by Lair Kellyn and Rada Dengar
90405.21
Concurrent with All The Wonder
-=The Galley, USS Alchemy=-
90405.21
Concurrent with All The Wonder
-=The Galley, USS Alchemy=-
"I will add to the end of your last word, Ensign Lassiter, and spell the word 'requites'. R-E-Q-U-I-T-E-S." Lair Arie raised large brown eyes from the game board and gazed serenely upon first Gira Lassiter, and then Dwan Tubman. "Triple word score, and I have used all of my tiles. I believe that I am entitled to an additional fifty point bonus."
"Yes you are." Gira couldn't really mind that Arie had just slaughtered them the third Scrabble game in a row, even as young as she was, she was half Vulcan, and she was also very, very smart. Gira lifted the tile bag and shook it. "And we're out of letters. Dwan, anything else you can do over there?"
Tubman surveyed his letters a moment and then sighed. "Nothing more, Ensign Lassiter. I will have to deduct two V's and a Y from my score." The gentle giant regarded the small girl with a smile. "You're pretty good at this game, Miss Arie."
"Being that it is based upon the...twenty six letter Universal Standard alphabet it is...really not that difficult." Arie said, trying not to let her tiredness show.
"Dwan," Gira began, addressing Tubman warmly, as she addressed everyone she knew. "How many times do I have to ask you to call me Gira?"
"I pride myself on properly addressing a lady, Ensign Lassiter." Dwan replied politely.
Gira smiled. Though he had no memory of having known her before, she remembered him well from their days serving together on the Perseids, and remembered that even in those two years of non-linear time when the crew had grown so close and depended upon each other so much, that he had never once called her by her first name then, either. She was determined that one day, she'd win the friendly battle of wills.
Dwan noticed that Arie, who had been yawning with increasing frequency over the past half an hour, was now suddenly leaning over in her chair, falling asleep where she sat. He wasn't surprised. It was really quite late as far as her body clock was concerned, still being on Vulcan time.
Salvek had relieved Gira of duty at the helm two hours ago so she could take a break, and the telltale hum of the deck plates beneath her feet told her that they were slowing down- they must be nearly home.
A few moments later, Lair Kellyn appeared, finding her daughter had fallen asleep on Gira's shoulder. Tubman excused himself to return to the bridge,
Due to the position of the larger ship, they would be unable to return the Alchemy to her bay until Sera was once again floating free in space. After the ship had been secured to space dock along side the Sera, Salvek prepared to join his family. But first, he made a point of thanking each member of the crew personally for going on the journey as they disembarked, before he sought out his wife and daughter.
Gira gently turned Arie to the opposite side, and the sleeping child lolled onto her mother's shoulder. Gira gently waved her farewell to Lair, and stopped in the doorway to accept Salvek's thanks.
Salvek took one step into the room and stopped in his tracks. The sight of Arie, cheeks flushed, eyelashes so dark and long beneath her bangs and fast asleep in Kellyn's arms brought back memories of a much smaller version of the girl who seemed in far too great a hurry to grow up.
Catching the flash of emotion that darted across Salvek's deeply dark eyes for the shortest possible instant, Kellyn felt the familiar, if still rare, sting of tears at the corners of her eyes. She watched as he finally moved toward them, took Arie into his arms, and carried her, just as he had done so many nights when she had refused to stay in her own bed as a toddler and had only fallen asleep in theirs.
Kellyn stood and leaned close to him, whispering softly. "I have to check on a couple things, I'll be back to quarters soon." Salvek nodded, and they parted ways at the exit of the Sera's transporter room. He headed home, and she headed in the other direction.
Kellyn wasn't sure if she should check her lab first or stop to see if the man she sought might still be in Engineering. It was highly unlikely he would be these days, given how unlike when he had first served on her Engineering crew as an Ensign, he now had a family, anxiously waiting at home for him to finish his duty shifts so that they could have his attention.
