Unity – The Long Road Home
by Commander Chelsea Dunham & Commander Isha t'Vaurek & Commander Richard Dunham
Post Details
ON:
As Raedheol left to go back to the Consulate, Doctor Adams finished up in Sickbay and handed over to the next shift. She met up with Lt. Dunham outside the Embassy with the pre-arranged intention of visiting Ambassador t'Khellian. As she approached him, Chelsea hugged Rick tightly.
"This isn't going to be easy is it?" she muttered rhetorically. Rick smiled as he always did, even in the face of any problems. She was heartened by his presence, her heart warmed as ever by his gentle encouragement and she decided she would always be able to be brave if he was by her side. Pulling herself up to her full height, Chelsea steeled herself and walked in, holding Rick's hand.
It wasn't that the idea of seeing Isha was in anyway unpleasant or scary, it was simply the idea of seeing her hurting and not at all herself as they had been warned to expect. Chelsea would rather suffer herself than to have to watch her good friend suffer and not be able to do anything to help.
They were admitted easily, Raedheol's influence clearly working to clear the red-tape for them.
Nahir i-Orinwen actually felt sympathy for them as she pressed the panel to request admittance to the Ambassador's suite. The erie'Khrein had instructed her to admit them to the consulate, but getting any further than that was up to the ambassador. She still was not sure what was going on; the erie'Khrein seemed to be as unbalanced as the Ambassador - a light blinked.
Keeping her thoughts to herself i-Orinwen stood back from the door, "She will see you," she said as the door opened, "I will remain here and escort you out when you are ready to leave."
Chelsea raised a pale smile and thanked the woman politely. She squeezed Rick's hand and they walked in. Seeing Isha again was a hugely emotional feeling and the doctor couldn't help but rush forward. The desk was a barrier between them but no-one could mistake the genuine joy in Chelsea's face to see her dear friend safe and in one piece.
"Isssssha!" she breathed taking in every detail of the familiar, much-loved face before her. Close enough to reach out one hand and attempt to touch Isha's cheek softly with the back of her forefinger, Chelsea seemed frozen in slow motion as she stopped within centimetres, her eyes misty, words beyond her.
Slowly Isha's gaze swivelled between the pair and back to Chelsea. "Its hardly surprising that you turn out to be his creatures," she said, " erie'Khrein Raedheol is remarkably good at recruiting people. What do you want?"
"Recruiting........?" Chelsea remembered Rh'vaurek's words clearly but no matter what he'd said he hadn't managed to convince her that Isha would be worse than 'cold'. She had been expecting blank, withdrawn or uncommunicative, perhaps even mechanical and shut inside her own thoughts but to find her treating *him* as her enemy and them as his pawns was something she didn't see coming.
"Isha...... " warned by the stony look she was getting, Chelsea thought twice about withdrawing too and reverting to calling Isha 'Madam Ambassador' in case the familiar name that she had been permitted to use in the days when they were close was now rescinded. The thought lasted a few seconds but then Chelsea rejected it fiercely.
She spoke calmly, attempting to answer this objectively despite the emotions it was bringing into play. "I will not deny that Rh'vaurek has been a good friend to me, nor will I pretend that I don't hold him in high esteem for many reasons, however whatever makes you think he has asked us to bring before you some purpose or recommendations of his own, is mistaken. In fact he advised us against coming at this time and we defied him by insisting." she explained.
"I realise of course that if you genuinely believe we've been *recruited* for some task then you'll also be convinced this protestation to be part of a whole charade but I can do no more than to promise you from the heart that we're here to welcome you back with great relief and to tell you that whatever you've been through, your friends have missed you hideously, still love you as much as ever and are here for you, whenever or *if* ever you need us." She stepped back a little to Rick's side and took his hand again.
"We owe you our happiness. If it weren't for you we would never have met or fallen in love." she added, looking up at Rick with love in her eyes and back at Isha with deepest gratitude and affection.
Why did they have to do this? Isha thought, it was bad enough that Rh'vaurek had turned on her and was doing his best to keep her isolated so that she could not interfere, especially after she had made so much progress with the Cardassian ... Raedhoel and Latasalaem, she had learned were close to a breakthrough; the technology they were searching for was really there but they planned to keep it from the government and use it to elevate even further their wing of the Tal'Shiar.
Despite the pressure from the Praetor to stop them, he could offer her no overt support, just her life and her freedom, and the order to counter their move. So Isha needed the Cardassian whose intrusion had proved a gift from the stars, and if she had to give him his enemies in return for their alliance, she would.
As she stared at Chelsea she saw the invisible web that ran through them all - from herself to Rh'vaurek, from them to Senator Latasalaem to the Praetor who had stepped in with alacrity to fill the hole that her husband's brother had left.
