Captain Johanna MacLaren: Unwanted Baggage tag Clifton

[Meredith Lahmann]

USS Odyssey’

:: Captain Johanna MacLaren greeted the crewmen in the shuttle bay, listened to the oral reports of the bridge crew and then made her way to her quarters. It seemed odd that it felt as if she’d been gone for years, as if the distance of the past in which Avalon existed had somehow seeped into her being. She struggled to understand what had happened to suddenly launch her and the others back onto the shuttle somehow already in flight. It was impossible, but the power she’d felt coming from the Grail defied category. Had they just encountered the Divine? The moment the door to her quarters whooshed open, all those considerations faded. A tiny, curly white dog hopped up and down in excitement, wriggling and spinning in excitement. Johanna laughed at its antics, scooping her up and then trying to hold on to her so she didn’t fall in her excitement. Somehow, holding that sweet little thing with her tail moving in frenetic circles like a helicopter blade, anchored the Betazoid officer. Unlike most Betazoids, Johanna loved animals and could share their emotions. With Bonny, those emotions were always joyful, playful and loving. The dog anchored Johanna in the present, filling her with a sense of love and being loved. The mysteries of the universe, Avalon and the Grail paled behind the mystery of how unconditionally loving dogs could be. Johanna often wished that more species could exist in a joyful present as canines did. 

After a period of play and cuddles, the captain sat down with the tiny dog in her lap and began to read through the communications on her computer. She saw one and closed her eyes and let out a sigh. They would soon have a passenger, one she would just as soon leave marooned on some deserted planet. That was a problem for tomorrow, but now she wanted a shower and a clean uniform and some much needed sleep. Her ablutions finished, she curled up on her bed with her dog in a warm little ball against her stomach and slept until morning.::

J MacLaren: Chief Clifton, Ambassador MacLaren, please meet me in the Conference room off the bridge.

::The two men arrived and from Clifton’s expression, she suspected that his computer had told him the same thing.::

J MacLaren: We will be picking up a passenger later today. Were you advised, Chief?

Clifton?

Amb. MacLaren: I wouldna have to be a empath to know that ye are both unhappy about something. Who is this woman?

Clifton?

Amb. MacLaren: letting out a low whistle: I suppose it is too much to hope that it may be someone of the same name, but not ….

Clifton?

J. MacLaren: It goes without saying, that our personal views canna interfere with the orders, aye? At the same time, I dinna trust this woman as far as I could throw her. ::Turning to her brother:: What do you think, Gavin? D’ye think she might not be as bad as we fear?

Amb. MacLaren: I wish, but I suspect that her past is not the only problem. From sources I have, she may be involved in some very subversive activities now. What about you, Chief.? You are nae without some unofficial sources.

Clifton?

TBC/tags

Captain Johanna MacLaren

CO

USS Odyssey

also simming PNPC Ambassador Gavin MacLaren