Lt Jovenan – Fun? What is that?
Jovenan
((Grombria’s office, Palais de la Concorde, Paris))
Grombria: Now I think it’s your turn - ask me anything.
Jovenan turned to Genkos, finding him already looking at her and smiling, his eyebrows raised. They had discussed various topics, from her assimilation – a poor choice of words – to Starfleet, all the way to the death of her sister-across-the-universes. Now, the representative of her people and her homeworld, as gregarious as ever but still considerate with the serious topics, allowed her to guide where the conversation was headed to. Smiling a little to the Councillor, even if uncertainly, she found the task surprisingly difficult. She supposed more personal questions could wait, after all, she was, despite her low rank and standing, a representative of her ship and Starfleet, and he was a Federation dignitary with direct access to the federal government and her homeworld. She might as well ask something meaningful.
Jovenan: Do you know anything about the reactions at home about what happened here? How do the people take the news of the assimilation and the battle?
The Councillor handed her a new drink. His gaze lingered in her, making her wonder if the reports from home had concerned him more than she had thought.
Grombria: Fear. Fear mainly. Fear that this will happen again, and fear that it could happen to them.
Adea: Understandable.
Jovenan nodded, slowly. She had hoped the other Edo might react with the familiar apathy they had for seemingly everything, but the fact that they were afraid saddened her. She doubted her old family thought of her often, but maybe they too were worried of her when they had heard the news. Maybe she should’ve sent them a letter straight after the battle. It also told her of the planet and its civilization becoming more connected to the affairs of the rest of the Federation. It hadn’t been too long ago when she had needed to apply for a permission to leave the planet; it was an inevitable development that they would start to view themselves as an integral part of the galactic community. But for now, she focused on the matters at hand.
Jovenan: And you? Politically… or personally.
Grombria: Politically, it has been a mess - Starfleet has a lot of questions to answer about what happened. ::he waved a hand:: Not you, obviously, higher up than you. ::a dark shadow flit across his face:: Much, much higher up. ::he brightened again:: Personally, I am relieved. Relieved that it was stopped, and relief that it wasn’t worse. ::he looked at Jovenan:: What about yourselves?
Jovenan brought her eyebrows together in an expression of sympathetic worry. She was curious about the changes the political apparatus might force onto Starfleet – there were certainly questions to be asked from the top members of the Admiralty – but she also considered the Councillor’s and other’s individual experiences. She didn’t know much about the Councillor’s past, but she doubted he had any combat or self-defence training. The panic on the planet had likely been immense, she for certain would have been immobilized by fear had something like this happened during her early Academy years or before. She had nearly panicked, even after all her experiences.
Jovenan: We see combat sometimes in our service, so it could have been different for us. ::looks at Adea:: But it has never been like this, not for me at least.
Genkos nodded. The vastly more experienced officer must have seen many more battles than her, but she doubted there had been several that would come close to the destruction of this one.
Adea: I’ve seen more than my fair share of violence, death and destruction, but this… this was on another scale. I pray to the four that it doesn’t happen again.
Grombria: I think we all do.
Jovenan: Indeed.
There was a shared sentiment between them, despite the different religions and perhaps different opinions on the utility of asking for a divine intervention. The solemn moment didn’t last for long, as the Councillor once again clapped his hands enthusiastically, bringing forth some of his earlier joviality.
Grombria: Well now, we’ve been thoroughly depressed so let’s chat something else. Jovenan, what do you do for fun aboard the ARtemis?
She was surprised by the course the Councillor had picked for them. It was starting to become obvious to her that he didn’t actually have an agenda for this meeting, and that he was more curious about her than the topics related to any of their work. It made sense, she figured, that he might want to know about her journey to Starfleet and what obstacles and opportunities she had faced there, since he might want to learn more about the things that matter to his constituencies, but this one was far more personal a question. Then again, he was showing his Edo mindset, occupied with the matters of leisure.
Still, despite the much more casual direction their conversation was heading to, she struggled to answer. What did she do on her free time again? Did she do anything fun?
Jovenan: Oh? Um, I’ve taken a habit to go for a run in our Fitness Centre. The ship starts to feel a bit cramped without exercise, and running in the corridors on a daily basis may cause accidents, not to mention doesn’t fit the ship’s standards well.
Was that fun in the sense the Councillor meant? Were things that were necessary not also fun? The more Jovenan thought about it, she may have started off with a less-than-optimal example for fun.
Grombria/Adea: Response
Jovenan: Well, um, much of the recreation happens during the shore leaves, typically on different planets, like when the Commander ::moves hand at Adea:: invited me to visit his old home town. But we also have some recreational facilities on board, like the holodecks. I sometimes have social activities there with my, um, friends.
Jovenan began to realise how much more difficult it was to respond to this line of questions than the less personal ones. The work dominated much of her life. Even her planetside shoreleave activities were just taking younger colleagues to dangerous places and witness them getting hurt due to her actions. The visit to the vet in Dekoa was an exception, although she then had to revisit the exact same place in a much grimmer history. And with her recent discussion with Vitor, she wondered if they could get another opportunity for a cooking night or anything similar ever again. She found herself asking if she was becoming miserable on the ship.
Grombria/Adea: Response
TAG/TBC
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Lieutenant Jovenan
Chief Science Officer
USS Artemis-A
E239911J11