Posted by Commander Heathcliff Rinker (Counselor) in Rinker’s Office - Jessa’s counseling session 2 - Lets talk about the Order - When the past doesn’t match the present…or the future

Posted by Civilian Jessa Novar (Child) in Rinker’s Office - Jessa’s counseling session 2 - Lets talk about the Order - When the past doesn’t match the present…or the future

Posted by Commander Heathcliff Rinker (Counselor) in Rinker’s Office - Jessa’s counseling session 2 - Lets talk about the Order - When the past doesn’t match the present…or the future
Posted by… suppressed (3) by the Post Ghost! 👻
Ian sat at Lauren’s desk waiting for Jessa to return from her excursion to the gym. He wasn’t sure how thrilled he was at Jessa leaving sickbay but saying this only would make him look like a dork. The gesture was friendly enough and the kid did need exercise. It also gave him the time to catch Rinker up on yesterday. Reclining in the seat, Ian brought up the internal messaging system of the Atlantis.

To: RInker, Heathcliff Commander
From: Bordeaux, Ian Lt. Commander
Subject: Events of last night

Hey Heathcliff,

I am not sure how much you have access to but I am uploading the medical report I got from Evrilla. I’ll sign any release forms you need but for now, I give you permission to speak with

Ian stopped there staring at the screen. Any other time he wouldn’t have batted an eye sending this message but Ian didn’t need the lawyers to tell him things could get ugly fast here. Back up the cursor, Ian decided to hedge his bets and play on the side of caution. He had no doubts of Rinker’s goal to help Jessa but at times people weren’t always on the same page. In fact, maybe no written records of this would be the best. Deleting the message, he went another route. Tapping his comm badge, Ian opened up a line to the counselor.

=/\=Hey Heathcliff, we are heading down to your office at ten but I was going to give you a rundown of the past 24 hours. Apparently, when Jessa left your office yesterday, she got Mardusk to take her to the brig. It was about as productive as trying to make a Klingon a vegan. Mardusk charged Jessa with a laundry list of crimes. JAG is handling that but of course, Jessa has interpreted the unlawful use of Starfleet resources in a blindingly stupid fashion so now we are not only licking her food but bartering for it. He tossed her in a cell I assume to make a point but something else happened down there also we are still trying to figure out. If that wasn’t bad enough he took her on a tour of the ship which went well until they stopped being friends and went back to that oh so special relationship they have fostered. All hell broke loose on the observation deck. Mardusk locked it down so Jessa opted for the chewing her arm out of the bear trap route to get free. Specifically she gave herself a compound fracture as a way to escape and to get medical to intervene. Evrilla worked her magic and fixed the physical aspect but the mental baggage is all yours buddy. =/\= The stress of the situation was easily shown by Ian’s sarcasm. Sarcasm was just a gentler, more polite was to insult someone or a way to tone down criticism with indirectness and humor. It was clear Ian felt some sort of guilt or responsibility that this happened to Jessa so using sarcasm prevented someone from stating this back to him.

=/\=Logic would dictate she wanted to get out of the situation so bad she resorted to desperate measures but I feel like it could be something more. She mentioned something called the Ritual of Cleansing. Probably some delightful activity those nut jobs invented but you seem to be the only one who gets anything but religious rhetoric out of her.=/\= Ian shifted in his seat realizing he needed to have a normal conversation and a beer with Rinker soon. Every time he talked to the man, Ian now felt he was confessing something in a counseling session.

=/\=I felt bad about what happened so I tried to build a little trust after the brig incident. I brought Chris from stellar cartography up to see what we can do about finding where they are from and to get her home. Chris said when he mentioned me wanting to get her back to her mom, Jessa became extremely cooperative. Eventually, we discovered she is claiming to come from the Callieum supercluster. Specifically, a galaxy called Vela Astria. The problem is the nearest part of the supercluster is 1.4 billion light-years away from Earth, while the far end of it is 2.31 billion light-years. The boys down in stellar cartography are acting like it’s Christmas morning and they got the best present ever. Chris isn’t saying it is impossible that they came from there but no one has a clue how someone crosses a distance that is 1.4 billion light-years. It would explain why she is acting like she has never seen a replicator before or a transporter=/\= Ian leaned back in his seat hearing Jessa coming back with Rand.

