Unity – Correspondance (pt 1)
by Lieutenant JG Petro
Post Details
ON:
Petro had no sooner stepped through the door of her meager apartment than she began discarding her uniform. She was surprised at the amount of body fluids her skin exerted under the circumstances of what had been going on the past few hours. Everything seemed to be going in such slow motion that an hour felt like a day and yet the events were sporadic, complicated and heavily stacked. Logically moving slower and faster at the same time was impossible but considering what had happened the past few days logic had very little hold on what as real.
Shedding the last of her uniform, Petro stepped into the sonic shower and allowed herself the luxury of enjoying the vibrations. It had been a long time since she had been this fatigued and last time it was because of something enjoyable. Rakka had taught her how to swim.
She hadn't been swimming since that day and had even managed to avoid the holodecks since Rakka left. Petro sighed as her time in the shower came to an end. She missed her friend more than she could put into words and the insults that still floated around the station about her made Petro tense up. It brought out a side of her that she had never known before she met the Nausicaan. The memories gave her a lump in her throat. She started to think about the way they had met, the incident with the swimsuit and the confrontation in the hall with those two men. Ironically, one of them works under her now. She smiled at that.
Wrapping a towel around her petite frame, Petro sat at her console. She poured through the records of the transports to see if she could find where Rakka had ended up. It took some doing but she had managed to find her friend. "Open a link." She said and the computer began its operation. She waited as the insignia of DS5 spun around in a slow circle while a link was being established.
Rakka had just come off a double shift on the Bridge and changed out of her uniform into something loose and comfortable. She was considering heading for the holodeck to let off some steam when the computer indicated an incoming message. When she sat down and realized the call was coming from Deep Space Five, she felt a twinge of concern. Friend or foe? She wondered. She hoped it was a friend, but if it was, her friend was taking a risk in contacting her.
Or was she? Rakka now had someone on the task of keeping an eye on her father's activities since their last unfortunate meeting, and with Intel's support behind her, she felt more confident.
Rakka accepted the link and, after a moment, a refreshingly familiar face appeared on the screen.
"Petro!" she whispered, a sweet surge of affection inflating her chest.
"Rakka?" Petro asked, taking a closer look at the image that was returned. It looked like Rakka but no longer the eating hair monster she had first met. "You've..changed." She said, uncertain of how the comment would be accepted. Petro couldn't decide if she liked the shaven head look on her friend or not but accepted that it wasn't up to her at all. It was Rakka's decision to be made.
Putting aside the initial shock of seeing her friend looking different, she smiled. "I can't tell you how much I've missed you." Petro said, trying to keep the emotion she felt out of her voice.
Rakka took a deep breath, feeling a bit overwhelmed, and a little embarrassed about her appearance. "I... I've missed you too. A lot... really. I think about you all the time..."
Her hand strayed to her bare scalp, as it often did nowadays. "Um... sorry about my... hair. I know it's dreadful. It was, uh....” She trailed off, not knowing if she should share unpleasant tidings with Petro. She didn't want to upset her--but, she realized, they were friends. And weren't friends honest with each other?
"It was... my father," she admitted softly. "I didn't exactly... avoid him... as much as I was hoping...."
Petro stopped breathing for a moment. She had never met Rakka's father nor did her friend talk about him much. The stories she had heard about other Nausicaan males and what Rakka had given her on that disk was enough for her to hope and pray that she never met him. She wasn't sure how to respond. She couldn't imagine what Rakka might have gone through or what could have happened.
"Are you okay?" She asked, releasing the breath that she held. There was a part of her that wanted to reach out and put her hand on Rakka's. She could imagine the sizable differences in their hands even as she thought it. Instinctively she looked down at her own hand, empty and small.
Rakka took a deep breath, unsure of how to answer. "No.... yes.... well, I'm alive. And he didn't get to you--that's what's important," she decided. She contemplated the atrocities that had been committed against her, the damage they had done, the nightmares and constant fear that he would come back again--he had promised he would. But how much worse--a thousand times worse! --to contemplate her father laying a single finger on her Petro, sweet Petro. And for that, it had been worth leaving.
"I so miss... having a friend like you," Rakka continued. "A real friend. There are those here who go by the name of friend... they're good people, and they're there in difficult times... But there's no one really understands me like you always did."
Petro wanted to be with Rakka but she had her duties and her friend would have never allowed her to put herself in jeopardy. "What..." she broached the subject carefully. "What happened?" She asked.
Rakka lowered her head slightly. "Well... the way it started was... he... murdered my human foster parents. Once he crossed that line... I guess I realized... running wasn't going to help things anymore. He wanted something from me... and he proved he was willing to go to any length... to get me to cooperate. So... I cooperated."
She took a deep breath in and out. "It was... bad. Really, really... bad. He did what he wanted... and his 'friends' did what they wanted... and they left... and now it's over. For now."
