Re: Part 6: Reunions: Shelby--Anara--DeMara
Well...Leyton's got some powerful friends...very powerful friends--and they're not necessarily Section 31 either. Daneeka belongs to DarKush, so, you'll get to see her again, and you're right--the feisty Bolian isn't exactly the president of either the Shelby or Benteen fan clubs.
One more vignette after this...what's a Sutherland story without at least one party?
************************************************************
Reunions: Shelby—Anara—DeMara
“Goddammit to hell, Jadz!” Liz Shelby cried out, pacing angrily up and down her ready room in front of the luxurious black sofa where her best friend, Jadzia Dax sat looking on with an amused expression on her face and a glass of Trillian aurea in her hand. “Frinx! I knew Leyton was going to skate and it still pisses me off every time I think about it!”
“You know…” The raven haired Trill remarked, “I just had this same discussion with Captain Sisko.” Coolly sipping her drink, Jadzia commented, “It sucks…I know. But what other outcome did you expect? It’s obvious that Leyton had people outside Starfleet supporting him—powerful people.” Drawing off her prior hosts’ Lela’s and Curzon’s experiences in the political arena, Dax speculated, “I’d bet that some of those friends of his are sitting right now on the Federation Council.”
“Yeah…” Liz replied, calming down as she ordered a rum and cola from the replicator, “You’re right.” Shaking her head, the blonde captain joined her friend on the sofa, “I suppose we should be grateful that his coup didn’t succeed. Otherwise we could be finding ourselves in the middle of a civil war right now.”
Nodding her head in agreement, Jadzia took another sip from her glass, “Yeah. The Founders would have loved that—us doing their work for them.” Finishing her drink, she set it down. “So…what’s on your agenda for the day? The beach?” She smiled, “A casino? Dancing?”
“I wish!” Liz sighed melodramatically. “No…my day’s about to get even worse than it is already.” She groaned, gulping down her rum and cola, “I’m going home to see my father.”
***********************************************************************
“Welcome to The Nest!” DeMara Deen smiled as she escorted her old friend from the Academy, Anara Rysyl into the Eagle's lounge, both Tenarian and Deltan attracting more than their fair share of eyetracks as they made their way to a nearby table. “How long has it been, Anara?” DeMara asked, brushing back a stray strand of golden hair as she smiled warmly at her former classmate.
“Six years.” Anara smiled back warmly as she regarded the woman seated across from her. “I’m sorry I wasn’t able to make it to your awards ceremony.” The Deltan woman remarked ruefully, “But I did read your paper—even though I couldn’t understand most of it.”
“That makes us even for you making me sit through that lecture on Vulcan art.” DeMara laughed as the Eagle’s bartender, Bensu, came to the table bearing drinks.
“An Antarean Sunrise for you, DeMara,” The bartender cheerfully announced, placing a glass containing the colorful beverage in front of the young Tenarian woman, “And for your lovely guest, the mysterious bartender grinned, “Mareuvian tea.”
“So…” DeMara asked with a mischievous twinkle in her eyes, “Is it true what they say about the Sutherland?”
**********************************************************************
Materializing before the front door of the large Wyoming ranch house that Phillip and Anna Shelby called home, Elizabeth Shelby, pulling down on her red and black uniform top, took a deep breath and exhaled before pressing the enunciator beside the front door. “Mama…” She called out announcing herself, “It’s me…Liz…”
Moments later, the door slid open to reveal a still attractive woman whose athletic and youthful appearance completely belied her over sixty years of age. Short in height, lithe, her hair mostly auburn lightly touched by just the faintest traces of gray fell loose about her shoulders. Her eyes falling upon the petite blonde Starfleet officer standing at her threshold, the older woman cried out in joy as she embraced her daughter in a tight hug, “Lany!” Stepping back, Anna Shelby giving her daughter an appraising look, immediately spotted the lines around her eyes, “You’ve been working too long and hard, Dragam.” She observed disapprovingly. “Isn’t that why you have a first officer?”
“Mother!” Elizabeth sighed melodramatically, “In case you haven’t noticed, things have been a bit…hectic recently.”
“I’m sorry, dear.” Anna apologized, “It’s just that…”
“I understand, Mama,” Liz interjected, giving her mother a fond grin. Looking in the house, the prodigal daughter asked, “Can I come in?”
