Chapter Fourteen: Happenings
Shannal Haldia eased down into the seat at a table on the Replimat. She let out a contented sigh as she settled and prepared to begin her meal.
"That seat is taken," Syrreiya Naetharr growled.
"By whom? Your invisible friend, Renee?" Haldia said with a roll of her eyes as she tried to light-heartedly tease the Jetallan woman who simply stared back with annoyance. "What? I can't spend some time with a fellow crewmember at dinner?"
"No," Naetharr answered.
"Why not?" Haldia questioned.
"Is there a point to your pestering me?" Naetharr asked.
"No, just having some fun driving you insane," Haldia replied and then offered a plate with dessert on it. "Chocolate?"
"I do not eat chocolate," the Jetallan answered.
"Blasphemy!" Haldia said with a shake of her head in disbelief. "Everyone loves chocolate, it is good for you."
"I doubt that," Naetharr said, exasperated.
"Fine, fine," Haldia sighed. "I just thought we could get along since we are so similar."
"I find that hard to believe," she responded.
"How so?" Haldia inquired as after munching on some of her pasta on her plate next to the chocolate. "Our home worlds were occupied for some time. We both had a rather… enlightening time at the Academy when we met new people."
Naetharr rolled her eyes at the comments. She did not know what Haldia was getting at but she was getting rather bothered by her continuous conversation.
"Oh and I almost forgot," Haldia said, her eyes shining suddenly. "There are those little tricks we both can do with our minds…"
Naetharr's eyes narrowed immediately. Now she had crossed the line in Naetharr's comfort zone.
"Sneaking around one's thoughts is not a safe thing to do," she said quietly.
"Nor is keeping secrets like whatever it is you are hiding," Haldia pointed out and tapped her own head. "You cannot hide much from me. I suggest you should bring it out in the open soon, especially if you think it has something to do with these disappearances occurring."
"You do not know what you are talking about," Naetharr growled as she stood and walked away, leaving Haldia alone.
Testy today, aren't we? Haldia thought and also mentally sent on to Naetharr with an amused look on her face.
* * *
The door chime interrupted the waltz that had been playing throughout Serea's quarters. Serea opened her eyes from the meditative rest she had settled into while listening to the melody. She stared at the door for a moment. Who would be coming at this hour?
Hearing the chime repeat, she sat up straighter in the couch and retrieved her still warm cup of Vulcan tea.
"Come," she answered.
Raleigh stood outside her doorway, a padd in hand.
"I know it is late but I believe this couldn't wait," he explained as he raised the padd. "Plus, I knew you would be awake."
Serea felt like grumbling but resisted the urge, it bothered her slightly that a new member of her crew knew her already so well while she was trying to get a new start far away from her former life.
"Come in and have a seat" she said, keeping her voice monotone. "What is it you would like to show me?"
Raleigh entered and took a seat in the chair across from her.
"I was doing some researching on Jetal and many of the incursions that have been occurring in nearby sectors," he said. "I also included in my research any strange happenings which brought up these."
He handed her the padd he had been carrying and she took it as she placed her cup of tea on the saucer on her table. She tapped through the padd as she scanned the information he had compiled.
"Missing persons reports," she said. "From Jetal and other freight ships."
"And if you check the dates, they have been occurring only over the past three months at random intervals after the war ended," he described. "But the number of reports have picked up in the past few weeks on a steady pace."
"Intriguing," Serea said glancing through the report as she listened.
"Many of the disappearances coincided with Breen incursions and attacks on freight ships," he continued. "There were also some unidentified ships that came through the system, near or in orbit to Jetal, before Starfleet had a foothold here. Several missing people disappeared around that time as well."
"How many 'coincidences' do you have?" Serea asked she was cautious about making any assumptions too early.
"Out of nearly one hundred fifty disappearances? About sixty percent fall within Breen attacks on ships or during the time of the mysterious orbiting ships," he determined. "Another ten percent there's not enough information collected on the disappearances. I know that is barely a slight majority but something just does not seem right."
"I concur," she said hesitantly. "This seems fairly odd indeed. It would not hurt, though, to look into this further, especially if it will help in our investigation of finding the three Jetallans kidnapped earlier today." She handed the report back to him. "Make any preparations you need and work with Vedrann as much as you can, he might be of some help. I will inform Starfleet of the progress on the investigation."
