From: Erik (felldoh_at_voyager.net)
Date: Sun Apr 15 2007 - 12:12:48 PDT
"A Tale of Two Runabouts" continued from "Waiting" Location: Karashi Nebula Stardate: 2.70415.1445 Scene: USS STAR RIDER "According to their flight plan this is where the COLUMBIA should have been at the time of the attempted communication." T'ial announced from the science station. "Scan for debris." Kel ordered, staring intently at the viewscreen. "At the maximum range you can get." "How are we supposed to find anything out here?" Tam said, from the copilot's chair. She too was looking through the viewscreen. "It all looks the same." "We'd have to be really close to identify them." Kel answered. "but there's always the chance we'll get lucky" "Sir," T'ial sounded as if she wasn't sure of what she was saying. "I'm picking up some very strange readings from region 32." "What sort of readings?" "I'm...not sure." She answered. "I've never seen anything like it before." Kel turned back to his console and started entering commands. "Then let's go take a closer look." =/\= Scene: USS COLUMBIA Ben rubbed at his arms, his breath leaving plumes of mist in the cold air. It wasn't very comfortable, but he was coping with the reduction in air temperature. There wasn't very much to do, so he simply tried to keep himself warm, while conserving energy. Catherine was huddled in one corner of the shuttle, still fiddling with the control pad. Her shoulders were hunched over, and there was a faint tremor in her hands. They had long ago given up on trying to link it through to the main computer. It appeared that the main computer had taken damage during the initial firefight. It was in power down mode, only ensuring that there was light and some air, but the temperature wasn't working. It could be for any number of reasons, none of which they could fix. Engineering was far outside either of their expertise. Kenta glanced at her, before picking up a blanket and walking over to the young woman. "Here." He held the folded thermal blanket for her. There were only two left. "Thank you." Catherine gratefully accepted the blanket and she set down the control pad and its tangle of wires. She unfurled her legs and draped the blanket over her shoulders, crossing it over her chest and huddling back down into it. "You're freezing." Ben noted, having felt her hand as she picked the blanket up from him. He glanced at her quizzically. It really wasn't that cold in the shuttle...yet. "That's closer to the truth then you realize." She replied, and wrapped her arms around her knees, so she could turn her head and rest them on her knees. Her altered physiology made her much more sensitive to the cold than humans were. She watched as Ben sat down on the bench, back against the hull of the shuttle, and his leg dangling down to the ground. "Those children in that photo, are they yours?" Catherine asked, her breath pluming in the cold air. She had immediately felt warmer and the tremors had stopped. For a while at least. Kenta knew what she meant immediately, but he looked at her for a few silent moments before he replied. "No, not really." He didn't offer her anymore then that, which forced Catherine to dig on her own. He really didn't want to talk about it. It opened up too many old wounds and memories. "Who are they then? I've never heard you mention them." The man shrugged, trying, not quite successfully, to appear casual about it. "It was a very long time ago. I haven't seen or heard from them in a long time." He remarked, wrapping his arms around his torso, trying to keep his hands warm. "What are their names?" She asked curiously. That photo in his quarters, with he and two children all hugging and smiling. It seemed so out of place for stern Benjamin Kenta, ever the consummate professional EXO. It had always been a question in the back of her mind since she'd first seen it. Now was as good a chance as any to get some truths. "The boy's name was Sakyl." Kenta's voice was now calm, but maybe with a hint of longing. "His sister was Tirsa. They were Tellah's twins." He noticed a look of confusion in her eyes and added. "Not Lt. Cal. Tellah Pendragon, Arthur's mother." "Ah." Catherine nodded and tucked her chin down into the blanket. "I never would have imagined you as a father, before I met him. It's still hard." She said softly. It just wasn't very congruent with her idea of who and what Ben was. She couldn't see him rolling around on the carpet, playing with a young child. He always seemed too distant, sometimes almost disapproving of everything. "Well," he said with a joking smile that didn't touch his eyes. "I've never been a very good one." "Why do you say that?" He let out a frustrated sigh. Ben was a private man, he always had been. He wasn't used to talking about his personal life except with his friends, and this particular subject he didn't discuss even with most of them. Still a part of him strangely wanted to talk about it. Perhaps it was the fact that this was likely to be one of the last days of his life. Catherine may not be the ideal counselor, but she was the only one he was going to get. "I'm never there. It's this job. You know I didn't even meet Arthur until he was nine months old. I spent a few days with his mother, and then my leave was over, and I had to go back. I didn't see him again after that for two and a half years. It's been steadier since, but it's never more than a few days between missions. Sometimes I go months without even talking to him when our mission requires a blackout of civilian channels." "Why don't you bring him to live with you permanently? There is a school, and plenty of other children. You're a high enough rank to get his mother on board as well." Ben shook his head. "It's too dangerous. We've gotten into some heavy scraps; hell the PAT has a habit of it. I could tell you some stories you wouldn't believe. If something were to happen to him I..." He paused for a moment. "I don't know what I'd do." His mind strayed unbidden to Daisy. The night when he'd learned about herson'd death. It had been more than a year since it happened, and he could still see the pain in her eyes. She did her best to hide it, but he knew her too well. When they'd served together she had possessed a wild spirited optimism that he'd always admired. She'd been through some horrible things, even before he'd met her, but no matter how bad things got, as soon as it was over, she was back to her embarrassingly unabashed enjoyment of life. Now it was different. That part of her was gone, and he didn't know if it would ever be back. "I think I know what you mean." Catherine said after a moment of silence. "I feel that way about Daniel. When he went missing on ESPERION...It was like I couldn't breathe. I was so scared. If he was actually gone..." She thought for a moment and then shook her head. "I don't think I could handle it." They were silent for a moment, both absorbed with a variation of the same thought, that had suddenly hit them both like a phaser blast. If they died here, which seemed likely, what would it do to their loved ones? Ben broke the silence, speaking with unusual force, as if the words were blows which he used to banish the unpleasant subject on his mind. "Do you ever think about having children?" "It's too dangerous." Catherine replied quickly, also happy for the conversation. "I'm hunted, and they will be to once my brother finds out. I couldn't trust, or risk, anyone else to care for them." She paused for a minute then added. "For what it's worth, I am sorry about Sakyl and Tirsa." Ben met her eyes with a look she couldn't decipher, and held them for a moment before answering. "Thank you." --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- A joint post written by Naomi Lara Lt. J.G. Catherine Sterling-Jade Intelligence Operative USS PATRIOT And Lieutenant Tellah 'Cal' Callishendrack'Hylarmarishnakaashanah Chief of Operations USS PATRIOT And Commodore Teneill Danara-Bennow Deputy Chief of Starfleet Intelligence As well as... Erik Walz Commander Benjamin Kenta Executive Officer USS PATRIOT 5781-A & Lt. Seloron Junior ACT Instructor Starfleet Academy, Earth From HyperNews_at_youth.net
This archive was generated by hypermail 2.1.5 : Sun Feb 17 2008 - 03:10:47 PST