Unwinding Pt 2

Posted on Sat Jul 16, 2016 @ 3:57pm by Lieutenant Liam Reynolds & Lieutenant Annora Tessaro

1,289 words; about a 6 minute read

Mission: Pangaea (Wrap up)

Taking a large sip of her drink, Annora set it down on the table.

"I did, it's also not something I go around advertising to the general public."

She had kind of let it slip when dealing with the once merchant a few days ago, but unless he really dug into her file, he likely wouldn't discover her true background.

"I used to be a counselor Annora. I can do discretion," Liam said simply.

"Thanks." She paused briefly, not sure how to start the story. "You remember when we were chasing the creature, and it dug into our memories. Mine was of Gunnery Sgt. Hans Creighton. He, or rather the creature, accused me of abandoning him on Gamma Hydra. The battle did occur, and we did have to leave him and his team behind. Although they were later able to recover the bodies. The battle, occurred in 2158 during the Romulan War."

She paused to let it sink in. "How's that for a story opener? And yes, I'm fully human."

He nodded. "It was unexpected. Look whatever happened, you did what you had to do in the circumstances. That "creature" was feeding off the negative to live and twisting things in its attacks because we were closing in it on it. We only got a taster. Can you imagine what Commander Soran went through?" He still didn't like the woman but prolonged exposure to that thing, he wouldn't wish on anyone.

Liam was trying to do the math, he gave up on an exact figure. "So you're a lot older than you look then," he said after a moment.

She smiled at his statement. "Yes and No. Like I said it's a long story."

"If we are sharing," he found himself telling her and surprised that he was actually telling her. "I heard and saw my half brother. He has some mental illness issues and I didn't see it until too late. I messed up," he said sadly.

There was silence for a minute as she searched for an appropriate response. She didn't know as much details about his attack as he did hers, but that wasn't necessary.

"I'm sorry. I have a feeling we all have some soul searching to do after the events of today."

Liam shook his head. "I don't agree. Monster or not. Your stuck soul searching regardless."

She wasn't sure what to make of his statement. Yes, one had to keep in mind their past experiences but some were better left buried.

"Perhaps, but I have the feeling today brought forward some items many of us had kept under wraps for a while."

"Agreed," Liam stated. From what the Security chief had been saying it was hard to argue with that statement.

Deciding to put away the events of the last mission, Annora changed subjects.

"Counseling to diplomacy, I could see that working. How long ago did you make the switch?"

Liam chewed on his nacho then swallowed before answering as he mentally added things up. "Nearly 6 months. A couple of weeks here and the rest back on Betazed. Its much easier diplomacy on Betazed as everyone knows what everyone is thinking and feeling. Take that a way and .... well people play more games shall we say?"

Telepathy would certainly change the game. Annora could see it being advantageous in several departments.

"Guilty as charged. If everyone knew exactly what we were thinking, we'd think a lot differently."

Liam smiled. In his experience people thought what they wanted to think regardless. The only upside with knowing what everyone was thinking, was the games were just different. He decided to change the subject.

"So your long story?" He asked.

Motioning for more drinks, Annora launched into an abbreviated sequence of events.

"Like I alluded to earlier, my long story spans a sequence of a little over 200 years. Spent most of my childhood on a colony."

She paused to thank the waitress as she brought over the beverages.

"After high school I enlisted in the MACO. Spent some time doing embassy security on Iaera Prime until things got too hot and Earth closed the embassy."

"Yeah," Liam grinned. "Looks like you didn't escape that here. I imagine there were no living statues and Fae in your previous role. Whats the MACO?"

"Nope, no living statues or other similar creatures to contend with."

It wasn't too surprising he didn't know about the MACO as they no longer existed. "MACO, Military Assault Command. A combined military force of United Earth and her colonies. Our size was greatly reduced following the Romulan War, with many joining Starfleet Security. By the end of the 22nd century the remaining members had been folded into the Marines."

"I see," Liam nodded. He didn't know too much about marines. He had never served on a ship with them.

With the history lesson out of the way, Annora continued. "Soon after leaving the embassy, I entered West Point which was the primary service academy for the MACO. Spring of my first year was when the Xindi attacked Earth. The Romulan War began during my fourth year, so all of us in the graduating class soon found ourselves on the front-lines. After the war I transferred to Starfleet Security which lead to my being on the Sundsvall. As the crew of one of the first Columbia class starships we thought we would end up in the history books."

She paused briefly. "We did, just not how anyone planned. A temporal anomaly dropped us into the future, your present, about four years ago. Of course those who chose to stay in Starfleet had to go through the Academy. Thankfully, our prior experience allowed us to shave a year off the standard four years."

"Well that's good at least. What do you think of the .... erm future. Well now?" he asked.

She finished her first drink. "So far so good, As you just realized, it can be a bit confusing to know what tense to use. The technology has changed, but the basic tenants of the job are the same so I don't anticipate any trouble there."

"What do you think of the culture?" Liam leaned forward interested.

"The culture?"

There was more xenophobia than she had expected to encounter from various people, but she wasn't ready to open that can of worms.

"I'm still getting a feel for the population as a whole. San Francisco had, has, a larger population but they have more freedom of movement. That's bound to factor into things. It's certainly been a busy week, but if I wanted a quieter career I would have chosen something easier. Like Diplomacy."

She smiled to show she wasn't too serious about Diplomacy being a cushy job.

"Ah yes," Liam said sensing her being funny. "I love the quiet life me. Are you fond of slime tea?" he asked with a grin. "You have to drink a lot of it. And manage to keep it down."


"Slime tea? Can't say I have. Perhaps I'll stick to my Andorian ale."

She brushed some stray hair out of her face as she spoke.


The second band playing finished up and Liam looked on with a wistful look on his face. "I miss it," he said softly. "Thats it, I am advertising tomorrow to start my own band. Decision made. I'll forward you the ad if your interested."

Dr Bennett would be pleased Annora was possibly joining a band. Even without the counselor's prodding, it would give her something to do on her off time.

"Sure, perhaps next time we'll be on stage here instead of in the audience."

"Its a deal," Liam nodded.

OFF:

Lieutenant Liam Reynolds
CDO, DS5

&

Lieutenant JG Annora Tessaro
Assistant Chief Security Officer DS5

 

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