Petro was speechless. She just stared at the image on her screen for what seemed like hours. She knew the atrocities that befell females of any species. The more veracious the species, the more volatile the acts. She could feel a tear tearing at her eye. "Do you think..." she paused, terrified of the answer. "Do you think they'll come for you again?"
Rakka stared down at her lap and, after a moment, nodded slowly. "They plan to. Once I am... 'complacent'. But h-hopefully... it won't come to that. Someone from Intel is... keeping an eye on their activities. Frustratingly, I am not privy to much of this information, so... I just have to trust."
She looked up at the screen. "Please... might we talk about other things? I want to hear about you. Your studies and such--how are you doing?"
Petro nodded. She wasn't so comfortable talking about that subject either. "My studies have been well." She said. "Not as difficult as I thought it would be but, well," She bit her lower lip in embarrassment. "I kind of told Commander Gabriel to, well, in more than a few words to,” She searched for the right phrase. "Shovel it?" She said, not certain if it was right. "He said something about you and, well, I sort of lost control."
Rakka relaxed, staring fondly at the screen. "Ah yes... Gabriel. Is he still talking about me? Sad, I guess, that his life is so small. I haven't given him a moment's thought." She paused, leaning a bit closer to the screen. "Thanks for sticking up for me."
"It's what friends do." Petro said. "He's taken over you job. I think people will be more prone to commit crimes just to snub his face in it." She said, a smile crossing her lips.
Rakka snorted. "Hum... indeed. One can only hope that one day he'll recover from his massive egotism. The Security department needs a true leader... not one who's all talk. Security is not forgiving... especially on a Station. Things are so much quieter here... on a ship. Fewer disasters. I actually have time to breathe once in a while. But it's hard... having spare time... when I'm missing my best friend."
"It's not easy when you're busy." Petro said, her voice holding the forlorn feelings she felt. "So much has happened and I've no one to talk to. The new Executive Officer thinks I'm weird and, well, Gabriel’s on another hunt for guilty people." She brightened up a little at her next thought. "Oh, and I worked Tactical during the Romulan attack." She looked down at her hands again. "Dorian said I should have thought twice about it because I'm not competent."
tbc...
Lt. Rakka
Chief Tactical/Security Officer
USS Pioneer
Ensign Petro
Quartermaster DS5
by Lieutenant JG Petro
Post Details
| Title | Correspondance (pt 1) | |
| Mission | Unity | |
| Author(s) | Lieutenant JG Petro | |
| Posted | Fri Jan 01, 2010 @ 9:54pm | |
| Location | Petro's Quarters | |
| Timeline | DS16 2100 |
Petro had no sooner stepped through the door of her meager apartment than she began discarding her uniform. She was surprised at the amount of body fluids her skin exerted under the circumstances of what had been going on the past few hours. Everything seemed to be going in such slow motion that an hour felt like a day and yet the events were sporadic, complicated and heavily stacked. Logically moving slower and faster at the same time was impossible but considering what had happened the past few days logic had very little hold on what as real.
Shedding the last of her uniform, Petro stepped into the sonic shower and allowed herself the luxury of enjoying the vibrations. It had been a long time since she had been this fatigued and last time it was because of something enjoyable. Rakka had taught her how to swim.
She hadn't been swimming since that day and had even managed to avoid the holodecks since Rakka left. Petro sighed as her time in the shower came to an end. She missed her friend more than she could put into words and the insults that still floated around the station about her made Petro tense up. It brought out a side of her that she had never known before she met the Nausicaan. The memories gave her a lump in her throat. She started to think about the way they had met, the incident with the swimsuit and the confrontation in the hall with those two men. Ironically, one of them works under her now. She smiled at that.
Wrapping a towel around her petite frame, Petro sat at her console. She poured through the records of the transports to see if she could find where Rakka had ended up. It took some doing but she had managed to find her friend. "Open a link." She said and the computer began its operation. She waited as the insignia of DS5 spun around in a slow circle while a link was being established.
Rakka had just come off a double shift on the Bridge and changed out of her uniform into something loose and comfortable. She was considering heading for the holodeck to let off some steam when the computer indicated an incoming message. When she sat down and realized the call was coming from Deep Space Five, she felt a twinge of concern. Friend or foe? She wondered. She hoped it was a friend, but if it was, her friend was taking a risk in contacting her.
Or was she? Rakka now had someone on the task of keeping an eye on her father's activities since their last unfortunate meeting, and with Intel's support behind her, she felt more confident.
Rakka accepted the link and, after a moment, a refreshingly familiar face appeared on the screen.
"Petro!" she whispered, a sweet surge of affection inflating her chest.
"Rakka?" Petro asked, taking a closer look at the image that was returned. It looked like Rakka but no longer the eating hair monster she had first met. "You've..changed." She said, uncertain of how the comment would be accepted. Petro couldn't decide if she liked the shaven head look on her friend or not but accepted that it wasn't up to her at all. It was Rakka's decision to be made.
