Posted by Lieutenant Commander Ethan Nash (Chief Engineer) in Rand meets Jessa … When the past doesn’t match the present…or the future

Posted by Civilian Jessa Novar (Child) in Rand meets Jessa … When the past doesn’t match the present…or the future

Posted by Lieutenant Devon Rand (Intelligence Officer) in Rand meets Jessa … When the past doesn’t match the present…or the future
The crew that Rand walked past were just a blur as he headed to the Sickbay where the girl was kept. Many of them smiled and greeted him, then paused with a frown as the Bajoran officer simply walked past them like they didn’t exist. Right now, they didn’t, and Rand needed them to not exist. The meeting had made it very clear what he was to do and what his priorities were, but like all Intelligence meetings the illusion that the brass knew what the hell they were talking about was thick. This one had been no less vague under the impression that Intel knew exactly what was going on, and while they had given him instructions, the information and tools they provided were lacking. They were always lacking on the front line which was the exact reason Officers like Devon Rand were put there. Jobs had to be done and people that could do them, had to be used.

It didn’t mean he had to like it, but it was his job. In a way, that made the Bajoran ex-Security Officer, Ex-Resistance member, Ex-Police Commissioner who now worked for Starfleet Intelligence, the perfect agent. Loyalty was in the eyes of the beholder.

The doors to sickbay opened and Rand stepped through, letting them slide closed behind him as he looked for Evrilla. Rand knew that the girl was well enough to move, Sickbays own medical reports said so. Now, Rand needed to know more about why she was here, and he needed that information from one of those who had arrived. Judging by the incident in the transporter room the adults were dangerous and unpredictable so, the clear place to start was the kid. Hopefully the multitude of Starfleet personnel trying to figure out what was going on in their own ways hadn’t damaged the childs trust or ability to communicate beyond repair. Hopefully Rand was able to offer her something that she wanted in return for the information he wanted.

Noting the Security Officers outside the door of the girls room, Rand made his way first to Laurens desk. Lauren would be starting in around ten minutes he knew, her shift was about to begin and after the previous night, Rand suspected that she would be getting as much sleep as she could. That would mean a rushed coffee and no breakfast for her, so he placed the takeaway cup of strong, rich coffee and a donut on her desk ready to surprise her. After talking with Lauren the previous night as they lay in bed, the idea Lauren had had was perfect now for what Rand needed.

If it was going to be all he needed, he was about to find out. His eyes came to rest on the section the girl was being held, and he began to walk towards it. Everything in his body language spoke of the man being exactly where he was supposed to be with every understanding that he had the authority to be there. Rand was working.

“I’m sorry Sir, Authorized personnel only,” the Security Officers hand came up indicating that Rand needed to stop. Immediately, Rand held out his authorization chit so that O’Neill could scan it. “Luckily, that is exactly what I am,” Rand answered with an expression that fell somewhere between I’m working here and We’re both just doing our jobs, don’t be a dork about this, you know me. Starfleet Intelligence had bumped up Rand’s Security Clearance levels so much so that even Rand was slightly surprised when both of the Officers double checked their scanner, then promptly stood aside for him.

Walking into the room, Rand stood just inside the door and looked at the girl. She looked far younger than he expected, even the intelligence dossier that they had been compiling on her didn’t do her youth justice. “By the Prophets, how did you get mixed up in this?” Rand muttered under his breath. It wasn’t loud enough to be heard clearly, but his voice seemed louder than he intended in the quiet of the room.

Lt Devon Rand, Intelligence

Jessa’s eyes flew open first hearing and then seeing the man standing in her room. From her point of view, the man looked like the rest of the people on the crew with dark hair and average height. The only difference she readily noticed was with ridges on the bridge of his nose and an earring on his right ear shaped like a serpent with a curled tail. Even though she was still groggy from sleeping, Jessa’s mind was already turning. Mardusk had threatened someone was coming for her yesterday on the observation deck. Jessa wondered if this was that man. If it was, she was not going to leave the room quietly. Tensing her body Jessa didn’t say anything waiting for the man to announce his purpose in the room.

Rand said nothing, he just waited for her to wake up enough to really react to him. Let her talk first he thought, let her take some control. Instead he stood, relaxed, on this inside of the door. One hand on the strap of the bag over his shoulder.

