by Lair Kellyn
81120.1630
Concurrent with And So It Begins
-=USS Serendipity=-
Kellyn sighed as she trudged up the ramp and onto the shuttlecraft, Fortune.
They'd finally arrived at Lethus IV and she only hoped that she'd be able to keep her mind on her work.
It was a rare occurrance, even as different as their personalities were, for them to quarrel. Or, to 'have a difference of opinion' as Salvek would dispassionately describe it.
Even though she could well be likened to a volcanic eruption, where as he was the calm serenity of a glassy lake on a summer's day, miraculously, they usually just agreed on everything.
Or they knew enough of each other's tastes and temperaments after eleven years of marriage and countless mind-melds to be able to instantly determine just how far they had to go to achieve a productive compromise in any situation.
The past week, however, no such compromise could be found, and they both dug their heels in stubbornly.
Things had gone wrong the moment she stepped into his office. She had only gone to see him to apologize for speaking to him the way she had after the staff meeting.
She had let their personal relationship cause her to forget for a moment that he was in command of the ship in Zanh's absence; and so even though she did not directly report to him but to Admiral Lassiter, as CO of the ship his was the first voice she should listen to in any given situation. Especially in the face of any threat to the Sera, or the Alchemy.
She was obliged to do this even when the voice in her own head was screaming at her, warning of dangers she was certain were there, even if she couldn't prove it yet.
As she reached the bridge of the still and silent shuttle, she sank into the pilot's chair, sighing and holding her head in her hands as she tried to gather herself in preparation for the away team's upcoming departure.
The conversation she'd had with Salvek days ago continued to play out in her head, again and again without let up.
-=Earlier, following The Greatest Threat=-
"I owe you an apology." Kellyn declared without hesitation. "It was wrong of me to speak to you that way, and I won't let it happen again."
Salvek merely inclined his head to her, acknowledging and accepting her remark before returning to his work.
"We...have another problem besides the Hugreti and I think that's what has put me on edge."
"Oh?" Salvek set down the PADD he'd been reading and focused his full attention on her now. "The ship has a problem, or we have a problem?"
"We." Kellyn replied, walking toward him and leaning against the wall with her arms folded.
"She's been asking questions again."
There was only one 'she' in these situations; their daughter.
"What kind of questions has Arie been asking this time?"
"About your experience with the Borg. About your parents." She lowered her voice until he could barely make out the words. "About when, where, and to whom she was actually born."
Salvek gave an uncharacteristically deep sigh, slowly lowering his head in contemplation.
"We can't just keep putting her off. She's too smart. She needs answers she can live with."
"She is still too young," Salvek decided, his mind clearly made up. They locked eyes, each one determined to make the other see their position was the correct one. "She cannot know the answers to those questions. Not yet. Her place in this timeline is too important, and now that everything is so changed."
He stopped to really allow himself to think about Zanh's retirement from Temporal Investigations for the first time, and found that the concept truly frightened him.
What could that mean for Arie in the future?
Was someone else now assigned as Guardian over her, and he didn't know it yet?
Many were the questions he did not want to consider, but was now forced to.
"Too young? She's figuring things out on her own. I'm certain that she knows she wasn't born here. I'm certain that she knows that your parents have something to do with why she was brought here." Kellyn rubbed her aching eyes. "We can't put her off forever, Salvek."
"Perhaps not. We can, however, put her off as long as it is possible to do so."
"You're wrong." Kellyn shook her head. "Waiting any longer is a mistake. The questions, the secrets, they're having a negative effect on her. Not knowing for certain who she is, where she fits into the scheme of things..."
"She will have to learn to live with that uncertainty."
Salvek turned back to his PADD and tapped away furiously. "I will focus our meditation practice upon stress reduction so that she will not be so troubled by these questions."
Kellyn sighed angrily and turned to the door, knowing there was no point in continuing the conversation now.
"Yeah, well, her Vulcan half might go along with that but you forget sometimes, I'm in there too."
"I never forget that." Salvek remarked flatly.
"Sometimes, I think you do. I warn you, her Bajoran half will not buy what you're selling for long."
She was halfway out the door when he called her name and she stopped, but did not look back at him.
"I would like you to accompany the Away Team to the surface. Perhaps your expertise in alien technology will help Reece and Dengar."
"I know nothing more about the Hugreti than anyone else does," she began to object but the reminded herself again that he was in charge, and he was giving her an order without directly stating it as such. "I will be ready to leave when you give word."
"Thank you."
The doors closed behind her, and Salvek did his best to push his concerns about his daughter from his mind and return to work but he found it increasingly difficult to do as the moments ticked past.
His heart sank as he considered Kellyn's words, and realized just how much explaining they were going to have to do when the day eventually came.
------------------
Commander Lair Kellyn
Engineering Research
and Development for
The Alchemy Project
Commander Lair Kellyn
Engineering Research
and Development for
The Alchemy Project