By Lara Valera Ryn
100205.2200
Following The Fight of Your Life
100205.2200
Following The Fight of Your Life
-=Personal Quarters=-
“You want me to do what?” Lara looked over from the couch where she was sitting to the chair where her visitor was.
“On behalf of Dabin Reece,” Salvek replied, the words added into his request for her to call Trill.
“Of course, I can try, but I didn’t exactly say very nice things about the Symbiosis Commission following you know what.” Lara jabbed in the air at her abdomen with her finger. “Exactly what do you want me to ask them?”
“Apprise them of the situation with Dabin Reece,” he began, his voice cool and collected, as normal, yet his face nonetheless showing signs of concern for his crewmate. “Nothing more.”
“Okay, of course. But Commander,” Lara said, the doubt creeping into her voice, “what are the odds Sophie won’t have a dad?”
“I cannot speculate. Drs. Hartcort and McKay are taking things one step at a time.” Salvek stood up and Lara followed suit. She escorted him to the door and pressed the button which allowed the doors to slide open. “Keep me apprised of the situation.”
“I will,” Lara replied, somewhat distracted.
Salvek nodded and then left the quarters. As he walked away, Lara could have sworn there was a heaviness to his posture and his gait.
Lara shut the doors and immediately walked over to her comm. Calling the Symbiosis Commission seemed like a simple thing, except for the fact that she had never actually communicated with them. There had been discussions between them and Starfleet doctors, but she herself had never actually been to the commission or spoken with any of its representatives.
So, Lara opted for plan B.
She opened up a line and placed the call. The connection was almost immediately, although only a voice picked up, a very groggy and sleepy sounding voice. [Hello?]
“Daddy.”
Immediately the voice on the other end perked up. “Lore?” There was concern in Cope Valera’s voice, and when Lara looked over at the chronometer next to the comm, she realized why.
“Nothing’s wrong,” she immediately blurted. “I just didn’t realize the time, that it was so late.”
Her father chuckled. It was a groggy chuckle, but a chuckle nonetheless. [Yes, well some of us, little one, have to keep to normal schedules.] There was no displeasure or censure in his voice, just a calm reciting of the facts. [Give me a minute.]
Lara waited. She heard rustling as her father got out of bed. She heard a click as the line switched from a voice only connection to include a picture. Her father was as she remembered, slightly disheveled ---but what else could be expected at this late an hour--- yet, there was always something calm and composed about him, as if nothing could phase him. It was perhaps what made him so good at what he did and was why Lara was venturing the call now.
“Daddy, I have a problem.” Lara watched as her father smiled. They had both lost count of the number of times Lara had called her father over the years and had started conversations with that simple sentence. And it always seemed to be when Lara was with her mother ---as she and her father were almost never stationed as ambassadors at the same place at the same time.
[Whatever it is, we’ll fix it.] It was his tried and true answer, once which was typically true.
“But I don’t know if we can this time.” Lara explained the situation as best she could. Cope listened attentively, nodding on occasion, never interrupting as she went through the pertinent details.
[There are very few symbionts that are denied a new host,] he said once she had finished. [And those that are, are well-known. Reece among them.]
“But Daddy, someone tried to kill him. This is not a normal situation.”
Ever the diplomat, Cope replied, [That is sometimes the case.]
“And what about the fact that he has a daughter? I mean, a new Reece wouldn’t be Dabin, but it would be somebody who could tell little Sophie about her daddy.”
[Lore,] he delicately started, [those Trill who chose to join with a symbiont know the inherent risks associated with joining. Dabin and February agreed to those conditions when they joined, yet they broke the very conditions which they swore to uphold.]
“So, Sophie has to suffer.”
[Lore,] he repeated, his tone more strenuous this time.
“Sorry, I don’t mean to bite your head off, I just want to do something. But I cannot imagine why the symbiont commission would listen to me. I mean, I would have never made the cut.” Lara stopped, but then added, “Like some people.”
Her father smiled patiently. His participation in the program and refusal, after scoring at the top of his year, to take a symbiont was still well-known in certain circles. [I still know a few people on the commission board. I cannot promise you, or Dabin Reece, any results. But I will apprise them of the situation.]
“Thank you, daddy.” Lara beamed him a childish smile. “By the way, I got you through the diplomatic channels. Where are you?”
[Qo’noS.]
Lara laughed. “How did you get that assignment?”
[I asked for it.]
“Should have figured.”
[I’ll put in a call to the commission at an appropriate time and get back to you. Good night, Lore.]
“Night, dad.”
Lara Valera Ryn
Science Officer
USS Serendpity NCC- 2012
Science Officer
USS Serendpity NCC- 2012