Selected Quotes June '23
Posted on 02 Jul 2023 @ 9:49pm by Commander Calliope Zahn
May ‘23 Selected Quotes
Subspace fissures and other marital problems
"What's your point?" Calliope snipped impatiently. "Be what as it may?"
"His charming little 'very well done', pat on the head. I watched him over the visual comm link, strutting around. Those are epitaphs. 'The best of us, they died well for a lost cause!' Was that what you meant to have engraved upon Obsidian Command's memorial wall in memoriam of this entire crew?"
"Son of a bitch, Lance." She landed a fist on the desk. "We weren't in the grave. We were still in that fight!" She aimed a pointer finger at him. "And every second you refused the order, you made that hill steeper."
[...]
Lance harrumphed, his lip quivering as processed her diatribe against him. Was this his reward for sacrificing everything for her happiness? All of the tripe about following one's heart seemed to prove hollow after all, just as he had suspected. "How quickly a tune can change its key! This morning you were indebted to me a kiss for my quick thinking."
[...]
"I would risk myself, you, and everything I loved to save a planet full of people! I'd risk it all on even an ice cube's chance in hell that I could make it happen. This is my calling. This is what I was born for. The fact that you would give up on the fate of an entire world to duck and cover and protect me? You don't know me. We don't share anything in common that even matters."
"Calli, that is not it at all. I value life and the principles of the Federation every bit as much as yourself.” Now Lance’s one hand was sweeping, like a conductor to a symphony only he could hear. “It was purely the mathematics of probability—"
"Damn the odds!" Frustrated, Calliope yanked his necklace off, snapping the chain and flinging it in one motion.
Surveying the damage
Calliope took her own turn staring out the viewport at the warp trails, trying to stay cool on the topic and not get her blood pressure up again. “Lance belongs in the lab and the lecture hall, where he can be the smartest person in the room. He can’t make difficult value judgments that are beyond the numbers.”
“That is not the kind of officer I want under my command,” Corvus declared emphatically,
Ibn Sharjar: Stars on the rocks, Choices to make
“Grandfather will be honored you chose this.” He turned the boy in his arms, putting him on his hip and smiled to him.
“Will it hurt?” Sasil asked quietly, the reality of what he had just selected now coming close.
“Yes” Jelik nodded seriously “It will and so it should my son. For it is a reminder to us of what they did to Tej-Selkar, our prophet. But you will endure it bravely, as we have all done and when it is over, I have a salve which will sooth it. Then you will wear the scar with pride and honor, as your brother does, as your mother and I do, as you grandfather does and as our tribe does. And you have taken the first step in becoming a true Tej-Ka-Jalfa”
[...]
He bowed to them deeply and said simply in Arabic “Shukra lek, ant cerveny ktera wilkin lek minn yisthak charf.” “Thank you, you do me much honor, but it is to you, whom the honor is due”
Ibn Sharjar: Obsidian, Blood & Ashes
Steadily each of the newest group was brought forward and Neifle repeated the ritual for each. Sasil was fourth. Ibn Sharjar watched Jelik standing next to him stiffen slightly with tension as his son walked forward.
“The Green Circle and Moon” Neiefle announced his choice “Our ancient oasis, to which we shall one day return!” She knelt and cut the mark into Sasil’s cheek.
“Be brave my son,” Ibn Sharjar heard Jelik whispering to himself. “Be brave.”
[...]
When they cut the scars on her face! When they did cast her unto death on the pyre of the last caravan!
When they cast out the pathfinders, when they banished us here to the plains of glass to die!
Surgical progression
His retirement had gone up much like Hobus had, and he’d felt no other choice but to return to the Fleet.
[...]
Yet here he was, clinging to life on his surgery bed. It’d take a few minutes of frantic scanning and terror that he was going to lose this guys heartbeat to realize that the man had an artificial heart. When Duke realized that, he understood how he was still alive. It was, quite literally, the only reason he was still breathing. The real deal would have shut down long, long ago.
