Interlude – Skeletons in the Family Cupboard
by Commander Chelsea Dunham & Commander Richard Dunham
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Chelsea and Rick were at the appointed docking gate at noon as instructed and the Bajoran Freighter had arrived too. The huge wheel-like airlock doors rolled back and the few passengers came through.
One lone female passenger emerged, she had the look of Chelsea about the eyes and ridges that were similar only more prominent, their hair was the same shade but other than that, their mouths and chins were totally different and the new arrival was several inches taller. She was clad in a Vedek's robes with a hat and a very ornate earring and chain, bejewelled and engraved to a far superior level and intensity than the one that Chelsea wore.
Nonetheless, it was obvious who she was and Chelsea moved forward, her arms open in a hug into which she scooped her half-sister warmly. "It's so good to meet you" she said into her sister's hair as she hugged her.
"And so good to see you again, finally." Soran, Anata, replied. She held her younger sister out at arms' length and looked her up and down appraisingly. "What a fine swan you turned into, little duckling" she laughed.
Chelsea didn't know if she was flattered or not but moved quickly on to introduce Rick.
"Annie I want to introduce you to Rick, my fiancé." she said. "Rick, my sister Soran, Anata. Annie this is Lt. Commander Rick Dunham."
"Hello, pleasure to make your acquaintance Miss." said Rick politely, as he offered his hand out to shake, but thinking to himself, as gentlemen do, that he had certainly picked the right sister.
"Pleased to meet you Commander" Annie showed a good knowledge of Starfleet rank by addressing Rick correctly. "Actually.. " she wagged a finger gently at her sister with a smile. "It's officially Vedek Soran but of course as you're family" she treated Rick to a wide, warm smile. "You can call me Annie too!"
"A Vedek....wow" said Jon in mild surprise. He hadn't recognised the robes. "Are you on the Vedek Assembly?" he asked in a conversational manner.
"No, i haven't been invited yet, but i hope to get there one day." Annie replied, still gazing at her sister as if she couldn't believe how she'd grown up.
"Come on, let's take you to your quarters. I got you some just down the corridor from us, for your stay. The Quartermaster was very helpful." Chelsea suggested as they helped Annie pick up her cases again and set off back towards the main central structure of the station.
Dunham walked slightly behind the two girls, as he had been volunteered for bag duty. As he struggled with the two huge bags, wondering what a priest needed with so many clothes, Rick watched the two, comparing their very similar features, demeanour, and they way they held themselves.
Chelsea glanced at Rick and sighed. "Bless him" she muttered and stopped to help. "Why don't I take one and you take the other..... you can have the heavier of the two if it helps appease the testosterone." she smiled with such a loving, cheeky smile that she knew would win him over and make amends.
She couldn't resist kissing his cheek whilst he was still holding both cases and unable to defend himself. Then, with a smirk, she went to take the case that looked smaller but he seemed to tilt his head the other way. Releasing the handle Chelsea shifted to the other side.
"What? Is this one heavier, you monster?" she teased and slid her hand into the handle, moving his fingers aside. "Don't get all 'I can manage' - I know you can but it's nicer to do it as a team....." she cajoled in soft tones, close to him and without any awareness of anyone else in the universe, she resisted the way he was looking at her as if he wasn't having any nonsense and just smiled up at him again, gently but persistently taking possession of the case.
Annie observed this interaction with a wry grin. "Well, I can see you two are perfectly matched!" she shook her head. "You don't stand a chance Rick!" she gave a little laugh and turned away. Her expression changed once she was facing away from them as a hint of bitterness crept over it.
"What can you mean?" Chelsea was completely unaware of her sister's change and protested with her best hurt look.... which, as hurt looks go, was a pretty effective version, to be honest.
"Rick is always bossing me about, I'm a lamb and, if the truth is told, he takes advantage of my sweet, giving nature." She laid it on thick, delighted with the horrified look on Rick's face at the idea she was an angel. Her doctor's face held the innocent, wounded expression but the laughter in her eyes betrayed her to one who knew her as well as Rick did.
"Ha Ha Ha," said Rick laughing sarcastically with a touch humorous scornful over tones. "I will also point out that she is my superior officer and I must do and 'agree' with everything she says. So with that in mind I will say 'yes dear'"
Chelsea rolled her eyes. "Men!" she muttered and caught up with Annie still clutching her trophy, the second suitcase, triumphantly!
This time their was a genuine chuckle, Chelsea could probably detect the smile that was beaming towards her turned back from Rick. "Yes Ma'am"
Chelsea beamed, even though her back was towards him. She almost had an idea he could *see* her face nonetheless. He always seemed to know what she was thinking. As they walked along, she was still congratulating herself on her luck at having someone so amazing as Rick fall in love with her. She was on a cloud of happiness.
Anata on the other hand was very disgruntled to find her half-sister so aglow with love and luck, but for now, this was not apparent to anyone but herself.
Rick wasn't sure if anyone else had picked up on this; but there seemed to be a bit of a silence brewing between the three. Rick decided to fill it before they got to one of those awkward silences. "So Anata what province are you from on Bajor?"
"Our father was from the Kendra Province as you will know, but my mother and I lived in the Rakantha province after he moved in with Chelsea's mother." Annie said.
Chelsea's mouth fell open. "Your mother was sti......." she stopped. "I didn't know we were from Kendra..." she changed tack. "I don't remember anything about Father, what was he like?"
Annie took a long breath. "Did you ask your Grandad?" she countered the question with another.
"Yes" Chelsea replied with a grimace. "The conversation didn't go well"
"I didn't think it would" Annie nodded. "Your Grandparents didn't think much of Dad. They didn't even come to the funeral, in fact they didn't come to the wedding..."
"So he said." Chelsea added, her feelings well hidden. She looked at Rick.
"Grandpa's explanation was less than I would have liked" she understated, leaving out that it had been the first time that she'd ever stood up to him and that they hadn't left the call on good terms.
Annie shrugged. "Your mother didn't think my mother was all that she should have been. I visited because I had to, but I was only a child and I came alone."
Chelsea looked very uncomfortable. "I.... I don't see much of my mother... I hardly know her...." she stumbled.
Anata shrugged. "Probably why you're so nice" she smiled.
"That's not the only reason" said Rick with a wink trying shine a little light onto what had turned out to be a increasingly dark conversation. He made mental note of being more careful on choosing his topics of conversation. Dunham skipped ahead a little to open the door to Annie's quarters, when opened he waited at the door to allow the ladies to go first.
"How gallant!" Annie gave him a winning smile as she passed him, looking more at him than the awaiting quarters. Chelsea was able to observe this look from a slight distance and found it confusing. Her sister had already looked *her* up and down as if she were for sale but that had been accepted as just curiousity. Now she was looking at Rick as if she were appraising him too.
Chelsea shook her head to throw out any feeling that this was anything odd. Perhaps Vedeks assessed people as part of their job and it was a habit that Annie was a little too blatant about without realising she was bordering on being rude to stare *quite* so long. Chelsea felt it was something that must make some people uncomfortable and didn't understand what the point in that would be but she let it go uncommented on out of her own politeness.
"Can I make anyone a cup of tea? Some drinks of some sort?" When he got affirmative from the other two he went over to the replcator to order some cream tea. While the two sisters made themselves comfortable, as he waited for the scones to replicate, he said conversationally across the room. "So Anata.....do you do that whole ear grabbing thing to check someone's PAH?"
Chelsea's eyes widened and she looked at Rick and then at Annie.
Anata's smile was very much thinner this time. "Really Commander!" she scoffed without apparent malice but with very little warmth either. "You should spend some time studying the Bajoran religion if you're going to marry one, don't you think?"
Chelsea winced.
