[JP] LT Gila Sadar & LT Vailani Zoyara - Home is Where Your New Space-Window Is
Gila Sadar
(( Commercial Transport Garten - Just outside of DS9 ))
Gila read the communication on her PADD for the seventeenth time since leaving Earth and the Artemis. She knew that it was illogical - it wasn’t like repeated reading would suddenly change the wording of the cryptic message - and yet she kept hoping that rereading it just one more time would suddenly lay bare the secret intentions behind it.
// Personal Subspace Communication
FROM: Eyla Aqila, Mizar II, Pozaron City, Ahmaton District, Block 12, Eastrise 2
TO: Gila Sadar, USS Artemis-A
SUBJECT: Come home \\
Alnato Sister.
I have something of great importance I need to discuss with you. I realize that you have chosen a life in the stars, but I need you to meet me on Mizar IV.
I look forward to seeing you again and hearing of your rehabilitation.
I hope you are doing well. \\
Zoyara, meanwhile, had paced the corridors of the transport for one simple purpose; she had to keep moving. At first she had busied herself with being useful, that consisted of assisting with the aftermath of the events of Frontier Day. Except now, she found herself on a commercial transport away from the familiar comforts of a Starfleet vessel and perhaps worse of all, a perfectly functioning transport as well.
There was nothing for her to do on this awful ship. No glaring regulatory infractions for her to harass the captain about; a Vulcan of course. Everything was in order and it left her … with spare time. She couldn’t even access her files to continue her work for the Ronin - yet again they’d gotten themselves into even more trouble and this had resulted in a shutdown of the computer core as she would have to undergo a major repair.
So she had taken to pacing around each deck. At first it was an exercise to find something to report. Then, it became something else entirely. She just couldn't stop her legs from wandering. If she stopped there was too much that might creep in.
The rhythm of a thousand voices.
When she quietly re-entered the room that she was sharing with Gila, she found her friend in her own inner turmoil.
Vailani: :: friendly jibe :: Reading the content over and over isn't going to change it.
Gila startled slightly - though much less than she would’ve had it been any other voice to intrude into her soliloquy - and looked up at the blonde Bajoran who’d re-entered the room, removing her eyes from the words of a stranger masquerading as her sister.
Sadar: O-Oh, uhh... What did you say, Vai-net?
Vailani: :: sighs :: Nothing … it seems we've both got things on our minds.
Vai-net’s pacing had been a bit of a concern to Gila at the start of their journey. She wanted nothing more than to offer her friend some kind of distraction, some kind of task that would busy her hands while they were en-route back to her Ship. The two of them were oddly similar in that regard, and if it wasn’t because of the odd message on the PADD in her hands, Gila had no doubt she would also be struggling with being separated from the Artemis’ Sickbay. As it, however, Gila could barely keep her brain from spiraling into utter chaos, much less offer any constructive advice to Vai-net.
Sadar: Sorry... ::looks down at the PADD:: I-I... I haven’t been home in more than a decade. And this message... It doesn’t sound like her.
Gila was very thankful to Captain MacKenzie for allowing her to head home on such short notice... The Artemis would remain in orbit of Earth while the repairs following Frontier Day progressed, and with the most demanding medical tasks completed on Earth and the mandatory counseling programme off to a good start, Gila’s presence was far less vital now than it would be upon their return to the Borderlands. And being able to share the journey with Vai-net was definitely one of the best parts. After all the stories her friend had told of the USS Ronin, Gila looked forward to laying eyes on the Akira Class vessel, which was - apparently - currently docked at DS9.
Vailani: What do you think she wants? Seems a little bit extreme to expect you to drop everything and trek halfway across the galaxy for a catch up?
Zoyara took a seat next to the Mizarian.
Sadar: I... I don’t know. I-I don’t have anything she could want, and yet-
Vailani: :: impatient :: They always want something, Gila-net. People can't help themselves. Pacifist or not. I couldn't tell you the last time any of my brother's contacted me but I'm sure if they wanted something they wouldn't waste a nanosecond. Bajoran. Mizarian. Human. Klingon. All the same. Now you just have to figure out what it is that only you can provide that your sister may want?