[...]
“I’m fine, doc,” Finn waved flippantly. “Help my Marines. Most wounded first.”
“I am,” Duke replied, “That’s you. Now shut up and let me take care of you,” he snapped, turning to the nurse that had joined them. “Right, nurse, here’s what I need…”
Our Souls to Keep
It was so quiet in the guest cabin. Ibis couldn’t remember a silence this strong. She’d grown so accustomed to the never ending roar of the ocean and the howl of the wind, the rustling of the dune grasses, and the singing of the bugs… It was so surreal to hear nothing but the absence of everything, the missing sounds ringing in her mind like a hollow bell.
[...]
“The Z’ala’s god! It hurt him!” Olivia finished for her. It was the obvious thing.
Ibis nodded, sealing her eyes shut and counting in her mind all of the wounds she had witnessed. His cold fingers were still icy on her cheek. She knew he'd lost too much blood. “Yeah,” she said. “The doctors are… they’re trying. He’s in surgery.”
[...]
Not everyone who went into a surgery came out alive. It depended how bad it was. And the Z’ala god was only known for killing people. She had never ever heard of anyone who had been confronted by it and lived.
Turbolifts go up and down
Senior Chief Drummond looked up from the terminal and shook his head. “Everything, sensor logs, tactical logs, weapons logs, it’s been wiped completely clean, never seen anything like it…”
[...]
“Yeah, along with some Ops guy and a Romulan woman, then they dropped this Security Protocol Seven-Eight whatever on the Captain; ripped a chunk outa our data banks and beamed off again!” Steiner snapped, “Why is everyone going weak at the knees over this guy, who is he?”
“Captain Bowdler? Well, he’s like a real-life legend” Knowles replied “He’s like a modern Archer or Kirk or even Admiral Picard! He came and gave our commencement address at the Academy, afterwards everyone was lined up to shake his hand and try for a transfer to the Alabama; he’s allowed to hand pick his own crew!”
[...]
“Oh great” Steiner muttered. “Alright, I need to go clean up and not write a report then.”
[...]
"Yanno what, we're meant to have this wonderful Federation of Planets, peace, love and harmony, except it's all a damn lie! Underneath there's a nasty dark pool of hate, deceit, crime and corruption, where the powerful prey on the weak and the evil exploit the helpless. [...] And yeah, before you ask, I'd do it again! Now tell me you would have done anything different and if you would, then feel free to chew me out!"
She wanted to shove him for being right. Even while he'd been disobeying she knew she'd have done the same. She turned and slapped a hand into the turbolift wall. "Godddamnit Ridge. I thought you were going to get left behind. I thought I would have to tell Rod I lost his brother for him."
"Huh, he'd think I just took off on a beach vacation! Anyway I knew you wouldn't leave lil old tadpole me down there with the whales" Steiner blew out a long breath, looked at Zahn "Did you really just try and intimidate me?" He grinned "Kinda impressive"
House Call
Her shoulders seemed to release from where she was tensing and she stood a little straighter. “So… you don’t have news. From sickbay.” She couldn’t read minds anymore, but Ibis decided someone would have to be cruel to deliver bad news with that kind of smile.
[...]
Ibis momentarily hid her face in her hands. She’d spent so many nights with her neck craned, as if she could see a search party by looking harder. “Thank you,” she said. “I knew. I knew Starfleet would search.”
[...]
“Use the replicator. Take another shower. Take three showers,” she chuckled. “But remember, no matter what… you’re one of us, Ibis. You’re Starfleet, and we take care of our own,” she declared emphatically. “You’re welcome on my bridge and in my ready room for anything, ok? Anything.”
[...]
“Thank you. For sending help when you did. If Wallace had been fighting the Governor any longer, I don’t think he’d have the chance he does now.”