"A Vedek will ascertain your Pah in many ways, only one of which involves your ears" Anata explained.
This sounded as if it fitted with the strange way Anata had been staring at them both and made Chelsea feel a little easier about her sister's aura and the impression she seemed to have made so far.
Dunham grinned as he brought the tray. Upon the tray was a quaint looking blue tea pot with three cups and saucers. Next to this was a plate with scones and jam with cream on it. "You'd be surprised what I know about Bajoran Religion.....you know they teach it at the academy now. As part of the non-corporeal species and existence module"
"I see" Vedek Soran raised an eyebrow in a somewhat less than convinced expression.
"So will you two be having a Bajoran ceremony then?" she asked taking Chelsea totally off guard and leaving her with her mouth open, her lower jaw almost on the floor.
Dunham sputtered over his tea. It wasn't really a conversation they had had yet. At least not from his perspective. "Urrrrmmm, I don't know, I was hoping for a Buddhist wedding.....though we can have both if you want Chelsea?"
"I.... we... could have Kim be our dais bearer.... " Chelsea offered in the hope of a compromise by mixing the traditions. "But we weren't planning any formal Bajoran spiritual blessing as neither of us are practising. As you know I spent some time on Bajor but I learned most about Bajoran medicine and little about it's religion. I know so little about my ... our....father that I felt it would be a bit of a travesty to suddenly start pretending I could make any vows in his traditions."
Anata frowned. "Why rush into this? Why not postpone the wedding for a while until you have found out more. I know once you have discovered more about your heritage you will have a lot to consider. It would surely be wrong to make life decisions without all the facts?"
Dunham shrugged and offered his five cents into the conversation. "Its up to you dear...." said Rick catching Chelsea's eye "....as a Buddhist I respect all religions, they all make up part of life's rich tapestry. So if you..." he emphasised the word you. "...wish to do this, feel free." he smiled.
Chelsea was able to look back and meet Rick's gaze without faltering. "No, I'm not going to change who I am or what I believe. That means no disrespect but it's not negotiable."
Annie looked like she was chewing a wasp but she just shrugged and pretended it didn't matter.
Dunham raised a quizzical finger, like a school boy trying to get the attention of a school teacher. "Urrrmmm we get to do the Buddhist bit right?" said Dunham slightly confused by his wife to be's response.
"Of COURSE!" Chelsea smiled at him. "I'm not going to change who you are or what you believe either, that's non-negotiable too!"
Dunham relaxed with relief, as he sat down to poor the tea ~time to move the conversation on again I think~ thought Dunham to himself. "So Annie, ever had an Orb experience?"
Annie's face drained and she shuddered visibly. "Those experiences are very personal" she retorted, shutting another avenue of conversation dead.
Chelsea put down her teacup and changed the subject, thinking it was her turn and giving Rick a break this time.
"Annie, would you tell me about Dad please?" She asked.
"I can hardly do a whole lifetime and a wonderful man justice in a few paragraphs, i think it would be insulting and disrespectful to try to precis him" Anata replied, clearly not in a co-operative mood any more.
"Please.... " Chelsea's face was sad. "At least for you there is a 'whole lifetime and a wonderful man to remember' - for I, who have nothing, not even a holo-picture, even a pale precis would be a Rembrandt by comparison to the darkness of nothing at all."
~Powerful stuff~ thought Dunham to himself at his other half's speech, he was impressed but he did not linger on this something was bothering him and he could not put his finger on it, perhaps it was the sudden short responses from Chelsea's new found sister. It would be interesting to see what she had to say next?
Anata shrugged, somewhat molified. "I don't know where to begin... but I did bring you a holo-pic. I only have a few so I copied one off for you." She rummaged in her largest suitcase and came out with a small disc which she set on the table. Chelsea was so far on the edge of her seat with anticipation that she was almost hovering in mid-air.
Annie switched it on and a small image of a tall man appeared. Tears welled in Chelsea's eyes immediately and her hand reached out instictively, stopping just short of the fuzzy image so as not to penetrate the holographic emptiness. The man laughed, moved as if to catch something and then a small child appeared, charging towards him like a little cannonball that had been fired from something off scene.
The child, a boisterous, noisy little youngster appeared to totter more than run but she was clearly in a huge rush to get to the man who crouched to receive her. She had no concept of stopping and her weight, speed and momentum nearly had him off balance until he caught her, spun round to absorb the rush and threw her squealling with excitement high into the air catching her breathless form into his arms again where she clung like a limpet, babbling in babytalk. A woman's voice off camera was heard to say things like...."gently... " "poor daddy" and laughter. It was Chelsea's mother's voice.
"Mama?" she mouthed, her face contorted and covered with rivers of tears.
Chelsea was too absorbed to see what Anata's face was doing as she watched her sister's reaction.
Dunham attention was torn away from Anata as his heart went out to Chelsea, he moved seat quickly, and sat next to her, without a word just simply wrapping his arm around her protectively and with utter most love.....but just out of the corner of his eye, the a fraction of a second and with no unsure certainty Dunham thought he caught a glance on Anata's face, was that a snare.....nah it couldn't've been.
The holo-pic continued for a few more seconds, the child's babble becoming clearer, and distinctly Bajoran. The man turned and his face was fully visible to the viewer. It was a handsome face, powerful, full ridges at the bridge of his nose, deep green eyes and an ornate earring.... the one that Annie was now wearing, it's stones unique and clearly distinguishable.
Another child moved into the picture and was received by the man's free right arm as he cradled the tot against him in his left. The other child was also a girl with a smaller earring but equally strong ridges as her father and looking about ten years old. "Poor Daddy" tucked her into his side and hugged her closely to him too, smiling at the woman holding the 'image recorder' as the whole picture began to fade.
Chelsea sobbed and instinctively reached for the image as if to try to catch it but it disintegrated spirally back into the base and they were left in silence. Chelsea buried her face in Rick's shoulder unable to speak again for several minutes.
Rick drew her closely to him, he felt almost embarrassed not by her but by his near perfect life, he found it difficult to empathise with her situation, nothing like this had ever happened to him or his family. He chided himself at the times he had complained out loud how his parents had been so bossy, at least he had known his parents. So Rick didn't say anything, instead just offering his love and heart in a warm embrace.
Chelsea knew how lucky she was to have Rick's love. It strengthened her. "Thank you" she whispered to him as she lifted her tear stained face from his shirt, brushing the wet patch as if it would dry just because she touched it. "... and sorry!" a small wan smile crept over her face looking at the shirt sadly. She was no longer aware of Annie.
Rick smiled lovingly at her. He simply said "Beep" as he pressed the tip of his finger gently on the tip of her nose, the small finger that he had surreptitiously dipped in cream and said cream was now on her nose. He was of course trying to make her laugh by lightening the mood.
Chelsea appreciated the gesture and the intention that it arose from. She grinned at him and tried to make her tongue reach it, in vain, before wiping that on his shirt too with a mischievous challenging look.
"So Anita..." said Rick turning to face the women but wrapping his arm around Chelsea, feeling her nuzzling into his side and putting her feet up on the sofa and curling up. "...how long have you been a priestess for?"
"So you've become well versed in Bajoran legend in that time?" asked Dunham continuing the conversation, "If I may ask you a question?"
"By all means" Annie replied with a shrug and something of a 'bring it on' expression.
"Do you think that the fire caves that hold the Pah wraiths exists on a non-linear extra dimensional level like the wormhole that contains the prophets.....sorry" said rick correcting himself "not wormhole, celestial temple"
"I *know* they do." Anata answered without hesitation. "We all know that."
