by -=/\=- Zanh Liis
90127.13
Early morning, after Horseshoes and Hand Grenades
-=Temporary Quarters of the Captain, USS Serendipity=-
90127.13
Early morning, after Horseshoes and Hand Grenades
-=Temporary Quarters of the Captain, USS Serendipity=-
Serendipity had stumbled her way home to the Sol system at last.
As soon as the ship had arrived, her Captain collapsed into something more comparable to a black-out loss of consciousness than what one considers a routine night's sleep.
Now the chronometer was sounding its alarm just three hours later and she stirred, groaning and rubbing her eyes.
Today was a day she was not looking forward to.
Zanh Liis had been sternly warned not to speak with Salvek until after the hearing and knew that Gem Lassiter was a woman to be pushed only so far; so she had respected the Admiral's direction and stayed clear of her Executive Officer as difficult as it was for her to do so.
By all reports he was holed up in quarters, meditating, and Liis figured that was the safest place for him anyway for the time being.
She couldn't begin to fathom what he was going through.
She rolled over, seeking the same pair of warm and strong arms that had safely enclosed her as she dropped off to tired to dream in the small hours of this very same morning.
Feeling her hand sink down and come to rest on his empty side of the bed, she sighed. He had already gone off to start his day.
Opening her eyes at last she discovered a folded sheet of paper resting on the bedside table and opened it. She willed still-sleepy vision to focus on the handwriting which, every time she saw it, instantly caused her heart rate to increase.
Much to be done today, my Liis. Forgive me, not kissing you goodbye- I did not wish to wake you. Until fourteen-hundred... SHTV ~K
Liis folded the paper up and tucked it into the drawer of the nightstand. She was starting a new collection, in this life, of notes and letters from him. She would save, as she had in times past, everything upon which he wrote to her in his own hand.
She rose and quickly dressed. She, too had much to accomplish before the inquiry began at fourteen-hundred.
While gulping down two cups of strong coffee in quick succession, she found the replicator had also been pre-programmed to provide her with breakfast.
She stared at the bowl of dry cereal- the only thing that Keiran had found so far that he could get her to even consider eating before the clock struck twelve hundred hours. Another small note, left beside the replicator read simply,
Eat.
Liis laughed softly and poured the freshly replicated pitcher of milk onto the bowl of frosted corn flakes. "Yes, sir, Captain O'Sullivan." She gave a small salute with her spoon before setting it in the bowl and shook her head, amazed at him, and at herself.
How easy it had been, becoming accustomed to having him look after her, after all the years she'd spent wandering through the hours of the day feeling alone regardless of who was in the room with her. That was the magic that Keiran possessed; an ability to be there for her, even when he wasn't there with her.
She walked the room, bowl of cereal clutched in her unbandaged hand. Normally she would eat while she walked so as not to think too much about the fact that she was doing it; but today she had to accept the fact, finally, that with the sling still in place if she was really going to manage she was going to have to sit down while she had her meal.
With every intention of doing just that she moved through the room, heading toward the couch. She stopped as she noticed something odd, something that didn't belong as she walked past the doors.
There was an item stuck between them.
As soon as she approached, they parted and the envelope that was caught between them fell to the deck. Liis nearly tipped the milk in the bowl out onto her boots and swore softly as she peered downward, leaning forward to see what it was.
She set the cereal aside and picked up the envelope, propping it against her hip and fumbling to open it with one set of functioning fingers.
The envelope bore a wax seal, but not Keiran's.
"Bizarre." Liis wondered who else would have...
She quickly realized exactly who would have, and ripped the envelope open faster.
She narrowed her eyes, intently concentrating on the unbelievably complicated, nearly illegible handwriting as she tried to decipher it. She couldn't help thinking this would have been a more effective form of cryptography than half the codes that she'd been taught to use back in the days when she was still working in the field.
"Had to beam down urgently, sorry I didn't have time to ask your permission to disembark. I hope you'll fore go the court martial for insubordination just the once." Liis shook her head until her earring rattled, mumbling, "smart ass."
She continued down the page, putting on the Scot's accent as she finished reading his note softly aloud to herself.