=/\=Hey I gotta go. Rand took her down to the gym to burn off some energy. I’ll fill you in about that after I talk to him. See you in ten.=/\= Ian clicked off the comm call and walked into the main part of sick bay. He hoped he filled in any blanks that Rinker did not know about.

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Ten minutes later outside Rinker’s office
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“I have no idea why we are back here. I have nothing to say to that man,” Jessa balked outside Rinker’s office. “Heathcliff was nice. The pizza was good but the man doesn’t talk about himself…at all.” It was clear Jessa was looking forward to her second session like most people were looking forward to returning to the dentist for a root canal. She didn’t have the defensive, cross-armed pose but instead opted for the I give up gestures with sagging shoulders and the occasional hand wave at the door to indicate she was talking about Rinker.

Ian debated about telling Jessa therapy was more of an ego-centric conversation instead of a mutual one but decided against it. Instead, he planted the seed to hopefully get Jessa to want to talk. Once she got talking, Rinker was a skilled enough therapist to take her where she needed to be. Jessa could just be stubborn. All the way down here she grumbled and threatened about spending the hour in silence which was the last thing Ian needed. “So maybe ask him about himself. I am pretty sure no one ever asks how his day is. My guess is all they ever want to do is talk about themselves.” He felt a slight pang of guilt knowing Rinker would have to keep redirecting her back to the appropriate topic. Maybe on some level, Ian was just jealous a complete stranger seemed to be getting to know Jessa instead of him. It would change in time but for now, it just annoyed him. Reaching out he palmed the door controls and waited for Rinker to allow them into his office.

Jessa suddenly seemed far more on edge that she was actually going to have to go back into the office. “Look can’t we talk about this. We don’t need him. Fair dinkum mate,” she threw out Chris’ term from last night. The last time she had been isolated with an officer of the ship the results were disastrous. Jessa didn’t have the time or the energy to go through with Rinker what she did with Mardusk.

As much as he was just granted the wish he had been secretly hoping for, it could not happen. “Fair Dinkum,” he responded back as an idea came to his head. “Tell you what,” Ian pulled a comm badge out of his pocket and placed it on her chest. He had planned on giving it to her later but now was as good time as any. “I know you are smart enough to know this is how we communicate with each other. I am sorry about what happened yesterday but if you are wearing this you can contact us no matter where you are on the ship. If you have a problem in there all you have to do is tap this and say “Ian.” As he demonstrated, his badge registered the connection producing the single word Ian out of it. “Go on. Try it.”

Tapping the badge, Jessa produced one sentence. “You know this is an hour of my life I am not going to get back,” echoed through Ian’s badge as she looked up at him with a half annoyed, half resigned look on her face.

Ian Bordeaux and Jessa Novar

The door slid open without a whisper of sound. Ian saw Rinker from his point but didn’t say anything to Jessa. Normally he just yelled enter but for some reason, he met them at the door. There must have been a reason for it and Ian wasn’t going to second guess him. They needed to get inside Jessa’s head and that was what they paid Rinker the big credits for. If Ian had any questions, he was sure Rinker would appraise him on why he did things just like at the end of the last session.

“I want to open with I heard what you said outside. You don’t know how many people say that.” He looked offended.

Jessa was not expecting a third party to the conversation so Rinker’s voice took her completely by surprise. “Holy triffing Elder on the alter,” Jessa yelped jumping about five feet in the air and turning back wide-eyed. “What is it with you all? You are like Chrisven mice,” she let out a small laugh and put a hand to her chest. “Someone needs to issue you all bells or something.”