"Fair enough" said Rick nodding in agreement, his face one of thought. "So how does work? on planet...I mean i can understand the basics in a wormhole but thats in space"
"The Pah-Wraiths existed alongside the Prophets in the Celestial Temple originally until there was a problem and they were banished to the Fire Caves. They were imprisoned by their own kind over a misunderstanding. They were thought to have tried to take over the temple." she explained.
"Hold on....what...back up a bit.... 'misunderstanding'..... according to every piece of Bajoran religious text bar from one the Book of the Kosst Amojan, they did try to take over the celestial temple."
"Indeed they did. However history being what it is, one cannot now be as certain that their intention was as nefarious as they opponents at the time led others to believe. The Prophets teach that one should always be open to seeing both sides of any situation." Anata explained with a calm rhetoric that appeared to have been repeated sufficient times to have become somewhat 'off pat'.
Chelsea looked as if she hadn't heard, she was still staring at the inactive disc on the table as if something were still there before her eyes, her fingers wound between Rick's comfortably, probably there for the immediate future if she had her way.
Dunham squeezed Chelsea's fingers reassuringly, while still talking to her sister. He nodded in agreement and smiled. She had a valid argument. "True...true" said Dunham thoughtfully. It was a very good point so why did he feel that she didn't believe what she was talking about? It seemed a little odd. He leant forward and picked up his cup of tea, taking a sip, he the said. "So what the plan then?"
Anata looked as if she'd been caught with her hand in the cookie-jar. She jumped. "There's no plan.... i don't know what you mean... what plan?" she was very nervous and looked all around the room as if searching for an escape route for a moment or two before she noticed the dumbfounded look on the faces of her sister and Dunham. Then she began to laugh nervously, trying to seem confident as if it had been a great joke.
Chelsea was amazed and she could only stare and then, remembering her manners she tried to laugh half-convincingly but shot an alarmed glance at Rick.
Rick coughed to clear his throat, what he was in fact doing was collecting his thoughts, because alarm bells were ringing in his head, "Urrrrmmm I meant what do you want to do next rest, go out to eat, do shopping, that sort of thing?"
"yeah, of course!" Anata was trying to cover still, joking much more than she had done before in all the time she had been on the station so far. She was really overdoing it.
Chelsea looked at Rick and with no sign of the confusion within, answered lightly. "Yay! Shopping!" she grinned but the tightness of her fingers gave away her tension and concern.
"What do you think Annie, shall we hit the Promenade?" she asked.
"Sure" Annie enthused back, keen to cover her tracks.
Dunham smiled and winked, "You two crazy kids go have a day shopping then, I'll cook some dinner for when you come back." Said Rick jokingly, but lying through his teeth, he was in fact while in between peeling vegetables and cooking roast, going to contact security and get them to pull this woman's file, or maybe, ring this Grandad of Chelsea's?
Chelsea and Annie fussed for a while but when they were finally ready they went off to the Promenade together.
After the ladies had left Dunham tied an apron over his Starfleet uniform, assembled his equipment and ingredients for cooking and got to work. Reading a rather worn and battered looking cook book, he was also on the communication link to young Ensign in the security officer, who was very helpful, but unfortunately could not find a file on Chelsea's sister. After saying polite thank-you's and goodbyes, Rick rubbed the stubble on his chin in thought.
It wasn't odd that there was no security file, it was odd that there was no file from Bajor, period. Dunham continued to roll out the pastry for the pie he was going to cook, scattering a liberal amount of flour on the work surface, some of which got on his face and clothes. It was at this point he decided to take a different approach, accessed the room's communication logs, looking for the time indices.
He thought he found the one he needed, and open a comm link to the frequency, he was hoping he would be able to speak with Chelsea's grandfather.....
A Vid call came into the Adams' household in England, Earth. It was accepted by Eleanor Adams who was expecting it to be Chelsea.
=^= Hello Baby! =^= She enthused, her lovely face alight with pleasure.
As the screen cleared and the person making the call appeared in view, Eleanor looked a little shocked. =^= Oh, I do beg your pardon, I was expecting this call to be from my grand-daughter. It states on the log that it's from the CMO's quarters on DS5 and I naturally thought..... =^= she stopped and put her head on one side quizzically, exactly the way Chelsea often did.
=^=Pardon me Ma'am," said Dunham with a polite nod, "may I introduce myself, my name is Lieutenant Commander Richard Dunham, I was hoping to speak with Commander Adam's Grandfarther? =^=
=^= I see, well my husband has told me something of his disastrous conversation with Chelsea recently and the part of it that did NOT go wrong was the part about you. Congratulations Commander Dunham, you're a lucky man if I do say so myself. I am biased of course, but my Grand-daughter means the universe to me and if she thinks you're the one for her, then I like you already! Welcome to the family. Please call me Eleanor. Now if you give me a moment, I'll call Peter. =^=
=^=Sorry Ma'am, I mean Eleanor, I had not realised I had been spoken about. Thank you kindly=^= Said Rick a little stumped for words. He was at a disadvantage this woman knew about him, but he did not know anything about her.
=^= Oh, don't worry dear. We didn't know Chelsea had got engaged, well not until that call. She told her Granpa she didn't want to jinx it. She's had some bad luck in the past but i'm sure you know about that. Anyway, now we have you and even Peter was impressed with what she said about you. You have to be pretty special to even have the old man giving you a second look, that's for sure.=^= The elderly lady laughed. =^= I'm babbling on shamelessly. Do please just wait a minute.... =^= she went off into the background and through a door, returning within a few minutes with a tall, grey haired, upright man, clearly of a military background and with a booming voice as he was talking to his wife.
"... well, this is most irregular... isn't she there too?" Rick could hear him saying.
"No dear, but don't start bullying him before you give him a chance to tell you what he wants. He seems like a nice young man." Eleanor came back with her husband and was hovering as he sat in front of the terminal, a scowl like thunder on his face.
Dunham scratched the stubble on his chin as he looked at the old man's, it looked very familiar, and Rick was pretty sure he had seen it somewhere before. But he also tried to hold back a growing smile, the two of them sounded very much like his own parents. "Good afternoon to you sir, my name is Lieutenant Commander Richard Dunham, I was wondering if we could have a little bit of a chat about some things?"
=^= 'Afternoon to you too Commander. Rear Admiral Peter Adams - Retired. Pleased to make your acquaintance. Are you good enough for my girl? =^= Peter was deliberately provocative to see what the young man would do. He had plenty of experience with officers and he'd already decided he liked this one from what he'd found out so far. Not to mention that he'd had his record checked out, but he wasn't going to mention that or Chelsea would have his guts for garters.
Rick clicked his fingers as he finally put name, face and rank together =^= I knew I recognised you from somewhere, I attended a seminar you gave at the Academy, and in answer to your question sir yes I am. =^= Dunham gave his best charming smile. =^=But I need to talk to you about something more important sir, Chelsea's sister?"
Adams began to guffaw. He would have gone on laughing in approval if Rick hadn't mention that thing.
=^= I see. Well, don't spoil the good impression you're making so far by trying to tell me how to deal with my family affairs. =^= he was immediately defensive.
Dunham dismissed the last comment with a wave of his hand =^=That's between you and Chelsea sir, and I respect that. But I'm worried about this Soran, Anata. It's weird sir......to be honest I don't know what it is....its as if.....well, to coin an old phrase, my spider sense is tingling sir. =^=
Adams' scowl lifted and he sat back, taking a long appraising look at Dunham.
=^= I see. =^= he said, drawing in a breath. =^= ...has Chelsea talked to her then? Were you there when she called? =^=
Dunham shook his head slowly =^=No sir, she's...she's already here=^=
=^= SHE'S WHAT???? =^= Peter Adams turned purple and stood up in alarm, his chair sliding away behind him.