She thought about Wren and Tam, and about how much their presence had given to Rada. He’d seemed happy when he was on his own, at least happy enough. He would smile and even joke when he felt like it and she could tell how much he loved the work. It was certainly far from the green young officer she’d first met whose entire demeanour would change from quiet, gentle and constantly thoughtful to someone completely different when he thought anyone was watching.
He never realised that she was always watching.
It was warming to see the changes in him as he grew into a more comfortable, albeit unusual, Engineer. Yet the closer they grew the more she began to sadly wonder; when the day was done and he locked himself away alone in his quarters, what did he really have? Now he wasn’t alone and she didn’t have to wonder.
She then thought about Rada, and considered how much his presence had given to everyone aboard the Serendipity. He deserved not to be alone.
She didn't ask for him when she arrived, instead, she merely toured the department in silence, nodding in response to but speaking no replies aloud to those who greeted her there. She felt she'd spoken so many words of late, and thought so hard and felt so much in so many ways during her time on Vulcan that all of those things- words, thoughts, and feelings- were in short supply in her now. She couldn't offer anyone anything at the moment, because she had already given it all.
Satisfied that Dengar was not present here, she retreated, deciding it best if she checked her laboratory to be certain that Reece hadn't destroyed anything important by fire, water, or any other of the types of unique disasters that only Dabin Reece could be responsible for. Incidents aboard DS23 directly attributable to the use or misuse of Silly String, Play-Doh and chocolate chip cookie dough instantly sprang to mind.
Three separate incidents.
One common, spotted catalyst.
The instant the doors on turbolift 6-A closed behind her, the doors of turbolift 6-B opened, and Rada Dengar stepped out from between them. His outward movements were hurried but his mind was racing much faster. Possibilities had always haunted him but now it was more of an assault.
He had asked to be informed as soon as Lair Kellyn returned to the ship, and upon being notified she had arrived, he set out to find her at her laboratory, knowing her well enough that he was certain that was the first place she would go when she got back.
Only, she hadn't gone there. It was almost a contradiction how he could be simultaneously so certain that Kellyn would be here and so completely unsurprised that she wasn’t. When he felt impatient no one was ever where they should be.
He'd sighed, standing outside the door and asked the computer where he could find her.
The computer most cheerfully informed him that Lair Kellyn was in Main Engineering.
He could have simply tapped his badge and told her that he was looking for her; but he preferred to greet her in person considering that the one line message she had sent to him, as humorous as it had been, really gave little indication as to what kind of mood she may be in upon her actual arrival. Vol Tryst had once told him humour was used as a defense mechanism, a way to hide the pain. Rada knew all too well how easily a second of forced laughter could be the perfect cover for a deeply anguished scream.
Though at first when these thoughts began to creep into his mind they were easily dismissed they were ever more strongly asserting themselves and there was only one way he could even have a chance to fight against them. He had to see with his own eyes that Kellyn was okay. Her physical health was undoubtedly fine but there was one inescapable truth; if the Vulcans decided Salvek was lost then Kellyn would not return as the woman he knew.
There were so many possibilities, some he feared and others his mind would taunt him with declarations that they couldn’t be true. He’d tried to plan what he was going to say, but couldn’t consider any outcome long enough to find even a word.
Tentatively, Rada poked his head around the corner into Engineering.
Fearing startling her because it was so late at night and Engineering was now fairly deserted, he didn't call her name. Instead he walked from console to console, seeking her at every turn until he'd covered every inch of the space of not only the lower but upper level of the department, finally accepting after doing so that she must have already left. It was typical and evidence that were there any higher forces at work here then they were never benevolent ones.
Heaving a heavier sigh than before he shifted the armload of PADDS he held and asked the computer once again where he might find Lair Kellyn. He concentrated quite hard on reminding himself things were going to be alright.
The computer, just as cheerfully as it had before, informed him that Lair Kellyn was in the Engineering Research and Development Lab on deck six.
Rada couldn't currently smack himself on the forehead in a gesture of frustration, for his arms were still full. It was probably a good thing because doing so rarely made him feel any better. But he did allow himself a small eye roll as he turned around, headed back to the lift, and politely, if impatiently, asked the lift to take him to deck six.
