"Somewhere Out There"
(Previous Post was "Arrival")
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Stardate: 60322.2145
Setting: USS ANUBIS, Cns' office
Susan had been around people so much lately that she'd almost forgotten
what it was like to be alone. **Be careful what you wish for...** she
thought with a sigh as she took a sip of hot chocolate. It had been a long few
days and her mind had been too busy to concentrate on anything but her work.
Now, however, as she stared out of the view port in her office at the
twinkling GIZA Nebula, her mind started drifting in dangerous directions. Like to EARTH. And an old man sitting alone in a study staring out the window
at a sunny yard wondering absently if he'd ever see his daughter - his only
family in the world - again.
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It was Christmas time and the grounds of the Mei Estate were covered in
snow that was falling in glittering stars down to the ground. Buffeted by
the wind, many of the stars floated in twirling patterns that the
five-year-old found fascinating. Her parents were bickering and this made her upset. She didn't understand what they were saying. Mostly scientific words that made no sense to her, but the tone in which they were being said was
disconcerting and she gave a small wail to let them know that she was
still sitting with them in her father's study chair. The arguing stopped and
warm arms came to pick her up. Her mother's smile was bright but forced and
the smell of her perfume - a flowery scent - did not fit in with the
wintery scene around them. Susan was not comforted by the arms. She was
agitated and struggled to free herself. It was passed her bedtime. The strong man in his Starfleet uniform said this in an assertive tone from somewhere behind the mother and child. This started another argument between the pair. Susan rubbed her eyes and watched the snow falling again. When she yawned,
the man came and knelt beside her, "Susan, honey. It's time for bed. Say
goodbye to mummy."
It had struck the child as strange that she was to say 'goodbye'. The
usual ritual involved a 'goodnight'. However, she was too tired to fight her
father's arms as they lifted her into the air, facing her mother. The
woman looked sad as she lay a hand on her child's cheek. She didn't say
'goodnight' as she usually would have but swallowed hard and then
smiled wanly, "I love you, Susan." She said quietly.
When Susan awoke the next morning to open her presents, it had stopped
snowing and the world was covered in a silent, white blanket. Her
mother was no-where to be found.
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It was strange that out of all the memories she could have had of her
mother, that was the one that always surfaced. Maybe it was because
Susan thought of it so often. Every time she saw snow, in fact. Every
Christmas. She had expected her mother to return. Every year for a long, long time she had pictured her mother beaming into their living room carrying a
duffle bag of presents like an old sea captain from the Curry-curry islands.
Eventually, though, she had accepted that it was just her father and her.
Susan had never found out the reason for her mother's departure. Her
father would not talk of it. He said it was too painful or changed the
subject. There were no Starfleet records - or none accessible to Susan - about
the woman who had once been Mrs. Mei. It was almost as if the woman had
never existed... except. Except for a crumpled photograph in Susan's desk drawer.
With effort, Susan stopped herself from pulling it out and looking at
it and focused her mind on the stars outside. Maybe, somewhere out there, her
mother was looking at the same stars and thinking about her daughter...
But Susan doubted it. If Anna had wanted to see her child, all she
would have needed to do was come and visit the house where she had left her.
If her child wanted to see her mother... it was a little more difficult.
Nevertheless, it was not impossible. Certainly not when that child was
setting out on a life of Intel...
With renewed confidence in her choice to join the ANUBIS, Susan smiled.
Her father would understand. He wouldn't agree... but he would understand.
--------------- 2005 post #235
Seventeen Years Earlier
Dreamscape
Stardate: 60320.2150
Setting: USS ANUBIS,Cns' office
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
