I'll See You Home
Posted on Thu Feb 14th, 2013 @ 6:52am by Lieutenant Riley Sukotav & Commander Patrick Leroy
Mission:
The Struggle Within
Location: The Hammond - Alternate Dimension
“Now… Now…” Aleksa murmured adjusting a flock of hair behind Faye’s ear kissing her forehead. “It’s all over, Bad Quake has gone away.”
Faye nodded sniffing, eyes wet with tears, and buried her face in Aleksa’s neck.
The Hammond had shaken with force in the transition and this had frightened Faye convincing the child to abandon her beloved toys sending her running for mommy.
Aleksandra hadn’t been afraid, though. The starship could have well taken much more punishment than that before their lives could have been in danger. For her It had been indeed a relief… A tangible sign of their returning home…
Moments later, the chime at Aleksa's door rang softly and Riley stood waiting in the corridor. He'd assured Commander Leroy that he would oversee this Aleksa's return to the station and it was time to get her ready to depart.
"Come in," Aleksa responded to the chime cradling Faye in her arms. The doors opened revealing a young science officer.
"Have you come to bring news of the passage through the portal?" she asked a hint of anxiety in her tone.
Riley stepped in and as the doors closed, he nodded. "Lt. Riley Sukotav, Chief Science Officer of the Hammond. I assured Commander Leroy that I'd make sure that you two were escorted back to the station and settled in. The passage through the portal was a bit rough but it seems we did it. We are back at your 900." And that was as far as he got. Only then did he really look at this Aleksa and felt himself get speechless in an instant. He groaned inwardly. This was so not the time to get tongue-tied.
"I take it you're working with him? No.. you're not." Aleksa smiled "You don't look that drawn."
"Please, help yourself with the replicator if you want something to drink." She offered after some instant of embarrassed silence "And tell me, when are we going to dock? Are there hostiles between us and the base?"
Riley blinked at her, digging down to find an answer to her several questions. This was his first look at the woman who’d mysteriously been drawn into his universe from the alternate one. He could understand why Tess had been so concerned back on the station over the situation and Commander Leroy and the CDO. This Aleksa was lovely. Belatedly, he realized she was waiting for an answer, so he ran back through the questions in his head.
“Umm....Yes..and no. I mean I do but not his direct staff. I’m not sure what you mean by drawn. And....a few minutes yet and no.” He paused, relieved that he’d gotten all that out. Except his last answer cleared up nothing. “I mean no hostility...er..hot...I mean hostiles.” Wow, could he be any more embarrassed than he was right now? He wondered if the temperature in her quarters was exceptionally high or if it was just him.
“Theo!” Faye exclaimed pointing her little finger to Riley.
Theo? Riley looked utterly confused by what she said. “Who’s Theo?”
“C’mon Faye go and gather up all of your toys now.” Aleksa said putting her down with a gentle pat on the back to douse the child’s mild protests. Then she turned again to Riley. “That’s Theo,” she said pointing to a cute doll with deep red circles on its cheeks. “For an instant you seemed brothers” Aleksa chuckled. “Is Faye’s favoured.”
“Oh, I see.” Riley’s face burned hotter at the comparison. He certainly felt like Theo at the moment, and wondered if she would mind if he excused himself to bang his head against the wall of her living room.
“And getting back to drawn... I know that Patrick isn’t that easy to get along at work. He has a tendency to overclock his collaborators.” She ended sitting on the sofa an eye to the child scooping up her toys. “I’ve never met you here...” She observed thoughtfully “Well you understand what I mean.”
“I was on a ship whose mission was to explore the outer reaches of the Delta Quadrant.” Riley was surprised to hear his words come out smoothly now, but something about her quiet voice seemed to have a soothing effect on him. “It is likely that I am still far from 900 in this reality. A shame too, I’m sure they could have used us in the attack.”
“Perhaps is better this way. The attack was so sudden and forceful...” Her words lingered between them as she stared to some invisible point behind him. She breathed deeply then. “In a few hours all the world I used to know crumbled to dust.”
Her words hit Riley hard and he moved over to the empty chair near her. “May I?” At her nod, he sat down. “I can’t imagine what that’s like. And then getting pulled through the portal out of the blue to end up in another dimension....” Riley paused a moment. “Who’s here for you?”
