Posted by Lieutenant Junior Grade Achilleas Petrakos (Chief Science Officer) in Side Sim: On the Holodeck again - Bajor

Posted by Ensign Iyun Riani (Scientist) in Side Sim: On the Holodeck again - Bajor

Posted by Lieutenant Junior Grade Achilleas Petrakos (Chief Science Officer) in Side Sim: On the Holodeck again - Bajor

(snip)

Achilleas set his plate to the side and looked over at Ria. She seemed comfortable so he mimicked her and laid back on the blanket and looked at the sky. “Being the youngest had a benefit in not being pushed to continue the family line. They’d like me to get married and have a kid I’m sure, but it wasn’t anything they’ve pushed me on. My older siblings were another matter altogether. My two oldest brothers have been married and had seven children between them already. My nieces and nephews are just adorable. Wait, I’m getting off topic. So I’m blessed to be born last is what I’m getting at.”

CSO Petrakos

Riani nodded silently. She found it hard to imagine what it must be like if it was important for one’s parents that the family line was continued. “It’s so different from my life,” she whispered. “My parents would never push any of us to have children.” Tilting her head backwards so that she could see the hills behind her, she continued even more softly, “If the occupation hadn’t ended neither I nor my siblings would have ever been born. They didn’t want to bring children into a world like that. I was born during the Dominion War, it wasn’t planned at all. I’m not sure if my mother might not have ended the pregnancy if she hadn’t had a few miscarriages before. So there more than understand that not everyone might want children or that the time isn’t always right.”

~Ensign Iyun, Scientist

“I couldn’t imagine being born right at a frontline of war. My parents weren’t combat personnel at all so they never had that concern, though my grandparents lost the majority of their children when the Klingons attacked Khittomer. My father was their last child and that might be what pushes the desire to make sure the family is big and numerous. It’s a shame that war and hate touch everyone across the universe. I think that the pursuit of knowledge is far more noble and beneficial a pursuit.” Achilleas took a breath and raised a hand to shade his eyes, “While the Federation espouses such noble claims, not everything will just let the colonists, farmers, fishers, or scientists be. Who knows if that day will ever come.”

CSO Petrakos

“I don’t remember it,” Ria said, stating the obvious with a very soft, barely audible chuckle, that quickly turned bashful. “I hope that one day there will be no wars, no more fighting. I hate it.” She suddenly rose to her feet and walked over to the tree. Leaning against it, one arm around the trunk, her back towards Achilleas, she whispered, “I wish people would learn to get along. It’s not that difficult to treat everyone with respect and kindness and to assume that everyone is doing the best they can.” She was looking at the rolling hills and the river, but wasn’t really seeing any of them. Her eyes were glassy and unfocused, as if she was a million miles away.

~Ensign Iyun, Scientist