Kellyn unlocked the door of her laboratory and, with the complete conviction of a person who knew exactly what to look for, had the feeling that she had not been the last person to set foot in this room. It was clear in the air which was not quite as still as it should have been.
Yes, she was certain of it. Though everything atop her desk seemed to be precisely where she'd left it, including the pile of hand-drawn schematics waiting to be scanned and transferred into the computer that she'd left stacked at a particular angle and with the top sheet upside down just so that she'd know for sure if anyone had moved anything, she was convinced that someone- that he had...
She opened the top drawer of her desk and mentally ticked off the sticks of Kava Rock Candy she'd left within.
One was missing.
Reece, you're in deep, Kellyn thought.
As she began in her head to go through a devious list of potential actions with which to repay his petty thievery, she heard the doors behind her slide open and startled.
She whirled around and saw, not Reece as she had expected, but instead Rada Dengar. His emotions were almost unreadable, even to him, as he stood in the doorway unmoving. But she saw his eyes bore that fearful concern that only the deepest of thinkers could know.
He was holding the PADDs of Alchemy Project notes and blueprints that she'd left in his care and keeping, just in case she did not return to her post.
His eyes settled upon her, instantly and effortlessly taking stock of her soul. He searched for pain that wasn’t there, knowing her too well to believe it’d be missed.
His initial expression of concern altered into one of curiosity, but was then quickly overtaken by one of relief. This was Kellyn, and she was okay, there was nothing more relieving than that.
Whatever had happened to her on Vulcan was something that they could talk about another time, if she chose to tell him about it. If not, it would be enough for him to know that no matter what she had gone through there that she had, at the very least, returned with her family, her life, intact.
Kellyn said nothing and instead let her eyes speak for her. His gaze was still inquiring and hers answered and reassured him. With no doubt the message had been conveyed, she wordlessly made her way across the room toward the panel in the wall that he remembered well, because it was the one behind which the greatest secrets of her life's work were hidden and then revealed, to him.
She keyed in the security code and the panel slid aside after emitting a series of beeps and clicks. Rada handed her the PADDs one at a time, watching as she stacked them carefully upon the shelves, one and another and another until the very last was returned to its rightful spot, and ownership.
She slid the panel back, with one motion both moving it from side to side and also gently pressing it backward to lock it into place, flush against the rest of the wall. Seeing that she'd left a hand print, she gently tugged the sleeve of her tunic up over her palm, grasped it between her fingers and used the material to buff the surface, until it shined as brightly again as the others nearby which camouflaged it.
She rubbed at it until she could see her reflection in it as it seemed to melt back into its secrecy, and looking up, she also saw Dengar's face as he stood over her shoulder. The man himself seemed changed, and restored, as any flicker of concern was gone. His expression was wholly one of immense relief; not only because the research material was now back where he felt it belonged, but so was Lair Kellyn.
She didn't know how to begin or if she should even try to explain to him what had happened. Maybe he didn't want to know, or maybe she shouldn't say. Either way, she found that the words that had deserted her earlier, rendering her unable to even say a simple hello to fellow members of crew were still nowhere to be found, even in the company of such a good friend. This time though it was a less conspicuous silence as she soon found that he was indeed such a good friend that nothing needed to be said at all.
He waited for a long time, the bliss of true silence in his mind, before finally placing a comforting hand upon her shoulder and slowly turning her around. He couldn’t hold back when she faced him again, he made his happiness that her family had come back to the Sera safely known to her without a single word, and with one single gesture.
With the closest thing that he’d known to aggression he swiftly pulled her into a gently reassuring hug. For just a moment he kept her there, before he silently turned and left her where she stood.
Commander Lair Kellyn
Engineering Research and Development
The Alchemy Project
and
Lt. Commander Rada Dengar
Chief Engineering Officer
USS Serendipity NCC-2012
Engineering Research and Development
The Alchemy Project
and
Lt. Commander Rada Dengar
Chief Engineering Officer
USS Serendipity NCC-2012