" Insomnia "
(Previous Post was Tiffany's "Sleeping Angel")
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Setting: USS ANUBIS, Draxx's Quarters
Stardate: 60325.0645
The young woman laid on the bed… her hair fanned out over the pillow
beneath her head… her eyes fixated on a point on the ceiling visible only by
the CO's emerald eyes. Her body had been as much at rest as it would be,
but the mind of the redheaded woman had not taken a single moment of
respite, instead running through various scenarios, possibilities and frightful images summed by her imagination. Rikar had returned to her quarters for a couple of hours of rest, but instead she had unearthed demons that would keep her wide awake for long beyond those 120 minutes.
"Expecting the ceiling to fall?" Enaii said as she stepped into the bedroom after having placed their daughter to sleep. The blond haired woman had absolutely no difficulties noticing the state that her wife had been in, picking up on it even before she had crossed over through the doorway. Being a Level-5 Field Operative meant that the ILO had a very acute sense of observation, but she had not required any of her unique skills or special training to see that something had been bothering Sabrina. Unfortunately Enaii had never excelled at counselling others, a fact that had been made more than apparent following their mission to the TANGIERS ORBITAL.
"That's probably the *only* thing that I am not worried about." The young woman sighed as she slowly turned her head towards the approaching ILO who had already cast off her uniform in order to slip into bed.
"The repairs will hold. Although Mr. Dawson's techniques could use some polishing, he did manage to get the job done." Enaii offered, giving the ANUBIS' CEO as much of a compliment as she could given their history, not that the ILO would ever admit to her having said what she had even under the most excruciating of tortures.
"It's not the repairs that I am worried about… in just over 5 hours we will arrive at SURIAL III, but before we can even get close enough to search the planet we might have to deal with more Cardassian ships or worse, cloaked Romulan cruisers who won't like it one bit that a Federation ship is snooping around. With the damage to our cloaking armour, I doubt that the ANUBIS is going to be as *invisible* as we will her to be." The young woman explained letting her voice trail off into an eerie silence that hinted there to be far more on the mind of the CO than what she had revealed.
"Cloaked or not, my people will be able to tell if there are any ships in the vicinity of that planet long before we get there." Enaii said with absolute confidence, trying her best to reassure her wife about the relative unimportance of the obstacles that had been mentioned.
"Enaii… I have confidence in you and your staff… I have confidence in every single member of this crew, but that didn't change the fact that we got rammed by those Cardassians. As prepared as we might be, and as dedicated and talented as this crew may be, we cannot be ready for every possible outcome. *That* is what worries me." Sabrina offered as she returned her gaze back to that elusive point that only she could see on the ceiling of their bedroom.
"Than turn the ship around." The ILO suggested in an all too serious tone making the young woman laying on the bed by her side suddenly turn her head sideways.
"And abandon the crew of the MERCURY? I can't do that!" Sabrina gasped, obviously shocked by the apparent coldness of her wife's last comment. The CO had known and even experienced the ILO's professional coldness, but somehow the redheaded woman had not expected to be made to feel its full icy bluntness at this precise moment and location.
"Then the decision is made... Now go to sleep if you're tired it will be more dangerous." The blonde haired woman calmly stated as she lay on the bed, almost perfectly mirroring the other woman's posture.
"You make it sound so easy." Sabrina stated with a tone of utter disbelief as if her wife had explained a task no more difficult than crossing an empty room.
"The mission becomes difficult only if you start focusing on the obstacles instead of the objective." The ILO stated in a voice that sounded more like the teachings of wisdom and experience instead of the counter argument of a life-mate.
"Is that how you do it Enaii… Always keeping your focus on the objective? If so then tell me this, how come you allowed Talia to be in the IGC? Isn't her presence there a distraction?" The young woman calmly inquired as she turned her attention back to the ceiling that the 2 of them were now observing with an uncanny level of interest and scrutiny.
The ILO remained silent as her training and experiences came pounding into her mind like a heard of crazed bloodthirsty Klingons. Yes Talia had been a distraction, but more important than that the young child had also been a weakness… a weakness that had been only compounded by there having been another in the form of the child's adoptive mother… the woman who laid next to her and who had brought up the subject.
"Aren't you the slightest bit worried of what we might have to deal with? If not because of the ship… or the crew… or even our ability to reach the crew of the MERCURY… at least because it may put Talia's life in danger?" Sabrina unleashed having taken the silence of her wife as an admittance of guilt, or at least a permission to continue on this line of questioning.
"YES! I think of it all the time. Was that what you wanted to hear? To have me admit that you and Talia are my only true weaknesses. That I would sacrifice this crew, the mission and even the entire Federation if it meant saving either one of your lives." Enaii snapped before storming off the bed and vanishing into her office.
It took a moment for Sabrina to realize what she had done, but when she got out of bed to follow Enaii, her path was blocked by Floater who, although being nothing more than a mechanical tool, gave the clear and distinct indication that it had been *upset* and would not permit the young woman to follow.
The young woman's eyes bounced between the door which the ILO had disappeared behind and the small floating disk that menacingly hovered in front of her. For a brief moment the redheaded woman thought about swatting the mechanical nuisance away but quickly remembered the level of armament the small floating robot commanded making her quickly reconsider her actions unless she wanted to spend the rest of this mission under the care of Doctor Summers, the ANUBIS' CMO.
========== 2005 post #329
Sabrina Jones {sabrina_sweet@hotmail.com}
Captain Sabrina Rikar
Commanding Officer
USS ANUBIS, NCC-18501
