EXETERRPG: (1 - 0930) SF MedObs Cmdr Ailynn Bracken and Armoury Chief Sytuk

[Mark Howard]

Mission: Space was cool before it mattered



Day: 1



Stardate: 2446.04.25



 (USS Exeter –Deck 8- firing range , instruction room - SF MedObs Cmdr
Ailynn Bracken and Armory Chief, Chief Sytuk- 0930)



After finishing a scheduled phaser rifle training course , Sytuk couldn't
shake an odd feeling he had been feeling all morning that something was off
like a feeling of an impending unknown.

He was in the training room used for instruction for safe handling of all
shipboard firearms. No matter what he did he couldn't shake the unknown
feeling.

If she was honest with herself, Ailynn would admit that she was putting off
the inevitable. She knew that her mother was right, and that when Ailynn
got into the data that she’d be sucked in completely, however there was a
part of her that was determined not to let her mum be so correct so early
in the day, so she had spent a short while catching up with friends, and
colleagues. One however had stuck in her mind, someone that she’d had the
profoundest connection with how many weeks ago.

Stepping into the firing range, and keeping to the safety lines she waited
for Sytuk to turn around. She’d always made it a habit never to start
talking to anyone in these rooms before they’d eyeballed you. The dangers
were beyond even her skill.

“Mr Sytuk.” She saw that he’d caught her eye, smiling warmly as they
exchanged a glance across the room.

Sytuk was stunned to see Commander Bracken, but instantly walked over to
her to guide her away from the range.
" Ailynn, what are you doing here?" He asked as they walked into a safe
room away from potential weapons fire. Those still on the firing range
didn't need instruction, most of them were trained security officers.

“Admiralty orders. Mum sent me to oversee the research project into this
nebula. Special Envoy Bracken at your service.” She winked at him. She was
truly fond of the Reman, and she also knew that Ash wouldn’t have a single
bad word said about him.

He grabbed a chair and slid it over to her, grabbing one for himself too.
" Please sit." He had been polishing up on his manners.

“Thank you.” She smiled and sighed with contentment, glad to be off her
feet.

" Starfleet really thinks you should be out here? You should be resting,
not traveling the stars, but I am glad that you're here. " Sytuk said,
trying not to glance at her large stomach.

“We’ve known each other long enough, this is me resting. I’m not fighting a
Pah Wraith. Not in my condition anyway.” She giggled.

" They'd have to fight the whole lot of us before they'd get to you." He
smirked slightly.

'How are they ? The feisty one is still kicking your bladder ?" Sytuk
asked, holding back the urge to laugh.

“Regularly, which is not an experience I’d wish on anyone let me tell you.
That aside, they’re…great. Sleeping at the moment thankfully.”

Sytuk slid his chair away from her by an inch and held his hands up.
" I don't want to take any risks ." He said jokingly knowing that in the
past Ailynn had been able to share her emotions with him through touch.

“Yeah, I know. And I’m sorry about that. Familial habit, common amongst
humans.” She was referring to her habit of unknowingly touch someones arm,
or hand whilst talking, a friendly pat on the shoulder, that kind of thing.

" It's fine. I was only joking. I would assume carrying life is the purest
feeling anyone could feel. Certainly has to be more rewarding than taking a
life." Sytuk said, he was avoiding a question that had been weighing heavy
on his mind, but didn't want to keep it to himself anymore.
" How is…you know Caity ?" He asked softly.

Ailynn nodded, it was a fair question amongst friends. “We had so many long
long conversations, but she’s…” Ailynn paused, smiling a shy smile. “She’s
my rock, If I could dream a way that she’s reacted that would be how it is.
I got really lucky being with her. We’re…really happy, excited.”

Sytuk smiled warmly, always conscious of his Reman fangs.
" I'm glad , I'm sure the circumstances surrounding your conception weren't
easy for anyone to accept right away. I was …caught off guard because…you,
well because of your mating preferences ." Sytuk said as delicately as he
could.

Ailynn blushed, but shrugged. “Lets not go any further down that road, but
what happened happened because of Ryelle. His sacrifice still pains me, and
though I’m not especially religious or perhaps ironically ‘prophet fearing’
I still offer up my thoughts. Had Ryelle not have been in ‘Toronto’ then
this wouldn’t have happened.” She looked downcast, “can…we not go any
further on this?”

Seeing the difficulty she was experiencing. Sytuk reached over and gently
touched her hand.
" Look at what Ronnie did." He said as he shared a memory with her quickly
in an attempt to change her mood.
Ronnie has thrown chocolate pudding all over the nanny for telling her to
clean up her toys. Sytuk had seen it for himself.

Ailynn felt her mental images change, and her mood swing with it. She knew
what Sytuk was doing of course, but in truth she didn’t mind, it was a
measure of how far as a person he’d come. “Oh Ronnie…that’s so bad.” She
laughed. “Strong willed.”

She enjoyed the mental picture for a few moments before she felt a familiar
movement in her abdomen, then suddenly two sharp kicks tore through the
picture, causing Ailynn to gasp, her hands on her bump, catching her breath.

Simultaneously Sytuk ripped his hand and nearly jumped out of his own skin.
" I felt that…I felt them. " He said, staring at her stomach in shock.

“You did? I didn’t think that was…” she struggled with the next word. “...a
thing…” She drew a couple of calming breaths.

He smiled a genuine smile not caring about his teeth showing.
" Neither did I, but I felt them…they're so…happy? " He replied with a
confused look on his face.
" It's like they don't know anything, but at the same time they know they
are safe…I can't describe it."
Sytuk had never experienced something like that before , he always
attributed his ability to feel Ailynn's emotions via physical contact , to
her hyper intelligent mind, but to be able sense her unborn children was
something he would have never expected.