"Thank you," he said as he took the padd back but did not move to leave.
"Is there something else you wish to discuss?" she asked, knowing full well what he intended.
"I was hoping we could talk," he said, placing the padd on the table. "You know, like we used to."
Serea knew what he was getting at but she would not let him lead her down that path.
"Are you liking this new posting?" he asked suddenly breaking the quiet and taking the initiative since it was apparent she would not.
"It is an adequate posting for myself but is overall an important position of responsibility in this sector that Starfleet has put me in, but I neither like nor dislike it," she answered.
"You have a great crew though," he said. "Those whom I have met are some great additions and officers here. They are much different from the Callahan's crew though."
Serea simply nodded in response. Raleigh turned the padd over in his hands uncertainly. She was purposely not letting him get into much conversation by not giving anything to it and she was definitely not trying to be a good host by offering him a cup of tea or another drink. He knew she saw this as an intrusion but was keeping it as polite yet uncomfortable as she could without being downright rude.
"I see you brought the dagger Konrath gave you after the retaking of Ocarion Prime," Raleigh said suddenly as he stood and walked over to the taj hanging on the wall.
"It was a gift of honor from Captain Konrath," she said as she came to stand next to him to look at the weapon. "To not display such a tribute would be a disgrace to his name in the Klingon tradition."
"Where is the matching bat'leth?" he asked.
Serea locked her jaw and took a deep breath before answering, "I gave it to Thomas."
Raleigh became bothered and shifted on his feet uneasily.
"You gave it to his brother?" he asked, his voice lowered. "I think Jon would have wanted you to keep it."
He paused, waiting for her to answer but after she did not, he shifted uneasily on his feet before answering. "What does it matter anyway, you got rid of everything else that reminds you of him as if he never happened to you."
Serea felt a small quiet urge to punch Raleigh square in the jaw but she held it down as well fought the urge to give him a tongue lashing for accusing her as such. Instead she tried to keep her voice calm and steady.
"It is illogical for someone to attempt to forget a person by simply removing objects since the impression one leaves on another's mind is permanent," she said. "I do not fault you for your misconceptions on the matter. Though, perhaps it is time for you to leave… Lieutenant Commander."
Raleigh inwardly winced at the use of his rank. Never in the years he had served under her had she addressed him in that formal of a way. Even though the words stung, he knew he had struck a nerve within her, despite her lack of emotion.
"As you wish, Commander," he replied and spun on his heel about-face to walk out the door.
Serea turned and went to bedroom as soon as the door to her quarters swished shut. She immediately went to her prayer set up and lit one of the candles she had placed nearby. She set the candle into a holder and sat upon a rug she had laid out next to the dresser and bed. Sitting cross-legged, she focused on the light of the flame and concentrated so that she could set herself into a relaxed meditative state. It was after a half-hour that she finally began to feel her anger wash away and her pounding heart slow its pace. As soon as she was satisfied, she prepared and brought herself to her bed where she promptly fell asleep.
* * *
"Hold your paddle like this…" Rilar instructed to Katja as he placed her tiny hand in the appropriate hold. "Perfect, now try and return the ball over the net when James serves it to you."
"Ok!" the little girl answered, her eyes watching James in prepared concentration.
"Ready?" Michael asked, as he stood ready. Katja nodded in response.
He served the ball easily to her over the net and she hit the ball back to him. The small white ball made it back over the net and he was able to hit it back to her, still keeping a simple pace for the new, young player.
"See how much easier it is if you hold the paddle that way instead of how you did before?" Rilar said in approval.
Senecal smiled as she watched her daughter's excited figure play the ball back to Michael a second time. She was glad to see her daughter in high spirits as well as be lucky to have found friends in her fellow crew members who were so kind to involve the both of them in their random nightly ping pong tournaments.
"I believe she has a natural aptitude for the game," commented L'Nara from beside Senecal. "Katja may win a match against Lieutenant Michael with little practice and time."
"I heard that," said the engineer with a mock scowl in the Vulcan's direction. "I'm still waiting for our rematch."
