Seeing The Sun Rise - Part II

Posted on Sat Mar 19th, 2016 @ 12:17pm by Captain Li Hawke & Maxym Balasz

Mission: Further Challenges
Location: Archadia III

* Archadia *

They had sat up talking until late in the night and finally Max had given in to sleep. For Li, however, sleep proved elusive. She started by stretching out on the sofa, which lasted about ten minutes. Then she rose, wandered to the kitchen, decided she wasn’t hungry and settled for a cup of coffee which she carried out to the back deck. She briefly debated lighting a fire in the pit on the patio down at the end, then decided to hit the beach instead. She found a spot on the sand, which was still warm from the heat of the day and settled down, sipping her coffee. The waves breaking on the beach soothed her and she closed her eyes, letting the soft rumble carry her down deep inside her own thoughts.

Max had asked a question and one that deserved an answer. Who am I now?

The breeze stirred, scattering sand over her feet and with it came a memory, her last day home before joining the Berkeley. She had just returned from a month on a desert planet and only had twenty-four hours home with Rhys. She understood suddenly why this memory surfaced. It was Max’s question about whether she had ever been alone. That night of her return was the night Rhys had realized she had serious doubts about him and their relationship. He had also informed her that of the previous twelve months, she had been gone for eight of them. Now, Max was here, recalling the first reason she had pulled back from Rhys, beckoning her to move on from the loss of the other reason she had finally rejected Rhys. Sokar had come and released her from the restraint of the past three years and now, it seemed, she had come full-circle.

But still the question remained. She was Li, of course, but a Li that had lived through two attempts on her life from Rhys, had lived through all of the old Suresh’s crazy obsessions. Had she really been alone? The answer to that was yes. Three years with Sakkath and yet, the man who had been the center of her life could likely have voiced the same complaint Rhys had. Out of three years, how long had they been apart, between her away missions and his? Enough that Sakkath, ever understanding, had finally put his foot down, in a manner of speaking. It was something she and Max needed to talk about, she knew.

Another question rose now. If Max intended to wait for her, what exactly did that mean? Were they together but taking it slow? Free to see others? Not that there was anyone Li wanted to see in the romantic sense and she suspected it was the same for Max. Still, it was another question that bore asking. What she really wanted was just a little time to adjust to being Li as she knew herself to be and to do what she wanted when she wanted. She had no regrets about suiting her lifestyle to Sakkath. She had loved him deeply, but here when it was just her alone, she could admit to herself (and likely Robin soon) that cracks had been forming in that reserve. She had come dangerously close to being caught in the old Suresh’s web, and that was telling. It was the real reason she had bowed out of that assignment and left the detail to Patrick Smith.

It was time to get back to living life according to her own nature. That was not a dishonor to Sakkath, but simply facing the reality that life had, once again, changed dramatically. There were other questions, but those were intended for Oz’s ears only. She had slowly spent less and less time with Oz, Jackson, Leto and Nick. They were her circle and she missed them. Now Louie was on the station. They had survived a dangerous time on Earth and she hadn’t had a minute to see him. It was time to reconnect, with them, Suresh and Darwin….everyone. And especially Max.

The whisper of bare feet on sand reached her just as the dawn was lit by the rising sun. It was Max and already their thoughts had joined.

Good morning, my darling.

Good morning, Li, he joined her, sitting on the sand as she was. I wondered where you’d gotten off to.

Just considering the answers to the questions of the moment, she answered. I found some, along with some more questions.

Is the answer 42? He was quite sure she’d know the reference, since they’d read the story as kids.

She laughed softly and shook her head. That would be too easy. Why don’t you wander through and catch up with what I’ve come up with so far?

He did, taking a leisurely tour. “Huh. Okay. That time to adjust, Li? That’s what I thought you might need. Take as much as needed. I doubt I’ll be dating anyone, but if you feel the need... then...,” he shrugged.

“What if that someone is you?” she asked. “I have friends I want to catch up with that I’ve neglected, but they are not on a romantic basis.” She slipped her hand in his and turned her face up to catch the warmth of the rising sun.

“We can date; that’s a fine idea. How about a first date, of sorts, at... hmm... I read about Bubba’s in Darwin’s head, how about there?”

A smile lit Li’s face. “Very casual, and a messy meal. Something popular on Earth called barbecue. All this is hearsay, mind you, since I’ve never been. My Academy roommate was fond of it though.” Rhys had thought it disgusting and the memory made her laugh.

“All the more reason to try it! So, it’s a date. Bubba’s. Day after tomorrow? That’s when you’ll be back, right?”

“It may be a few more, depending on how long Oz wants to stay. She’s one of the main ones I want to catch up with. We were always close and she is one I could always be myself with, no matter what. But time, and duties always seemed to have us moving in different directions, aside from the Eden trip. I almost lost her there.” She passed to Max the memories of many times at her quarters or Oz’s or the holodeck cabana….dumplings...a bottle of wine. “See?”

“Are you two... intimate?”, Max asked

Li’s eyes widened in an instant. “Me and Oz? Or me and the cabana boy?” There was honest confusion written all over her face.

“Do holodeck entities count? You and Oralia. You don’t have to say, Li. It doesn’t matter one way or the other; I was simply curious.”

