Reunion

Posted on Thu Dec 3, 2015 @ 1:35pm by Civilian Sigrún Aronsdottir & Commander Amia Telamon M.D.

1,828 words; about a 9 minute read

Mission: Pangaea (Wrap up)
Location: Docking Ring
Timeline: MD 08 - 2145

[ON]

The arrival gates for the station's docking harbor were usually buzzing with people whenever new transports came in. The one where Amia was waiting, however, was nearly empty. The likely reason that today's arrival was not some dedicated passenger liner filled with throngs of people. The arriving ship was a tired old cargo/repair vessel named the Starlight Innovator, six weeks out of Aquilae VI. The vessel had just appeared through the space doors and was getting settled into her moorings.

It took several more minutes of waiting as the docking clamps locked down and the gangway was extended to the small vessel. Finally the airlock doors opened with a mechanical whirr. The crew of the vessel disembarked, only eleven in all, chattering excitedly among themselves. They were looking forward to a few days off taking in the sights of the station.

The last person to disembark was the captain of the Starlight Innovator, a diminutive woman with a bag strapped over her shoulder and a tired look on her face. It had been a long trip getting out here. Her new home. She paused, looked around, and breathed it in. She would have never agreed to this if she didn't already know she'd be among friends.

Amia was waiting a little anxiously. What if she forgot something important again. ~No, surely she'd be fine now. She hadn't had a relapse anywhere else so this would be fine, right?~

Crossing the docking ring she walked over to intersect with Sigrun. When the other woman looked up and recognised her Amia broke into a run and threw herself into the familiar arms of her friend and was relieved to bits to *feel* the way she knew she naturally *should* have been able to. A sensation she was just revelling in their return.

"Sig! I can't TELL you how much this means to me... seriously... you can't imagine!" Amia was breathless.

"Oh, Amia, how good to see you!" Sigrún exclaimed, her weariness temporarily forgotten. She wrapped her arms around Amia and planted a kiss on her cheek. "I didn't expect you to meet me here. How have you been?"

Amia hugged her dear friend back and when she pulled back a little to look at her she said. "Damn you're looking good girl! I'm so jealous. I love what you've done with your hair! Short really suits you! And what do you mean you didn't expect me to meet you? Why wouldn't I?" Chattering happily she turned to help Sig with her bag.

Sigrún ran a hand through her short, blonde locks. "Thanks. It felt like time for a change. And I didn't expect you to meet me because I spoke to Cade on subspace while we were en route. He told me about your memory loss." The two started walking towards the turbolifts.

"I'm putting pieces back into place. I think it's going to be okay. I do still need a while to settle back in again but I don't feel so lost any more" Amia said. "I don't suppose that makes any sense but I've been SO confused. I don't know how Cade has coped with all this. I seriously did NOT know who he was at all. It was like he was a complete stranger. He must have been as lost as I was, poor thing. I don't know how I'll ever make it up to him, Sig. I only hope I haven't done too much damage with all this remoteness and weird distance." It was an honesty from the heart and it welled up in Amia's chest, causing her voice to tremble. She tried to check her own reaction back and push it down again.

"Oh, don't be ridiculous!" Sig shot back in a high-pitched voice, which sounded cute in her Icelandic accent. "How could you have damaged anything? You didn't do it on purpose. And besides, you know he adores you. I can't imagine he would ever get angry over something like that." She presented the next question with as much tact as she could muster. "So...what are the current living arrangements with you two?"

"We share the same quarters but we... well....." Amia dried up for a moment and flushed. "He's on duty SO many hours these days. I thought it was bad when we first came here but at the moment the Captain is on Compassionate Leave and he's just never home."

Sigrún nodded sympatetically. "I suppose that's what they mean by 'the burden of command.' Maybe things will normalize once the Captain returns to duty?"

"Sig, I have to tell you this and of all the people in the universe I know you'll hate me for being so ungrateful ..." Amia thought of how lonely she had been feeling and then compared it mentally with how it must feel to be widowed at a young age, the way Sigrun had been. She flushed again, this time with shame.

