A Stroll On Deck

Posted on Sat Jan 12th, 2019 @ 2:56pm by Commander Rita Paris & Hera

Mission: Section 31-B
Location: USS Hera, corridors of Deck 8
Timeline: 2396, en route to the Sector 31 base

Permission had been sought and granted, so it was time to go have a conversation with the USS Hera's resident captive goddess, the Greek mother of the gods, Hera.

While on a planet very close to a spatial rift at the galactic core, some casually spoken words and errant thoughts had interacted with the unique and bizarre energies of the cosmic entity known as Log'yerm/// to literally summon Hera from her imprisonment on the Odin's Breath. This of course made Rita look forward to the next time she ran into the Asgaardians, as they were likely none too thrilled about one of their prisoners being summoned away by one of the agents of the Federation who delivered her to them. Also, Hera herself might be in more trouble for escaping, despite the circumstances, because who knew how divine court precedings actually worked.

Not Rita Paris, that's for sure.

For now, she'd insured that the captive, depowered and so far convincingly reformed former despot of worlds had nice quarters instead of a brig cell. While she didn't know the goddess' tastes, Rita had provided her with books and holos for entertainment and enrichment. But for the most part the Goddess had been denied any actual sentient company or companionship, unless the meal delivery changes counted... which really did not.

Thus did Rita Paris approach the VIP quarters with the two sturdy young women with no-nonsense expressions standing at parade rest before the door. Checking the duty roster, the Hera's first officer verified security officers Vlaniczek and Yao on duty as indicated. Offering a nod as she approached, Paris called out in advance.

"At ease, ladies. I'm here to see our illustrious guest. Unseal hatch, VIP Quarters 8, authorization Paris, R, LTCDR, 867-5309," Paris said to the overhead as she approached. The computer chirruped, then asked her a question.

=^= What is your brother's middle name? =^=

"Michael," Rita responded, and the doors slid open for her. Striding between the twin towers of beef guarding the door, she poked her head in. "Knock knock? You up for a little company, Hera?"

Looking up from the book she was reading on her fainting couch, Hera smiled brightly and set aside her reading. "Rita Paris! It's so good to see you again, my dear. Please, come in and talk with me awhile."

"Actually, I've a request. Would you care to accompany me to the ship's arboretum? The real thing, not holographic mimicry," Paris asked plainly with a simple close-mouthed yet impish smile.

Hera stood up, somewhat startled. "As in a garden? On your ship? With real plants? May I?"

"You're still a prisoner, but this," Paris waved her finger around the VIP quarters,"wasn't your doing. I feel that while you're here, as you have been on your best behavior, it can't hurt to extend a few basic kindnesses. A change of scenery from your four walls- with an escort, who in turn comes with escorts. Cap'n recommended the arboretum, so we're clear to traverse the decks. So, ground rules."

"Keep interactions with the crew to a minimum. Not saying I don't want you talking to anyone, but first time out let's try not to spook the locals. Please, no power stunts. If we go peacefully to and fro then the captain will likely be a lot more amenable to these trips, and I want to be able to give you a little freedom now and then. As a personal preference?" Rita winced a bit, and her hands seemed to now know what to do with one another. "Please try not to tell me stories of horrible things you did one Meroset Prime or in ancient Greece or what have you, because it makes me very uncomfortable. I know you were a terrible person- reminding me of it just makes me feel badly for believing you can change."

"Deal?" Paris asked, extending her hand to the goddess to seal the deal... a far more dangerous proposition than she might have imagined.

"Ah... A handshake..." Stepping forward with trepidation, Hera reached out and slowly took Rita's hand. "I will do my best. Of this I swear to you, Rita Paris."

Grinning at the goddess, Rita's brows rose a bit as she pumped the handshake once. "That's all I can ask of anyone."

Stepping to the door, Rita called out, "Computer, unseal hatch, VIP Quarters 8 please. Authorization Paris, R. LTCDR, 867-5309."

The computer responded with a chirrup and a question.

=^= In what year did you transfer to the USS Antares? =^=

For a moment, Rita had to think about it. "2257."

The door slid open, and Rita spoke to the security officers. "Vlaniczek, Yao? We're taking Hera for a walk to the arboretum and back. We're going to act like this isn't a prisoner escort but a VIP bodyguard duty, understood?" When the duo looked at her curiously, Paris rolled her eyes. "It's still a prisoner escort, we're just trying to lend her a little dignity, understand? Phasers on heavy stun, keep them holstered, but if there is trouble you know what to do."

