Not Really Alone

Posted on 12 Nov 2015 @ 6:05am by Ensign Miriam Kallan & Lieutenant Oren Idris Ph.D.

2,050 words; about a 10 minute read

Mission: Episode 09 - Empires
Location: USS Galileo - Science Labs
Timeline: MD 03 - 2000 hrs

[ON]

Miriam was an emotional wreck. On one hand, she felt horrible. Ever since they'd had the accident she'd felt uncomfortable, like a dark cloud was looming over her, threatening to rain down. It was like walking in a nightmare where you could tell there was something just around the corner but you couldn't see it. That was aside from the nausea and inability to keep food where it belonged. Because of all of that, it'd been harder and harder to keep her usual optimistic outlook. She kept brushing it off as nerves of it being her first assignment coupled with the horrible situation they were in. It was the best she could do to keep a smile on her face. On the other hand as she was nearing the labs to help clean up with her superior officer and that certainly helped lift her spirits. She was positively giddy.


Miriam pressed the button to enter the labs and looked around nervously. Spotting the CRO among the mess the accident had caused, Miriam moved up to him with nervous determination. It looked like he'd lessened his garb from the normal science uniform and she briefly looked down at her full uniform and suddenly felt a bit silly. However, she was here now, she couldn't just go out and change. Still, it bothered her a bit. Unlike with meeting the other CO's, this was far more exciting for the sole fact that he was the first fellow El-Aurian she'd met since her parent's death. Knowing this, Miriam felt like she was about to burst and she was having a very hard time containing her excitement. As she neared him, her voice came out light and slightly shaky from her nerves. "E-excuse me, sir." The red haired El-Aurian bit her lip as she waited to be acknowledged.


She watched him with wide, nervous eyes, an uncontrollable grin on her face, "I'm sorry I didn't have the opportunity to check in with you before the accident, sir. I'm glad we're able to meet now. Ensign Miriam Kallan, reporting for duty, sir." Her bright green eyes looked at him as if he were a rare sight, and really, he was. Even at the Academy, there weren't other El-Aurian's. She'd been the only one. So seeing him now, was like a surprise party. Not that she'd really had any being raised by Vulcans, but still. It was exciting.

At her first 'sir', Oren was reminded of Ellsworth's snort when he'd first referred to him as 'Officer Hudson' and had to resist giving out a similar sound now. Instead, he responded to Miriam's expression with a friendly smile. He met her eyes, his bring green eyes seeming to bore into hers.

"Um..." he began, still feeling unsure with all of the formalities that came with his new position as officer. He shifted a bit, but kept his nerves in check. "At ease, Ensign. No need to be so formal."

Miriam's over-exuberant smile melted into a relieved one as he gave her permission to relax. It didn't stop the nerves of meeting a new El-Aurian, but it helped put her at ease at least a little. "Sorry, sir, it's my first assignment. I'm still trying to get my bearings."

She glanced around the room vaguely, she wasn't really sure how to act with him. On one hand, she was horribly giddy and wanted to ask him all sorts of questions about their people. On the other, he was still her superior officer, there were rules about interactions. "We sure have quite the mess to clean up, huh?" A light giggle escaped her throat. "Nothing like a little manual labor to get into the swing of things." She bent down, at that, to pick up a cracked tricorder. It seemed, they'd be having to replace a few things.

"It's what built many great civilizations," Oren said with a nod of agreement. "Just between the two of us, you can just call me Oren. I'm still getting used to being an officer. Well, provisional officer," he admitted, smiling at her. He knelt down to gather pieces of a broken paid. "Hope whoever wrong in this had a backup. I'd hate for us to lose the cure to some illness due to a little bump."

Miriam smiled lightly, "Oren. Okay, and please, call me Miriam." Carefully she turned to help him pick up anything that looked like it may be important, such as isolinear chips or unbroken containers. Glancing over at the shattered PADD, she spoke calmly, "Maybe an engineer can salvage the data? I'm not really sure how those things work but, who knows?"

" I'm not gifted in the engineering department either. For all I know, pixies run the power through the ship, " Oren said, pushing a larger piece of debris to the side with his foot.

" So, Miriam, is the Galileo your first assignment?"

Miriam stood and placed her armful of items on a cart that seemed to have been picked up earlier. She felt dizzy briefly, but quickly steadied herself. Looking at Oren, she nodded, "Yup, I'm here straight from the Academy. It's my first for a lot of things."

" Excited? " Oren asked with a soft smile, part of him envying her the new experiences before her. At his age, he had to go out of his way to really experience something new. Firsts were few and far between at that point in his life. Despite just meeting the young crewman he felt at ease, almost comfortable and maybe even a little eager to share things with her, which was strange and unexpected.

Miriam giggled lightly, "Yes, very excited." She continued her clean up work as she spoke, "Although, I have to admit. Meeting you is the most exciting part." Miriam couldn't really help herself. He seemed so friendly, if a little sad, and he was part of her species so she really wanted to get along. "You're the first El-Aurian I've met since my parent's died."

