201: Vent

By Vedek Jariel Camen
Stardate 80307.2300
After Echoes

-=The Arboretum; USS Serendipity=-


Jariel Camen sat on the Captain's favorite swing in the arboretum, rocking slowly, as he stared at the artificial stars above. He had decided to alter the holopanels to maintain the night cycle for a few days. After the encounter at Beta-626, no one seemed interested in looking at any sunlight, Camen included.

He was not an astrophysicist, but it hardly required one to understand just how perilous their situation had been and how close to death they had come. When asked, Camen did what he could to help, but when the ship was at red alert, there was often not much for him to do, other than wait.

When the word had come down from Sickbay that Kellyn and February were injured, he had gone to them immediately. Camen did all he could to make sure the two women were aware that they were never alone, as Salvek and Reece tended to their duties.

Kellyn now seemed well on the road to recovery, but February had been left feeling hollow by the experience, having lost her telepathic link to Reece. She tried to be polite when speaking to him, but he could not help but notice how distant she seemed to be, and how the glow about her seemed to fade.

Only time would tell if somehow she would regain her link to Dabin Reece, or if she would have to cope with the loss. Camen hoped for the former, for the sake of his friends, but prepared himself mentally for the latter, as he knew Dabin and February would likely seek out his Counsel for dealing with this matter.

The good news was that a party was being planned, and Camen was looking forward to furthering relationships with some of the newer members of the crew. With the ship finally out of crisis mode, he would have the time to socialize with the crew once again.

In the distance Camen heard the sound of the arboretum doors open and close. He continued to stare up at the stars until he heard the soft footfalls of Starfleet issue boots coming towards him along the worn dirt path that led to the swing.

[[What took you so long?]] He asked, his eyes still on the holographic sky.

“Keiran.” Zanh Liis replied simply.

He waited for her to sit down, but instead saw the gleam of her earring reflecting the moonlight in his peripheral vision as she paced back and forth in front of him. He waited for her to speak, and she waited for him to prompt her. Camen was willing to wait until she as ready.

She stopped pacing and turned to face him. He looked down from the sky and into her eyes.

“It’s not fair, damn it.”

[[What’s not fair?]]

“This is all going to get swept under the rug, I just know it. Excuses are going to be made for Do’Chal and Vox. There will be inquiries I’m sure, dates set for hearings that are so far off in the future everyone just sort of forgets about it. Thomas is a good man and he deserves better than to be a pawn. They all deserve better, everyone on this ship. I just know Starfleet is going to move on from this and nothing is ever going to come of it.” Liis stared at some invisible point directly above his head, and she stood rigid with her arms folded across her chest.

[[Could you have done anything differently?]]

Liis laughed out loud in frustration.

“Yeah I suppose so. Maybe I could have trusted my gut and turned down this mission to begin with. Maybe then Kellyn wouldn’t have nearly died, or Keiran, or February.”

She paced back and forth a few more times, then finally sat herself down on the swing next to him. “I smelled a rat from the start.”

Camen let the moment linger, knowing she needed to get out her frustration with Vox, Do’Chal, and herself for all that had happened at Beta-626.

“You should have seen them Camen. We had Special Ops on one side of us, that star on the other, and I’m just amazed at how... just how great they all did. Salvek and Reece could have just quit on me after what happened to Kellyn and February, but they manned their posts and helped protect this crew. Avery got down on his hands and knees and saved the life of a woman he barely even knows.”

She chuckled as she thought of the look on Rada’s face when she ordered him to his feet. “Rada, I swear there were times when I wasn’t sure that man would be able to dress himself in the morning. Look at him now. Keiran followed me to the Gauntlet putting his own life on the line for a plan he didn’t even support. Dalca kept his cool when Kellyn was hurt and got a bunch of slack jawed engineers back on task. We may have lost February and Kellyn if not for Terasha’s work in Sickbay. Blakeslee has only been on board a short time and I already feel like I can trust him with my life, and Thomas, well, he’s Thomas.”

She turned to look at him, and put her arm up on the back of the bench, and set her chin upon her hand. “You know Camen, I even drafted someone from the Executor to fill in at the helm, and she just jumped right in and took that spot. Even Dane, dare I say it, showed a glimmer of hope.”

[[You have quite a crew assembled.]]

“Yeah.” The reminiscent smile on her face disappeared. “And they deserve better then to be puppets in these little games.”

Zanh stood up and began to pace once again. “Federation standards, Federation values, Federation ideals. We’re supposed to be the paragons of virtue in this quadrant. But when it comes right down to it we can be just as underhand and treacherous as anyone else. Can’t we?”

[[All accounts seem to indicate that Spangler is a rogue. I wouldn’t hold his deeds against the Federation. Do’Chal’s heart seemed to be in the right place, as was Vox’, even if their means are questionable.]]

“Do’Chal.” Liis spat out the name, “I doubt she has any heart at all. She did what suited her best, and we all almost died because of it. Even if Spangler were dead or captured it wouldn’t justify any of this. She and I will settle up at some point.”

Liis once again sat back down next to him, as her anger subsided a bit.

[[A vendetta is a dangerous thing to carry with you Liis, it can poison your spirit.]]

Liis seemed annoyed at the suggestion. “You think this is just about a vendetta? No, this is about justice. I‘ll be damned if I‘m going to let this go. This isn‘t going to just go away under a tidal wave of red tape and backroom deals amongst shadow organizations. This crew served me with unwavering loyalty though a crisis created by their own brethren. I owe it to them to make sure their service to this ship and Starfleet was not in vain.”

[[And how long will you pursue her Liis? A month? A year? For the rest of your life? You may never have the chance to confront her. At some point you may need to accept that she got away with it. I‘m not saying you should just let it go, but you should be prepared to do so. You may need to for the good of the crew and yourself.]]

She sighed, and let her head loll back to look at the stars above. She knew he was right, and some day she may have to accept that those responsible for Beta-626 would go unpunished.

“Perhaps someday, but not today.”

They sat in silence for a few minutes more.

“No meteors. That’s what’s missing.” She looked down to see what he was signing.

[[I beg your pardon?]]

“A holodeck program. I think we can apply some of it here. I’ll talk to Salvek about it in a few days.”

[[Liis?]]

[[Yes Camen?]] She signed back.

[[If it helps or means anything at all, you did a great job tending this new crew through this mission. I’m proud of you.]] Camen signed.

[[Camen, that doesn’t just mean anything, it means everything.]]

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Vedek Jariel Camen
Ship’s Chaplain
USS Serendipity NCC-2012