Her face flushing a bright crimson in embarrassment, Anna replied, “Of course, my lany! I’m sorry…it’s just I’m so glad to see you...”
Entering, for the first time in years, her old home, Elizabeth’s eyes moistened as she whispered in a soft voice, “I forgot how beautiful this place is.”
“You’re always welcome here, dear.” Anna answered back as she guided her daughter to the sofa.
“Where’s father?” Elizabeth asked, her voice taking on a slightly harder edge as she sat down on the plush couch, “I thought he was going to be here.”
“I’m sorry, dear…” Anna replied regretfully, “He’s got someone with him right now…”
“I see things haven’t changed at all.” Liz growled as she began to turn back towards the door, “I’m sorry, Mama…I knew it was a mistake to even try.”
“No!” Anna cried out, her eyes moistening, “Dragam…wait! Please. He’ll come out. I haven’t seen you in such a long time. Please…” She begged, patting the sofa next to her, “Sit down…talk to me. I want to hear all about what you’ve doing…”
Brushing the tears from her eyes, the younger woman walked back to the couch. Sitting down next to her mother, Elizabeth’s lips turned up into a sad smile, “Sure, Mama…”
**********************************************************************
“Is what true about the Sutherland?” Anara asked in a playful tone as she sipped her drink.
“I was just curious about all the stories I’ve heard.” DeMara replied with a grin. “Whether there was any truth to them or just the usual tall tales that you hear.”
“Probably a little bit of both.” Anara quipped, laughing merrily. “If you want to know whether it’s a nonstop party on the ship, then the answer is most definitely, no. We’re like any other ship—we have our good days and our bad days and our jobs come first. But…” she added, her voice now taking on a note of fondness, “…we do like to relax after our work is done and well…” the olive skinned Deltan said in a teasing voice, “…we can be quite…creative…about how we have our fun.”
“I’m sure!” DeMara laughed and then commented with a wide grin, “I think that’s good.” Her thoughts now turning nostalgic, the young Tenarian asked in a fond voice, “Have you seen or heard anything from Jonar?”
Her mind flashing back to her years in the Academy, Anara, after several moments of reflection, finally placed the name with a face. “Jonar Arik?” Seeing her old classmate’s nod of the head in response, Anara replied in an apologetic tone, “Not since graduation. I believe…” she recalled, “…that he was assigned to the Columbus and that they were going on a long range exploration mission into the Beta Quadrant.
“Oh!” DeMara exclaimed, “That’s right! Still…” she said in a slightly wistful tone, “It’d be nice to hear from him—he was…comfortable…to be around.”
Chuckling, Anara jibed, “I think that’s the first time I’ve ever heard of one of us being described as being ‘comfortable’ to be around.” Smiling gratefully as Bensu replaced their drinks, the olive skinned Deltan inquired of her old friend, “So, DeMara…how have you been doing?”
************************************************************************
Laughing at a story her mother had told her about her youth, Liz looked at her chronometer, seeing how much time had passed, she shook her head as her voice took on a grim tone, “Mama…he’s not coming.”
“No, Lany…don’t go!” Anna pleaded as she stood up, motioning towards her husband’s combination office-den towards the rear of the house. “Come on…” She entreated with renewed determination, tugging at her daughter’s sleeve, “I don’t care if he’s still in his meeting, we’re interrupting him.”
“All right, Mama!” Elizabeth sighed resignedly, “We’ll go…” As the two women walked towards Philip Shelby’s office, they heard two voices, one belonging to a stranger, while the other’s was most definitely that of the Shelby patriarch.
“So…can we count on you?”
“I’m not sure…” Shelby’s father replied, his voice taking on a skeptical quality, “While I do agree with a lot of your goals…I’m not sure I’m what you’re looking for.”
“You’re exactly what we’re looking for!” The stranger exclaimed, his voice flattering and unctuous. “A retired starship captain—the former captain of the USS Roosevelt—the man whose actions played a pivotal role in the defeat of the Tsen’kethi at the Battle of Acheron! You’d be the perfect candidate!”
"Candidate? Candidate for what?" Liz whispered to her mother as the two women withdrew out of sight range while still remaining close enough to listen in to the conversation. Taking her mother’s shrug of the shoulder and shake of the head as an ‘I don’t know’, the young daughter continued her eavesdropping.