Gesturing to the namesake of the starship, Paris ushered Hera out for a stroll on the deck.

Her head bowed, Hera stepped out of her quarters and looked around, not really knowing what to expect, but these drab walls were not it. "These halls are... Hmmm..." Biting back her comment, she decided to instead be happy that she was allowed this small freedom. "Thank you for this small freedom, my friend. Which way shall we walk?"

“Least I could do since I got you stuck here again. Aft toward the centerline, ma’am. The turbolift awaits, and well take the short way there then the long way back, eh?” Paris stepped off at a slow and deliberate pace rather than her usual martial stride, as she wanted the security personnel to adapt to the situation, and Hera wasn’t exactly the powerhouse she used to be. Besides, Rita’s manners were old school, and you always slowed down for the elderly and if they wished to walk faster, they would set the pace.

“So, ah, how’ve you been…?” the Starfleet siren asked solicitously, making small talk but also checking on her charge.

As they walked at a leisurely pace towards the turbolift, Hera smiled kindly. "I have to admit that I prefer imprisonment on your vessel over that of the Asgardians. The short time I was there was not unkind... But it was far smaller and the walls were clear and the only thing I had to read were Asgardian law... Being here has been much better for my mind and soul, I think. Thank you. And thank you for the books. Your culture has written some amazing things in the time that I've been away and I'm overjoyed that I've gotten the chance to read even a few of them. The arts and beauty have flowed from the cultures of your world and it fills my heart with..." Sighing happily, Hera smiled radiantly. "I'm not even sure how to express it."

“Pride? Joy? Happiness? Excitement?” Rita took some shots in the dark. If she had seen the classical culture of ancient Greece, the modern equivalent might fill Hera with something akin to maternal pride, knowing that she’d had something to do with the culture that had grown from her interactions with it. “Or at least, I’d hope something in that neighborhood.”

"Something like that, yes. These are good feelings, and I've had little experience with positivity with them in ages." Hera just kept smiling as they walked along. "But enough about me. What about you? How are you doing, my dear? I sensed a lot of energy flying about when we were near that... Unpleasant... Thing... Are you alright?"

“Not sure which unpleasant thing you might be referring to,” Rita laughed. “There were a few encounters down there. But really, it was a cosmic being who was trying to do a good thing, and in the end it didn’t work out so well for him… hopefully not an object lesson there for me. But yes, I’m fine. I’m Rita Paris, girl adventurer, nothing gets me down for long, and despite the universe’s efforts I’m still here. Thank you for asking though, that’s very kind of you.”

Either Hera had learned to fake it like a champion- which, given her age and experience was certainly possible- or she was showing concern and empathy. Choosing to believe the latter while being aware of the former, it made Paris feel a little better about her decision.

“Well, you and your fellow gods inspired theatre, painting, sculpting, literature, and founded many of the basis for what we would revere as heroic odysseys and adventures in the centuries that followed. So if you enjoy what we produce now, you can at least take a little credit for helping inspire it all.” Stepping to the turbolift, Yao pressed the button and preceded them into the turbolift, as Vlaniczek followed them and blocked off the exit. Security knew what they were doing, and if Hera was duping Rita, they at least were on the job.

"We sent mortals on adventures and we inspired written and spoken language articulated enough to tell their heroic deeds. If your people had neither the courage nor the talent to begin with..." Hera looked around the turbolift rather confused. "Why are we in this closet?"

"Deck 7," The first officer called out, and in the time it took for her to turn her head, they had arrived and the doors were opening again. "Elevator? A shaft with a closet like a capsule that moves on tracks throughout the ship."

Extending her hand, Rita indicated to Hera to exit ans the security officers secured the perimeter, then cleared them to advance. As they exited the turbolift, Paris watched Yao discourage a pair of crewmen from getting too close.

"So how's the 'subsisting on good deeds' life working for you?" It might have sounded flippant, but the ancient astronaut was serious. Hera was attempting a serious physiological transformation, a hell of a thing for a being as long-lived as she. In truth, Rita was equal parts concerned and fascinated.

