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

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

(snip)

Hannah looked down at him, “A clone? Of who?” Alexis might not have great social skills, but even she would notice if two people looked the same. “But who would do it for him? He’s obviously studied it, but if he could do it, why does he keep trying to get Alexis to work for him?” Hannah didn’t really like the implication of Daniel’s last statement. “You mean, like, Intel grew a person to keep an eye on Soulis, to spy on him?” Hannah really didn’t want to consider what Daniel was really getting at. “You think Soulis planted Kane to get close to Alexis?” The possibility made Hannah’s stomach churn sickeningly and she needed to sit down because her knees didn’t want to work any more.

The database search took several seconds, indicating a very obscure search. Finally it came back with the following entry:

=/\=New Detroit, Parsan System, Beta Quadrant. New Detroit was problematic from it’s founding, having many similar issues to it’s Earth namesake: high crime rate, excessive violent crime, corruption, infrastructure failures, poor education, and little opportunity for residents. Syndicate influence was high.

A heraldic crest was also pictured: NDFD with a set of six gold, six-pointed stars in a circle around a field of bright red and blue alternating diagonal bars.
Heraldic crest of the New Detroit Fire Department circa 2243. One of the few effective civil authorities in the colony of New Detroit. The New Detroit Fire Department was often held up as the colony’s only redeeming quality due to their members dedication and bravery. The Department was destroyed when the colony collapsed during the Food Riots of 2251. Violence escalated quickly and culminated with the detonation of a nuclear device by unknown parties.

Forced evacuation by Federation order prior to destruction: 33,727
Estimated dead: 1,867,000
Colony scheduled for resettlement: Not Scheduled At This Time =/\=

Asimina, med

Over the following weeks Hannah only recieved letters from Alexis. The letters explained how busy she was and all the changes that were going on, but Hannah knew Alexis was avoiding. Then when she finally did try to call her, it was all so convient to be when Hannah was on shift and busy. She and Daniel hadn’t spoken a whole lot about the files he had accessed, what they meant, or if he had found anything else out. Hannah knew he would tell her when he did if he was allowed to tell her.

Hannah had had enough. She would be careful not to ask about the files or what she and Daniel had found, more like not found, in them. She sat down at the desk and turned on the console. “Computer make connection with USS Ogawa, Lt Alexis Bonner.” Hannah waited several silent moments while the computer sent the subspace request as the Star Fleet symbol rotated on the screen. Finally, the screen flashed and Alexis appeared, looking like she had finally met a medical problem she couldn’t solve.

“Alexis!” It was Hannah. Of course it was Hannah. Alexis grinned, the stern look on her friends face, and the way her fingers looked like they were playing a piano told her she was about to be berated. “Don’t you dare tell me you’ve been busy this whole time with work.”

“Hello Hannah.” She sighed and shrugged, “Not 100% of the time. I…”

“Are you really engaged? Are you happy?,” Hannah’s words slowly faded as her hands began to move.

“Yes I’m really engaged. Yes I am happy.” Hannah eyed her a long moment. Alexis shook her head, “Really. It had just happened when I talked to you last, and…” Alexis shrugged.

Hannah’s blue eyes danced. Alexis was all twisted about. “Have you told your parents?” and the look on Alexis’ face made burst out laughing. “You haven’t?”

“My parents are here on the Ogawa.” Hannah laughed for several long minutes. “Hannah it’s not funny.”

“Yeah, yeah nugget it really is. You should see your face.” Hannah waved at the screen until she was able to stop laughing, “When is the wedding? You know you can’t expect to stay engaged the rest of your life.”

“I don’t know. We’re happy, what does it matter?” For Alexis it wasn’t like anything would change. They were already living together, he wasn’t going anywhere and neither was she.

“Alexis are you sure you want to be married? Is there something else going on?”

Alexis shook her head. The ‘some day’ still bothered her, the ability of someone deciding to yank her or Solomon and toss them into a hole. But the longer she was with him, the less she worried about it - mostly not at all now. “Yes I do. I have no objection to marriage. It’s the whole social convention of a large celebration. Making a big deal of a few short hours that is a small moment in time.”

“Alexis how do intend to be married to him if you don’t have a wedding?” Hannah was dangerously close to laughing again.

Alexis just stared at her friend for a long time. “Ummm…I mean I guess we have to do something…”

“Haven’t you ever thought about it? Even when you were little? I mean your mom is the queen of fairy tales.” Hannah remembered Alisson with affection. She adored her but she also knew she was the complete opposite of her daughter when it came to ‘romance.’

Alexis shook her head, “No. The closest I ever came was wondering what gods awful thing you’d make me wear to your wedding.”

“Well put that mind of yours to work and decide. You’ve got time.” Hannah gave a little shrug. She was sure if Alexis stopped and breathed a bit it would be easy, but the sudden paleness and then bright flush had her lifting her hand and curling her fingers in a ‘spill it’ motion.

“My parents are here for two weeks....Solomon told them we could swing a wedding.”

Hannah was still for a long moment, trying her best not to laugh. This was obviously distressing for her friend. “Well I know your mom is a bit over the top but at least she’s there to help????” Hannah’s lungs were going to burst with held in check laughter. “It’s not rocket science, Alexis, you can figure this out.” The conversation went on for a few more minutes before Alexis was called away to see a patient. Hannah shut down her terminal and shook her head. She wished she could be there instead of here. To talk to Alexis alone, ask her all the questions that Daniel’s inquires brought up.

Asimina