Corvus felt that statement like a punch to her guts. She hadn’t sent them. She had refused to send them. It was Declan that had made the call, against her orders and led them to the position that they were in now, paying for that call with his own body. Something he may bear the scars of for life. She simply nodded in reply, repressing the sudden rush of embarrassment and shame.
Not on Korix Anymore
“Sure thanks” he slid in next to the teenage girl who gave him a scowl and rolled her eyes, before moving over. “Hi, I’m Ridge Steiner, I do like Security type stuff” he gave her a grin “And you are?”
Disinterested in him, Olivia treated Steiner to her Korix name with a whistle click and a short screech. She started to add some additional commentary for him in Korix about what she thought of his name.
“That’s… enough, Olivia.” Ibis said gently.
[...]
"Cubo was a Marshal guy." Olivia blurted. "But he's dead."
"Olivia," Ibis whispered.
"What? He was dead when he came. Everyone said so."
"You had a Marshal on the Sunrise?" Steiner asked, surprised, mouthful of sub "I thought it was a deepspace surveyor?"
"No. He wasn't on the Sunrise."
The Choice
Elizabeth scrunched up her nose like she used to when he’d ask her to explain complex medical research. It was usually a sign that she was struggling to simplify her explanation. “It’s where the law of conversion and unfathomable metaphysics meet.”
[...]
“I don’t understand.”
“What’s to understand? These are all the people,” Elizabeth said as she settled down on the stump next to his.
“All the people? What people?”
“People you had an impact on before they died.”
[...]
He felt a hand squeeze his. Slowly he turned his head to find Ibis, tears already streaming down her face, her hand trying to stifle sobs. He squeezed her hand back.
Catch up with Breakfast
Louke let out a breath, before adding. “Of course, that was about the same time the Major and four of his team departed the vessel on their own power without authorization. So the Captains switched their objectives and Commander Quinn was sent to locate and connect with you.”
“On their own power?” Marines didn’t have their own power. They were always riding under naval host. “Like out the windows? Oh.” Louke’s expression told her she wasn’t far off. “They did an orbital jump without DeHavilland’s approval. And Quinn went looking for the Acamas.”
[...]
“Yes, Ma’am.” Making the final notes, Louke began pulling in the active manifests to work on rescheduling. “I’ll flag you the moment I have the schedule set and ready for approval. Until then, I’ll be on the bridge.”
It was more than nice having someone reliable and with a steady personality as an anchor point. Wiping her mouth, she cleaned up her breakfast remains and took it back to the replicator.
Memories of a Bearcat, Long Ago
She would always have wondered if she could have convinced it to turn down a different path and sniff somewhere else long enough for her and Rafe to escape the cavern. But by then Rafe, panicked and trying to help, had drawn his phaser and shot at it which broke her tenuous telepathic link with the animal, the immediacy of the stinging pain bringing it roaring back into its own senses. Before it had only been a little hungry. Now, it reared up and gave an enraged roar from which Ibis ran as hard as she could before all of its paws were on the ground again, after her.
[...]
“He lost his heart for me?”
“He’s a Marine.” The doctor had shrugged as if that itself was enough of a reason. “They run headlong into that sort of thing for anyone,” Rafe had told her, kissing her on the forehead. “That’s why he was assigned to a science mission he’s otherwise useless on.”
[...]
Ibis picked up on all of Rafe’s meandering thoughts on the situation and said nothing of them to Rafe as he continued to reassure her. “Don’t worry yourself. When we return to the Nimitz, I’ll install him a state-of-the-art cardiac replacement. Better than the old one. Cold and hard enough to match his mean personality.”
Not Part of the Picture
“What’s wrong?” He said hoping to expedite the matter. There were few things worse than agonising accounts of unpleasant affairs. The sooner you put those things in the past, the better.
“I’ve sold the painting you wanted to get rid of.” she started, looking more serious than a news anchor - those sellers of doom. “The new owners, a young couple who lives not far from my gallery, promised to send the money within a few hours. This should make you happy.”