“Who are you,” she spoke in a steady tone. Jessa was a bit surprised the man was alone but a few of the people didn’t come in two-man teams.

“My name is Rand,” he answered and smiled lightly in introducing himself. “I’m a Lieutenant here on the Atlantis. I brought you something.” Opening the flap of the satchel he carried, he pulled out shoes and exercise sweats, fresh underwear, a hair tie suitable for sports. Each one he dropped lightly onto the end of her bed before stepping back and nodding to them. The clothes were all the same colour with printing on the side. On the top, was a hard plastic patch that looked the same as the metal comm badges that the people on this ship wore on their uniforms. “Put those on Jessa, we are going for a walk.”

Jessa flinched slightly as he tossed a pair of shoes and a new set of clothes on the end of her bed. Leaning forward, she lifted the shirt up looking at it. She could not read the writing but recognized three of the letters across the front from Tatly’s name: A, T, and L. The pants had the same print down one leg. “I am not leaving this ship without a fight,” she looked at Rand. “Not without the Elders.” Jessa looked outside the door seeing Reed and O’Neill talking to the medical staff. Since they were not barring Rand’s entrance to her room, Jessa assumed whoever this Rand was, he was permitted access to her.

“That’s good to know, thank you for warning me.” Rand’s thanks was genuine, that was exactly the sort of thing he needed to know. One piece of the puzzle was in place, now for the rest. That was easy, perhaps this wasn’t going to be so difficult after all. “I’m not taking you off the ship, I have no intention of doing that,” Yet, not yet.

“Then where are we going,” she made no move to comply with getting up or putting this new uniform the crew had provided. This encounter with the crew felt different. The only time she had left the sickbay was when Ian took her to Rinker and when she demanded and left with Mardusk.

“You and I are going to the ships gymnasium, one of them anyway. Lauren tells me you’ve been stuck in here too long and are getting a little bit bored, no way to burn off all that energy you young women have, am I right?” Now he did smile, “So go put those on, do your hair and I’ll be waiting.”

“I don’t need your clothes. I have my own. Lauren said they were washing them. You can take them back,” she nodded at the pile on the end of the bed. Wearing the prison blues, as she thought of the medical scrubs, hastily given to her last night after her shower, were comfortable but not something the Elders could see her in. “As for the shoes, you can keep them too. I have boots over there,” she gestured with her head. The boots were typical with flat soles and coming up to just below the knee.

Picking up the clothes, Jessa exited her room heading to the small bathroom, she had been using since she arrived. Dressing quickly, Jessa brushed her teeth and pulled her hair back into a ponytail before leaving the only area she had any privacy. Exiting the bathroom, she noticed Rand was no longer in her room but chatting with O’Neill and Reed in the center of sickbay. The tone and body language of the men suggested to Jessa they were acquaintances or maybe even friends.

“Here she is now,” Reed said to Rand and O’Neill, who both had their backs to the door. At that, Rand turned around to face her, bag still on his shoulder. “Ready to go?” Rand asked her.

“I’m ready if you are,” she glanced at O’Neill wondering if this would be the last time she saw the man. If it was, part of Jessa would be sad. Of all the people she had met, only Reed and O’Neill had been with her every day. She had no doubts they only saw her as a job, Jessa only saw them as her jailors but there was a comfort in the familiar.

“Alright then, come and walk beside me. Lets go and burn off some calories shall we?” His tone although light, made it a statement rather than a question and as Jessa moved towards him and they turned for the door, both of the Security Guards stayed in place.

“You’re not coming,” she glanced at her security detail. The longer she was with this Rand, the more suspicious she was becoming this wasn’t a ploy to transfer her off the ship.

“O’Neill and Reed are going to follow us in a minute. They’ll wait outside the gym till we’re done and I can walk you back here. Best I can do, even I can’t escape the rules most of the time.” Rand’s smile was almost childlike, as if avoiding the rules was a game that he enjoyed playing. He wouldn’t lie, he wouldn’t have been in Intelligence if he didn’t enjoy breaking the rules from time to time. The only rules he didn’t break were his own.

“Hey handsome,” Lauren called out just as Rand and Jessa prepared to leave the room. “I found the coffee you left me along with breakfast,” she alternated her hands showing the drink and food. ” You know what I say about do gooders. Do good things for me and I will do good things to you. Be home at seven and be prompt.” She gave Rand a smirk before hiding her smile behind the cup of coffee Rand had brought her. “Oh and be back by nine-thirty. No later.” Lauren didn’t announce that Jessa had to be back for her ten o’clock appointment with Rinker. Sometimes it was better for Jessa to not know the details about everything.