The levity ended as fast as Jessa saw the expression on Rinker’s face. Jessa felt her tummy knot feeling bad she had basically insulted the man and seeing that Rinker felt bad about her comment. She let the silence hang for a second hoping to get a smile or chuckle from the man indicating he was just teasing her with his comment. Since no one was talking it was obvious to Jessa that Rinker expected a response. “I…I didn’t really mean that,” Jessa looked at Ian for support.

“Mmm, hmmm,” Rinker grumbled, apparently unconvinced.

“I didn’t,” she protested looking back and forth from Ian to Rinker.

Even though he could have easily taken over the situation, Ian resisted. Putting his hands in his pockets he looked down at Jessa indicating she was on her own. Jessa needed to learn who was in charge and when. A rude comment by her didn’t need him to intervene to apologize for her mistake. One day that might happen but right now Jessa was sizing up who was in control and who wasn’t. From Ian’s point of view, Jessa should see everyone but her in control. It was clear by her exaggerated eye-widening, Jessa was hinting for Ian to become involved so a tiny head nod punctuated the unspoken thought between them that she was on her own.

Turning back to Rinker, Jessa fiddled with the sleeves on her shirt pulling it down over the black and blue mark from yesterday and to do something with her hands. No one that wasn’t an Elder ever questioned someone of her status and Jessa was at a loss on how to deal with it. Even if they dared to expect an answer there was always an Elder or Adjudicator nearby to remind that person of their place. Jessa worked to formulate a response but Rinker always seemed to know when she was off balance and when to shift the topic just slightly she had to alter the reply for it to make sense.

“You never get any hours of your life back and frankly how bad was it. We talked, we ate, we drank, and you left. That’s a good hour in most people’s books.” Rinker decided to confront and make her talk right away.

Rinker

“Well yes,” she quickly agreed cocking her head to the side slightly and wore a befuddled expression trying to figure out if she should address his first question of why people said it or his second question of why she said it. “It was but,” her voice trailed off slightly not sure what to say. The problem with Rinker was he never asked a direct question. It was never yes or no with the man but open-ended questions Jessa felt she had to interpret or explain in detail just like the one he said now. Did he want an answer? Was it just a statement? At times Rinker made her head hurt. “Aside from you making me cry it wasn’t terrible. Um, what I mean is,” Jessa felt her mind going blank.

“What did I say the first time. I can’t make you do anything. Your thoughts about what we talked about made you cry. Which by the way isn’t necessarily a bad things. It means you can access your feelings. Normally that’s good.”

“Oh, I am accessing my feelings all right,” Jessa’s tone switched from passive to snarky. “And right now I am not sure it’s exactly good.” Looking at Rinker, Jessa felt her frustration level already being to bubble over. “You just said you can’t make me do anything but the rest of them think they can,” Jessa gave him a sour expression followed by an eye roll. “Like last night,” she cocked an eyebrow at Rinker as she hooked a finger in Ian’s general direction. “He told me to go to bed.” The irritation in Jessa’s voice was clearly evident.

“It was one AM,” Ian pulled his hands out of his pockets and spread them out with an expression encouraging Jessa to press her point. “You were crying your eyes out and I never said go to bed. I said it was time for bed. Big difference. If you want I can show you the difference tonight.”

“Ian, I am not five years old or a citizen,” she shot back imitating Ian’s expression and mannerisms exactly.

“What the hell does that mean,” Ian’s expression changed from daring Jessa to talk to questioning what she just stated. He was trying to play by Rinker’s suggestion to be firm yet not confrontational but at times, like now, it didn’t feel right.

“It means all of you,” she twirled a finger at her security team, Ian and Rinker, “need to understand I am twelve and a Guardian of the Order. I do not need to be told when to go to bed or when to eat or when I can leave my room. We tell you when it’s time to go to bed or eat or walk among the people because you are citizens. Tell them, Heathcliff,” Jessa motioned for the man to speak up on her behalf.

