Posted by Lieutenant Hannah Lori Asimina (Doctor) in Long Term Correspondence

Posted by Commander Daniel “DaVinci” Colter (Executive Officer) in Long Term Correspondence

Posted by Lieutenant Hannah Lori Asimina (Doctor) in Long Term Correspondence
Posted by… suppressed (3) by the Post Ghost! 👻

(snip)
Hannah shrugged, it didn’t concern her much, but she knew Alexis would enjoy that piece of news. Then Hannah stopped looking hard at Alexis’ hand that she had just thrown the ball with. “Nugget? What is that? Oh My God! Alexis Claire Bonner, Is that an engagement ring?!”

Alexis looked at her hand and then nodded. “Honey, are…are you sure?” Hannah wasn’t sure if she should be over the moon or not. She had no idea it was that serious. “I am. Hannah I have to go. My shift is soon and I have to take Frigga home first.” Alexis paused, hesitated, “Hannah…I don’t know if I say it enough, but you’re my best friend and you’ve always done so much for me. I probably don’t thank you enough; you mean a lot to me, I hope you know that.”

Hannah looked perplexed and concerned. “Alexis? What…” but the screen had gone blank.

Lt. Asimina, Doctor

A few moments later, DaVinci walked into their quarters, a smile on his face. He walked over and gave Hannah a kiss on the cheek. “Hey sweet.”

The corner of Hannah’s mouth twitched in a smile, but she didn’t say anything she just signed, ‘Hi Daniel.’ And stared at the blank screen.

He looked at the blank screen and the concerned look on her face. “You okay? You look kind of perplexed about something. What’s going on?”

Colter (XO/CIO)

Hannah turned to look at him and then her hands began flying as she signed. Hannah was signing so fast it was uncertain if Daniel would catch it all or not. “Alexis, my room mate from Academy. She’s a child genius. Had her medical degree before she started Academy and graduated at 17. This insert really derogatory words here she dated years ago somehow ended up her boss. He’s scary and dangerous. And now she’s met someone else. Alexis’ brain doesn’t work on an emotional level, not at first. She just doesn’t think that way. So I’m really happy for her. Then after I asked her about the engagement ring she was wearing, she just told me bye. Not get off the com bye but…like she won’t talk to me for awhile. And she was crying!”

Asimina, Doctor

Daniel caught all of it the best he could and realized he had gotten the gist of Hannah’s explanation. “So, you’re thinking this engagement may not be all it’s cracked up to be?”

Hannah got up out of the chair and paced back and forth across the room, hands moving as she thought about it. She turned and looked at Daniel, hand dropping to her sides with a deep breath. “I don’t know. After what happened to her, Alexis has strictly avoided relationships, except for once or twice....okay so this guy, name of Soulis, she met him 3 years into her first tour. He was always asking Alexis to research and give him solutions to things that are just this side of legal. She always refused.” Hannah stopped the pacing to look at Daniel. What she was about to tell him was personal for him and could have gotten Alexis into a lot of trouble. “She finally stood her ground when he started pressing her about augments. I remember because she called me, really upset. From her point of view everything he’d asked her had always been ‘hypothetical’ and mental exercise. But he wanted her to actually give him hard data about it. She refused said it was illegal and he needed to stop. She called me again two days later, she’d found him in bed with another woman, he laughed at her and said he never intended to marry her.”

At the mention of augments, Daniel visibly stiffened as visions of the Eugenics Wars flooded his memories.

“Maybe she agreed to marry this new guy to keep her distance from this creeper boss she has. What do you know about her new fiancee? You ever meet him?”

Colter (XO/CIO)

Hannah shook her head, “I don’t think so. So a year ago Alexis was made the Assistant Chief Medical Officer of the Ogawa. She left suddenly to go work on a classified project having to do with memory formation. When I talked to her two weeks ago she said that Soulis was her boss while on that project, but that she was now back on Ogawa. I asked her if she was okay, if he was bothering her still, and that is when she told me about this new guy.” Hannah was worried. “I’ve never met him, never even heard of him until two weeks ago. She said he talks to her and understands when she talks. That he doesn’t get annoyed at her, and he makes her feels safe. He works in the R&D lab with her, has a talent for art, and is very good at cards and stacking the deck. I’m happy for her, really, I’m just worried. I don’t like that this guy is showing back up again.”

Asimina, doctor

“Memory formation could easily be tied into genetic engineering. . . .and if this Soulis guy was working on it under the guise of this research, your friend may have unintentionally helped him. That stuff is still illegal, but reports of the altered pop up every once in awhile. The Paragon Colony on Sycorax was a colony of genetically altered humans that applied for Federation membership a hundred or so years ago. While the Enterprise was negotiating and investigating, the Klingons showed up and offered to “let” them be part of the Empire. The Klingons almost destroyed the colony rather than let them join the Federation. . .”

Hannah nodded, there were always reports about finding groups of people with genetic alterations. Done by man, but the reasons and methods, were always suspect until thoroughly investigated. There were always reports and memos and research being shoved at them to read and study for medical personnel. The line between helping a patient and ‘augmenting’ was a very thin one. Good intentions and all that, didn’t matter, if you stepped over that line.

He took Hannah by the hands and led her to a seat on the couch. Moving behind her, he started to massage and rub the tension from her neck and shoulders. “Tell you what, My intel clearance gives me access to some pretty high level projects. I’ll do some checking on this Soulis and see if I can find out what he’s working on. And if you want, I can check on her new fiancee. He seems almost too good to be true. I don’t want to think about it , for your friends sake, but I just want to check and make sure there’s no connection between the two guys. If he checks out fine, give her your blessings, but if not. . . .” He let the implications speak for themselves.

Colter (CIO)

Hannah closed her eyes with a half frustrated and half pleasured sigh as Daniel worked at the knots in her shoulders. “You know, we normal people can’t just check up on whoever we want whenever we want.” She was serious but teasing. And without Daniel she’d never be able to do as he was suggesting. “I shouldn’t ask, but would you, please? I know Alexis is an adult and it’s her life, but I’m worried about her. I…I just can’t help seeing her as that 15 year old kid, trying so hard to be ignored because she was used to being bullied. Running across campus to get her dad’s office so she could hide from the other cadets and study in peace. When do you think you can look?” Hannah hissed and then moaned as a particularly painful knot released. She closed her eyes again and leaned back into his hands, “How did you get so good at that?”

Asimina, doctor

He leaned over and kissed her check. ‘I’ve seen my share of masseuses over the years, so I’ve picked up a trick or two.”

He continued the massage in silence for a bit, letting Hannah experience the release of tension and pressure. He moved his hands to her lower back, up to her temples and down her arms and fingertips.

“I’d be happy to look into it. Anything I can do to set your mind at ease. I still have a lot of favors I can collect on. And for you, lover, I have no problem cashing them in. But, I do have to warn you, everybody has skeletons in their closet. It’s my job to know where to look and you may not like what I find out. . . .”

Colter (XO/CIO)