"Ah, well... That's an interesting way to travel..." Fascination spread across Hera's face as she exited the turbolift into the new hallway. "I was able to get some small amount of research material on the subject while with the Asgardians. They subsist on service in a similar fashion. Also, I was able to confirm that Apollo has been living like that for the past... Since your era, I believe. The actions I took for your Doctor... It was like... Rather than being fueled by raw, unbridled energy, I felt as if I was powered by a spring breeze. Nowhere near as powerful, but more pure in so many ways."

"Well, they and we are grateful for that. I think it's opened doors for Asa, really, although they don't talk about it much. So that's wonderful it's working for you!" Paris grinned ear to ear, happy for the reforming goddess. Which, she realized, validated her belief in Hera. Which in turn made her actually believe in her more, like she would a junior officer she was mentoring. Which she in turn worried might adversely affect her since she used to be able to process belief. There was no help for it- if it hurt the woman she'd say so.

"Officers, do we need to clear the arboretum or can we play this by ear?" Paris asked. The two security officers shrugged and nodded, and Paris accepted the assent. "By ear it is. So you could sense those demons all the way from the ship?"

Hera's mood clouded a bit as the memory of what she sensed came to her. "Yes... I sensed the Dollmaster... We were within his domain. There were a lot of other lesser energy beings as well. Then a demonic being was summoned, followed by the building energies of a Ruler of Demons... I feared your you and all those aboard this vessel, but I knew courage would win through so I did the only thing I could think of. I prayed for your safety."

"That's... impressive. Well, incredible, really, but also impressive. You can just... it's all part of the goddess gig, you just understand what you sense and recognize them. Huh." They walked a few steps in silence, then the crimson commander peered out from under her bangs at the patron goddess of women. "You prayed for me? That's... that very sweet of you, thank you. Considering what we were doing, I did come out pretty much unscathed, unlike the poor Baroness. Somehow I didn't expect crazy heroics from her, but she's always a surprise."

"To be fair, it did take a few hundred years..." Hera did have to admit that one at least, strolling with Rita at her side. "It warms my heart to know that you were uninjured. Your Baroness... Did she make it ok? Is she recovering?" Pausing in her walk with a look of concern, Hera placed a hand on Rita's arm. "Please tell me she didn't..."

"Speaking of her in the present tense, not past. You've met our doctor in more ways than one. Kyre Aesclepius of the 25th century indeed," Paris quipped. "It was close, but she's expected to recover. Well, here we are- closest thing to a public park we've got on a duranium can among the stars."

With Vlaniczek in the lead, they entered the arboretum of the USS Hera.

"Thank goodness," The relief Hera felt was almost palpable as she turned and entered the USS Hera's arboretum. "Oh my... This is better than I expected." Strolling down the central path towards the pond, she ran one hand across a large red flowering bush and breathed in deeply. "So many plants from so many worlds, it's amazing... And the skylight to space is blue and has clouds!"

"It's a wonder all right," Paris stepped in behind the captive goddess, taking it all in. She herself hadn't seen the ship's arboretum, but it was impressive to her as well. A far cry from the outdoor simulation recreation area they'd had on Deck 8 of the Exeter, this actually managed to look like a park. Of course, Rita had often wondered what they did with all the space of this enormous starship, and now she had some of the answer. "Something other than your four walls to stare at, for a change. We won't be getting near a shore leave planet anytime soon, but I thought this might do you some good."

"It's more than I could have hoped for, thank you, so very much," Hera paused to take a deep breath of a rose-like variation of a bush that seemed to be crossed with some sort of carnation for size. Catching sight of the holographic gardener planting something new near the small pond, she rushed ahead in almost childlike glee. "Good sir, what are those you're planting?"

The holographic gardener looked up and smiled politely. "Oh hello there. These are a new breed of Tulips of Veridia Prime that the Captain's wife was able to obtain. I'm planting them here by the water where they'll get lotsa nice fresh sunlight and water. Would you like to help me, young lady?"

Beaming like a small child, she looked between Rita and the gardener. "May I? It's been literal aeons since I played in the soil."

The holographic gardener looked up and smiled politely. "Oh hello there. These are a new breed of Tulips of Veridia Prime that the Captain's wife was able to obtain. I'm planting them here by the water where they'll get lotsa nice fresh sunlight and water. Would you like to help me, young lady?"

Beaming like a small child, she looked between Rita and the gardener. "May I? It's been literal aeons since I played in the soil."

"By all means. As it's acceptable to our gardener, it's fine by me," Rita replied, as she couldn't imagine that just planting flowers could lead to a security breach.

