Stepping into View

Posted on Sun Jan 13th, 2019 @ 9:03pm by Lieutenant Commander Mnhei'sahe Dox & Jaeih Dox-t'Aan

Mission: Section 31-B
Location: deck 8, Crew Quarters
Timeline: 2396, en route to the Section 31 base

It had been weeks since the last holographic communication between the newly rechristened Mnhei'sahe Dox and her estranged Mother, Jaeih. Weeks since the young part-Romulan pilot had confronted her mother to learn the truth about the events of her childhood that had gone forgotten for most of the anxious officer's life. And in those weeks, Dox's life had changed in ways that she still couldn’t quite believe.

The genetic damage that had been down to her as a child to artificially suppress her Mother’s Romulan DNA in favor of her Father’s Human genes had been undone. Her genes had been restored along with her green, Romulan blood and the pointed ears that had been surgically altered along with her DNA. Now, her curly red hair, freckles, and portly frame were all that was visible from her father. Biologically, she had been restored to her primarily Romulan heritage and it had improved a good deal of the internal disconnect she had felt her entire life.

She had also learned and had embraced the name she was given at birth of Mnhei’sahe. Her given and true Romulan name that had been forgotten and concealed after the trauma of the surgical procedures caused her to repress her earliest memories. With each passing day, she found herself thinking of herself with this name and it was comfortable. Recently, her friend and First Officer Rita Paris had begun it and the young pilot found that she liked hearing it.

And on top of all that, just a day earlier, she had been officially declared a Baroness fifth class of the Artan Pirate family, of which her Captain was the Princess.

But perhaps the change that Mnhei’sahe Dox was the proudest of rested on the collar of her uniform. The two, solid and shining gold pips announcing the Starfleet rank of a full Lieutenant. Her most recent service had earned her a promotion that was bestowed upon her by Captain Enalia Telvan at, of all places, a party among the ship crew that had been largely devoted to her showing off the surgical restoration of her Romulan ears. It was an amazing shock and honor that the proud young woman was still processing.

"Romulan Lieutenant Baroness Mnhei'sahe Dox." She chuckled to herself.

As she stood in her quarters, adjusting the deep crimson tunic of her uniform and making sure those pips were spotless, she couldn’t help but be excited for the holographic call from her Mother. But, of course, the knot of anxiety that lived permanently in her stomach twisted as the comm system chirped, shocking her out of her introspection and momentary happiness.

=^=Incoming holographic transmission to Lieutenant Mnhei'sahe Dox from Starfleet Intelligence consultant, Jaeih Dox.=^=

"Imirrhlhhse! Imirrhlhhse! Imirrhlhhse!" Dox shouted to herself as she fussed with her hair, pulling it in front of her ears as a wave of mild panic began to creep in. Turns out she wasn’t quite as ready as she thought to show herself off to her judgmental Mother.

=^=Please clarify Instructions.=^= The computer responded as Mnhei'sahe realized that she was shouting out the Rihan equivalent for what humans called 'the F word' without thinking.

Stepping over to the center of her quarters, she fussed with her uniform top and brushed her hair back again, rolling her eyes and sighing loudly. 'What are you stressing out about, Mnhei'sahe!?' she thought to herself, finding her thinking of herself with her given Romulan name that she had learned about along with her past surgical alterations. 'She's probably going to love it. It's just... fixing a mistake is all. It's going to be fine!'

"C... Computer..." She stuttered as she spoke. "Mnhei'sahe Dox, Lieutenant Junior Grade. Access code 795-X9E. Please... Please initiate communication."

But at the last second, as the computer was chirping its acknowledgment of the order, she shouted up in a panic. "AUDIO ONLY FROM HERE!!"

One brief moment later, in the center of her sparsely decorated quarters, the three-dimensional image of Jaeih Dox shimmered into existence. Her hair was long and pulled back into a ponytail with her bangs cut into a familiar Romulan v shape. She wore the gray tunic of Startfleet intelligence, missing only the identifying rank pips and insignia comm badge.

Jaeih Dox was a solid few inches taller than her short, rotund daughter and significantly thinner and stood ramrod straight, her head held back slightly with her arms crossed behind her back, but with a confused expression. "Jolan'tru, Mnhei'sahe… Mnhei'sahe? I'm not getting a visual? Is everything in order?"

Stumbling over her words, Dox stuttered trying to come up with an excuse. "Uh... Sorry mother. We're... Passing through a... nebula and the ships communications power is... Reduced. Jolan'tru."