Then the threads moved out winding themselves through space and time through the murdered doctor Ku'rann, his long dead Nausicaan assistant and Dorian Gabriel, through Chelsea, and Rick and Vi'kar Gul Getal and countless others who were not yet aware that they were or had been part of that web.
They should never have become involved with her.
"The Elements move in mysterious ways," Isha said, "I'm sure I had nothing to do with it."
Dunham smiled, “as I recall the whole thing was your idea, from arranging to meet Chelsea, to dinner at the Italian place, telling me to ‘arrive’ out of the blue, even though it had been prearranged between the two off us, then having to make up an excuse to leave, so as to make sure we were alone together.”
"I'm sure I don't know what you're talking about," Isha lied, a degree of irritation creeping into her tone. How could she make them go away ... her gaze caught the flickering glint of the light on Chelsea's Bajoran earring and it gave her an idea. "Well, you've welcomed me back. The Cardassian ambassador Vi'kar Gul Getal is due to visit any minute," she told them, another lie, but one that she thought would be effective.. Isha had no idea of the earlier confrontation between Chelsea and the Cardassian or else she might have used it sooner.
Dunham ignored what Isha had just said, his mind trying to figure out just what the hell was going on here. He tilted his head to the side and looked at her empathetically, “do you remember, the time at the Italian place, the smiles, the laughter, the happiness, the love?”
Isha hated to do this, but it was necessary, and she had to do what was necessary. She tilted her head, her smile wide and warm, "Of course I remember, Rick ... laughter, happiness, love," then as quickly as she had shown warmth she straightened in her chair, and her gaze hardened. "It amused me, Dunham, I wanted to see how easily you could both be manipulated, and the answer is very. I'm bored with that now."
Dunham nodded to the ambassador's words, keeping the smile on his face “Wow, what happened to you?”
"What a peculiar question," Isha replied, rising to her feet. "its time you were leaving," she continued as very pointedly she pushed the comm button inlaid in her desktop, "Security, Doctor Adams and Lieutenant Dunham are about to leave, see that they are escorted off the premesis."
Dunham slapped his hands together with a grin on his face “Right, we’ve obviously outstayed are welcome, pleasure as always madam ambassador,” he turned to Chelsea “Chelsea time to go.” He hooked his ram up with hers and started to escort them both out.
Chelsea wouldn't move... *couldn't* move! Frozen to the spot she just stared at Isha. "Manipulated?" she whispered hoarsely, her eyes searching Rick's face for a stunned moment before they spun back to the Romulan Ambassador again.
".... b...b...bored?" she was nearly speechless, just repeating odd words in a bewildered manner. It didn't make sense. Rick increased the pressure on her elbow and began to gently push her towards the door. She tried to take her arm back.
"No, Rick, just a minute please?" she said.
~Isha.... the Isha we used to know..... she wouldn't say that. It isn't true. Something's happened.~ she thought, trying to work this out. She came to the conclusion she must be being coerced and could only think of the time she saw Isha cover a *bug* in her rooms to stop herself being spied on in the past.
She turned back to Isha again and went over to her desk. Picking up a small padd she scrawled quickly before Security arrived and shaded the screen with her own hand so that no camera could get a shot of the words.
"You can't talk? Someone watching? ....or listening? We'll go ... for now." Then she knocked an ornament off the desk onto the floor and as she bent to pick it up making fake apologies, she took the opportunity of the fuss to slip off her comm badge.
She placed the ornament back on the desk under the ornament which she the stacked on top of the badge in a sandwich over the padd thus hiding her note too but ensuring sure Isha could pick up both later.
Then she stood back from the desk and put on an act of being upset at having to leave just in time to fool the Romulan Security guards who she had assumed *must* be in on whatever Isha *must* be being subjected to.
As they left she whispered to Rick "Talk outside, k?".
Dunham nodded in the silence as they headed out of the office, deep in his own thoughts.
Outside and far enough to be out of earshot, Chelsea explained her theory that someone *must* have been tapping Isha's office or had it under surveillance. She told Rick how that had happened before and how Isha had disabled the little bug whilst Chelsea had been visiting her quarters.
She also told him how worried she was and resolved to go back to see Raedheol the next morning. She would have gone tonight but they were due to go to dinner with the Counsellor within half an hour and so they hurried back to their shared quarters to get ready.
"Didn't you say we were expected at 19.30?" she asked checking the current time.
"Indeed" said Dunham in reply.
