Backpost- What were you thinking?!
Posted on 06 Nov 2017 @ 1:26pm by Major General Avery O'Brien Ph.D (Ret.) & Rear Admiral Azura Ashcart
1,613 words; about a 8 minute read
Mission:
Errand of Mercy
Location: Captain's Ready Room
ON:
3 days had passed on the Redemption, and Avery was beyond furious. Not only had she been pulled from her private practice, Moore had threatened to reinstate her fully. He’d had to, in order to force the issue and her green uniform was pressed to perfection and the stars gleamed on her collar. As if that wasn’t enough, her primary ‘charge’ had not even noticed that she was aboard, nor contacted her as he’d been instructed. Her olive green eyes burned with rage as she stepped onto the bridge of the Redemption, to step out of the way of the officer of the deck. The gesture for silence was obeyed as the man snapped to, and Major General O’Brien if you please, leaned against the bulkhead that separated bridge from the Captain’s ready room. Once there, she simply stared.
Azura felt the eyes on the back of his head and the radiating anger that came from the petite woman behind him. It was a familiar feeling, not so much the anger but from whom it radiated. There was a flavor something that reminded him of the sea and green hills. He waited for a count of sixty for her to speak but all that accomplished was the intensity of her gaze and the growing annoyance that he felt. He turned to the Rhyan and said simply.
“You have the bridge Commander, I have a feeling I will be incommunicado for a while.” He paused then added “Hold my calls.” As he did he stood and moved to the door to his ready room and waved a hand at the door to the woman in the green uniform and he noticed that she was a striking lady in her uniform.
“Shall we?”
Her breath hissed out between her teeth as she followed behind him. The door echo’d her sound as it closed before she rounded on him with a growl “I. Am. Retired! “ she punctuated her words each with a single poke to his chest. What the Hell were you thinking telling the brass you wouldn’t go without me!?” making a rough gesture to her stars.
“You are retired, however if you would have agreed to come on the ship for a little while, while I continue to work through my issues they wouldn’t have had to threaten you with reinstatement.” He closed his eyes and looked like he was trying to find a chakra point before continuing.
“I do not want to overstate my importance but it would not do well to have me unbalanced while in command of the flagship, would it? Besides as you know peer-to-peer counseling works far better than me laying on a couch talking to a councilor just out of the academy who still thinks I want to diddle my mother for the free love of the old gods.”
“Oh for the love of….” Pinching the bridge of her nose as if she had a headache she breathed out slowly. “I am not the only Peer to peer counselor in the universe. You are not my only patient, though you may be the most important one that is hardly the point. Damn it Azura, why the ever loving hell did you not just ask me? Nooo, instead of that you decide to uproot my entire life.”
“I didn’t have a chance. I was as much surprised to see you on the ship as you are to be on the ship, though don’t get me wrong I’m happy to see you here. While you are not the only peer-to-peer counselor you are the one I trust and it took a ridiculous amount of time to build that rapport, or do you think that’s not true?” he responded with just the same amount of sarcasm.
“I don’t doubt it” she muttered under her breath before she looked up at him as the words that he’d said actually registered through her haze of anger. He was surprised? “Who went around you, because I will garrote him or her.”
“I don’t know, I spoke to Thor that I would need to speak to you before I let the ship launch to see if you would accompany us for the next mission.” He saw the look in her eyes and he continued quickly “However I’m sure he wouldn’t threaten you with reinstatement as he too was reinstated as was Shora and they did not enjoy that overmuch and I doubt they would do the same to someone else who got out.”
“Take a note, find someone actually responsible to maim later.” A gentle smile touched her lips, even as she paced his office. Quietly she was taking note of the décor and the relative lack of tension in the man that she was coming to know quite well. “Don’t think I’m done being irritated with you however…You know you don’t have to physically be in the room with me to have sessions with me, unless you prefer my slapping you upside the head.”
Azura snorted “While not my favorite habit I doubt that SFHQ would have blessed an open communique between us. Citing security protocols and what not as the location of the Redemption is a bit of a secret. Besides, I’ve had a breakthrough, I was wanting to talk to you today after my shift. I told her, and I was able to start meditation last night.”
“Took you this long huh? Clearly she took it well. Do you want to wait until after your shift to talk about it then?” Her smirk was wicked as she cast her eyes up and down the man. “So clearly she worked off some of your tension.”
He snorted “No, I just slept. Slept well for the first time in ages with her without worrying about hurting her. Yes it took a while, I just had to work through the fear of her, or at least her image. But there are subtle differences in her appearance to the one that tortured me.” There was a subtle growl in his voice as he spoke and remembered what that woman did to him. Every time he spoke about those times his anger was close to the surface.
That was even better than shed hoped and it showed in her smile. She knew that the copy hadn’t been programmed to be pregnant because he hadn’t known until he returned. It was beautiful actually when you think about it. “Good for you”
He nodded as he moved to the replicator, “What a terrible host I am, refreshment?”
“Anything real in that replicator, or is alcohol not being served today?”
He snorted “Sans replicator then.” He moved to the far wall of his ready room and pressed a button which caused the only painting in the room to slide to the right revealing a small bar hidden behind, the signature on the bottom right of the painting was a stylized LN. He had one of each of the main liquors hidden behind the panting. He reached up and pulled a glass from the bar and then placed two frozen rocks in the glass before pouring two fingers of a 20 year old bottle of Irish Whisky and handing it to her.
“Well well well, Cap’n color me impressed.” She raised her glass to him in salute and took a tiny sip. The flavor filled her mouth with smoky warmth before burning down to her stomach. A moment of bliss that showed in her expression as she swallowed again more slowly. “Tha’s pure lovely that is.”
“Major General can feasibly be called a visiting dignitary.” He grinned slightly as he turned and moved to the replicator to get a glass of water. He took his glass of water as the painting slid back across the bar and hid it admirably.
“So tell me General, what ails you?”
“Many a thing my friend. “ Her slow smile was the one that he was used to in his therapy sessions. “Much too much to go into right at this moment.” The black cubes clinked against the glass as she admired the amber liquid.
“I doubt that but to each their own. There is still much to do in the way of meditation, I wasn’t able to hold it or calm the waters as they were but at least I was able to see the lake.”
“I’ve never told you the whole of my story have I?” she asked him quietly, taking in the calm expression on his face and taking strength from the fact that she was truly seeming to help him.
“No, but I sense that you are just as damaged as I am. Part of the reason why we get along so well I suppose. I also figured that when you were ready you would talk about it too. Strength in numbers as it were, two old dogs working out their issues together, never leave your battle buddy.” He paused “I have more such platitudes if you need them.”
“That’s the beauty of it. You have to have some modicum of trust between soldiers, am I right?”
He raised an eyebrow in his typical fashion “Should I be offended?”
“Do you want to be offended?” she countered with a wicked grin.
“Please, and I thought we were getting somewhere and here you go with the ‘shrinks’ response. I expected better from you.” Azura retorted.
OFF:
Major General Avery O'Brien (Ret)
Peer to Peer Counselor
USS Redemption
&
Azura Ashcart
Captain
Commanding Officer
USS Redmeption
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