Ailynn glowed with happiness, a tear welling up. “Happy and safe? That’s so
sweet.” She rubbed her belly gently, a thought crossed her mind. “Do you
remember a while before I left? There was a moment, you asked me if I’d
felt something? I didn’t get it at the time.”

" What do you mean? " He asked. Sytuk remembered what she was talking about
, but he didn't know what she meant.

Ailynn strained her thoughts, “I remember an image…its fuzzy and unclear,
like…the vestiges of a dream you know? How they dissolve as you wake.”
pausing slightly, she continued. “The swirly galaxies…?”

" The lights circling around each other…"
Sytuk said, realizing in that moment the feeling of the impending unknown
he had been feeling was them, It all came together.
" It was them…" For the first time in his life he felt something he had
never felt before, something he didn't know he was capable of, He felt a
single tear in his eye. Something that had been so lost to him.

“You sensed their life.” She smiled warmly, seeing the profound effect it
had had on her Reman friend. “What’s going to really blow your mind is that
at that time I didn’t know, so it didn’t come from me.”

Sytuk was unable to speak as he just looked at her stomach.

“Are you okay?” she asked delicately.

He looked Ailynn in her eyes.
" I…uhh..I've never seen anything that compares to that. In all my years I
have known suffering, pain and death. Only in the last two years has that
all changed for me. To see life, pure life is …" He paused and wiped his
finger on his face and looked at the tear.
" …a gift."

Shocked to her core, Ailynn tried to speak. “I’m not sure I have words, I
have no idea how it is you managed to see what you saw,

" Among the Reman people they have telepaths assess pregnant females to
help determine the health of the life inside of them. Even for the most
gifted it can take years to perfect the craft. I had no training with my
abilities." Sytuk explained.

“Do you ever wonder ‘What if? I can’t even begin to wrap my head round
that.”

" At times in my life I wondered what I would be able to do if I had proper
training. My…mother was gifted as a telepathic healer able to lessen the
pain of wounded people and comfort them, at least that is what my father
told me about her when I found him, just before…Just before he was killed."
Sytuk said. Remembering the brief few minutes he had known his father.

Ailynn sat quietly and let him speak, she knew some of Sytuk’s past and how
much trauma he’d gone through. It was another reason that she was so fond
of him, a lesser person would let a past half as bad as that dominate them,
Sytuk, was determined not to. “I’m sorry, if it’s too much…”

Shaking his head.
" No need to apologize, he was a criminal with a contract on his life. A
contract that I collected on." Sytuk said.

“Nodding gently she spoke. “I understand.”

" So to have had the life I've had and done the things I've done yet be
able to experience the gift of seeing the beginnings of life is something
that means more than you ever understand. " He looked once again at her
stomach.
" Those swirling lights that resembled galaxies were the endless
possibilities ahead of them. The different people they could be. Each of
them holding potential of galactic proportions more precious than we could
ever explain and we saw that." Sytuk said.

Ailynn felt a rush of cold chill run from the base of her skull down her
spine. “I don’t have the words to explain how weird that sounds, seeing,
feeling the entirety of their potential?”

" It's weird but I don't doubt the significance of it ." Sytuk remarked.

“No, me either. Kind of makes you wonder, about the source of sentience?
Where do those…flecks of light, flecks of life even come from. Fascinating
concept.” Ailynn said, her mind wondering off onto tangential thought as it
was prone to doing when she was resting, or not concentrating on one thing.

" Your the brain specialist, If you don't know the answer then don't expect
and old brute like myself to understand it ." Sytuk said with a smirk.

Ailynn laughed gently. "Point taken" She said.

" Before I forget there is another personal matter I need to discuss with
you involving an officer by the name of Lieutenant Ethan Miller. " He
mentioned.

"Oh? Problems? I'm not in his COC but…shoot."

Sytuk sighed and gave her a look , raising his hairless brow at her.
" He didn't give details , but he mentioned that he may have done something
to upset you. Something involving your work and his." Sytuk stated.
" He didn't go into specifics, as he was ordered to keep it confidential,
but while we were roommates he found out I knew you on a personal level and
started freaking out. So whatever it is he did, I'm going to ask you to
take it easy on him. He's a good kid." Sytuk concluded.

Ailynn nodded, there were a number of things which were 'her work' but she
could narrow it down to two of them. So unless Miller was cutting people's
brains open, that only left….
"I'll speak to him. Thank you Sytuk. I'll be gentle I promise." She winked.

" Just shake him up a little bit…for me." Sytuk joked and walked over to
her.
" You're welcome to stay as long as you want, but I have to prepare for my
next training session. "

“Ailynn looked at her friend. She knew that even here there were those who
looked at Sytuk with uncertainty. However, Ailynn viewed him as one of her
closest confidantes, a member of her inner sanctum as it were, and beyond
that, trusted him on a level that was absolute. “I need to move, Science
awaits.” She smiled gently.

" It was good to see you again in person, the ship hasn't been the same
without you. " Sytuk said as warmly as he could in his low raspy voice then
looked way down at her stomach.
"It was good to see them again as well." He smirked.

She regarded him, a look that she on level knew that she understood what
had transpired between them. Somehow, she knew that her path, and Sytuk’s
were intrinsically somehow linked. She wiggled her fingers in a friendly
wave as she followed the safety lines to the exit.

(Reply none)
(Posted by Rob and Mark)
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