Letters from afar

Posted on Tue Jan 10th, 2012 @ 6:02am by

1,540 words; about a 8 minute read

Mission: Orbital Yard Project Athena I
Location: Captain T'Yuna's office

It had been an exceptionally long day. Lieutenant Commander Skylar had berated Admiral Ongaku-Chi into having her assist him with the added paperwork that the SCE Conference had generated. She supposed that was fair, although paperwork was more of Commodore Watkins' department.

She rubbed her forehead, and scowled. Then an idea came to her.

"Computer, Subspace communication authorization T'Yuna Alpha Zeta 1 4 7. Establish a link with Lieutenant Donovan, USS Relentless." T'Yuna said.

Several moments later, the link established, changing the SCE background with the words 'connecting' on front, into a personal cabin's living room. A darker-skinned man, with an odd amount of hair, which was still, unquestionably, her target, appeared on the screen.

"T!" He said, with a big grin.

"Mister Donovan, I'm jealous." T'Yuna said, with a scowl. "I'm the one who's supposed to look younger than she is. It's a genetic condition, you know."

She, of course, was referencing the fact that, despite being half-vulcan, her aging process was very Vulcan. She was 39 earth years old, yet still appeared to be in her young 20's, or plausibly, late teens.

"Yeah, it's called being a green-blooded-" Donovan started, then stopped. "What do you mean, you are jealous?" He seemed caught off guard.

An Ensign from Typhon's Engineering department, rather rudely entered, and put a PADD on her desk. He caught her glare at him, and shrugged his shoulders. Off screen, she raised her middle finger at the Ensign, and he got out, rather quickly, realizing he hadn't bothered to ring the chime to her office.

"Take a moment to shave, and perhaps you will understand, Harry." T'Yuna said, as she read the PADD, listing the confirmed speakers for the SCE Presents conference. A name, T'Pik of Vulcan, was third from the top. "Bloody hell." She muttered to herself.

"Problem?" Harold asked. He looked concerned. This was likely due to the fact that Vulcans, in general, and T'Yuna, especially, were not generally known for cursing.

"Just... My sister." T'Yuna said, with a scowl. She shook her head, briefly. Why, of all the Vulcans who had come up with Engineering, and scientific genius-level technology, did it have to be T'Pik, of Vulcan, who had both designed, and assisted the building of the prototype, of a new generation of Sensing equipment, who would be speaking at this conference.

"Your sister?" Harold prodded. He seemed nervous.

"Well, my half-sister. The full-blooded Vulcan." T'Yuna said, scowling. "Who believes she is better than me, for the same reason. She's briefing at the SCE Conference." Of course, I could simply erase her name. The problem is, of course, that Commodore Watkins will synchronize the list later, and then he'll ask why her name vanished.

"Oh, dear." Harold said, shaking his head. He seemed to be thoughtful of something.

Then, Harold dropped the coffee cup he had just replicated.

"As, apparently, is yours." T'Yuna added, with a raised eyebrow, as she read the name Jessica Donovan, PsciD, for Starfleet Communications.

"I figured. Suddenly, I'm glad I won't be there. No offense, T." Harold said, as he replicated something, out of frame, and began using it to wipe his feet clean.

"She was one of the primary Engineers behind the new communications relay devices?" T'Yuna asked. "Impressive." She wasn't just the primary engineer, T'Yuna read. Most of the theory had been written by her, and a couple of Binars. Quite fascinating-

"Don't you start. My family is always Jess this, and Jess that." Harold said, with a scowl. "I used to hate her for it. Then I met... Anyways, I've heard enough about how 'impressive' Jess is."

He looked rather hurt, by her use of that word, in regards to his sister. T'Yuna filed that information away, for future use.

"I can relate. My half-sister is a full blood Vulcan, something my grand-parents will very coyly add in to casual conversation. Despite the fact that I'm an Engineering Captain, and have had a successful career, in my own right, notably, in that, despite being nearly half a century younger than her, I've surpassed her in rank, it does not matter to them. Now, she'll be briefing at Admiral Ongaku-Chi's SCE conference, and I will not. She will take the time to rub this in." T'Yuna said. She stopped, and quirked an eyebrow. A new name on the list, caught her eye. A faint tug of a smile hinted at the edges of her mouth. "Or perhaps, she will not."

Harold had just replicated a second cup of coffee, and brought it within frame. "Oh?" He asked, apparently lost in the conversation.