Arcing an eyebrow and curling her lips, it was an obvious lie, but Jaeih let her have it, for at least a moment. "If you say so, Daughter." She resumed her posture and continued. "Jolan'tru, Mnhei'sahe. I hope all is well since we last spoke."

"I cannot, of course, discuss what all I've been working on here since my transfer to Starfleet Intelligence. But I believe my keepers are quite pleased, to a degree in opposite proportion to how killed I would be by the empire for my efforts." Jaeih went on for a moment, giving her anxious daughter a moment to work through what she knew must be bothering her.

But before the anxious aviatrix could respond, Jaeih spoke again. "Mnhei'sahe. I... There are things I need to say. Things I've needed to say for a very long time." It was a moment of openness that caught her by surprise. She nodded slightly, to let her mother continue.

"I... apologize that you found out what your father had done to you in this fashion. I had hoped to talk to you as we had been..." Jaeih stumbled over her words slightly, having difficulty with the admission. "Well... I feel we... we had been making some kind of progress, of late."

Taken aback slightly by her mother's words, Melanie's somewhat official posture loosened as she relaxed slightly. "I... I like to think we were as well, Mother. And I..." She stammered as she spoke. "I hope that it's something we can continue in spite of everything."

In that moment, Jaeih's authoritarian facade cracked just a bit at her daughter's words. "I'm... Glad to hear. I hope you are better than how you were last."

Listening, Dox tried to work up more courage. "Things have been... good." She coughed slightly, clearing her throat. "I've been working through everything well, and have had a lot of help from my crewmates. I've been... working with one of my crewmembers. A Vulcan who has been assisting me in... strengthening my mental defenses and meditate to help clear my memories." The redheaded Romulan paused as she spoke, watching her mother for a change of expression.

For her part, Jaeih smiled as she had a great reverence for Vulcans and their culture. "I'm glad to hear this and I hope it is helping bring you some peace, Mnhei'sahe."

As Dox listened to her mother, she found the strength she had been missing. "It has been a... tremendous help to me, Mother. I don't know if I could have made it through... everything. Not without my friends and crew here."

Pausing for a moment, she felt her emotions well up in her as her face felt flush. For her part, Jaeih looked to be holding back emotions of her own, letting her speak. "My friends have been extremely supportive as I explore what I've remembered about my childhood. Everything I once forgotten. And they have bent over backward to help me... fix what had been broken."

Taking a breath, Mnhei'sahe looked up and spoke into the air. "Computer, please re-establish holographic visual." She stood with her arms behind her back, her eyes closed as her image appeared half a galaxy away in front of her mother.

Looking up with an awkward half smile, Dox looked to see her Mother’s eyes tearing up as she hid her mouth behind a hand poorly concealing a broad smile. As soon as she looked up, Jaeih cleared her throat, restrained the smile and crossed her arms in front of her. “And… this was performed on your ship… without... issue?”

A look of mild exasperation fell under Dox’s smile as her Mother’s words were somewhat predictable, considering her low opinion of Starfleet and humanity in general. And even though humans seemed to be in a distinct minority aboard the Hera, Jaeih didn’t know that and regardless, couldn’t quite make the mental separation. Starfleet was humans to her and humans were a petty, weak, small people to her.

“Fully approved and even endorsed by my commanding officers. Suggested, even, as a means of therapy for me. To help repair my emotional state by realigning my physical state to that of my self-image.” Her slight irritation with her mother had faded as she spoke of her friends. “I would say I was given a lot of encouragement”.

Smiling a bit more comfortably herself, Jaeih responded. "I'm your mother. I can't lie and say that I’m not pleased. I only hope this hasn't... added to your discomfort or elicited any prejudiced behavior towards you." Her tone shifted slightly to be more defensive and stern.

"You and I both know full well what humans think of us as a people."

In response, Dox's tone became just as defensive and her posture became rigid again. "This ship is more.than just humans, Mother. And the humans here would surprise you."

The friends she had made on board the Hera had become very important to her very quickly, and she felt a strong need to defend them here. "I have received nothing but support, compassion and friendship here, Mother. Nothing!"

The words stung into Jaeih slightly as the power dynamic shifted slightly in favor of her daughter for a moment. "I stand corrected." There was a touch of sarcastic venom to her words as she was unaccustomed to being put in her place by her daughter. "You clearly know these humans better than I. But if I were you, I wouldn't let those shields down too far."

Feeling their combative relationship taking over again, the young officer stepped slightly back and took a breath. "This crew... it's the closest thing I've seen to what Starfleet has always said it was and yet never quite measured up to. I wouldn't be standing here to talk to you right now without them."