“In this corner of the universe and on this ship a twelve year old isn’t considered an adult.”

Jessa jerked her had back slightly and her eyes widened for a second processing his response wasn’t what she had expected. Rinker had treated her as an equal the last time they spoke so his word choice seemed a bit off. “Yes, but I am not one of your citizens and therefore your cultural expectations do not align with that of the Galactic Union or the Galactic Order.” This response was fast, firm and clearly another canned response she had learned to give almost like a parrot on command. As always though, when Jessa deviated from whatever script she had memorized, her personal thoughts and language reflected someone of her age. “This means I am capable of making of making the choices that suit me the best.” She kept her tone down to overly confident and not arrogant. It wouldn’t help to be sandwiched between two people that disagreed with her. Unfortunately, Jessa could see Rinker gearing up for one of his open-ended questions.

“For instance an adult doesn’t need to be told that 1am is too late for them to be up and certainly too late for a 12 year old. So answer me this did you know that 1am was too late to stay up? Or did you chose to ignore that fact to do something else.”

Oh, trust me I knew exactly what I was doing and it wasn’t a mistake. Chris and I made a choice to have a scientific debate about the celestial labyrinth. It wasn’t my fault it took him a while to catch on to the science and math.” Jessa had a slightly haughty tone bordering on what Rinker might diagnose as a superiority complex. As she pushed some hair out of her face in a very juvenile manner, Jessa looked up to make sure Rinker understood. Instead of wearing a visage of clarity, Rinker seemed to still be pondering something and when Rinker started to have his own ideas, it always tended to confuse Jessa on what she knew and had been taught.

Jessa needed to get out of this situation. Nothing was going to be the right answer to the only logical choice was to ignore it and start a new conversation. Licking her lips, she spun on her heel and looked at Ian. “See you in an hour then?” After speaking she moved quickly past Rinker and to his couch where she took a seat on the end as she had in her first visit.

As the door slid shut, Jessa made a decision. If she had to spend the next hour with the man, she would make sure the conversation focused on him and not her. Too much had happened since she had seen him last and too many pins were placed on her imaginary board for future conversational topics. Luckily it seemed these people only had digital written records. Looking at his books, however, Jessa felt a pang of sadness. Re-educating cultures that only used digital histories made the process faster and seamless. Data wipes and magnetic pulses obliterated histories and cultures in a blink of an eye reducing people to oral traditions which were more easily controlled and replaced with the truth of the Order. While Jessa understood the need for this she always hated it. Her eyes fell on the small blinking green dots on Rinker’s wall of books. She could not read their language but somewhere was the book Hoblits Heading Home sitting on the shelf. Suddenly the guilt over her comment at the door faded. Jessa would know how to thank Rinker for all his help so far and give him something to know he could always trust her. She would ask to borrow his book and keep it safe and later when he was on the path give him back a piece of his past.

“I am sorry about that at the door. You weren’t supposed to hear that,” Jessa began to speak mainly so that Rinker could not ask another question. “I said it because…well it was just…it’s that I was up early at the gym with Rand…and I wasn’t expecting to come down here,” she rambled fidgeting slightly even though it was only a frown on Rinker’s face that started it all. “I guess I said it trying to assert some control she thought but ended it with, “to be funny. I’m sorry if it made you feel bad,” she ended the conversation with an apology as she fiddled with the lace of her shoe instead of looking at him when she spoke.

“I wouldn’t worry about it. People say things all the time that they don’t fully mean the way it’s taken. Words are powerful but sometimes they don’t mean what we think they do. Does that make any sense to you?”

Jessa shrugged not looking up at him. She poked at her sneaker with the hard plastic tip of her lace wishing she was back in her old clothes and not wearing the Atlantis PT uniform Rand had given her. Jessa hated the way she felt right now and didn’t really know what Rinker wanted her to say. “Not really. I feel like you talk in riddles sometimes,” she looked at the door she had just entered and then back at her shoe still poking at it with the lace.

