From: Sarah Albertini-Bond (serendipity77_at_gmail.com)
Date: Thu Jun 28 2007 - 20:58:30 PDT
"We Are The GATEWAY"
<cont'd from Kenneth & my "O,'Sinner Man">
=/\=
Location: EARTH
Scene: Kitchen, Bonviva Villa, Venice, Italy
SD: 2.70628.1356
Time Index: Many, many, many years in the future ;)
"Nonna," a young boy said as he jumped off a chair and came over to
his grandmother, "do you have stories like Grampa?"
One of her granddaughters darted past where the elderly Bolian/Human
was standing at the counter and said, "Nonna has stories. She has
lots of stories. I've heard her stories."
"Tell me a story!" her youngest grandson demanded as he smiled a
gap-tooth smile up at her.
Xana looked down and smiled back at the tousled hair boy standing at
her knee as she mixed the ingredients for the cookies. "What would
you like a story about?"
One of the girls sitting at the table smiled and said, "Tell us about
when you met Grampa."
Predictably the boys reacted in much a way young boys act at the
sound of romance. With blood curdling screams and the sticking of
fingers in ears. "NOOOOOOOO. Not that!"
Xana chuckled at that. "Why not?"
One of the boys wrinkled an already wrinkled nose at her. "There's
gonna be…kissing and stuff in that story."
"Ok, not that story about when I met Grampa. But remember, someday
you might not think that "kissing and stuff" isn't so bad," Xana
smiled.
"Never," the eldest grandson announced as his brothers and male
cousins followed suit.
Xana bit back a laugh and focused on mixing the cookie dough. "What
would you like to hear about?"
The kids debated about what they wanted to hear about. Since they
had access to the family vids, they figured they wanted to hear the
background to a story that they had seen in the many vids from when
their grandmother was in public service. Finally her eldest
granddaughter said, "Nonna, I was learning about the wormhole closing
up in history class. You were on the GATEWAY for that, right?"
Xana stopped what she was doing and looked out the window. Suddenly
she was no longer seeing Venice but a place long gone. "Si, bambina,
I was there for that."
Turning around Xana Bonviva, feeling all of her years walked over to
the table and sat down at one of the chairs. "This is a very serious
story."
"Is it an exciting story?"
The grandmother shook her head at her grandchild. "Are you kidding?
It has gods, collisions, fighting, torture, revenge, deaths, births,
chases, impossible escapes, true love, miracles…"
A large yawn came out as her grandson climbed up on her lap. "I'll
try and stay awake."
"Oh well…grazie, mille grazie, how kind of you," Xana replied, her
sarcasm still strong after all these years. "Your vote of confidence
is overwhelming."
"Well Nonna, no offense, but you're no Grampa when it comes to
telling stories," her grandson replied.
=/\=
Location: GATEWAY STATION – 2
Scene: Ambassador's Office
TI: Back in the here and now ;)
Xana looked out the window at the fading lights. Alone in her
office, she had gotten the call that something was *happening*
outside. So she stood there, only with Angus next to her, as she
watched the cataclysmic display outside her window.
Being far from the actual goings ons, Xana couldn't hear the chaos
going on in space. She never heard the ships crashing. She never
heard sound of a wormhole closing in on itself (was that like the
sound of one hand clapping she wondered). She stood in the silence of
her office and watched the astronomy show outside
Without thinking, she reached for the hidden commbadge that she
always had on her person. "Bonviva to McInnis."
[[I'm here.]]
She said nothing for a long time. Fear kept her rooted in place.
There was the personal fear for Gene. For their marriage. For
Dahlia. For her family and friends' well-beings.
Then there was the larger fear that something *damn* serious was going on.
[[Xana? Are you still there?]]
"I'm here," Xana admitted hoarsely. Clearing her throat she said, "I
wanted to make sure you were okay."
[[I'm fine,]] Gene responded. [[Where's Dahlia?]]
"With Kat," Xana replied. "Kat will keep her safe."
Yes, you believe your friends and family, the ones you've been
through the fire with, will stay with you for just a bit longer. And
so Xana held onto that belief for longer – Kat would make sure nothing
happened to Dahlia.
