Posted by Civilian Yavia Crockett (Nurse - Sacred Heart Hospital) in ???? Means Family

Posted by Lieutenant Commander Sharah Fayth (Chief Star Fleet Medical Officer) in ???? Means Family

Posted by Major General Charles Tenkiller (Vice Commandant, Colonial Customs and Defense Agency) in ???? Means Family
Posted by… suppressed (8) by the Post Ghost! 👻
“Sir, we have a problem.” The CCDA agent in the surveillance room on the Orbital Platform squinted at his screen. “Seems like some new arrivals are causing some disruption in the customs queue.”

The Supervising Agent stood up and walked over from his desk. Looking down he studied the scene for a moment. There were four humans, three women of varying ages and one older male, who appeared to be in some kind of argument with the customs agent they were talking to. It was apparently loud enough, judging from the number of people looking at the scene, that is was most certainly ly an issue. The Supervisong Agent set a finger on the comms icon on the desk display and said =/\= Security Team to Customs Intake Twelve asap. =/\= =/\= Copy.=/\= came the immediate response. The SA looked at the agent watching the screen. “Let Command know. We don’t need an incident right now. Tensions are high enough.”

Ten minutes later, a figure in a uniform with lots of rank insignia on his shoulders cut a path through the now-gathered crowd. As they approached, a voice could be heard over the mumbles. “I don’t know what a comm ID is! For the nine hundredth time! Can’t you just tap on that thing in front of you and get what you need? Isn’t that what it’s for?!” “Sir. I am asking you a simple question. I need your comm ID to verify your identity. The facial recognition scan is coming up with someone else besides who you claim to be; and you- unlike literally every other being on this station- has no biometric ID in our system. In fact, sir, I honestly don’t know how in the Nine Hells you even got here because no one can board a passenger ship anywhere in the Federation without* an ID in place!”

Before the man could reply, an authoritative voice cut through the din. “Because, Agent, he boarded a private vessel that picked him and his family up directly from their home; not a terminal. And they haven’t disembarked that vessel since. Scan them and enter them in the system, Agent. Use the name they gave you.” The Agent looked at CCDA Vice-Commander Major General Charles Tenkiller and stammered “Y-y-yessir.” Tenkiller turned and looked at the man and smiled.

“Well hey there, Dad.”

Tenkiller, VC CCDA

Sharah was standing in front of the scrub sink outside the OR. It hadn’t been a terribly complicated operation, just very delicate and a large amount of bone and tissue to treat. The ICU nurses had taken him to recovery and Ilena was cleaning and sterilizing the room. Sharah yanked the red protective gloves off her hands and then pulled the red hooded cap off her head. There was a sudden wash of delighted surprise and joy from many miles above her head. Charles. There was far too many minds between them for her to easily hear the thoughts over the strength of the emotions coming from him. She smiled as she changed out of the surgical scrubs. Whatever it was he would tell them tonight.

The older man- who looked almost identical to the Major General, just with more lines and weathering on his face- turned and looked at Tenkiller and smiled a broad smile as his eyes rimmed with tears. “My son… oh my son my son my son…” he said softly as he took the younger man in a full embrace and held him close. Charles returned the embrace and smiled as he looked past his father. His mother’s dark eyes shed tears and she moved in and joined the hug, as did the two other women. Charles smiled and maneuvered everyone so the hug didn’t crush anyone… especially him. “Dad. Mom. Abby. Mary. Gods above it so good to see you.” They were silent a moment and then the Agent cleared his throat. “General, they are in the system and ready. Sorry about that. I just had never-” and Tenkiller waved him off. “Don’t worry about it, Agent. You did what you were supposed to do. Good job.” He looked back at his family and said “Well… follow me. I’ll give you the tour. Don’t worry about your bags. My team will take them to the house for you.” The two sisters looked at one another and then shrugged and dropped the bags to the deck. Three agents moved and picked them up. Charles smiled and said “Come on in.” and waved them forward.

After a two hour tour of the Orbital Platform, Tenkiller took them to the CCDA Command shuttle bay. He loaded them inside one of the runabouts and took the pilot’s chair for himself. His father sat next to him. “I’ll get us down to the planet surface and then we can head to the house.” His mother leaned forward and said “And then you can introduce us to these two women you told us about, right?” Charles turned to say something, but his sisters started in immediately. “Do they know you have a sweetheart back home? Oh, they are GONNA know.” “If they aren’t Osage, we forbid you from marrying them.” “Two women, Skip? Two??! C’mon… over compensating for anything?” and on and on. Charles just laughed and looked at his dad; who shook his head and crossed his arms on his chest. “You shoulda heard ‘em on the trip out. Like this… but for weeks.” and Charles laughed. “Okay, you two. Shut up and let me fly this thing, alright?” He powered up the craft and lifted them off the deck, slipping out of the bay and into space.

