Posted by Lieutenant Faye Calloway (Mission Specialist) in Captain’s Quarters- If You Can’t Stand the Heat

Posted by Captain Alexander Cochrane (Commanding Officer) in Captain’s Quarters- If You Can’t Stand the Heat

Posted by Lieutenant Faye Calloway (Mission Specialist) in Captain’s Quarters- If You Can’t Stand the Heat
Posted by… suppressed (5) by the Post Ghost! 👻

(snips)

She snorted and shook her head. “And I bet she just waved her hand and never thought of him again.”

“Well, for what’s it’s worth, I’m sorry you had to deal wit that. My parents might have made questionable parenting choices at times but I do know they only ever wanted what was best for me. They did the best they could.”

~Faye Calloway

Cochrane nodded and said “My Dad always does. He’s always been the most stable.” and he laughed. “V’astur says he is Vulcan, but that the divinity messed up where the soul was supposed to go and sent it to the wrong planet.” and he smiled as the thought of her teasing his father warmed him. “One of her poems is about that, actually. ‘Erroneous Calculations In Regards To Reincarnation’. She actually smiles and giggles every time she reads it aloud.”

Cochrane

Faye actually laughed. “Ahhh, now I really have to meet her someday. She seems larger than life when you talk about her and yet when I read her work I can feel almost this physical process of grounding herself through her words.” She shook her head. “It’s hard to describe but when I’m feeling lost, i come back to the Meditations volume and, I don’t know, something about it just feels right.”

Having finished her hasperat, Faye sipped more on her wine, glad for the stone within her glass. After all they were well into their third glass at his point! And yet, she still didn’t feel tipsy. It was great! “You know, I didn’t plan this out well enough, but I feel like we need dessert. Unless of course it’s problematic given we’re going to be doing some dancing. How are you feeling?”

~Faye Calloway

Cochrane looked at her, his head cocked to the side slightly. For a moment, he didn’t move, but then simply grinned slightly and said “Something sweet may be in order, sure. You give that some thought, I’ll be right back.” He stood up and went to the bookcases behind the desk and looked through them for a moment before saying “Aha.” quietly and opening of the glass doors. He pulled an actual book from a shelf and closed the door and came back, the book open and he turned the page to the main title page. Grasping it by putting his fingers underneath and his thumb between the open pages, he turned the book so Faye could read it and held it out to her.

Wiping her hands off thoroughly as he handed it to her, Faye reached out with slightly wide eyes. As her fingers gripped the book, she was intrigued.

It was Mediations, Vol.I, First Edition. Below the title, in Vulcan script, was written ‘Ish-veh nam-tor k’fai etwel torai ik etek shetau veh k’ wuh stukhtra… heh k’ tik vath’ (It is through our actions that we become one with the universe… and with each other.) It was then signed in Federation Standard ‘With much love, V’astur’.

Cochrane

A few breaths passed as she held the book in both hands and then smiled. “You have a first edition! Well, of course you do, she’s your mom, but this is an actual printed copy and not replicated,” she said as she very gently opened the cover. Cradling the book in her right hand, she flipped delicately to where she knew the one poem was, the one Lansait had first showed her.

~Faye Calloway

“Which one are you looking at?” he asked as he watched her look through the pages. He moved to the replicator and got a pitcher of water and two glasses on a tray and brought them over to the table.

Cochrane

Faye looked up at him. “Accumulations of existence. One of the more esoteric ones people probably hate trying to pick apart, but when I was working with the Reunification Movement, an elderly Romulan man sort of… took me under his wing. He’s the one who introduced me to V’astur’s work, and this poem was the first one he made me read.”

~Faye Calloway

Cochrane nodded and took a seat. He leaned back and closed his eyes for a moment and then began to speak softly in Vulcan.

“Wuh rasath t’ ha’kiv
nam-tor ri wuh rasath na’ ek’
ish-veh nam-tor wuh sa’akh
tor ek’ fereikan

wuh bolaya tor d’trakc
nelaya
shaya ne’
tor tsuri ne-su’us
nen krus
nam-tor wuh an’tema tor ha’kiv

hi nam-tor ish-veh
nam-tor ri wuh aitlun
tor gu’ne
tor si’li’sha
tor talal yeht’es
nobel?
bolau?
bolayatik na’ ha’kiv?

tor tor nash vel puvutau ha’kiv
nam-tor ri tor ri se’yt yeht’es
hi hors
tor tabrukau
wuh rasath t’ ha’kiv
ni ik wuh wik’i nam-tor thresh-tor
s’ veh ha’kiv tor wuh thurai
heh etek to’ovau svi’ karik’es.”

(Translation:

The weight of life
Is not a weight at all
It is an debt
To all creation

The need to simplify,
Decrease,
Break down
to common denominators,
Base parts
Is an anathema to life.

But is it?
Is not the desire
to explore,
To discover,
To find truth
nobel?
Needed?
Necessary for life?

To do this thing called life
Is not to not seek truth…
But instead
To accumulate
The weight of life;
So that the burden is shared
From one life to the next
And we grow in strength)

Cochrane

Faye’s eyes slipped closed as he recited, drawn deep into the memory of sitting in warm dark room beneath the surface of Unroth, candle flickering off the walls, casting long shadows as Lansait moved around her. His piercing and yet tender gaze as he knelt before her and recited this very poem. Faye murmured the last few lines along with Alex, and when silence fell over the room, Faye opened her grey-green eyes and found her vision blurred, her cheeks wet.

She wiped at the tears with the side of her hand, her sleeveless shirt not much use in this instance. But Faye was careful to not get them on the precious book she still cradled in her right hand. “Sorry,” she murmured. “Just…” Faye shook her head. She wasn’t sure there were words and she wasn’t sure if they were even necessary.

~Faye Calloway

Cochrane slowly opened his eyes and raised his head. “No apologies needed. Her words are quite powerful. Couple them with strong memories, and you would not be near the first to shed a tear.” and he smiled. “You know, I once saw a Ferengi pay ten thousand bars of latinum for a first edition of Volume II? He paid it and then burned the book so that no one else could ever own it…” and he smiled at the memory.

“Yeah… she has that kind of effect on people. You should see her in person.” and he laughed. “You haven’t lived till you have seen a Vulcan willfully and emphatically hug a non-Vulcan. It is a sight to behold…” and his eyes took on a twinkle of humor, “… and really hard on the ribs.” and he chuckled.

Cochrane