Madness

Posted on Mon Jun 17th, 2019 @ 5:39am by

Mission: Episode 1: Hell is a four letter word
Location: Anya's Cabin
3073 words - 6.1 OF Standard Post Measure

Liorga, her hands freshly repaired and Estelle freshly exhausted, decided to go back to her old cabin for some of her things that were still there. Better definition of events: Liorga was out of fresh panties and didn’t feel like doing laundry, Besides that replicated panties suck. They’re not comfortable… Keying in her code, because it was still technically her quarters, she stepped through the door, “Anya, you decent?”

“I’m always decent”, Anya said, getting up and smiling. “Nice of you to come for a visit.” She was in her underwear, but then that was nothing Liorga hadn’t seen before. “Want me to break out the welcoming tea?”

“Sure, why not?” Liorga laughed, “Kinda nice to see the old place again. How’ve you been?”

Anya shrugged. “I’ve been better.” She started making the tea, even if it had to come from the replicator. “I’ve ruined my chances for a friendship with Sami, and that hot love affair I had going on has cooled since we got back from Cortic. Soon as she moved out here, more or less.”

“Yeah, I heard about things with Sami.” Liorga sighed, “I think that’s a lot of the reason she’s so hot to get to Frisco. Sorry to hear things aren’t going well with you and Danica. Maybe you can fix it though. You’re a good girl, Anya, don’t sell yourself short because a few things went all snafu on you.”

“I’m certainly not running after someone who’s not interested”, Anya said, placing the cups on the table. “I’m happy for you, though. Both for your swift recovery, and that things look well with your pretty blonde doctor.”

“Yeah, that’s been a real lift of the spirit.” Liorga nodded, “So much so that I’ve decided not to retire.”

“That is great”, Anya cheered up. “We’d certainly have missed you around here. I certainly have, living alone isn’t nearly as much fun. But I’m not asking you to come back, you belong with Estelle.”

“I’m sure they’ll find you a new roommate soon enough.” Liorga stated, taking a sip of her tea, “So, I’ve decided if I’m going to stay on, I’m going to start trying to climb the ladder in earnest again. Soon as the command situation is settled, one way or the other, I’m putting in for Warrant Officer.” She took another sip, “And I think you might want to consider doing the same.”

“Me?” Anya wondered. “I haven’t been in nearly long enough. For you, I can see it. You’ve got the skills and the experience. I’m… well, barely here. I’d have to make Chief first, and that’s a few years off still.”

“Maybe not as far as you’d think.” Liorga replied, she had planned on pushing Anya for Chief as soon as possible, “Besides, it’s a good idea to have a plan for the next few years down the road. Face it, at this point, you’re a career woman, Anya. Two years from now you can be a Warrant Officer if you really work for it. Hell, there are ships out there with Chief Warrants as Chief of Security, and you’d at least get into middle management here. We’ve got so many kids here, we need people with skill, you got that.”

“I’m a good fighter, I know that”, Anya said. “They don’t call me Toasty Buns for nothing. Gotta love Fernando’s sense of humour.” She took a sip to help her think. “Well, I’m certainly up for it. I’m designing training scenarios that match the kinds of encounters we’ve had lately, to be better prepared for them. I’ll have to see what happens once that stupid inspection is over, or rather the inspectors gone and our own people back in charge.”

“That’s going to be one of the sweetest days of my career.” Liorga laughed, “I literally can not wait until Capt. Lalor is back.”

“Don’t get your hopes up, Li”, Anya said. “It’s rather unlikely they’re even still alive. We might be looking at Captain… well, the science chief’s name that’s pretty much unpronounceable, but I don’t think that’s a reason for not giving her a promotion.”

“Arianna.” Liorga replied, it was the only part of the Science Officer’s name she could pronounce, either, “Which would mean we would probably be looking at First Officer Brett. But, until I see bodies, my Captain is still out there and we’re going to find them all. Can’t let yourself believe anything else. If you had on Cortic, nobody would’ve been looking for me.” Remembering Cortic returned her thoughts to Lia Holmes, the woman who had rescued her and almost died immediately after, she hadn’t been to see her before the disappearance, she’d be crushed if she never got the chance again, she owed Cdr. Holmes something...

“Cortic was different in two ways”, Anya said. “For one, we had good reason to believe you were still alive, and for another, I was actually able to do something. Unless they find a compound to storm or something similar, I’m just sitting here unable to contribute to the effort, aside from my regular duties.”

“I know that feeling, believe me.” Liorga sighed, “And they’re barely letting me do my regular duties. Real kick in the ass.”

“Is your girlfriend keeping you on the sick role for longer than you’d like?” Anya asked. “I mean, she was scared about you. She wasn’t herself. Might be an attempt to keep you safe?”

“No.” Liorga shook her head, “Estelle prefers me not being in the thick of things, but she knows that’s not for me. My cadet counselor is the one keeping me on the damned bench. Can’t understand that this is not the worst thing that’s ever happened to me and I can handle it.”

“You mean in the war?” Anya asked. “Even I don’t know what war is like, and I’ve been fighting for a long time, from my point of view. I’m not the most sensitive person in the universe, I know that. But what can you expect from a Cadet?”

