His Return
By Ensign Rada Dengar and Captain Zanh
80117.1600
Following Off Guard
--=Bridge/Captain's Ready Room; USS Serendipity=--
By Ensign Rada Dengar and Captain Zanh
80117.1600
Following Off Guard
--=Bridge/Captain's Ready Room; USS Serendipity=--
He was glad to have as of yet remained unseen by those who’d known him before, as his innocent eyes hid poorly the echoes of times past.
He had been scrutinized by security to some degree, but the officers who had not known him could never envision the raw hatred which had pumped so strong through his veins that he had come to rely on it as if it were life-blood itself.
He stood there outside of her door; the door of the woman thanks to whom he had been imprisoned when he was at his most vulnerable. Stripped of his uniform, he had then been taken from what he had come to see as his home and sent to a place where insanity prevailed.
Free will had been the first casualty and was all too soon forgotten in the thick smog of bitterness and confusion that deprivation could create. They had tied him down. Pumped him full of drugs. Trying combination after combination until finally they had found one bitter mix which met their satisfaction. They stuck a label on him, his resistance was gone, he was at his most dependent and it was then they released him. It had only been a matter of weeks, but time tends to cease its relevance in a place like that.
They had returned his uniform and all too soon sent him onto his next assignment; that was how he came here. That was why he was standing outside of her door now. Sure of nothing else except that Zanh Liis was getting what she deserved.
The door opened for him with the typical swish of a door on a Federation starship. He stepped through and his eyes immediately found their way to hers. He could see straight away that she was in pain and trying to hide it. It was a look he knew all too well, a look he had been unable to hide from her before he had been sent away.
He also saw an uncertainty; frankly neither of them knew exactly how this reunion would play out. She rose from her desk with caution, and he couldn’t blame her. Not after the last time he was called to her Ready Room.
--=Flashback: USS Independence; five weeks ago=--
"May I speak freely, Captain?" Rada's voice held a hint of rising desperation, and Zanh nodded. "The last thing I need is more time on my hands to think. Working is the best thing for me right now."
"Very well." Zanh was skeptical. "But, I want you to talk with either the Vedek or Doctor McKenna on a daily basis, until they deem that you no longer require such discussions. Do you understand?"
"Yes, Sir."
"If there are any more 'accidents,' Ensign," Zanh warned, her tone reflecting her genuine concern for the young man, "you will be relieved of duty and confined to Sickbay for a full physical and psychiatric evaluation. Clear?"
"Yes, Sir." Rada found he was barely containing a new found rage welling within him. *How dare she,* he thought, *Of all the people on this ship who have a propensity for insanity, how dare she insinuate that I may be losing my mind?*
He had a graphic, momentary fantasy of jumping over the desk and wringing her neck until she lay in a lifeless heap on the floor. He began to tremble as he tried to dismiss the image. This was bad- and getting worse. Much, much worse.
"Unless there's anything else you want to tell me, you're dismissed." Feeling uneasy now, her hand instinctively and curiously moved to her neck. Somehow, the collar of her uniform felt too tight all of a sudden.
Rada then added one thing more- one thing that scared her as he rose to go. "Captain," he paused, "if there is ever a time, when you feel that I may pose a danger to the crew in any way,"
Alarms rang off in Zanh's head. Her eyes narrowed. The motion of her right hand distracted him, as she used it to fiddle with the chain on her earring, even as her left hand moved slowly toward the phaser at her hip. "Now, why in the world would you say something like that?"
"Nothing. Nevermind. I'm sorry, I'm not feeling well. I shouldn't have said anything."
"Well, you did, and that leaves me with a big problem." She rose and tapped her combadge, still holding the phaser. "Security to the ready room."
Dengar shot her a hateful glance- an expression that truly conveyed the meaning behind the old the phrase, 'if looks could kill.'
"Captain?" N'Dura burst into the room from the bridge, with two more officers behind her.