“Oh goodness no.” She began to laugh once more, liking how good it felt. “That’s not really my thing and even if it had been, it would have been a betrayal of Sakkath and our bond. No, Oz is like Leto - one of my dearest friends. We’ve been through a lot together.” She passed him an old memory of Oz and Connor, when they’d first gone out to retrieve the crashed shuttle...and keeping them alive to get back to the ship. “It’s surprising how close you get to people when you’ve spent time that deep in their minds.”

He nodded. He hadn’t ever saved someone’s life by delving that deep, but he could guess at what it felt like... hell, he didn’t really have to guess: he could read it in Li’s thoughts. He chuckled suddenly, morbidly. “You Starfleet women are tough on your men, you know.”

“That’s what Jackson and Nick always said too, but with a lot more four-letter words mixed in.” She leaned against his shoulder, her gaze now back on the waves racing to shore. “That’s part of something we need to think about - my occasional absences. Yes, I admit they were far more than occasional. Sakkath was right about that, as was Rhys.”

“You have a competent team under you, don't you? You trust them? You've trained them? They could do your job while you're out?” He knew she did; he'd met some of them and could read that Li was confident in and proud of them all. “You shouldn't need to be away all that much. How much of your absences in the last three years were by choice versus by some random event happening?”

“Only one was absolutely necessary,” she confessed. “The Eden trip. And the alternate universe was not by choice. The crew on 900 are all excellent and can do whatever they need to do, as this last rescue shows. Often I think I just missed the adventure.” She didn’t want to go into precisely why Sakkath had insisted she stop going away so much. ”You have a very good point.”

“I usually do,” some of his ego showed. “We might find that you're gone less often than you think. One day at a time, though.”

With her old restraints gone, her wanderlust might settle down, keeping her at home more, she suspected. It certainly would make Rick happy. “I might even get to work in time off more regularly, too. I have one demand for when you get back to 900. I want you to move to your own quarters. Menna may act like an old fossil, but she is about as helpless as one of the dinosaurs those fossils came from.”

He laughed at her assessment. “And about as venomous. She’s a cranky one. Maybe I could hire someone to be her go-fer, that way I won’t be needed so often.”

“That’s not a bad idea, actually. It would give you and Grax a break and free up Riley to focus on his investigation. I’ll stop in to see her of course but I’ll be back on duty soon. It will give you some needed breathing space as well as us.” She smiled at him once more. “You can promise her none of us will be strangers and then hit the trail.”

“I’ll save feeling bad for once Reva gets home; she’ll likely get a headful from Menna,” he shook his head. “That relationship, I just don’t get.”

“Which one? Reva and Menna? Is she really that prejudiced? Deep down I mean?” Li asked. “She seems so attached to Grax but sometimes I get the feeling it’s a control thing, though I’ve not been around her much in years.”

“It is a control thing - disappointment, too. Menna wanted to have the family continued by her lineage. But Grax’s ... um... Orion affliction prevented that. I don’t think Menna had any prejudice before Europa and Reva, but definitely now.”

A sudden thought struck Li. “She would have said the same thing had Sakkath gotten what he wanted,” Li murmured. “Another part-something.”

“Oh, yes. She’s not thrilled about Lucius spreading his particular wealth around and I’m not sure she even knows about Julisa.”

“Well, since mother knows, it’s likely Menna knows too.” She picked up a small curled shell and bent to examine it. “That may be why she’s already brought up...children for us.”

“Oh, definitely. Right now, she’s seeing the family’s line peter out. It’s making her nervous, probably because she’s getting so old. Are you open to having children?”

“I hadn’t ever thought about it because of being in the field, and then here, once I became XO, I was too busy to consider it. The subject had come up not long ago though.” She shrugged. “Eventually, yes. What about you?”

“Yes,” he nodded then laughed, “We should adopt a mixed species child. Chap Menna’s ass.”

Li patted his hand gently. “She will be gone soon and we can settle in at our own pace. I like to keep them guessing. It drives my mother crazy.”

“Good thing I’m a mind reader - that almost sounded like you meant she’d be dead. She’ll leave once she’s seen Reva and made sure that Riley won’t make the mistake of marrying her.”

“Is this something I can help with?” she asked. “To change Menna’s mind? She likes me, maybe I can reason with her.”

“I don’t know, Li. Sometimes, I think Reva just needs to grow up and tell Grandma to buzz off. Then I think that Grax should have had the balls to stand up to his mom...,” he shook his head. “I don’t recommend getting involved, honestly.”

“Perhaps Reva might surprise you both then.” Li leaned in to nudge him gently. “She’s changed quite a lot since she got to 900.” She paused now and tilted her face up to kiss his cheek. “How soon do you have to go?”

He laughed, “I’d stay all day and night, but you have a girlfriend coming for you.”

“Friend,” she corrected and laughed. “If you’re determined to...ah….wait….how about a walk down and back before you have to go? Unless I can change your mind?”

“Change my mind about what?”

Li laughed aloud. “As I recall, you are the one who said we came down here to fool around without being overheard.”

He laughed, “Oh, I’d forgotten about that. We have lots of time, Li.”

“We do,” she agreed. “So, let’s at least hit the water before you have to go.” She leaned in to kiss him, then jumped to her feet. “Last one in is a rotten egg, as Jackson says.”

Rather slower than she was, Max headed for the water after her, laughing.

******************
Captain Li Hawke
Ambassador Maxym Balasz
Riding The Waves