OOC: It’s long and just for character development.
IC:
It had been a long, seemingly never ending first day on her new ship. Sharah was ready for bed. It seemed like it had been weeks since she set foot off the transport this morning. Her head was starting to pound. It was odd that now it actually registered. For so long she’d lived with the pain as a constant unwanted companion. How much had changed in a year and half. She smiled despite the pounding and worked her way down to deck 27 room 218. She’d only stopped long enough to drop her bag off. She walked up to the door and entered the pass code. She entered and took her first good look around. It was smaller than the room she’d shared with Ashlyn, and that finally registered with her. The room was only big enough for one. She sighed with relief. There would be no room mate this time. She wondered who’d managed that for her? Either way she was thankful for it. She pushed the button on the computer console and started recording a message, “Hey Ashlyn. I’ve arrived. That was the longest two week transfer. But I worked the whole time. I have no idea if what I did helped, I’m not an engineer, but the pilot showed me a few things. Do you think anyone would trust me to get my pilot’s license? I hope they haven’t given you a new room mate yet. Don’t forget to talk to Dr. Zarath if you need to. You can trust him. Speaking of doctors do you remember Hailey Marshall? She was on Challenger with us when we first arrived. She’s the CMO here. Well, anyway, it’s late here, but I wanted to check up on you. Talk soon.” She ended the transmission.

She took the alpha inducer that Dr. Marshall gave her and set it on the desk. Her trunk had already arrived. She moved over to the chest and opened it. Right on top were her clothes. She picked them up and moved into the bedroom to put them away. She moved back to the trunk and pulled out two stasis boxes. The smaller one she opened. Sharah had the desire to talk to her ‘uncle Olly.’ “Computer begin recording message.” Sharah waited for the beep to indicate the computer was recording, “To Lt. j.g. Olive Loughton USS Atlantis. Hi Olly. We haven’t talked in awhile. I did hear about your promotion though. Congratulations. So the last time we talked I told you about my research, well you should see it come across the science journals soon. I completed it about a month ago. I got back to Europa to find out I was being transferred to Ark Angel. I arrived today and she’s SO BIG. Mythology class just like Atlantis. Hope has taken the changes well. I’m going to have to re-pot her soon. She’s just about outgrown the one she is in now. Oh,” she pauses to laugh, sounding much like the child Olly knew so long ago. “I’m the botanist on board now! I’m so excited. So maybe soon we could actually talk shop? I really hope I make you proud Oliver. Stay safe out there, okay. And no more exploding carniverous hybrids. Love you, Olly.” “Computer end message and send.” Out of the smaller box she takes a bonsai tree. She moves over to the sink and replaces the water in the water bowl. She places this one in a window where it’s safe from being bumped. She goes back to rummage in the trunk looking for the bottle of plant food. “AH!” she picks it up and then adds a few drops to the waterpot.

Next out is a set of pictures. She goes through them one at a time. She sits down at the desk and stares down at the one on top. She turns on the console and ques up to record a visual message this time. She sets the first picture down on a self behind her desk. Sharah is very young and is standing with a woman that has her same hair and short height and a very tall and well built man. You can’t say she has his eyes since all Betazoids have black eyes, but the shape of her eyes and nose are her fathers. She turns to the screen. “Hi Mom and Dad. How is everything at home? Are the uttaberries ripe enough to pick yet? Dad you’ll have to send me some. The replicators out here just don’t make it the way you do.” The information Trax had told her had her worried, but that wasn’t a question she would ask her overly nervous mother. “I’m on my new ship and I really like it so far. It’s only been a day, but the crew is so much more welcoming here. It’s been a long day, but I’ll write again soon. I love you both.” Sharah ended the transmission. The next picture was of Sharah and her brother. She was in a hospital bed and Andrew had taken leave from Star Fleet to come home to be with her. “Computer contact Lt. Cmdr. Andrew Fayth Outpost 53.” Sharah moved about the room putting her things away while she waited for the transmission to go through. Her books went up on the shelf along with her pictures. One picture, a photo of a very young, maybe 4 years old, Sharah holding a kitten went into a drawer. She kept it only as a reminder. And another, her and Joseph sitting on the floor of his quarters playing chess, went onto her desk.

“Sharah?” She laughed and moved into the screen’s view as she sat down. “There you are. What’s up little sister?” Andrew looked good and happy. Sharah adored her big brother. “Why are you talking to me and not Joseph?” Andrew winked at her and laughed at Sharah’s blush. He was teasing her. This had to stop. Whatever it was about her and Joseph EVERYONE was teasing her now and she didn’t like it. “You aren’t avoiding him are you?” Andrew asked suddenly worried.

“No!” She had no intention of answering the rest of her brother’s questions. Then he gave her ‘the look.’ When Sharah was younger she would call him ‘Security Andrew’ when he got like that. She sighed, “I already talked to him. This morning before I got off my transport.” Andrew laughed, the look worked every time. “Besides I have a question, and only you can answer it for me.” That peaked his interest and he sat and waited. “I heard some news today, that Betazed is not letting anyone off planet anymore. That there is some kind of political problem going on.”

Andrew sighed, “I know. I talked to mom and dad earlier. So many Betazoids died in the resistance, Sharah. You were born that year, so you don’t remember it. Now all of you born around then are getting old enough to marry and have children. There is a small group of the bigger houses that are pushing to prevent anyone from Betazoid blood from marrying outsiders. Mom and Dad don’t want you and Joseph to come visit. It is a small group but they are making a lot of noise.”

“When were you going to tell me?” Sharah’s just on the verge of being mad.

“Oh we weren’t. We were going to tell Joseph. You listen to him better.” Andrew was laughing as Sharah cut the transmission off. Sharah huffed in frustration. She was mad. Picking on her when there was something so serious going on. Joseph would probably tell her she looked cute because she was so mad, and that just…she sighed she really wished he was here, or maybe not. He might agree with her brother and she’d be more mad. She looked down at her hand and the heirloom ring on her finger, I love you, Sharah. She smiled letting the memory wash over her. Then she took out the other stasis box and opened it. Potted red and yellow roses. She moved them over near the couch, where she wouldn’t trip on them. She added some plant food some water and the poured the whole thing into the soil of the pot.

She went back to the trunk and pulled out her chess set. It was a stunningly hand made board and pieces. She flipped the board over and ran her hand over the inscription: “I may always get your king, but you will always be my queen.” It always made her smile. It was so, Joseph. He was always going to win, but he loved her more than he loved winning. She set it all on her desk and then dug through her other bag for a PaDD. She sat down reading through the PaDD and placing pieces accordingly. They had been in the middle of a game when she transferred out. She turned to the screen one more time. “Okay so I know I already wrote to you once today, but I got my chess board set up, and it’s been 2 weeks! So…” she sent her move, her pawn forward one space diagonally, taking his pawn and then…”Ha! Check, with my pawn.” She laughs, it won’t last long. “It’s been a long day. I’ve gotten some disturbing news. I’m fine, and so is everyone else. It’s late and I hate to worry you, but I just needed to talk to you for a few minutes. But it looks like we may not be taking shore leave to Betazed any time soon. I’ll tell you more next time we talk. Hopefully I’ll know more the next time I talk to you. How is life back on Challenger? I love you, Imzadi.”

Her messages sent, Sharah heads to bed. Her first day of actually duty was promising to be a busy one.
En. Fayth, Science - Botanist