He flew them around the planet for a about an hour, showing them the city and the burgeoning terraforming efforts. Finally he landed at the CCDA Complex and powered down the runabout. A slider was waiting for them, and Charles led them to it. “Inside everybody. Let’s get to the house.” he said. As the last of his family piled into the slider, he took a breath and simply thought Hey… I’m on my way to the house with some folks I want you and V to meet. and he stepped inside as the door closed and the slider moved towards the house.

Tenkiller

It had been a long last 2 hours to an even longer day. Sharah was happily watching the plants in her room glow in the dark. It was calm and peaceful. Yavia was was enjoying a bubble bath and every so often Sharah would laugh at the silly delight she felt. She heard him clearly. It made her feel warm and anchored. He would feel a sensation like a warm brief hug.

“Yavia, Luv?” Sharah walked into her room and peeked in the bathroom. “Charles is on his way and is bringing company he wants us to meet.” Sharah managed to say it with more confidence than she felt.

A few minutes later Charles actually heard her voice in his head. Save me. Yavia is acting like I pumped her full of espressoninfusion units and has insisted she fix my hair.

Sharah

It was about thirty minutes later when a slider came into the driveway. Charles stepped out and looked back in the car. “Wait here a sec. They still don’t know you are here.” He turned and walked to the door, making sure to think the kind of thoughts that made Sharah do everything she could not to hear his mind. He walked in and said loudly “I hope y’all got clothes on. We got company! Come ‘ere!”

Yavia finished twirling one of Sharah’s curls around her fingers when she saw the bright red flush that rose over Sharah’s face. “Oh he’s home!” She laughed as Sharah got even redder. “To your disappointment, we do!” V yelled back up the stairs at him. She took Sharah’s hand and pulled her up. She knew how much Sharah hated meeting new people. It wasn’t that Sharah was antisocial. In fact, Sharah liked people as a general rule, it was just hard for her. “Come on, let’s see what he’s up to now.”

They made their way upstairs. Yavia was surprised they weren’t inside. So she lead the way out the door.

He walked out to the slider and waited for the girls to step outside before he motioned for the occupants to exit the vehicle. First out was a late teen-aged girl with deep reddish brown skin and jet black hair. She was stunningly beautiful, and carried a warmth that washed off her like a tidal wave. Next was a woman a some years older than Charles. She had a look of judgment on her weathered face and her eyes looked over the two women intently. Next came a woman that neither V nor Sharah had ever met.... but Sharah thought she had seen. Or rather, a woman who looked so familiar that it was almost impossible to think she had never met her before. She was a soft, gentle looking woman, with an innate intelligence that shown through her dark eyes like phaser beams. Lastly, a man exited. It was like like looking at Charles thirty years in the future. Weathered, lined skin and graying hair made no difference… it had to be Charles’ father. “Sharah, Yavia… meet my younger sister Mary. My older sister Abigail. My mother Donna Red Corn-Tenkiller. And my dad… Cecil. Mom, Dad, Abby, Mary… these are my partners. Lieutenant Commander Doctor Sharah Fayth and Nurse Yavia Crockett.” He stood back and waited to see who would crack and start laughing first.

Tenkiller

Sharah felt the judgement, but given who they were it wasn’t unexpected. Her gaze studied his mother, she knew she had felt images of her from Charles when he talked about her, but the connection felt more. She couldn’t quite place it for a moment and then she realized, smiling warmly.

Where Sharah was shy and quiet, Yavia was not. She bounded down the stairs and right up to Abigail and hugged the stuffing out of her. “You’re here! TK showed us some of your pottery, it’s gorgeous.” Then she hugged Mary. “You have to tell me how you ever put up with him as a big brother. He tends to try and throw orders around.” Sharah almost laughed, remembering. Yavia moved on to Donna and wrapped her in a hug. “We weren’t expecting you for a few more weeks. I hope you had a good trip.” Then she paused and looked at his father, “Now what are going to do with these two fine gentleman in the house at the same time?” She winked at him before hugging him.