“Still…” Philip Shelby demurred, his voice now taking on a harder edge, “Even should I decide to run…there’s the issue of my…daughter…”
Immediately picking up on her father’s scorn as he mentioned that word, Elizabeth almost turned and walked away, stopping at the last moment as the stranger once again spoke. “Don’t worry. Dealing with her situation is easy. We’ll just have one of our planted reporters ask you about it once you announce. All you have to do then is publicly declare that you’ve had nothing to do with her for the past ten years and that you will continue to have nothing to do with her as long as she insists on engaging in her scandalous behavior, but that if she repents and promises to reform herself that you’ll welcome her back with the open arms of a loving father. That’ll immunize you from any opposition attacks while at the same time putting forth the image of a loving, longsuffering father willing to forgive his prodigal daughter. It’ll be great for votes.”
Not wanting to hear the rest of the conversation, Liz, tears rolling down her cheeks as she turned away, dashed out of the house, her mother close on her heels. “Lany! Lany! Please!” Anna cried out sobbing as her daughter moved her hand to her comm badge. “Wait!” Hesitating for a brief moment, Elizabeth brushed the tears away from her eyes.
“Mother…” The younger woman sobbed, “Did you know?”
“About what just happened?” Anna replied, shaking her head, “No.”
Then, her forehead crinkled in thought, the older woman continued, “But a lot of his recent behavior makes more sense now.”
“What do you mean?” Liz asked; her hand dropping from her chest to her side.
“He’s had a lot of meetings with people recently—most often with this Trill…” Anna said, “This is the first time they’ve met here though. Normally they go into town. And this is the first time I’ve ever heard him mention even the possibility of running for any sort of political office.”
“I wonder what sort of office he could be running for? Unless…” Liz conjectured, “It’s for one of the open seats for the planetary council. And from there…” The blonde captain gasped, “…he could be eligible to run for the Federation Council.” Shaking her head in disbelief, she exclaimed, “But he’s never shown any interest in politics before!”
“That changed…” Anna explained, “…when all this stuff with the changelings and the Dominion began. A year ago he began talking about how dangerous the Dominion is and how weak and soft the Federation had gotten. I just ignored it. Do you think?” Anna gasped, her eyes widening in panic, “That he might have had something to do with what Leyton did?”
“No.” Liz quickly responded, squeezing her mother’s hand, “His name wasn’t on any of the lists and he wasn’t mentioned by any of the other conspirators.”
Sighing in relief, Anna, tears rolling down her cheeks, squeezed her daughter’s hand in return, “Thank you, Lany.”
“Mama…” Liz said in a low voice, “I have to go now. But please, do me a favor?”
“Of course, Dragam!” Anna answered back, smiling through her tears, “What is it?”
“Let me know if you find out anything else about these friends of father’s, would you? I might not care too much for him…” She growled, barely restraining herself from sneering in front of her mother, “But, for what it’s worth, he is my father.” Her harsh expression gentling, she added, “And I do love you.” Her expression hardening once again, “And I’ve already decided that I hate them.” She concluded, referring to her father’s mysterious friends. Taking her mother’s gentle nod of the head as assent, Liz kissed the older woman on the cheeks as she touched her comm badge, “Shelby to Sutherland…one to beam up.”
*********************************************************************
“I’ve been doing well.” DeMara replied, smiling as she took another sip from her drink. Captain Owens…Michael…is a great captain and I love working with my crewmates. There’s just so much to do and see!” She exclaimed enthusiastically, her smile broadening. Turning the focus back on her companion, the Tenarian asked, “So…is there anyone special in your life right now?”
“You know I’ve taken that damned Oath.” Anara answered back, the faintest note of venom in her voice on her mentioning the Celibacy Oath.
“I know how much you hate that thing and how much more you hate the inhibitors, but that’s not what I asked.” DeMara countered with a teasing grin, “I asked you if there was anyone—or anyones—special in your life right now!”
“Maybe…” Anara replied, a slight tremble to her voice, “If he can ever let go of his past…”
Reaching across the table, DeMara took her friend’s hand in hers, “It’s hard, isn’t it, competing with a memory.”
“You have no idea…” Anara sighed, “And what makes it worse is that I can remember every feeling he’s ever had for her…her smile…her laugh…the softness of her skin. And I can remember his pain when she died and the emptiness that’s filled his soul since then.”
“Have you talked to him about it?” DeMara gently probed, brushing back a stray lock of her hair.
