Posted by Captain Dira Myqian (Commanding Officer) in Shuttle Bay - Shadows Are Not Immune To Light

Posted by Commander Dr. Royal Sinclair (Executive Officer) in Shuttle Bay - Shadows Are Not Immune To Light

Posted by Captain Dira Myqian (Commanding Officer) in Shuttle Bay - Shadows Are Not Immune To Light

(snip)

The worst part was that they had to walk past where everything else happened in order to get to the beginning. But Dira felt she could compartmentalize for the moment at least to get them where they needed to go. She spun on the ball of her foot and headed out of the shuttlebay.

The shuttlebay was a straight shot along 9B to the access point between the primary and secondary hulls and the arboretum was all the way at the other end of the deck on A. They crossed the threshold into A and Dira kept going, moving at a purposeful pace past where everything went down. Soon enough they stood at the arboretum entrance and the door slid open at their presence. Dira stepped inside, took two more steps, and then stopped.

“I was doing my usual rounds, walking the ship as I always do. But lately it had been a bit unnerving. I kept getting pings on my senses, like someone was there, but there never was. Over the course of a couple weeks it got worse and I finally broke down in the Psychiatrist’s office. Which got complicated but long story short, we decided that my mind needed a break, I needed a break. So I agreed to a neurosuppressant and light duty. No bridge work, but I could work in my office and have meetings as needed. So I walked into the arboretum looking for a bit of respite I guess.” She gestured to the main path that went around the green space. “I did the loop and then was heading for the exit, but then someone left ahead of me. I saw just the profile of them and it was that of someone who shouldn’t be here. So I followed them out, knowing it was likely just someone that looked like him and we could laugh it off.”

Captain Myqian, CO

“So do the loop. Walk it with me.” Sinclair said. “But now… remember the moments. Tell me what you were feeling, not just the thoughts in your head. Talk me through who and what Dira was in those moments.”

Sinclair, XO

Dira shot him a rather disgruntled look. She was all for therapy and working through stuff, but there was a time and place and she wasn’t sure she was ready. Trust him to call her on her very factual description of events. This was going to be one of those times where having a first officer who also had been a therapist was going to be a right pain in the ass.

Drawing air in through her nose, she breathed out through slightly parted lips and looked for a steady place within in her. And then she began to walk. Slowly, but she had been meandering at the time anyway. “I remember thinking how strange it was not to be able to sense anyone still. I had dampened my telepathy before but it was always temporary. This was the last day I took the suppressant and I already knew that I didn’t like the feeling. Normally, even with mental shields, some stuff leaks through. There is always this background hum of indistinct thought and emotion. A collective presence of the crew I was always aware of, whether I wanted to or not. But not being able to feel them left me off-kilter, even if it did allow me the chance to work through some stuff from before without those weird pings.”

“I also was thinking about how I hadn’t sang for the crew yet, not at all. A friend of mine from my previous posting called it my ‘musical moods’ and I still get them, but I had been going through this big transition and felt lost about who I was now, about some of the new things I was experiencing. But I felt the urge to hum, so I did.” They came around the back bend and could once again see the door and she stopped, frowning. “I felt like I was losing my mind. I had been hearing voices all through the week before and now I was seeing things. It was unsettling and all I knew was that I had to figure it out.” Her steps quickened towards the door. “I could see him there for such a brief moment and then he was gone, disappeared into the corridor, and I really didn’t think about it. I just followed him knowing it was just my imagination.”

Her heart rate had increased and as they reached the door, she didn’t hesitate and stepped right through. Dira was barely even aware of Sinclair now that she let her mind go there and actually remember in detail.

Out in the corridor she looked to the left and then the right, saw the mysterious man and moved down the corridor and rather than keep going down the length of the ship, she took a quick right into a short corridor. “He disappeared behind a door and I immediately regretted the neurosuppressant,” she said, her voice barely above a whisper. “But I knew I couldn’t always rely on my abilities and so I had to make a judgement call.” She stopped in front of a door. “Let it be, or follow my instincts that the man was behaving strangely and that it required someone’s attention. I didn’t want to startle them, so I drew up a warm and friendly demeanour and stepped through.”

Captain Myqian, CO

Sinclair stayed silent, but he watched Dira closely. He could see her mind go back to the events, could see her breathing increase in rapidity. He watched her look, her mind’s eye see the man…

Sinclair, XO