There are two of you?

Posted on Thu Apr 18th, 2019 @ 11:11am by

Mission: MISSION 0 - History Speaks
Location: Bajor
3113 words - 6.2 OF Standard Post Measure

“So before we check in, could we swing by the Paraldek monastery?” Estelle asked as Liorga was preparing to approach Bajor in the shutte they’d borrowed. “I’ve got the location here in the computer.”

“A monastery?” Liorga chuckled aloud, surely her dyed in the wool atheist lover was yanking her chain, “Why? Taking your vows?”

“There’s someone there I’d like to see”, Estelle said. “I only just learnt about it shortly before our departure. I hardly had time to bake some extra goodies as a gift.”

“You’re friends with a Monk?” Liorga almost choked on the words. I mean, it wasn’t hard to believe that Estelle might come to like a monk or a priest or any other religious figure, it was hard to think that any of them could remain friends with her, “Have you ever actually met this person, love?”

“Yes, many times”, Estelle smiled. “Don’t worry. She’s an engineer like yourself. Well, not exactly like yourself. Civil engineer. You build the weapons systems, she builds the targets.”

“Yeah.” Liorga laughed, though a part of her was dying inside as she flashed back to Cortic and that damned cannon…. “Okay, let’s get the coordinates and go visit your friend.”

Estelle keyed them into the console. “I want to surprise her. Do you think you could, uhm, distract her a bit while I sneak up from behind?”

“What do you want me to do?” Liorga asked, “Yell boo? Flash my goodies? What are we talking about here?”

Estelle giggled. “Anything you can to make sure she doesn’t turn around too soon. Maybe not something that’ll get us thrown out of the monastery right away.”

“Okay, sure, I’ll think of… something.” Liorga sighed, wondering what Estelle was up to, she also considered looking for Gallia to see if this was all one huge prank. Where Hawkeye goes, Trapper surely follows, she reasoned.

“Come on, it’ll be fun”, Estelle grinned at Liorga. “Besides, you’ll get to meet someone who’s very important to me.”

“Good enough for me.” Liorga nodded as she set course for the monastery, anyone important to Estelle was important to her, even if this was just the preamble to another prank.

Estelle gleefully rubbed her hands together. “Here’s a picture, so you’ll know who to look for”, she said, bringing it up on the console. Eight years younger than Estelle, Stefanie had not gone the blonde route and looked different enough with her shorter, dark brown hair that the family resemblance wasn’t immediately obvious, though both women had very similar eyes.

“Cute. Old girlfriend?” Liorga queried, “To be honest if I thought you were going to leave me for anyone I would’ve figured on Gallia.”

“Why are you so insecure?” Estelle wondered. “If I wasn’t serious about wanting to be with you, do you think I’d have asked you to move in with me?” This baffled Estelle.

“It was a joke, baby.” Liorga sighed, “I guess you don’t recognize them from the other side.”

“Well, Julia told me you looked worried when she said I was talking to Captain Anderson, too”, Estelle said. “So I wasn’t sure.”

“I was worried that Capt. Anderson and his bunch weren’t competent.” Liorga explained, “Then I found out who he reported to and since good things tend to flow from the top in this business I felt better.” She touched the shuttle down and turned to Estelle, “Okay, so are you going to hide in here while I distract the mystery brunette?”

“She shouldn’t be hard to find, let’s ask one of the vedeks”, Estelle said. She picked up her bag with the extra baked goods and took Liorga’s hand. “Come on, we must find her.”

“Alright, alright.” Liorga sighed, Estelle was being weirder than usual about this; this woman must be something spectacular...

Outside was the usual quiet one could expect to find in an insa… mo-nas-ter-y! Estelle approached the first Bajoran in costume and asked, “Hey, good morning. I’m Rose T. Duck, and this is Liorga. We’re looking for Stefanie, the engineer who’s overhauling your security system.”

“She’s in the guest wing”, the vedek explained. “She does not rise as early as the rest of us. She worships the power of coffee, she says. As a fellow human, you understand?”

“I do”, Estelle grinned. “We observe similar rituals.”

The vedek pointed to a separate building across the compound. “Room three.”

“Thank you.” Estelle glanced over in the direction of the building. “You knock at her door, I’ll stand behind one of the pillars off to the side?”