=^= Oh my GOD =^= Eleanor wailed at the same time, leaping to Peter and huddling against his chest as if to seek protection.
=^= Dunham.... Listen carefully man..... I assume *it* isn't there or you wouldn't be talking like this. Where is Chelsea? DO NOT ALLOW IT ALONE WITH HER..... that is NOT her sister.... at least we don't think it is.... we suspect Anata was possessed as a little girl. We thought Summer had killed her, after she killed her own father.... =^= Adams tried to explain it all too fast. He was frightened for Chelsea and it was clear.
=^= Summer is our daughter, Chelsea's mother. She almost lost her mind trying to convince someone that the child was dangerous. At first they blamed her, Summer that is.... she was even jailed. It was horrible. We had to come and take Chelsea away. We were afraid for her. Summer spent time trying to track the child but never found her, although she did undertake some kind of ceremony intended to trap her... the pah-wraith inside her.... back in the fire caves. We thought she'd been successful. Clearly we were wrong. Peter contacted Summer as soon as we heard Anata had contacted Chelsea.... she's on her way but we don't know how long it will take her to get to you. Please Rick.... you have to find her.... they can't be alone together..... =^= Eleanor burst into anxious tears and buried her face against Peter's chest.
=^= Look here young man. This creature is powerful and malicious. You must seek help and act quickly. Don't allow it to take possession of Chelsea nor yourself, and don't let it harm either of you.... God go with you.... this is a dangerous mission and it's all to play for. I already got onto 'people' after Chelsea called, they will do what they can, as will we, to try to help you out. =^= Adams was gone and the screen returned to the Starfleet insignia leaving a stunned recipient at the other end of the call.
~Is this some kind of joke~ Was the first thought through Ricks mind, he had heard of ranking starfleet officers playing the occasional joke on a new member of the family, hell his mum had done it to his now brother in law. But Dunham quickly dismissed that theory, this was to serious and almost too unreal. But he didn't want get anyone else involved yet. He considered his options.
Dunham didn't want to have deep space five personal involved, this was a personal matter in their family. But on the other hand, he needed starfleet resources to get this thing out of his future sister in law. Rick pressed the flour covered comm badge on his chest, =^= Hi, it me....sis I need your help=^=
Erica looked quizzical. =^= What's up Rick? =^= she asked, thinking it wasn't like Rick to sound so rattled.
=^= I'm sending you file =^= said Rick as he diligently typed away at a padd that lay next to his rolled out short crust pastry and rolling pin. He brushed off the flour from its small screen. He then pressed the send button and continued talking. =^= This women is currently with Chelsea, I want you to go to DS5's promenade, stay out of sight, but keep an eye on them, and update me on what they're doing. And tell dad to meet me in the Hagnon's 'Science Lab Two'. Ok? =^=
"Sure, no worries, but Ricky? What's going on?" Erica had begun to get up from her chair and was moving towards the door, looking for her father as she was speaking. She looked concerned. She knew this tone of voice from Rick but hadn't heard him use it for years. There was something deep and very compelling about it. Rick was VERY serious about whatever this was. Deathly so.
"DAAAAAAAAAD?" she called, an urgency in her voice very clear.
But Rick had already gone. He was rushing to his room to change into a clean uniform. While doing so he was also trying to talk to his comm badge that was now lying on the bed while he changed, trying to arrange with op's a direct beam from his quarters to the Hagnon. Rick really wasn't covering his tracks very well, none of his transmissions had been coded nor his internal comlink feed, and now their would be a record of this beam out. So people may well ask questions of him soon, so he needed to be quick to resolve this crisis before it turned into another issue on top of everything else that was going on for deep space five.
* * * * * * * * * * * *
Chelsea and Annie were shopping on one of the Promenade levels. There were nearly one hundred levels and they hadn't even completed one yet. They were oblivious.
Talking about the coffee they'd just bought and the pastries they'd then moved on to discussing pretty items in gift shops. Chelsea stopped to look in a clothes shop but realised quickly that in her religious robes all the time, Annie didn't have the luxury of spoiling herself with pretty clothes to lighten her if she needed it.
Chelsea thought this religious influence might be the reason why her sister seemed so hard to get close to. She did her best to chatter her way through the barriers that seemed to exist as soon as she got through the superficial layers.
Erica now in civilian clothing, had made her way to the Promenade levels, she had been tracking Chelsea on her compact tricorder, making her way through the clothes shops and market stalls, she soon found her would be sister in law. From a shop over the road she watched them from a distance, looking for anything out of the ordinary.
Chelsea decided that perhaps shopping was a bit materialistic for someone holy so she took Anata to the Bajoran Gardens next.
As they entered the portal arch, Annie seemed to jump. Chelsea looked quizically at her. "Are you ok?" she asked, bewildered as her half-sister backed out of the stone arch that had been imported stone by stone from Bajor itself and walked around it, between some shrubs, in order to enter without passing under it.
"It's okay" Chelsea tried to reassure her. "It's the real thing." she began to relate the history of the stones and the reputation they had for being the source of the peaceful and restful atmosphere in the gardens. It seemed to the Second Officer that this would be something that would please a Vedek greatly but Annie looked positively unwell and began to mutter about 'sacrilege' and 'taking stones from where they belonged' before she eventually made sufficient excuses to withdraw, leading a confused Chelsea after her, apologising for having made such an inappropriate choice of venue, inadvertently.
Soran, Anata took several minutes to recover and had to be allowed to sit down at a table outside a nearby cafe before she could go anywhere.
Chelsea was mortified. She was also at a complete loss. The Vedek had turned a very unhealthy colour and was wheezing. "Perhaps you're allergic to one of those shrubs?" the doctor in Chelsea tried to find a medical reason.
"Let me get a med-kit from the cafe and I'll do a scan and see if I can give you an antidote." she began to try to rectify the situation, only to be struck by yet another unexpected and potentially alarming response.
"NO" Annie leapt up and began to scurry away. "No scans.... no medications.... I'm FINE!" she called back over her retreating shoulder. "I'm sorry.. I need to rest... I'll go back to my quarters.... you go on without me... I'll be fine...... I have my own medicines in my luggage..... please don't fuss......" she panted as her speedy retreat began to make her breathless.
Chelsea was almost running along to keep up with her. "Annie....... please...... don't go.... I'm SO sorry.... wait..... please wait..... " she had no idea what she had done wrong.
The Vedek made a scooping gesture with her arm as if to ward Chelsea off.
"Go back, pleaaaaaaaaaaaaase!" she cried, as if anquished. Then her kind face disappeared and within seconds she looked furious. Her features seeming to change much harsher. They were out of sight of the other people on the main promenade now, starting down a corridor which was almost empty. Annie seemed about to lunge forward when Erica appeared at the end of the corridor. Chelsea looked up and was about to call out to Rick's sister when Erica looked away as if she didn't know her.
Chelsea knew enough from Eric and from other experiences in her past, that there were times when people wanted to pretend they didn't know you. Hurt, Chelsea couldn't think why Erica would act like this but she was too preoccupied with her sister to respond right now. One crisis at a time.
She looked back at Annie who had returned to the calm, polite, shallow face she had started with. Gone was the frightened, caring face that had tried to warn Chelsea away. Gone was the angry face too. Calmly the Soran sisters returned to their journey back towards Anata's quarters and the medication that she claimed was waiting there for her.
tbc........
