A New Face in a New Place

Posted on 11/10/2020 @ 4:51pm by Captain Cian D'Anvers
Edited on on 11/20/2020 @ 5:20pm

Mission: S3E1: Time of Change
Location: Ready Room
Timeline: Day 80 at 1100

Having arrived onboard her new home, Kiara had briefly settled in and freshened up before making her way to report in to her new CO. Reaching the ready room door she straightened her uniform and pressed the door chime.

"Enter," Cian called out. They'd been back in the Sol System less than twenty-four hours but much had happened. The Master Chief's body had been returned to the family; the funeral had been yesterday afternoon. Lieutenant Syndel had been turned over to security pending court martial. And he was awash in reports. But with the crew heading out to shore leave, he had hopes that everything would be quiet for a few days.

Stepping inside the door she made her way over to D’Anvers desk and handed over a PADD containing her orders. “Lieutenant Kiara Rahl reporting for duty Captain.”

"So formal," Cian said, his gray eyes twinkling, as he accepted her orders. "Good to see you again, Kiara. You know, Starfleet in its infinite ... wisdom ... didn't see fit to inform me of your arrival. And I have to wonder, is that because of the mutual animosity that exists between me and the lot of them or did you somehow finagle it to be a bit of a surprise?"

“It was as much of a surprise for me as it is for you Cian” Kiara smiled warmly. “I wasn’t expecting to be assigned to your ship but it’s nice that I have been.”

"How have you been doing," he asked as he leaned back in his seat, one hand looped around the bottom of his ever-present coffee mug. "I know Leonie regretted how you two hadn't stayed in touch."

“It was hard to keep in touch with all my moving around.” She shrugged he shoulders. “I moved ship more or less every two years. Then the events of a year ago ...” she paused and went silent.

"Why so often," Cian asked. "Its not typical for most Starfleet officers."

“I guess I was looking for somewhere to call home, plus diplomatic personnel do tend to be moved around more than most. We go where we’re needed.”

He nodded thoughtfully as he lifted his cup, taking a sip. Certainly a possibility, he thought. Not the only one that springs to mind but certainly one of them. "Nothing much going on at the moment," he said as he returned the cup to the desktop and automatically looped his hand around the base. "The majority of the crew is on shore leave and you're free to join them along with getting settled on board."

Kiara nodded. “I’ll get myself in and my psych and medical reviews done if I can. At least then I can relax for a little while.”

"So, now that we have the formalities out of the way," he said. "Can I get you anything to drink? I'm going to get a fresh cup of coffee myself," he said as he stood and crossed to the replicator, emptied cup in hand.

“A hot chocolate would go down a treat please!” Kiara offered a smile. “To be honest I’m glad I’m assigned to your ship, makes me feel more at home from the start.”

He ordered the drinks, a unadorned dark roast for him, with subtle notes of cherry, and hot chocolate, complete with whipped cream and chocolate shavings, for her. He carried both cups to the more comfortable seating area and set hers down in front of the sofa while he took the single chair set at an angle. He waited until she'd settled before continuing. "This isn't the Captain speaking now, its just me, Cian. And if you don't want to tell me, that's fine but I do have to ask, what happened last year?"

Kia sat for a moment she’d spoken to counselors, her trial lawyer and plenty more people about what had happened but she hadn’t spoken to any friends. Now she had a chance to really talk about it. “It’s a long story” she gave him a brief smile. “We were called to the scene of a massacre, the only survivor we found was in a pretty bad state so he was transferred back to the ship for medical care whilst the investigation was underway.” She paused to pick up her hot chocolate, she took a sip before sitting looking into the mug.

Cian nodded. So far, that was standard procedure. Because he tended to err on the side of caution, he would have assigned security until the individual's state of mind and role in the proceedings could be ascertained. But that was him and this wasn't his story. "Go on," he said gently. He held his mug, emblazoned with the ship's logo and name, and took a cautious sip, giving her time to collect herself.

“As part of the Counseling department I was pulled in to to help with the survivor's recovery and try to ascertain his mental state, being part Betazoid my senses were considered to be invaluable. I got to know him but it became clear he was hiding something.” She took a deep breath. “As he recovered he started following me around, security warned him off a few times but it didn’t deter him much. Background checks eventually came through with red flags everywhere! That’s when he got scary.”

Kia’s hands were clenched tight around the mug she was holding. “He err ... he snatched me from my quarters, somehow got his hands on chloroform. When I woke up we were in the Jeffries tubes in a widened out junction. While I was asleep he ...” She put down the mug as her hands started to shake. “He’d had fun removing my clothing and had carved doodles into my skin with a knife.” She bit her lip trying not to let herself cry. “Things only got worse! He tried to ... he was going to ...” she stopped talking and took several deep breaths. “He tried to force himself on me! I didn’t have a choice ... I stretched out as far as I could. I took his knife and I stabbed him!!”

