"Message from Home"
(previous post "Atonement")
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Armed with the information he had taken from the conversation with Maya, Pravat had spent the last few hours pouring over the layout of the HATHOR. His mind was racing with possibilities for the unscheduled exercise. He always enjoyed designing training exercises for his men, seeing just how far he could push them without them breaking and that was just what he was going to do with the senior staff.
He was concentrating so much on his task that he didn't hear the beeping of the consol indicating that a message was coming in. It was only after the beeping had gone on incessantly that he finally noticed. Feeling rather put out by the interruption, he switched from the schematics of the ships maintenance crawlspaces to the logo of Starfleet communications and acknowledged the call.
To say he was surprised to see the face of his former best friend Eneth would have been a gross understatement. He stared for a moment without saying anything and it was obvious to the Enaran on the screen that Prav had not expected to be getting a direct message from him.
[/\] You are a hard man to get a hold of, you know that? [/\] Eneth said with a knowing grin.
"Well they keep us busy," Prav replied vaguely.
Eneth was astute enough to pick up on the fact that Prav wasn't going to give anymore explanation to the run around Eneth had gotten the last seven times he had tried to speak to his friend.
"So, what do I owe this surprise to?" Prav asked, a little uncomfortable with the situation.
[/\] I just wanted to know if you got the Cebuella? He looks just like Rashi, I thought you'd like that,[/\] the man on the screen said.
The little primate did look just like the one Prav had as a child. He was happy to think that Maya was developing as strong of a bond with her Cebuella as he had with Rashi. He focused back on the man on the screen.
"He's perfect, thank you. I gave him as a gift to a friend and they have definitely taken to each other," he said, picturing the tiny primate perched on Maya's shoulder.
[/\] Ah, still trying to get women with the old Cebuella maneuver. huh? [/\] his friend said with a chuckle.
Prav forgot where he was for a minute and fell back into the kind of banter he used to have with his friend Eneth when he was living on ENARA PRIME. "Hey, she," he paused realizing he had blotted her name from his memory, "what was her name anyway?"
[/\] Seriell,[/\] Eneth said with a smirk on his face.
"Oh, that's right. Anyway, Seriell was already in love with me *before* I gave her Dunket," Prav said with mock indignation.
[/\] I can't believe you remember the Cebuella's name but you blocked out the girl's name,[/\] Eneth said with disbelief.
"What can I say, the monkey was cuter!" Prav said as the two men burst out laughing.
[/\] Oh, I miss you,[/\] Eneth said, the tone becoming more serious. [/\] It was really bad right after you left, I really thought your father was going to go off the deep end.[/\]
Prav raised his eyebrows with curiosity. This was the first real contact he had since he left. How his family reacted had always been something he had wondered about but was afraid to actually know. Now it seemed he was going to find out.
[/\] He tore his clothes as if you had died.[/\]
Prav wasn't too surprised, after all, his father's last words to him were, ‘you are as dead to me as your mother.' It was the public display of this feeling that surprised him. To rent ones clothes was a sign of deep mourning and that was something that Prav hadn't expected out of his father. Eneth saw the puzzled look on Prav's face and continued.
[/\] He didn't bear the sign for more than a day though, and after that, as far as he was concerned, you never existed. He would get angry at your brothers if any of them mentioned your name and as time past any memory of you basically faded.[/\]
Now that was what Prav had expected from his father. The man had erased the genocide of the Regressives from their history, erasing one insignificant child would have been a piece of cake.
"Good old Dad," Prav scoffed.
They both remained silent for a painful few minutes and then Eneth broke the silence with words Prav had not expected to hear.
[/\] You know, people are beginning to talk about it,[/\] he said hesitantly.
Prav cocked his head trying to figure out exactly what he was talking about. "They still talk about me?" he said, assuming that Eneth couldn't be talking about the other thing.
He laughed. [/\] What an ego. No, there has been talk about what… well about the Regressives. People are beginning to question.[/\]
"What does the government have to say about this talk?" Prav asked skeptically.
[/\] They have been trying to repress it but they are meeting with resistance. Maybe you should come home.[/\]
Prav had thought about that possibility the moment Eneth had said that people were standing up to the government but it all just seemed too crazy. He also thought about his responsibilities here, though lately he had been feeling quite marginalized in his position. Then he thought about Maya. He certainly didn't want to leave her even if he was a second class citizen on the ship. He also had to ask himself, where could he do his people the most good, there or here?
"So how did everything go with the baitsim?" he asked, switching to the language he an Eneth had invented as children.
Eneth smiled. [/\]Chotet ya otpom lo lalmet tovarish roboto.[/\]
Prav returned the smile. They had been able to use the information and begin work on counter measures to the Ktarians' black market weapon. "Good, glad to hear it."
[/\] Anytime you need a gift from home you know I'd be happy to take the request,[/\] Eneth said, implying that if Prav ever had other pertinent information that he'd be able to get it to those who could use it.
"Of course, we'll stay in contact. It really has been great to see you again." Prav said, ignoring the knot in his stomach.
Eneth smiled sincerely. [/\] You look well, I will be sure to pass that on to your brothers.[/\] And the signal ended.
Prav sat back for a moment and wondered how his father would react to his return. The possibilities began to run through his mind.
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Writing for: 2005 post #492
Stardate: 60328.1615
Setting: MCO Office
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Matt Kelly (downwitmal@yahoo.com)
1st Lt. Pravat
MCO
USS ANUBIS