“Rose T. Duck, huh?” Liorga rolled her eyes, even without Gallia along for the ride Estelle was going full speed without stops. She laughed and shook her head, knocking on the door of room three, “Delivery!!!”

It took a few moments but then the door opened. A very familiar smell washed over Liorga - the same blend of coffee Estelle used. Stefanie saw the bald woman and the Starfleet shuttlecraft behind her, looked at Liorga and frowned. “Uhm, good morning? Has something happened?”

“Happened?” Liorga asked, looking for Estelle, “Yes, happened. Ma’am, I’ve got reason to believe you’re possibly being stalked by a lunatic. I’ve been sent to assure your safety…”

Stefanie frowned. “Why would anyone want to stalk me? Hardly anybody knows I’m here.” She wasn’t very active on public channels, and hadn’t advertised her presence with anyone.

“I know this is a lot to take in, ma’am.” Liorga said, struggling to keep up the front and wishing Estelle would hurry up already, “But this is a serious matter.”

“Has got to be, if Starfleet’s willing to get involved”, Stefanie nodded. “Okay, explain to me who you think is… whoa!”

That moment, Estelle had closed in from behind, covered Stefanie’s eyes with her hands and asked, “Guess who!” in a changed voice.

“IT’S TOO LATE, MA’AM, THE LUNATIC HAS FOUND YOU!!!” Liorga said in faux terror, “RUN!!!”

Stefanie’s heart jumped but she recovered quickly. At least now she knew it was a game. She’d just have to figure out who. A scent caught her nose. “Estelle!” She spun around and hugged her sister. “I can smell your favourite shampoo! Changing your voice won’t do it.”

“I don’t want to actually scare you to death”, Estelle grinned. “Especially not on my day off.”

“Sorry for the deception, Ma’am, this one put me up to it.” Liorga laughed, pointing to Estelle, “She always make her entrance this way?”

Stefanie laughed. “There’s always something with her.”

“Don’t you want to invite us inside, Fanny?” Estelle asked. “I can smell something, too, and it’s calling my name.”

“Yes, of course”, Stefanie said. But first, she extended her hand to Liorga. “I’m Stefanie Hertz, as I’m sure she’s told you.”

“So that would make you…” Liorga began, shaking the brunette’s hand.

“Yes, it makes her ‘Fanny Hertz’”, Estelle grinned. “We got our sense of humour from our parents.”

“So, sisters, just as I suspected.” Liorga laughed, “So you grew up with this one? You must have the patience of a saint. That or a severe case of PTSD…”

“Doesn’t every younger sibling?” Stefanie asked, walking inside and immediately getting three mugs out to serve the coffee.

“And this one here, who has decided to take this day out of our shore leave to criticise my pranking habits, is Liorga”, Estelle said as they followed the scent of the coffee.

“Oh! The girlfriend! It’s lovely to meet you!” Stefanie exclaimed. “Please, have a se… well, sit down somewhere, anywhere.” The room had a chair, a small desk and a bed. The only luxury was the replicator.

“So now I’m ‘the girlfriend.’” Liorga chuckled, “NICE! And, yeah, her pranks with Gallia are normally better, I’m probably the weak link here.”

“You earned the definite article”, Stefanie grinned. “You must have done something right.” She handed each of them a mug of coffee. “It’s a very nice surprise that you’ve come all the way out here to say hello.”

“You aren’t the only one surprised.” Liorga replied, sipping the coffee, “Until five minutes ago I didn’t know there even was a sister. She just referred to you as someone she knew and wanted to see again.”

“Probably trying to get you jealous”, Stefanie grinned, jabbing her sister in the side. “You’ve got to stop doing that. One of those days I’ll have an actual target on my backside.”

“I figured, what better way to introduce you to my family than by meeting in person?” Estelle smiled. She took two mugs and handed one on to Liorga.

“Jealous?” Liorga laughed hard, “Not me, not any Deltan. Once you go bald, you never go back.” Liorga took another sip of her coffee, “And does this mean when I meet your parents I’ve got to make up some more bullshit for them?”

As Stefanie snickered, Estelle said, “Well, let’s put it this way… best not mess with the masters.”

