STF

Another New Ship

Posted Sept. 25, 2021, 10:28 p.m. by Lieutenant Junior Grade Sharah Fayth (Medical) (Jennifer Ward)

Posted by Lieutenant Markus Woods (Chief Science Officer) in Another New Ship

Posted by Lieutenant Junior Grade Sharah Fayth (Medical) in Another New Ship

Posted by Lieutenant Markus Woods (Chief Science Officer) in Another New Ship

Sharah couldn’t believe how many times she’d transferred duty stations since she had graduated from the Academy. But after that last mission on Ark Angel it was apparent to her that she was NOT cut out to be Chief Science Officer. Ollie had gone off to places unknown, Joseph…she missed him, she mourned him because she had no idea what had happened to him. Tabris left with his kids. She missed them, her goddaughter and godsons. But she wrote every week. She was happy for them. It was time to go back to what she was meant to do and that was being a doctor. So it wasn’t a demotion in rank, but she was no longer a member of the senior staff and she’d had to take a transfer to a new ship. That was okay with her. There were too many memories on Ark Angel.

She liked the sickbay here on Viking. A lot of the crew had left or transferred and so there were openings. She enjoyed learning from the Klingon CMO. And now totally on her own, she was working hard to control her…illness....her ‘condition’. She knew she’d never be able to turn it off, but she would get closer if she just kept at it. And one of those things would always be her plants.

And that is where Sharah found herself, every day, after her shift, in the arboretum, listening to the music, her hands deep in the dirt, helping to care for the plants. She couldn’t turn off the rest of the noise, but the music she heard here was joyful and beautiful.

Fayth

Deck 15 was away from the more populated areas of the ship. It was more utilitarian in general. The arboretum was still new, but teeming with life. Half of it was dedicated to botanical pursuits, medicinal plants and decorative plants. A significant portion of the rest was dedicated to gardening, providing food sources for the crew. While replicator food was healthy and generally good, fresh food kept the energy requirements down and could often make for better meals. The whole thing helped with morale in so many ways, and was entirely volunteer-maintained.

Terraces and vertical farming planters abounded as well as hanging plants and planters from the ceiling. The air was warm at around 26°C (80°F), and moderate humidity, with the ventilation system keeping a gentle breeze moving throughout. The smell of loamy, earthy soil, fresh plants, fresh air, and moisture filled the air. It was as close to being outdoors as one could imagine, save for maybe a good holodeck sim.

The doors to the arboretum opened quietly, allowing Markus to slip inside. He’d changed out of his Science blues, or at least the top, swapping for an indigo shirt and a gray hoodie with the sleeves pushed up to around his elbows. The full spectrum lighting was welcome and as the humidity and warmth washed over the man he felt a layer of stress peel off of him. Making his way farther in, the doors sealed, keeping the canned air of the corridor out.

He took a few moments to stop and smell the roses, figuratively and quite literally as one of the crew had a small cluster of them growing not far from the doors. Instead his more hurried pace he’d come in with, he strolled at a leisurely pace along one row of flowers and plants only to come around the corner and almost trip over another of the crew who was working away, and listening to something upbeat.

“Oh, sorry,” he said, reflexively reaching out a hand as if to forestall their fall, catch them, or offer something to grab onto if they did fall. The other reached up to pull out a small bud from one ear. “I didn’t really do a thorough check to see if anybody else was in here.” Momentarily he kicked himself for being a clumsy idiot. For a scientist who’d been through a few vape fights and handled his own in kickboxing tournaments, was a general sports enthusiast, he still managed to do dumb stuff from time to time.

Woods

Sharah had ‘heard’ him coming, not focusing on what the ‘noise’ sounded like or the specific thoughts that were being said. And so she had moved out of the way…sort of. She tended to get so immersed with the plants that she lost herself. She had been warned over and over again not to do that. However, it was the only relief that she got from the constant bombardment, the turbulent ocean that she couldn’t control. Most days she surfed above it able to maintain the boat and it’s position. Other days she simply kept it from capsizing, and others she drowned. The plants were simple, their emotions basic, their needs few. Their consciousness was on a deeper more primal level.

And that is what had her working in this particular bed today, the music, their harmony was disrupted. One of the red campion’s roots had gotten tangled and it was strangling. And so she’d been working and digging and gently untangling, moving about to undo the knot and had ended up, she was no longer in the flower bed, but in the middle of the path as she worked.

