Lt Commander Serala: Dilemmas and Decisions
Jim Davis
(( Security Office, Deck 4, USS Atlantis, Day 2 of shore leave ))
(( OOC: Takes place shortly after arrival of Commander Thoran ))
Serala sat in her chair in the Security Office staring at the monitor in front of her which contained Noshka’s report of the incident that had occurred while she was away on the mission. At least, that is what it was supposed to contain. She hadn’t actually read it yet. She had too many thoughts scrambling her brains right now.
First was her newly discovered pregnancy. Ordinarily, she wouldn’t have begun to exhibit any symptoms that might clue her in to the possibility. But that stupid station with its stupid freak show factory had told her she had a parasite, which was revealed to actually be her newly formed fetus. She hadn’t even told her husband yet. She wasn’t sure why not. The idea of being a mother both excited her and terrified her. The last thing she wanted to do was cause another being to live through the nightmare she had grown up with in her mother. No, that wasn’t fair. For all her faults, R’Val had been the best mother she knew how to be and Serala knew she loved her daughter. It was just that her Romulan background caused her to express it in different ways than humans. Way Serala had expected, being both half-Human and growing up on Earth. But, she was nonetheless excited that she was going to be a mother. True, she hadn’t expected it to be so young. After all, she was only 41. And Stevok was around her age as well. For both a Vulcan and Romulan, that was still quite young. There was also her career to consider in light of this development. True, other parents managed to balance their careers in Starfleet with parenthood. Just look at how well Captain Brell and his family were doing. But could she manage it? Especially in a career field like Security? After all, she didn’t want her child to go through the sudden and unexpected loss of their mother like she had experienced with her father, a career officer in Starfleet Intelligence who had died mysteriously while on a mission for the secretive branch of Starfleet.
And thinking of Brell, turned her mind once more to another area of thought churning in her mind. Brell was leaving. True, it hadn’t been officially announced, but she could tell. She wasn’t Head of Security on this ship for nothing. He had requested cargo containers to his quarters. Commander Thoran was here, and that meant he was probably the new Captain. She had met him a few times and he seemed nice enough, but things wouldn’t be the same without that blue face sitting in the command chair. And that brought up another issue: her oath. He had never formally released her from that vow. Not that he had required it of her, but she had made it and now she was stuck with it unless he released her. And that meant she was going to have to have a conversation with him that she had hoped to avoid.
And then there was the question of what to do with her career. Aside from the fact she was now going to have to think about her child, Serala wanted a chance at the Big Chair herself someday. From the appearance of things, that meant she was going to have to consider a transfer of her own. There were just too many officers senior to her on this ship. While she truly enjoyed running her department, she felt that if she didn’t make a move soon, she would be trapped here. And besides, Lt. Hyden deserved a chance to run the department for a while. She was quite competent, and Serala didn’t want to stand in her way. She didn’t want to leave Atlantis. She had come to think of this place as her home. Even her family’s estate in Bogota no longer held that spot in her heart. She should probably consider “selling” it (Earth didn’t really use money, but they still had a credit system in place.) Perhaps she should take a long term leave and go with Stevok to Vulcan. Just until their child was born, perhaps for a year or so after. Then she could come back. After all, as she had just said, she was still young. Some Vulcans even had multiple careers in Starfleet. No reason she couldn’t do the same.
Serala: Maybe I’ll be a helmsman next time. Or science. Stevok should have enough time to get me grounded in the basics.
No one could hear her, of course. It was a human trait, this talking to the air. One that she had apparently inherited from her father. It had annoyed her mother whenever she had overheard, but Serala had never managed to break herself of it. She was just amazed she had been speaking English and not Romulan. For the longest time, she had a hard time not reverting to her mother’s tongue when stressed or angry, but somehow over the last year or so, she had lost that.
Serala: Was that Brell’s influence? Or Raga’s?
oO Doesn’t matter. It’s gone, at least for now. Oo
She still didn’t have any solutions.
Serala: Guess I should start at the top of the Mountain and work my way down.
She tapped a button on her console.
oO I just hope he’s not too busy Oo
Serala: =/\= Serala to Captain Brell. If you have time, can I speak with you? =/\=
Brell: =/\= Response =/\=
Atlantis Staff Member
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