LtCmdr. Talos Dakora - Uraveling
Travis
(( First Officer's office, USS Artemis-A, deck 2 ))
Sitting across from Ensign Chevalier, Talos was beginning to suspect that this was more than just a debriefing for the young Operations Officer.
There was a rising intensity as he spoke, as if he was re-opening an old wound as he recounted the events.
Talos understood the feeling. He too was only just beginning to process all that they had been through. Though they said that the sket only rolled downhill, Talos didn’t see it that way. He’d deal with the fallout from this mission on his own terms and be as supportive as possible to those who needed them.
Sensing a lull in the conversation, he prompted Chevalier for more.
Dakora: In your words, how did the Artemis team end up joining The BZR?
Talos watched over the top of his PADD as Jaseb took a long pull from his coffee and steadied himself with a deep breath.
Chevalier: We meet with your mother, Leera. She had helped us escape through the sewage system, and during our escape - looking into our options and considering our limited resources and ignorance of the reality of the times in which we found ourselves, we agreed to help her. And she took our offer and took us there - into her resistance cell in BZR. We had hoped to establish a connection with Starfleet, but they informed us that due to the state of the Dominion War, this was impossible. We had no chance to detect the fact there is Artemis in that Betazed orbit. Our attempts to contact the ship went unanswered. And later, once we discovered the planet was occupied, we limited our attempts to avoid interception by the Dominion.
Chevalier struck Talos as the always-prepared Boy Scout type. He would’ve bet money the kid had rehearsed his retelling of this story at least once. Yet, he seemed to be unraveling a little.
There was a sort of disjointed quality to his delivery and he trailed off unexpectedly.
Talos set the PADD down and raised an eyebrow at the Ensign.
Dakora: Jaseb, are you alright? You seem… off?
Chevalier: Response
Talos nodded, thinking he’d been close enough to correct in his initial assessment. He leaned forward, placing his elbows on his desk and intertwining his fingers in front of him.
Dakora: I’m no counselor, but I was there too. I know what you went through. If you’d like to, you know, talk about it, we can. ::He glanced at the PADD on the desk.:: Off the record.
Chevalier: Response
He listened carefully as the blonde Ensign across the desk spoke, nodding his understanding where it felt appropriate.
When it was his turn to speak again, he smiled sadly.
Dakora: I know that wasn’t the easiest subject, so I appreciate your candor. ::He took a deep breath.:: You should know you aren’t alone Jaseb. I remember– after my first encounter with CloQ– feeling this strange sense of anxiety that this reality was just another one of CloQ’s tricks and that at any moment they’d appear and snap me into some new nightmare.
Talos picked up his steaming mug of Raktajino and took a sip before setting it back on the coaster with a satisfying click.
Dakora: Our brains don’t handle the impossible all that well. It just takes time.
Chevalier: Response?
TAG/TBC
======//////======>
LtCmdr. Talos Dakora
First Officer
USS Artemis-A
O238811CD0