by -=/\=- Zanh Liis
80305.15
Following Adjustments
80305.15
Following Adjustments
With plans of heading down to Main Engineering next to talk to Rada Dengar, Zanh Liis hailed a turbolift and disappeared into her own thoughts as the seconds ticked by.
She thought about the upcoming party and frowned, hoping that there wasn't some sort of themed costume that she would be obligated to don to attend this "Mardi Gras".
She thought back to the last time she'd deigned to do something similar for the 'good of crew morale,' as Jariel had put it, and already had her refusal speech planned out should he try to take that tack with her again.
If he wanted her to dress up in costume this time, he could forget it. Crew morale would just have to find a way to flourish without necessity of her putting on complicated, spandex-containing accoutrements.
*Or a damned wig.*
The doors of the lift opened and she moved to enter, but found her way blocked. She stepped aside to allow Micah Samson to exit but he stood frozen, startled, caught off guard by finding her here.
"Captain, the computer said. . .you were in the cafe. . ." he stammered. "I was looking for you, actually," He stepped to the side and gestured for her to board the lift. "May I have a moment of your time?"
Zanh cringed internally. Usually when someone with Samson's personality wanted a moment of her time, she wasn't going to like what they were going to say. He was one who seemed content to keep his distance from her, unless it was absolutely necessary to trouble her for something.
"Of course. Come along for the ride." Liis smiled politely. "Main Engineering," she instructed the computer before turning her attention fully to Samson. "How can I be of assistance to you, Lieutenant?"
"I'd like to request a primary duty transfer within the science department." Samson declared, shoving a PADD toward her. Zanh's eyes widened in surprise at the sudden motion, and he hastily added, "Please. Sir."
"Well, you're a great bridge officer, Micah, I really hate the idea of giving you up." She analyzed the proposed schedule that he had created for her, impressed that he'd taken the trouble to show exactly how other scientists could be repositioned to take over his bridge shifts without any noticeable disruption to the department as a whole. She turned the PADD off and looked at him sideways. "Computer, halt lift."
Samson shifted his weight from foot to foot uneasily.
"This is very important to you?"
"Yes, Captain. Stellar Cartography has always been my first love. It's the reason I became a scientist, and joined Starfleet. Also, we have a gifted Chief of Sciences already, and I feel that my potential would be better fulfilled if I applied myself toward helping the Sera to find her way as we go forward, rather than sitting at the bridge station just. . .scanning."
Samson's use of the word "gifted" in reference to Reece rang off warning sirens in Zanh's head.
"Is there a problem between you and Commander Reece of which I am unaware, Lieutenant?"
"No, no. He's a fine officer and I will still be under his direct command," Micah fumbled. "Which is not a problem at all, sir."
"Glad to hear it. Still, you wouldn't be underfoot as much."
"Captain Zanh," Micah sighed. He realized that if he was going to get this transfer, he was going to offer her a better explanation. "I have nothing but respect for Commander Reece. I just honestly feel that I will be better at performing my duties and fulfilling my potential as a valuable officer aboard Sera if I direct my attention away from working on the bridge primarily at this time."
As he was speaking, a passing comment that TC Blane had made to Zanh earlier, about the fact that Micah Samson had bolted from the science station on the Alchemy's bridge and swept the ailing February Grace up into his arms, then carried her all the way to Sera's sickbay himself, replayed in her mind.
"Okay, Micah. I get it. You want a change of scenery." Zanh wasn't going to torment the man, or press any deeper into his psyche to try to force some sort of confession out of him as to his real motives.
"I'm willing to grant it, if you can get Commander Reece to sign off on the order and if you understand that when we need you on the bridge, I will unceremoniously yank you from your dark little cave and put you there, at my discretion. That means bridge of Sera, or Alchemy. Can you live with that?"
Samson's whole posture changed. He actually seemed taller than he had a moment ago.
*Atlas no longer bears the weight of the heavens upon his shoulders,* Zanh thought.
"Yes, I understand completely." Samson nodded gratefully, and swallowed hard. "Thank you, Captain."
"You're welcome. Computer, resume." Zanh switched the PADD back on and affixed her thumbprint to it, sealing the deal on her end.
As the lift reached her destination and the doors opened, she held the PADD out toward him. She waited for Samson to reach out for the item before snatching it back and out of his reach. He tilted his head in confusion.
"May I offer you a little unsolicited advice, Mr. Samson? Off the record?"
Micah stopped himself somehow, just before he blurted out his automatic gut reaction, which was to shout "No." He bit the word back and swallowed it whole, feeling it lodge firmly in his throat as he tried desperately to breathe around it.