“It’s not something you can easily talk about…” Anara said, shaking her head, “The intensity of his feelings…the depth of his loss. He keeps it all locked in behind a mask of stoicism that would rival that of even a kolinhar master.”
“Then…” DeMara said in gentle, sympathetic tone, “You have to make a decision. Is being with him worth the pain and difficulty that chipping through that mask of his is going to take?”
“I know…” Anara responded as she and her Tenarian friend stood up, “And it’s a decision I’m going to have to make on my own.” Smiling at DeMara as the pair made their way out of the Nest and towards the Eagle’s transporter room, the olive skinned Deltan said her goodbyes, “Thank you, DeMara…it has been good seeing you again.”
Smiling back at her former Academy classmate, DeMara Deen answered back, “It’s been good seeing you too…only next time…let’s not wait six years before we talk to each other again.
***********************************************************************
Stepping off the transporter pad, Liz strode straight towards her quarters, looking neither left nor right as she made her way through the corridors of her ship, acknowledging her crew’s greetings with a brusque nod or muttered “Hello.” Her thoughts raced as images of Leyton, Erika, Sisko, Daneeka, Professor Davin, Admiral Hanson, her mother, and her father, her grandparents, all flooded her mind, each calling out to her. Reaching her accommodations, the captain first ordered champagne from the replicator and then commanded the computer in a sharp voice, “Connect me with Sandy Moore and Jason Phillips in New Greenwich Village, New York and display on my wall monitor.”
“Lizzy!” Sandy called out as she saw her lover’s image on her monitor. “Jason’s not here, Honey—he’s performing over at The Cycle. Are you all right, Baby? We’ve been following what’s been happening on the newsnet—that’s why we haven’t bothered you—we figured you were too busy and all…”
“I’m ok, Sandy…” Liz answered back as she set her champagne down on the end table by her bed, “I’m better than ok…” She grinned wickedly as she pulled off her top. “In fact, honey…I was thinking…that since Raul had to cancel his party, we should have one of our own…”
“You mean…” Sandy squealed as her eyes took in the sinful look on the blonde captain’s face.
“That’s right, baby…” Liz answered back, “We’re going to have the biggest blast of the year!”
***********************************************************************
Well...Leyton's got some powerful friends...very powerful friends--and they're not necessarily Section 31 either. Daneeka belongs to DarKush, so, you'll get to see her again, and you're right--the feisty Bolian isn't exactly the president of either the Shelby or Benteen fan clubs.
One more vignette after this...what's a Sutherland story without at least one party?
************************************************************
Reunions: Shelby—Anara—DeMara
“Goddammit to hell, Jadz!” Liz Shelby cried out, pacing angrily up and down her ready room in front of the luxurious black sofa where her best friend, Jadzia Dax sat looking on with an amused expression on her face and a glass of Trillian aurea in her hand. “Frinx! I knew Leyton was going to skate and it still pisses me off every time I think about it!”
“You know…” The raven haired Trill remarked, “I just had this same discussion with Captain Sisko.” Coolly sipping her drink, Jadzia commented, “It sucks…I know. But what other outcome did you expect? It’s obvious that Leyton had people outside Starfleet supporting him—powerful people.” Drawing off her prior hosts’ Lela’s and Curzon’s experiences in the political arena, Dax speculated, “I’d bet that some of those friends of his are sitting right now on the Federation Council.”
“Yeah…” Liz replied, calming down as she ordered a rum and cola from the replicator, “You’re right.” Shaking her head, the blonde captain joined her friend on the sofa, “I suppose we should be grateful that his coup didn’t succeed. Otherwise we could be finding ourselves in the middle of a civil war right now.”
Nodding her head in agreement, Jadzia took another sip from her glass, “Yeah. The Founders would have loved that—us doing their work for them.” Finishing her drink, she set it down. “So…what’s on your agenda for the day? The beach?” She smiled, “A casino? Dancing?”
“I wish!” Liz sighed melodramatically. “No…my day’s about to get even worse than it is already.” She groaned, gulping down her rum and cola, “I’m going home to see my father.”
***********************************************************************
“Welcome to The Nest!” DeMara Deen smiled as she escorted her old friend from the Academy, Anara Rysyl into the Eagle's lounge, both Tenarian and Deltan attracting more than their fair share of eyetracks as they made their way to a nearby table. “How long has it been, Anara?” DeMara asked, brushing back a stray strand of golden hair as she smiled warmly at her former classmate.