"Will be puttin' in a grand appearance at Salvek's hearin', keep an eye out for me. After is all over, I shall require an afternoon of your time, Captain. We have much yet to discuss, and I still have a weddin' gift ta give ta ya. 'Til then..,Suffer Bravely." She recognized the translation of the words Endure Fort; family motto of the proud Clan Lindsay of Scotland.
The phrase had come up in conversation, among other things, during their trip alone together aboard the Vanguard.
She paused, noticing suddenly that there was something written in among the lines of the text, one letter scrawled upside down and in between each sentence. Her mind quickly identified and assembled the letters and numbers, but for a moment they made no sense to her.
"J..o..h..n," she whispered. "John one four, no... Fourteen. Three, KJV. What the hell," the light of understanding flipped on inside her head. "Wait."
She turned on her heel and moved to the computer. She tapped in a command, and a moment later a block of text was highlighted and displayed before her eyes. Again, she read aloud what it said.
"'And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.' John, chapter fourteen, verse three, King James Version." Her eyes moved from the screen and scanned his note again quickly and she puzzled momentarily over his odd choice of literary reference.
Aside from the fact that she found it highly amusing, in a singularly twisted sort of way, that he should ever dare compare himself to the revered Terran man known as Jesus Christ, she had a feeling there was a deeper meaning that he was trying to convey to her.
This was not something the kind of thing he would do without a reason.
"You'd better hope O'Sullivan never sees this, Lindsay, he'll snap you in half like a twig for committing...blasphe...my." She stopped again.
Her eyes scanned the page top to bottom one last time, looking for further clues as to what he was trying to tell her, without telling her.
Three sweeping and, if it's possible for handwriting to be arrogant, absolutely egotistically embellished initials WTL comprised the signature, but that was not what
completely captured her attention.
What caught, and held her gaze was the embossed seal upon the letterhead stationery which had previously escaped her notice.
Now it was fairly shouting at her, even with its formal, small and unassuming blue letters.
The logo was one she had seen countless times; it was the seal of the Department of Temporal Investigations.
What it said beneath that seal was the real shock and conveyed the message that she had been meant to receive.
From the Office of the Director
Liis mouth fell open.
"I'll be damned."
She knew that since he'd chosen to tell her this way, that this was information that she was not yet meant to know.
She appreciated the lead-time so that she could prepare herself, not only for the announcement when Lassiter swooped in to drop it on her like a warhead, but also for the hearing. She needed to know this before Salvek's inquiry, and Will made sure that she did.
She actually laughed out loud once.
Everything was going to be all right.
She was certain that Will would take control of matters with this hearing, and see to it that Salvek would be spared as much as possible of the nightmare that usually made up such experiences.
Additionally, she and Keiran had a true ally now, squarely between the pair of them and the machinery of TI that had dragged them back, chewed them up and spit them out so many times.
She only wished that she could see the look on Jonas Vox' face when the news finally reached his ears that his job was now being done, even if only temporarily, by William Lindsay.
With a renewed sense that things were moving forward as they should, Liis tucked the letter back into the envelope and for the first time, fully analyzed the wax stamp used to seal it.
It was the image of a small flower, one she'd seen before but she couldn't exactly place where.
She made a note to ask Will about it later on. She was certain that, as with absolutely everything else to do with the man, that there was a story that went along with it.
-=/\=-
Time flew past quickly as she saw to the business of getting the Sera settled back into space-dock for expedited repairs.
She was informed that the Alchemy had arrived ahead of them and was 'secured' at an undisclosed location, undergoing diagnostics and maintenance.
The crew of the Away Mission to Bajor had returned to the Sera for debriefing by Lassiter, and there was one last thing that she hoped to accomplish before she left the ship for the hearing on Earth.
After that one thing more was seen to and the hearing was over, she hoped to return to Ireland for at least a few more days of the honeymoon that had been derailed before she came back to the ship to be certain that repairs proceeded according to plan.
According to her plan and not anyone else's.
"Computer, locate Commander Lance Hartcort."
^Lance Hartcort is on Deck Eleven, aft section.^
"Having coffee, are we doctor?" A slow grin swept across Zanh's face. "I'm about ready for another cup, myself. Think I'll join you."
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-=/\=- Zanh Liis
Commanding Officer
USS Serendipity NCC-2012
-=/\=- Zanh Liis
Commanding Officer
USS Serendipity NCC-2012