He nodded weakly.
"You can change the scenery around you a hundred times. But in the end, unless you can change how you see your whole world, everything will still look the same." She held the PADD out again and allowed him to take it this time. "I wish you luck."
"I'm going to need it." Samson said softly to the empty lift, after the doors had closed behind her.
As she was about to walk into Engineering, her badge chirped.
[Reece to Zanh.]
"Here. Were your ears burning, Pup?" She used his pet name, born from years of her saying that he 'yapped at her heels like an excited, speckled puppy', when she heard just how depressed he sounded. "I was just talking to someone about you."
[No.] Dabin answered plainly. The lack of a witty retort or use of an equally embarrassing nickname for her was the most worrisome behavior she'd seen from Reece in a long, long time. [Since you're out and about, could you possibly swing by my office for a sec?]
"On my way. Zanh out." Liis stepped into another awaiting turbolift, and gathered her thoughts as she went to find out what he wanted.
-=Office of the Chief Science Officer=-
Reece offered her a chair, but Liis elected to stand.
"Dabin," she peered worriedly into his dark-circled eyes. "How is your wife?"
"She's," He wanted to explain, but words just escaped him. Knowing that one of the few people in the universe that he was completely incapable of fooling was the one asking the question, he slumped into the chair behind his desk and held his head in his hands.
He ran his hands through his hair slowly, and exhaled a shuddering sigh before trying once more to answer.
Liis followed behind the desk, and spun his chair to the side. She dropped to one knee beside him, and reached out, putting her hand against his face and raising his eyes to meet hers. "Reece, you're a wreck," she frowned, patting his stubbled cheek once before withdrawing her hand. "How long has it been since you've slept?"
"Hours. Days. I mean, I've gotten an hour here and there but," he shook his head. "It's too quiet. Have you ever tried to sleep in a room that was dead silent Zanh Liis? It's maddening."
Liis stood up again, and stepped away, averting her eyes as she tried to compose herself.
He needed to see her as she always was- stubborn, determined, and confident.
She didn't want him to know that seeing him like this turned her personal, internal universe completely upside down. A moment passed in silence between them before she continued.
"So I take it this means that you two are still observing internal radio silence?"
"Once or twice, for a moment, I have heard a passing thought that February has had," he whispered. "But she can't hear me at all. And she's withdrawing into herself. It reminds me of the way that she used to be, when we first met. On Trill, and before her Zhian'tara. She's so alone. Confused, and afraid."
Once again he allowed his head to drop into his hands. "It's killing me to see her cry, Zanh Liis. Killing me."
"Maybe your connection has been more of a catalyst for the changes in her personality than even the Zhian'tara itself?" Liis wondered aloud. "Maybe she hasn't quite gotten used enough to the 'new Bru' to keep her confidence up without your thoughts there to reassure her."
Zanh leaned back against the wall and gazed at the ceiling, thinking. "I take it at this point you've considered and ruled out all possible medical reasons for the loss?"
"Yes. The LMH and I have gone over it a hundred times. There is nothing different now about her physically than there was when the connection was still holding."
"Could it have been a temporary thing? A result of your experiences during the ritual that was never going to last?" Liis threw another theory out there. "Perhaps the loss of it has nothing to do with the radiation sickness?"
"I just don't know for sure. This is all uncharted territory. Joined Trill do not have telepathic experiences, that's what all the textbooks say. Only happens between the unjoined Guardians and the symbionts. According to everything on record, two Joined Trill developing a connection like that never should have happened to begin with."
"But it did."
"But it did."
They spoke in unison, shaking their heads in perfect mirror images of each other.
"It's too bad you can't consult with a Guardian." Liis frowned, knowing that being cut off from all help on Trill was one of the smaller penalties that Grace and Reece were suffering for their decision to Reassociate. As she spoke the words, a new light dawned in Dabin Reece's eyes, and he jumped up out of his chair.
Grabbing Zanh by the shoulders, he leaned forward and kissed the ridges of her nose.
"MWAH! Liissy, I LOVE you."
"O...kay." Zanh was confused. "What the hell just happened here?"
He hurried to the communications panel and began tapping in a message. He stopped after a moment. "Can I have your permission to bring someone aboard that might help?"
"You know I trust you, Puppy," Zanh said with a nod. "If you know of someone who might help, by all means, go and get 'em."
-=A Short Time Later: Stellar Cartography=-
Exhausted and preoccupied, Dabin Reece walked through the doors of Stellar Cartography and sighed with relief.
The bright lights in the corridors had been making his weary eyes ache even more, and the dim atmosphere of his surroundings now were a welcome change.