[[Good.]] Gene paused for a moment, clearly distracted. [[I think I
should go. It's going to be chaos here I think.]]
"I love you and please be safe," Xana blurted out.
This time it was Gene who paused and Xana winced at that. She didn't
mean to imply that Gene wasn't safe. And she didn't want to upset
him, remind him of his kidnapping…
[[I will. McInnis out.]]
Xana sighed and banged her head against the pane of window. He was
growing more distant; it was becoming blatantly obvious. And as much
as she wanted to reach out to Gene, she feared it. Even when she got
over her fear, he pushed her away, so what was the point?
Suddenly the quiet receded and in the distance Xana could hear a roar
building up. Turning around she stared at her door, which was still
closed. The noise sounded like it was building up outside her office.
**Oh gods, that isn't good,** she thought to herself.
Suddenly Eilean Peri, her Security Chief, came bursting into the room
with Slater Zeman, her Chief of Staff.
"Ambassador," Zeman began, "there's a crowd assembling outside. With
the wormhole closing, a large crowd has shown up and is quite
obviously upset."
"Do crowds just roam the station looking for chaos?" Xana sighed,
running a hand through her long white hair. She looked out the window
for another minute before turning back to her staff. "Eilean, make
sure that Dahlia is safe."
"And McInnis?" the Xenxenian asked.
"I just spoke to him," Xana replied, sidestepping that question.
"For now, just check on my daughter. Zeman, I'll need a bullhorn or
some other amplification device to talk to the masses. After we'll
need to organize a rapid response system to dealing with claims. Oh
and make sure whatever media can be dragged here is done so."
"Will that be enough?" Zeman asked.
"It will have to be. During chaos," Xana continued on, "there might
be some confusion about command structure. It is important that we
fill in whatever command vacuum their might be – people need to see
strong faces and hear a strong message. No matter what the cost, to
us politically, this is what we have to do."
Zeman paused for a minute before saying. "Can I just state very
clearly I can't be a part of anything illegal?"
Eilean rolled her eyes. The Chief of Staff seemed like a nice man
but he had absolutely no tact. "Good for you, Slater."
"Say what you want. But it's always the person in my position that
ends up doing 18 to 24 months in a Betazoid minimum security prison,"
the Chief of Staff responded.
"Having done time in a much harder place, I'll see what I can do for
you," the Ambassador replied dryly.
While Zeman and Eilean went out to take care of their tasks, Xana
opened up a secure internal visual link with the CO's office.
**Gods, if you still listen to me,** Xana prayed to herself as she
secured the communication, **please give me the serenity to accept the
things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and
the wisdom to know where to hide Kane's body because I had to kill
him.**
A very perturbed Kane appeared on the visual screen. {{Yes,}} he spat out.
She desperately wanted to reach out and choke the man. Instead she
folded her hands and said with a clenched smile, "I have a large
civilian crowd outside. A crowd that is getting antsy. As a *lowly*
middle-man, I thought I should do a swan dive and ask the almighty CO
what he thought I should say."
Kane glared at her. {{About what?}}
"About whether or not ANDORIA will make it to the finals in the water
polo cup. About the damn wormhole!" Xana yelled. "Are you going to
say something to the public or not?"
{{Ambassador, I am not in a position to give an answer to you or to
anyone else right now,}} the CO replied tersely. {{Unlike others I
don't go into situations unprepared.}}
"Next time I see you, I'm going to grab a hold of your big floppy
ears and yank real hard in the hopes that will uncork your head from
your ass," the Ambassador promised. "The crowds need to be
addressed."
{{You're just real fond of physical violence, aren't you?}} Kane asked
quietly.
"For some reason, I've only been like this since *you've* come aboard
my station."
{{It is not *your* station!}}
"Maybe you're right. Because I never let anything like this happen,"
Xana replied quietly. "And I sure as hell made myself available to
the flag officers and others with experience on the station, rather
than brooding and hiding all day in my office. Never mind, Kane, I'll
take care of the civilians myself."
With that she shut off the communication and indulged in cursing him
out for a good few minutes before preparing what she was going to say.
