By Vol Tryst and Micah Samson
100216.1200
The Day After Hartcort Knows Best
-=Counselor Tryst’s Office=-
100216.1200
The Day After Hartcort Knows Best
-=Counselor Tryst’s Office=-
[The time is now oh-eight-hundred hours.]
Silence.
[The time is now oh-eight-hundred hours.] The computer repeated, a little louder.
Still, silence.
As instructed by the person whom set the alarm, the computer waited another thirty seconds, and then addressed him, by name, with another volume increase of ten decibels…in the voice of his mother.
[Vol!]
Vol’s eyes flew open and in the instant where he honestly thought his mother was shrieking at him, he jolted up in his chair and was breathing heavily.
*I've got to get ready for school,* Vol thought.
[That's right young man, it's time for school and you still haven't even gotten any breakfast in you. What will the teachers think of your mother if they discover I'm not feeding you? Get ready and eat something, lest my reputation...]
Initially startled by the sound of his mother’s voice, it took Vol a moment for the panic to subside as he oriented himself to his surroundings. He had been asleep, on a pile of PADDs, in his office onboard the Sera. He was not back home, facing another day in grade school.
[Believe you me, no one gets ahead in life by sleeping in and not eating breakfast. Furthermore, no ladies on this planet will be drawn to you if you---]
Vol, still groggy, groped for one of the PADDs while simultaneously rubbing his eyes with his other hand. Grasping a PADD, flung it in the general direction of the computer’s voice.
“Shut up!” he yelled... albeit somewhat mumbly.
The computer ceased the wake-up call, allowing Vol to take a few deep breaths and fully wake himself. He raked his fingernails through his hair, hoping that the pain would induce his body to wake-up fully.
"Computer," he started, "from this moment on ignore any and all commands from myself that have anything at all to do with my waking up in an unusual... manner."
As the Betazoid expected, the computer made its typical noise when it couldn't process a request.
[Unable to comply. The last command contradicts previous orders to comply with any order given by the Ship's Counselor.]
Vol whined.
"I did ask you to shut up then, didn't I."
[Unable to comply…]
"Cease audio."
The computer, and the room, was finally quiet.
Vol yawned, it could not possibly be eight already. He still had so much to do for Rada. As if compounding his predicament, the door chime rang.
“Computer, who is at the door?”
Silence. Vol sighed.
*I hate mornings.*
"Resume audio. Who is at the door?"
[Micah Samson.]
Perfect, thought Vol. That meant this was probably not just a social call. “Just a minute!” Vol shouted. He had to make himself presentable, lest Micah think Vol had just woken up atop a pile of PADDs.
Even if he had.
Vol straightened his hair, stretched out in the indentation of one of the buttons that was on his chin, threw the pile of PADDs into a drawer, and opened the door.
“Mister Samson. How can I help you?”
“I was hoping to talk to you for a few minutes. Can I come in?”
“Yes! Of course, come in, take a seat.” Micah strolled slowly into Vol’s office. He had never been here before, so he took a few moments to acquaint himself with the surroundings.
“Is that a Regal Tang fish?” Micah asked, immediately intrigued by the blue and yellow fish swimming around the bowl on Vol’s end table. He approached the tank and tapped the glass.
“Sure is. Would you like to feed her?” Vol could sense that the very tense science officer was relaxing now that his attention was on something besides the fact he was in the Counselor’s office.
“May I?”
Vol nodded, and handed Micah a small container that held the food. “Just two shakes should do it.”
Samson, like always, did as he was instructed and the little fish gleefully swam up to the top, dabbing at bits of food that floated on the surface of the water.
“So, I don’t think you came here to feed the fish.” Vol observed, as he sat down in a chair across the couch, which Samson just assumed he was supposed to sit in, so he did.
“No, I didn’t. Actually, I wanted to talk about T’Dara.”
