Posted by Fleet Captain Alexander Cochrane (Commanding Officer) in Officer’s Mess- Dinner with the Captain

Posted by Civilian Sair Songz (Counselor) in Officer’s Mess- Dinner with the Captain

Posted by Fleet Captain Alexander Cochrane (Commanding Officer) in Officer’s Mess- Dinner with the Captain

(snip)

Cochrane’s eyes returned to space after she spoke. “I do have an idea… but not in the way you think. The complete opposite, but… two sides of the same coin.” He looked at her and said “So why didn’t your father come? Honestly… it’s not some performance., is it?”

Cochrane, CO

“Not entirely, no,” she said with a sigh. “My father and I are closer, for a lot of reasons, but a large part of it is that I spent the most time with him when I was small. The nature of both their work meant that he had the more flexible schedule and was able to be at home with me more. We… both see the world as what could be possible, but my mother was raised by parents who firmly believed in the idea of self sacrifice for the sake of the whole. And I do believe that a sense of duty and honour is important. But we struggled to understand each other and there has always been this distance between us. And more often than not my father mediated things between us. If he came, he’d be doing that here too. And that would ruin what she hoped would happen…”

Sair smiled softly, leaning forward as she gazed intently at Alex. “My mother loves me deeply. She wanted to come on her own for a very simple reason: to understand what it took for me to take this trip on my own. To walk away from my world and choose to spend my life elsewhere. Keep in mind that my parents have never left Kobliad, travelled on ships, seen any other place or species. Knowledge is one thing, but experiences change everything. I know she is a difficult woman to understand, but she did this for me, so that these final days together we might find some understanding. It was never going to be easy, but she is trying, so it’s hard to be angry at her. now that I know that when she leaves it’ll be the last time we’re in each other’s presence.”

~Sair Songz

Cochrane looked at Sair for a long time, his fingers drumming softly on the desk. He finally seemed to reach some kind of decision. “Excuse me a moment, Counselor. I will be right back.” and he stood up and walked to the door of the Mess and out.

Was it telling that someone kept walking out when she shared a meal with the man? But without any explanation, there was not much to be done for it. Sair drank from her wine glass, clearly bewildered, but also deeply thoughtful. Her and her mother had agreed last night that they would not talk about the Decline during the dinner. That they would just take the opportunity to enjoy a nice meal and share some nice conversation. Something… normal. She almost laughed at their silliness, knowing that after yesterday’s picnic, there was no way to just brush everything to the side and pretend.

Chef Harv came out of the kitchen and walked over to Sair. “Heya, Doc.” and he smiled a bit. “Don’t know what is going on, but I’ve seen that look on his face before. Whatever he is doing… don’t push back. He is in it.” and he refilled her glass and walked back into the kitchen.

“The soup was lovely,” she called out to the mysterious chef. She’d never met the man and only knew his stance on people eating here which she still felt awkward about. She sipped some more wine and leaned back, contemplating the stars. She hoped after all of this there would still be a dinner. Was that strange? Questions to mull over later.

A few minutes later, Cochrane returned and handed her a PaDD. On it was a letter from the Federation Diplomatoc Corps. It read:

“To Sal and Kel Songz:

On behalf of the Federation Diplomatic Corps and Fleet Captain Ralph Alexander Cochrane, Commanding Officer USS Manhattan, please accept this formal diplomatic invitation for the two of you to reside aboard the Federation science starship USS Manhattan for the next six months. We are honored to extend this offer to participate in a cultural exchange program aboard the Manhattan, currently the lead vessel of the Federation’s exploration of the Delta Quadrant.

We look forward to working with you to provide the Kobliad perspective of science, art, and inter-species cooperation.”

Cochrane looked and Sair and said “Calls are being placed now to arrange for the time off from your parent’s obligations on Kobliad. They are, of course, free to decline the invitation with no ill-will.” and he took a drink, his eyes locked on Sair.

Cochrane

Different expressions swept over her face: bewilderment, shock, understanding and then overwhelm. “Oh,” she whispered, her eyes welling with tears. Sair had been the kind of person to laugh and joke and show happy emotions easily. She had been bright and cheery and it had never been a facade. It had been real. She was less like this now, for a lot of reasons, but still when it came to the negative emotions she was very stoic. It was a part of being a physician and counsellor- your own crap never mattered when you were dealing with patients. It also meant that Sair was reluctant to show frustration, anger or sadness. She felt them of course but they just were there. She understood it wasn’t always healthy but she also had ways of privately dealing with her emotions.

Crying in public… it just wasn’t done.

As she tried to temper her feelings and focus on the reality of what he was offering Sair understood that this was something he could do for her. No one could change the fact that her mother was dying, but she could see that the man was keen on action when the opportunity presented itself. “Thank you,” she said softly as she swallowed, wiped at her eyes, and forced herself to take a deep breath. “My mother actually retired before she left, it was why she was flexible about how long she stayed. But I think my father would like feeling like he wasn’t shirking his obligations.”

Sair set the padd down beside her and met Alex’s gaze. “Honestly, a part of me wants to say no, because I’m not sure I can watch her go through it. But any time we and Koro can have with her is precious. And having my father here?” Her face lit up. “Oh, Captain, for us to be together again for a bit is a special gift, so I do mean it when I say thank you. It’ll be their decision, but if it’s what they want, I won’t stand in their way.”

“Now, are we still doing this dinner thing or has that idea passed?” Songz said, shaking her head.

~Sair Songz, CNS