Future Imperfect, Part 2 (Conclusion)

Posted on Tue Feb 24, 2015 @ 9:18pm by Lieutenant Saria Rex & Civilian Aleczandra Naqiis-Ryan
Edited on on Wed Feb 25, 2015 @ 12:29am

1,359 words; about a 7 minute read

Mission: Eye of the Beholder
Location: Science Offices
Timeline: MD 1/Morning

"Ehm... hello... Zandra," Temah said cautiously. "I'm... Ensign Temah Eusal. I assist the Chief with her duties at the Science department." He became more confident as he shook her hand. "I-I really wish I could stay any longer, but I got some reports to hand out... so..." Temah smiled nervously and scratched the back of his head. "I’d better get going then."

"Ensign," Saria said before the Bajoran could leave, "confirm the meeting with Dr. Jeannotte for this afternoon. Good work."

“Yes, sir,” Temah nodded. He cast a glance at the strange, rainbow-haired Trill for a moment before he turned and left the office.

Aleczandra watched the cute Bajoran ensign hurry off and smiled, shaking her head. She didn’t realize how her body language had changed talking with him, shifting from the girlishly awkward teen to something more…enticing, more adult, as Kinony exerted her influence. Zandra turned back to Saria and laughed. “I think I scared him,” she said with a smile, pushing her rainbow hair back behind an ear. “I hope I’m not keeping you from your work,” she told the Chief Science Officer. “He made it sound like you’re busy.” Her eyes moved lingeringly through the glass walls to the outer office again and toward the doors to the research labs. She would love nothing better than a tour, but knew that Rex was probably very busy.

"Oh, he'll come back," Saria affirmed with a grin. "Ensigns tend to scoot off quickly in tense situations, so I'm not surprised." She leaned on her working desk and crossed her legs.
"And that's actually the point whereupon you may say I have...lackeys. The subordinates do most of the work, while I'll handle the 'big' stuff, show them the ropes, and answer to the captain. That's why I'm not always busy with work.. or, at least, usually not. Right now, I gotta save some data not the computer," she said. "Care to wait for a few minutes? You can get something to drink there at the replicator," she pointed at the replicator on the wall, behind Aleczandra, "...and stroll around the science deck if you wish. Shall we go to the promenade after that?"

“Sure,” Aleczandra said, “though I’d love to know what you’re working on, too,” she told Saria.

The teen turned to the replicator. “Ichleberry cider,” she ordered. “Hot. With cinnamon.” She watched the swirl of energy in the machine and then withdrew her steaming cup. She looked a bit disappointed by what she saw. “Dad’s right. They never get it…just right,” she said with a wry smile. “Gran always puts the little cinnamon candies in the bottom.” Zandra sipped it, and it tasted fine. It just wasn’t the same.

"Replicated stuff... I know what you mean," Saria replied. "Can't beat the real thing, but it'll save your life. I can still remember the pre-packaged, deep-frozen food they gave on patrols around Trill space, before we had even made contact with the Federation." Her face showed slight disgust from the thought about the deep-frozen food.

“Yeah, that stuff was bad,” Aleczandra said, and then blinked in surprise. “Or so my mom told me,” she tried to cover.

"Ah, I totally forgot to tell you what I was working on!" Saria gasped. She jumped out of her chair and turned to the screen behind her desk. "Computer, show a map of Deep Space Five relative to the Typhon Expanse, with a diameter of twenty light-years."

The computer beeped acknowledgement, showing a galactic map and then zooming in on the Typhon Expanse with a marker up left representing DS5.

"In this very expanse here, not too far from DS5, a research station has recently picked up signs of verteron particles. However, they sent to it DS5 because we are more close by than them. Now normally verteron particles would indicate a wormhole or something of that sort, right? Space Physics 101 in school?”

“Right,” Zandra acknowledged, studying the display with interest.

"Ah, well..." Saria replied slowly. "So verteron particles indicate wormholes usually. However, they were able to analyze the atomic pattern of the verteron particles, and it seems," she pointed at the screen, "it seems they correspond to the pattern that the USS Voyager picked up in 2376 in the Delta Quadrant, when they accidentally were pulled into the Vaadwaur subspace corridors. Which means, that there could be Vaadwaur subspace corridors existing in the Typhon Expanse."

“Interesting. I’m a bit familiar with the Voyager data,” Zandra said. Well, her mother had been. “If that’s the case, do you think they extend all the way to the Delta Quadrant?” she wondered. She eyed a bend in the Expanse where her former home, Leto Colony on the planet Azandria, was located. “Or is it a localized phenomenon? There are a lot of strange anomalies in the Expanse.

Saria shrugged. "That's what I've got to find out. They very well may, but they just may be apparitions as well." She turned back toward Aleczandra. "Honestly, I think you might know better than I do. You lived there, right?" She leaned with her arms on the desk. "I read your dad's file, as a senior officer. Seems you lived quite a while in the Leto Colony. Haven't had the honor to visit it myself, though." She somewhat grinned.

“Well, we were there for a year,” Aleczandra said. “Barely time to get settled,” she admitted. “It was dad’s first assignment after…” Zandra trailed off, looking away.

Saria began to look rather a bit gloomy. "I also read about what happened...to your mother. It was in the file as well." She never was really an ace to express her grief or to soothe others, but she couldn't help to feel sorry for both Aleczandra and Caleb. "I'm sorry to what happened to her. I know it's been a while, but from experience I can only feel the same. And about Naqiis..." She paused. "Well, it couldn't be helped, I suppose."

“No…guess it couldn’t…” Zandra said, her hand brushing unconsciously, lightly, across her stomach. Not all of it was in the file, Zandra thought to herself.

"From what I have read, your father is a great guy." Saria smiled faintly. "Getting you to safety while he was injured... not many who can. I can't wait to meet him soon, be it on duty or anywhere else."

“Yeah, great,” Zandra nodded. “So great he got us attacked in the first place.”

Aleczandra shook her head. That wasn’t fair. She couldn’t blame her father, except part of her did, and probably always would. Her mother Mika inside of Naqiis scolded her a bit.

“Did you want to come over for dinner, maybe?” Zandra said. “I mean, if you want to meet him?” Okay, now why had she offered that? She looked over at the young and attractive Trill science chief. “I mean, we could talk more about these Vaadwaur tunnels. I interned a bit at the Canyon facilities at Leto.” She smiled. “And you look like you could use another minion to keep Ensign Temah on his toes.”

Saria looked somewhat pondering, but eventually nodded slowly, smirking. "Yeah, why not?" she said. "It gets boring to eat out all the time on my own. Does your dad cook?"

Aleczandra laughed. “I come from a long tradition of technophobes,” she grinned. “I’m not even sure I could get to our replicator,” she giggled. “So yes, he cooks. Hope you like meat,” she chuckled. “Tomorrow evening okay? We’re still digging ourselves out of boxes, but I can probably get something cleared up enough.”

"Fair enough, tomorrow evening it is." Saria nodded. "And another minion, huh?" She looked at the door where Ensign Temah had left a while ago. "I guess it wouldn't hurt to give him an extra pair of hands to work with..." she grinned.

“Hey! I’m not HIS minion!” Zandra laughed. “Maybe I can get him to loosen up,” she said with a grin.

FIN

Aleczandra Naqiis-Ryan
Civilian
NPC Caleb Ryan

Lieutenant
Saria Rex
Chief of Science

 

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