“Yeah, thanks for that. A pity you are not calling to brighten my day, though.” He added. “You’ve got the looks of someone whose toast hit the floor, marmalade-side-down. Go on, spill the beans. What’s up?”
Cinnamon Sympatico
Ethan exhaled. “My dad … he wanted to put everything behind him. Never spoke well of the Fleet after that and never mentioned her when I was around.” He debated saying more - about the suppressants when his abilities started developing - and decided against it. “If it wasn’t for my step-mom, I’d probably have forgotten her completely.” He smiled at that. “Kinda busts all the evil step-mom tropes, really. She’s the one that encouraged me to fly, and then to join the Fleet.”
First Officers Club
“We have walkin’ wounded on our side. Nothing serious. You have all the major cases, far as Corduke’s reported, so I think we’ll survive,” she answered. “We have the luxury of being a ship fully staffed, not a garrison vessel manned for a mission,” she added. “We’ve got more horses in the stable we’re fine to saddle up until our thoroughbreds are available. How about the rest of your team?”
[...]
“Tahriik is in sickbay. Although we had to order him there to be seen. He was insistent about bleeding at his post”
[...]
But she’d figured out very quickly that he wasn’t afraid of her; not even when she put on her sweetest ‘bless your heart I will beat your ass’ voice. The only person Tahriik was afraid of was Mrs. Tahriik and so Faye had learned, when in doubt: threaten to call her.
New Adventures
Olivia thought about what her mother might have offered when someone was in her clinic. She smirked. “I could get the computer to make fish broth.”
“Oh, god,” Wallace groaned, “I’ve changed…my mind.” He paused staring at Olivia for a while without speaking. “Are you…angry you’re…not on Korin…anymore?”
[...]
“You’re going…places now…they’ll never go…Seeing things…they’ll never see…Going faster…than they…ever will…This is an…adventure…Your adventure…Learning is…so you can…be part of it.”
“My adventure,” she echoed, considering.
“Olivia—” Ensign Wonai waved to her from the other side of the sick bay. “It’s your turn. Come.”
Wallace gave her hand another squeeze. “Just remember…put your clothes…on after.”
Olivia chirruped a Korinn ‘Maybe, if I feel like it’, and squeezed his hand back.
In Repair
Finn nodded slowly, drawing a slow breath and letting it out. “I don’t…” he started, then stopped. “I don’t regret bringing him home,” he said, gesturing over to Wallace. “But I do wish it hadn’t been at your expense, Corvus” he said, glancing about quickly to make sure they weren’t being eavesdropped on. He leaned slightly closer, “Or at the expense of any… connection we had,” he all but breathed.
“I put you in a corner when I shouldn’t have. I don’t blame you for what you did. In your position… I might have done the same…” she said, shaking her head at the hypocrite she was. “Ok… I have done the same,” she confessed. “When I was an Ensign… I went against the Chief’s orders and took a shuttle to the surface of a planet. It was going to be hours before we could be down there, and the Lieutenant on the surface was a friend of mine. So I took a shuttle, and went to get her and the away team,” she explained.
Ibn Sharjar: In the Tricker’s light, a path revealed
The youngest group of children began to move towards her. Sarea boldly took Sasil’s hand and pulled him forward. “C’mon Sasil, you can look after me.”
He rolled his eyes and allowed himself to be tugged forward.
Jelik and Sarea’s father chuckled together. “Headstrong girl you raised there Bredul”
“I know, she gets it from her mother” Bredul replied, dodging nimbly as his wife went to elbow him in the ribs.
It was truly amazing, to create those marks on the plain, which would cast the right shadows only in the dawn light of two particular days each year, could only be achieved by a people with an advanced knowledge of astronomy, of mathematics, of trigonometry, of interstellar navigation, people who understood and could manipulate three- dimensional thinking and then recreate those concepts as a two-dimensional image on the ground. Then further, set it up so that it was viewable from this particular vantage point, a balcony cut high into a cliffside.
