The Concern of the Queen

Posted on Thu Jan 22, 2015 @ 11:02am by Lieutenant Cassandra Kennings & Lieutenant Penelope Naroot

1,585 words; about a 8 minute read

Mission: All this has happened before...
Location: The Gardens
Timeline: Just after the holodeck

Cassandra hadn't had many off-duty hours since she'd hung her shingle out. Most people didn't realize the stresses that came from being so far from their homes. It wasn't something they could pin down, but the further someone was from their comfort zone, the easier it became to feel stress. Starfleet officers liked to think of the stars as their home, but being 70,000 light-years away from parents, friends, childhood memories and so forth, put a subconscious strain on everyone, and many of the crew were coming to her to vent that strain.

When she wasn't in her office, however, she was in The Gardens. She'd changed the listing on the ship's manifest so it no longer simply read as a cargo bay. More than an arboretum, it had flowering and fruit-bearing plants almost everywhere on the walls and ground, with paths between and small clearings to rest in. In the center was a large, shallow reflecting pool, and above them, holoimagers projected a blue sky with a few scattered fluffy clouds. It was idyllic by human standards, colorful by non-human standards, but overall it was a familiar setting for people who spent the majority of their time staring at steel-blue bulkheads.

It was also Cassandra's magic lab.

She had come by her abilities by accident, absorbing them from an exposure to the people of Megas-Tu, and amplified by contact with the Galactic Barrier. Because of that, she didn't have a thorough understanding of how her powers worked, merely a knowledge
that they did. It was almost an unconscious effect now. She didn't have to think about how to move her foot when she wanted to walk, she simply took a step. In much the same way, she didn't have to think about conjuring up something, or transporting herself.

It had been one of her largest frustrations at The Questor Group. They'd been fascinated to learn the mechanics of her abilities, and she'd written several papers, but nothing that she could pin down. They were patient, and they allowed her to work on her own projects in the mean time, but it was always on her mind. Still, much like an athlete would train and attempt new feats with his muscles, Cassandra did the same with her abilities. Anything she could accomplish that she could see, measure and quantify would become invaluable later.

She reached into her handbag and pulled out her gold compact. She was often looking into it, but she rarely cared about her own, typically flawless reflection. The compact fit on the palm of her hand, was smooth on the bottom, and on the top side it had a picture of an eye in a triangular pyramid, rays of light shooting out from it in every direction. The symbol had names ranging from "The All-Seeing Eye" to "The Eye of Providence." She wasn't sure which the Megans preferred, all she knew was what it could do.

She flipped it open and smiled. In the mirror was, rather than her own face, was a vision of a large building in San Francisco. She blinked, and the scene changed, showing her fiance Richard, sitting inside their apartment on their couch. *I really need to convince him to move to the country,* she thought.

She walked up to the reflective pool and knelt down by it. Surrounding the pool were five benches for visitors to sit, and five tall, stone pedestals, similar to to the style and arrangement in her office. She placed her compact in the water, then lifted it out and placed it on one of the pedestals, resting it at an angle in a small groove, the mirror facing the pool of water.

The surface of the reflective pool, previously showing the holographic blue sky above, suddenly flashed and showed her the vision of Richard in their apartment. At this size, she was able to discern many more details; his fingers tapping on his knee, the scrunch of his nose, and the fact that his eyes weren't actually looking at the padd in his hand. *I miss you too,* she thought, wishing she could reach out and touch him.

The doors to the bay opened and she immediately plucked her compact off the pedestal, the pool once again showing the blue sky above. She turned to greet the newcomer, and was somewhat surprised to see it was Penny, and what's more, she looked preoccupied, even mildly worried. "Hello, Penny," she said.

"Hey, Cassie," Penny said, walking up and giving Cass a hug.

Cassandra hugged her back and sat them down on a nearby bench. "Are you all right?"

"I had a date," Penny said. "Another date."

"With Chief Barnes?" Cassandra said. Penny had sounded so chipper after their first time. Surfing was something she enjoyed, as much as she was capable of enjoying things, and Cassandra had been glad to hear the transporter chief was relaxing and enjoying himself again.