Eilean and Zeman popped back in. "How are we doing, Ambassador," the
Chief of Staff asked neutrally.
Xana wanted to yell about Kane, but knew she shouldn't. So instead
she inhaled and spoke quietly, "In the absence of genuine leadership
from expected quarters, people will listen to anyone who steps up.
They want leadership. They're so hungry for it that they'll crawl
through the desert towards a mirage, and upon discovering it wasn't
real, they'll eat sand. Now before someone else can turn this station
to chaos, I will step up and make sure nothing happens on the station.
And I'll need both your helps doing it."
Getting up from her desk, Xana took the bullhorn from Slater and
walked towards her doors to the outer office of the Federation
Ambassador Suite where a large crowd had gathered.
"Ready?" Eilean asked. She had dispatched some personnel to find
Dahlia, as she stayed with the Ambassador.
"I have a vague idea," Xana sighed as she walked through the doors.
There was chaos outside of Xana's office. People were going mad,
waving PADDs in the air and screaming for help to get off the GATEWAY.
Wild rumors were flying throughout the air – talks of war and chaos
and riots – and with each second the rumors were becoming wilder and
louder.
Climbing up on the front desk, much to Eilean's dismay as now the
Chief of Security had to dispatch people to create a perimeter around
the Ambassador, Xana stood there and began speaking into the bullhorn.
"I need your attention."
Suddenly the room got quiet. It was amazing what amplifying your
voice could do to people screaming bloody murder. Hell even the media
personnel were quiet – a miracle in and of itself.
Everyone wanted to know what she'd say. It was simple; she was going
to return to themes that she knew well – what the GATEWAY was.
"For those of you that don't know me, I'm Ambassador Xana Bonviva. I
know all of you are anxious. I know you want to go to your
homeworlds. And my office will do its best to facilitate your
requests," Xana said. "But I have no answers as to why this happened.
This is what I know – the wormhole is gone. If you want to go back
to the Alpha quadrant, it will take much longer than the few hours
we're all used to. If you want to go to the Beta quadrant, it will
take even longer. The trip will be much more precarious than what
we've been used to. However, to get through this situation, we need
everyone's cooperation. Starfleet is working on keeping station
operations stable and secure.
"But the GATEWAY is more than that – it always has been. We are not
simply a military station. We are the beacon in the night, shining
out to the universe as an example of what the Federation is and can
be. We are the respite from the hardships, an opportunity to go out
and do better, and we are vigilant against those that would break down
our example.
"We are the Federation – Starfleet and civilian alike. And we will
stand strong no matter what others will do. We are the GATEWAY – the
passageway to many places, but home to even more. Yes, the universe
has changed all around our home. Yes, for some, the Gods are speaking
to us. But never forget this – we are the GATEWAY. We are home. We
have stared evil in the face and we have won before. We will do what
we have to be safe, to prosper in the face of adversity, and we will
do it while elevating the levels of discourse, propriety and honor.
That will be our legacy.
"We are home. We are the GATEWAY and we will endure through this
crisis together, and we will be all the stronger for it."
=/\=
NRPG: There you go! I know it's a lot from me in a short time but
I'll be going away soon so I thought I'd try and knock this out.
Hopefully you like it -- or at least weren't bored by it! LOL And
yes, Xana's kinda cribbed off her own speech but hey, lots of
politicians do that ;)
Jerome: Yes, I like feuds but I am rusty. Let me know if what I did
with Kane was okey-dokey.
Kenneth: I've always liked the bits you do with Gene in the future
and I thought I'd try my hand at it.
Rahul/Joy: I just touched on the situation with the kids and from
that I figure Xana will hear about Kat. I didn't know what else to
write so let me know what you'd like from me (including me being quiet
LOL).
Steve: Are the Svensons still around?
=/\=
Sarah Albertini-Bond serendipity77_at_gmail.com
Ambassador Xana Bonviva
Federation Ambassador
GATEWAY STATION – 2
Hope is a good thing, maybe the best of all things, and no good thing ever dies.
-- From "The Shawshank Redemption"
From HyperNews_at_youth.net
This archive was generated by hypermail 2.1.5 : Sun Feb 17 2008 - 03:10:16 PST