A JP between:
Lt Cmdr Richard Dunham
Commander, Air Group
DS5
and
Cmdr Chelsea Adams
Chief Medical/2nd Officer
DS5
by Commander Chelsea Dunham & Commander Richard Dunham
Post Details
| Title | Skeletons in the Family Cupboard | |
| Mission | Interlude | |
| Author(s) | Commander Chelsea Dunham & Commander Richard Dunham | |
| Posted | Sat Nov 20, 2010 @ 2:50pm | |
| Location | Docking Ring | |
| Timeline | SD36 - Noon to Afternoon |
Chelsea and Rick were at the appointed docking gate at noon as instructed and the Bajoran Freighter had arrived too. The huge wheel-like airlock doors rolled back and the few passengers came through.
One lone female passenger emerged, she had the look of Chelsea about the eyes and ridges that were similar only more prominent, their hair was the same shade but other than that, their mouths and chins were totally different and the new arrival was several inches taller. She was clad in a Vedek's robes with a hat and a very ornate earring and chain, bejewelled and engraved to a far superior level and intensity than the one that Chelsea wore.
Nonetheless, it was obvious who she was and Chelsea moved forward, her arms open in a hug into which she scooped her half-sister warmly. "It's so good to meet you" she said into her sister's hair as she hugged her.
"And so good to see you again, finally." Soran, Anata, replied. She held her younger sister out at arms' length and looked her up and down appraisingly. "What a fine swan you turned into, little duckling" she laughed.
Chelsea didn't know if she was flattered or not but moved quickly on to introduce Rick.
"Annie I want to introduce you to Rick, my fiancé." she said. "Rick, my sister Soran, Anata. Annie this is Lt. Commander Rick Dunham."
"Hello, pleasure to make your acquaintance Miss." said Rick politely, as he offered his hand out to shake, but thinking to himself, as gentlemen do, that he had certainly picked the right sister.
"Pleased to meet you Commander" Annie showed a good knowledge of Starfleet rank by addressing Rick correctly. "Actually.. " she wagged a finger gently at her sister with a smile. "It's officially Vedek Soran but of course as you're family" she treated Rick to a wide, warm smile. "You can call me Annie too!"
"A Vedek....wow" said Jon in mild surprise. He hadn't recognised the robes. "Are you on the Vedek Assembly?" he asked in a conversational manner.
"No, i haven't been invited yet, but i hope to get there one day." Annie replied, still gazing at her sister as if she couldn't believe how she'd grown up.
"Come on, let's take you to your quarters. I got you some just down the corridor from us, for your stay. The Quartermaster was very helpful." Chelsea suggested as they helped Annie pick up her cases again and set off back towards the main central structure of the station.
Dunham walked slightly behind the two girls, as he had been volunteered for bag duty. As he struggled with the two huge bags, wondering what a priest needed with so many clothes, Rick watched the two, comparing their very similar features, demeanour, and they way they held themselves.
Chelsea glanced at Rick and sighed. "Bless him" she muttered and stopped to help. "Why don't I take one and you take the other..... you can have the heavier of the two if it helps appease the testosterone." she smiled with such a loving, cheeky smile that she knew would win him over and make amends.
She couldn't resist kissing his cheek whilst he was still holding both cases and unable to defend himself. Then, with a smirk, she went to take the case that looked smaller but he seemed to tilt his head the other way. Releasing the handle Chelsea shifted to the other side.
"What? Is this one heavier, you monster?" she teased and slid her hand into the handle, moving his fingers aside. "Don't get all 'I can manage' - I know you can but it's nicer to do it as a team....." she cajoled in soft tones, close to him and without any awareness of anyone else in the universe, she resisted the way he was looking at her as if he wasn't having any nonsense and just smiled up at him again, gently but persistently taking possession of the case.
Annie observed this interaction with a wry grin. "Well, I can see you two are perfectly matched!" she shook her head. "You don't stand a chance Rick!" she gave a little laugh and turned away. Her expression changed once she was facing away from them as a hint of bitterness crept over it.
"What can you mean?" Chelsea was completely unaware of her sister's change and protested with her best hurt look.... which, as hurt looks go, was a pretty effective version, to be honest.
"Rick is always bossing me about, I'm a lamb and, if the truth is told, he takes advantage of my sweet, giving nature." She laid it on thick, delighted with the horrified look on Rick's face at the idea she was an angel. Her doctor's face held the innocent, wounded expression but the laughter in her eyes betrayed her to one who knew her as well as Rick did.
"Ha Ha Ha," said Rick laughing sarcastically with a touch humorous scornful over tones. "I will also point out that she is my superior officer and I must do and 'agree' with everything she says. So with that in mind I will say 'yes dear'"
Chelsea rolled her eyes. "Men!" she muttered and caught up with Annie still clutching her trophy, the second suitcase, triumphantly!
This time their was a genuine chuckle, Chelsea could probably detect the smile that was beaming towards her turned back from Rick. "Yes Ma'am"
Chelsea beamed, even though her back was towards him. She almost had an idea he could *see* her face nonetheless. He always seemed to know what she was thinking. As they walked along, she was still congratulating herself on her luck at having someone so amazing as Rick fall in love with her. She was on a cloud of happiness.
Anata on the other hand was very disgruntled to find her half-sister so aglow with love and luck, but for now, this was not apparent to anyone but herself.
Rick wasn't sure if anyone else had picked up on this; but there seemed to be a bit of a silence brewing between the three. Rick decided to fill it before they got to one of those awkward silences. "So Anata what province are you from on Bajor?"
"Our father was from the Kendra Province as you will know, but my mother and I lived in the Rakantha province after he moved in with Chelsea's mother." Annie said.
Chelsea's mouth fell open. "Your mother was sti......." she stopped. "I didn't know we were from Kendra..." she changed tack. "I don't remember anything about Father, what was he like?"
Annie took a long breath. "Did you ask your Grandad?" she countered the question with another.
"Yes" Chelsea replied with a grimace. "The conversation didn't go well"
"I didn't think it would" Annie nodded. "Your Grandparents didn't think much of Dad. They didn't even come to the funeral, in fact they didn't come to the wedding..."
"So he said." Chelsea added, her feelings well hidden. She looked at Rick.
"Grandpa's explanation was less than I would have liked" she understated, leaving out that it had been the first time that she'd ever stood up to him and that they hadn't left the call on good terms.
Annie shrugged. "Your mother didn't think my mother was all that she should have been. I visited because I had to, but I was only a child and I came alone."
Chelsea looked very uncomfortable. "I.... I don't see much of my mother... I hardly know her...." she stumbled.
Anata shrugged. "Probably why you're so nice" she smiled.
"That's not the only reason" said Rick with a wink trying shine a little light onto what had turned out to be a increasingly dark conversation. He made mental note of being more careful on choosing his topics of conversation. Dunham skipped ahead a little to open the door to Annie's quarters, when opened he waited at the door to allow the ladies to go first.
"How gallant!" Annie gave him a winning smile as she passed him, looking more at him than the awaiting quarters. Chelsea was able to observe this look from a slight distance and found it confusing. Her sister had already looked *her* up and down as if she were for sale but that had been accepted as just curiousity. Now she was looking at Rick as if she were appraising him too.
Chelsea shook her head to throw out any feeling that this was anything odd. Perhaps Vedeks assessed people as part of their job and it was a habit that Annie was a little too blatant about without realising she was bordering on being rude to stare *quite* so long. Chelsea felt it was something that must make some people uncomfortable and didn't understand what the point in that would be but she let it go uncommented on out of her own politeness.
"Can I make anyone a cup of tea? Some drinks of some sort?" When he got affirmative from the other two he went over to the replcator to order some cream tea. While the two sisters made themselves comfortable, as he waited for the scones to replicate, he said conversationally across the room. "So Anata.....do you do that whole ear grabbing thing to check someone's PAH?"
Chelsea's eyes widened and she looked at Rick and then at Annie.
