Lt Jovenan – Councillor-level counselling
Jovenan
((Grombria’s office, Palais de la Concorde, Paris))
Grombria: You can give me more than that, the stuff that isn’t classified. I can always requisition the logs if I wanted.
Jovenan frowned a little. She had hoped that the Councillor’s enthusiasm could be thwarted by explaining the legal complications concerning the information and its propagation. He, however, knew better which buttons to press. He was, after all, among the highest officials among the Federation – much higher than she or Genkos, at least, even though not directly in their chain of command – and probably knew the secrecy laws just as well as they did, if not better. Having considered her options, both legally and personally, she preferred to proceed but remain as vague as possible.
Jovenan: We… came across with an Edo, a mediator in fact, and took her on board. She… she was from another universe. Our people exist in that universe as well, so do our world and our God. There were differences, but it was all remarkably similar. And… ::long pause:: she was me. Her universe’s counterpart of me.
The Councillor reacted by gasping and covering his mouth. His dramatic reaction was quite understandable; Jovenan had experienced something similar when it had all first happened. But in her case, it had not been told to her so concisely and directly, since it had taken them awhile to get in contact with the vessels that had appeared before them in a flash of light, recognize their inhabitants and verify that it had not been a trick of any kind. She had been dubious and, due to their exciting research mission before that, overworked and tired. She had never really appreciated how bonkers it had been.
Grombria: Gracious - what happened to her - where is she now?
Jovenan: She died as a victim of a crime, trying to stop a crime. We had a ceremony according to our traditions so that her spirit would find peace and fade to everything.
It was a clean and formal answer. It would have served no purpose to explain further nor to drag it. That would have only twisted the dagger in her hearth again. She remembered the helpless dread she had felt when her death had been announced, and Vitor’s rage as well. Slowly, she had learnt to live with it, to forget it and let her sister-across-the-universes finally fade away, but the discussion with Vitor just recently had opened up the old wounds… and she had done the same to Vitor.
The Councillor stepped closer and placed his hand over her shoulder, giving it a squeeze. Jovenan was surprised by the gesture, but didn’t move. She had been very careful not to violate anyone’s personal space since her days in the University, to the point where others touching her made her feel guilty. It was all out of respect to others and not to cause any discomfort to them. But Grombria was a fellow Edo, a person of her own culture, where such intimacy was the bare minimum and where she had not felt uncomfortable. This gesture felt normal and simultaneously similar to all those times she had cowered over a touch. It helped her realise how much she had overreacted before.
Grombria: Oh I am so sorry, I should not have pushed.
Adea: It’s okay, Councillor, you weren’t to know.
Jovenan nodded. She appreciated Genkos stepping in.
Jovenan: Yes. No apologies are needed.
Grombria: But still, it must be difficult to have it brought up. Watching anyone die is painful, but for it to be yourself, that’s impossible for me to imagine. You have my gratitude, Jovenan, for your service. ::suddenly remembering the good doctor:: You both do.
Jovenan smiled a little. There had been so much more she could have told him, but she was happy that she could finally talk about it to someone who wasn’t already emotionally involved with the events. She didn’t need to care what Grombria had felt about the other Jovenan, because he didn’t know anything about it beforehand, unlike Vitor, Talos, Genkos or anyone else she could have talked with. The Councillor wasn’t a counsellor, but maybe she could now work towards letting the past emotions be. If only she could help Vitor do the same.
Adea: Thank you for saying so, Councillor.
Jovenan: Thank you. I value your appreciation.
The Councillor clapped his hands and walked to the replicator again. Jovenan had a deep breath behind his back; she had been nervous about meeting one of the top legislators in the Federation, but the fact that he could be so… jovial and still probe so much into her personal history had been surprising.
Grombria: Now I think it’s your turn - ask me anything.
Jovenan raised an eyebrow and turned towards Genkos, finding him already looking at her, smiling. Turning back, she, too, adopted a smile, albeit an uncertain one. Her first reaction was to learn more about the Councillor, how had he been chosen to this position, how did he find it. But then she remembered who they were: she wasn’t doing an interview for a school project or a lifestyle magazine, she was a Starfleet officer and he was a Federation dignitary. And, considering what had just happened, he might have information that might be more than relevant for her in the near future.
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?
Grombria/Adea: Response
Jovenan nodded, slowly. For a moment, she wondered if her old family had realised that she had been in the middle of it all, and if they had been worried about her. But she wanted to know more from the Councillor himself.
Jovenan: And you? Politically… or personally.
Grombria/Adea: Response
She brought her eyebrows together. She had been in varying levels of danger ever since stepping aboard the Excal, even in battles, but she still remembered the time when she had never held a phaser or known what it felt like to stand on a deck when the entire ship shook. She could only imagine the panic down on Earth.
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.
Grombria/Adea: Response
TAG/TBC
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Lieutenant Jovenan
Chief Science Officer
USS Artemis-A
E239911J11