Spot Of Magnolia

Posted on 07 Jul 2015 @ 4:26pm by Crewman Apprentice Sigrid Thelin & Commander Norvi Stace
Edited on on 08 Jul 2015 @ 3:19am

2,146 words; about a 11 minute read

Mission: Episode 09 - Empires
Location: USS Galileo - Sickbay
Timeline: MD 02 - 0900

ON

Sigrid tossed a bit in her sleep, but something pulled at her mind. She was dreaming of a beautiful Risian man spreading shea butter sunscreen over her pale thighs when pain suddenly made her eyes open. She was in Sickbay instead of the warm sands of Risa and she suddenly wished she could squeeze her eyes shut and will herself back there. The lights of the room made her squint, but she noticed a form next to her. She blinked once, then twice, before the image of Commander Stace appeared. Sigrid's face brightened into a warm smile.

"I sure hope you brought scotch." She said enthusiastically.

"Not today, I'm afraid," Stace countered back with a reassuring smile. "Doctor's orders." Stace looked about the bed for a moment as she took the seat next to it. "I have brought wine, however." She placed a bunch of seedless grapes on the bed by the side of Siri and then smiled widely. "Only it's unfortunately unfermented. And fresh. They're grapes, basically. You'll have to use your imagination to pretend that it's wine. At least until you're discharged." Stace then took on a serious expression. "What happened?"

Sigrid used her arms to push herself more into a sitting position. Thankful that the pain she felt was more from stiffness than anything. It gave her hope that she wouldn't be recovering very long. The wonders of 24th century medicine was at work. She plucked a grape off the vine and rolled it between her fingers while she considered her words.

"To be honest I'm not exactly sure on the specifics. I think for sure I'm going to be in trouble and I'm really sorry if I've disappointed you. I...I didn't follow orders. I was supposed to strap myself in. Everyone was shouting at me to sit down but," Sigrid popped the grape in her mouth and sighed with pleasure, "this is really good wine." She chewed a bit before carrying on. "I stayed at my station. No one told me to, and I don't even really know why I stayed. I just thought someone had to. We were jumping through an unknown anomaly with no idea where it would lead. We needed to scan it down, you know? Have every instrument astrometrics has to gather data." Sigrid plucked another grape and popped it into her mouth. "It was wrong, but I did it. I got so much data Norvi. I put it on a chip and saved it before...well before this happened." Sigrid placed a hand on the side of her stomach where the protruding piece of metal had been.

At the use of her first name, Stace held her breath. To say that she wasn't here in the guise of First Officer wasn't accurate. Sigrid had jeopardised her life at the risk of her own safety and as admirable as it was, there was really no excuse for it.

"Crewman," she tentatively started with, not wanting to close down the avenues of friendship they'd both explored. "Down in the science labs or in my office with a bottle of something dry to while away the night then you may call me by my first name, but on duty and out and about the ship I have to insist that you refer to me as you would the captain. Or your department head." She paused and then scrunched up her nose with a familiar, tension releasing wince. "That's not to say that I'm not here to see about your welfare in a personal capacity. Do you understand?"

Stace added the tag rhetoric in order to soften what she meant. "However, I have to actually share my disappointment with you in your actions. No one understands the amount of importance the data you managed to get for us more than I, your former Chief Science Officer." She smiled as she said it. "But there is no reason for you to put yourself in that kind of danger for what your retrieved. Even Science has its limits." She leant over and plucked a grape herself. "It's a shame this isn't really wine," she managed defeatedly.

Sigrid had nodded over and over as Stace spoke. Each sentence she uttered, Sigrid would quietly smile and nod. When she'd finished speaking, Sigrid said gently, "You have to imagine it's wine, commander." Her eyes twinkled, then after a moment she cleared her throat and spoke a little clearer. "I can understand your disappointment. I wasn't thinking about my safety which in retrospect is just as shocking to me as I'm sure it is for you. Yet...I don't feel sorry that I did it. Is that strange, ma'am?"

Sigrid's face slowly grew a bit uncharacteristically serious just then and her brow furrowed in thought. "I've been told we entered a kind of vortex that we still don't know anything about. When the ship was being pulled in I just thought, what if we come out on the otherside and we don't know how to get back? We needed that data...I believed we needed that data, commander." Perhaps it was to hide her concern, or more likely Sigrid couldn't maintain a dark disposition for too long so she smiled again and said, "It's ok. I can take my punishment, let me have it. Life is like a dance floor. If you stumble, you just have to make it part of the dance moves." She moved her shoulders as if dancing to music to emphasize her words briefly.

"There is no punishment, Ms. Thelin... Any more than what you have already suffered." She nodded to the bandaged wound on her oblique. "I think that you've suffered enough, but you must understand that not everything is worth the gamble. I'd rather have the crew safe and alive on the other side of any vortex than sacrifice the safety of anyone on the off-chance that it may lead us back." She looked on the blond on the bed and then placed a comforting hand on the woman's as it lay by her side. "I appreciate what you did though. I'm just hear to tell you not to do it again."

