Shared Experiences

Posted on Tue Jun 10th, 2025 @ 9:39am by Lieutenant Anna Esquivias & Petty Officer 3rd Class Josef Forstinger & Avalon [ADMIN NPC]

Mission: MISSION 0 - History Speaks
Location: Mess Hall
Timeline: MD-5
1124 words - 2.2 OF Standard Post Measure

Anna entered the mess, walking over to one of the replicators. She got herself a grilled cheese and tomato soup. She had been wanting one ever since Lissa had gotten one the other day. Food was like that. Seeing or smelling something good, well, it gave a person a bit of craving. That was her Human side. Ardanans were meant to have more refined palates.

Surveying the room, she saw Josef. She had not really spoken to him much but she did remember him from when she had first been rescued. She walked over to his table. "Do you mind if I join you?"

Josef looked up as Anna approached, having looked down on his mealtray. His eyes wide awake-yet with bags under them. Compared to Anna's own meal which one could call falls into the comfort food category, Josef's was anything but. Boiled Buckwheat, with bits of Corned Beef and a glass of water. Despite his general demeanor of isolation so far, the edges of his mouth turned upwards in a light smile, nodding at her question. "Not at all, please. You were at the Station, weren't you ?"

"I was, yeah," she said as she took a seat. She glanced to his meal curiously. It seemed a little old fashioned, but healthy. She thought healthy. She remembered he was a man out of time as well as a man lost in space. She smiled to him warmly then. He was adjusting to a lot more than she was. "How are you doing?" she asked.

"Im doing fine, what about you ?" a lie, a thinly veiled one at that. In reality, while Josef seemed to have adjusted well, he had not at all, the constant droning noise of the engine and nightmares had robbed him of alot of sleep. His body nor his mind had not adjusted either, she could tell he had been keeping up with physical training-perhaps more than was necessary, his eyes also formed heavy bags under themselves, the kind of discoloration someone might have if awake for 2 days-but most telling were his eyes all by themselves, despite his kind demeanour on the surface, they seem to be sometimes staring right through her or past her, as if scanning around for danger that could lurk around any corner. "Names Josef, by the way." he adds on after a bit of a pause, as if having forgotten to introduce himself.

"I'm Anna," she said, not sure what to make of him now. She could tell he was lying. His eyes gave it away, if nothing else. But she hardly wanted to confront him about that. "You weren't Starfleet before, were you?" she asked.

"Starfleet ? No. Not even a Citizen of the Federation. I...was a Soldier of the Austrian Armed Forces. Deployed to several conflict zones between 1992 to 1996. Or what you refer to now as the Eugenics Wars." he reveals to her as he takes another sip of water.

"Damn. That must have..." She paused. "Everything I can think of to say is going to sound like a patronizing platitude. From one nightmare to another."

Unexpectedly, the man let out a dry chuckle at her reply, lowering his head in the process before raising it again. "Well, finaly someone who seems to understand. They probably mean well, but some of your colleagues-" he too pauses, thinking of a way to put things kindly. "well I think you probably know. Hows it been for you ? I had to struggle for half an hour figuring out how a food replicator works...." he says with a bit of humor to lighten the mood.

"Well, I do know how everything works, at least. I was Starfleet before. But it has been weird getting back to...well...freedom. Those monsters had me for long enough that I..." She trailed off, not sure how eager she was to continue her answer. Her cheeks colored.

As she trailed off, Josef interrupted her, sensing her hesitation. "I understand. It must not have been pleasant for either of us. They threw me in the Arena first chance they got. After that they froze me again, and only woke me up to fight again. It felt like months, or years-anyway. At least we are both out of that mess."

"Thank goodness!" Anna said. "Hopefully we'll make it home. Although it has changed a lot from what I imagine you remember. I don't know if you've really talked to anyone about it."

"I have not." Josef responds in a bit more of a solem tone. Looking out the viewport once again to look upon the stars passing by. "I dont expect much to wait for me back home except an grown over and empty grave with my name on it. And its doubtful anything I knew is still standing except the mountains and forests. Which ive missed the most since waking up on that floating hellhole."

"The mountains are still there," she said. "The forests have been replanted, though war and a few preceding centuries of pollution did a lot of damage to the biosphere. More of the big historical things were preserved than you'd guess. Palaces mostly became museums, but a lot of them are still standing. Some of the monuments were preserved. The pyramids and the stone circles."

Josef nodded along to her words. It was comforting to know some things at least survived. Not a lot, but still.

"What I miss the most...is the sky. I don't know why, maybe its been all this time cooped up on that station. But I'd like to see it again. Not some Hologram, the real thing."

"The sky is still the sky," Anna said. "Blue with puffy white clouds and dark and peaceful at night, blanketed with shimmering stars." She paused a second. "Storms are more controlled. You won't see the big stormy skies that used to be a thing."

"Well, some things never change I guess. Last time I saw the stars there were tracers flying over my head." he comments, looking out of the nearby porthole/Viewpoint, out onto the endless stars beyond the invisible barrier. Once again showing a bit more of a emotional side.

By now though, he had long since finished his food. Only an empty tray remaining on his side of the table. "Guess we've both been through the ringer, huh ?"

"I guess so," Anna said. "I'm sure we'll see Earth again. This is a good crew. Everyone's been through a lot but we've stuck together."

"I sure hope we do." he says as he stands up to de-replicate his tray and utensils. "But from my experience, things rarely ever go the way one wants to."

"Well, we got rescued," she said, "so there's one thing."