Start with murder...

Posted on Tuesday, 21 September 2021 - 1:12pm by Petty Officer 1st Class Siana Ilian

Mission: Operation: Lazarus
Location: Personal Quarters
Timeline: MD10

Chocolate... Closing her eyes, savouring the taste, Petty Officer Ilian forgot all else as she enjoyed a few moments of peace and quiet. By luck rather than design she still had her own quarters which offered her a safe place to retreat to when her working day was done or, like now, when she simply had a break and wanted to avoid the mess hall.

By even better luck, the the recent attack on the ship hadn't caused any damage beyond a few picture frames and those were easily mended. Other parts of the ship, of course, had not been so fortunate. And while the engineers made ever increasing demands for resources, it was up to the operations team to try and accommodate them or flat out say 'no'. She had even spent a lot of her on and off duty time crawling through the ship to aide with repairs, usually on her own. Although was she ever alone anymore?

Even now, Siana would still admit to 'adjusting' to life as the eleventh host to Ilian. Every assessment and physical had been thrown at them and still, the Symbiosis Commission persisted. Placing a symbiont within a host who had not prepared for it was never an ideal choice and often could lead to unexpected psychological consequences or issues. Ezri Dax had written several papers on it, all of which Siana had read cover to cover many times. Like Siana, Ezri had been a last hope and became a host to save a symbiote - just as Siana had done.

A fond smile played at Ilian's lips as she took another sip of the hot chocolate. The last time she had laid eyes upon Dax, Curzon had been negotiating with Klingons which seemed to involve spending a considerable amount of time drinking with them. Unorthodox, yes, but in the end he had once more been successful.

Curzon Dax would never be sitting alone sipping a hot chocolate, that was for sure.

Siana sighed, glancing around her. As laughable as it sounded, especially for someone who often shunned people for computers, she was beginning to feel alone. As if turning down all the repeated requests to go back to Trill would actually be a good thing. She could practically hear Varod baulk at the idea. But he had been a classic people person. He spoke to anyone, could elicit the life story from the most hardened and stoic Vulcan. Siana would sooner know their name and use some morally questionable computer skills to learn what there was to learn on her own terms.

Part of her aversion to the mess hall, particularly during busy shifts, was her continued indecision. It was calming down, at least a little. She was beginning to understand what Ilian thought she liked and what Siana could actually stomach; however, when you were standing at a replicator that still left so much choice. Inevitably, she either ended up with a mish mash of food to try or people started staring as she tormented the poor replicator. Needless to say it usually ended up with her in a table by herself, reading reports and trying to help Lt Kolani as much as possible.

At least, when it came to her work, things were much simpler.

Previous hosts had been musicians, artists, scientists, physicians and one had dabbled in diplomacy but only Verod had been an engineer. His knowledge supplemented her own but it had been decades since he picked up a set of tools, preferring instead to teach. Siana, on the other hand, was still very much an engineer at heart. And while her role on the Standing Bear was a shift away from that, to a certain degree, she still was able to put her engineering background to good use.

It always seemed so easy, like putting a jigsaw back together. Once you understood how something worked, repairing it became a simple matter and easy to do.

From the corner of the room a chirp signalled an incoming message and she crossed the room to check it out. The ship bulletin board had been updated... normally she didn't spend much time reading it if she even read any of it at all but she had some time. Sliding into the seat she skimmed through the newest items added to the board. There was a poll asking if the music should be stopped in the lift and she paused, considering for a moment before deciding she actually quite liked it and added her vote for it to stay.

A petty officer was proposing hosting a book club. "Pass," Siana muttered under her breath, moving on to the next one. She paused, stopping at the next bulletin which was proposing a murder mystery themed evening in the holodeck when repairs were complete, including a request for help with the programming. Three times she read it before replying, typing 'I'd be happy to help.'

She wasn't entirely sure what a murder mystery would entail exactly but it sounded interesting and she had to start somewhere.

Why not start with murder?


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