“Yeah, people say that about me all the time too. I believe in the Socratic Method, he was a philosopher from my home-world. He believe that knowledge gained from one own thoughts were more powerful than that which was told. Morality and ethically, views that are held intrinsically, inside oneself, are held more closely than those just given.”

“So this philosopher taught the people morals and ethics,” Jessa’s interest was piqued. Glancing up she looked at Rinker for confirmation she understand his statement.

Listening to his response Jessa felt her tummy flip flopping yet instead of ignoring the question tumbling about in her mind she asked it. “Did the people like him or did he need the support of the military to help the masses understand what was right and wrong? I hate when we need to bring in soldiers,” Jessa admitted looking back down at her shoe so she didn’t have to look directly at Rinker. She should not have admitted what she did. Thoughts like that were not productive and tended to make things messier in the end. “You don’t have to answer that,” she said rapidly added not sure if she wanted to know the answer to the question or not.

Lifting her head, Jessa decided to make the best of this hour and maybe make it up to Rinker for insulting him by asking him about his day. “Can we start over,” she tucked some hair behind her ear feeling her uneasiness ebbing away. “Also you would like an iced coffee with caramel and whipped cream please and one of those pizzas,” she stated confidently. If Rinker ordered it and they shared it at least Jessa wouldn’t have to find a way to use the resources of the ship. “Then you can tell me about your day?”

Jessa

“We don’t have to start over. Words also can be like the wind. Here for a moment and then gone.” He didn’t like serving patients, it created a weird power dynamic, but in this case giving her a little power might make her more comfortable and given everyone and everything was keeping her off balance he wanted to change things up. He walked over to the replicator and made her order telling the computer to make the coffee decaffeinated. “Aren’t you a little young to be drinking coffee? The caffeine isn’t great for a young person’s metabolism. Just so you know you can have a coffee without the caffeine.”

Jessa let out a low groan and threw her head back several times on the soft cushions of the couch letting out a long breath through pursed lips. “Again, not five, and I love it with caffeine,” Jessa stated confidently albeit she had no idea what this caffeine really was. “It tastes so much…richer?” Jessa had no idea how the addition of caffeine made the drink taste but it was sweet like a dessert so the caffeine had to make it taste better. Ian always seemed to sigh, smile, and thank someone when they brought him a cup so it had to have something in it that made coffee better.

“Besides you were right yesterday. We are too old to be drinking juice. Everyone here seems to drink this coffee thing all the time so I figured I should start. It will make them see me for what I am and not as what they think I am. It will help them see me as their equals.”

“I’m not so sure about that.” He placed the coffee and pizza on the low table in front of her. “So telling me to make your food and trying to control your schedule is that your way of gaining control?” She did mention feeling out of control. It would be very common to try to reassert authority by such minor manipulations. He also basically ignored her question - he would see how tenacious she was in comparison to her other emotional needs.

Jessa wasn’t sure why Rinker made her feel slightly uneasy. He had done nothing mean, rude, or aggressive to her yet this time meeting him felt different some how. The last time they talked he told her to be honest. Pellan always told her that the best lies hugged the truth like a lover. Jessa decided to follow both of their advice.

“No, I asked you to share your meal with me so I don’t owe anyone or use up Federation resources. How did you say it earlier? No one can make you do anything. I didn’t make you get it. You made it for me to be nice,” Jessa picked up a piece of the pizza and took a bite chewing it slowly.

“Fair enough.” He certainly chose to do it for his own reasons. Much like the reverse of the reason why he normally never offers food and drink in his office. He wasn’t a waiter and he wasn’t their friend in this office. They were here to work and he was their supervisor.

“The reason I told Ian to come back in an hour is because the doc in sickbay this morning told me I only get an hour with you,” she picked at the toppings on her pizza popping them into her mouth. “She told me I don’t have to come if I don’t want to because there is nothing wrong with me. So I came because I wanted to.” Brushing the crumbs off her hands over the plate, Jessa let her words sink in as she reached forward to pick up the drink from the table. Taking a long sip of it, she relaxed back into the couch with a smile. “See,” Jessa held it up like a toast, “so much better with that caffeine stuff in it.”