Closing her eyes to compose herself, she crossed her hands in front of her and looked up with an open expression on her face, actively trying to let go of her anger with her mother. "I know that I let myself get hurt with humanity before mother. But I truly believe I've found someplace different. And I can't poison that by holding on to old pain."

"I can't do that with anything if I want to heal, Mother." She rubbed a finger nervously over one ear as she opened up, terrified that Jaeih would see the opening and go for blood, metaphorically. "And I really want to heal. I want to find out who I am... who I was... and who I could be. I can DO that here."

Maintaining her authoritarian posture, Jaeih did her level best to contain just a little pride in her daughter in the moment. And to Dox's surprise, she resisted the urge to press on her own distrust of humanity and Starfleet. "Then I can only hope... you will allow me to see who that woman becomes, Mnhei'sahe."

It was almost sweet in a passive/aggressive way, but Dox smiled anyway. It was more than she would have expected from her mother and she had no expectations that Jaeih would continue to try and push her own desires at least a little for her daughter to fully embrace being Romulan.

Changing the subject slightly herself, and the tone, Jaeih continued. "So... Tell me about these crewmates of yours that have made such a strong impression."

Knowing she wasn't authorized to give any information that would identify the Hera or its crew in discussions with her mother, Dox had to think about her wording for a moment. She thought, with a quizzical look on her face.

"I've... I've made a few friends. Good friends. The doctor and I have gotten very close. They are a bit younger than I am but impossibly smart. They... didn't just save my life literally. They sat with me half the time while I recovered. They made jokes and helped me take my mind off of the..." Dox paused, not wanting to go into the nightmares of Anansi's horrific Spider-form that woke her up screaming every night. "Well, off of the bad stuff."

"There's the engineer, and my department assistant, who are both so unique. Just... free and open. They make me feel welcome. They all do."

Then Dox smiled broadly as she thought of First Officer, Rita Paris. "There's one woman. She's a human officer that... had really been here for me in every capacity."

Not thinking of the double entendre inherent in that statement, Dox's eyes went wide as her mother interjected with a wry smile. "So, you LIKE this woman I take it?"

"What, no! Fvadt, mother." Dox tilted her head with a sarcastic pout as she crossed her arms. "To be honest, she's more... It's hard to say, really."

Then the word came to her. "Rinam, mother." Shd spoke the Romulan word for sister.

"High praise for a... human." Jaeih responded, trying to conceal that she was slightly annoyed by the thought

"She's... the most human human that ever humaned, mother." Dox replied with a smirk, knowing the word bothered her mother a little. "But I trust her with my life. With my soul, really."

"I hope you get the chance to meet them at some point." She could have gone on, but decided to spare her mother any further details as she seemed to regret asking the more Dox gushed.

She knew that her mother was well aware that her interests leaned towards women in areas of romance, and enjoyed baiting her on the subject as Dox had no romantic inclinations growing up and only a small handful of encounters that could best be described as disastrous as a young woman.


“When… and if… I ever meet ANYone, you will be among the first to know, Mother. But Ri…” Melanie stopped herself before saying her First Officer’s name, as regulations forbade her giving out information regarding her assignment, the ship or her crewmates on this channel in communications with her mother for security reasons. “She is a very good friend. She has been like family to me, Mother. Accepting of all that I am in ways I didn’t think was really possible. They all have, human or otherwise.”

“Very well, Mnhei’sahe. I will not press the issue any further, then.” The response was somewhat flat and perfunctory, but not unpleasant.

After a few more minutes, their time was reaching it's end and they prepared to log off until the next scheduled Holo talk. And for her part, the young pilot was making a serious effort to reconnect with those roots and as she concluded, she felt a bit of warmth well up in her as she decided to throw Jaeih a proverbial bone.

Speaking now in perfect Rihan, the Romulan language she had been raised in, Mnhei'sahe replied. "You will always be my Mother and as much a part of my life as you would choose to be."

Holding back a welling up of pride and joy at the statement, Jaeih redoubled her efforts to maintain her posture, but a warm smile forced it's way across her lips as she replied in Rihan.

"Then, until we speak again, Know that I love you Mnhei'sahe. Whoever you become." But with a slight smirk, Jaeih has one more observation to make that had been overlooked. “Also, congratulations on the obvious promotion on your collar. It is, I assume well deserved. Jolan’tru.”

Not allowing her daughter the chance to respond, Jaeih ended the transmission and her image vanished. The young pilot smirked as her mother had found yet another way to get the last word in, thought this time it didn’t bother her.

 

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