"Deal." Sigrid said with a grin and a tiny salute. She was somewhat relieved at the fact that she didn't face punishment, though she would have taken it without complaint. A thought occurred to her and she looked at Stace with curiosity. "Have you ever done that, commander?" Sigrid pointed at Stace's belly, "Any of you? Put yourself in danger I mean. For something you thought was right at the time?"

Stace pursed her lips in a way that displayed her anxiety at recalling the memory. It wasn't particularly gnawing from the edges of her mind and she so rarely thought about the incident in the depths of night when her mind was racing and threading its way through the years. But in those times, when she was halfway through a bottle of scotch and her muddied memories peaked up through the surface of her own consciousness, she often remembered what happened. What he did. And what the fallout was. For both Janel and his crew.

She took in a breath and then settled down to begin her journey through the years. "My last gallant posting as captain," she began grandly, a fond smile breaking across her face like a wave on a desolate and beautiful beach. "I was taking her in to an uncharted system for a routine survey. We were close by to it and my keen, young science officer had expressed a desire to chart it. His first project since graduating the Academy", Stace added with a fanfare and a wave of her hand for muted affect. "We'd received warnings about possible Breen activity in the neighbouring galaxy, but space seemed a lot bigger back then so they went unheeded. Before the Dominion War, you see. So I decided to indulge my young ensign and went in regardless. We flew straight into a nest of Breen ships hiding out in the system and came out barely intact. I lost thirty four crewmembers that morning. And my own health suffered from an explosion on the bridge. It was the beginning of the end for Janel. But you could say that without that untimely accident I wouldn't be here."

She smiled a little as her mind cast back. "Sometimes the Science isn't worth the risk. I should have left the system and carried on back to the starbase for resupply but people lost their lives because I didn't."

"I'm sorry I brought that memory to light for you. It must be hard for Stace to remember Janel like that." Sigrid's words were meant for Norvi, the host, more so than the symbiote. She imagined how surreal it must be to have the memories of another person but experience it as if it were their own.

"In the crewman course I took before coming back to Galileo our instructors liked to remind us of Starfleet's 'unlimited liability' fine print. That joining Starfleet meant that they could order you into a situation that could be hazardous to your health or could even be fatal. That they are the only institution in the United Federation of Planets that is allowed to legally do so. That by signing up for Starfleet we would be placed in situations that were dangerous. We risk our lives every single day for the advancement of scientific knowledge; exploration; first contact; humanitarian aid. One day we could be studying a comet and we experience an accidental hull breach. Another day we could be attacked by pirates while we chart a region of space. On another day, an Engineer could be ordered into certain death to contain a warp core breach. By joining Starfleet and putting on these pips, I have agreed to this unlimited liability of my own free will. It's what sets us apart from civilians on our member worlds. To go boldly into these situations knowing the risks and doing it anyway." Sigrid took a deep breath in, and winced slightly. "You said that sometimes the science isn't worth the risk. Which is true. But that also means that sometimes it is worth the risk. How do you make the distinction?"

"Unfortunately," Stace replied with an even but warm tone, "you don't. But your superior officer's." Stace paused for a moment, not wanting to lecture her on the finer points of ranking responsibility. So she continued on to explain what she meant. "When the captain calls out over the internal comms. to brace for impact, or secure your station for widespread damage you do just that. Not continue to work on scanning an anomaly as we pass through it. You hunker down and strap yourself in away from any danger. 'Unlimited liability' or not, you're no longer serving the academics at the Academy. But a cohesive, functioning, organic family that relies on each other for survival. And to survive. Does that make sense to you?"

"Yes." Sigrid said simply. Turning her eyes away from Stace's and focusing on the chipped paint of her brilliantly coloured nails. Her expression looked slightly shameful. The thought of disappointing those she respected made her stomach knot up. But the thought was brief. Not much could keep Sigrid's spirits down for long and she smiled bringing her eyes back to Stace's face and said with more confidence, "Yes, ma'am. I understand." She took another deep breath and let it out slowly. "I still have a lot to learn, and I appreciate your patience, commander."

"We all have a lot to learn, Crewman. All of us. And from each other. So you shouldn't feel appreciative of anyone's patience. You, like us all, are working way up the ranks by hook or by crook. And that's what's important. You're willing to learn from those mistakes." Stace smiled softly. "Don't be too hard on yourself. No one came to any harm but yourself. And that's punishment enough."

"I'll try not to be." Sigrid agreed. She looked around the sickbay for a moment before a wry chuckle escaped her lips. "Speaking of punishments. Who ever designed the colour scheme for sickbay should be court-martialed for causing undue stress."

"I'll pass the decorating tips on to the ship yards when I'm next back on Earth," Stace joked, looking about her. "I'm sure a spot of magnolia wouldn't have gone amiss." She chuckled and then stood to leave. "I'll pop back just before you're discharged crewman. With a bottle of that scotch."

"Thanks the Stars." Sigrid sighed in relief. "Thank you commander."

OFF:

Commander Norvi Stace
First Officer
USS Galileo

Crewman Apprentice Sigrid Thelin
Scientist's Mate
[PNPC by K'os Beaumont]
USS Galileo

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