JP: Doctor Brenna Taybrim & Lt. Cmdr. Alora DeVeau: Seeking Answers (Part 2)
Amanda Nordstrom
((Lumie Family Home - Betazed))
Brenna: ~Neopenothal is well documented. I could cross
reference with the medical database any other cases of low or
trace neopenothal usage with sudden death~
DeVeau: ~Yes, please. The more information we have, the
better.~
The older woman rocked slightly where she sat, considering
what sorts of things might have caused this. There were
always outlying cases and rare occurrences. She started to
pull up her access to databases and query the computer.
Brenna: ~This cross reference will take some time.~
Alora still couldn’t help but feel like she was still grasping
at straws. Turning her attention back to the PADD, she read
over the report, frowning. Two and two still wasn’t adding up
to four.
DeVeau: ~Mrs. Taybrim...could you tell me what happens when
someone uses the lily? You said it was similar to some toxins
on earth. ~
Leaning back she sipped her tea and looked over towards
Alora. Pharmacology was an area of interest to her, and the
act of taking recreational drugs was a strange one that
crossed species and cultures.
Brenna: ~Yes, Most similar to Lophophora williamsii - I
believe the common name is Peyote? It has hallucinogenic
qualities and different forms that can have greater or lesser
effects.~
DeVeau: ~Could it also mask something else?~
She paused, considering as she warmed her hands on the mug of
tea.
Brenna: ~Possibly. Or it could react with something.~
DeVeau: ~I guess we’ll see what comes up. How far along is
the cross referencing?~
Considering Mrs. Taybrim had just started it, probably not far
along at all. Alora had to admit, she was impatient. She
wanted a yes or no as to whether or not her gut instinct was
right. Hopefully it was. It was one of those cases she would
prefer to be wrong. If it was right, though....well, one step
at a time.
Brenna looked over, checking the data compilation process.
Brenna: ~The data will take two to three hours to complete.
We’ll have better answers then. I don’t think it is good to
dwell upon what it might be until we have further
information.~
DeVeau: ~Yes. You’re right, of course. I suppose I shall
just have to be patient and wait.~
A difficult thing to do considering the circumstances.
Brenna gave a motherly smile to the younger woman.
Brenna: ~You could rest, you look rather wiped.~
Alora glanced over at the other woman. She was right, Alora
was tired, but fatigue didn’t always transfer directly to
resting peacefully, especially with so much on her mind.
DeVeau: ~I honestly don’t think I could sleep right now.~
Even though the hour was growing late. Dinner had been quite
some time ago, and Alora had certainly given a couple of tours
of various places of the house and the grounds. The brotherly
banter had reminded her so much of her own siblings, Mr.
Taybrim was quite the gentleman, and Brenna Taybrim a
formidable presence all on her own. How different they all
were, and yet how similar in some ways.
Brenna: ~The other option is to chat. Tell me about
yourself. Your StarBase. Your relationship with Lumie
Enzada.~
Curiosity, unspoken, but she wanted to know how that fit in
with her son.
Three questions all in a row, and yet none of them were
unfounded. Did she not already know of Ops, though? Was Sal
not the Commodore of the Starbase? Alora wouldn’t refuse,
regardless.
DeVeau: ~Let’s see. Ops is my home. A place I’ve felt where
I have belonged from the moment I stepped on it. It’s a huge
Starbase with many people from many cultures who come. Some
remain and live, a permanent part of our community. Others
are transients, people who come and stay different lengths of
time, then move on. There is always something to do. It is
ever the same and ever changing.~
True be told, Brenna had never expressed much interest in
Starfleet until this moment. Maybe she was more interested in
the story of the woman who sat before her. That and she had
disconnected from her youngest son when he decided to follow
his oldest brother and join Starfleet, abandoning a promising
career as a civilian scientist. Brenna had been livid. She
had only calmed when she received the news that Sal was placed
as first officer of this giant starbase half a galaxy away.
She figured a Starbase was safer than a ship.
The first officer part hadn’t really registered. And then she
got the news that he was a Commander. And a Commanding
officer. She had wondered if that was even true. She had
been stubborn and in denial. She missed his promotion to
Captain. To Commodore.
And now he showed up on the doorstep they had always lived on
and she couldn’t turn him away. But her pride and shame
prevented her from really talking about Starfleet with Sal.
This line of questioning had multiple purposes of information
gathering.
Brenna: ~And what about yourself? You must have a story
behind you?~
DeVeau: ~I’m not particularly interesting.~
Brenna scoffed at that, audibly and telepathically.
Brenna: ~Says a Human who is now in line to inherit a Noble
House of Betazed. That is a boldfaced lie. So tell me who
you are, whether you think you are boring or not is of no
matter, that is for me to decide.~
Alora tilted her head to one side, pondering what to say. She
definitely found others interesting, but when it came to
herself, she found she was more interested in other people.
DeVeau: ~I was born and raised on Earth. Entered Starfleet,
my specialties are Xenobotany and Xenozoology. Graduated, got
posted, went through several postings. Before I Ops, I was
stationed at a medical research facility.~
She paused. That was when things had changed drastically.
That was when her universe had shifted. That was when…
DeVeau: ~I met Kalin. We worked together. We married. There
was an accident. He died.~
She said it. Maybe not out loud, but specifically, to someone
else. She’d done it before, but every time she had to fight
the strangle of emotions that twisted and churned deep
within. That time, however, it was easier to keep control, to
prevent the dam from breaking, to steady herself. Was it
getting easier? Losing Kalin?