So as Woods came around and almost tripped over her, she had moved away from the new ‘noise’ - instinctual - but not quite far enough or fast enough. She ended up semi crashed into a sitting position in the dirt from where she’d been crouching. And with the sudden pull back to reality so did her awareness of the noise and storm that raged around her, making her wince noticeably with a sharp intake of breath. She resisted the urge to pull at her hair. “Sorry,” she saw the hand extend from her peripheral vision, and instinctively moved away. Betazoids didn’t need touch to use their telepathy, it was strong enough without it, and Sharah was…well Sharah, and stronger than most. She’d learned a long time ago that touch made the noise significantly worse. So she’d learned to avoid casual contact. “I should not have been working in the middle of the path…” She pulled herself up an inquisitive look crossing her face as she turned to look at the person she’d tripped, “Oh…it’s you.”

Fayth

As she shied away, he picked up the apprehension, the spike in anxiety and discomfort. His presence was a bother. Mark drew both hands up and back in front of him, in a near-universal sign of peace and placation while drawing in a small breath. The ‘noise’ of his thoughts weren’t so much noise at all. He didn’t generally have an inner monologue droning on. Instead, he observed, listened, and took everything in, present in the moment, without judging for the most part. “It’s alright, I should have been watching where I was going. I let my guard down and got lost in all this,” he said with a small smile. He recognized her as fast as she recognized him. Shifting, he sat on the edge of the planter nearby, coming down more to her level lest he tower over her. “It’s you,” he echoed, breaking into a brighter smile. Though few had seen him smile since shortly after coming aboard, and now he had a slightly haunted look. That haunted look evaporated as warm sunshine peeked through the clouds over his soul and his face lit up with new life. “I’m Mark, by the way,” he said with a slight hint of a Texas style drawl poking through at the very end.

Woods

Much as she had in the shuttle bay she was intrigued and caught off guard by the stillness and calm of his thoughts. It wasn’t unique, but it was rare. The last time she’d encountered a mind like that was when she was 12 and her parents had taken her to Andoria to study with the Aenar. She smiled slightly at his ‘peace’ gesture. It wasn’t him or that he bothered her, it was just…it was her. Her delicate and easily over balanced equilibrium. “It’s easy to get lost in here,” she smiled brighter looking around. “It’s a wonderful place to lose oneself.” She moved around the plant she’d been working on so that she could continue to face him. Sharah enjoyed talking to people and being social, but her social battery drained quickly. But the poor plant was miserable and she could feel it and it wasn’t in her to ignore something that was hurting. She gently lifted a tangle of roots, her fingers deftly but gently working each tendril loose. She looked back up at him when he spoke. “I’m Sharah. It’s nice to meet you, Mark,” Her voice carried what people thought of as a Betazoid accent, but it was slightly different, carrying an additional smoothness, indicative of the region where she grew up.

Fayth

“Sharah,” he echoed as though sampling the name, then nodded once, slowly as he mentally filed it away for later. “Pleasure’s all mine,” he replied. “I apologize about earlier. i hope I didn’t intrude. Don’t run into too many tele-empaths out here. So when I saw you, felt you, I acted on instinct, without thought.”

Sharah shook her head, “You didn’t intrude. Instinct is instinct and we have it for a reason.” She grinned, almost a laugh, she found something he said funny. “Perhaps with instinct but not without thought. One can not communicate telepathically without thought.” Something else he said had her looking directly at him, head tipped to the side, obsidian eyes contemplating him. “There are more tele-empaths around than you realize, but I’ve only met less than a handful with your…level of self-control.”

Still sitting, he watched her work. Once he understood her efforts, in a second or so, he smiled inside and out and gave a small nod, even if she wasn’t looking. Though as he sat there his mind went from a steady quiet flow to rapidly growing questions and thoughts. Unlike most people, she could hear that noise, and realizing it, he flushed with embarrassment. The noise snapped off like a sheet of scored glass, a perfect break or perfect cut. After a few seconds, a silent apology followed. Wordless, but the feeling was there, quiet and like motes of dust flitting through a sunbeam.

She could hear the questions, they were…louder and clearer than the ocean of noise swirling around her. It was surprising, after the utter stillness. As his questions made their way into her thoughts, the answers were returned to him. Her mental touch was light and delicate. Something her doctors had always said was surprising considering her condition. People like her were never expected to achieve so much, but then again, most like her didn’t survive to adulthood. She looked up at him and shook her head in silent acknowledgement of his apology but Markus would feel she didn’t find it necessary.

“I tend to be more curious than cautious sometimes. I wanna know all the things,” he added aloud, breaking into a smile. “It can be a bad habit, but it’s the makings of a good investigator or science officer.”

Woods

“Nothing wrong with curious, it’s the making of a good doctor as well. By all means ask away…just a warning, I’m very enthusiastic about my work.”