Oren perked up at that, giving the young woman a surprised smile. "Oh!" he said, unsure how else to respond. It was so odd to find another of his species in person, he felt startled. Unsure what to do with his hands, he did the only think he could think of, keep smiling.

"Wow...I'm...shocked!" he laughed. "I've never met another either! In..." He huffed, rolling his eyes to indicate a long time, "Over fifty or so years." Shifting a little, he finally gave into his first instinct once the shock wore off a bit. "Well, come here," he said, moving closer to pull her into a hug.

Miriam blinked a few times, not quite certain how to react. She rarely was given hug by virtual strangers, especially being raised by Vulcans. They didn't hug. However, somehow, it seemed normal and her arms returned the hug warmly.

She was a bit shocked that he didn't know she was an El-Aurian at first, but then with all the chaos, maybe he hadn't had the chance to see her personnel file yet. Miriam had looked up all her CO's when she found out she'd been assigned here, which was the only reason she knew.

When they separated, Miriam was grinning ear to ear. "Wow, it's strange even you haven't met others. I guess there really aren't many of us after the Borg incident."

Oren nodded sadly. "I think maybe all of the older ones are afraid that gathering in one place again might be asking for trouble," he guessed with a shrug. He smiled at her again. "I feel like I have so much I want to say and ask but I can't think of anything!" He laughed.

Miriam nodded as well, "Yes. Although, from what I've read, our people used to travel a lot anyway. I wish there were colonies. It would be amazing to learn more about who we are." At his last comment she giggled, "Same here! I was certain I was going to bombard you with questions. I'm just so happy to not be alone."

Oren nodded but didn't seem as regretful about the separation from his people as Miriam. In actuality, while he still wished he knew more about his culture, the older he got, the more he realised that he didn't really have a culture. Not the way others did. To him, saying he was El-Aurian was simply stating a biological fact. It didn't really mean anything beyond that. As an anthropologist, that fact pained him, but it was a pain he was familiar with, almost to the point of complete comfort.

"It is a good feeling," he admitted instead. "Being different is...hard." He said the last as he slowly crossed his arms over his chest, a defensive movement.

Miriam nodded, her El-Aurian empathy could sense his discomfort and she reached out a hand to place it on his shoulder. "Well, now we can be different together," She told him in a gentle tone. "I'm always happy to have a new friend. Especially one who'll live as long as me."

Miriam was so happy this had been her first posting. A friend of her own species was something she'd always wanted. She was certain Oren could probably feel her excitement, just like she could feel how he was feeling. It was a part of being El-Aurian, and that fact alone, made it even better. It was nice, not having someone try to guess how she was feeling and instead, just know.

Oren glanced down at her hand, feeling a pleasant warmth at the contact. Smiling, he looked up at her eyes and gave her an almost shy smile before reaching over and wrapping his arm around her waist into a half hug. He knew it was probably overly familiar considering he was her boss, but he also knew that she wouldn't misinterpret it as something beyond a show of friendship.

"We should do something together after work sometimes, " Oren announced, pulling away from her finally.

Oren was completely right, Miriam knew the hug was not more than that, a hug between two members of a rare species and a sign of platonic understanding. She was grateful to have established a good start of what she hoped would be a life time friendship. At his question, Miriam smiled brightly, "I would be happy to, any time. Maybe we can swap stories over a ration pack or something. Although, I haven't been feeling too well lately with regards to food."

"Ugh." Oren sighed, looking relieved that he finally had someone to share his misery with. "Tell me about it. Ever since we came through the anomaly, I haven't been able to keep anything down besides water and some vegetables. Not to mention I feel like my skin is too tight all the time, I'm so tense!"

Miriam blinked several times. "I've been feeling the exact same way. I figured it was just nerves from this being my first assignment and all. Do you think other people are feeling the same? Maybe a side effect from going through the anomaly?"

" I don't think so, " Oren shook his head. "I went to Sickbay a few times, I'm pretty sure they think I'm paranoid or something. They ran a bunch of tests and they all came back negative. The best explanation I got was some kind of distortion sickness, like transporter sickness. I seem to be the only one who has it. Well, until now. "

Miriam pursed her lips in thought, "It is rather odd. I wonder why we're the only two affected like this. I suppose it could be because of our species, but that still begs the question of why."

Oren shrugged. "Your guess is as good as mine," he told her before offering a small smile. "On the bright side, I do feel better than I did yesterday. So maybe the doctors are right and it's fading."

Miriam nodded, "Me as well." She tilted her head slightly before turning back to her work with a light sigh, "We should probably put more focus on this. We'll have plenty of time to chat in the future, right?"

[OFF]

Lieutenant JG Oren Idris
Chief Research Officer
USS Galileo

Ensign Miriam Kallan
Xenobiologist
USS Galileo

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