Family meeting.

Posted on Wed Oct 20th, 2021 @ 11:38pm by Commander Sthilg & Lieutenant Commander Alicia Kelea-Salik & Lieutenant Commander Savar cha'Salik hei-Surak Talek-sen-deen [Taylor]

Mission: MISSION 0 - History Speaks
Location: Sthilg's hut
2299 words - 4.6 OF Standard Post Measure

The inside of the small log cabin was warm as the old lizard lay gently in his chair slowly rocking the cradle in which his two grandchildren lay. Never letting his eye off them the old doctor slowly turned the page of the book of gorn poems he was reading to the two of them.

" Hello, you two." He said as he heard the door open knowing the steps of his son-in-law and adoptive daughter.

Alicia smiled warmly as she entered the room, keeping her voice low so as not to disturb her two young children. “Hello father” she walked across to Sthilg giving him a kiss on the cheek before walking across to the crib to silently check on both children. Whilst she was recovering Sthilg was looking after the children, as much as she was enjoying the rest she was missing them greatly.

"Hello Doctor." Savar greeted the Gorn. He was enjoying being able to spend time with Alicia it allowed them to rediscover past favorite pastimes. "I hope the children were good for you." He asked as he looked down at the cradle where his and Alicia's lay.

“Have the children been good for you?” Alicia looked towards Sthilg as she gently took a seat. Even with modern medical technology she was still feeling pretty weak, and tired easily.

" Very. I think Connor told N’Vea that if their well-behaved grandad will make them toysss." The gorn said chuckling as he moved slightly in his chair. " I have sssome sssoup on the fire if you want sssome." He said gesturing to the iron pot over the hearth.

“That would be lovely, thank you” Alicia smiled warmly. It felt good to be in the same room as her young ones, she was breast feeding N’Vea to bond with her daughter so she was providing feeds during the day as well as giving Sthilg expressed milk for N’Vea, but she missed not having the children with her at other times whilst she recovered.

The doctor nodded as he stood up almost knocking over a pile of books he had been reading. All of them had different titles, but they all had one thing in common. The name USS Capetown.

Alicia looked at Savar motioning to the pile of books, before looking to her father. “Dad, is there a reason you’re reading up on the USS Capetown?”

The gorn paused for a minute before he returned to ladling out the bowls and replied. " Yesss my dear I'm reading about her. Lassst night while i wasss doing my bridge duty we were approached by a gorn dreadnaught. Apparently a federation distressssss sssignal in the Haax sssyssstem is caussshing dissstruptionsss to their fassster than light communicationsss channelsss. There is only one federation ssstarship that crassshed in that sssytem and that was over two hundred years ago. " The old doctor said as his voice trailed off remembering the cold mountain dust that his skin hadn't felt in over two hundred years. Home felt like a dream these days. His body was young without the niggling pain in his joints. The green gunk under his nails from helping the healer make her poultice. The mess.... “It crashed in the mountainsss above my home."

“If it crashed there all those years ago, then why are we getting a distress signal now?” Alicia looked between Savar and the large Gorn Doctor. “Were there survivors when the ship first crashed? Was it ever even looked for?”

" Off courssse it was looked for my dear. I was one of the ones turfed out of bed, told to grab my pack, and start treaking up the mountainsss to look for sssurvivoursss with the first team. " The gorn said with a slight grin on his face which quikly faded as happy memories were oblitrated. " We found over sssixty three sssurvivoursss of the crew of eighty the ssship had. We did our best to make them ready and ssstarted heading back down the mountain. My father'sss sssalvage team stayed behind to make the ssship safe which included switching off the warp core and removing the batteriesss. If only it ended there, but a day later the virus hit the village. Within two daysss it was burning through the colony. "

“What virus?” Alicia looked at her adoptive father curiously. “Was it from the ship?”

" We never found out. Peleia believed it was probably buried deep in the sssoil and the Capetown crashing brought it back into an active ssstate. " The gorn said his hands slightly shaking. " Being sssixteen years old and having found onessself having to care for over three hundred and sssixty two gorn and the Capetown sssurvivorsss wasss sssomething i hope never to go through again.

Alicia nodded. “Where do you think the distress signal is coming from? Why now after all this time?” She was getting more and more curious as the time went on.

" Ileggial sssalvagesss most likely and they've left it on. " The gorn guessed though even from his tone he doubted it. Who would be trying to salvage an obsolete federation wreck?

Alicia gave her father a knowing look. “You don’t believe that though do you? Are we heading to investigate? If we are I’d like to be on the bridge when we arrive if you’ll give me permission to do some light duties?” She gave the Gorn a sweet smile.

" The gorn smiled. " Yesss were going to investigate. My people have a five-hundred-year quarantine on the world and don't want to risk sssetting foot on it. I have engineering turning one of the cargo bays into a quarantine center and have medical sssending over half a dozen class five biohazard gear. You can have some light duty on the bridge. I'm sssure the crew will be glad to see you again."

Alicia grinned. “That’s great, thank you. So I take it if the planet is quarantined then there shouldn’t be any life besides the indigenous animals? If not then I should be able to sense if there’s any humanoid lifeforms on the planet. I guess we’ll have to wait and see.”

Savar listened in silence as Sthilg told his story of a crashed starship and the onset of a virus even as Alicia sweet talked her adoptive father into clearing her for light bridge duty.

" If any of the indigenousss animalsss sssurvived the outbreak they ssshould be the only inhabitance. Ssshe had very little native life when we arrived in the first place. Sssavar can you have counssseling ready to go for when the team comes back. Ssspending time on a dead world may me hard for sssome of them to processss. " The old gorn asked as he thought through something before asking it.