“Oh, great, a whole family of clowns.” Liorga sighed, “One thing’s for sure, my life will never be boring again.”

“You’re probably better prepared for what Mum, Dad or I come up with”, Stefanie said. “Estelle told me she made a wise choice.”

“Let you in on a secret.” Liorga said, leaning conspiratorially close to Stefanie, “She had me at stew.”

Estelle giggled. “See, I told you all those extra chemistry lessons would come in handy some day.”

“Better living through chemistry.” Liorga joked, raising her mug.

“So, tell me something about yourself?” Stefanie asked. “Oh, and ask whatever you want to know about Estelle here.”

“Well, I’m in my thirtieth year in Starfleet, obviously I’m Deltan, Estelle is my first serious relationship in about fifteen years.” Liorga began listing off bullet points, not really sure what Stefanie wanted to know, “I’m an engineer, met Estelle when her best friend caught on fire…”

“She wasn’t then”, Estelle said. “We only became friends later.”

“And yes, I know you’re an engineer. That’s why I said ‘wise choice’, as Estelle here is sort of the black sheep of the family for not going into engineering. Not that we mind, of course.”

“And the weird part about all this…” Liorga sighed, draining her coffee, “is that there was no reaction to someone being on fire. Family reunions must be really interesting for you.”

“Oh, uhm, well”, Stefanie said. “She tells us about all sorts of fascinating cases she gets. Burn victims, when was the last time you got excited about one of those?”

“That was when I was still in medical school”, Estelle smirked. She took a sip. “Now, operating on people with surgical tools almost a century old, on top of sensor interference, that was something else.”

“It definitely presented challenges for engineering.” Liorga agreed, remembering the recent mission, “Whole damn planet was a wreck. Going to have to basically rebuild it from the ground up.”

“That sounds like a fascinating challenge for terraformers”, Stefanie said. “I, for one, would love to design a colony. A few tall buildings, covered in flowers on all sides, with tall footbridges crossing between them a hundred metres or more above the ground, surrounded by an impressive landscape… pity we can’t get terraformers as skilled as Slartibartfast.”

“Well, if they give you the job, let us know.” Liorga smiled, figuring Gallia and the rest of her group of soon to be modern day SeaBees would love it as much as Stefanie; Liorga knew she would.

“I’ve made designs”, Stefanie said. “They’re on a waiting list for new colonies, or expansions to existing ones. Maybe, in a few years. My own town, one that people will enjoy living in.”

“I’m sure they’ll build it some day”, Estelle said. It had been a long-standing dream with her younger sister.

“Maybe this will be your chance.” Liorga offered, she knew once the Corps of Engineers got Cortic VI stabilized again it was going to be the rebuild of all time, unmatched since the reconstructions of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

“So how bad is it there?” Stefanie asked.

“Think Dresden, 1945”, Estelle said. “In parts, anyway.”

“And in other places it’s not even that good.” Liorga added, “When we pulled into orbit, we were watching drone footage in engineering, sort of prepping ourselves, whole cities were levelled.”

“Good thing most of the people got out”, Stefanie said. “Otherwise, it would truly be a great tragedy. And I don’t use the word lightly.”

“Yeah. Most.” Liorga nodded, finishing her coffee, and thinking most, but not enough.

“And we figured we’d come here and take two days of rest”, Estelle said, changing the topic. “Well, as much rest as seeing the sights allows.”

“Too bad the fire caves are closed”, Stefanie said. “The authorities think it’s too dangerous for anyone to go there, though I hear they’re spectacular.”

“You know, I visited them once during the war.” Liorga recalled, “I went with a couple other engineers and explored a little bit. I mean, we weren’t supposed to be there, but, hey, only illegal if you get caught, right?”

“I never knew you had such a rebellious streak in you, Liorga”, Estelle smirked.

“Well, we were all young once.” Liorga shrugged, “And sadly only once. There’s a whole lot of dumb shit I’d love to do all over again.”

“Surprise me?” Estelle asked.

“I will.” Liorga winked, “But obviously not now when you’re expecting it.”

“You’re not going to need me to come and bail you out of a Bajoran jail cell, right?” Stefanie asked.