He shoots, and he scores! The crowd goes wild The mental imagery ran through Rand’s mind as he turned to Lauren’s words. Oh yeah, I got brownie points with the good woman and and and, I get to do my job. This is a good day. “Hey gorgeous,” Rand answered very clearly not caring that they were in ‘work hours’, “How could I not bring my favourite woman coffee and breakfast? After all you do to me? Seven, no later, we have a date.” Rand finger gunned at Lauren but grimaced, “Why you gotta go give us curfew? Nine thirty? Come on Jessa, we won’t get to grab a Taco after our run if we dawdle.” At the door Rand turned back to Lauren and smiled, “Nine Thirty, no later.”

Leading Jessa out into the corridor, they headed towards a nearby turbo-lift in silence. Let her make the conversation Rand thought, Let her talk to you, let her relax and lead the conversation.

Jessa walked in silence with Rand a few feet before testing the waters of a conversation. “So you and Lauren are an item,” Jessa asked as the turbo doors snapped shut. Normally Jessa was taking in every detail she could when she left sickbay. Today however she was on edge. At some point, they would try to remove her from the ship and Jessa needed to be ready for it. That was why she concentrated so heavily on the people around her instead of mentally mapping out the ship.

Jessa

“Oh so you’re on first name terms with Lauren?” Rand smiled and glanced at her, “That means she likes you. See she tells everyone to call her Lauren but if that person isn’t nice or hurts people, she becomes Dr Shan. What colour lollipop did you take?”

“Oh my god, it was one punch. One and the guys is like twelve feet tall. There is no way that hurt him. Why is everyone so upset I punched that man?” Jessa was so tired of everyone talking about hurting other people and how bad it was. Violence was usually not the answer but at times it was. “Don’t your woman ever punch a man? Oh and as a side note I like the red ones but you never answered my question about Lauren.” Jessa didn’t really care about the reply. It was just a way to keep the conversation off her.

As the doors opened and Rand led Jessa out, he looked at her again but for longer this time. “Lauren and I are an item, yeah. We have been for quite a few years now. I met her on another ship when I worked in Security, like those two back in the Sickbay that have been watching you.”

“An item,” she looked at him processing what that could mean. “Is that like mates ‘cause Chris was with Ian and called him a mate. So I asked if he was his life partner and Chris busted out laughing. He said something about his missed us or messed up,” she shook it off not worrying too hard about the slang since Rand was here to define it. “I don’t know what he was talking about but said that some person called Lexi joked about it all the time and this must of woman said they might as well be. So is an item a life partner, mate, spouse, girlfriend, or a missed us?”

Jessa didn’t care much about marriage rituals here but she did care about the relationships. She also understood why the Elders and the Order did not live amongst the general population. It was hard to be devout when you saw how the masses lived. So many of the things this crew did were not harming anyone but most of their daily living seemed edging on the rebellious or straight out traitorous but were they really hurting anyone. Already their thoughts and ideas were snaking into her own perceptions of what living meant. Damn that Rinker for even asking her about her opinions and thoughts. Thinking was for the Elders and Deacons in the Order. It was for the Orators in politics. It was not for a simple Guardian, who at this rate was never going to be a Patron of the Order.

“We’ve been a lot of places together, Lauren is a very, very strong woman and she cares a lot about people, especially young people.” Rand put his hand on Jessa’s shoulder for a moment as they walked, “and can I tell you a secret? She’s told me that she cares a lot about you, she got real sad when you got hurt.”

“That was generous of her but the Ritual of Cleansing keeps us on the path,” Jessa shrugged it off. As if suddenly self-conscious though, she wrapped her fingertips over her sleeve cuff and pulled it lower concealing any change this Rand would notice the large bruises still healing. Evrilla had completely cured her arm. Jessa had full use of her hand but the bruises would take a few more days to fade away. Jessa had to distance herself from these people. The more attached she became, the more they added to her worry. Already she was prepared to do whatever was needed to protect Tatyl from the Order. Her list of those to exclude from the Revival and re-education had to stay small.

