"Change of Place"
(previous post the transforming "Fundamentals of Being Rixx")
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Stardate: 60313.2245
Setting: USS ANUBIS, Counseling suite
As soon as David was out the door, Susan put her head in her hands and
let out a deep sigh. That had gone better than she'd expected... but she
was happy it was over anyway. The truth of the matter was that, even though
she'd been counseling David for three weeks, she still felt
uncomfortable giving him 'orders'. Maybe it was because she didn't know him very well. Except for what she'd read in the files, she didn't know *anyone* very well. Or maybe it was because she felt like exactly what she was, an
inexperienced ensign fresh out of the Academy interrogating a tried and tested
lieutenant with years of experience backing him up.
The real challenge would come in two days time when he brought back a
list. If he brought back a list. She actually couldn't picture David as the
type to do his homework, but maybe she'd be pleasantly surprised.
With too much on her mind, she decided to go on a walk. It was, after
all, late on the ship and station so she doubted anyone would need her. And
she could really do with a drink.
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Susan sat down at a small table in a small restaurant that she had come
across and sipped a mug of mint hot chocolate. She loved the way that
her favorite drink always made her feel calm. There weren't many other
people about, just a few couples leaning close together and whispering and a
few other tired operatives that looked as if they needed a day off. One of
the men had a kind of battered look about him as he hunched over a drink
that reminded her of her father when he'd had a tough day.
Without warning something inside Susan contracted awkwardly. It had
been three weeks since she'd spoken to her father and this was some kind of
record. Why couldn't he have been more supportive of her choice to join
the ANUBIS? Why had he treated her as if her new position - her new job -
was a betrayal of everything he believed in? Hadn't she just told David that
her whole life had been angled towards becoming a part of Starfleet? If
anything, her new position as head counselor on board the ANUBIS was
the epiphany of all her father believed in. So why had he scolded her?
It hadn't made sense to her then and it didn't make sense to her now.
**That and the rest of my life** she thought dully as she downed the
what was left of her drink. She'd also told David that she was a 'Starfleet
brat' - meaning that both her parents were members of Starfleet. It was
the first time she could remember saying it openly. But, according to that
picture in her desk drawer, it was true.
One thing was for certain - now distance had given Susan time to think
- there was a whole lot more to her father than she knew... or maybe even
wanted to know.
Something to do with intel.
Susan sighed and buried her Bajorian head in her arms. As she did so, a
voice said, "You going to order anything?"
Susan looked up and saw a woman standing over her wearing an
I'm-fed-up-with-the-state-of-the-universe-and-the-people-in-it look on
her face.
Susan smiled amiably and made her escape as soon as possible.
--------------- 2005 post #130
Stardate: 60313.2300
Setting: NEW ALEXANDRIA
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Something to do with her mother.
And Something to do with a blonde little boy that had showed up
alongside the pictures of her holoprogram-designer mother in a Starfleet uniform.
Tallulah Habib {thabib@eject.co.za}
Ensign Susan Mei
Head Counselor
USS ANUBIS
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"Life is mostly froth and bubble,
Two things stand like stone,
Kindness in another's trouble,
Courage in your own." - Adam Lindsay Gordon
