" Reflections "
(Previous Post was Tallulah's " Out Of The Nest ")
==========
Stardate: 60300.2202
Setting: USS ANUBIS, Rikar's Quarters
The young woman laid in bed unable to calm her mind enough to allow sleep to claim her for the night… a problem that luckily had not stricken Talia who had been sound asleep right next to her adoptive mother. The young girl had seemed unwilling to go to her room for the night and Sabrina had been more than happy to accommodate her daughter's need for company… a need that the redheaded woman shared.
As the ExO looked up at the darkened ceiling, the young woman could not bring herself to comprehend why things had been so complicated… they had after all returned 'home', so shouldn't their problems have been all left behind? Instead Sabrina found herself thinking of her adoptive daughter's biological mother who was still being debriefed by Admiral Koneki and the ship's CEO who had suffered from a heart attack and now was in the base's infirmary under around the clock observation.
Although she wasn't certain of it, Sabrina could not help but wonder if David's condition had been what had been bothering her the most about that particular situation of that the aCMO had volunteered to watch over the CEO for the night.
Inwardly scowling herself for allowing her thoughts to dwell on something so trivial, the young woman wondered what condition Enaii had been in at that very moment. Had she been in a room, isolated from the rest of the universe thinking about those who missed her so, or had she been so involved in her debriefing that the ILO did not even think about her daughter and life mate?
Unfortunately only time would tell…
==========
Stardate: 60300.2202
Setting: SAN FRANCISCO, Starfleet Academy, Temporary Quarters
Susan sat on the edge of the bed as she looked at her belongings gathered in a neat pile next to the door… her thoughts reaching back to the conversation she had with her father. Sleep it seemed would not visit her tonight and in just under 8 hours from now she would be onboard a shuttle heading for an unknown ship to become the Head Cns of an undisclosed crew working for SFI.
The troubled Ensign wondered in complete silence what kind of ship she would had accepted to serve on? Adm. Smith had been less than forthcoming with information pertaining to the ship and its crew… something that Susan had not really expected since it had been established early on that the vessel and its crew worked behind a veil of secrecy.
**Intel? Seems so simple when you think of it from the outside… but once you cross that unseen line between that part of Starfleet and that department you suddenly realise that it's not all that simple.** Susan explained to herself as she tried to imagine what role the ship she had been assigned to served. There were a great many stories about the role of Intel in the safeguarding of the Federation… and in all honesty Susan had not been entirely sure about some of them. Would the ship she would be serving on be a small vessel with missions taking its crew in undercover missions behind enemy lines? Would they be required to infiltrate distant alien bases and gather information while hiding behind false identities?
Maybe, but that was not all that Intel was about and Susan at least knew that much. Counter-Intelligence and research also played a large role and the Ensign could easily imagine herself as part of another crew whose role had been to remain within the boundaries of the Federation while working behind the scenes to insure that peace was secured.
As a Cns she would likely be called upon to insure the emotional well being of the crew as well as giving her psychological analysis on certain questionable individuals. Susan could even picture herself working on profiling important personalities to help give her CO and those who she would serve with an edge on whatever mission they would be on.
In the end Ens. Mei had to accept that she simply had not been given enough information to formulate an accurate picture of what had been out there waiting for her. There had been absolutely no way for her to know more than she had been told. What kind of ship would she end up on? What kind of missions would she be involved in? Would the crew of this Intel vessel accept having her as their Cns?
Unfortunately only time would tell…
==========
Stardate: 60301.0605
Setting: Runabout USS TANGEER, Flight Deck
Susan sat in the co-pilot's seat in absolute silence as she watched the Catullan Lieutenant who had greeted her get the ship ready for departure. It had been easy to see that the majority of the preparations had been already accomplished which made the Ensign wonder what kind of schedule they had been expected to keep.
"Here we go… next stop… MARS." The Catullan announced as he engaged the engines.
"MARS?" The Ensign inquired, not exactly certain if she had the right to ask.
"Those are my orders… I have to get you to Orbital Platform Sierra… and we have to be there before 0745... So buckle up." The pilot replied with a grin as he pushed the impulse engines to their limits taking the small vessel up and through the clouds in no time.