“Flattering. Although, I would let the doctor in sickbay know, I decide who needs to see me and for how long. No one not even the Captain can tell me different.”

Jessa studied him with her eyes glued to him as he spoke. Heathcliff Rinker was still calm, and his volume never increase but the way he spoke clearly indicated Rinker was in charge of something. Maybe he wasn’t just a teacher. Jessa’s interest was again piqued. “So Ian and the doctors work for you? You tell him when to bring me down here?” It was clear this was a new piece of information for her. Taking a minute to gather her thoughts Jessa began to see Rinker in a new light and position of authority. “So that means you can make him do things like get me sleeping quarters with a door or see my…crew.” The longer Jessa observed the people of the star ship , the more she was learning. Back home, referring to an Elder as your friend was considered a status symbol. Everyone wanted to call the Elders thier friend. Here though they lobbed the word around to mean something sarcastic to something meaningful. The term crew however denoted respect among these people.

Returning to his desk he spun around it dropping in the faux leather seat that was clearly the best one in the room. He leaned back in his chair - a ball appearing in his hand as he tossed it upward - waiting for it to lose energy and drop back into his hand.

Rinker

Setting the cup back down, Jessa motioned for Rinker to throw her the ball. She actually did like this ball game of his. It kept her hands busy and gave them something to do in the long moments of silence when Jessa wasn’t sure what she wanted to say.

Rinker actually rolled away from her so the throw was longer. She would have to put more conscious and subconscious energy in making the toss, being accurate and keeping up the pace.

“So I have an idea. How about we go back and forth with the questions today? I ask one then you ask one and then back and forth. I will make it easy so don’t worry,” Jessa said quickly following it up with her question. The last thing she wanted was for Rinker to say no. “How has your morning been?” The question was easy enough and should get Rinker talking.

Jessa caught the ball easy enough for the first toss but noticed he moved back farther from her. Judging the distance, Jessa wasn’t sure she would be able to play like before. Since there was no way she was going to let Rinker win this game, Jessa needed to make some adjustments to the environment. Setting the ball on the couch, she picked up the drink and took a long sip before picking up the plate too. Moving from her spot on the couch she walked to the edge of Rinker’s desk and set the food and drink on the corner. Heathcliff’s office was so clean the last thing she wanted to do was miss the ball and knock over the plate or drink. At least this way it was far away from their game. Pausing to stuff half a slice in her mouth, Jessa returned back to the couch with what some people would consider chipmunk cheeks that were stuffed full of the overly large bite of pizza.

Pushing the coffee table to the side slightly Jessa picked the ball back up and now sat perched on the couch instead of lounging on it like before as she tossed it back. The distance wasn’t that much larger but Jessa was not going to miss the ball or not have the power to throw it back harder if she needed to punctuate a sentence with a little more umpf.

Jessa Novar

“Mostly the same as all mornings.” He didn’t agree to the alternating questions, but if she was going to ask non-intrusive, non-disclosure type questions it wouldn’t be an issue. “A few sessions and some emotional hand wringing.” He paused. “Can’t get too much into that, you know confidentiality.”

“Oh yeah, you really follow that confidentiality thing when it suits you,” Jessa threw the ball back with a bit more energy than necessary but that was because Rinker had to already start poking and prodding. “As for the emotional stuff we are going to have a no crying rule today,” she said in a firm tone as if setting rules for Rinker. The truth however was that Rinker never did anything to actually make her cry as others did in her life. He never raised his voice. He didn’t scream or berate her. Rinker didn’t threaten her to force her to comply. The fact was Rinker just asked questions and Jessa was the one that took it to one emotional level or another. This time however, Jessa was prepared for him. “Crying about something rarely serves a purpose. It shows your weakness and gives people ammunition to know what bothers you. Leaders don’t cry or show emotion because it will make them less powerful in the eyes of those they serve”