“I’m listening.” Vol coaxed, encouragingly. He knew the loss of a crewmate was one of the most difficult challenges for any officer. As soon as the computer told him Micah was at the door, he expected something of the sort.
“I guess that’s not entirely true. I really want to talk about myself more than her.”
Micah’s words came with a swing in emotions. There was sadness, which was to be expected, but something more was there, even stronger than the remorse. It was confusion, and frustration. Vol simply waited for Micah to continue.
“Ever since I came aboard this ship, I’ve had a habit of falling for the wrong girl.”
I’ve noticed. Vol thought, though outwardly he only nodded in agreement. Samson’s crushes were a thing of legend. From Grace, to Le Marc, to Steele, he seemed to fall for the girl just around the time she fell for someone else.
“Anyway,” Micah continued, “When we realized, on Sibalt, what was happening to T’Dara, she made her intentions clear that she was willing to…”
“Mate with you.” Vol completed the sentence. If anything made it difficult to communicate with humans, it was their desire to not speak of intimate feelings. On Betazed, where everyone’s thoughts and feelings were on display, holding on to such inhibitions was pointless, so no one did.
“Exactly. And, there was certainly nothing not to like about T’Dara. She was intelligent, courteous, beautiful. Exactly what I keep hoping to find in everyone I reach out to. Yet when I knew I had the chance to be with her, I did not take it. I just can’t understand why I didn’t.”
Micah sighed, and lowered his head. “Now she’s gone, and Salvek is going to be put on trial for something I feel like was my fault. If I had just gotten her through the Pon farr, Salvek would not have placed in the position he was in, and none of this ever would have happened, and she would still be in Sickbay, where she belongs.”
Micah was fighting the tears now, fruitlessly. They dripped down his cheek and stained the collar of his uniform below. Vol sighed internally, not out of frustration, but out of sympathy for what he was feeling.
“Micah, it’s called being a gentleman. You couldn’t possibly have had any idea how this was all going to end, and you aren’t the kind of a person who takes advantage of a woman that first chance he gets.”
“And now T’Dara’s dead.”
“And that is not your fault. You did everything you could. Followed orders, used your skills to access the weather net. If you had not done that, Jelca and her people might very well have killed us all.”
Samson took a deep breath and Vol could tell he was telling the scientist exactly what he expected to hear; he just needed someone to say it. “I know Counselor, I know. I just… wish I had maybe spent a little more time getting to know her now. Maybe she was an opportunity that slipped by.”
Vol the words hang in the air for a moment, and was about to speak when the door chimed once again.
“I should go.” Micah blurted out immediately. “Lieutenant Ryn and I are both pulling doubles, keeping Science up and running until Commander Reece comes back.”
“Can I see you again? Maybe in a week?” Vol asked, hoping Samson would accept an appointment.
“Sure. Okay.” Samson excused himself, hastening for the exit, and finding Jariel Camen on the other side of the door. “Vedek.”
“Mr. Samson.”
Jariel waited until Micah was out of earshot, then addressed Vol. “I’m sorry, I can come back later if you wish.”
“No, no. Come in, please. What can I do for you?”
“Well, Counselor, if you have the time, I was hoping you might join me on Earth. Tress is about to undergo some testing and possibly a procedure that may restore her hearing. I’m worried about the stress all this may put on her, and you have a singular skill to interact with children and set them at ease.”
Vol looked at the drawer, which held the pile of PADDs he had devoted to researching Rada’s particular situation. He figured they would read just as well on Earth as they did here, maybe even better if he could get out of the stale Starfleet environment for a few days.
“Vedek, I would be happy to join you.”
***********************************************
Lt. Vol Tryst
Counselor
USS Serendipity NCC-2012
&
Lt. Micah Samson
Science Officer
USS Serendipity NCC-2012
Lt. Vol Tryst
Counselor
USS Serendipity NCC-2012
&
Lt. Micah Samson
Science Officer
USS Serendipity NCC-2012