Visiting Hours

Posted on Thu Jun 8th, 2017 @ 12:13am by Lieutenant Valeria Mordin

Mission: Awakening
Location: Kevin Kilbane's Quarters
Timeline: Current.

Having heard of the recent issues one of her crew mates was experiencing, the resident rabbitess decided it was best to check in on them. Hearing that it was Kevin had her doubly intrigued. To her, he seemed rather level headed if not a bit impulsive. To hear he was in such a state, she made her way over once her duties permit and found his quarters.

She stood at the doorway for a few moments, deciding if this was appropriate. If this was necessary. They weren't the greatest of friends, but they were in no way enemies. They were crew mates, which at the very least commanded her concern. After a grueling few moments, she pressed the announcer chime.

Kevin sat staring into space, his thoughts drifted back and forth between what was and then and what was now. His reverie was broken by the sound of the door chime sounding. Standing up he walked over to the door and pressed the button to open it.

Valeria Mordin stood before him, and Kevin was slightly taken aback. He tried to recall if he was meant to meet with the rabbitess and he'd simply forgotten, or if there was something else.

"I...eh...sorry, was I...meant to meet..." he began, but soon the confusion tripped his mouth up so he just said "Sorry" again and stared.

They say the eyes were the windows to the soul. Given that the eyes of the Ts'usugi reflected nothing, It was hard to tell if their souls were greedy, or just that deep.

"If i came at a troubling time, I apologize. I can comeback later in the shift if that is better?" She offered, her voice soft, especially considering his apparent confusion. Was he waiting for someone else?

"I heard you weren't well, and wanted to check in." Such a silly human custom, but she was told it would help.

"Yes, I've been unwell" Kevin parroted, then suddenly remembered his manners "Would you like to come in Lieutenant?"

"Thank you." at his offer of hospitality, she gave a nod. Once beyond the threshold of the doorway, she'd give his living quarters a cursory once over. Idle curiosity and such.

"I wasn't told the specifics, but if you wish to share I'd certainly listen." Her ears gently twitched, to draw attention to them

Kevin came back into the room and sat down on his favourite high backed chair, offering for Valaria to sit as well.

"It's kind of difficult to describe" Kevin began "I've apparently been on this trajectory for a while, ever since being recovered from CX-136, do you know of that?"

When offered, she sat and made herself comfortable. She was his guest, after all. "I know all about living a life seeming planned out. It didn't suit me." she said with a soft smile, "I'm unfamiliar with the event in question. Do you want to talk about it?" she offered.

"It was my previous ship, the USS Frannery, we were..." and he stopped talking, as if thinking of it hurt. He took a deep breath and began again "We were sent to try and stop a group calling themselves 'The Collective' from attacking the ships in the local quadrant. We weren't expecting them to be so heavily armed, and our ship took quite a beating, eventually we crash landed on the planet CX-136. We fought them hand to hand for what seemed like days, and in the end, Captain Zamos surrendered so that no more of his crew would be killed. He believed that 'The Collective' would tend to our sick and injured and also treat us, the survivors, fairly. How wrong could we be..."

She listened, as her perked ears laid evidence to, as Kevin spoke. When he stumbled, she spoke up, "I believe I can imagine the rest. You don't have to continue if you don't think you can." her voice was as soft as ever. "There are many stories on Ts'usu about the cruelty of the enemy, and how the best way to avoid underestimation is to believe that nothing is beneath them."

She then did something odd. Perhaps all the customs of the Alpha Quadrant folks was rubbing off on her, but she reached across the gulf of space between them and offered Kevin her hand.

"I presume they feel that this is something you must deal with, for the rest of your career if not your life?"

Kevin sat forward and took her hand in his. It was an automatic reaction, such as the story of someone who is drowning would clutch at a passing piece of straw.

"They tortured us, day after day" he said through gritted teeth "and they found new and more horrible ways as time passed. There was one day they came for me, and I was dragged about a quarter of a mile through gravel. We got to a clearing and they strung me up in a reverse arm tie. They beat the soles of my feet with sticks till I nearly passed out, but I wouldn't say anything. Finally, they brought Ensign Terser out and told me that unless I told them what they wanted, they would break her bones one by one. Terser told me not to say anything, she pleaded with me not to talk, even though they broke her bones with plyers, metal bars, their kicks and riffle butts. She screamed...she screamed...she scream..." and he broke down in tears.

