Lt. jg. Mi'shune sh'Sonora - Lead On, My Good Man
d.reinhart
((En route to Starlight Ballroom – Deck 499))
A peculiar thing happened to Mi’shune sh’Sonora the day before the big Starlight Ballroom soiree.
It started one hour, and halfway through both a Brooklyn-style pepperoni pizza and The 36 Chambers of Shaolin, she received another ring at the door. After a previous visit left the Anxious Andorian shaken and ready to throw hands, she recalled the location of her personal defense weapon, then thought better of it as she went to the door anyways. There was no way her family’s corpo security stooges were going to make two visits in one night.
She opened the door to see a delivery drone arrive with a large box on top of its cargo bed. After flicking on its signature request screen and begging to sign with a friendly beep, Mi’shune scrolled her signature with her finger, picked up the box, and brought it into her quarters.
The Andorian officer wasn’t expecting a delivery, so it was a mystery to her what it was and who sent it. There was no return address as far as she could tell. The only way she could solve the mystery was to open it.
What she found inside froze her in astonishment, her face and antennae near-permantly fixed in its surprised state.
It was meant for her, that she couldn’t deny, but it was an item she wrote off long ago, the day she made the decision to join Starfleet, leading to her disinheritance.
She removed the letter from the package. It read:
To my Darling Little Shei,
I know relations between us have been strained, but you will always be my sweet little daughter. That much will never change. Though I do not agree with the way our clan treats you, especially Th’se’s reaction to your defiance, I cannot bear to leave my littlest daughter out in the universe with nothing to her name.
Though I cannot do much, I can give you this. Please accept your formal robes as an undeniable symbol of your proper inheritance, and as a reminder that I will always love you, no matter what path you choose in life.
With Undying Admiration and Affection,
Milana sh’Sonora
P.S. If anyone asks, say it’s a replica. The rest of the clan thinks it's in storage.
Mi’shune wiped a tear from her eye.
sh’Sonora: oO She saved my great-granshen’s robes. The same one inherited at 14 cycles. Oh shreva, thank you! Oo
It was quite the feat for the family matriarch, considering her own troubles. She must have disappeared the robes during a period of sobriety and defiance.
Mi’shune lifted the robe out of its box. Royal blue fabric straightened itself without a single wrinkle, its shining surface catching the light like a starfield illuminated by moonlight. Its luminous qualities came from its material, rare Tholian silk her ancestors traded for over a century ago to make the formal robes her clan’s women used for formal events. Bolts of the rare fabric were woven with gold embroidery, in her case the interplay of an Andorian sparrow flying to evade the ever-reaching talons of a diving Andorian gyrfalcon, with interwoven branches from coniferous trees common to Andoria’s equatorial regions.
It even came with the winter wool lining (which she wouldn’t need for the ball), woolen socks and Andorian cedar sandals, and a wide sash used to tie the robe together.
It was exquisite and priceless.
She squealed with delight. She couldn’t wait to put it back on!
One day and a visit to the salon to style her already wild and feathery hair into a wilder and feathery-er cut, Mi’shune walked in careful small steps in one of the few remnants of her family legacy, a vision of Andorian classical loveliness in her traditional courtesan formal robes.
Ross: Lieutenant! Wait up!
Was that Lieutenant Commander Ross? It was hard to tell, as one human looked so similar to another in the eyes of a native daughter of the home moon. This particular human was even more generic in appearance than the average human, but there was enough to vaguely remember him. She shared a mission with him.
Lieutenant jg. Voss might have mentioned him once or twice in passing. Wasn’t there something between those two? Mi’shune didn’t ask, assuming what details beyond the few disclosed by her academy friend were none of her business.
sh’Sonora: Oh, hello Sir! ::She waved her hand, antennae synced, but not raising her hand too high as the robes restricted her.::
Ross: Heading for the ballroom? Mind if I join?
sh’Sonora: By all means, Sir. You can join me.
Both officers stepped into the turbolift, hers being more delicate and deliberate. The robes might have been her legacy, but they were rather restrictive. Ross’ formal wear, such as it was, matched his physical looks. He could have blended in with the wait staff for all the pizazz it possessed.
Ross: Did you enjoy your Shore Leave? Recovered from last mission's maneuvers?
sh’Sonora’s Inner Dialogue: oO Even his small talk’s pretty generic. Oo
sh’Sonora: oO Shush you. That means I’ll have to carry the conversation. Oo ::Smiling brightly, her antennae bobbing in friendly invitation, she spoke.:: I had a great time. It was mostly a staycation. Stayed in my quarters, watched some kung-fu flicks, maybe went out to see the sights I missed when I first got here. Like, do you know there’s an entire terran arcade centre here on this station? And there’s an Andorian quarter too, real nice, if not quite like back home. I even got to go to a Betazoid spa a week ago with Lieutenant Voss and S’Zurak and we had a great time.
She thanked the gods she had enough sense to leave out the visit from her family’s corporate security officer, no matter how tempting it was to put an intelligence officer on their scent.
sh’Sonora: Hey… aren’t you Lyra’s friend? I think she talked about you before.
Ross: ?
sh’Sonora: Ahhhh… cool! I think she hyped you up, but she didn’t speak much about you to me. You seem alright, and anything that makes her happy makes me happy, you feel me?
Ross: ?
The turbolift jerked to a halt and opened its doors. They had arrived.
sh’Sonora: So, what does a shen have to do to get a handsome man to escort her to the ball? ::She presents her arm to hold.:: Shall we?
Ross: ?
sh’Sonora: Excellent. Lead on, my good man!
Ross: ?
*****
Lieutenant jg. Mi’shune sh’Sonora
Helm Officer
Starbase 118 - Ops Department
O240208MS1