“Patrick must be here.” She replied hurriedly then fell silent as situation and lack of knowledge mixed with sheer hope.
“If he is, then we will find him, I promise you that.” He watched as Faye vanished into the other room and looked back to Aleksa. “You should get ready.”
“I am,” she smiled. “I’ve been doing that for all last days. And I haven’t many possessions with me here... Just my new uniform,” she ended pinching her collar.
Riley appeared suddenly ill at ease and, looking over and seeing Faye occupied playing in the other room, he moved over to sit down beside Aleksa on the sofa. He rubbed his forehead and finally spoke. “Aleksa, I’m afraid I haven’t been quite truthful with you.” He kept his voice soft so it wouldn’t carry in to Faye.
“Truthful? About what? What do you mean?” She asked looking at him a hint of suspicion flashing in her blue eyes.
“I didn’t want to say anything in front of Faye.” He’d slipped back into duty mode and the words came out without a hitch, as hard as they were to say to her. “I checked on your Patrick’s status via the computer once we passed through the portal.”
The smile died on Aleksandra’s lips as her eyes narrowed the blue of her irises taking on an icy hue “What have you found?”
“I thought it might come a little better from me than from an impersonal computer screen. I--I’m sorry Aleksa, he’s gone.” His voice remained soft. “I wish so much that I had other news to give you.”
Her eyes widened as his words hit home like a hammer through a glass sheet, sending all of her hopes into a million shards in a heartbeat.
“It cannot be,” she gasped through trembling lips, the mist of tears blurring her vision. In that awkward moment when you realize your life has stopped yet your heart is still pounding, your body numb. “You’re wrong. You must be wrong.” the words seething from her mouth as magma under the crust ready to explode.
Riley closed his eyes a moment and finally shook his head. “No,” he whispered. “He was with a group who’d taken a stand in sickbay, according the the information there. Details are sketchy still, it seems the station was hit very hard and power was down until recently. I am....so sorry.” He fell silent, watching her anxiously.
She stood from the sofa breathing deeply, desperately fighting back the lump in her throat as tears lined her cheeks. Her head turned at the sound of giggles coming from the other room.
“Leave me alone, please,” she murmured on the verge of breaking, hand going to her mouth biting hard on her knuckles.
“Aleksa...” Riley was on his feet in an instant, hating seeing such pain on her face. He reached out resting a hand on her shoulder and turning her around gently. “Let me... do something...maybe take Faye for a walk and give you some time? We’re docking and...” He stopped, at a complete loss. Finally he gave in and wrapped her into a tight hug, offering what comfort he could, even though she really didn’t know him.
She did not resist, all the pain coming suddenly out in desperate sobs and shudders. “Take me back,” she said in a broken whisper after a while.
Riley felt a sudden spike of surprise and something else...was it worry that rushed through him? “Back? With me? I mean to my 900?”
Stepping back with a sniff she wiped the tears with the back of the hand. “N-no... That’s not possible,” she stuttered trying to rally herself, her mind spinning in circles. All ending at the thought of a half-Klingon woman. “My life is here. What remains of it.” She smiled in bitter irony. “I... I have to take care of Faye now.”
“Aleksa. Wait.” Riley bit his lip as he considered her. “If that’s what you want, I will speak with Admiral Wegener.”
“It’s no use. I would be forever a stranger looking at familiar faces who I know are not the ones I love. Now... Now I have to find a way to tell Faye.”
“Think about it? Please? You know they would make you welcome and I’ll do whatever I can for you once we’re back home.” Riley blinked, surprised at his words. Had those really come out of his mouth? He smiled, keeping the surprise out of his expression. His comm badge beeped and a voice informed him they had docked. “Maybe telling her can wait till you’ve decided?”
Aleksandra nodded wearily. Eyes closed she breathed deeply passing her hands through hair “Have to prepare for boarding now. See you in the transporter room in a while.”
She moved then leaning herself, arms crossed, on the door jamb and watching inside the other room where the sound of giggles and toys strewn about came forth.
A soft smile forced its way through her lips, deeply contrasting with the sadness in her eyes.
***********************
Lt. Riley Sukotav
Making An Offer he Hadn’t Expected
Ens Aleksandra Levkova Beta
Suddenly Missing Half Of Her Sky
