Posted by Ensign Iyun Riani (Scientist) in In-Between Places - Endings and Beginnings
Riani was sitting on the bench in front of her family’s home. Her expression was pensive and even a little sad. So much was going through her mind and she found it hard to put any of it into words. Which was part of the reason why she had sought a place where she could be alone.

While she was sitting there, her mother came out of the house and after closing the front door behind her, sat down next to her oldest child. Jadina placed her hand tenderly on Riani’s shoulder and asked gently, “Do you want to talk?”

For a while Ria remained silent, but eventually she said, “I don’t want to leave. I’m going to miss you all so much.” Tears were glistening in her dark eyes and her voice quivered slightly. “I know, sweetheart,” her mother replied as she pulled her close. “We love having you here and we will miss you too. But this is what you dreamed of all your life! And you can’t stay home with us forever. You are a physicist. You should be out there exploring and discovering new stars.”

Resting her head on her mother’s shoulder, Ria looked up at the sky and whispered, “I know you’re right. I just wish I could do both. Or take you all with me.” Kissing the top of her daughter’s head, Jadina said, “I know. But you all have to move out eventually. And it’s not like we’re never going to see each other again.” After a brief pause, she shifted her position so that Ria had to sit upright again and they could see each other properly. As Jadina, continued to talk, her voice was firmer. “We love you and that is exactly why we want you to leave and follow your heart. We had this conversation before, honey, we can’t go through this every time you come home. You’ll be fine and I hope it’ll help you get out of your shell a little.” Cupping Ria’s cheek with her hand, Jadina continued, “I hope you know that I’m not saying this to hurt you.”

Ria nodded, but before she could say anything, her baby sister came running out of the house and flung herself at their mother. “Ammin is mean to me,” Sona mumbled, her face buried in her mothers dress. Looking at Ria, Jadina, said, “We’ll talk more later, okay?” and once Ria nodded, she tried to get more out of the six-year-old to find out what happend between her and her brother.

---

About a week later Riani arrived on Starbase 157, where the USS Ogawa was currently docked for repairs. That conversation with her mother was still ringing in her ears. She knew Jadina was right and yet as gentle as those words had been spoken, they had stung nevertheless. In fact they still stung. But there was nothing she could do about. At least not while she was standing in the middle of a corridor on the Starbase; probably blocking the way. So she adjusted the strap of the heavy bag she was caring and tried to figure out where she had to go to make it to the Ogawa.

Once she got her bearings, she started to make her way towards the correct docking port. Though because the weight of the bag and the fact that there was a lot to look at it would be a while till she actually arrived at her destination. While looking very different, this place still reminded her in some ways of Deep Space Nine. Many fond memories of those years aboard the station came back to the surface of her mind and for a little while pushed the feelings of homesickness and loneliness to the back of her mind.

As she came closer to her destination, she wondered once again if it was a bad omen that her first assignment out of the Academy was on a ship that had been badly damaged during her last mission. Well, at least she didn’t get destroyed, she thought to herself. And hopefully that means whatever happened won’t happen again. Or at least not any time soon.

A little while later, Riani arrived at the docking port and after showing her orders to the security officer on duty, stepped onto the Ogawa for the very first time. A soft shiver ran down her spine and despite all her mixed emotions, she couldn’t help smiling as she walked slowly towards her quarters. For several moments she just stood there in the middle of the corridor, taking deep breaths and letting her gaze wander over every inch of the ship she could see from her position. Not that there was terribly much to see in the corridor, though. So eventually she started to move again and began to make her way towards her quarters.

~Ensign Iyun, Scientist

OOC: If someone wants to jump in here please feel free to do so :) ~Silke

“Ah good! Ensign Iyun.” Came a voice from behind Riani as she started walking towards her quarters. A woman approached her with a fairly quick stride, blonde curly hair and piercing blue eyes. Her pips showed her rank to be Lieutenant and she was dressed in the red uniform of Security. She looked quickly down at her PaDD and made some kind of note. “Well, that checks you off. I trust your travel in wasn’t a hardship. I am Lt. Zoi Haven, Chief of Security for the Ogawa. Would you like an escort to your quarters?”

Lt. Haven, CoS