Anata's smile was very much thinner this time. "Really Commander!" she scoffed without apparent malice but with very little warmth either. "You should spend some time studying the Bajoran religion if you're going to marry one, don't you think?"
Chelsea winced.
"A Vedek will ascertain your Pah in many ways, only one of which involves your ears" Anata explained.
This sounded as if it fitted with the strange way Anata had been staring at them both and made Chelsea feel a little easier about her sister's aura and the impression she seemed to have made so far.
Dunham grinned as he brought the tray. Upon the tray was a quaint looking blue tea pot with three cups and saucers. Next to this was a plate with scones and jam with cream on it. "You'd be surprised what I know about Bajoran Religion.....you know they teach it at the academy now. As part of the non-corporeal species and existence module"
"I see" Vedek Soran raised an eyebrow in a somewhat less than convinced expression.
"So will you two be having a Bajoran ceremony then?" she asked taking Chelsea totally off guard and leaving her with her mouth open, her lower jaw almost on the floor.
Dunham sputtered over his tea. It wasn't really a conversation they had had yet. At least not from his perspective. "Urrrrmmm, I don't know, I was hoping for a Buddhist wedding.....though we can have both if you want Chelsea?"
"I.... we... could have Kim be our dais bearer.... " Chelsea offered in the hope of a compromise by mixing the traditions. "But we weren't planning any formal Bajoran spiritual blessing as neither of us are practising. As you know I spent some time on Bajor but I learned most about Bajoran medicine and little about it's religion. I know so little about my ... our....father that I felt it would be a bit of a travesty to suddenly start pretending I could make any vows in his traditions."
Anata frowned. "Why rush into this? Why not postpone the wedding for a while until you have found out more. I know once you have discovered more about your heritage you will have a lot to consider. It would surely be wrong to make life decisions without all the facts?"
Dunham shrugged and offered his five cents into the conversation. "Its up to you dear...." said Rick catching Chelsea's eye "....as a Buddhist I respect all religions, they all make up part of life's rich tapestry. So if you..." he emphasised the word you. "...wish to do this, feel free." he smiled.
Chelsea was able to look back and meet Rick's gaze without faltering. "No, I'm not going to change who I am or what I believe. That means no disrespect but it's not negotiable."
Annie looked like she was chewing a wasp but she just shrugged and pretended it didn't matter.
Dunham raised a quizzical finger, like a school boy trying to get the attention of a school teacher. "Urrrmmm we get to do the Buddhist bit right?" said Dunham slightly confused by his wife to be's response.
"Of COURSE!" Chelsea smiled at him. "I'm not going to change who you are or what you believe either, that's non-negotiable too!"
Dunham relaxed with relief, as he sat down to poor the tea ~time to move the conversation on again I think~ thought Dunham to himself. "So Annie, ever had an Orb experience?"
Annie's face drained and she shuddered visibly. "Those experiences are very personal" she retorted, shutting another avenue of conversation dead.
Chelsea put down her teacup and changed the subject, thinking it was her turn and giving Rick a break this time.
"Annie, would you tell me about Dad please?" She asked.
"I can hardly do a whole lifetime and a wonderful man justice in a few paragraphs, i think it would be insulting and disrespectful to try to precis him" Anata replied, clearly not in a co-operative mood any more.
"Please.... " Chelsea's face was sad. "At least for you there is a 'whole lifetime and a wonderful man to remember' - for I, who have nothing, not even a holo-picture, even a pale precis would be a Rembrandt by comparison to the darkness of nothing at all."
~Powerful stuff~ thought Dunham to himself at his other half's speech, he was impressed but he did not linger on this something was bothering him and he could not put his finger on it, perhaps it was the sudden short responses from Chelsea's new found sister. It would be interesting to see what she had to say next?
Anata shrugged, somewhat molified. "I don't know where to begin... but I did bring you a holo-pic. I only have a few so I copied one off for you." She rummaged in her largest suitcase and came out with a small disc which she set on the table. Chelsea was so far on the edge of her seat with anticipation that she was almost hovering in mid-air.
Annie switched it on and a small image of a tall man appeared. Tears welled in Chelsea's eyes immediately and her hand reached out instictively, stopping just short of the fuzzy image so as not to penetrate the holographic emptiness. The man laughed, moved as if to catch something and then a small child appeared, charging towards him like a little cannonball that had been fired from something off scene.
The child, a boisterous, noisy little youngster appeared to totter more than run but she was clearly in a huge rush to get to the man who crouched to receive her. She had no concept of stopping and her weight, speed and momentum nearly had him off balance until he caught her, spun round to absorb the rush and threw her squealling with excitement high into the air catching her breathless form into his arms again where she clung like a limpet, babbling in babytalk. A woman's voice off camera was heard to say things like...."gently... " "poor daddy" and laughter. It was Chelsea's mother's voice.
"Mama?" she mouthed, her face contorted and covered with rivers of tears.
Chelsea was too absorbed to see what Anata's face was doing as she watched her sister's reaction.
Dunham attention was torn away from Anata as his heart went out to Chelsea, he moved seat quickly, and sat next to her, without a word just simply wrapping his arm around her protectively and with utter most love.....but just out of the corner of his eye, the a fraction of a second and with no unsure certainty Dunham thought he caught a glance on Anata's face, was that a snare.....nah it couldn't've been.
The holo-pic continued for a few more seconds, the child's babble becoming clearer, and distinctly Bajoran. The man turned and his face was fully visible to the viewer. It was a handsome face, powerful, full ridges at the bridge of his nose, deep green eyes and an ornate earring.... the one that Annie was now wearing, it's stones unique and clearly distinguishable.
Another child moved into the picture and was received by the man's free right arm as he cradled the tot against him in his left. The other child was also a girl with a smaller earring but equally strong ridges as her father and looking about ten years old. "Poor Daddy" tucked her into his side and hugged her closely to him too, smiling at the woman holding the 'image recorder' as the whole picture began to fade.
Chelsea sobbed and instinctively reached for the image as if to try to catch it but it disintegrated spirally back into the base and they were left in silence. Chelsea buried her face in Rick's shoulder unable to speak again for several minutes.
Rick drew her closely to him, he felt almost embarrassed not by her but by his near perfect life, he found it difficult to empathise with her situation, nothing like this had ever happened to him or his family. He chided himself at the times he had complained out loud how his parents had been so bossy, at least he had known his parents. So Rick didn't say anything, instead just offering his love and heart in a warm embrace.
Chelsea knew how lucky she was to have Rick's love. It strengthened her. "Thank you" she whispered to him as she lifted her tear stained face from his shirt, brushing the wet patch as if it would dry just because she touched it. "... and sorry!" a small wan smile crept over her face looking at the shirt sadly. She was no longer aware of Annie.
Rick smiled lovingly at her. He simply said "Beep" as he pressed the tip of his finger gently on the tip of her nose, the small finger that he had surreptitiously dipped in cream and said cream was now on her nose. He was of course trying to make her laugh by lightening the mood.
Chelsea appreciated the gesture and the intention that it arose from. She grinned at him and tried to make her tongue reach it, in vain, before wiping that on his shirt too with a mischievous challenging look.
"So Anita..." said Rick turning to face the women but wrapping his arm around Chelsea, feeling her nuzzling into his side and putting her feet up on the sofa and curling up. "...how long have you been a priestess for?"
"So you've become well versed in Bajoran legend in that time?" asked Dunham continuing the conversation, "If I may ask you a question?"
"By all means" Annie replied with a shrug and something of a 'bring it on' expression.
"Do you think that the fire caves that hold the Pah wraiths exists on a non-linear extra dimensional level like the wormhole that contains the prophets.....sorry" said rick correcting himself "not wormhole, celestial temple"
"I *know* they do." Anata answered without hesitation. "We all know that."