Off:
LT Richard Dunham
Squadron Leader
Isha t'Khellian
Lt Cmdr Chelsea Adams
CMO - DS5
by Commander Chelsea Dunham & Commander Isha t'Vaurek & Commander Richard Dunham
Post Details
| Title | The Long Road Home | |
| Mission | Unity | |
| Author(s) | Commander Chelsea Dunham & Commander Isha t'Vaurek & Commander Richard Dunham | |
| Posted | Wed Jan 20, 2010 @ 3:22pm | |
| Location | Romulan Embassy | |
| Timeline | Backpost: Early Evening SD16 |
As Raedheol left to go back to the Consulate, Doctor Adams finished up in Sickbay and handed over to the next shift. She met up with Lt. Dunham outside the Embassy with the pre-arranged intention of visiting Ambassador t'Khellian. As she approached him, Chelsea hugged Rick tightly.
"This isn't going to be easy is it?" she muttered rhetorically. Rick smiled as he always did, even in the face of any problems. She was heartened by his presence, her heart warmed as ever by his gentle encouragement and she decided she would always be able to be brave if he was by her side. Pulling herself up to her full height, Chelsea steeled herself and walked in, holding Rick's hand.
It wasn't that the idea of seeing Isha was in anyway unpleasant or scary, it was simply the idea of seeing her hurting and not at all herself as they had been warned to expect. Chelsea would rather suffer herself than to have to watch her good friend suffer and not be able to do anything to help.
They were admitted easily, Raedheol's influence clearly working to clear the red-tape for them.
Nahir i-Orinwen actually felt sympathy for them as she pressed the panel to request admittance to the Ambassador's suite. The erie'Khrein had instructed her to admit them to the consulate, but getting any further than that was up to the ambassador. She still was not sure what was going on; the erie'Khrein seemed to be as unbalanced as the Ambassador - a light blinked.
Keeping her thoughts to herself i-Orinwen stood back from the door, "She will see you," she said as the door opened, "I will remain here and escort you out when you are ready to leave."
Chelsea raised a pale smile and thanked the woman politely. She squeezed Rick's hand and they walked in. Seeing Isha again was a hugely emotional feeling and the doctor couldn't help but rush forward. The desk was a barrier between them but no-one could mistake the genuine joy in Chelsea's face to see her dear friend safe and in one piece.
"Isssssha!" she breathed taking in every detail of the familiar, much-loved face before her. Close enough to reach out one hand and attempt to touch Isha's cheek softly with the back of her forefinger, Chelsea seemed frozen in slow motion as she stopped within centimetres, her eyes misty, words beyond her.
Slowly Isha's gaze swivelled between the pair and back to Chelsea. "Its hardly surprising that you turn out to be his creatures," she said, " erie'Khrein Raedheol is remarkably good at recruiting people. What do you want?"
"Recruiting........?" Chelsea remembered Rh'vaurek's words clearly but no matter what he'd said he hadn't managed to convince her that Isha would be worse than 'cold'. She had been expecting blank, withdrawn or uncommunicative, perhaps even mechanical and shut inside her own thoughts but to find her treating *him* as her enemy and them as his pawns was something she didn't see coming.
"Isha...... " warned by the stony look she was getting, Chelsea thought twice about withdrawing too and reverting to calling Isha 'Madam Ambassador' in case the familiar name that she had been permitted to use in the days when they were close was now rescinded. The thought lasted a few seconds but then Chelsea rejected it fiercely.
She spoke calmly, attempting to answer this objectively despite the emotions it was bringing into play. "I will not deny that Rh'vaurek has been a good friend to me, nor will I pretend that I don't hold him in high esteem for many reasons, however whatever makes you think he has asked us to bring before you some purpose or recommendations of his own, is mistaken. In fact he advised us against coming at this time and we defied him by insisting." she explained.
"I realise of course that if you genuinely believe we've been *recruited* for some task then you'll also be convinced this protestation to be part of a whole charade but I can do no more than to promise you from the heart that we're here to welcome you back with great relief and to tell you that whatever you've been through, your friends have missed you hideously, still love you as much as ever and are here for you, whenever or *if* ever you need us." She stepped back a little to Rick's side and took his hand again.
"We owe you our happiness. If it weren't for you we would never have met or fallen in love." she added, looking up at Rick with love in her eyes and back at Isha with deepest gratitude and affection.
Why did they have to do this? Isha thought, it was bad enough that Rh'vaurek had turned on her and was doing his best to keep her isolated so that she could not interfere, especially after she had made so much progress with the Cardassian ... Raedhoel and Latasalaem, she had learned were close to a breakthrough; the technology they were searching for was really there but they planned to keep it from the government and use it to elevate even further their wing of the Tal'Shiar.
Despite the pressure from the Praetor to stop them, he could offer her no overt support, just her life and her freedom, and the order to counter their move. So Isha needed the Cardassian whose intrusion had proved a gift from the stars, and if she had to give him his enemies in return for their alliance, she would.