“Six years.” Anara smiled back warmly as she regarded the woman seated across from her. “I’m sorry I wasn’t able to make it to your awards ceremony.” The Deltan woman remarked ruefully, “But I did read your paper—even though I couldn’t understand most of it.”
“That makes us even for you making me sit through that lecture on Vulcan art.” DeMara laughed as the Eagle’s bartender, Bensu, came to the table bearing drinks.
“An Antarean Sunrise for you, DeMara,” The bartender cheerfully announced, placing a glass containing the colorful beverage in front of the young Tenarian woman, “And for your lovely guest, the mysterious bartender grinned, “Mareuvian tea.”
“So…” DeMara asked with a mischievous twinkle in her eyes, “Is it true what they say about the Sutherland?”
**********************************************************************
Materializing before the front door of the large Wyoming ranch house that Phillip and Anna Shelby called home, Elizabeth Shelby, pulling down on her red and black uniform top, took a deep breath and exhaled before pressing the enunciator beside the front door. “Mama…” She called out announcing herself, “It’s me…Liz…”
Moments later, the door slid open to reveal a still attractive woman whose athletic and youthful appearance completely belied her over sixty years of age. Short in height, lithe, her hair mostly auburn lightly touched by just the faintest traces of gray fell loose about her shoulders. Her eyes falling upon the petite blonde Starfleet officer standing at her threshold, the older woman cried out in joy as she embraced her daughter in a tight hug, “Lany!” Stepping back, Anna Shelby giving her daughter an appraising look, immediately spotted the lines around her eyes, “You’ve been working too long and hard, Dragam.” She observed disapprovingly. “Isn’t that why you have a first officer?”
“Mother!” Elizabeth sighed melodramatically, “In case you haven’t noticed, things have been a bit…hectic recently.”
“I’m sorry, dear.” Anna apologized, “It’s just that…”
“I understand, Mama,” Liz interjected, giving her mother a fond grin. Looking in the house, the prodigal daughter asked, “Can I come in?”
Her face flushing a bright crimson in embarrassment, Anna replied, “Of course, my lany! I’m sorry…it’s just I’m so glad to see you...”
Entering, for the first time in years, her old home, Elizabeth’s eyes moistened as she whispered in a soft voice, “I forgot how beautiful this place is.”
“You’re always welcome here, dear.” Anna answered back as she guided her daughter to the sofa.
“Where’s father?” Elizabeth asked, her voice taking on a slightly harder edge as she sat down on the plush couch, “I thought he was going to be here.”
“I’m sorry, dear…” Anna replied regretfully, “He’s got someone with him right now…”
“I see things haven’t changed at all.” Liz growled as she began to turn back towards the door, “I’m sorry, Mama…I knew it was a mistake to even try.”
“No!” Anna cried out, her eyes moistening, “Dragam…wait! Please. He’ll come out. I haven’t seen you in such a long time. Please…” She begged, patting the sofa next to her, “Sit down…talk to me. I want to hear all about what you’ve doing…”
Brushing the tears from her eyes, the younger woman walked back to the couch. Sitting down next to her mother, Elizabeth’s lips turned up into a sad smile, “Sure, Mama…”
**********************************************************************
“Is what true about the Sutherland?” Anara asked in a playful tone as she sipped her drink.
“I was just curious about all the stories I’ve heard.” DeMara replied with a grin. “Whether there was any truth to them or just the usual tall tales that you hear.”
“Probably a little bit of both.” Anara quipped, laughing merrily. “If you want to know whether it’s a nonstop party on the ship, then the answer is most definitely, no. We’re like any other ship—we have our good days and our bad days and our jobs come first. But…” she added, her voice now taking on a note of fondness, “…we do like to relax after our work is done and well…” the olive skinned Deltan said in a teasing voice, “…we can be quite…creative…about how we have our fun.”
“I’m sure!” DeMara laughed and then commented with a wide grin, “I think that’s good.” Her thoughts now turning nostalgic, the young Tenarian asked in a fond voice, “Have you seen or heard anything from Jonar?”
Her mind flashing back to her years in the Academy, Anara, after several moments of reflection, finally placed the name with a face. “Jonar Arik?” Seeing her old classmate’s nod of the head in response, Anara replied in an apologetic tone, “Not since graduation. I believe…” she recalled, “…that he was assigned to the Columbus and that they were going on a long range exploration mission into the Beta Quadrant.