Penny nodded. "We were in the holodeck again. On Blue Horizon."

"Beautiful place," Cassandra said. "A very romantic choice."

"Actually, I chose it because I thought the waterfall was neat. I thought maybe we could swim, scale the cliffs, go diving maybe."

"And instead?" Cass prompted after a moment of silence.

"We swam, he kissed me, we had sex," Penny said matter-of-factly.

"Oh," Cassandra said.

"That part was very romantic," Penny said, brightening a bit. "While we were kissing, he rolled me onto my back and--"

Cassandra swiftly held up a hand to stop her. "I don't need the play-by-play," she said.

"I don't get why organics are so shy about discussing their sexual habits." Penny said.

"We'll save that talk for another time," Cassandra said. "What happened after?"

"He needed rest, so we were lying together, mostly quiet. It gave me time to analyze the experience. It took some time but I was able to distinguish and quantify 87 out of 88 emotions and experiences I processed."

"87 out of 88?" Cassandra gave her a surprised look.

Penny nodded. "There is one impulse I couldn't isolate and identify, and I'm concerned it's causing malfunctions." She stood up and paced a bit. "After he went back to his quarters, I found myself distracted for over 3.5 seconds thinking about him. I wanted to follow him back to his quarters, and I couldn't focus. I ran a diagnostic, nothing appears wrong, but I can't account for why I'm wanting to be back there when our date's over."

Cassandra smiled. "Sounds like, you like him."

"Well, yeah I like him fine," Penny said. "But I like a lot of people."

"No," Cassandra said, "I mean, you have feelings for him. You're establishing an emotional connection."

"You think so?" Penny said, suddenly thrilled.

"It seems reasonable," Cassandra said. "If you were human, I'd say you have a bit of a crush. Maybe even an infatuation."

"Wow..." Penny said, processing this new data. "Cool!" She jumped and clapped her hands, grinning ear to ear. She tilted her head, getting her 'distracted' look again. "I wonder if he's happy," she said. "He was smiling when he left. I don't know where he is now."

Cassandra flipped open her compact and looked at it closely, and smiled, snapping it closed. "He's lying in his cabin, and still smiling."

"Aw that's good," Penny said, then looked thoughtful. "I wonder if I should go drop by."

"Penny, I know you've spent a good amount of time analyzing and interpreting what happened, but he hasn't, and his processing is much slower than yours. Let him absorb and digest what happened," Cass said.

Penny nodded sagely. "Right...cool, good idea," she said. "Gives you time to advise me of what to expect, so I can make some projections of discussions we'll have, that way I'm prepared."

"Penny," Cassandra admonished, "you can't plan out a potential relationship like that."

"Why not?" Penny said.

"Because a first love affair isn't something I can completely advise you on," Cass said, crossing her legs. "Some of us learn by observation, some by research, but when it comes to love, we all have to put our hand in the fire for ourselves."

"That sounds....painful," Penny said.

Cass smiled. "It can be, but also educational. But the bottom line, Penny, is that you need to take this one day at a time, just like he is."

Penny nodded. "Okay. 89: trepidation."

Cass gave her a sympathetic smile. "There's one other factor you should consider," she said.

"What's that?"

"The fact that he doesn't know he didn't make love to a human," Cassandra said solemnly. "If things get serious between you, there will come a point where you will need to tell him."

Penny shrugged. "There are protocols for that," she said.

"But not when it involves someone you're intimately involved with in a romantic relationship," Cass said. "But we'll cross that bridge if we need to. In the mean time, enjoy the experience."

Penny smiled. "Oh I will! It's been fun so far, I'm sure it'll stay that way. Thanks Cass," she said, hugging Cassandra again.

Cass hugged her back hard. Cass had been their previous ship's 'little sister' for a while until Penny came aboard. Cass found she liked the role of big sister, especially when Penny started out so naive. She'd grown some, but Cass knew she had so far to go. She walked Penny to the exit and smiled as she left, glad that she'd reached this stage of maturity so soon.



Joint Post

Cassandra Sanders
Ship's Counselor

Penelope Naroot
CFCO

 

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