“Well, it’s my own fault in a lot of ways.” Liorga laughed bemusedly, “I selected the cadet because I could get to her first and I figured her being a cadet a little smooth talk would get me back in the game before anyone knew I was out. Turns out Cadet Madelaine Rainbow Masters is a crusader, thinks she’s doing me this huge favor by keeping me off of away teams because she doesn’t think I’m processing the whole kidnapping and firefight thing well.”

Anya laughed. “Sorry.. But this sounds surreal. How can anyone keep a straight face with talk like that, most especially the counsellor?”

“You gotta see this chick to believe her.” Liorga lauged, “In my thirty years in Starfleet and almost fifty in life, I’ve never seen anything like Counselor Maddy…”

“Is she cute, at least?” Anya grinned. “I mean, if she’s dumb and not even pretty, she’ll have a hard life.” Of course she wasn’t dumb, Anya knew that. One needed to have at least a certain amount of smarts to make it into Starfleet, even after they relaxed the entry requirements as a result of the Dominion war, which explained people like Lovejoy or that other guy whose name escaped Anya at the moment. However, she didn’t voice that, she figured Liorga knew.

“Cute? No. Cute would be damning with faint praise.” Liorga shook her head, “Porcelain skin, big eyes, huge mane of red curls. No, Cadet Maddy is gorgeous, no other word to describe it. Easy on the eyes, hard on the brain.”

“Well, we can’t all be as fortunate as the two of us, can we?” Anya grinned.

“Right?” Liorga laughed, “Why I never worry about losing Estelle. Once they go bald, they never go back.”

Anya laughed. “I don’t think that’s the reason you needn’t worry. Some of us like hair.”

“Well, according to Cdr. Lovejoy I’m just overwhelming her with my pheromones.” Liorga said, rolling her eyes, “Son of a bitch…”

“If that were the case, most people aboard this ship would be chasing after the hem of your skirt”, Anya smiled. “I mean, not that the thought hadn’t crossed my mind, but I’m still in control of my actions, and we’ve been in this room together for months.”

“Right?” Liorga agreed, glad someone got it, “But try explaining that to some of those fools…”

“Besides”, Anya continued. “Estelle’s a doctor. I’m willing to bet two months of graveyard shift that she checked herself for pheromone responses within the first two days of getting together with you.”

“Estelle? Estelle who never turns doctor mode off?” Liorga laughed hard, “It was way sooner than that.”

“So you see, you’ve got nothing at all to worry about”, Anya smiled, taking Liorga’s hand. “And if nothing else, Estelle’s reaction to your kidnapping proves that.”

“Yeah, that.” Liorga groaned, “Maddy’s favorite subject. ‘You’re not processing this correctly, Liorga!’ Who the hell is she to know if how I processed the incident was right or not?”

Anya shrugged. “I’d think she’s learnt how to do things at the counselling academy?” She sipped her tea. “Maybe she just wants to make absolutely sure, that you’re not pretending perhaps?”

“She’s such a snowflake.” Liorga laughed, “And you better be real careful what you say when you answer her questions, even if they’re stupid questions. ‘What did you feel when you shot those men on Cortic?’ Gimme a break…”

“I know what I felt”, Anya said. “Satisfaction. If anyone I ever had to shoot deserved what they got, it was them. Did you tell her that?”

“Nope.” Liorga answered, laughing hard enough that she was shaking, “Way worse…”

“From a counsellor’s point of view, what could be worse?” Anya asked.

“Saying recoil.” Liorga answered.

“What? Why didn’t you replicate a recoilless weapon? Greater accuracy and all that…” Anya wondered.

“Didn’t have a lot of time.” Liorga shrugged, “It all happened so fast. You were there, you remember.”

“And I didn’t feel no recoil”, Anya grinned.

“And if you did don’t tell Maddy!” Liorga snickered.

“The thing is, it was a new experience for many of us. I mean, I enjoy the thrill of fighting, which to some is already a clear sign of some kind of psychological issue. But before this, I’ve always given people a chance to live, and never killed intentionally. It’s just, when it’s clear they’re the bad guys and not just someone elses’s tools to do the dirty work, shouldn’t even the most kind-hearted person understand that it’s no big deal if they don’t make it?”

“You’d think so.” Liorga stated, “I mean, it’s like I told Maddy, those guys in that gun, they didn’t value their lives enough not to follow Quinton Dunphy to their doom, not my fault they bid low. Maddy, she doesn’t get it.”

“Besides, shouldn’t she be more worried about what it’s like to have been caged up, and that their boss got away?” Anya asked, in her usual tactless way.

“Yeah, Gallia’s still kicking herself in the ass about that one.” Liorga sighed. Sure, Gallia hadn’t brought it up, but this was an easy read, “Regrets not killing him, thinks anything he does from now on is on her.”

Anya nodded. “Makes sense. If I’d had a shot, I’d have taken it. But then, she’s an engineer, not a soldier like I am, and you were.”

“Right.” The Deltan concurred, “Besides that, it’s never fun to kill anybody. I mean, men have lost their lives and I took them, so I have to live with that, nothing anyone should want to do. That being said, I planned to live and make sure everyone who came with us lived, too, so it was an easy choice.”