"Fair enough" said Rick nodding in agreement, his face one of thought. "So how does work? on planet...I mean i can understand the basics in a wormhole but thats in space"
"The Pah-Wraiths existed alongside the Prophets in the Celestial Temple originally until there was a problem and they were banished to the Fire Caves. They were imprisoned by their own kind over a misunderstanding. They were thought to have tried to take over the temple." she explained.
"Hold on....what...back up a bit.... 'misunderstanding'..... according to every piece of Bajoran religious text bar from one the Book of the Kosst Amojan, they did try to take over the celestial temple."
"Indeed they did. However history being what it is, one cannot now be as certain that their intention was as nefarious as they opponents at the time led others to believe. The Prophets teach that one should always be open to seeing both sides of any situation." Anata explained with a calm rhetoric that appeared to have been repeated sufficient times to have become somewhat 'off pat'.
Chelsea looked as if she hadn't heard, she was still staring at the inactive disc on the table as if something were still there before her eyes, her fingers wound between Rick's comfortably, probably there for the immediate future if she had her way.
Dunham squeezed Chelsea's fingers reassuringly, while still talking to her sister. He nodded in agreement and smiled. She had a valid argument. "True...true" said Dunham thoughtfully. It was a very good point so why did he feel that she didn't believe what she was talking about? It seemed a little odd. He leant forward and picked up his cup of tea, taking a sip, he the said. "So what the plan then?"
Anata looked as if she'd been caught with her hand in the cookie-jar. She jumped. "There's no plan.... i don't know what you mean... what plan?" she was very nervous and looked all around the room as if searching for an escape route for a moment or two before she noticed the dumbfounded look on the faces of her sister and Dunham. Then she began to laugh nervously, trying to seem confident as if it had been a great joke.
Chelsea was amazed and she could only stare and then, remembering her manners she tried to laugh half-convincingly but shot an alarmed glance at Rick.
Rick coughed to clear his throat, what he was in fact doing was collecting his thoughts, because alarm bells were ringing in his head, "Urrrrmmm I meant what do you want to do next rest, go out to eat, do shopping, that sort of thing?"
"yeah, of course!" Anata was trying to cover still, joking much more than she had done before in all the time she had been on the station so far. She was really overdoing it.
Chelsea looked at Rick and with no sign of the confusion within, answered lightly. "Yay! Shopping!" she grinned but the tightness of her fingers gave away her tension and concern.
"What do you think Annie, shall we hit the Promenade?" she asked.
"Sure" Annie enthused back, keen to cover her tracks.
Dunham smiled and winked, "You two crazy kids go have a day shopping then, I'll cook some dinner for when you come back." Said Rick jokingly, but lying through his teeth, he was in fact while in between peeling vegetables and cooking roast, going to contact security and get them to pull this woman's file, or maybe, ring this Grandad of Chelsea's?
Chelsea and Annie fussed for a while but when they were finally ready they went off to the Promenade together.
After the ladies had left Dunham tied an apron over his Starfleet uniform, assembled his equipment and ingredients for cooking and got to work. Reading a rather worn and battered looking cook book, he was also on the communication link to young Ensign in the security officer, who was very helpful, but unfortunately could not find a file on Chelsea's sister. After saying polite thank-you's and goodbyes, Rick rubbed the stubble on his chin in thought.
It wasn't odd that there was no security file, it was odd that there was no file from Bajor, period. Dunham continued to roll out the pastry for the pie he was going to cook, scattering a liberal amount of flour on the work surface, some of which got on his face and clothes. It was at this point he decided to take a different approach, accessed the room's communication logs, looking for the time indices.
He thought he found the one he needed, and open a comm link to the frequency, he was hoping he would be able to speak with Chelsea's grandfather.....
A Vid call came into the Adams' household in England, Earth. It was accepted by Eleanor Adams who was expecting it to be Chelsea.
=^= Hello Baby! =^= She enthused, her lovely face alight with pleasure.
As the screen cleared and the person making the call appeared in view, Eleanor looked a little shocked. =^= Oh, I do beg your pardon, I was expecting this call to be from my grand-daughter. It states on the log that it's from the CMO's quarters on DS5 and I naturally thought..... =^= she stopped and put her head on one side quizzically, exactly the way Chelsea often did.
=^=Pardon me Ma'am," said Dunham with a polite nod, "may I introduce myself, my name is Lieutenant Commander Richard Dunham, I was hoping to speak with Commander Adam's Grandfarther? =^=
=^= I see, well my husband has told me something of his disastrous conversation with Chelsea recently and the part of it that did NOT go wrong was the part about you. Congratulations Commander Dunham, you're a lucky man if I do say so myself. I am biased of course, but my Grand-daughter means the universe to me and if she thinks you're the one for her, then I like you already! Welcome to the family. Please call me Eleanor. Now if you give me a moment, I'll call Peter. =^=
=^=Sorry Ma'am, I mean Eleanor, I had not realised I had been spoken about. Thank you kindly=^= Said Rick a little stumped for words. He was at a disadvantage this woman knew about him, but he did not know anything about her.
=^= Oh, don't worry dear. We didn't know Chelsea had got engaged, well not until that call. She told her Granpa she didn't want to jinx it. She's had some bad luck in the past but i'm sure you know about that. Anyway, now we have you and even Peter was impressed with what she said about you. You have to be pretty special to even have the old man giving you a second look, that's for sure.=^= The elderly lady laughed. =^= I'm babbling on shamelessly. Do please just wait a minute.... =^= she went off into the background and through a door, returning within a few minutes with a tall, grey haired, upright man, clearly of a military background and with a booming voice as he was talking to his wife.
"... well, this is most irregular... isn't she there too?" Rick could hear him saying.
"No dear, but don't start bullying him before you give him a chance to tell you what he wants. He seems like a nice young man." Eleanor came back with her husband and was hovering as he sat in front of the terminal, a scowl like thunder on his face.
Dunham scratched the stubble on his chin as he looked at the old man's, it looked very familiar, and Rick was pretty sure he had seen it somewhere before. But he also tried to hold back a growing smile, the two of them sounded very much like his own parents. "Good afternoon to you sir, my name is Lieutenant Commander Richard Dunham, I was wondering if we could have a little bit of a chat about some things?"
=^= 'Afternoon to you too Commander. Rear Admiral Peter Adams - Retired. Pleased to make your acquaintance. Are you good enough for my girl? =^= Peter was deliberately provocative to see what the young man would do. He had plenty of experience with officers and he'd already decided he liked this one from what he'd found out so far. Not to mention that he'd had his record checked out, but he wasn't going to mention that or Chelsea would have his guts for garters.
Rick clicked his fingers as he finally put name, face and rank together =^= I knew I recognised you from somewhere, I attended a seminar you gave at the Academy, and in answer to your question sir yes I am. =^= Dunham gave his best charming smile. =^=But I need to talk to you about something more important sir, Chelsea's sister?"
Adams began to guffaw. He would have gone on laughing in approval if Rick hadn't mention that thing.
=^= I see. Well, don't spoil the good impression you're making so far by trying to tell me how to deal with my family affairs. =^= he was immediately defensive.
Dunham dismissed the last comment with a wave of his hand =^=That's between you and Chelsea sir, and I respect that. But I'm worried about this Soran, Anata. It's weird sir......to be honest I don't know what it is....its as if.....well, to coin an old phrase, my spider sense is tingling sir. =^=
Adams' scowl lifted and he sat back, taking a long appraising look at Dunham.
=^= I see. =^= he said, drawing in a breath. =^= ...has Chelsea talked to her then? Were you there when she called? =^=
Dunham shook his head slowly =^=No sir, she's...she's already here=^=
=^= SHE'S WHAT???? =^= Peter Adams turned purple and stood up in alarm, his chair sliding away behind him.