"I have been away on Jetal and thus unable to compete," L'Nara said.
"Excuses, excuses…" mumbled Michael as he continued to hit the ball over the net to his giggling opponent.
Senecal chuckled to herself quietly and then made her way over to where Rilar stood.
"Do you mind watching her for a few minutes?" she asked her friend. "I just realized I forgot something back at the Infirmary."
"Not at all," Rilar said warmly. "I think she's deeply enthralled and won't notice your leaving."
"Thank you," she smiled. "I'll just be a little while."
Slipping out the door of the holosuite, Senecal made her way out of the semi-empty establishment that the crew had turned into a game hall and headed for the open walkways of the Promenade. She eyed the hanging sign identifying the Infirmary further up ahead and quickened her pace without noticing the hunched figure coming up behind her. Her mind had been busy with thoughts and other distractions, which had led to her forgetting some medical reports and journals she meant to read before going to bed that night. As she entered, she found her nurse, Bithar Keddan, minding shop on a fairly quiet night. He was sitting behind one of the consoles reading a padd.
"Good evening, Doctor," Keddan greeted as he noticed her walk into the room.
"Hello, Bithar," she replied as she spied her own padds on the console across from him. "How are things?"
"Fine," he said with a shrug. "Just keeping myself busy. What brings you here tonight?"
"Came to collect something I forgot," she grinned.
Senecal was about to retrieve them when she heard someone stumble in behind her. Spinning around, she found Syrreiya Naetharr crumpled on the floor in front of her. The young Jetallan's face was pale and contorted in pain as she breathed quickly and heavily. Senecal quickly rushed to her with Keddan close behind with a tricorder in hand.
"Lakatti-feh, Bithar," Naetharr hissed out of her clenched teeth. "Ui'la hetale metichloridal."
Senecal was surprised for a moment when she heard Naetharr speak in another language other than Jetallan to Keddan that had not been translated by the universal translators. Rarely had the language contraptions run across something it had not heard or could figure out. She understood one portion of what Naetharr said: metichloridal, a medical drug used for pain in extreme cases but was unstable and therefore rarely used if at all. She reached out to take Naetharr's arm when Keddan grabbed Senecal's wrist roughly.
"You cannot touch her!" he said shrilly, his eyes calm yet urgent. "Do not make skin contact."
Senecal leveled her gaze at him before letting him take Naetharr up in his arms, careful not to make skin contact, to the backroom where the bio-beds were. He laid her upon the bed and immediately went to a tray of nearby hyposprays. Senecal in the meantime had taken Keddan's medical tricorder and was scanning Naetharr's vitals. Her eyes narrowed as she read the strange information appearing on her screen.
Keddan hurried over and pressed the hypospray to Naetharr's neck, which made the chief engineer's body relax to a degree from its tenseness. She immediately eased her breathing and appeared to fall asleep from the exhaustive toll her body just went through. Senecal noticed the vital scans on the tricorder begin to balance out to normal. She then began a more thorough scan. Her eyes flickered to Keddan, who appeared anxious but seemed relieved to see his fellow Jetallan go into a tranquil slumber.
"You know what is wrong with her," Senecal said more so as a statement than a question.
"We cannot let anyone know about this," Keddan said, his voice low. "You mustn't say anything."
"I have to," Senecal replied. "And you need to tell me what is going on. Her immune system is going crazy and there are some strange readings I am getting from her central nervous system. You have to let me know what is happening to Lieutenant Naetharr in case her state worsens."
"No, I cannot," he said. "It is a secret of our people. I cannot break Syrreiya's trust as well as the few others like her."
"Then I will," said the recently arrived Vedrann from behind them.
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Yes, I know, evil me for leaving you guys with a cliffhanger but I couldn't help it. I'm in a crazy mood tonight. I felt bad for not writing a lot recently so I'm moving the story along much faster than I originally anticipated. Though, it all will work out in the end. Sorry once more for not updating regularly… I had some German visitors living with me while at the same time I had some lovely midterms. *cries* Plus, my new job has stolen away lots of my free time but now time = money so that is important. Hopefully my upcoming 'promotion' won't interfere too much with my extra free time. But school will be over in just under a month and I will have much more time to write for you guys.
~TQ~