't open properly.

The jaw didn't get that much attention though, it simply disappeared in the assemblage of other pains in her body. With an disproportionate amount of effort the half Klingon got up and carefully made her way to her room, but her console beeped. The computer informed her that there was an incoming call.

She had to physically go to her console in order to communicate with the grave yard shift ops officer to acknowledge the call.

"There is a call from a Lt Colan to you, from the USS Asger", he answered.

"Phut it frew" she mumbled. ~ Is this Aryen??~ she thought surprised. Aryen was her cousin who served with her on the IKS VaQbach and she was with when they went on shore leave. And when their ship and crew disappeared. They lost contact when Aryen was called to join a diplomatic salvage mission between the Klingon Empire and the Federation as she was the most senior officer that had survived and Tavana went to Quvat 'el TigH, teh home planet of her father's family. They had not had contact till now.

A few moments passed and the connection was patched through to her console. Tavana stared at the smiling face of the half Betazoid on the screen. She didn't increase the illumination in her room. It was better so. Last thing she needed was for Aryen to crap on her.

"Tavi!" Aryen greeted. "I am so happy to see you, girl!. I found you and couldn't wait to contact you. What time is it there?"

"0400... but it'sh no pobem, " she said forcing her mouth to form the words, regardless how painful it was.

Ayren could see something was the matter with Tavi. "Still hard. right?"

Tavana nodded. This was the one person who would understand and who couldn't be fooled either.

"I know, for me too, I can't stop thinking about them..." the dark haired woman admitted.

Tears started to stream down Tavana's cheeks, uninvited, uncontrolled. Seeing Aryen just triggered the pent up emotion she so tried to deny. Her shoulders shook and she covered her face in sudden anguish. "I should have been with them... I should have been with them," the broken young woman repeated over and over again.

Aryen's eyes filled with tears as well. "Oh Tavi, how I wish I was there with you, that we could be closer," she expressed. Both sat quiet overcome by the grief they shared. They did not need to say much. The shared loss brought a depth of understanding that could not always be expressed in words. They were too far apart for them to communicate telepathically, but there was an empathic sense of each other's presence.

As if reaching across the vast distance of space, Aryen touched the screen with her finger tips.

Tavana looked up, her features still mostly in darkness, but the glistening tears illuminated her distress.

"I should have been with them....They are all gone.."

"And there is no closure, " Aryen added, switching almost to counsellor mode, which she resisted. "It makes it more difficult."

"Yes, we don't know what happened to them...." she forced out of her compromised mouth.

"I know... I also think up all kinds of scenarios at times, and it just doesn't help..." Aryen admitted.

Tavana stared at the woman she admired. Recognition dawned on her. It was as hard for Aryen as it was for her.

"One thing I do know," Aryen said interrupting Tavana's train of thought. "They are one of the strongest, resourceful crews out there. They have seen war more than once and came through it. Kre is a tough bastard, Z'aedy, Karagh, Doren... Marog, you know them... Starfleet and Klingon.. if there is a way for them to survive, wherever they are, they will. That is the one thing I hold on to.."

Tavana dropped her head. "I needed to hear that," she mumbled encouraged, but ashamed also, that she hadn't seen it that way.

"Tavi, we should be there for each other... I need you too, I need to know you will be okay, I can't lose you too...I just can't..." Aryen said, wiping tears from her black orbs.

That spoke to the inherent sense of honour in Tavana. She merely nodded.

"And take care of that weird looking bulge at the side of your face."

Another nod.

"My dear little Tavi, I have to go, love you, okay...." Aryen ended as lightly as she could, pointing a 'watching you' to Tavana with her two fingers.

"Love you too." A smile was impossible.

Once the call ended, Tavana sat quietly for long time. Even she realised that one encouraging conversation would not erase her grief. she had a long way to go with no idea how she would actually 'be okay' as Ayren said.

Not bothering to dress in her uniform, she was not on duty for another two hours, she made her way to sickbay in her exercise pants and long sleeve T-shirt. She was everything but a pretty picture as she walked rather stiffly through the halls.

OFF

LtJG Tavana Colan, Daughter of Kretorg.
CIO
USS Dreadnought

And

Lt Aryen Colan
Chief counsellor
USS Asger
(npc)

RSS Feed