“Oh!” DeMara exclaimed, “That’s right! Still…” she said in a slightly wistful tone, “It’d be nice to hear from him—he was…comfortable…to be around.”
Chuckling, Anara jibed, “I think that’s the first time I’ve ever heard of one of us being described as being ‘comfortable’ to be around.” Smiling gratefully as Bensu replaced their drinks, the olive skinned Deltan inquired of her old friend, “So, DeMara…how have you been doing?”
************************************************************************
Laughing at a story her mother had told her about her youth, Liz looked at her chronometer, seeing how much time had passed, she shook her head as her voice took on a grim tone, “Mama…he’s not coming.”
“No, Lany…don’t go!” Anna pleaded as she stood up, motioning towards her husband’s combination office-den towards the rear of the house. “Come on…” She entreated with renewed determination, tugging at her daughter’s sleeve, “I don’t care if he’s still in his meeting, we’re interrupting him.”
“All right, Mama!” Elizabeth sighed resignedly, “We’ll go…” As the two women walked towards Philip Shelby’s office, they heard two voices, one belonging to a stranger, while the other’s was most definitely that of the Shelby patriarch.
“So…can we count on you?”
“I’m not sure…” Shelby’s father replied, his voice taking on a skeptical quality, “While I do agree with a lot of your goals…I’m not sure I’m what you’re looking for.”
“You’re exactly what we’re looking for!” The stranger exclaimed, his voice flattering and unctuous. “A retired starship captain—the former captain of the USS Roosevelt—the man whose actions played a pivotal role in the defeat of the Tsen’kethi at the Battle of Acheron! You’d be the perfect candidate!”
"Candidate? Candidate for what?" Liz whispered to her mother as the two women withdrew out of sight range while still remaining close enough to listen in to the conversation. Taking her mother’s shrug of the shoulder and shake of the head as an ‘I don’t know’, the young daughter continued her eavesdropping.
“Still…” Philip Shelby demurred, his voice now taking on a harder edge, “Even should I decide to run…there’s the issue of my…daughter…”
Immediately picking up on her father’s scorn as he mentioned that word, Elizabeth almost turned and walked away, stopping at the last moment as the stranger once again spoke. “Don’t worry. Dealing with her situation is easy. We’ll just have one of our planted reporters ask you about it once you announce. All you have to do then is publicly declare that you’ve had nothing to do with her for the past ten years and that you will continue to have nothing to do with her as long as she insists on engaging in her scandalous behavior, but that if she repents and promises to reform herself that you’ll welcome her back with the open arms of a loving father. That’ll immunize you from any opposition attacks while at the same time putting forth the image of a loving, longsuffering father willing to forgive his prodigal daughter. It’ll be great for votes.”
Not wanting to hear the rest of the conversation, Liz, tears rolling down her cheeks as she turned away, dashed out of the house, her mother close on her heels. “Lany! Lany! Please!” Anna cried out sobbing as her daughter moved her hand to her comm badge. “Wait!” Hesitating for a brief moment, Elizabeth brushed the tears away from her eyes.
“Mother…” The younger woman sobbed, “Did you know?”
“About what just happened?” Anna replied, shaking her head, “No.”
Then, her forehead crinkled in thought, the older woman continued, “But a lot of his recent behavior makes more sense now.”
“What do you mean?” Liz asked; her hand dropping from her chest to her side.
“He’s had a lot of meetings with people recently—most often with this Trill…” Anna said, “This is the first time they’ve met here though. Normally they go into town. And this is the first time I’ve ever heard him mention even the possibility of running for any sort of political office.”
“I wonder what sort of office he could be running for? Unless…” Liz conjectured, “It’s for one of the open seats for the planetary council. And from there…” The blonde captain gasped, “…he could be eligible to run for the Federation Council.” Shaking her head in disbelief, she exclaimed, “But he’s never shown any interest in politics before!”
“That changed…” Anna explained, “…when all this stuff with the changelings and the Dominion began. A year ago he began talking about how dangerous the Dominion is and how weak and soft the Federation had gotten. I just ignored it. Do you think?” Anna gasped, her eyes widening in panic, “That he might have had something to do with what Leyton did?”
