Arrival

Posted on 24 Dec 2021 @ 7:56pm by Commander Indi Hawk & Lieutenant Commander Cintia Sha'mer

2,132 words; about a 11 minute read

Mission: Home

So there she was. Her new post. Sha'mer suppressed the urge to stand up and press her nose against the viewport to drink in the view. It was just a ship, after all. She had seen ships before. She had seen so many ships before.

This one was different, though. This was the ship she would been serving on.

She had fought hard to get there. Had pulled as many favours as she could, had jumped through as many hoops as it would take – figuratively speaking, of course, and therein lied the crux of the problem. She had begged until finally a medical official scowled, changed what had been a requirement in her file to a 'strong recommendation' and sent her on her way. If it had been literal ink, it wouldn't have had the time to dry before she applied for a ship's position and was granted one.

She was back into space at last. This was where she belonged, out amongst the stars. She didn't mind planets as a general rule. They were nice, they had weather, they had mountains to climb (not that there was much chance of that in the forseeable future). They were lovely to visit – for awhile. But her true home was up here, in space. And now she was back.

"We have arrived," the pilot said superfluously.

Sha'mer bit back an impatient I can see that and managed a semi-polite "Thanks."

The pilot looked dubiously at her as she rose, grabbed her stuff and made for the door. "Are you sure you-?" he began.

She didn't even give him the chance to finish. "Oh yes. I am exactly where I'm supposed to be."

On her side of things, Indi was also exactly 'where she was supposed to be'. She was in her office. Reading over incoming messages. Those PADDs and messages bred every time she looked away. She could swear to it. Regardless which universe she was in, administration were a constant. As she read over one particular report however, she did a double take. She wasn't drinking a coke just then, because if she would have, it would have spilled all over her desk. Instead, she rushed to her feet and was at the airlock long before the docking procedure had finished.

Sha'mer followed a few people out who pushed hoverpadds filled with boxes onto the ship. Stuff which couldn't be transported, usually food and drinks. She had expected that and wasn't fazed by it. She was, however, surprised to see a commander on the other side of the airlock. Sha'mer recognised the face from the PADD she had been reading on the way: one of the department heads, Security.

Once again she was acutely aware of her own appearance, the brace and the cane (which she hardly needed at all these days, she told herself, but still carried with her 'just in case' – that the 'just in case' usually meant 'at the end of each day' was something she conveniently tried to forget). Or maybe it was because of what was hidden in the cane – she had mentioned it in the list of her belongings, but it was buried deep inside the wealth of information which came with her file.

Be casual, she told herself. You belong here. Your transfer has been approved. They won't rescind it just because someone pressed 'Accept' first and only looked at my file second. Right?

"Commander," she said with a nod and casually tried to step around her.

'Casually' hadn't worked for her in awhile.

Indi managed to side-step / block the move just enough to keep the... Lieutenant Commander--her mind still reeling over that particular fact aside from everything else-- from moving on. "Lieutenant.. Commander..," she managed to utter, and even managed to add. "Sha'mer."

Sha'mer had to stop abruptly and swerve clumsily to avoid running bodily into the Commander. She was acutely grateful for the cane, otherwise she might've fallen – now that would've made a really great first impression. Her hand curled tightly around it. "Is there a problem?" she asked, still aiming for casual. But she felt the old rage and frustration bubbling to the surface. I am *fine*! I am useful! I can do this! She kept her eyes down until she managed to get herself under control.

It took Indi another moment to realize this wasn't what she had been telling herself for the past few minutes since she'd read the PADD. Instead, she took a step back, and gave the other woman more physical room than she'd usually give any other person she was giving a formal greeting. Right. Now what?

"No problem," she eventually spoke. More moments had passed. Moments that had been spent in the physical and not so physical realm to figure out any connection. There wasn't any. Taking a deep breath, Indi purposely looked down at the cane. "Welcome to the Odin."

The frustration vanished abruptly, but was immediately replaced with a sense of relief at least as intense. "Thank you." Now she risked a quick look up. It dawned on her, belatedly, that the other woman appeared at least as nervous as she herself was. Why? She searched her memory. Had they ever-?

No. Not that she could remember, at least. She hazarded a quick smile, even though she knew it probably didn't travel any further than her mouth. "I look forward to working together."

"And yet you're dying to prove yourself. To prove everybody, including yourself, you earned a shipside deployment. To make sure nobody and yet everybody mistakes your physical limitations as a sign of your actual shortcomings," Indi blurted out. She couldn't help it, and realized a moment too late she'd said it aloud. Then again, even if she'd just said it to herself, the message would have broadcast just as loud to anyone who was listening.

WHAT THE-

Sha'mer lowered her mental shields just enough to take a quick peek. No, the other woman wasn't a mindreader. If she had, Sha'mer would certainly have noticed. But was she that obvious then?

"I'd like to skip the dying part, if it's all the same to you." The remark slipped out while she was still recovering. Damn that sarcastic streak! She was really going to make a great first impression this way.