Watching the former ruthless tyrant on her hands and knees, working with side by side with a crewman she didn't know to plant flowers, Rita was torn. While she knew she should be on guard and suspicious of the woman, every outward sign seemed to indicate that her faith in Hera had been well-placed. Nurturing living things was always a mother’s job, and that was in Hera’s bailiwick as well, although not specifically crops and plant growth, as Rita recalled. Watching the fallen goddess take simple joy in a simulation of the great outdoors and a garden of living things warmed her heart.

Maybe the future wasn’t so dark after all. Maybe there was still room for hope, compassion and mercy. In the redemption of the goddess, it fostered hope in the heart of the idealistic anachronism of a simpler time.

"You know, this reminds me of the summers Persephone, Aphrodite, and I would spend together when we were young. We'd tend to the gardens and talk about love and romance and giggle about our future husbands." Using the small spade, Hera gently placed another of the tulips into the soil and filled in the dirt around it, adding a bit of water from the watering can. "Good sir, what was your name again?"

The old gardener in overalls just smiled back. "Oh I'm just a simple gardener. Don't need no name. But if you need one for me, I guess you can use HG Juan. It's supposed to be short for Holographic Gardener One or something clever like that. Don't know nothin bout that though. Just a simple gardener."

"Well HG Juan, your garden is amazing. Is there anything else I can help out with?" Hera asked, smiling brighter.

The gardener thought about it a moment before replying and pointing off to a roped off rather large plant with hundreds of tiny closed buds. "There's a flowering plant over yonder that I'm not supposed ta get near. It blooms only when photonic and ghostly critters are close like me, ye see... Capn' got it fer her wife and it takes days fer it to close back up and weeks to nurture back ta health. Do ya mind takin some plant food and tending to it fer me? Normally one of them science types comes by, but lately... Capn's been havin ta do it..."

Always wondered what Cap’n gets up to when she isn’t on the bridge or in her ready room, Paris mused internally as she watched Hera tend lovingly to the alien magnoliophyte, which was a word she realized Sonak had provided, as she couldn’t recall it on a bet. Watching her in action brought a smile to the face of the first officer, and idly she wondered if this might have been what it would have been like to know her own mother.

That thought gave her pause as she realized that was part of her reasoning in working so hard to redeem Hera. While she barely remembered her own mother and had grown up without any sort of maternal influence, Hera was the living embodiment of that ideal. Thus it was untenable for Rita for such a personage to be an evil irredeemable tyrant. She had to be better, in Rita’s mind, because Rita refused to accept that the very spirit of motherhood could be so twisted.

At least, here in the starship Hera’s arboretum, she could watch the fallen goddess tend and nurture something, and it filled her heart. She might be playing you, Paris, don’t let your guard down and let her wreak havoc, said the voice in her head that spoke the words and sentiment of her late father. While she would keep her eyes open, Rita clung to her hope. There was good in the universe. People changed, even immortals. And Hera had given her word, which seemed to be pretty binding amongst her kind.

Thus the sailor of the stars watched, and took contentment from the joy of the goddess of nurturing doing what came naturally.

By the time Hera had finished, the gardener had moved on and gone back to wherever he went when he wasn't tending the arboretum so she returned to Rita's side. "Thank you so very much for this. I honestly don't recognize most of the flora here, but everything is so beautiful and amazing. The smells alone are almost as wondrous as Mount Olympus itself."

“I’m glad it brings you some joy- we’ll be doing this on a semi-regular basis. You need some exercise, a change from the same four walls, and some conversation to keep you sane. I’m responsible for you, and neglecting you and giving you some books and vids to occupy yourself won’t help you stay on a good path,” Rita determined. “I honestly didn’t realize how much you needed this, or I’dve done it sooner. We’ve still got some time- would you like to walk here for a bit or just take the long way back to your quarters? My time is yours for now.”

"How about we walk and enjoy these gardens together for a while then?" Hera offered, turning to stroll slowly once more down the central path. "Is there anything you'd like to talk about? I don't mean to brag, but being tens of thousands of years old, I do have a few pearls of wisdom."

That elicited a giggle from the fulsome first officer. “So THAT’s what that feels like!” Realizing that the statement was incomplete, Rita Paris explained. “I have a habit of knowing when something’s on the minds of the crew, and I have a tendency to draw out what’s wrong to talk about it. I guess I’m not as accustomed to being on the receiving end. Sonak always knows, of course, but he’s brilliant and he knows me better than anyone. So, ah, I guess I shouldn’t be surprised that you do the same thing. You do have a few millennia on me, after all.”

