Posted by Commander McKenzie Curry III (Executive Officer) in Side Sim - Sweet Home Atalan
** =+= YEARS EARLIER =+= **

“Honey, I’m home,” called out McKenzie as he swam through the front door of his underwater house.

His wife, Mera, called out, “good day?”

“Busy day,” McKenzie replied, “my team’s been halved, some kind of virus that’s wiping out the air breathers. I am working with the Docs to work out what’s happening to my colleagues. We think it is only the air breathers that are in danger of the virus, that it isn’t transferable to us, but we aren’t taking any chances. The non Atalans are being separated from us, I’ve been named second in charge of the Federation task force planetside and we’re not permitting any more arrivals.”

“Oh,” Mera answered, “sorry to hear that, but at least you’ve gotten a promotion out of it.”

“Yeah, I know,” McKenzie said, “they can have the promotion, I can do without the headache of it. Let’s eat out, let me be a husband and father instead of a Scientist.”

“Kids,” McKenzie called out, “we’re going out for dinner, formal scales.”

• XO

“And then, Pa, we had to create a collage of a dry land scene and what we thought the place would look like,” Togo said, his face animated with the excitement of an eight year old, “it was such fun, trying to imagine what that would be like and how it would look, Pa, can you take me to the surface some time so I can see? Please? Can you? You took Mulang there, why not me?”

“Mulang’s older and we know she can surive up there. You have yet to go through the changes that’ll allow you to survive.” McKenzie replied, exchanging a look with Mera, both of them remembering when they were his age, and before they went through the change how much they wanted to go up there and see, and how much more they understood now.

Mulang looked at her younger brother, a whistful look on her face, “soon, Togo, soon you too will feel the air on your fins, your scales, and I’ll be able to show you where to go, what to do, how to …”

“Enough, Mulang,” Mera said to her daughter, and the adolescent Atalanian fell silent.

“You’ll be nine soon, Togo,” McKenzie told his son, “time enough for all that later. Enjoy the tides while you can, I’m sure that Mulang will tell you the changes aren’t always … pleasant.”

“At least not for you,” Mulang told her father, a grin on her face.

“Especially not for me,” McKenzie agreed glumly.

“Ah, the first round of food comes, Mera noted, and they fell silent as their food was delivered, “so, Mulang, what happened for you today at school?”

“The non-Atalans were removed from the classroom,” she pouted, “including Jessie and Naria. Something about them getting sick. Pa, the teacher said something about …” but what the teacher said was left unsaid as right at that point an explosion occurred. McKenzie was seated far enough away from it that he was just burnt slightly, but his wife, and his two kids, a number of the wait staff and the other patrons weren’t so lucky.

McKenzie swam quickly away from location of the blast, and tapped his combadge. =/\= Curry to Security, emergency at Seashell Meals Let Starfleet know, stop all departures from the planet, contact the council. Let’s find who did this and how they did it. =/\=

McKenzie would mourn later, now he had a job to do, a job which he would not fail.

TBC

• XO