Fayth

Most of the questions had been directed inward. How do I not screw this next part up? What can I get away with? So on and so forth. There was a sense of pressure to not screw things up. He was a bit out of practice interacting outside of work. Much less with the opposite sex, and someone that could read him like a book, even if he were invisible. Much less someone he liked and felt drawn to. Some were general curiosities about her, things he hoped to get to know. Family, friends, likes and dislikes. The usual getting to know a person. But he’d pulled back. This wasn’t something to rush. And of course he’d let slip a lot in that second or two. But she laid that bit of worry to rest with a gracious and light mental touch.

A small, pleased smile rested on his face. A little bit of nervousness skittered through him again, tiny little sparks of it now and again. He could pick up the same from her, but not the underlying cause. “You’re right about the thought thing. I meant more that I was inconsiderate. But sometimes… instinct is good. Things just happen naturally.” he shrugged one shoulder. “No need to over-think it.” He let his hands drop into his lap, then chuckled quietly at himself. “I should take my own advice.”

Woods

Sharah was good at keeping her own thoughts to herself, it was blocking out others that was outside of her capability. She didn’t say it, but his thoughts about wanting to know more about her, curiosity, interest, attraction, were all things she’d ‘heard’ before from others. It didn’t have to be directed at her, she heard it anyway. It was unsettling to hear someone else’s thoughts and how they found themselves attracted to others…those were intimate thoughts and Sharah hated hearing them. Even if they were directed towards her. Such thoughts had created a type of trauma for her since she was very little. But she’d worked through a lot of that with Di’nui, the CNS on her last posting. Now, she might be embarrassed, or unsure how to respond to such thoughts directed about her, but at least such stray thoughts didn’t capsize her little boat now. At least not most of the time. “It’s good advice. No one knows that better than me.”

She looked down at what she was doing and then to the side at the tools in a small bin just out of reach. “Could you hand me watering can?” The roots were stuck and tangled in dry hard packed dirt, making it hard to untangle. She started singing softly, but Markus would hear it, but it wasn’t verbal or telepathic, it was empathic, and he would sense her total focus was on the plant in front of her.

Fayth

The flash that followed as she reoriented caused him to draw back a bit. He’d stepped on a mine. At her request for the water can he nodded. It was almost a third of a meter out of reach for him. Instead of getting up, his hand stretched out and then it slid into his grip? It was hard to tell from only the corner of one’s vision. Effortlessly he passed it to her, turning it so he presented it handle first. “Here ya go.” He’d gone mentally silent by then, the noise of his thoughts gone. But his emotions were still there in a mix of chagrin consternation, determination, and focus. All directed inward. He wasn’t exactly beating himself up, but he wasn’t happy either.

Sharah felt a strange energy almost telepathic but not. She allowed it to flow past her without further thought. There were so many things it could be and so many species and people on board she wasn’t concerned by it. She looked up and smiled her thanks. “Thank you, Markus,” as she took the can. She poured a little over the tangle.

For the moment he simply returned to watching, observing. Everything from body language, to the way she approached her task, tone of voice, or in this case, mental and emotional context. Not that he was trying to intrude, but rather taking in more information, learning, filing away for later. After a minute or two, he considered excusing himself. He’d only come in to relax for a minute and get a couple items for making himself something to eat, choosing to cook rather than purely replicate.

But the empathic song, while directed at the plant soothed his own nerves and he found his shoulders dropping, relaxing once more. Allowing himself the simple pleasure of listening, and letting it take him somewhere else. Closing his eyes, he seemed to almost fall into meditation, listening, becoming not just silent but still within a few seconds.

Woods

Sharah continued to work as her empathic ‘song’ continued to flow and spread. It promised the warmth of the sun and security of rich loam, and brought to mind a playful breeze and refreshing rain. There was no way to know what images a person would as robe to those feelings, but the feelings conveyed would be the same: peace, security, happiness.

Finally, the roots were untangled. With one hand she held the bush out of the soil while with the other she dug a deeper hole and loosened the dirt. She gently placed the roots into the loosened dirt and gently began to fill the space until the Champion was secure in its new spot with plenty of room to spread out. She looked up at Markus and gasped softly seeing him in a meditative like state. She knew though what had happened - her. She quieted the song slowly. She didn’t want to startle him. After there was guilt and apology. Her voice was very quiet, “I am so sorry. I didn’t mean to do that.” She quickly started putting things back in the crate, while she mentally berated herself and reminded herself again why she was supposed to always never forget to be in control. And here she thought she might actually have a normal conversation, but she wasn’t normal.

Fayth


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