Check Up

Posted on Wed Mar 23rd, 2022 @ 7:30pm by Sergeant David Novak

Mission: S1 Episode 2: Caretaker, Part II
Location: Caretaker Array
Timeline: Mission Day 3 at 0730
1315 words - 2.6 OF Standard Post Measure

Many members of the crew, including the senior staff, had spread out around the field while the rural holograms danced to banjo music. Some crew had taken to talking to some of the programed people, but David was not one of them. The Captain had asked him to stay with Commander Cain and make sure that the members of the crew not on missions remained safe and relatively peaceful. It wasn't long before he started making the rounds. Coming, finally, to a familiar nurse sitting down on the grass, he stopped and gave a familiar but business-like expression.

"You doin alright, ma'am?" he asked in a smooth and confident baritone.

“Well hello again” Dana offered David a warm smile. “I guess so, given our current situation.”

"Being whisked away to God knows where twice in three days. Not your style, huh?" he asked, grabbing hold of the sides of his vest in a relaxed position.

“Damn right!” Dana shook her head. “Being here makes me nervous, though plenty of other people are no doubt feeling the same way.”

"Don't worry. If anything happens, I'll look out for you." David said with a wink. "What good is a bodyguard if he can't guard bodies?"

Dana nodded. “You can guard my body anytime you like!” She grinned before realising how provocative that had sounded. “Ohh I meant err ...” She blushed as she looked down at the grass.

David began laughing hard, closing his eyes and subtly bounding his leg with his fist. It was a truly hilarious thing, but he kept the full wave of his amusement back because he knew she was embarrassed. With a smile still on his face, he gave her a charming expression.

“It sounds like it would be a good time, Ms. Monroe.” He said with slight flirtatious energy. Then he thought of Kenzie, the woman he’d left back on Terra. He knew that, in the military, people cheated all the time, but he wasn’t sure that life was for him. Would she be faithful if he was gone in the Delta Quadrant for years? What if it took them decades to get back?

Dana smiled. “You have someone back home don’t you?” She offered a curious look. “Someone who means a whole lot to you.”

“I do.” He said with a sad grin. “And that hard part is, so do a lot of people around here. But we’re 70,000 light years from home with no guarantee we’ll get back.”

Dana nodded. “That’s true” she took a deep breath being brave. “If you ever feel the need for companionship ...” she left the sentence open to his interpretation.

He grinned at that moment, thinking how nice it would be to be “companions” with Dana, especially at a time like this. An escape from the stressors of his waking life.

“Maybe I’ll take you up on that.” He said. “And if you want to talk, I can at least do that. Just keep that in mind, okay?”

Dana nodded and smiled. “I will, that’s a promise. Do you ... have time to sit and talk for a little while? I’m not afraid to admit that this place scares me.”

David looked toward Commander Cain and then scanned the rest of the crew whose behavior varied from sitting alone and detached to actually dancing with the holograms. He sat down on the grass next to her then.

“Here to serve, Ms. Monroe.” He said, tucking his legs underneath his muscular frame. “I have a feeling it’s all going to be okay.”

“I certainly hope so!” Dana looked at the web of Borg implants on her hand. “Last time I was abducted I came back with these and a whole lot more. My entire spine and brain stem are intertwined with implants that couldn’t be removed. I’m only alive because the Empire wanted an ex drone to study, I proved too valuable to kill.”

“Who did this to you?” He asked, running his hand over hers and feeling the cold metal.

“Ohh it’s a species known as the Borg.” Dana held up her hand for David to get a better look. “They assimilate everyone and everything they come into contact with. You become part of a hideous collective, do ... indescribable things! I’m only me again now because the ship I was in was damaged by an ion storm. It freed me from the collective influence. Long story short I was found, my other implants removed and after years of rehabilitation here I am!” She smiled. “You’re the first person whose touched me, or taken an interest in all that time.”

He gave her a small smile, glad he could make her feel recognized. He wondered if her being held captive on an Alliance ship had anything to do with her isolation.

“How did they…assimilate you in the first place?”

“I was aboard a ship that ventured out the far reaches of Empire territory, my mother was a slave onboard ship. They found a world that had practically been stripped of all living beings. There were no bodies, and even their technology was gone. They didn’t know the beings who’d done it were still around, they attacked the ship and assimilated the crew, it didn’t matter that I was just a child.”

"Sounds pretty traumatic." he said, seeming sympathetic. "How did the Alliance treat you when you were returned?

“Like I was some sort of scientific curiosity! Though thankfully the doctors were a lot more sympathetic. They were glad to remove what tech they could so they could study it.” Dana offered a smile. “I had to undergo a lot of counselling, and learn how to be an emotional person again, instead of being non emotional.”

"Feelings can be good. Though, I hear most Vulcans don't mess around with them." he said with a wink. "And it can't help when its time to be angry, sad, or afraid."

“I chose not to purge my emotions like other Vulcans do.” Dana smiled. “The Borg are emotionless, I didn’t want to stay that way. I like being able to feel even the bad emotions.”

"I have to agree with you. Something is usually better than nothing." he said, then watched as a group of modestly dressed farmers danced more intensely in a circle. He then looked back at Dana and gave her a smile, saying nothing else, and letting time pass between them as the wind blew from behind.

Dana sat quietly for a few moments before gently shifting closer and laying her head against David’s arm. She didn’t want to spoil the moment they were having together so she simply enjoyed the peace of the moment.

David smiled and, in a deliberate motion, moved to put his arm around her. It was a somewhat formal move, but when he felt the softness of her body and her warmth, a loneliness was triggered in him that he hadn't given voice to. Blinking, he moved his arm off of her and started to stand up.

"Better get back to the job." he said, avoiding her eyes.

"Of course" Dana nodded but couldn't help but notice the way David avoided her glance. "I'm sorry if I've made you feel uncomfortable."

He avoided smiling and looked at her with marine toughness, though there was ascertains softness in his eyes.

“It’s the opposite of that.” He said, hesitating. “But I can’t afford to be comfortable right now. Not yet.”

Dana nodded. “Of course, I’m sorry for making you too comfortable then!” She grinned. “I’ll let you get back to work.”

He gave her a charming wink, but otherwise resumed his serious demeanor.

“Just holler if you need anything, Ms. Monroe.” He said, then he turned and walked away.

{OFF}