=^= Oh my GOD =^= Eleanor wailed at the same time, leaping to Peter and huddling against his chest as if to seek protection.
=^= Dunham.... Listen carefully man..... I assume *it* isn't there or you wouldn't be talking like this. Where is Chelsea? DO NOT ALLOW IT ALONE WITH HER..... that is NOT her sister.... at least we don't think it is.... we suspect Anata was possessed as a little girl. We thought Summer had killed her, after she killed her own father.... =^= Adams tried to explain it all too fast. He was frightened for Chelsea and it was clear.
=^= Summer is our daughter, Chelsea's mother. She almost lost her mind trying to convince someone that the child was dangerous. At first they blamed her, Summer that is.... she was even jailed. It was horrible. We had to come and take Chelsea away. We were afraid for her. Summer spent time trying to track the child but never found her, although she did undertake some kind of ceremony intended to trap her... the pah-wraith inside her.... back in the fire caves. We thought she'd been successful. Clearly we were wrong. Peter contacted Summer as soon as we heard Anata had contacted Chelsea.... she's on her way but we don't know how long it will take her to get to you. Please Rick.... you have to find her.... they can't be alone together..... =^= Eleanor burst into anxious tears and buried her face against Peter's chest.
=^= Look here young man. This creature is powerful and malicious. You must seek help and act quickly. Don't allow it to take possession of Chelsea nor yourself, and don't let it harm either of you.... God go with you.... this is a dangerous mission and it's all to play for. I already got onto 'people' after Chelsea called, they will do what they can, as will we, to try to help you out. =^= Adams was gone and the screen returned to the Starfleet insignia leaving a stunned recipient at the other end of the call.
~Is this some kind of joke~ Was the first thought through Ricks mind, he had heard of ranking starfleet officers playing the occasional joke on a new member of the family, hell his mum had done it to his now brother in law. But Dunham quickly dismissed that theory, this was to serious and almost too unreal. But he didn't want get anyone else involved yet. He considered his options.
Dunham didn't want to have deep space five personal involved, this was a personal matter in their family. But on the other hand, he needed starfleet resources to get this thing out of his future sister in law. Rick pressed the flour covered comm badge on his chest, =^= Hi, it me....sis I need your help=^=
Erica looked quizzical. =^= What's up Rick? =^= she asked, thinking it wasn't like Rick to sound so rattled.
=^= I'm sending you file =^= said Rick as he diligently typed away at a padd that lay next to his rolled out short crust pastry and rolling pin. He brushed off the flour from its small screen. He then pressed the send button and continued talking. =^= This women is currently with Chelsea, I want you to go to DS5's promenade, stay out of sight, but keep an eye on them, and update me on what they're doing. And tell dad to meet me in the Hagnon's 'Science Lab Two'. Ok? =^=
"Sure, no worries, but Ricky? What's going on?" Erica had begun to get up from her chair and was moving towards the door, looking for her father as she was speaking. She looked concerned. She knew this tone of voice from Rick but hadn't heard him use it for years. There was something deep and very compelling about it. Rick was VERY serious about whatever this was. Deathly so.
"DAAAAAAAAAD?" she called, an urgency in her voice very clear.
But Rick had already gone. He was rushing to his room to change into a clean uniform. While doing so he was also trying to talk to his comm badge that was now lying on the bed while he changed, trying to arrange with op's a direct beam from his quarters to the Hagnon. Rick really wasn't covering his tracks very well, none of his transmissions had been coded nor his internal comlink feed, and now their would be a record of this beam out. So people may well ask questions of him soon, so he needed to be quick to resolve this crisis before it turned into another issue on top of everything else that was going on for deep space five.
* * * * * * * * * * * *
Chelsea and Annie were shopping on one of the Promenade levels. There were nearly one hundred levels and they hadn't even completed one yet. They were oblivious.
Talking about the coffee they'd just bought and the pastries they'd then moved on to discussing pretty items in gift shops. Chelsea stopped to look in a clothes shop but realised quickly that in her religious robes all the time, Annie didn't have the luxury of spoiling herself with pretty clothes to lighten her if she needed it.
Chelsea thought this religious influence might be the reason why her sister seemed so hard to get close to. She did her best to chatter her way through the barriers that seemed to exist as soon as she got through the superficial layers.
Erica now in civilian clothing, had made her way to the Promenade levels, she had been tracking Chelsea on her compact tricorder, making her way through the clothes shops and market stalls, she soon found her would be sister in law. From a shop over the road she watched them from a distance, looking for anything out of the ordinary.
Chelsea decided that perhaps shopping was a bit materialistic for someone holy so she took Anata to the Bajoran Gardens next.
As they entered the portal arch, Annie seemed to jump. Chelsea looked quizically at her. "Are you ok?" she asked, bewildered as her half-sister backed out of the stone arch that had been imported stone by stone from Bajor itself and walked around it, between some shrubs, in order to enter without passing under it.
"It's okay" Chelsea tried to reassure her. "It's the real thing." she began to relate the history of the stones and the reputation they had for being the source of the peaceful and restful atmosphere in the gardens. It seemed to the Second Officer that this would be something that would please a Vedek greatly but Annie looked positively unwell and began to mutter about 'sacrilege' and 'taking stones from where they belonged' before she eventually made sufficient excuses to withdraw, leading a confused Chelsea after her, apologising for having made such an inappropriate choice of venue, inadvertently.
Soran, Anata took several minutes to recover and had to be allowed to sit down at a table outside a nearby cafe before she could go anywhere.
Chelsea was mortified. She was also at a complete loss. The Vedek had turned a very unhealthy colour and was wheezing. "Perhaps you're allergic to one of those shrubs?" the doctor in Chelsea tried to find a medical reason.
"Let me get a med-kit from the cafe and I'll do a scan and see if I can give you an antidote." she began to try to rectify the situation, only to be struck by yet another unexpected and potentially alarming response.
"NO" Annie leapt up and began to scurry away. "No scans.... no medications.... I'm FINE!" she called back over her retreating shoulder. "I'm sorry.. I need to rest... I'll go back to my quarters.... you go on without me... I'll be fine...... I have my own medicines in my luggage..... please don't fuss......" she panted as her speedy retreat began to make her breathless.
Chelsea was almost running along to keep up with her. "Annie....... please...... don't go.... I'm SO sorry.... wait..... please wait..... " she had no idea what she had done wrong.
The Vedek made a scooping gesture with her arm as if to ward Chelsea off.
"Go back, pleaaaaaaaaaaaaase!" she cried, as if anquished. Then her kind face disappeared and within seconds she looked furious. Her features seeming to change much harsher. They were out of sight of the other people on the main promenade now, starting down a corridor which was almost empty. Annie seemed about to lunge forward when Erica appeared at the end of the corridor. Chelsea looked up and was about to call out to Rick's sister when Erica looked away as if she didn't know her.
Chelsea knew enough from Eric and from other experiences in her past, that there were times when people wanted to pretend they didn't know you. Hurt, Chelsea couldn't think why Erica would act like this but she was too preoccupied with her sister to respond right now. One crisis at a time.
She looked back at Annie who had returned to the calm, polite, shallow face she had started with. Gone was the frightened, caring face that had tried to warn Chelsea away. Gone was the angry face too. Calmly the Soran sisters returned to their journey back towards Anata's quarters and the medication that she claimed was waiting there for her.
tbc........
A JP between:
Lt Cmdr Richard Dunham
Commander, Air Group
DS5
and
Cmdr Chelsea Adams
Chief Medical/2nd Officer
DS5