“Why not tell your counsellor that?” Anya asked.

“I’ve tried.” Liorga shrugged, “But it’s like unless I fall to my knees wailing over those punks in the gun she’s never going to feel like I dealt with it in the way she feels proper. It’s maddening…”

“Maybe that’s why they call her Maddy?” Anya offered.

“Probably so.” Liorga laughed, it was a bad joke, but not far from completely accurate.

“Can’t Estelle intervene, or something?” Anya asked. “Counselling is part of medical, and she outranks her.”

“No, they have some sort of non-interference policy.” Liorga shook her head, she’d already thought about that actually, ”I guess that’s good though, lets one doctor or one counselor be the primary for their patient, less chance of a mistake.”

“Well, you’ve got the right to get a second opinion”, Anya insisted.

“Right.” Liorga said, “Though it’s almost impossible to get one of them to overrule the other. Might be worth a shot though.”

“Come on, you’re not that desperate yet, are you?” Anya said. “If you shoot one of them, they’ll definitely keep you restricted to shipboard duties for a long time.”

Liorga just rolled her eyes, saying, “Really?” Anya couldn’t turn smart ass off if her life depended on it. Maybe she could to save her hair, the Deltan laughed to herself, but even that’s iffy.

“I know, my attempts aren’t ‘armoured duck in the river’ calibre, but I’m trying”, Anya said.

“I’ll never know where she got the idea for a duck tank…” Liorga revealed, “Much less how she programmed it into existence.”

“Oh, that’s easy”, Anya explained. “All you need to do is ask the computer to put a new skin on an existing chassis and use the cruiser tank AI. The hard part is getting access to the programme itself. Though, her access codes go a lot further than mine.”

“And the idea, I guess, just came from her own somewhat warped mind.” Liorga laughed, Estelle was everything Liorga wanted in a woman, didn’t change the fact she was nuts though.

“I don’t know why she’s so fascinated with ducks”, Anya shrugged. “You sleep with the woman, you figure it out.”

“Nah, she can have her secrets.” Liorga shook it off, “Besides, there’s a part of me that just doesn’t want to know.”

“You’re worried you might develop anatidaephobia?” Anya asked.

“Not really.” Liorga snickered, “Just worried it might make me nuts, too.” She paused for a second, “Or more nuts, according to Counselor Maddy I already am, so there’s that.”

“Don’t worry, you’re safe”, Anya said. “You still realise it’s nuts. It’s when you start thinking it’s normal that you’ll have to worry.”

“Well, that’s a load off.” Liorga smiled, “Now, what do you want to do about your issues?”

“I’m open for suggestions”, Anya said. “You’re the wise woman here.”

“Have you tried talking to her?” Liorga offered, “I mean, since we left Cortic?”

Anya nodded. “I brought her a housewarming gift for her new cabin. She seemed to like it, but pretty much asked me to leave and go back here inside half an hour of me being there. And yes, I was freshly showered and all that.”

“I actually meant with Sami, but okay.” Liorga said, “Sorry it didn’t go the way you’d hoped.”

Anya shook her head. “No. She’s sent me away and doesn’t want to speak with me.”

“Okay.” Liorga nodded, “Have you thought about trying again? She was still hurting then, it was all still raw, things might go better now.”

“I don’t want to make it worse”, Anya said. “I am not good at tact. She doesn’t believe I didn’t see it, and I should have. She thinks I was toying with her.”

“Yikes, okay, that’s much worse than I thought.” Liorga sighed, it seemed Sami hadn’t been completely honest with her about the whole thing with Anya; the poor kid was probably scared of getting laughed at, she concluded, no doubt her douchey brother’s work.

“Maybe she doesn’t believe my explanation is sincere either”, Anya said. “I mean, she’s gorgeous, but she’s not even twenty yet.”

“Why does age have to be such an issue?” Liorga asked, it had become a touchy subject for her as of late.

“I know what I was like at her age”, Anya said. “Much more spontaneous… well, no, that’s the wrong word. Less steady. You know what I mean, right?”

“Right, right.” Liorga nodded, though by the time she was nineteen Liorga’s life was the steadiest it had ever been, but her circumstances were way different.

“Maybe I’m just being stupid and I threw away a chance for some happiness for the both of us”, Anya said.

“I don’t know.” Liorga said, leaning back into the chair, “I wish I had better advice to offer. Sorry.”

“That makes two of us”, Anya said. “All I know is I never wanted to hurt her.”

“I know.” Liorga comforted, somehow she knew that Anya needed to know someone believed her, especially since Sami didn’t.

“You couldn’t possibly, maybe, tell her for me, tell her that you believe me, so she might?” Anya asked tentatively.

“Yeah, not a problem.” Liorga replied quickly, she normally wouldn’t be anybody’s messenger, but this time there didn’t seem to be any other way.

“Thank you”, Anya said. “I owe you one. I know, that’s a cliché, but I mean it.”

“You’re welcome.” Liorga smiled, she really hoped she could help them, knowing that that too was a cliche, but meant.