ILLUMINARRPG: (03,1102) CSRD Lieutenant T'shalaith

[Aaron DeLay, Teacher]

Mission: Prelude

Day: 3

Stardate: 2446.03.25

(Earth - England - Manchester - Gorton Cemetery - CSRD Lieutenant
T'shalaith - 1102)



She stood outside the cemetery, dressed in civilian clothes.  She had been
informed that the Jackson family had taken over management of the
facilities several years ago, and this was the best place to find Teresa.
She took a deep breath and walked through the gates.  The old stones and
marker had been fastidiously maintained, and she studied them for a moment,
her mind nearly complete in its rebuilding process.  The names were old,
and the histories even older.  She’d read enough of Earth's history to know
that the land she stood on had seen so much human development over the last
two thousand years and beyond. The Manchester of today would have
overwhelmed the people of old England, she mused.  She strolled down the
paths, her mind remembering the last time she had spoken to Teresa Jackson
and the tears the woman had shed as she’d left, unable to bridge whatever
had taken hold of her friend.



Sath had been the force behind it all.  This realization was still working
its way through her heart and mind - every interaction in the time since
Sath had stepped inside her without consent was now something to be
questioned.  Would she have responded the same way without him in the back
of her mind, hiding?  What would have been different for T'shalaith if her
father had not influenced her path?  She wasn’t even sure how much of it
could be assigned as his fault and what part she bore responsibility for in
the end.  It would take a lifetime to examine it all and determine the
truth of the matter.  Even as long of a life as Vulcans were granted, she
did not have a desire to spend it examining her life in such detail.  She’d
been given a chance at something different.  At something…better?



“Good morning, ma'am.  Can I help you?”



She turned and faced an older man in a suit, his tie perfectly tied and
shoes polished to perfection.  It took her a moment, but she realized who
it was.  It was Adlai Jackson, Teresa’s father.  “Yes, sir.  I’m looking
for a woman by the name of Teresa Jackson.”



Adlai looked at her closely as she spoke.  He listened and gestured down
the road, “She’s working the horses this fine morning.”  Ambling off, he
glanced back at her once more, shook his head, and continued on.
T'shalaith walked the path to the horse stables.  The bright red doors were
wide open, and she could hear a familiar voice talking within.  She stopped
for a moment.



“Yessir Mr. Holmes.  You’re getting better every day.  Keep eating, and
you’ll be back on your feet in no time.”

The Vulcan science officer stepped around the corner, scuffing her feet in
order to make herself known.  Teresa glanced up, stared for a moment, and
then stood straight up, her hands to her mouth in shock.  The sound of the
horses was all that held between them.  T'shalaith swallowed and spoke, “I
am…”, she searched for the right words.  She did not find them.  She stood,
unable to finish her sentence.


Teresa was similarly dumbfounded.  Her oldest friend from the days of the
colony stood before her at a loss for words.  “T'shalaith.  What are you
doing here?”  The old feelings rushed forward, and the quiet stewing they
had done in five years began to simmer.

“I am…here to apologize.”  She looked up from the ground and into her best
friend’s eyes, “The amount of wrong that was done to you…is hard to measure
on scales I am familiar with.”

Jackson stared at T'shalaith and didn’t speak for a few minutes.  She
dropped her bucket of feed and walked over to stand before her old friend.
“I am very familiar with the scales.  Five years ago, you broke me.  You
broke me, T'shalaith.”  She gestured around the barn, “I couldn’t return to
Starfleet because I felt like I had failed you.”  The emotions began to
boil as she struggled to control the tempest of emotions, “I asked after
you.  I sent you messages.  I tried to keep up with you…but all I got
was…nothing.”  She sat down on a bench in the barn, “I came home four years
ago and swore I’d never go into space again.”  She stared hard at
T'shalaith, “I came home to care for the dead because there wasn’t much
life out there for me.”  A quiet sob as she sighed through a smattering of
tears, “And you come to apologize?”  Jackson shook her head, “You don’t get
to apologize, T'shalaith.  You get to get the hell off our property.”

The Vulcan moved to speak, but Jackson shouted her down, “No.  This time
you have to walk out without answers.  Get out.”

T'shalaith closed her mouth, gave a quiet nod, and left out the door she
came.  Within a few moments, she had returned to the Illuminar.  Jackson
stood, tears openly flowing now as she slumped back into the bench.  She
didn’t want to reconcile with the Vulcan woman.  She wanted her to feel
something.  She wanted T'shalaith’s heart to bleed from a thousand cuts.



Teresa Jackson stood and composed herself.  She needed to work.  And she
needed to forget T'shalaith had ever been here.



(reply none)

(posted by Aaron DeLay)
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