LtCmdr Jovenan – I should have called the next morning
Jovenan
((Brew Continuum, Deck 3, USS Artemis))
A rooibos tea and a fresh batch of pastries on the way, Jovenan joined Richards at a table. The appearance of the civilian scientist had been almost as sudden – from Jovenan’s perspective, at least – as the time she had materialized aboard the Borg Cube some months ago near the Badlands. This time, the meeting was far more pleasant, however, with the fear, anger and doubt all vanished, and instead of the stench of rotting drones, the aromas of coffee and baked goods filled the artificial atmosphere.
Jovenan: I’m really sorry I didn’t recognize you at first, I didn’t expect to see you here. How come you are here anyway?
S. Richards: No it’s okay. We have all dealt with what we went through in different ways, some by blocking it out and some by facing it head on. ::shrugging:: I’ve done a bit of both. Which is why I am here. I felt like I couldn’t fully heal until I saw the people I was there with. I had to say thank you to the ones that helped keep me alive. You are one of those people.
The barista brought Jovenan’s drink and the pastries to them, and Jovenan gestured Richards to take some of the food. She wanted to assert that Richards didn’t need to thank her, certainly not travel across the galaxy for that, but her experience – however minimal – told her to just accept it gracefully. She didn’t want to imply denying the magnitude of the events and everyone’s importance in it by downplaying her own role. Even if Jovenan didn’t feel like she had done much to save them, they had accomplished a lot as a team, for which she was very proud.
The team… She thought for a moment how much she remembered of the events on the Cube, and if she was indeed blocking the memory. It had all been so sudden, and now it had become hazy in her mind, and the Battle in the Sol System with all the awful memories associated with it kept surfacing over it. Jovenan and Captain MacKenzie had been there, as had Richards, but the others were harder to remember. Doctor Orray? Lieutenants… Jovenan couldn’t remember. They’d come to her mind later. She hoped that they were all well, despite her inability to bring their names from the depths of her memory.
Jovenan: And what happened to you and the others once we parted ways? You must have been on the Kitty Hawk, right?
S. Richards: Yeah, that’s where I was when the signal went out… A lot of us were assimilated. A lot of bad stuff happened after that. I uh, hope you don’t mind if I ask. Were you… affected by the signal?
Jovenan kept her smile but
pressed her lips tighter together. It was a big question; she could
hear Richard’s hesitation in her voice. It was remarkable how many
people she had talked about the Frontier Day without actually anyone
actually saying anything. Richards was bolder than them to bring it up, but that wasn’t
a bad thing.
Jovenan: No, I wasn’t assimilated at any point.
S. Richards: I’m really glad you didn’t have to go through that, ::picking at a pastry:: but don’t let that discredit what you did go through. That day was hell for everyone.
Jovenan sipped her tea while thinking what to say in response. She could read between the lines that Richards had been one of the people who had been temporarily assimilated by the Collective’s heinous scheme. She couldn’t imagine what horrors the poor woman had had to go through after their ways had parted. Jovenan didn’t want to admit to still seeing and hearing the drones lurking in the shadows, but she could only guess what kind of demons preyed in the minds of those who had not been as lucky as she had been.
Jovenan:
It was, but you shouldn’t
feel sorry to say that. I don’t know what all happened to you out
there, but the fact that you’re still here tells me that you did good.
Richards kept picking her pastry without eating any. Jovenan considered reaching for the other scientist’s hand for encouragement but decided against it. Not touching offworlders without their explicit consent was one of Jovenan’s principles, and even now, she wanted to hold onto it. Richards raised her eyes up from the pastry. Jovenan tried giving her a polite smile.
S. Richards: Despite everything we all went through. I think I made some really good friends along the way… A small silver lining I guess.
That
statement made smiling much easier. Jovenan adored Richards’
positivity, a trait in her she most missed from the days before the
Frontier Day and the few most demanding missions before that. It was a sign of recovery, she supposed.
Jovenan: Something good in everything. ::sips tea, then chuckle:: Now I feel bad for not keeping in touch with you all!
She wasn’t serious in what she said, but the fact that she hadn’t even recognized Richards at first told her that she hadn’t seized the opportunity to get to know people around the galaxy. Her shyness had prevented her from making too many friends from outside the ship, but she was almost jealous how Captain MacKenzie and Talos had appeared to know just about everyone they had come across that day.
S. Richards: Response
Jovenan: Would you mind relaying my thanks to everyone once you return to Amity? The people in our team on the Cube, at least, as well as the couple of officers who stayed with us on the Artemis, Commander Hopper and Lieutenant Ric… hards?
Jovenan had stumbled a little with Lieutenant Richards’ name, realising that he shared it with Sam Richards. It could be a coincidence, but what she had understood of human cultures, a shared last name could indicate familial relationship. She gave Richards a questioning look.
S. Richards: Response
Jovenan: Oh. Well, I assume you’ve already talked with Captain MacKenzie, but if there’s still time on your thank-you tour, you may want to visit Commander Dakora and Doctor Adea as well. They helped him and Hopper a lot, and vice versa. Or have you met them?
S. Richards: Response
TAG/TBC
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Lieutenant Commander Jovenan
Chief Science Officer
USS Artemis-A
E239911J11