Indi raised one eyebrow the way she'd seen Cin do it a thousand times. "Right. That line still works on everyone?" she asked. The sarcasm wasn't lost on her. Her return wasn't lost on her either. She knew enough about her wife--no, this was a stranger--or was it?--she knew enough that she could take the sarcasm regardless how she chose to appear physically.

"Well, since as Chief Sec the paperwork would fall to you while I'm assigned to the Odin, you'll be the first to know if the universe catches up with me regarding the dying bit." Oh, and damn her badly timed sharp sense of humour along with the sarcastic streak. If one hand hadn't been clutching the cane and the other holding on to the strap of her duffel bag, she would've pressed one against her mouth. Instead, she pressed her lips tightly together.

The part of her mind which wasn't mortified let her casually know that this was an absurd encounter. Was this SOP on board of the Odin?

The comment made Indi catch herself. This wasn't her wife. Never had been. Never would be. Her wife was still in the other universe. But then.. who was this? How could anyone be a mirror and yet the same person? Over the years, she'd grown so used to the bond they'd shared on a non-physical level that it now almost hurt her that it wasn't there. She found her mind groping around idly, a method she'd never understood despite everything Cin had been trying to teach her over the years, and she let out a sigh. "It's not like you haven't earned your commission here," she finally settled on speaking outloud.

If she hadn't been so slow in raising her mental shields again she would've missed it, it had been that quick. But it had been there, brief but unmistakable, a feather-light touch against her own mind. How? According to her files, Commander Hawk was human. Nothing she had seen or sensed thus far had indicated she wasn't, either.

She managed to stop herself from blurting out 'What *are* you?' and shook her head at her own silly thought. Even amongst humans, some strong minds had a latent talent for telepathy. Maybe Indi was one of those. Intriguing.

And she had to look faintly ridiculous to be standing here, nearly biting the head off the first person who welcomed her on board. "I'm sorry if I came on too strong," she said, calmer now. "I hope I can indeed prove myself here, given time." And now, for the love of anything, please let me pass before I disprove myself spectacularly here. She could feel the treacherous tremor in her leg which warned her that the pain could strike any moment now, which would make her really have to use the cane instead of being able to pretend it was more of a prop, or… Oh, who was she trying to fool anyway? "If you'll excuse me," she muttered and began to move again.

There was.. something.. briefly. It touched her mind just like the words would've been spoken outloud. Indi blinked slowly, trying to deal with all the lingering feelings the touch caused. All the sorrow about everything she'd lost, and the comfort of the touch she'd never expected to feel again. Even though she'd never managed to interpret the mind games Cin had mastered, she knew enough. This was her wife. Only. Her wife didn't know it. Or. Was this not her wife? And was she the one who was wrong?

Grinding her teeth almost loud enough to be heard across the deck, Indi made one more move to stop the LtCmdr from moving, but it wasn't nearly as convincingly as the first time. What if she was wrong? "I'm from the Mirror Universe," she finally spoke again.

Again she came to an abrupt halt, gritting her teeth as the brace locked and prevented the leg from collapsing under her. It distracted her from what the commander was saying, but her mind retained the strange phrase long enough to play it back to her once she got herself under control. What? She was from the Mirror Universe? Why would she tell that to her now? Sha'mer knew the Odin had been there for quite some time, she had read the files. She knew some people from that Universe had come back with the ship. But…

Again she felt that same strange realisation that the commander was also nervous. What was she trying to say? "Look," she said, "Maybe we should sit down somewhere and, uh, just talk. Grab a drink or something?" She let the strap of her bag go just long enough to run a hand through her short hair, caught it before it could slide down and bang against her leg.

The half hearted drop in formality was enough to break what little restraint Indi had since the beginning. She bit her lower lip and pondered the words for a moment. She couldn't use entrapment on this version of the Cintia she knew. It wouldn't be fair to either of them. Although she want to. She really wanted to. It was the first time since they'd traveled to this universe that she didn't feel out of place. But she couldn't do that to this person. Her feelings were hers. "In my universe..." she started, faltered, tried again. "..we.. know each other," she finally finished lamely.

Well. That certainly explained a lot. And at the same time only added to the confusion. "Okay…" she said softly. "Okay." Um. This was hardly the right place for a talk, with people moving around them, some glancing at the two of them curiously. "Mess hall, maybe? Or an office?" She had an actual office here on this ship, of course. So did the commander. Your office or mine? she thought with an almost hysterical internal giggle.

Get a grip! And please, please let's move soon. She tried to unobtrusively shift her weight to the uninjured leg.

"Yes. Yes. Your leg. I'm sorry," Indi spoke outloud as if the thoughts had been spoken outloud as well. "My office will do. At least.." she gestured clumsily. "I know where it is."

Of course moving had drawn attention to it, Sha'mer thought, chagrined again. Couldn't be helped. "Lead the way, then. Please," she added belatedly.

 

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