"What happens if we don't make it there in time?" Susan inquired once the blue shade of the planet's atmosphere was replaced by the twinkling of the stars set against the pure blackness of the universe.
"No idea… but I for one have no intention to find out… I hope that you don't mind that?" The Catullan playfully inquired as he glanced over to the Ensign who simple shook her head and echoed the pilot's desire to not discover the consequences of their lateness.
==========
Stardate: 60301.0748
Setting: MARS' Orbit, Orbital Platform Sierra, Landing Bay 3
Susan stood outside of the Runabout that had brought her here not at all certain what to do next. The Catullan pilot had simply wished her well on her journey after their arrival which indicated to the Ensign that although he had been of a higher rank he had been told less than she had.
"Ensign Mei?" A Bolian inquired as she approached the lost-looking woman.
"That is me." Susan replied as she quickly snapped to attention upon seeing the rank pips of the officer who had called out her name. Obviously Mei had been on the right track having exchanged the company of a Lieutenant for that of a Lt. Cmdr.
"Shawdla to DIAZ… lock on my coordinates… 2 to beam up."
=/\= Acknowledged… stand by. =/\=
Before Susan could even think of asking where they were going, the 5'4" woman and her escort were swept away by the dancing lights of a transporter beam.
==========
Stardate: 60301.1102
Setting: USS DIAZ - NCC 74646, Intrepid Class, Guest Quarters
The moment she had arrived onboard the USS DIAZ, Susan had been escorted to these quarters… all that she had been told had been that she would be here for no more than a few hours and that Cpt. Adam Leslie wished her a safe journey. Ens. Mei could not figure out if this had been the Captain's way of informing her of the kind of adventures she had been in form or if it had only been his way of making her feel more at ease for this leg of her journey. Either way the only thing that Susan could do had been to make herself as comfortable as she could in the quarters that had been assigned to her and wait… something that she had begun to dislike.
Just as she had begun to feel relaxed in her new environment, the Ensign was surprised by a call from the bridge.
=/\= Shawdla to Ens. Mei… please report to Transporter Room 2 with all of your belongings… you will be disembarking. =/\= The voice of the Bolian woman she had met back on the orbital platform echoed through the room.
"Are we already there?" Susan queried, absolutely unaware of where *there* might have been but certain that the ship could not have traveled so fast that they would have made it to another system or starbase so rapidly.
=/\= You are being transferred to another ship… those were out orders. =/\= The Bolian explained leaving the Ensign to ponder as to exactly how many set of *orders* had been issued to see her get from EARTH to wherever she had been sent to.
==========
Stardate: 60301.1113
Setting: USS NILE - NCC 42945, Comet Class, Transporter Room 1
Susan stood on the transporter platform following her beaming off the DIAZ to wherever this place had been, the Ensign wondering just how many more of these sudden transfers she would have to endure before the end of this trip.
"Welcome to the NILE." A man displaying the rank insignia of Cmdr offered to the Ensign as he invited her to step off the platform.
"Will you be escorting me to my temporary quarters?" The Ensign inquired as she picked up her belongings, hoping that the officer's rank meant that she would not have to go through too many more of these moves from 1 ship to another.
"Not right away… Cpt. Stoba likes to meet those who come onboard his ship." The ExO announced as she invited the woman to follow him out of the room to meet the ship's CO.
==========
Stardate: 60301.1151
Setting: USS NILE - NCC 42945, Comet Class, Temporary Quarters
Susan sat on the edge of the bed thinking back to the meeting with the Klingon CO… a meeting that by itself had been uneventful but one that the Cns had not been about to forget anytime soon. Having been greeted by a massive Klingon dressed in a Starfleet uniform had been memorable enough, but the smile that had graced the lips of the CO had made Mei wonder if maybe she had made the wrong decision by accepting the Admiral's offer.
Having been reassured that the NILE had only been a transport ship that would see her to her final destination, Ens. Mei had been released to her quarters to get some rest since the next stage of her journey would take over 14 hours.
==========
Sabrina Jones {sabrina_sweet@hotmail.com}
Commander Sabrina Rikar
Executive Officer
USS ANUBIS, NCC-18501
"We are Grey, we stand between the Candle and the Star, between the
Darkness and the Light" 2005 post #071
-Entilza Delenn, Babylon 5