No. It wasn’t any easier. She was just getting more and more
accustomed to the new normal.
She paused, feeling a familiar wash of emotions. The loss of
a lover. She knew that sting all too well. Her Imzadi
Jethral was killed in an accident too. A Starfleet accident.
The worst kind of accident.
Brenna: ~And he was Enzada’s only child?~
The question was reserved as she kept her own empathy at bay.
There was too much to relate to there. Worse, they both had
found an irritating Taybrim in the aftermath. Maybe that was
the mark of this family, bad emotional rebounds.
DeVeau: ~No, he was of the Teser family. He was the last of
his, she was the last of hers. After his death, it was just
her. And now...me.~
And she wasn’t even Betazoid. Irony was having a field day.
Brenna: ~And here you are.~
DeVeau: ~And here I am.~
Brenna: ~Which leaves the question - what do you want?~
What did she want? Alora wanted many things. Some of the
things she wanted, she could no longer have. They were gone,
left the past, lost to the winds of change. Time might help
her grow accustomed to those changes, but she didn’t know if
she would ever look back and wish things hadn’t been
different. But they were what they were, and now Alora was
thrust in the middle of a bunch of new changes.
Deveau: ~Enzada wanted to ensure everything was left to me.
As far as the houses go...from what I understand, reactions
are mixed. Some are willing to accept it. Some don’t want
this at all.~
As odd of an idea as it was, the Betazoid woman hadn’t ever
really cared what others thought about what she did or how she
handled things.
Brenna clicked her tongue against the roof of her mouth and
shook her head.
Brenna: ~I didn’t ask what Lumie Enzada wanted. Or what you
think the other houses want. I asked what do you want?~
Emphasis on you.
If she were to give a total and complete answer to that, it
probably wouldn’t be what Brenna was searching for either.
Alora sighed, her arms crossing over her chest and her eyes
closing.
DeVeau: ~Had Kalin not died, it would have gone to him. We
would have dealt with this together. Our children would have
inherited. Now it’s just me. And I’m the only one who can
prevent the death of the house.~
Brenna nodded, tracking the plan. What a different person the
woman in front of her would be. A scientist, a mother, an
heiress with an important husband. Slowly integrating into
Betazoid society. Possibly it would have moved her out of
Starfleet. Certainly it would not have opened up the doors to
become the first officer of a massive StarBase, but it would
have opened up completely different doors.
A completely different life.
For the first time, perhaps ever, Brenna also considered what
she would lose if her wish to have her Imzadi was granted.
She, too, would be a completely different person.
Brenna: ~Which you feel as a massive responsibility upon your
shoulders.~
Stated as fact, gently, sympathetically, but still fact.
DeVeau: ~From what I’ve been told, if there are no living
heirs, the house will simply be absorbed by another. There
would cease to be twenty houses and only be nineteen. I don’t
want that to happen.~
Alora’s eyes opened and she leveled her gaze at Brenna.
DeVeau: ~And I want to make sure this really was a ‘natural’
death. Something keeps nagging at me about it. When I get an
inkling this strong, I find it best not to ignore it.~
The older Betazoid woman paused. If there was foul play it
indicated a far deeper conspiracy with this woman caught in
the middle.
Brenna: ~I don’t think you should ignore it either. But I
don’t think you should dwell on it until you have some clear
answers.~ ::she paused:: ~Sometimes answer come after rest,
with a fresh mind in the morning.~
Alora reached up and rubbed her eyes. The moon had steadily
made its way further across the sky, and the late night was
getting even later. Even as they waited for the data to
process, even though so much weighed upon her mind, even
though she had claimed earlier she might not be able to sleep,
she was beginning to feel a deep weariness settling in.
DeVeau: ~Maybe you’re right. Maybe I should rest. You should
rest too. If this is going to take a while, perhaps it would
be better to broach it in the morning.~
She nodded gently.
Brenna: ~That seems like a good idea.~
DeVeau: ~Then let’s do so, but please don’t feel as if you
need to rise with the dawn. Enjoy your rest. Take advantage
of it.~
Brenna: ~I’m always up early~ ::she chuckled:: ~My boys will
sleep in. Probably. Sometimes they change more than I can
keep up with.~
DeVeau: ~I’ve heard that’s the way it is with children.~
She didn’t know. Alora had no idea if she would ever know,
but she offered a small smile to Brenna. Rising, she started
toward the door, but paused at the other woman’s side and rest
a hand upon her shoulder.
DeVeau: ~Thank you, Brenna. I really appreciate it.~
With a gentle caress from her own mind, Alora’s smile
brightened just a little before her hand dropped and Alora
made her way out of the room.
Brenna responded back with a small wash of mental motherly
affection.
Brenna: ~May the dawn bring news. Sleep well~
And the silence of night nestled around them like a blanket
until morning.
~*~
Tbc…
~*~
A JP by
Dr. Brenna Taybrim
Simmed by: Commodore Sal Taybrim
Commanding Officer
StarBase 118 Ops
E239010ST0
&
Lt. Cmdr. Alora DeVeau
First Officer
Starbase 118 Ops
al...@blar.net
M239008AD0\