After speaking with Zanh Liis, he had managed to find that the person he was seeking was still on Earth, and arranged for transport to the Sera.
His guest still had to clear the security background checks, but other than that Reece anticipated no hold up in bringing the man aboard within the next few hours.
He shuffled shifts around for his department, requesting a few days off to see what he could do to help his wife in her recovery, and the Captain had immediately given him her blessing.
He was just about to return to quarters to change out of uniform when his presence had been requested in Stellar Cartography.
Reece moved toward the man who had called for him with haste, wanting to get whatever this was out of the way, as quickly as possible.
"What's your major malfunction, Samson? You said this couldn't wait a couple of days? I'm a busy man." Reece snapped.
"Won't take long." Samson replied, with an equally icy tone of voice. "I want out."
"What?"
"I want out of primary science duties on the bridge. I want to return to Stellar Cartography full time."
He held the PADD Zanh had signed off on out to Reece, without looking away from his panel. "I have already designed an adjusted departmental schedule so that you won't even notice I'm missing."
Dabin scanned the document. "The Captain signed off on this?"
"She did."
"Fine." Reece jammed his thumb onto the PADD. "You're out. Anything else?"
Micah found himself unable to fight the temptation to ask for an update on February's condition. "How is Lieutenant Grace?"
"She's all right, physically. The rest, remains to be seen." Dabin had never commented on the fact that Samson was the one who had brought his wife to Sickbay after the last mission, and he didn't intend to now. "I'll tell her you send your regards."
"Don't." Samson blurted, quickly changing his tone. "Thank you, but it's not necessary." He turned red, jealousy at the thought of Reece going home and finding Grace there inescapably pulling him into a darker frame of mind.
"Whatever." Dabin rolled his eyes and tossed the PADD down onto the desk beside the bespeckled lieutenant. Unable to contain his own jealousy at the thought of Micah's feelings for Bru, Dabin folded his arms. "Samson."
"Sir."
"It has not escaped my notice that you're in love with my wife."
Without flinching, or any detectable discomfort or embarrassment, Micah stared straight at Reece. "That so? Did February tell you that?"
Just the way he said her name made Reece's blood boil. "Didn't have to. I'm not blind, and I'm not stupid, either." Dabin restated his observation a second time. "You're in love with her."
"Yes. I am."
Reece blinked repeatedly and laughed just once, but the laugh wasn't meant to convey amusement. It was an involuntary response to the boldness with which Samson, a man Reece knew to normally be so placating and diplomatic, had responded.
"That's all you have to say?"
"What would you have me say?" Samson continued working as he spoke. "Would you rather I lied about it, Commander?"
"No. Of course not."
"Then we have an understanding." Micah continued evenly. "Of all people, I would think that you would understand my position."
Reece nodded.
"I don't know what you want from me, Reece. I've already requested a primary transfer of duties. Yes, I've wanted to return to Stellar Cartography as my daily job for a long time, but, " Micah paused. "I finally found the necessary motivation to ask for the transfer."
"Is that motivation me? Or my wife?" Reece demanded.
"I don't want to make her, I mean," Micah paused, stammering a little now for the first time since this unhappy conversation began. "It would be awkward for her, to have to keep working with both of us all the time, on the bridge, now that she knows how I," he stopped.
He shrugged before continuing. "I would request a transfer off ship entirely, but honestly, I feel like this is where I belong. The Alchemy Project is one of a kind, and I've never been someone to run away from my job just because things got tough."
"I know. You're a good man, and a good officer." Reece scanned the artificial starscape before them. "My approval signing off on the transfer can stand, if that's what you really want. But you shouldn't feel obligated. February wouldn't want,"
"I know." Samson interrupted. "That's why if she asks if my decision had anything to do with. . .anything, the correct answer would be no."
Reece nodded. The two men had an understanding, and an agreement. What was best for February was what mattered most, to both of them.
Samson sat down and swiveled in his chair back toward the main control panel. "Thank you for approving the transfer. Now, if there isn't anything else, Commander Reece, I really do have a lot of information to compile on Beta-626 so we can forward it to Command."
Dabin stepped toward the door, and just as he was about to exit, he heard Samson offer one final, haunting remark.
"I know that you think that I should just let it go. Let her go."
Reece spun halfway around, listening but not looking.
"But honestly? In my own defense, Reece, I would just remind you that I fell in love with February Grace long before you even knew she existed."
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-=/\=- Zanh Liis
Commanding Officer
USS Serendipity NCC-2012
-=/\=- Zanh Liis
Commanding Officer
USS Serendipity NCC-2012