"I have no excuses. I was just being selfish. We had such a lovely wedding, even if it was a bit of a rush, it was still amazing! And then we went off on Honeymoon and to start with it was just the two of us, on the base, waiting for transport. I was so spoilt. I got used to being with him all the time and it was Heaven. Then, suddenly, we were given a mission to come here on an old junk ship that some Cadets were using as a project and it was the complete opposite. From Heaven to Hell in one fell swoop. From having Cade all to myself and all of his full attention, suddenly there was this piece of space junk full of kids which took him even from our bed in the middle of the night, over and over. This bit fell off, that bit broke, this kid was space sick, that one was homesick, another was just plain sulky. It seemed like a nightmare.

"That does sound awful," Sigrún replied. They reached the turbolift and stepped in. Sigrún's crew had already taken the previous one so they were all alone. "Customs," the merchant captain said, and the lift moved.

"I know, I kept telling myself it was only temporary and we'd very soon be starting our new life together. Only as soon as we got here he was sucked into the Station. As soon as the cadets let go of his every limb and waking moment, so the XO position grasped on instead. His shifts never end, sometimes it feels like they run so late the next one is almost starting before he's home and asleep. I was so lonely. I missed all my old friends and I missed my husband more. Sig I came here to be with him. It just never seemed to be working that way."

That earned another sympathetic nod. "Starfleet marriages. It's hell trying to hold them together. I should know, remember? Riley and I went through similar troubles. What made the difference was that we supported each other, no matter what."

"I felt like I was the worst wife. Like I wasn't supportive enough. I felt like this must be how it was always going to be and I turned into a whiney old nag. I hated myself and I hated life on this station. The wonderful "new life" was just making me appreciate the old life better. I just wanted to go back but I'd never leave him, so I felt trapped I guess."

"Felt? As in past tense? Does that mean you don't feel that way anymore?"

"Sig, I feel so terrible pouring all this out to you. You must miss Riley so much and here I am, complaining about silly, inconsequential nonsense. It's just as you say. It's only going to work if we support each other and running 'home' to my old friends and my old life is just unthnikable. I ..... Think I have this. " Amia drew in a deep breath and the lift doors opened almost at the same moment.

They stepped out. "How long are you with us, Sig? Can you stay with us? We have wonderful quarters. The one advantage of being Executive Officer is the huge amount of room they think you need to live in!" she laughed. "and of course, I still have access to the CMO's quarters..... which I've been using a bit...... well a lot really, when I didn't know who I was...... it was awkward..... you could stay there if you don't want the guest bedroom in Cade's rooms?"

They had almost reached the desk where Sig would need to address the Customs Official and this conversation would have to go on hold.

"Oh, I'd love to stay with you for a couple of days! At least until I can arrange my own quarters on the station," Sigrún said. She hadn't asked because she didn't want to impose on her friends, but anything was better than having to stay in her tiny cabin on the ship. "Are you sure it's not a problem?"

"OH honey!" Amia hugged her friend spontaneously. "Nothing could be further from a problem. PLEASE DO stay... We'd both LOVE to have you!"

Sigrún handed her mini-PADD to the customs officer and waited patiently while the slow gears of bureaucracy turned. "This station is enormous," she said to Amia. "What is there to do here?"

"Everything you can imagine! There are numerous holosuites, a garden with real flowers and a statue and temple, an arboretum, hundreds of shops, restaurants and clubs. You name it, I'm sure you could do it here!" Amia was suddenly wondering where she had got this enthusiasm for DS5 from when her most recent recollections had been of how horrible it was here. This was confusing.

"I'll take you on a tour. There will be LOADS of places I've never even been myself. It'll be so much fun!" the CMO went on, still wondering silently but not in any mood to look a gift horse in the mouth. It was a good feeling. Why hadn't she had it before?

"Sounds like fun," Sigrún replied, although her voice betrayed weariness. "At the moment all I really need is a hot shower and my pajamas." Then with a smile she added, "Maybe a cup of something hot."

"Of course! I'll make you some of my famous tea! I do a wonderful Terran 'Lady Grey'. You'll love it. Then it's shower and retire for you and a fresh start on that tour in the morning............. but after a bit of a lie in, right?" Amia put her arm through Sigrun's and the two of them set off in search of that tea and the nice warm welcoming quarters of the XO.

[OFF]

A Jp between:

Lt Cmdr Amia Telamon
CMO - DS5

and

Sigrún Aronsdottir
Freighter Captain
(NPC Bert)

 

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