Peace and Quiet
Posted on Tuesday 5 April 2022 @ 23:04 by
Edited on on Tuesday 5 April 2022 @ 23:05
Mission:
Disaster!
Location: Runabout A1
Timeline: Pre-Quantum Filament Hit
658 words - 1.3 OF Standard Post Measure
The runabout was on autopilot heading towards the USS Merlin. Kai never did see the need to sit at helm and watch the stars go by, they all looked the same after a while anyway. It was only up close that it made any difference what point of view you had.
He had recently been given a passable psych evaluation from Dr Harrison back at Starfleet HQ. Months of rehabilitation to get him back out of the mindset of his previous 'role' undercover. In fact he had been 'retired' from being undercover for a while, and Megan had suggested he tried to just be himself... what ever that meant.
Kai sat in the middle of the rear section of the runabout. He had laid out his sacred stones, held the beads on Twi in his hands and spoke quietly the words of the Toan'ta. He had found the words to be a great sense of comfort, a light to guide him back into the world he had slipped away from.
Cast of the back of a chair was the uniform he had not worn for some time, the grey intelligence colours almost blending in to the standard décor of the ship. The trousers folded neatly on the seat of the chair and the shiny shoes beneath it. Kai scoffed a little, he'd forgotten how stifling and strict the dress code could be when wearing the uniform he felt he'd rarely ever been in.
Rising from his seated position on the floor Kai moved into the bathroom and looked at himself in the mirror. The tattoo's of his people littered his body, a mark of pride and honour that he had always felt... that and it helped make him look nothing like a Starfleet officer when questioned. The man looking back at him in the mirror was almost a stranger, and you'd be kind to call him rough around the edges.
His face looked well weathered for sure, the scar over his left eye always a reminder of getting too close. He'd often thought about de-aging himself, that the face he'd kept for the past 400 years could do with a little line removal, but truth be told he couldn't care. He wouldn't have said he was happy with how he looked, just indifferent enough to not be bothered enough to change it. The scars on his body were reminders, honours of battles and fights past. They were reminders of mistakes made, of triumphs had, and he wore them all with pride.
The quiet on board was strange. Usually he was surrounded by people of unsavoury kinds and even when not he could hear the voices in his head talk to him. The past lives he'd lived, the spirits he believed followed him around and guided him, told him secrets. Even when he was alone he was never truly by himself. His connection to the universe, through all he was taught, kept him rooted. He could be anywhere in the galaxy and still be at home at the same time.
A small light began to blink, a chirping little noise rang out. He was getting close to the USS Merlin, his new home. The place where he would live what people called a 'normal' life, or at least he would try. He would have to learn to follow orders, to ask permission for things again. Life undercover led one to become quiet autonomous, situations were very fluid and always needed quick thinking in dangerous and shady circumstances. Sometimes you couldn't just call your handler and go "Hey Fred, I need to lightly stab this guy to make a point. That okay? Cool man thanks"... stabby stab stab. By then either the pincushion has gotten away, or you are the one leaking like a sieve all over the nice mans floor.
Kailu was sure he'd be okay.
Only time would tell.
Lieutenant Kailu Grekas
Chief Intelligence Officer
USS Merlin
