Carvings

Posted on Friday, 29 April 2022 - 12:16pm by Lieutenant Alex Kingsley

Mission: Shore Leave
Location: Earth

Venturing away from the main road onto a weather-beaten path, every step carried her away from any sign of civilisation and deeper into the forest where the trees towered far above her head. Following the winding route, splashing through puddles as rain continued to sweep through the region and provide some much needed water to the local plant and animal life. Planting one gloved hand on the trunk of an uprooted tree, she vaulted over it, barely breaking stride as she kept her pace in time with the music in her ear.

Only when the music stopped, signalling she had reached her target distance, did she gradually slow down, eventually finding a place to sit where another overturned tree partially blocked the way. She sat, peering up at the little patches of grey clouds above the canopy while raindrops still managed to hit her face.

Slipping off her backpack she rummaged in it, finding the water bottle and taking a long drink. Slipping it back in the bag she frowned when it made an odd noise, as if it had it something metallic. Sitting the bag in her lap she peered inside, confused as she reached in lifted out a small swiss army knife she recognised immediately. It had been her father's, and whenever they would go to the park, he would carve their initials in a tree.

Turning it over in her hand she studied the trees around her, deciding that they would do just as well. Maybe better.

Abandoning the bag she walked over to the nearest one, smiling as she began to carve Soral's name. She had time, so she took it, being careful to do it properly before stepping back to admire her work. Her smile immediately faded when she saw not one, but five names carved out.

A deep rumble of thunder snapped her out of her thoughts, and she quickly returned the knife to her bag which she then slung over her shoulder. It was getting late, starting to get dark and she would not put it past her mother to send out a search party. With one last glance over her shoulder at the tree she set off, fighting the urge to look back at those names even for a second...



<< Starfleet Medical >>


"And your official mission debriefing, how did that go?"

Pouring a cup of tea, offering but unsurprised when his patient declined a cup of her own, Commander Erikson took a sip as he settled back into his seat. He had exhausted the preliminary small talk in record time, finding that today was a day where none of his patients seemed especially talkative. Given he had reschedule today's appointment to make time for the debriefing, he considered it an educated guess to assume that in this particular case the two were related.

"They appeared more interested in my husband's personal affairs than the mission," Alex offered after a long silence, shaking her head. It had been infuriating. An endless cycle of denying she knew of Soral's work as Shar of Vulcan while defending even the slightest insinuation that he was anything but loyal to Starfleet. And of course there was the entirely justified scepticism around his 'counter-part' who had been able to move so freely and do so much before he was discovered.

Oh, and naturally they had lots of questions about the other universe. The technology, the society... she had flat out lied and denied any recollection of her time there. Fortunately, she had become much better at lying when the need arose. Besides, they had been able to study a whole ship full of technology - what more did they need? A map or step by step instructions?

"How did that make you feel?"

"Angry. He did nothing wrong."

"Then it will all work out," he offered with a consoling smile. "Have you had a chance to see him?"

"Soral? No. Soon. We plan to go to Risa. Some time with just the two of us."

"And are you happy about that?"

Alex paused, thinking before nodding, "we need to talk. With everything that has happened, despite everything he has said and written in letters... I don't know if we can go back to how it was. We are different people now."

"The perhaps," Erikson suggested simply, "you work on building something new."


OFF