Yavia

Abigail accepted the hug, but her eyes never left Sharah. There was a fire in there that, even for Sharah, was hard to determine if it was a warm one… or a blaze. Mary smiled as Yavia hugged her and she hugged her back. “Are you kidding? He’s the best brother anyone could ask for. Never there, never bugs us, and sends us great presents.” and she laughed. Donna embraced Yavia and smiled deeply. “You are just as Charles described, my dear. It is so nice to meet you.” When she hugged Cecil, he stiffened slightly but patted Yavia on the back twice. “A pleasure.” was all he said, but it seemed genuine enough.

Sharah felt the scrutiny like a forest fire. Sharah worked very hard to keep that balance between sinking into the storms and being present in the moment. She didn’t want to ruin this for Charles or Yavia.

Yavia tried not to looks mischievous at Cecil’s reaction. She liked Donna and Mary immediately. Abigail and Cecil were a bit harder to read. That was okay. Emotions were a tricky thing to interpret. But it was easy to tell they were happy to be there and equally curious. She glanced at Charles and winked.

Abigail walked towards Sharah and stood in front of her. She put her hands on her hips and said “So. You’re the doctor, huh? Chuck says you use some botanicals in your treatments. I would be interested in talking to you about that. He also says you can read minds. Is that true?” Charles looked at Abigail and said “Knock it off, Abby. You know bett-” and Abigail raised a finger and held back towards him, her eyes still locked on Sharah. “Well? Is it?”

Tenkiller Family

Yavia glanced sharply at TK and had to make herself keep still. She didn’t like the way Abigail spoke to Sharah. Sharah had to stand on her own though, no matter how much Yavia wanted to save her the pain. Why couldn’t people leave Sharah in peace? For now all she could do was offer Sharah the equivalent of a empathic blanket.

Yavia

Sharah was grateful for Yavia’s support and Charles’ attempt at interference. She met Abigail’s firey gaze. All Abigail would see in return was a battered fragile soul on the brink of breaking, with an iron will not to give up.

Sharah knew she was being judged. Fairly or not didn’t matter. She was used to it though she wished they would see her and not the illness. Her own people couldn’t even do that, how could she expect them to do so?

Sharah heard the voices, even recognized his grandmother and one or two others. That still weirded her out. “I would be happy to discuss my plants with you.” Sharah felt heart sick as the truth left her lips. She wouldn’t lie, “It is.”

Sharah

There was a sudden flood of affection that washed over Sharah. It came from Abigail, but there was just so much that it couldn’t be just her. Abigail smiled and hugged Sharah close. “Good. I hated being the only one in this family that had to deal with that.” She pulled back and smiled at Sharah. “And you can call me Abby.”

Sharah braced herself as Abigail moved to hug her. It wasn’t that Sharah didn’t hear it all anyway, but the contact brought a forced crystal clear clarity that brought her up out of the storms so that those around her were clearer. The contact was extremely gentle and … well it reminded Sharah of one of the balms she made for cuts. A slight sting and then soothing coolness. The flood of affection made her giddy and an involuntary giggle slipped out before she bit her tongue to stop it. “It’s not for the faint of heart is it? I’m Sharah.”

Mary’s mouth dropped open, as did Charles’. Donna, to her credit, simply smiled and stepped past them. “Close your mouths, dears… you’ll attract flies.” she said and laughed softly. Cecil smiled slightly and began to pull out some bags, but Charles stopped him. “No no, Dad. I got this. Y’all go on in and make yourselves at home. V can show ya your rooms and give you a tour.” and he went to talk to the driver.

Tenkiller

Sharah stood there a moment letting herself adjust to the rhythm before following them inside. She moved toward the bar and began setting out drinks while Yavia played hostess.

Sharah

Yavia grinned. No one had expected that response, but Yavia was grateful for it. She could appreciate Abigail’s flair for dramatics and antics. As TK took over the bags she slipped her hand into the crook of Cecil’s arm. “You just come with me and we’ll get you all settled.” Yavia was graceful and enigmatic without trying, but she was putting on the charm. It was hard not to, she was excited and happy.

The house smelled amazing. Something had been cooking slowly all day on the stove and Yavia had made rolls the night before to go with it. “This is the main floor. Kitchen and bar are over there. The den, which is much cozier than out here, and will fit us all, is on the otherside of the fireplace. Are any of you hungry? Dinner will be ready in about an hour, but we can get you something to hold you over.”

Yavia led them down the stairs. “All the bedrooms are down here.” She stopped at the first door on the left. It was the largest besides TK’s. Yavia opened the door. “Mr. And Mrs. Tenkiller, you’ll be in here. Mary you are right across the hall, and Abigail you are next to her. There are towels in the bathrooms and extra blankets and pillows in the wardrobes. If you need anything, though, just tell us.”

Yavia

Bump