Lt. JG Natasha Cole - Clothes, Calls, and Confusion

[Natasha Schell]

((Natasha’s Quarters Deck 3, Sector 14 Compartment 48, USS Artemis))

 

Natasha had collapsed onto the couch that sat in her quarters. Ollie had in fact arranged to have her personal effects transferred to her new quarters. He didn’t mention that everything would be placed in the literal middle of the room. She had spent the better part of the afternoon unpacking everything across her bed, the floor, the workstation and the couch.

 

Looking around the room from her horizontal position, it was kind of serial that, within reason, she could redecorate this space. She pushed herself up and started picking up her clothes she had just draped across, putting them away. She moved onto the clothes across the bed, when her combadge chirped.

 

Udesky: =/\= Udesky to Lieutenant Cole, I have a communiqué for you. =/\=

 

Natasha made a face, she wasn’t expecting anyone to contact her, and she had only sent a message an hour ago to her Mom and Juno. It would be a day or two before they got back to her. She doubted the Commander would reach out, she still hadn’t sent that message she had been working on.

 

Cole: ::confused:: =/\= Cole here, can you patch it through to my quarters? Thanks.=/\=

 

Natasha had her back to her display, looking at the sweater in her hands as she put it away finishing that task. The screen behind her shifted from its standby display to that of an older woman.

 

Rea: Natasha Helena Cole! What is this I am hearing about you almost getting killed during a recent away mission? Hmm.

 

Natasha literally jumped hearing her full name used out of the blue and unexpectedly. She turned to face the woman she has lovingly come to know as Aunt Rea. She wasn’t able to even guess where she might be judging from what was behind her, but she was happy to see her.

 

Cole: Hi Aunt Rea. ::sitting down with a smile::

 

Her Aunt just stared back at her waiting for an explanation.

 

Cole: I was careful. I made sure that if I got stabbed it was in a non lethal area. Plus I had people I needed to protect.

 

She stood up and lifted her shirt pointing at the area, a faint scar might have been able to be seen if someone looked close enough. Her Aunt's face palmed and shook her head.

 

Rea: My little Echo, always running headfirst into trouble. Just like … ::lost in thought for a moment:: So tell me, how does that promotion feel?

 

She shifts, rubbing the back of her neck, trying—and failing—to hide the smile creeping in. She exhales, half-laughing, half-shock.

 

Cole: I’m proud, but there’s this knot in my stomach too? Not the bad kind … more like… the “don’t screw this up” kind. It’s like stepping into boots I’ve been training to wear, and are now starting to fit.

 

Rea: ::smiling::I’m proud of you too. I have to go, but please be careful out there.

 

Cole: Oh before you go ::grabbing the communicator from next to her bed, holding it up:: I managed to get it back together. Can you tell me anything about it?

 

Rea: ::coyly smiling:: I’m sure it’s got a story to tell ::wink:: I’ll be seeing you on the flipside, love you.

 

And like that Natasha was left staring at the standby display.

 

Cole: Love you too, Aunt Rea, love you too.

 

She looked around her quarters realizing she surprisingly didn’t have much left to put away. Glancing back at the communicator in her hand she waited long enough to power it on. She powered it on, and flicked her wrist a few times to get it to open. After the second try it opened fully on the third. She smiled pleased not only with herself, but that it appeared to be retaining power. She sat down at her workstation and set the antique communicator on top of the console.

 

Cole: Computer, are there any audio logs stored on this device?

 

Natasha got up and walked over to her bed and sat.

 

Computer: Yes, there are numerous audio files stored on this device. Be advised, several are encoded with temporal encryptions.

 

Cole: What does that mean?

 

Computer: They will become available after a predetermined time in the future.

 

Natasha flopped backwards onto her bed with a sigh, this wasn’t helping the family rumors about Aunt Rea.

 

Cole: Computer, play the first entry that isn’t locked out.

 

Computer: Playing first recording.

 

There was a moment of silence before a young woman’s voice filled the air.

 

Marlowe: This is Lieutenant Marlowe, Science Officer onboard the NX-04 Challenger. The Captain has been in a medically induced coma after the incident aboard the Vulcan Science vessel, S’Larik last month. Sub Commander T’Pren, Lieutenant Rowe and myself were able to synthesize an antidote for the virus that affected the crew of the S’Larik.

 

Natasha stared at the ceiling of her quarters. This was weird hearing a voice from nearly a quarter of millennia ago as if she was sitting in the room with her.

 

Marlowe: We can only hope what worked on the remaining Vulcan’s will work on the Captain. Apparently the virus took an hour to affect them. They called it the ‘Red Hour’ Virus. ::sigh::

 

Rowe: Marlow, he’s starting to wake up.

 

Marlowe: Oh thank god

 

Computer: That is the end of that entry; would you like me to play another?

 

Cole: No, but save a backup to that on my computer please.

 

The computer indicated that a back up was made, as Natasha laid there realizing she just heard a message about her ancestor. She couldn’t help but notice Lieutenant Marlowe's voice had the weight of worry behind it. She was lost in thought just thinking about her chat with Aunt Rea.

 

Cole: ::shooting up:: Wait .. How the hell did she know about my promotion and the away mission?

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Lt. JG Natasha Cole
Security Officer
USS Artemis-A
Writer ID A240205NC4