" Doesss it make me bad if my mind keepsss asssking if the old transssport trainsss are ssstill running? We built the thingsss to lassst." He asked feeling rather embarrassed.

Alicia grinned. “Of course it doesn’t, it’s good that your focussing on something positive incase of thinking of the negative.” She smiled as she looked towards Savar then back at her father. “When we get closer I shouldn’t sense any life except the indigenous animal populous correct?”

The gorn nooded. " If any sssurvived the virus yes. It had a kill rate of eighty-nine percent. They ssshould have reclaimed most of the planet if they have."

Alicia nodded. “No doubt we’ll find out eventually.” She smiled at Sthilg. “Did you ever have chance to talk to anyone about what you saw, and faced back then?”

"Doctor, a question if you will, If your village healer was right about the origin of the virus and it laying inert in the soil why was it so difficult to develop an antidote? The ingredients were all there in the soil and fauna."

" Sssaid sssoil was halfway up a mountain face only around four gorn had managed to climb before. Peleia was the one who managed to create the cure so she'd have known more. The healer didn't make it." the gorn replied to his son in law before looking over to his daughter. " No my dear i buried myself in my work. I only managed to talk about it when i meet Ssshassssou."

Savar nodded at the Gorn's explanation and remained politely silent.

Alicia nodded. “Well if you ever need to talk more about it, I’m always around.” She offered her father a comforting smile. “I’m sure there’s plenty about you I’ve still got to learn.”

The gorn nodded as a soft gurgling came from the crib. " Hello little one did you sssleep well?" He said softly as he lifted his grandaughter into his arms and gently rocked her.

Alicia smiled as she watched but she couldn’t help but feel a pang of longing, even a little jealousy. She hadn’t spent as much time as she would have liked bonding with N’vea while she was recouperating from her surgery.

Sthilg could tell what his daughter was thinking. " Would you like to hold her?" he said softly.

Alicia nodded as she moved to take a seat next to Sthilg. “Yes, please!”

The gorn carefully handed his grandaughter over making sure Alicia had a firm grip before realising her.

Alicia’s eyes twinkled with tears as she held her beautiful daughter. “I’m sorry I shouldn’t feel jealous, it’s not right!” She gently rocked N’Vea feeling more complete as her motherly instincts took over. “I appreciate what you’re doing for us dad, I really do.”

" You have nothing to be sssorry about little one. You've been through a traumatic experince that would ssshake any woman." The gorn said ressuringly.

"Thank you Doctor, for all you have done in taking care of Alicia as well as watching Connor and N'Vea. It is most appreciated." Savar told the Gorn.

Alicia’s smile said it all as she looked at Sthilg then back at N’Vea. “I’m a lucky woman to have all of you, Connor may not be my own son but he feels as though he is and without both of you I wouldn’t have N’Vea or my life. I’m eternally grateful to have all of you in my life.”

"It is we who are grateful to you Alicia. You fill our lives with love, joy and compassion. We would be lost without you here in our lives." Savar replied with quiet conviction.

The gorn nodded in reply to his son in lawn before after hearing a slight gurgle reached in and picked up his grandson. In the small hybrids, arms was the small hand-made Starfleet teddy that the gorn had made with stitches clearly from a species whose hands weren't the most ideally suited for sowing.

“I love the fact that you made that” Alicia motioned to the teddy. “It’s so lovely!” She smiled at her son. “I’m so lucky to have all of you, I’m glad we were given the opportunity to save Connor from the dangers he was facing.”

"Connor's future is bright and lies before him. He can chose any path he wants and have no fear of repercussions." Savar pointed out.

“Indeed he can” Alicia smiled warmly. “Both our children can live their lives however they choose.”

" Oh i'm sssure the two of them will be running the federation before we know it." The gorn joked as he held his grandson tightly.

Alicia grinned. “I can just imagine it!” She looked towards Savar as she enjoyed her bonding time with N’Vea stifling a tired yawn as she did so.

"It would not surprise me in the least." Savar agreed. "The future is theirs to choose."

There was no response from Alicia, in those few short moments she’d happily drifted off to sleep as the last few days, and the exertion of being back on her feet after major surgery caught up with her.

Savar reached down and gently took N'Vea from her. "Rest my wife. You need your strength." He said softly as he cradled N'Vea in his arms.

Slowly changing his artificial arm until he was holding Coner with one the gorn carefully stood up and picked up a woolen blanket which he covered his daughter with.

"Connor seems to be quite at ease and happy with you Doctor. I am pleased to see that." Savar said to the CMO

" Ass am i." the gorn said as he settled back into his chair with his grandson against his chest. " I'm going to make sssure he growsss up to be a good man Sssavar. Thank you for you and Alicia for giving me this chance."

"It is because he feels safe and protected." Savar added. "I have no doubt you will be quite successful in your endeavor. No thanks are necessary Doctor. This was what Alicia and both wanted. For you to be part of the family and part of our children's lives."

The gorn nodded feeling the tiredness in his own eyes. " Well, I'd better not let this little man down."

"You will not. I am positive of that. Why do you not lie down and rest as well? I can take care of both Connor and N'Vea." Savar answered.

" Can you manage both of them?" Sthilg asked.

"Certainly Doctor, do not concern yourself. We all will be fine." Savar assured the CMO. "I will sing them a Vulcan lullaby to keep Connor and N'Vea content and quiet."

The gorn nodded as he leaned back in the chair hearing Savar voice singing. The big lizard was asleep in seconds.


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OOC: anything else anyone wants to add?
OOC: looks good to me :)
OOC: Looks fine with me.