Gila fell silent. The options were limited. It had to be something important enough to prompt her xenophobic older sister to willingly leave the safety of Mizabet in order to visit a Federation colony two planets away. And then there was her secrecy! What did it mean that she wouldn’t tell what was wrong in the message itself? Was she trying to lure Gila back, into a proverbial trap? No, surely not, then they’d be going to Mizabet, not Mizar IV.
But then WHAT!?
Sadar: ... Yeah... Well, I, uhh, I still have to find transport to Mizar IV, s-so... I suppose I have time to figu-
Gila’s voice died down as the shuttle approached DS9, and her brow ridges furrowed. The station itself looked as usual, but there were some... Unusual additions... And judging from the very obvious damage and hull breaches and other decidedly non-standard design alterations, it was evident that the Akira class had definitely seen better days.
Vailani: Oh no. What have they done this time?!
Sadar: I-I’m, uhh... I-Is this normal?
Vailani: Well… yes :: crossed her arms and scowled:: I've told you about Captain Beardy. He can't help himself but run to danger that most have good sense to avoid. But he's outdone himself this time.
Zoyara looked at Ronin's scarred, fractured hull and the pockets of dark, emptied spaces and there was a stirring of conflicted emotions. Underneath the concern for the crew was a simmering anger that they'd allowed this to happen in the first place … again?!
Then … it was something to do. A much needed distraction and she found herself eager to get off the transport and begin her work.
Sadar: A-Are... A-Are you okay?
Vailani: I'm perfectly fine :: nods towards the Ronin :: I'm not sure the Captain will be once I'm through with him. I mean … I was gone barely two weeks and look at her?!
Gila felt her anxiety start to ramp up, as she realized that she might have to prevent a court martial-in-the-making.
Sadar: M-M-Maybe it’s not as bad as it looks? I-I mean, the damage might not be on all decks?
Vailani: Gila there's holes from deck 14 to 16?! My quarters are on deck 14?!
Gila was about to attempt to offer the counter-argument that surely the hull breach didn't cover the entirety of Deck 14, and surely Vai-net would be able to return to her quarters, but the Wheel had a habit of proving her wrong at the most inopportune moments.
DS9 Ops: =/\= Transport vessel Garten - welcome to DS9. You’re cleared for Docking Bay 6. Be advised, we have a shortage of accommodations at the moment, so any tourists are encouraged to find residence on Bajor. =/\=
Gila paled. Oh no.
Zoyara tensed her knuckles … her grievances about the condition of the Ronin were momentarily forgotten. She turned to Gila and shook her head, while her friend raised her lavender hands, attempting to placate the bristling Bajoran. She was getting more prickly than a Verdoorian Stingfish, which was not a good look for her, nor a good disposition to release her in when she was unleashed upon her - no doubt - very struggling crewmates.
Sadar: I - uhh - I-I’m sure that doesn’t mean anything-
Vailani: What does - :: aghast :: we're on leave?! That :: takes a breath :: good for nothing harrigan of a captain has busted the ship beyond recognition and then decided to go for a cozy vacation, no doubt he'll be tinkering with his recipes while we have to fix the ship.
A small slither of a smile creased her cheeks as she finally locked eyes with her friend, an expression that almost scared Gila more than if Vailani Zoyara had developed the Vulcan proclivity for eyebrows raising off of her face.
Sadar: ::increasingly concerned: V-Vai-net?
Vailani: :: smiles :: It's good to be home.
oO She’s lost her mind... Oo
Written by
LT Gila Sadar
Medical Officer
USS Artemis-A
A240006GS1
&
LT JG Vailani Zoyara
Mission Ops Specialist
USS Ronin
A240004LL2
As simmed by:
LT Luxa Lorana
Science Officer
USS Ronin
A240004LL2