“No.” Liz quickly responded, squeezing her mother’s hand, “His name wasn’t on any of the lists and he wasn’t mentioned by any of the other conspirators.”
Sighing in relief, Anna, tears rolling down her cheeks, squeezed her daughter’s hand in return, “Thank you, Lany.”
“Mama…” Liz said in a low voice, “I have to go now. But please, do me a favor?”
“Of course, Dragam!” Anna answered back, smiling through her tears, “What is it?”
“Let me know if you find out anything else about these friends of father’s, would you? I might not care too much for him…” She growled, barely restraining herself from sneering in front of her mother, “But, for what it’s worth, he is my father.” Her harsh expression gentling, she added, “And I do love you.” Her expression hardening once again, “And I’ve already decided that I hate them.” She concluded, referring to her father’s mysterious friends. Taking her mother’s gentle nod of the head as assent, Liz kissed the older woman on the cheeks as she touched her comm badge, “Shelby to Sutherland…one to beam up.”
*********************************************************************
“I’ve been doing well.” DeMara replied, smiling as she took another sip from her drink. Captain Owens…Michael…is a great captain and I love working with my crewmates. There’s just so much to do and see!” She exclaimed enthusiastically, her smile broadening. Turning the focus back on her companion, the Tenarian asked, “So…is there anyone special in your life right now?”
“You know I’ve taken that damned Oath.” Anara answered back, the faintest note of venom in her voice on her mentioning the Celibacy Oath.
“I know how much you hate that thing and how much more you hate the inhibitors, but that’s not what I asked.” DeMara countered with a teasing grin, “I asked you if there was anyone—or anyones—special in your life right now!”
“Maybe…” Anara replied, a slight tremble to her voice, “If he can ever let go of his past…”
Reaching across the table, DeMara took her friend’s hand in hers, “It’s hard, isn’t it, competing with a memory.”
“You have no idea…” Anara sighed, “And what makes it worse is that I can remember every feeling he’s ever had for her…her smile…her laugh…the softness of her skin. And I can remember his pain when she died and the emptiness that’s filled his soul since then.”
“Have you talked to him about it?” DeMara gently probed, brushing back a stray lock of her hair.
“It’s not something you can easily talk about…” Anara said, shaking her head, “The intensity of his feelings…the depth of his loss. He keeps it all locked in behind a mask of stoicism that would rival that of even a kolinhar master.”
“Then…” DeMara said in gentle, sympathetic tone, “You have to make a decision. Is being with him worth the pain and difficulty that chipping through that mask of his is going to take?”
“I know…” Anara responded as she and her Tenarian friend stood up, “And it’s a decision I’m going to have to make on my own.” Smiling at DeMara as the pair made their way out of the Nest and towards the Eagle’s transporter room, the olive skinned Deltan said her goodbyes, “Thank you, DeMara…it has been good seeing you again.”
Smiling back at her former Academy classmate, DeMara Deen answered back, “It’s been good seeing you too…only next time…let’s not wait six years before we talk to each other again.
***********************************************************************
Stepping off the transporter pad, Liz strode straight towards her quarters, looking neither left nor right as she made her way through the corridors of her ship, acknowledging her crew’s greetings with a brusque nod or muttered “Hello.” Her thoughts raced as images of Leyton, Erika, Sisko, Daneeka, Professor Davin, Admiral Hanson, her mother, and her father, her grandparents, all flooded her mind, each calling out to her. Reaching her accommodations, the captain first ordered champagne from the replicator and then commanded the computer in a sharp voice, “Connect me with Sandy Moore and Jason Phillips in New Greenwich Village, New York and display on my wall monitor.”
“Lizzy!” Sandy called out as she saw her lover’s image on her monitor. “Jason’s not here, Honey—he’s performing over at The Cycle. Are you all right, Baby? We’ve been following what’s been happening on the newsnet—that’s why we haven’t bothered you—we figured you were too busy and all…”
“I’m ok, Sandy…” Liz answered back as she set her champagne down on the end table by her bed, “I’m better than ok…” She grinned wickedly as she pulled off her top. “In fact, honey…I was thinking…that since Raul had to cancel his party, we should have one of our own…”
“You mean…” Sandy squealed as her eyes took in the sinful look on the blonde captain’s face.
“That’s right, baby…” Liz answered back, “We’re going to have the biggest blast of the year!”
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