“Besides Lauren appears to like anyone until they make her angry.” Jessa let out a small laugh and shook her head with a smile as they stood in front of a door to what was probably their location. “You all have it wrong. Mardusk is not the one to be scared of. Lauren and Evrilla are. In fact, I heard Evrilla cut off something called coffee from a person in sick bay. The woman was livid but whatever she did, Evrilla said no and told her eleven more days. My guess is they were giving her that Nutraloaf and this person was begging for anything else but that.”

Jessa watched at Rand’s palm opened the doors to the room. It was interesting to Jessa that he didn’t need a code or key to open the room like most of the ones she had seen. Pulling her attention off of the mechanism, she gazed into the room.

The doors to the gym appeared around the curve of the corridor and Rand pointed at them. “That’s the spot. This is where we come to exercise, burn off some energy. Lauren said you’ve been in bed too much for a young person lately so we thought that bringing you out for some exercise was a good idea. It’ll just be you and me in here, nobody watching you and we can put some laps in. You look like a runner, do you play sport where you come from?”

Lt Devon Rand

Jessa instinctively took a step back only to feel Rand’s hand on her back. It was not enough to stop her but a gesture showing her that she shouldn’t walk away. The room was huge with a large brown running path curving along the outside. Along the walls hung balls, ropes, weights, and other physical equipment to work out the body in some manner. The large space in the center of the running track held several rooms that held exercise machines. Around these rooms were nooks and spaces for things like sparing, fighting, weight lifting, and a large gymnastic-like structure Jessa had only seen in zoos for the primates to play on. The room had few people in it for its size. One could almost spend their entire workout without running into someone with little effort but all those people in the gym were dressed like her and Rand. At least if they tried to remove her from her, there were things Jessa could use to defend herself.

“What civilized society does not have organized games and leisure? Atrophy of the body shows the purification of the soul. The body is the vessel for the faithful. Build it as you would a road for it will lead you to enlightenment.,” Jessa quoted again in her poetic rhetoric. “Weak people are not productive people,” she translated her interpretation of the Gospels of Enlightenment as she entered the room with Rand. Taking the word of Enlightenment to heart, Jessa immediately began to run on the large brown, slightly rubbery path. It was time for her to stop being weak and to be productive. She was also not going to wait for Rand to decide where they would go or what to do.

It only took a few seconds for Jessa to find Rand was at her side on the track. He easily met her stride but this was a good way to evaluate the man’s abilities. Men always thought height was an advantage but at times it could be a disadvantage. Higher vertical meant longer strides. This allowed men to outrun an opponent on large open areas easily. Tall men however were never agile when they were forced to shorten their strides in small or cluttered areas. She just needed to find what would put Rand off balance physically so she could make him off balance mentally.

Jessa took a few steps to judge the sweet spot: The spot where Rand would not be able to manage the balanced gait he had next to her. It took one lap around the track for Jessa to find the exact stride for her to cause Rand to be trapped in the middle of a fast walk or slow bopping run. With her stride being so much shorter than Rand’s, Jessa was still able to balance her body perfectly that way if she needed to bolt, Rand would need a few steps to find his balanced rhythm again.

“So,” Jessa ran a pace that made it challenging for Rand to match, “what sports do you play?” Turning the question back on him kept the focus off her. It also would give her insights into society. People were always more compliant when turning to the faith when you kept some things initially the same. Local holidays and sporting events were the fastest and most efficient route to do this. The addition of a rule or two more to the game or finding a date within the Gospels of Enlightenment to show their holiday was already part of the Orders, caused less rebellion and bloodshed.

Jessa

OCC: You don’t have to use this but since I did design the Atlantis gym a few years back I thought I would reshare it. ~ Kate

https://imgur.com/LcKGKgr overhead view of the gym
https://imgur.com/LAIwuyH Side perspective 1
https://imgur.com/mI9qu02 Side perspective 2
https://imgur.com/3lImsCt Free weights view 1
https://imgur.com/chCXyAE Free weights view 2
https://imgur.com/vzBKtl5 free weights view 3
https://imgur.com/BiL1ViJ Toning room
https://imgur.com/AjmSTza Cardio room
https://imgur.com/5r3Shnf hallway toning and cardio in the middle of the track
https://imgur.com/daf6UXP sparing area
https://imgur.com/8ltnLEU warrior elite section