Steiner: Unable to connect
"I'll tell you this Cubo," he muttered to himself as he closed up "I don't know you, but if you were really Marshal's Service, brother, I'll do everything I can to nail the bastards responsible."
Portraits
The trees where I grew up were hundreds of years old. The oldest tree on my temple grounds was said to be three and a half thousand years old." Then added under her breath with a giggle. "So maybe a little younger than the temple priestess. I'm not sure why I'm whispering! I'm pretty sure she can't hear me from here." She added the last as if she could still get into trouble for making fun.
Kyrill smiled at Zuzal’s quip. “Old wise people like that, I’m sure there is not one thing they don’t hear or see. Maybe we’ll be like that too when we are as old as trees...”
The Missing Piece
DeHavilland just smiled politely back. The lift paused a moment to let the Crewman out. She waved politely in parting and then the doors closed and the lift went on, finally resolving on the bridge. Adjusting herself so as not to look like a Captain that had just done the unthinkable, she walked confidently across her bridge, intending to go to her Ready Room but interrupted by Doctor Corduke who was clearly lurking on the bridge waiting for her.
[...]
Corduke sighed, and gave a slight shake of his head. “Because, my friend. The Pyrryx,” he said, gesturing to the screen, “And the Geuraani,” he said, gesturing to his friend. “Are the same species.”
Solid Ferengi Ground
In this new life of his, Brek had taken to keeping a diary to record his financial evolution. Yet his first entry today concerned the horrible weather. It was too hot. The trading centre had not seen a drop of rain for ten long days and it felt like the end of, if not the universe, at least the Ferengi species. The swamps and the mud were turning to dust, the sun was ‘smiling’ relentlessly upon them, which often prompted the wealthiest citizens of Volchok to shake their fists at the sky. They also cursed and cast ominous spells at it. At this rate, next they would perform some kind of rain dance to entice the water spirits to chase the unbearable sun away.
They are devolving, Brek wrote down, not without satisfaction.
[...]
“No one will believe whatever comes out of your mouth. This is not an outlanders’ planet, Brek. This is solid Ferengi ground. And since you are a nobody, what you say doesn’t count. Only figures count, with you.”
She was annoying him so tremendously, that Brek said the first thing that came to his mind. The one thing he had heard would harm a female so much that it would be akin, for the speaker, to experiencing an NDE: a near death experience. “True I love figures, except yours, ‘cause you are fat.”
She paused, seemed to contemplate her next action, and she continued her descent, with more poise than he thought possible. “You are so dead, Brek.” She said a moment later, her voice icily cold.
Up to Speed on the Dockyard
Samual sat down at the table briefly scanning the room he wondered why it was so cluttered when it was occupied by a Vulcan. Finally, he focused on the screen wondering which project he would be working on at this time tomorrow.
Two Views
If asked, Lance wouldn’t have been able to put words to the discomfort. Although they’d not lived together for 15 years, in their shared times of leave, he’d never once slept in a bed with Calliope and not felt her touch. It was the first time she didn’t move to curl against him, or put her chilly toes under his calf, or rest her hand on his chest or even twine her fingers in his. Though she lay less than a foot away, she felt to Lance to be on the other side of the quadrant.
Mother
Moon remembered all too well those classes, those lessons. The instructors had been taskmasters, barking orders like she was some recruit that needed to be broken mind, body, and soul and reforged into a megawatt star. Not good enough, Ms. Chung! Your pirouette needs significant work. You must practice, Ms. Chung. Your voice is like fingers on a blackboard!
Castles in the Sand
Ibis reminded herself that she had gotten used to being bridesmaid for her friends a long time ago. It was easier accepting her singleness outright, doing away with those expectations, than it was having her dreams crushed. Maybe she and Wallace would stay together, after a fashion. Or maybe the dream would run out at the same time as the nightmare’s end and she was fooling herself.
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