As she stared at Chelsea she saw the invisible web that ran through them all - from herself to Rh'vaurek, from them to Senator Latasalaem to the Praetor who had stepped in with alacrity to fill the hole that her husband's brother had left.
Then the threads moved out winding themselves through space and time through the murdered doctor Ku'rann, his long dead Nausicaan assistant and Dorian Gabriel, through Chelsea, and Rick and Vi'kar Gul Getal and countless others who were not yet aware that they were or had been part of that web.
They should never have become involved with her.
"The Elements move in mysterious ways," Isha said, "I'm sure I had nothing to do with it."
Dunham smiled, “as I recall the whole thing was your idea, from arranging to meet Chelsea, to dinner at the Italian place, telling me to ‘arrive’ out of the blue, even though it had been prearranged between the two off us, then having to make up an excuse to leave, so as to make sure we were alone together.”
"I'm sure I don't know what you're talking about," Isha lied, a degree of irritation creeping into her tone. How could she make them go away ... her gaze caught the flickering glint of the light on Chelsea's Bajoran earring and it gave her an idea. "Well, you've welcomed me back. The Cardassian ambassador Vi'kar Gul Getal is due to visit any minute," she told them, another lie, but one that she thought would be effective.. Isha had no idea of the earlier confrontation between Chelsea and the Cardassian or else she might have used it sooner.
Dunham ignored what Isha had just said, his mind trying to figure out just what the hell was going on here. He tilted his head to the side and looked at her empathetically, “do you remember, the time at the Italian place, the smiles, the laughter, the happiness, the love?”
Isha hated to do this, but it was necessary, and she had to do what was necessary. She tilted her head, her smile wide and warm, "Of course I remember, Rick ... laughter, happiness, love," then as quickly as she had shown warmth she straightened in her chair, and her gaze hardened. "It amused me, Dunham, I wanted to see how easily you could both be manipulated, and the answer is very. I'm bored with that now."
Dunham nodded to the ambassador's words, keeping the smile on his face “Wow, what happened to you?”
"What a peculiar question," Isha replied, rising to her feet. "its time you were leaving," she continued as very pointedly she pushed the comm button inlaid in her desktop, "Security, Doctor Adams and Lieutenant Dunham are about to leave, see that they are escorted off the premesis."
Dunham slapped his hands together with a grin on his face “Right, we’ve obviously outstayed are welcome, pleasure as always madam ambassador,” he turned to Chelsea “Chelsea time to go.” He hooked his ram up with hers and started to escort them both out.
Chelsea wouldn't move... *couldn't* move! Frozen to the spot she just stared at Isha. "Manipulated?" she whispered hoarsely, her eyes searching Rick's face for a stunned moment before they spun back to the Romulan Ambassador again.
".... b...b...bored?" she was nearly speechless, just repeating odd words in a bewildered manner. It didn't make sense. Rick increased the pressure on her elbow and began to gently push her towards the door. She tried to take her arm back.
"No, Rick, just a minute please?" she said.
~Isha.... the Isha we used to know..... she wouldn't say that. It isn't true. Something's happened.~ she thought, trying to work this out. She came to the conclusion she must be being coerced and could only think of the time she saw Isha cover a *bug* in her rooms to stop herself being spied on in the past.
She turned back to Isha again and went over to her desk. Picking up a small padd she scrawled quickly before Security arrived and shaded the screen with her own hand so that no camera could get a shot of the words.
"You can't talk? Someone watching? ....or listening? We'll go ... for now." Then she knocked an ornament off the desk onto the floor and as she bent to pick it up making fake apologies, she took the opportunity of the fuss to slip off her comm badge.
She placed the ornament back on the desk under the ornament which she the stacked on top of the badge in a sandwich over the padd thus hiding her note too but ensuring sure Isha could pick up both later.
Then she stood back from the desk and put on an act of being upset at having to leave just in time to fool the Romulan Security guards who she had assumed *must* be in on whatever Isha *must* be being subjected to.
As they left she whispered to Rick "Talk outside, k?".
Dunham nodded in the silence as they headed out of the office, deep in his own thoughts.
Outside and far enough to be out of earshot, Chelsea explained her theory that someone *must* have been tapping Isha's office or had it under surveillance. She told Rick how that had happened before and how Isha had disabled the little bug whilst Chelsea had been visiting her quarters.
She also told him how worried she was and resolved to go back to see Raedheol the next morning. She would have gone tonight but they were due to go to dinner with the Counsellor within half an hour and so they hurried back to their shared quarters to get ready.
"Didn't you say we were expected at 19.30?" she asked checking the current time.
"Indeed" said Dunham in reply.
Off:
LT Richard Dunham
Squadron Leader
Isha t'Khellian
Lt Cmdr Chelsea Adams
CMO - DS5