"Awakenings"

Posted on Wed Mar 10th, 2021 @ 12:57pm by Lieutenant Nikosh Targus

1,304 words; about a 7 minute read

Mission: Where do we go from here?
Location: Ready Room

__***"Awakenings"***__
Joint Log of
Captain Ravynn Phoenix,
Lt. Cmdr. Adonudo Tlanuwa,
& Lt. Nikosh mok Targus
SD 202103.10

. Capt. Ravynn Phoenix had entered her Ready Room to check on her Counselor, LtCmdr. Adonudo Tlanuwa, after his apparent breakdown on the Bridge.

. Her Intelligence Officer, the Tellarite, Lt. Nikosh mok Targus, had brought the sedated Counselor into the Ready Room and was standing staring out the windows when the Roddenberry broke through the Galactic Barrier.

. Nikki stood staring out the window, and finally breathed in his Russian-like accent, "It vas ... beautiful!"

. The Captain gave a soft, slow sigh. "It's beautiful," she agreed, lifting her chin and thrusting out towards the vast space before them. She gestured towards her Counselor, "Nikki, is he okay?"

. He turned to face her. "Vhat? Oh, vell, he vas fine a minute ago. Keptin, he vas mumbling someting about ze spirits not liking ze Barrier or someting. Shaman nonsense, I am tinking." He was still staring out the window. "I vatched it for hours, yes? It flickered and danced and glowed, then faded."

. She answered, "You have only been in here a minute."

. Nikosh responded, "You say has only been a minute?"

. She answered, "You have only been in here maybe a minute, or less. The preliminary reports say it only took 1.3 seconds to pass through." She moved over to the replicator, "Can I get you a drink?" She knew Adon would need water when he woke up and now was as good a time as any to talk with Nikki.

. Nikki grinned around his tusks. "Vell, can't have ale or vhiskey on duty, eh? I guess tea vill do, then, yes?" He turned and gestured at Adon. "Vhat got into ze Medicine Man, eh? He lost it in there, no?"

. Adon tossed his head in his sleep, fidgeting.

. Ravynn gave Nikki a quick wink. "Tea it is." She added a shot of whiskey to his tea. She knew that much would in no way impair her intelligence officer, but the slight-built Captain just got a glass of tea for herself, minus the whiskey. She took the glasses and returned to the Tellarite. "Here you go."

. She took a sip of her tea and gave another soft sigh. "I think crossing through the Barrier may have disrupted his abilities and caused undo stress." She took another drink of her tea. "If I understand his abilities correctly, it would be like sucking the oxygen from one's lungs and panic setting in. For him maybe it's a disconnect feeling caused by going through the Barrier." She gave a slight shrug, turning to look out the window.

. Nikki accepted the tea glass and took a sip, then quickly raised his eyes and gave a grunt-snort-chuckle and a wink as he took another sip. "Dese spirits of ze Medicine Man, I don't get them, no. Ve Tellarites dismissed superstitious religions long ago. Oh, sure, ve still have stories of ze demon, Krognik, but ... ve don't believe in dem." He glanced over at Adon, gestured with his tea glass and added, "But he does, eh?" He took another drink.

. Ravynn gave a slight raise of her glass to the Tellarite. "Those are the *things* that guide him and helps him the be the wonderful man and officer he is
. It takes all kinds to make a well-oiled crew function as one." She turned to face Nikki. "Who would have ever thought a Tellarite would be an officer in the USF, an intelligence officer at that?"

. She took another sip of her tea, then said, "Nikki, I'm going to need you to be on your toes, being out here. We have no connection for help from the Federation, if we need it. I know that Ollie and Adon are my command officers, but your special abilities with languages will come in handy, not to mention your ability for learning languages quickly." She turned back to the window and continued," We are going to run into a lot of unknown and firsts. I have to admit as exciting as it is, it also scares the hell out of me." The middle-aged Captain pinched the bridge of her nose a moment before finishing her tea.

. Nikki grunted and finished his own tea. "I am not ze Sciences guy. Ve vill leave all ze analyzing new discoveries to Kai and Kitten and ze others. But, I vill vatch tings, and learn tings. Who knows vhat vaits for us out here, eh? Ve vill gain new intelligence, yes?"

. Adon tossed again, beginning to wake from his short nap. Ravynn turned her attention to the couch, then moved back to the replicator to get water for him. Then, considering things, she got two. She sat them on the table next to the couch, which was sometimes where she slept when late nights kept her here making sure her extended family was always as safe as she could keep them. "Adon" she said softly, "drink some water."

. Adon stirred and placed a hand to his forehead. "Great Spirit, what happened?" He sat up, blinking and wiping his face, then accepted the water and took a sip and then another, longer gulp. As his mind cleared he looked up at the Captain and the Tellarite, then around him at the Ready Room. He tensed, "Captain! The Barrier! Are we --?"

. Nikki grunted, "Ve are through ze Barrier, Medicine Man."

. Ravynn gave him a soft smile. "We are okay. I think going through the Barrier caused your panic. Do I need to call Dr. Argeneau for you?"

. Adon's eyes flicked between Nikki and Ravynn, then settled on the Captain. "Heather?" Slowly, the memory of the last few minutes filtered back into his mind. He flushed with embarrassment. "Captain, I ... I ..." he stammered, stopped, and tried again. "Captain, I'm sorry. I don't know what came over me." He looked back to Nikki. "We're through the Barrier?" He stood and approached the window, seeing the stars outside. "Stars? There are stars? But ..." He turned back to the Captain. "Weren't we at the edge of the galaxy? There weren't supposed to be stars out here, were there?"

. The Captain picked up one of the glasses of water and walked over to him. "Drink," she said, handing him the glass.

. Adon took the glass and held it, staring at his Captain a moment, numb. She addressed him, "Adon, this is not ancient America when they thought the Earth was flat. While not limitless, there is much out here we don't know. I think after a day or two, and you get your bearings straight, you will be fine." Ravynn rested her hand on his shoulder, giving him what she had hoped was a reassuring touch. With a smile she added, "Maybe go to your quarters and do your meditation, you will feel better." She lifted her hand from his shoulder.

. Finally, Adon lifted the glass, drank a mouthful, then set the glass down on the nearby desk. "I always thought that beyond the barrier would be emptiness. The void of intergalactic space. I ... was afraid of that void. Afraid that in the nothingness we ... I ... would be lost. But, I'm not alone out here, am I?" He grinned at the Captain and the Tellarite in front of him. "As long as we have each other, we're never alone. And, as for the spirits, well ... we bring them with us wherever we go, don't we?" He straightened his uniform and said, "Yes, I think I will meditate, and offer a prayer to the Great Spirit." He turned towards the exit.

. Ravynn watched her Counselor leave and gave Nikki a quick wink and reassuring smile. She was feeling better about their new adventures. Captain Phoenix turned back to the window looking out as Nikki followed Adon out of her Ready Room.

=== END LOG ===

 

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