[PROLOGUE END] Lt Commander Sevantha Saa - Calming the Inner Storm
Sevantha Saa
oO No… no no no…Oo
Behind her, Caras continued to talk, engaging both Tito and Talyra in conversation while she stared down at the message. When she had first seen the incoming transmission and its incomplete state, it had been natural to clear it up. Occasionally, messages suffered interference traveling through space, and she’d trained enough on the bridge to know how to perform simple sweeps and restorations. Those were standard for any cadet to learn back in the academy, no matter their duty post, but it was rare she had to engage those skills.
She reread the message again and again, turning it over in her mind, as she felt a weight fall onto her shoulder she hadn’t ever thought to want or to ask for.
Suddenly she was very aware of how Katsim Peri must have felt that day her entire command team, her friends, were taken and she was left to carry the weight of the crew.
Caras: There is far more blue on the bridge now, more than any other color. I do count the teals with the blues
Tito: As you should Sir. But Gold has the most duty colours. Engineering, Operations, Security, Tactic… But is that a potential call out? Something between departments perhaps.
Caras: I’m not sure what kind of activities that engineering and sciences could go to head in that would be fair. And it can’t be physical, the moment security hears we left them out of something physical, they’ll make us all sorry.
Tito: And try to beat us to it…
Their voices were distant and garbled, as tendrils of fear and self-doubt wrapped around her and pulled her under the violent tides of her mind.
It was easy when one knew it was a test. Every Command training there was the knowledge that the scenario would end, the holodeck would turn off, and she’d returned to her duties. It was easy to play along in those scenarios when the Betazoid could not feel or hear the thoughts of the holographic crew. They were not real. Their gaze didn’t come with auras of fear, uncertainty, judgement that she could feel in her mind.
But now?
Caras: Mind if I take a look at that, ensign?
He had felt her sink. She was sure of it, and now he was investigating what she couldn’t verbalize yet. Part of her felt ashamed she hadn’t sprung right into action, and yet, part of her was terrified and trying to form a plan in her mind before she dared to speak.
Yet she heard her mother’s voice needle every thought that passed her mind with a semblance of an order. Every plan that tiny voice indicated the flaw in her logic, scolded her for her short-sightedness and for allowing herself to be blinded by her emotions. Even knowing they had started down the path of reconciliation, her words and judgments still haunted her, a ghost that she had not yet let go of.
A wave of shame washed over her that she could not find the words for immediate action, that her concern and the realization of what this meant had crashed down and plunged her into the darkest parts of her mind.
Comm Officer: It’s an SOS sir. I think it’s from the Syren’s Song, but something is interesting, it came with a fleet ID.
Caras: That’s Captain Promontory’s.
Now it was out. How many others across the ship were getting the incoming transmission also and now expecting orders.
Tito: Ensign Talyra, assemble all the data we collected, send it to the Astrometics lab. We are likely stopping our survey.
Talyra: Very well, sir.
Caras: Sev…. Commander Saa? Orders?
Hearing his voice, she stood straight again, somewhat despondent still as she turned over what to do next.
Saa: I…
Her voice struggled to escape her as her mind began rolling over all the possibilities of what had happened and what she needed to do next.
Tito: Experience told me we were about to move.
Talyra: … Of course, sir. Receiving a SOS does tend to get ships moving. I believe that is the goal of sending one, in fact.
Tito: Dropping some probes so we can return and finish our sweep. I suggest we track the message and head there.
Saa: R-right.
Sevantha responded quietly, still fighting the internal maelstrom of worry, self-doubt, the what-ifs and the inner critical voice of the mother she was constantly trying to prove her worth to, reminding her of her real place in the world. If she failed, she’d prove Tesslana right about her. That the stars were not her destiny. Her fate was one to be spent at home, safe, with marriages and social obligations arranged by her protective and guiding hand.
Caras: Response
Tito: Captain Promontory wouldn’t send that kind of message light heartedly.
Gently, she shook her head. Captain Promontory, despite his lighthearted demeanor and presence, must have fought to get even this message out.
What had happened to them?
Talyra: If we know the ship’s planned itinerary, that would cut down on tracing the source. Were any coordinates included in the SOS message?
Caras: Response
Saa: Naledi was meeting with the Security and Intelligence to review their itinerary and route currently, request their review of the route. ::Voice still distant and disconnected as she stares into the viewfinder:: Compare it with the recorded cruise speed and message triangulation to give us the last known location of the Syren Song.
Tito: Aye Commander.
Saa: Morro… ::Not correcting herself:: I need Ral and yourself to review the schematics of the Syren Song as well as check fleet records for the USS Janaran’s information.
Caras: Response
The words formed on her lips easier, yet she felt she was still fighting for every word as one fought for air when trying to swim in crashing waves.
Talyra: Commander Tito, the data we just got could be used to filter out the signal noise more efficiently.
Saa: …
She didn’t speak, instead, she just listened to the ensign's suggestion and allowed her senior officer to apply the advice.
Tito/Caras: Response
Finally, she tore herself away from the viewer, and pivoted towards the center chair, once again coming face-to-face with Mjölnir.
Saa: …I see
Sevantha didn’t explain her statement to the others as she stared at the weapon. The discussion of fate, the invocation and challenge of it, in the presence of an item that challenged one’s worth based on their ability to lift it. The storm in her mind calmed, allowing her to finally breach the mental barriers that threatened to cause her selective mutism trauma response to claim her. What was a jumbled mess of emotions and logic, clashing with one another in her mind, her emotions fighting to avoid being buried by the analytical logic she’d used to hide behind, ashamed of what she was.
Tito/Caras: Response
Talyra: Oh, probe telemetry looks good so far, by the way.
She didn’t remember reaching for it, nor did she remember the weight or strain of lifting it, yet there was Mjölnir in her hand.
It no longer occupied the center chair.
The Betazoid’s mind steadied, she centered herself before lightly swinging and setting the hammer up onto her slender shoulder.
No one had to strain to hear her speak this time.
Saa: How far out are we from the Syren Song’s path and how quickly can we get to them?
Tito/Caras: Response
Saa: We need to be ready to go in under an hour. ::Turning to Caras:: Set us to Yellow Alert
Tito/Caras/Talyra: Response
Reaching up, she placed her hand over her commbadge, taking another steady exhale before pressing it down to be greeted by its cheerful chirp.
Saa: =/\= Crew of the USS Thor, this is Commander…. And currently acting Captain Sevantha Saa. We have received an SOS from our Captain onboard the Syren’s Song and have learned the USS Janaran is unresponsive. I need every Department Chief to start preparations for their teams to depart in under an hour. =/\=
It was then she realized they had no Chief Science Officer currently.
Saa: =/\= Lieutenant Tito and Commander Aislin will be temporary joint Chief Science Officers until Commander DeVeau is back with us. =/\=
While Commander Orlon Aislin had rank, she was still new to the Thor and settling in, and while Tito was more than capable, what she saw of Aislin so far, her people skills were considerably better. A balance the department would need without its usual officer guiding it.
Saa: =/\= Once we’ve set out all Chiefs report to the Ready Room for debrief. =/\=
Drawing her hand away from the delta on her chest, she looked up at the crew on the bridge, and then towards the viewfinder.
Saa: Let’s go get our crew.
Tito/Caras/Talyra: Response
[[END OF PROLOGUE]]