Such graphic detail of such a brutal account the rabbitess hadn't heard in her entire life. With each new inventive torture, Valeria inwardly questioned the sanity of her people showing interest in this quadrant. Perhaps the warmongers were right after all? No... the deeds of a single faction shouldn't condemn an entire quadrant.

It showed the kind of people the Ts'usugi were when, while Kevin cried, she did not compel him to stop with soft words. She didn't assure him that he was alright, and that they couldn't hurt him anymore. She simply gave his hand a soft squeeze after a moment or two of his tears, to pull him back to the moment. Her eyes were almost hollow, they cast no reflection of the room around them. Even the lights above cast no glare in those pools of blue.

Were this the Empire, she'd ask about his resolve. Ask if he broke. Ask if Ensign Terser was let down. Instead, she let him cry for a moment before offering him a tissue from a box on a nearby table. "What happened to these ... people?" she had trouble using that word to describe them. She figured moving to the part were justice was done would help Kevin's current mindset... assuming justice indeed was met.

Pulling himself together the best he could, Kevin took in large gulps of air and stared up at the ceiling, blinking rapidly to clear the tears from his eye's.

Looking down again and accepting the tissue offered to him, he answered "A few weeks after we'd been captured, Starfleet took the planet and rescued those of us that were left, there were only six of us, myself, Captain Zamos, Commander Quonto, Ensigns Richards and Silverman and the then CWO Shr'Nesh Karadis. 'The Collective' suffered heavy losses, but none were captured, they either escaped, were killed or killed themselves rather than be take prisoner."

She gave a nod at the prospect. "Their losses must have been enough to shatter the group. I've never heard of their like." she mentioned, as though it would offer some small amount of relief. "I sympathize that you must suffer such." the rabbitess offered in consolation.

"It shattered them on the planet, yes" Kevin replied "but we still had to take them on for another six months after that before we finally and totally defeated them altogether. The thing is, none of the surviving Frannery crew were hospitalized for long, we didn't get anywhere near sufficient physical recovery time, nor did we get any kind of psychological help because the Federation were so short of experienced personnel, so we were all brought back into to service again, given a new ship and basically told to get on with our jobs. It took it's toll on everyone but myself, well, till now that is. The trigger finally for me was seeing the Nironese crew staff and workers being killed and being helpless to stop it because we weren't allowed to interfere. It was the same helpless feeling I had back on CX-136, and it broke my spirit in the end. All the pent up emotions came at once and my mind just couldn't cope...still can't cope..."

She was there at the Gravity Stacks when the blast hit. She was there when the debate to act or pass raged. "The difference here is duty. A choice was made, to abide and obey or to defy." A pause, "A great Ts'usugi thinker once stated that life was a series of choices, between bad and worse."

"We are witness to tragedy, triumph, success, and setback. How we cope and move on differs from person to person. You have to find a way that works for you, otherwise the ghosts of your past will always be there. Waiting."

"Find peace in duty, or an escape into literature, or a re-creation through the holodeck... But don't lose this moment." Her hand on his tightened. "Shed your tears, Mister Kilbane. There's no shame." Her voice soft and confirming.

Kevin withdrew his hand and looked at Valeria "It's why I drink Lieutenant. Oh, have no fears, you'll never see me drunk or hung over on duty, but when time's get so difficult that I can't cope, once I'm off duty I climb into the bottom of a VERY large bottle, alone. I have no-one here on this ship to help me, except Karadis, but she can only do so much. The Senior Staff either hate me or at the very least 'tolerate' being in the same room as me for brief periods, but that's it. That's not a 'pity me' cry either, that's a statement of fact. They think I'm privileged and above my station. They think I want to shout at the universe because I don't get my way, nothing could be further from the truth, but not one of them have tried to get to know me to find out who I really am, so here I sit, broken and alone, but it's not a new feeling."

"I never doubted your capacity or control." She stated, "Never a doubt. Your commitment to the cause is almost adamant. Though, even the Dalacari don't drink alone."

"I for one don't hate you, and it's against my upbringing to be disingenuous. So when i say that the next time you're staring down a bottle to contact me, it isn't out of false concern or pity. You've been tortured and destroyed. I for one would like to see you whole."

"And before you show concern, i was taught to drink by my oldest brother. You won't see me hung over on shift either."

"More power to your right elbow my dear" Kevin said "It was a phrase my father used when celebrating with a drink....bastard that he was!" he ended.

"I don't wish to seem ungrateful Lieutenant, but I'm actually quite tired. Thank you very much for your visit, I fully appreciate it more than you can know" Kevin said.