"Perhaps we're cut from the same cloth, as they say," Hera offered with a knowing smile. "Whatever it is, I'll listen."

Taking a moment to compose her thoughts, Rita spoke softly, keeping her voice down even as the security escort pretended not to listen. "I’m.. well, it’s you, really. I worry about your rehabilitation. I worry about the old Hera, terror of the cosmos returning and that in trying to do the right thing I’ve done the worst thing. I worry that you were on my mind enough to accidentally summon you. I worry that I wasn’t doing you any favors handing you over to the Asgardians. I worry that now that Log’yerm///- the Dollmaster, as you called him- has left this universe, you might fade too. I worry that I’m keeping you in this universe against your will. I worry that you are a little too important to me… I guess in that, I just…”

For a few seconds Paris struggled to find the words, but then she found them. “I couldn’t let your legacy be Meroset 347. This starship bears your name, and it’s the Captain’s whole life- she loves this girl maybe more than her wife, and she never lets on but I can see it. You being an intergalactic tyrant, she had to end you, partially for the honor of the ship. Now that you are not that terror, she seems a little irritated that I seem so hell-bent on redeeming you. But I can’t help it… it’s important to me. The Captain already defends the ship and crew on so many fronts, I can’t have her defending the very name of the vessel as well.”

“And as irascible as you are, there’s something…” Again, Paris reached for the words, but didn’t quite find them this time. “I see something in you that I can’t quite grasp, but you’re important to me.”

Hera nodded solemnly. "There is much truth to what you say. I sensed that your Captain would have razed all of Meroset if it had come to it. Thankfully, it did not and we are all here to learn from our mistakes." Pausing, she debated revealing another thing she had intended to keep hidden. "There is something else that you should know. When you called upon that boon, you untied my bond to the Dollmaster. My will is my own once more. However, we now share a bond. A sort of familial bond, if you will. I'm sorry, I did not mean to hide this from you, nor can it be used to harm you in any way. It's just... It was... Unexpected."

“I… uh…” It was rare that the loquacious lovely found herself at a loss for words. “So, ah, what does that mean…? Sorry, metaphysics of divine beings wasn’t exactly a course at the Academy back in my day, and I’ll admit I’m out of my depth on this sort of thing.”

Hera thought about it a bit more before replying. "In a manner of speaking... The energy that flows through every living thing is like the life blood that flows in your veins. You have your DNA and RNA and gene mapping and all that... We have energy road maps that extend across the universe in similar fashions using energies that you have yet to discover and understand that tie the whole of existence together. Even we don't understand most of it, if I'm to be honest. As for our bond, it's a bit like how in ancient times, two brothers would cut their hands and swear a blood oath of brotherhood, letting their blood mingle. We are now sisters, in a very real yet very abstract way. What this means for the two of us... I do not know the full scope. But I do know this. No one else could have summoned me but you."

That gave the old school officer pause. She’d made an offering, she had offered belief, and she’d accepted a boon of the goddess when it was offered. It wasn’t that surprising, on review, that they now shared a bond of sorts, but this was a bit more tangible than she’d imagined. But when Hera had said sisters, the truth had smacked Rita.

Memories of her own mother were dim at best, and perennially tinged with sorrow. In her family, she was discounted, derided and ignored for not being male, and spent much of her life trying to measure up to an impossible standard. As an adult, her relationships with other women were often fraught with sniping, passive or outright aggression because of her looks and ambition. Now, on the USS Hera, her friendships were far better than they had been in the past, and she seemed to be enjoying female companionship for the first time in her life.

But at her core, Rita had never dealt with the loss of her mother. Growing up bereft of a maternal figure, she had done her level best to ignore her feelings, needs and longing for someone to fulfill that role in her life. Yet something about the goddess of motherhood seemed to tug at her, and now she knew why.

Starfleet Psych was gonna have a field day with this one.

Given that nature of the starship, her missions and her captain, it was foolish for Paris to think such things. The woman had devastated a planet, after all. The bride of Zeus was considered a dangerous intergalactic felon by the Federation, and by her peers in other pantheons. Was it Rita’s long suppressed desire for a maternal figure in her life that made her so damnably adamant about Hera’s redemption?

No one else could have summoned me but you.

Maybe.

 

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