Putting aside the initial shock of seeing her friend looking different, she smiled. "I can't tell you how much I've missed you." Petro said, trying to keep the emotion she felt out of her voice.
Rakka took a deep breath, feeling a bit overwhelmed, and a little embarrassed about her appearance. "I... I've missed you too. A lot... really. I think about you all the time..."
Her hand strayed to her bare scalp, as it often did nowadays. "Um... sorry about my... hair. I know it's dreadful. It was, uh....” She trailed off, not knowing if she should share unpleasant tidings with Petro. She didn't want to upset her--but, she realized, they were friends. And weren't friends honest with each other?
"It was... my father," she admitted softly. "I didn't exactly... avoid him... as much as I was hoping...."
Petro stopped breathing for a moment. She had never met Rakka's father nor did her friend talk about him much. The stories she had heard about other Nausicaan males and what Rakka had given her on that disk was enough for her to hope and pray that she never met him. She wasn't sure how to respond. She couldn't imagine what Rakka might have gone through or what could have happened.
"Are you okay?" She asked, releasing the breath that she held. There was a part of her that wanted to reach out and put her hand on Rakka's. She could imagine the sizable differences in their hands even as she thought it. Instinctively she looked down at her own hand, empty and small.
Rakka took a deep breath, unsure of how to answer. "No.... yes.... well, I'm alive. And he didn't get to you--that's what's important," she decided. She contemplated the atrocities that had been committed against her, the damage they had done, the nightmares and constant fear that he would come back again--he had promised he would. But how much worse--a thousand times worse! --to contemplate her father laying a single finger on her Petro, sweet Petro. And for that, it had been worth leaving.
"I so miss... having a friend like you," Rakka continued. "A real friend. There are those here who go by the name of friend... they're good people, and they're there in difficult times... But there's no one really understands me like you always did."
Petro wanted to be with Rakka but she had her duties and her friend would have never allowed her to put herself in jeopardy. "What..." she broached the subject carefully. "What happened?" She asked.
Rakka lowered her head slightly. "Well... the way it started was... he... murdered my human foster parents. Once he crossed that line... I guess I realized... running wasn't going to help things anymore. He wanted something from me... and he proved he was willing to go to any length... to get me to cooperate. So... I cooperated."
She took a deep breath in and out. "It was... bad. Really, really... bad. He did what he wanted... and his 'friends' did what they wanted... and they left... and now it's over. For now."
Petro was speechless. She just stared at the image on her screen for what seemed like hours. She knew the atrocities that befell females of any species. The more veracious the species, the more volatile the acts. She could feel a tear tearing at her eye. "Do you think..." she paused, terrified of the answer. "Do you think they'll come for you again?"
Rakka stared down at her lap and, after a moment, nodded slowly. "They plan to. Once I am... 'complacent'. But h-hopefully... it won't come to that. Someone from Intel is... keeping an eye on their activities. Frustratingly, I am not privy to much of this information, so... I just have to trust."
She looked up at the screen. "Please... might we talk about other things? I want to hear about you. Your studies and such--how are you doing?"
Petro nodded. She wasn't so comfortable talking about that subject either. "My studies have been well." She said. "Not as difficult as I thought it would be but, well," She bit her lower lip in embarrassment. "I kind of told Commander Gabriel to, well, in more than a few words to,” She searched for the right phrase. "Shovel it?" She said, not certain if it was right. "He said something about you and, well, I sort of lost control."
Rakka relaxed, staring fondly at the screen. "Ah yes... Gabriel. Is he still talking about me? Sad, I guess, that his life is so small. I haven't given him a moment's thought." She paused, leaning a bit closer to the screen. "Thanks for sticking up for me."
"It's what friends do." Petro said. "He's taken over you job. I think people will be more prone to commit crimes just to snub his face in it." She said, a smile crossing her lips.
Rakka snorted. "Hum... indeed. One can only hope that one day he'll recover from his massive egotism. The Security department needs a true leader... not one who's all talk. Security is not forgiving... especially on a Station. Things are so much quieter here... on a ship. Fewer disasters. I actually have time to breathe once in a while. But it's hard... having spare time... when I'm missing my best friend."
"It's not easy when you're busy." Petro said, her voice holding the forlorn feelings she felt. "So much has happened and I've no one to talk to. The new Executive Officer thinks I'm weird and, well, Gabriel’s on another hunt for guilty people." She brightened up a little at her next thought. "Oh, and I worked Tactical during the Romulan attack." She looked down at her hands again. "Dorian said I should have thought twice about it because I'm not competent."
tbc...
Lt. Rakka
Chief Tactical/Security Officer
USS Pioneer
Ensign Petro
Quartermaster DS5