“Nah, I’ve got a get out of jail free card.” Liorga shrugged, “Long as we get arrested in the Rakantha province.” She had a friend there from the war, maybe while they were on Bajor anyway they could pop in on him and see how he was.

“Does it extend to your retinue?” Estelle grinned. So they were going to Rakantha.

“I’m pretty sure it will.” Liorga laughed, Tomlii had always been quick to help her out in the old days, poor kid was in love something fierce...

Estelle unpacked the food she had brought and handed some to her sister. “I made these before the flight over.” They were Stefanie’s favourites, blueberry muffins. She handed another one to Liorga. Of course she had made plenty.

“The worst part about you leaving for medical school was that you took your cooking skills with you”, Stefanie teased.

“She is an amazing cook.” Liorga nodded, taking a big bite of the moist, flavorful muffin, “Yeeeeeah, that’s the stuff.”

“I hope there’s more about me that you appreciate”, Estelle said.

“You mean getting jumped in the morning, before coffee?” Stefanie asked. “Not a chance.”

“I think she meant me.” Liorga laughed hard, then turned to Estelle, “And you already know there’s more to you that I appreciate than your cooking.”

“No, I actually meant Fanny here”, Estelle said. “Who’ll have to watch her behind if she keeps this up.”

“Did this just get weird?” Liorga questioned, “No, no, it’s been weird since the night I met her reciting Macbeth as she made stew…”

“You didn’t taste of it, did you?” Stefanie asked.

“I did.” Liorga replied, “And it was great. Though, I was going to tear up a bowl even if it tasted like reclaimed waste water to get the hot doctor’s attention. Just happened she could cook, too. So, yeah, bonus.”

“That’s so sweet”, Estelle said, kissing Liorga.

“Get a room, will you?” Stefanie asked.

“We have”, Estelle said. “Earlier this week.”

“You *are* moving fast”, Stefanie stated.

“Well, you know, sometimes it takes little things to open your eyes to what’s truly important.” Liorga said, though she wasn’t sure how Estelle would react to her referring to her kidnapping as a ‘little thing.’

It was something Estelle didn’t feel comfortable discussing. She hadn’t exactly held up well, and was still haunted by the memory of how afraid she had been. At any rate, she didn’t think it was the right topic to discuss with her younger sister. “How are you doing on the dating front?” she asked instead.

“Uh, don’t ask”, Stefanie groaned, now successfully distracted. “Three of the monks here, one more annoying than the next. Why can’t Bajoran monks be celibate? I thought that was part of the deal.”

“Sorry, Stef.” Liorga laughed hard, “But, honestly, even we wiped with our oaths of celibacy years ago. You might just need to get yourself a spray bottle of water. Or a stick.”

“I’ve got a hyperspanner”, Stefanie grinned.

“That should do it.” Liorga agreed, “Especially when applied to soft tissue.”

“Don’t crack any heads, we surgeons hate that sort of thing”, Estelle cautioned.

“Just nuts”, Stefanie said. “Cracking nuts is okay, right?”

“Not around me, I’m allergic.” Liorga joked, though it was true to life.

“Yeah, I can see that”, Stefanie grinned.

“Hey, she’s not a nut.” Liorga playfully defended her lady love, “She’s a loon! Get it right.”

“Wrong bird, love”, Estelle said. “But kinda close.”

“Can’t duck that one.” Liorga shrugged.

“Much better”, Estelle agreed. “You know, I’ve got a book you might like. It’s called ‘The Complete Book of British Birds’, and it’s subtitled ‘the feathered kind, you pervert’.”

“And you dealt with this your whole life?” Liorga questioned, then stood up and saluted Stefanie, “I wish I had a medal to give you.”

Both sisters laughed. “It’s not as hard if you’ve never known any different, I guess”, Stefanie said. “Though, in the early years, the age difference did come into play. It was some time before I could start getting my revenge.”

“Well, I’m sure you caught up in a hurry.” Liorga said, “Motivated as you surely were.”

“Expert at age four”, Estelle grinned. “Kindergarten was fun, especially for me as an outside observer.”

All Liorga could do was laugh, knowing that someday someone was going to know exactly what she experienced with Estelle. Whoever the lucky guy or girl was might deserve a warning, but what fun would that be?