"Executive Breakfast"
Previous Post: "Foreboding"
/\/\/\
Stardate: 60324.0745
Setting: USS ANUBIS, Black Hole Lounge
Having ended her shift on the bridge, the Romulan/Terran hybrid had gone to get something to eat after turning command back over to the ship's CO who seemed well relaxed and ready to face the challenges that lay ahead. Sitting at the table, the XO reviewed the PADDs that she had brought with her, some of them relaying the account of the training exercise that had seen the forces of the Sec/Tac and MCO go against one another. The other PADDs contained a variety of reports on the ship's status, sensor discovery and a crew manifest of the USS MERCURY. Rescuing them would be easier if they knew who they were and how they would likely deal with their captivity, or at least that had been the way Serenna had figured it.
Reading the information about the training exercise with great interest, the XO still found her mind drifting to the other PADDs resting on the table, the one containing the names of the MERCURY's crew having the most pull on her. Putting the report on the Marine/Security venture down before she had reached the final result, the Romulan/Terran hybrid took hold of the PADD that seemed to be calling out to her. Jumping into it as if it were a Galactic bestseller, the XO scrutinized the text.
Going over the names of the Command staff, the Romulan/Terran hybrid saw no one that jugged her memory, not that she had expected there to be an acquaintance of hers amongst the senior staff. The universe was big and the fleet numerous enough to make such coincidences rare. Scanning the list of the junior officers though, the XO was stunned by one particular name that she had read, and re-read several times. It seemed that the universe was not as big of a place as the Executive Officer had imagined it to be. "I was wondering where you had vanished to after the Academy."
Bringing the bowl of Romulan cereals that the XO had ordered only a little while ago, the waiter glared at the Romulan/Terran hybrid with puzzlement thinking that the words spoken by the woman had been directed to him. "Excuse me? I don't recall us having been at the Academy together."
Smiling at the waiter, the XO put the PADD down and drew the steaming bowl closer to her before explaining that she had not been speaking to him but about someone who the Romulan/Terran hybrid had not seen or heard from in years. "I was talking about an old friend, one who I have not seen in years and who now appears to be in dire need of help, as I once did."
/\/\/\
Flashback
Stardate: 58009.0715 (almost 3 years ago)
Setting: EARTH, Starfleet Academy, Memorial Garden
Serenna made her way down the path, her mind on things far from this place. The Romulan/Terran hybrid had been in this environment for four years, yet she found it difficult to concentrate on her return to the Academy as a member of the ACT program. Luckily, she had not been alone and the jovial attitude of the people with whom she would share the class with would hopefully help.
A sigh escaped the stoic features of the cadet as her eyes scrutinized the Academy buildings set against the tranquil horizon. There would be so much to do in so little time. All of her training would be tested in this upcoming missing, and of her hopes would be challenged, and all of her dreams would be questioned. Everything stood in a delicate balance in which she found herself in the middle of. Her future laid undiscovered before her while her past continuously made her question each and every step forward she took.
At one point she had been proud of her Romulan heritage, until the day she was made to see what that heritage had been built on. Now, Serenna could only struggle to understand how the Romulan Star Empire had become what is was.
"Serenna!" The call from Sally, her roommate, made the pensive cadet turn to face the approaching Betazoid. "Are you all right?"
The half Romulan girl gazed back with a stunned expression on her face. "Why do you ask?"
Kastra tilted her head to one side and smiled, "Even a non Betazoid would be able to see that there is something heavy on your mind. So are you going to tell me what it is or just stay here and radiate enough negative mental energy to stop a starship in its tracks?"
The effort of Serenna's roommate to cheer her up had been proven successful as a grin slowly began to form on the hybrid's lips. "It's not fair," the pointed ear girl sighed as she turned her eyes back to the distant horizon.
"What? That I majored *and* minored in the field of Counselling or that I am right?"
End flashback
/\/\/\
Stardate: 60324.0750
Setting: USS ANUBIS, Black Hole Lounge
Appearing happy that he had not completely lost it, the waiter grinned as he tried to see the name of the person the XO had spoken about, but the angle of the PADD and the size of the text had made this nearly impossible. Having been unable to obtain the information he had sought, the waiter decided on a more direct approach. "So, who was this friend? A lover? An admirer? Maybe someone special to your heart?"
Looking down at the PADD once again, the Romulan/Terran hybrid tried to picture the cadet she had known and placing her in the rank and position listed before glaring back at the waiter in a way that told him that he had been wrong on all counts. "Her name is Sally Kastra, she's a Betazoid Counsellor onboard the MERCURY and she was my roommate at the Academy during my last year."
Taking the coldness of the XO's voice as a sign that he had goofed in a major way, the Waiter wisely decided to retreat and leave the Romulan/Terran hybrid to her thoughts and memories.
Finding herself alone once again, the Executive Officer returned to her PADD and breakfast thinking that this mission had suddenly taken on a different and unexpected turn, one that would likely not affect the XO's performance or decisions, but one that would make the rescue of the MERCURY's crew a more personal endeavour.
/\/\/\
/\/\/\
Serena Switt {serena1141@yahoo.com.au}
Lieutenant Commander Serenna 2005 post #273
Executive Officer
USS ANUBIS