Catching the ball, she tossed back. Jessa blinked realizing she had over shared again with this man answering the question he posed at the door about crying not necessarily being a bad thing. Not wanting him to run with this topic she quickly spun another response as the tossed the ball to Rinker but with less force. “Crying is okay though for some. My mom used to say that sometimes you just need to cry it out, but that was when I was a little kid.” Jessa caught the ball and threw it back with a slightly perplexed expression. This game always seemed to make her divide her attention and think less about her replies. The things that came out of her mouth tended to be more off the cuff than the controlled responses Rinker gave. Jessa however was not going to stop or mention to him. If Rinker could do it and not sound like a rambling idiot, so could she.

“I’m just wondering about the need for control and to be seen as an adult. Can you tell me about that?” Rinker certainly didn’t make promises about he questions being easy.

Rinker

Catching the ball back Jessa stopped and looked at him dumbfounded. “For Triffing Hell Rinker you open with that for your turn,” she let out a laugh shaking her head. “I figured you would go with what did I have for dinner or what is my favorite color.....because you can,” she stated in a slightly exaggerated but happy tone as if encouraging a topic instead of outright demanding it.

“Fair dinkum mate,” Jessa said tossing the ball back in a relaxed lobbing arch using more of the language of these people. Using people’s customs always made them more relaxed. It also gave the impression you were open to their culture and ideas. The topic on roles and expectations, however,was a solid one. It would give Jessa a chance to explain how things should be and hopefully, Rinker would be able to explain it to the other officers on the ship he commanded.

“Wonder no longer,” she said confidently and in an almost happy tone as she tossed the ball to him. “So the easy answer is if you and Ian start treating me like you treat the other officers on this ship everyone will follow suit.”

“But that is not going to happen,” Jessa squared her shoulders and deepened her voice imitating how she saw Rinker. Whether Rinker would find her imitation of him funny or not Jessa had no idea but her tone and gestures were more playful than angry and hostile.

“So let me explain why,” her tone became firmer, “it will be the course of action from this point forward. Settle back Heathcliff and learn something,” Jessa tossed the ball to Rinker.

“The Galactic Union is divided between citizens and the Order. Citizens are anyone that is not me,” she put her hand to her chest. “They are just your average person…like you.” Jessa tossed the ball back and forth in a relaxed manner. Her tone was neutral even if her word choice could be interpreted as condescending.

“Citizens have families and jobs just like here, just like you. They are healers, builders, merchants, custodians, dentists, farmers, pyromen, bakers,” Jessa held out her fingers counting off professions in almost a stream of consciousness. “Basically everyone that does the jobs that need to be done.” She was finally sharing things about the Galactic Union but not in the concise, precise manner of an adult. It was more a hapahazard, child’s version one might hear in any classroom on the ship when kids talked about community helpers.

Snapping out of her partial daydream, Jessa looked back at Rinker. “The Order is different from being a citizen. The Order has jobs like ajudicators, watchman, protectorates, soldiers, and of course the teachers of all things educational and spiritual. This is the reason why you are confused right now. You see me based on my chronological age but that isn’t important for those in the Order.” Jessa paused for a second playing catch to gather her thoughts to make sure Rinker was paying attention and that she was explaining it correctly.

“Because when you are born, the protectorates run tests on all the babies. If you show a pre inclination to the Divine, they take you from your parents so you can be educated to help guide those that don’t have a pre-inclination to the Divine. That,” she stressed the word elongating it out and increasing her volume so Rinker would understand something important was about to follow, “is why I am not some kid but a leader in society and leaders have different sets of rules. You even said that yourself.”

“Okay my turn,” Jessa tossed the ball back to Rinker adjusting on the couch to that she keep up with his pace and speed during the game of catch. “What are your parents names?” The more Jessa understood these people, the easier it would be to relate to them.

Jessa