"Briefing, on the Engineering prowess of Walsh & Associates sub-company, O'Reilly Weaponry manufacturing, is one, Sovik, of Vulcan, currently residing on New Kowloon." T'Yuna said, with a quirked eyebrow. She knew, full well, that Starfleet's SCE had been working closely with O'Reilly Weaponry manufacturing. The company, despite being a weapons company, specialized in less-than-lethal equipment. One Commander Vivian MacLeod, had spent quite some time, with the company, developing an electro-dampening style of phasers, and torpedoes, designed to stop an engagement, in a peaceful, and non-lethal manner.

"Insight, would be brilliant, here, T. No offense, but I'm not a telepath." Harold said, chuckling.

T'Yuna had nearly forgotten he was present. She restrained herself from smiling.

"My father, will be briefing, at the SCE conference." T'Yuna noted. "I've not seen him in 13 years." And she was looking forward to it. She was practically giddy with anticipation. Not that many people would pick up on it.

"Ah." Harold said, nodding. He actually seemed to understand.

"He's rather fond of me. And rather defensive of me. Especially, given that I'm the only one of his children that still lives, that he actually is permitted to talk to. T'Pik was adopted by my Aunt, on Vulcan. They refused to allow him to have contact with him, after he became rather emotionally distraught over the loss of a loved one, in 2304." T'Yuna said. She had read about her father, in many different databases, and questioned him, on some of it, several years ago, via their normal subspace text-only-messages. He didn't answer many of them, but the databases of psychological review did.

"2304?" Harold said, confused. That happened a lot, T'Yuna noted, when she was only halfway paying attention to her conversation with him.

"That's when dad retired from Starfleet." T'Yuna noted. She had not really noticed the slip-up, using 'dad', rather than 'father', or even 'Sovik', as she had been known to do, frequently.

"Ah." Harold said. He didn't say anything about his observation, but she had gotten to know that 'Ah.' It meant she had said something that answered a mental question about her, that he had. She didn't ask what question it was. She knew better. She'd tried that twice, and not gotten anything but a funny smile.

"Lieutenant Donovan, your duty shift begins in twenty minutes." The computer, in the background, noted.

For the second time, that morning, Harold dropped his cup of coffee. Unusual, for him, really. Normally he viewed coffee as a religiously important substance, and treated it as though it was being held in a tissue-paper container.

"Bloody hell!" Harold yelled.

T'Yuna raised an eyebrow. She knew that she was distracting him, and worse still, was only half paying attention. "I suppose I should get back to work. Sorry, Harry."

"For what?" Harold asked, wiping his feet again.

"For not having given you appropriate amount of attention, during our call." T'Yuna said, with a raised eyebrow. She had assumed that the answer was obvious.

"T, you called. I saw your face. That's good enough. Computer, freeze frame, and print." Harold added. Her screen briefly switched to the SCE logo, and the words 'on hold'. It snapped back. "Now, if you'll pardon me, I've got to get going. I've got an appointment in half an hour."

T'Yuna was not expecting such a response. It was good enough, for her, however. The faintest tug of a smile refilled her face.

"You may wish to post-pone it, once you see yourself in the mirror, Harry." T'Yuna said. "At first, I had thought you had only slept really well. Now, I note, that you seem..." She trailed off. Was it appropriate to tell him he looked like he was some 17 year old cadet, complete with cadet fuzz? Probably not...

She shook her head. "You'll see soon enough. Until next time."

Harry smiled, and nodded. "Until next time, T."

End of transmission. The screen noted, on top of the normal SCE logo, after she hit the End call button.

T'Yuna leaned back, and stretched. One of the more human tendencies she had. She only did it, while alone, and thinking.

T'Pik. Sovik. Jessica Donovan. Impressive, she thought, wryly. A family reunion?

T'Yuna privately wondered if Harold had told any of his family about her, and wondered how Jessica would react, if T'Yuna were to 'accidentally' let such information slip...

The chime rang.

Then the Ensign entered, deposited more PADDs, and left. Rather quickly.

T'Yuna scowled. Bloody paperwork. She thought to herself.
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Captain T'Yuna
SCE Commanding Officer
SCE Dispatch, Starbase Typhon

And, Via Sattelite
Lieutenant Junior Grade Harold Donovan, PsyD
Chief Counselor
USS Relentless

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