Lieutenant JG Ras El'Heem - Hey, you. You're finally awake.
Ras El'Heem
((El’Heem Sha, The Verdant Belt, Sylvana Prime))
The smell of Thurat Moss tea wafted through the warm, dappled air of his family’s garden. Ras sat cross legged on the stone bench just inside the shade of a flowering canopy, watching leaves and petals fall, every so often. His mother’s voice carried from inside the house. It was faint but soothing and he closed his eyes, trying to bottle the sound in his memory.
His bag was by the door, already sealed. Ras had finished packing the night prior and when he was done, he placed it down and stared at it for an hour. Now, his hands rested limply in his lap. His two hands.
Mira: You’re going to do great things.
He listened to the light pad of his mother’s feet, coming into the garden. His eyes fluttered open and he turned his head in her direction. She pressed a slice of fruit into his palm and he stared down at it. Yet another thing he was going to miss of his home world. Ras put the fruit into his mouth but the sweet tang only made the nausea in his stomach churn. He threw the uneaten piece at the base of the tree.
El’Heem: I know botany, that’s about it. They’re going to expect so much more of me.
Mira: You’ll learn. You’ve always been quick to catch on. You’ll be fine.
What did fine even mean? That he wouldn’t embarrass his people? That he wouldn’t accidentally administer the wrong antitoxin in a triage zone, or stammer through protocol like a nervous schoolboy? How would he, Ras El’Heem, ever be expected to be a leader? Maybe he’d be lucky and be a forever ensign.
What Starfleet called valor, he called volatility. He was too uncertain, too talkative when he should be silent, too silent when someone needed words. He didn’t trust himself with a command. He couldn’t lead a team. They deserved clarity and decisiveness. Not someone like him, who was still second guessing his enlistment in Starfleet altogether.
And still, his time to departure counted down.
((Sickbay, Deck 6, USS Khitomer, At Warp))
The whirring hiss of a cardiac stimulator pulled him upward, out of the garden and the scent of his childhood home.
He blinked. White lights. A cool, antiseptic breeze curled beneath the edges of the blanket draped over him. Something was missing. He couldn’t feel the usual weight of…
He blinked again. The haze began to clear. His right arm ended in a bandaged stump, resting on his stomach. To his right he saw the back of a familiar Haliian, hunched over, examining a PADD.
El’Heem: ::hoarsely:: He- ::clearing his throat:: Hello.
Ohnari: Response
His throat was dry, and his tongue felt thick. Ras shifted with a grunt as he winced. He had attempted to lift himself to a sitting position by putting his weight on his stump.
El’Heem: Guess I didn’t get to keep it after all.
Ohnari: Response
Ras stared at the bandages on his stump and his stomach felt queasy.
El’Heem: Yea…I’m fine. ::long pause:: It’s gonna take some getting used to.
He looked up at her, still cradling the PADD she was holding. The smell of coffee floated from an untouched mug sitting next to her. She looked tired.
El’Heem: Don’t tell me you’ve been sitting by my side this whole time?
Ohnari: Response
El’Heem: ::clearing his throat again:: Did we…stop it? Did everyone make it?
Ohnari: Response
He laid back, breathing a sigh of relief. He felt groggy and weak. His right arm lifted, and he attempted to rub his ridges but stopped and switched to his left hand. Ras stared at the ceiling above him. He sat quietly for almost a minute.
El’Heem: Good. ::long pause:: So it was worth it then…
Ohnari: Response
Ras turned his head to look at her.
El’Heem: No rush, I suppose. I’ll have all the time in the world when your boyfriend court marshals me for disobeying his orders.
He looked back up at the ceiling and swallowed.
Ohnari: Response
He shut his eyes tight.
El’Heem: Yea well…just because it did go okay, doesn’t mean I didn’t put Michaels and Prix and…everyone else in danger.
Ohnari: Response
El’Heem: You’re right. ::pausing and turning his head to look at the PADD:: What are you working on?
Ohnari: Response
Lieutenant JG Ras El’Heem
Medical Officer
USS Khitomer (NCC-62400)
K240106RE3