"Please escort Ensign Dengar to Sickbay. Secure the area around him, and post a guard on him until further notice." Zanh instructed sadly. "He is to remain there until he is fully cleared by the doctor and released by my order."
"Shall we go, Ensign?" N'Dura slowly approached. Rada thought of resisting, but knew that his revenge would be much more complete and satisfying at a later time, if he could just be patient.
"I can't believe you're doing this to me," he growled, as he was surrounded and relented. "You'll get yours, Zanh Liis. You're going to pay for this, for all of this!" *She was a threat to them,* Rada thought, *and as such, the day would come when he- they- had to do something that he did not want to do. Not at all.*
--=End Flashback=--
He exhaled, stood to attention and then began to speak.
“Ensign Rada Dengar, reporting as ordered, Captain.”
Even though Zanh Liis had been his acting CO as long as he’d known her, Rada knew that her own command was what she deserved. This ship was what she deserved.
“Please sit down, Mr Dengar.” She responded evenly, gesturing towards a chair.
As Rada sat she studied him, she could not see malice. She sat down again slowly, to place their eyes at the same height. Halfway through the motion, there it was again. He saw it as clear as day, the look in her eyes that betrayed the physical pain she was so intent on concealing.
She thought hard about her next words. Finally, she asked him a question.
“How are you, Rada?” A simple enough question, but one which shrouded within it the contentions of more questions than any psychological evaluation known to man.
He felt like shifting in his chair, but had still retained his desire to control his outward impressions on the world. He kept still and focused, only slightly averting his gaze as he began to speak.
“I’m much better now, Captain” he told her.
"I'm glad to hear it," Zanh replied sincerely. Her posture, and her voice softened a bit now. "I was worried for you."
Rada looked at her with honest regret for the way that their last meeting had gone. He knew on a conscious level that it was not his fault, he had been ill. But subconsciously, he still felt guilty when he remembered how close he had come to lunging at Zanh over her desk and attempting to strangle the life from her.
"You had reason to be."
"You've been cleared to return to duty, as long as you maintain the current medical regimen. Do you agree with this assessment of your current condition?"
"Yes, Captain."
"We will have an understanding, you and I, Mr. Dengar," Zanh leaned forward, folding her hands as she placed them upon the desktop. "That if you feel at any time that your previous condition requires further attention, you will inform myself, our medical staff, or our Ship's Chaplain immediately."
"Aye, Sir."
"In addition you will keep every single appointment for medical care, medication administration and or counseling as dictated in your physician's recommendations. Are we clear on that?"
"Yes, Sir."
"Well then," Zanh stood from her chair again, and Rada followed suit. She extended her hand to him. "Welcome to the crew of the USS Serendipity, Rada." She smiled, genuinely happy to be bringing another of those she had considered one of her 'own' into the fold aboard the Sera.
She had been troubled by thoughts of him being left behind, wondering what had become of him after she had been taken from her previous assignment and accepted this one.
"There's a dinner, in a little while," she offered, "celebrating the fact that," she stopped short of saying 'that I'm still alive' and finished the sentence instead by repeating the last word again. "Celebrating. Your friends from our old post would be happy to see you there, if you feel up to putting in an appearance. I don't want you to feel obligated, but I do want you to feel welcome."
"I do feel welcome, Sir," replied Rada, but more than that, he felt grateful.
Ensign Rada Dengar
Engineering Officer
USS Serendipity NCC-2012
and
-=/\=-Zanh Liis
Commanding Officer
USS Serendipity NCC-2012
NRPG: Thank you for your kind sentiments in this post, Rada, and welcome to your new home aboard the Sera. Your voice was sorely missed during your absence. ~ZL
Engineering Officer
USS Serendipity NCC-2012
and
-=/\=-Zanh Liis
Commanding Officer
USS Serendipity NCC-2012
NRPG: Thank you for your kind sentiments in this post, Rada, and welcome to your new home aboard the Sera. Your voice was sorely missed during your absence. ~ZL