[BACK POST] What Does the Future Hold?

Posted on Thursday, 21 May 2020 - 6:47pm by Commander DeVala Victrix Ph.D
Edited on on Thursday, 21 May 2020 - 6:52pm

Mission: Operation: Recall
Location: Risa
Timeline: 2393 - Before starship launch
Tags: USS Wolff

The evening air was a cool breath on a sun beaten body, her skin felt warm to the touch from the day’s festivities even though full sun had long since passed and they were now entering into the hours where the sky was shades of blood orange and pink grapefruit; it was DeVala Victrix’s favorite time of the day on Risa. Mornings were lovely and the nights were soothing if you stayed away from the resort districts. Visiting her mother on Risa had not gone as well as she had hoped. Of course, it had never gone well with her. They had fought practically the moment DeVala set foot on the sandy shores of the beach near the diplomat’s villa.

Victrix had felt ashamed not of herself, but of her mother’s behavior all day. She had made practically no time for DeVala even though she came to Risa at her mother’s pressuring invite. Preparations for the lantern festival had clearly taken precedence for her mother which would have been acceptable if it were part of her mother’s duties as Ambassador, but it was not. The government officials on Risa had jurisdiction and direction over the lantern lighting ceremony. Her mother just liked to assert herself in charge of absolutely everything, micromanaging people.

She did not even have the nerve to inform her mother that she was leaving her Federation position albeit temporarily, and she did not tell her mother about the why she was leaving. Victrix had taken a special assignment, one off, but unpredictable about how long it would last. The true caveat to it; however, had been that Victrix had to have her Starfleet commission restated. She would receive a promotion to Lieutenant Commander and be given temporary command of a Federation starship. At first it was overwhelming for even DeVala to understand, but this had been her decision. Admiralty had not come knocking on her door for the mission, she came knocking on theirs when the paperwork came across her desk.

The woman had wandered the streets though not alone. She was never alone and she had no personal life to speak of. Ever since the Synthetic attack on the fleet yards, The President had executive ordered increased heavy security detail to the cabinet members and lighter security trickled down to undersecretaries and the like. DeVala had received a light security detail as a result, two armed individuals. Additionally, her mother would never let her leave the villa without some security of her own. In this case, an agent of the Federation Diplomatic Security Service, an Eforisan who made no attempt at blending in.

As DeVala Victrix approached a tent with some candelabras and lanterns outside of it, her shadows closed in on her. “Relax, boys. I will be fine” she said shaking her head. She knew there was going to be protest from the three of them. “Look, it’s a small tent with a ‘fortune teller’ and I need a good laugh” she said to them and pointed to the two humans. “You two stay out here and wait for us. Agent Ra-Yalli can accompany me. If that is suitable to you, agent?” she said looking up at the orange skinned with white hair and piercing blue eyes. He nodded and proceeded to follow her in.

No sooner did two enter did they find themselves greeted by a young-looking man, one who looked even younger than DeVala. He had two cups of tea already poured and still steaming hot waiting for them both, and a third which he himself was sipping from. He placed his cup down and gestured for the to sit. “Ah, come come my child. Sit right there and your handsome Efrosian friend can watch and learn” the man said.

Victrix looked at the tea and looked at her Efrosian security detail. The Efrosian’s cold stare and silence said enough. She looked back at the man. “We politely decline tea from strangers” she said with as sweet of a smile as she could manage.

The fortune teller took out a PaDD and presented it to her. He met her smile with one of his own. “Drink the tea. It will be useful” he said with a calming tone of voice.

“You are Starfleet?” she said skimming through the PaDD’s information and seeing the man was marked as being on Shore Leave, assigned to a USS Wolff from seventh fleet’s 51st Task Force. She continued reading “No, civilian. Ship’s Counselor” she corrected herself upon additional reading.

The man nodded and took another sip of tea. “Doctor Deepak El-Azar, USS Wolff at your service my dear. Yes, I know what is someone like me on shore leave doing setting up a tent to do fortune telling? Frankly, I get bored frolicking about on shore leave. So, sit back, sip up the tea and ask your question my dearie.”

The information seemed legit. The man spoke a good game and she could not see or read any deception from his face. He had the most honest eyes that she had ever seen. She looked over at the Efrosian and nodded. Taking a sip of tea herself much to the Efrosian’s disapproval, but he followed suite. Deepak looked at Victrix and reached out touching her hand reassuringly. “I told you it was not poison, love. Now, shall we?”

Victrix took a deep breath. “Can you tell me what my life is like, what my future holds?” she asked. She watched as the man retrieved a deck of cards and began shuffling them in his hands. She had seen these before on earth. A tarot deck? she thought to herself. Interesting though she did not place much value in any of this, the man had advanced degrees and was a Ship’s Counselor aboard a Federation Luna class starship.