By LT. February Grace
80119.00
During the Celebration Dinner
--=Arboretum=--
80119.00
During the Celebration Dinner
--=Arboretum=--
The party was in full swing.
A catchy, upbeat melody filled the air, sung by an artist that February instantly recognized as one of Dabin's favorites. He'd obviously played program director for this evening's ambient musical accompaniment.
"Come fly with me, let's fly, let's fly away. . ." sang Michael Buble', as people filled and refilled their plates. The food was just too good to enjoy only one serving.
February smiled, content to sit still and watch Dabin regaling some of the crew with stories of The Great Ferenginar Tongo Tournament and how he'd almost gotten 'skewered by a Nausicaan, only to be saved by another who was working security, and seemed to know his would-be assailant all too well.'
"So then I thought, dear god, please tell me that Hach'Kaa is Nausicaan for waffles!"
Everyone at the table laughed, except of course, for Salvek.
February glanced up at Zanh Liis, who had seemed quietly contemplative this evening as she sat at the head of the Captain's table.
Bru wondered if she was simply tired, or if she was growing uncomfortable listening to stories of the dangers her crew had braved to save her life.
There was one particular story that February felt that the Captain should hear, though. One she'd witnessed with her own eyes. She knew that the man it involved was far too modest to ever tell her himself, as intimate as they were.
The group at the table began to disperse, Dabin finally giving in to Arie's repeated requests for a dance to the music and most of the rest going off to mingle or refill food or drink.
The Trill moved from the opposite end of the long table where she'd been sitting, and approached Zanh Liis.
"Great party." February's hands rested on the back of the empty chair beside Zanh as she spoke.
"Great crew." Zanh replied. She knew that the younger woman was waiting for an invitation, and so she offered it. "Have a seat, Bubbles, if you like."
"Thank you, Captain."
"Bru," Liis smiled at her gently. "You're Mrs. Dabin Reece now, aren't you?"
"Yes, Captain."
"Then when we're in a setting like this, I have no problem at all with you calling me Liis. Heaven knows that your husband calls me far worse."
"Thank you, Sir."
"Sir?" Liis laughed. "I think Captain was better, February."
"Sorry, Captain. Liis. Sir."
Liis filled her coffee cup from the carafe that Trick London had been steadily topping off for her all evening long. She offered some to February, who shook her head, politely declining.
She heard giggles coming from a few meters away, and looked up to see Dabin holding one of Arie's hands and spinning her around in circles as she danced.
"It's good to see everyone smiling." Zanh indicated Reece and Arie with her coffee mug. "It's been a long time since." She stopped, letting the thought die in the air, unspoken.
"Yes," February agreed. "It has." She took a breath, and charged ahead.
"Captain, if I can have a moment more of your time, I know that you have a lot of people to chat with this evening but there's something that I wanted to tell you. While the experience is still fresh in my mind. Before I forget anything."
"You? Forget? I thought Trill were like elephants, they never forget."
"Well, there are parts of the mission we just finished that I am certain I will try to forget," Bru's face, while still sunkissed from her adventures in Florida seemed to pale, even so. "Like the sight of you laying in that stasis chamber."
February closed her eyes, dark recollections chilling her through.
"The worry on the faces of your friends. I want you to know without a doubt, Captain, that every single person who risked their lives on that mission cares for you, a great deal. But one, above all others, and I know," February leaned closer, as did Zanh, so that she could still speak softly but be understood over the music.
"I know that I may be sticking my nose in where it doesn't belong, but I just wanted to tell you, as someone who saw what he went through,"
Zanh was beginning to wonder what the hell the youthful pilot was babbling on about, and then it struck her like a slap across the face. She understood at last which him February was referring to.
"Walk with me, Lieutenant?" Zanh requested, leaving her cup still full on the table as she stood up.
February nodded. "Aye, Sir."
The two woman moved discreetly away from the crowd. Liis led the way over toward the hanging, two-seat wooden swing nestled beneath the small, white gazebo on the other side of the arboretum.
Once seated on the swing, both sat in silence for a little while. Zanh wrestled with her emotions, while February gathered up her courage.
Finally, Zanh turned toward her.
"I know," she began, releasing a slow and weary sigh, "that it must have been hard for Jariel, seeing me that way. I also know that you were a very good friend to him during the darkest parts of the journey, February, and I want to thank you for that. I won't forget it."
"The Vedek is someone I both love, and admire, Captain." Bru replied. "He's my friend, and so there's no need to thank me for anything. I'd do anything I could to help him. He's done so much for me, I just," Bru smiled and shook her head incredulously. "He is not entirely mortal, that man. I am convinced that there is some part of him, at the molecular level, that is Divine in origin."
*You and me, both.* Zanh thought, but she stopped short of saying it. "To hear you say that would amuse him. He also thinks that you wear a halo and wings in your spare time." Zanh pointed to the guardian angel sculpture in the foreground.
"That sculpture means so much to him. I can't explain it to you. Especially considering all that he's been through lately with the Prophets and his voice and," Zanh stopped, cutting her comments short.
She did not think it appropriate to be confiding so much of her personal life to one of her junior officers, even if that junior officer was carrying a being within that had lived almost ten times Liis' own lifespan.
"Captain, I apologize if I'm out of line. I don't mean to at all intrude upon the privacy of your personal life." February announced, with the sage wisdom of a being who was, in fact, hundreds of years old. "I don't expect you to say anything. Please, I just ask that for a few minutes, you listen."
Liis nodded. She planted her feet flat against the ground and pushed off, launching the swing into a gentle, rocking motion. She couldn't sit still and listen to this. She had to keep moving.
February had no intention, either, of betraying Jariel's confidence by revealing the things he'd said to her while Liis was in stasis.
What she wanted Zanh to understand was the true, selfless courage in the very heart of the man. How he had risked absolutely everything- his heart, his life, and his sanity to bring her home.
"When we arrived on Aertok," February explained softly, "Things went downhill quickly. It wasn't long before Reece, Jariel and I were backed into a corner and up against the wall. Jariel was unarmed. He refused to carry a weapon, yet he insisted we cover him while he,"
February paused. She winced at the sight of the horrified expression which overtook Zanh Liis' face, and she realized that her assumption had been correct.
The Vedek had told the Captain none of this.
"He insisted that we cover him, while he charged into the room where your captors were, knowing that they were very likely armed."
Tears brimmed in February's eyes and she bit her lip and looked at the ceiling to stem their flow. "He ran into that room where they were holding your stasis chamber, and put the combadge on the tube himself so that Micah could beam you to the Alchemy. So Micah would beam us all back."
Zanh Liis stared straight ahead, trying to fathom the actions that inspired February's words as the pair continued to swing, and the rest continued to celebrate.
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LT. SG February Grace
Senior Flight Controller
USS Serendipity NCC-2012
LT. SG February Grace
Senior Flight Controller
USS Serendipity NCC-2012