"And where is he now," Cian asked as he set his mug down. He had something of an investigative mindset, he knew, and there were questions. Why had such pertinent details been so hard to uncover? Why had security let it go with a warning? He willed the questions away. Irrelevant really. They were talking about her past though easier to deal with than the emotional maelstrom she must have gone through. Still, he'd had enough trauma in his own life that he could understand, at least a little, the difficult path forward in the aftermath of horror.

“He’s dead” Kia looked at Cian. “His injuries were too severe on top of the injuries he inflicted on himself prior to our arrival. “I killed him!” She took a few deep breaths to calm herself down. “The trial found me not guilty but the fact is still there, if I hadn’t stabbed him he’d still be alive and I can’t say I’m not relieved he’s gone.” She looked at Cian. “Did I do the right thing? Should I have grabbed that knife?”

"Are you seriously asking me whether you should have allowed yourself to be raped, possibly killed," he asked. He shook his head slightly. "There was a pattern of stalking which was not dealt with. I blame your ship's security for that. You were abducted and then tortured while unconscious. You were lucky to regain consciousness in time to defend yourself. I would not be surprised if it was discovered that he had done similar things elsewhere." He leaned forward somewhat, "You have the right to defend yourself when attacked. Given the situation, wounded and with limited means available for defense, you did the only thing you could do."

“I know ...” she nodded. “I’ve played it over so many times in my head, just convincing myself I couldn’t have done things differently.” She sighed. “I had an operation to graft the worst of the damage he did to my skin but I’ve still got a lot of scars, the dermal regeneration process can only do so much to skin if treated straight away. The sheer amount of damage he did ..” she shrugged her shoulders, “Let’s just say it wasn’t pretty. I tend to hide the most visible” she lifted her hair to show the scarring on the one side of her neck before dropping her hair again. “As for having done it elsewhere ...” she nodded. “He did. Turns out he had victims in several places before the colony we were at, several women were raped.”

He had scars of his own, a latticework on his back that he seldom if ever spoke of, but he knew that the ones you couldn't see were often the worst. "How has counseling been going," he asked as he leaned back again and took a long sip of coffee.

“It’s been ... difficult but I’m getting there. They said it was my decision whether I returned to my duties or not, I need to Cian.” She paused to sip her hot chocolate before it started to cool off. She kept hold of the mug now her hands had stopped shaking again. “I’ve spent the last year mulling over my future, I want to get back to my career and my duties, I can’t hide anymore.”

"I'd like you to see our counselor then. Her name is Lieutenant Richards," Cian said. "I understand that its important for you to get back to your life and I want to support that decision. But, before you start, I'd like some assurance that you're ready. That you won't break under pressure. Fair?"

Kia nodded. “Fair. It was part of the terms of my return to duty that I see a counselor on a regular basis. Besides ...” she paused for a moment. “I need to. As for breaking under pressure I won’t let you down. If you can’t rely on your Chief Diplomatic Officer when needed then you’ve got a problem.” She offered a smile.

"On that basis then, that you continue with your counseling until Lieutenant Richards says that its no longer necessary, I'd like to officially welcome you to the Crazy Horse." He offered up a wry grin. "For once, personnel got it right."

Kia grinned. “I think they did, I’ve been looking for a home for a while and I think I’ve finally found one.” She finished off her chocolate and put the mug down ready for clearing away. “I didn’t get chance to tell you, how sorry I was about Leonie. She was my friend but your wife, she always made me promise that if anything happened to her I’d look out for you. I think I can keep that promise now.”

Cian nodded. Theirs had been a complicated relationship compounded by youth and the complications of life on a world he didn't quite understand. Friends more than lovers, Leonie had never believed in the fairy tales and for the most part, having never known any different, it had been enough. Marriage. Love. Romance. Those were words that only belonged to the wealthiest of his home world. Even now, with her months gone, he was unable to break the silence she had imposed upon him.

"Thanks," he said gently. "But there's really no need. I'm doing alright." He finished his own coffee and picked up both cups. "And now, I've got things to attend to ... enjoy your shore leave. Once things calm down and we're back out on patrol, I'll invite you to dinner. How about that?"

Kia nodded. “I’d like that. Thank you Cian, or should I say Captain!” She smiled the biggest smile yet.

He returned her smile and waved her off. "So go, have some fun. I've got work to do." And with that, he collected the cups and took them back to replicator for reclamation.

Kiara nodded and headed off, she had a feeling she might finally have found the home she’d been looking for.

A post by:

Captain Cian D'Anvers
Commanding Officer
USS Crazy Horse

Lieutenant JG Kiara Rahl
Chief Diplomatic Officer
USS Crazy Horse