[A1-P] Commander Kelrod: A matter of trust
Marcus Dickens
(Astrofori one - pool )
(IC):
:: Kelrod and Raj made a strange duo, each one has his demons, both had shared them, both had difficulties with the rest of the world and had come and go from hell alive. So the fact that he’d told him that they needed to have a talk was something Kelrod took seriously. They’re alone and it won’t probably be that way for long, so it’s time. ::
Kelrod: :: sighing :: Ok, I get it. I'll leave it for the moment. Give me the towel please ::throwing the handed towel over one shoulder:: So,... now that we're over this, maybe you'd like to tell me about that thing that has you worried about me.
Blueheart: I thought you’re going to teach me how to swim.
Kelrod: That will take time and with the news of reassignment I’m not sure we’ll have it. Besides, what I can show you it can be learnt in a holodeck, so, don’t dodge the issue.
::Raj paused for a full minute before sighing heavily and placing the PADD on the floor next to him. Staring at the random ripples erupting on the surface of the water, he finally spoke.::
Blueheart: Do you remember your encounter with the counselor?
Kelrod: :: He took the padd :: Of course... how can I forget it.
Blueheart: Did you.. ::another hesitant pause:: Did you.. force yourself into her mind?
Kelrod: Absolutely not, I invited her to my mindscape as she doesn’t believed what I was telling about Marcus and I. Did she accused me of that?
Blueheart: I spoke to her the other day and.. she mentioned something that made me think.. think long and hard..
Kelrod: :: He left the padd aside, not even looking if there was something that Raj wanted him to see in it. :: Go ahead :: he said seriously, instinctively lowering the mental walls and allowing Marcus to hear everything without any problem ::
Blueheart: It’s about Marcus. ::He turned to look at Kelrod directly.:: What have you done to him? Tell me the truth. Please.
Kelrod: What?
Blueheart: Response
Kelrod: And you believed her?
Blueheart: Response
Kelrod: I can’t believe this.... :: He stood leaving the towel on the floor, getting all wet :: Are you telling me that someone you’ve known for... what, a year, two years, told you something about me and you believe her?
Blueheart: Response
Kelrod: I could have understood that when Marcus told you about me in Atlantis, even after that when I stopped being your FO, but after all this time...
Blueheart: Response
Kelrod: What have I done to him? :: at this point he’s hurt, wounded, he’s proud to be a soldier, a warrior, but honor was something he held in high regard, he’d trusted Raj and he thought that he trusted him. It seems that the separation time made a breach in that trust, at least on Blueheart’s side :: First I subjugated him... I made him go against his friends, that was my mission, that was my decision to follow Tantalus as our leader in a life as a ghost. Then he forced me with him, condemned me to live half a life, being an observer... Then I saved his life and mine, I started to knew Marcus and allowed him to know me, I trusted him because I had no choice, but he trusted me because he’s seen what I’ve lived, he remembers what I’ve been and what I’ve done to survive... We began to care for each other and I ended up respecting him. :: He stopped walking forth and back :: What have I done? I’ve saved him from himself! He’s died when stranded on a planet, experienced diying and then knew that it’s all false, he’s seen his life with his wife torn apart, he’s seen those he cared for dying one time and another. Kitiganzibi, Gardener and others. He even had to tell a junior officer to cut his hand in order to save them because they’re so stubborn as to leave him behind.
Blueheart: Responsee
Kelrod: ::not letting him finish the sentence :: If it wasn’t for me, he’ll be curled back on betazed, spending the rest of his life maybe being afraid to make decisions. I’m a soldier, I’m used to loose people in battle,... what I haven’t expected is that a counselor saying that I did something he didn’t like, might shatter your confidence in me. I trusted you, you showed me friendship and confidence, we shared trenches and not always because of phaser fire,.... and now this...
Blueheart: Response
Kelrod: Marcus is hearing you, Marcus is and always will be here, this is his body, not mine, but he gave me the chance to live. I could have thwarted his life in endless oportunities, making him doubt of an order, openly fighting him for the control of the body, thus, intelligence would have incarcerated maybe for life, I could have done many things, but I didn’t. I don’t know what people will expect from me. Washington put me that “provisional” rank. That’s an humilliation! You imagine how I felt?
Blueheart: Response
Kelrod: Not only that. Despite what they say, I’m a Starfleet Commander with more than thirteen years of service and experience. Yet, what did they do? Put me under a Lt. Jg as a lowly security officer. Hell, there was you, Vetri and T’Lea and yet there was a Lt. Cmdr. as FO. I could accept that, but almost a year on the ship and I didn’t even had the chance to bring up my SAR team and when I have everything ready... reassignment.
Blueheart: Response
Commander Kelrod
USS Invicta