One is Silver and the Other's Gold
D'Aria strode down the hall, fighting to keep her panic in check. Here she was, again, on a new ship, with no old friends and no inclination to make any new ones. 'Well…' she thought, smiling faintly, causing a young ensign to look at her somewhat oddly, 'Not "no" old friends. Just no organic ones.' And she lightly patted her pocket, feeling the reassuring weight and shape of an isoliniar chip.
As she passed through the inhabited parts of the ship into the areas as of yet populated, she lengthened her stride, eventually breaking into a run. She skidded to a halt in front of the first holodeck she saw, and removed the chip from her pocket. Carefully- ever so carefully- she slid it into the card reader at the entrance of the 'deck.
=^= Read or download? =^= the computer asked.
"Download, then password-protect to my voice patterns." D'Aria commanded.
The computer chirped an affirmative. There was a slight hum/whirring sound from the reader, then, =^= Download complete. Remove chip and enter when ready. =^= She carefully removed the chip from the reader, and stowed it safely in her pocket. She waited until the doors were open, then d'Aria stepped through.
Standing just inside the door was a single hologram of a man in a Starfleet Medical uniform. He had a slightly puzzled look on his face.
"d'Aria?" he asked, "What are you doing here?" he paused, looking around the holodeck before adding, "What am I doing here?"
D'Aria held up the single isoliniar chip, and then responded, "I couldn't leave you behind, Doc. I'm sorry."
The EMH's confusion seemed to grow for a moment, until a look of suspicion and then anger crossed his face. "You DIDN'T!" He cried. "Please tell me that this is all some sort of joke on your part, that this is the holodeck on the James T. Kirk, and that you did NOT take me with you somehow to the Brisingr!"
D'Aria's smile faded. She paced back and forth until finally spinning on her heels to once again face the EMH. "How could I not?" she asked. "They were REPLACING YOU! How could I allow one of my best friends to be just… just… quietly decommissioned?"
"What?" said the EMH, fear on his face, "Replace… me?"
"They said that you were inferior. They were replacing you… And all the Mark II's… With Mark III's. 'Feminine' they said. 'Superior bedside manner.' They said. Well, I couldn't just sit by and leave you there to be… to be… discontinued, okay?" d'Aria was close to tears.
The EMH tentatively approached d'Aria. He sighed, and then said, "I hope you got clearance for this, and that you didn't just steal me, ch'Satheddet."
D'Aria looked up at him, blinking through the tears that were threatening to spring out. "I did…" she whispered.
The EMH rolled his eyes, and said, "Good. Now, let's talk about the REAL reason you wanted to bring me along."
D'Aria sat down on the holodeck floor and looked up at him. "I don't know what you're talking about."
"Right," the EMH responded. "And you brought me along because you have sooooooo may organic friends here, right?" he sat down next to her, lowering his voice slightly, "or was it because you were afraid?"
"Afraid of what?" d'Aria scoffed. "Afraid you'd miss me?"
"No." said the EMH softly. "Afraid that what happened to Max might happen to one of your friends if they come to rely on you."
D'Aria's eyes went wide. She shot to her feet, her pale blue face even paler than usual. "NEVER mention that name AGAIN!"
The EMH also stood up, but stayed a respectful distance away, his hands raised in a non-threatening gesture. "You're afraid that the ghosts of your past might come to haunt your vision of the future. They already are, ch'Satheddet. And they will as long as you hold onto your guilt!"
In a rush, the EMH closed the distance between them and grabbed d'Aria by the shoulders. Her antennae shot up in a gesture of hostility and surprise and anger, but she didn't move.
"IT WASN'T YOUR FAULT!" the EMH shouted.
D'Aria stepped away from him, breaking his grip on her. "Be that as it may," she said in a deadly calm voice not betraying her inner turmoil in hearing the name that she'd thought that she had forgotten, that she thought she had buried long ago." I can't let it happen-" She broke off as she heard the EMH humming softly. "What is THAT?" she asked.
"This?" the EMH hummed the tune again. D'Aria nodded. "It's just an old Earth tune. It just happens to make me think of you."
D'Aria raised an eyebrow. "How does it go?"
The EMH paused, then sang softly:
"Make new friends, but keep the o-old,
One is silver and the other's gold."
D'Aria said nothing.
"It's good advice for you," the EMH said. "You should-"
D'Aria interrupted him. "Oh, it's brilliant advice. Silver, gold… what's next? Latinum?"
"D'Aria-" the EMH started.
"SHUT UP!" cried d'Aria. "I didn't come here for counseling, or to be scolded, or to be-" she broke off, and looked miserably at the EMH, then said, "I have a mission briefing at 1500. Senior staff. I have to be there."
The EMH nodded, then said almost affectionately, "Take care of yourself, d'Aria."
D'Aria nodded, then said, "Computer: save, end program, lock access to my voice patterns."
There was an affirmative chirp for the computer, and the EMH vanished. The Holodeck doors opened, and as she left, she found herself singing the song under her breath in Andorian:
"Make new friends, but keep the o-old,
One is silver and the other's gold.
A circle is round, it has no e-end,
That's how long I want you as my friend."