[RA4] Lt. JG. Alora DeVeau - "Together" (Egan Manno)

[Amanda Nordstrom]

(( The Trials: Box ))

EGAN MANNO: Any ideas?

DeVEAU: We go that way.

EGAN MANNO: I'd prefer not to go into that, but I suppose we have no
choice. Unless -- what do you think we should do?

DeVEAU: Keep going I guess. I don't really have any better idea how to
go about this than you do.

EGAN MANNO: I suppose. I just wish there was more I could do here and
now. Or -- I'd like to know, at least, what's happening here. If this is
a trial. If so, which one.

DeVEAU: We won't find out unless we keep going.

EGAN MANNO: Yes. ::There was a pause before she continued:: Tell me,
DeVeau, what do you think of all of this?

::She spoke too loudly and the sound reverberated and rolled around in
the cavern, over and over again. It faded with each turn until it was
finally nothing. Silence descended, but it was broken shortly by
Alora's voice, though hers was softer, the resulting echoes less intense.::

DeVEAU: I'm not sure you want to know what I think.

EGAN MANNO: I'm not sure I like your tone.

::Alora stopped dead in her tracks, her hands clenched into fists. That
irritation had nitpicked at her since their arrival on the planet and
her companions' first reactions to the Kubarey. With every response,
every word that Shryker and her Captain had especially spoken, it had
pecked at her relentlessly. As time went on, the irritation had grown,
a pea sized thing that had sprung into a melon. At the Captain's
response, it exploded into something that pressed heavily against her
chest.

DeVeau: oO(Ichi. Ni. San. Yon...)Oo

::In her minds eye, the smooth motions of the tegatana flowed through.
It helped keep the irritation at bay for the moment.::

DeVEAU: Look, we're here. We have chosen to intrude, and now we've
chosen to undergo these trials as is custom by a people we wish to
establish a relationship with. I think we ought to simply keep moving
forward with the trials.

EGAN MANNO: Then you may lead. I will follow you, as you seem to be the
only one among us unaffected by these trials.

DeVEAU: Unaffected? Hardly. You think this doesn't affect me? Well,
your wrong. Granted, I've had a better experience judging by what I've
heard, but that may be because I'm accepting this without hesitation.
That's not something I see from you or anyone else. ::She paused, then
turned, the captain's form a mere darker blob in the dimness of the
cavern.:: Isn't that what you want? To be successful? To pass these
trials and establish a positive relationship?

EGAN MANNO: Of course I /want /something similar. I feel nothing --
beauty, wisdom, courage, or the other. I keep going because that is what
I'm doing, because one foot appears before the other, absent of what my
mind might order.

DeVEAU: Do you really want that? Ask yourself and be truthful. Do you
/really/ want that? Because what I see is that you and Shryker and even
Jolara and the doctor, you didn't do this with a desire to make things
right. You did truly throw yourself into this. You did it with
hesitation and resentment. I've embraced it. Maybe that's why you
haven't gotten anywhere.

::But had she? Alora couldn't say for certain, and yet, there was a
sense of peace in regards to the first trial. The second - was it the
second? The third? Had that situation with Shryker as a puppet been a
trial? Or had it been a manifestation of deep, inner desires of the
woman herself? She didn't know. All that Alora knew was that they had
done something wrong and she, in her heart of hearts, wanted to make
things right. By making things right, she could do something positive
for the Federation, and learn something about a fascinating and
beautiful new race. At least, that's how she looked at it.::

EGAN MANNO: Then, leave me. Go on ahead. I'll catch up when I can. If
you can accomplish the trial, you should do so. I will hold you up. Go.

::Was she serious? Leave her there? Just like that? To travel through
the trials on her own?::

DeVEAU: I don't think so.::

EGAN MANNO: No, go. That's an order.

DeVEAU: Order, shmorder. I'm not leaving.

RESPONSE?

DeVeau: No.

RESPONSE?

DeVeau: I /said /no!

::A certain woodpecker in the back of her mind rattled insistently.
This was her captain. She was not getting in good graces and most
likely she was probably going to be slapped with an insubordination
charge if she kept going. At the same time, they were on a strange
planet, with a strange people in a trial that Egan Manno hadn't really
wanted to partake in. It was a recipe for disaster, to put it mildly.::

DeVeau: No. Mo. Iie. Nein. Nyet. Nirsh. Any way you say it, it
means the same thing.

::Alora carefully scuffled forward, her arms reaching out and gently
coming into contact with the captain. One hand slipped through the
captain's arm so they were linked.::

DeVeau: Look, we were put here together. Which means we have to do this
trial together. Which means, whether you like it or not, we're doing
this together. So let's go so we can go through trials. I want to
finish them and find out more about these people - and do what we came
here to do. Together.

RESPONSE?

::Alora might have smiled, but the shadows of the cavern hid any
expression from sight. She resumed her scuffling, that time forward so
that they plunged deeper into the cavern. Eventually, the glow
brightened and more details began to pop as the shadows retreated. The
colour shifted as well, green edging into teal, the matte turning into
glitter, as if millions of tiny stars were lighting their way.::

RESPONSE?

*****

Lt. JG. Alora DeVeau
Science Officer
USS Garuda