Thawing Thoughts

Posted on Tue Jan 29th, 2019 @ 2:32pm by Lieutenant Commander Mnhei'sahe Dox & Kodria Mizu

Mission: Section 31-B
Location: Deck 8, Crew Quarters
Timeline: 2396, en route to Earth for Shore leave

Laying in her bed, Lieutenant Mnhei'sahe Dox couldn't sleep. It wasn't that surprising as she slept for the better part of two days straight after being recovered from the void of space.

Three days ago, She, Asa Dael and Rita Paris went into the holodeck to try and help return the shard of a cosmic titan trapped in there that the trio had befrended. But to do so required more than they had considered. To do so, one of the three would have to allow the entity to reside within them and be beamed into the void to release the entity into the ion storm it had originated from.

Due to a unique and unknown condition, Rita Paris could not be beamed. And while Asa Dael is an El-Aurian and can live for thousands of years, their body and physiology was comperably frail. Mnhei'sahe Dox was Romulan. Lower blood pressure, stronger heart rate, greater blood oxygenation capacity, Thicker skin, greater heat retention. Plus, the entity had done with her something it hadn't with the others. It had talked to Dox directly.

So Dox voulenteered herself. She allowed the entity to merge with her. She allowed Sonak to beam her merged form into the vacuum of space to free her friend. The plan was successful. The entity had left her and the ship.

Dox was beamed back to the ship where her life was saved by the Chief Medical Officer, Asa Dael. But the cost was a great one as it took nearly thirty seconds to beam her back. Thirty seconds in the void of space. Fifteen seconds would kill a human. Twenty seconds would kill a Romulan. Dox survived, but barely.

Maybe making friends with the literal embodiment of Death over Romulan ale had it's advantages. In sick bay, Death was there, waiting for Dox to wake up. She told Dox that she actively helped keep her alive for some reason. She told the young pilot that she would still live at least another 200 years. It was a lot to take In.

But now, she just felling very broken. Having had every cell in your body freeze left one extremely sore, it turned out. But she was recovering. By tomorrow, she would be allowed to return to duty. When she woke in Sickbay, she wasn't alone. Asleep at her bedside was Asa and the Baroness Schwein Von Alcott. She had since learned that over the two days she was asleep in Sickbay, she had many visitors that had sat with her while she recovered.

Rita Paris sat and told her stories she didn't hear. Thex took a shift. Asa and Schwein had never left for longer than it took to go to the bathroom. Sonak brought her the Vulcan Brazier he had given her to aid in her meditations studies. Even Captain Telvan came to sit with her for a while.

Mona Gonadie had stopped in too. According to Asa, Mona stopped in a lot. It had been days since Dox realized that she had begun to develop feelings for the Miradonian pilot. Feelings that were strong enough for Mona to smell from across a room. But feelings that Dox had yet to work up the courage to express. As such, the two had only talked in passing at their shared office in Flight Control. It was awkward, but they were professionals. But still, Dox's heart had been aching.

The rest of her still ached too, but she was tired of laying in bed like an invalid. As her muscles resisted with stings ofild pain, she sat up and put her robe on. Slowly, she made her way into the main chamber of her quarters to order a coffee from the Replicator. As she did, she heard the chime of her door go off.

Not expecting any visitors, Dox took a sip of her coffee and slowly walked to the door to open it. On the other side, was the Vulcanoid Android from the future, Kodria Mizu. "Miss Mizu, can I help you?"

"Actually, I came by to see if I could help you," replied the young android as she stepped into the room. "I finished a few things up and was wondering how you were doing and if you needed help with anything."

While the two had only had a couple of encounters, Kodria had let it slip that she knew Mnhei'sahe in her future and tended to behave as though the two were old friends. It was a little strange to the young Romulan red-head, but no more strange than being friends with Death.

Stepping slightly aside, Dox replied. "I'm doing okay. Asa's very good at what they do." Smiling, she stepped further into her quarters and waved Kodria in. "But I'm tired of laying in here staring at the walls. If you want to come in and keep me company I won't say no."

The young android sighed in relief and headed over to one of the chairs to sit down. "Thank goodness. You do some crazy things. You know that though."

"Crazy things are the job, I guess. I'm still getting used to it, though. How have you been doing?" Dox sat down, grunting slightly through her stiff joints.

I'm almost back to full functionality. By the time we get to Earth I should be just about fully recovered." Kodria smiled cheerfully. "Then I get to take a ninety six year nap and wake up to see everyone again after this little adventure."

"I read Commander Paris' report. I'm sorry, but it makes sense. Still, we'll miss you." Dox smiled warmly and took a sip of her coffee.

"I guess I'll be... 127 then. Middle aged Romulan girl." Dox chuckled. "Oh, I'm sorry. I'm being a lousy host. Can I get you anything?"

"No, I'm fine. Thank you though." Kodria fidgeted a bit before finally admitting something. "There are a lot of questions I want to ask you now that I've met the younger you, but I have to wait ninety six years to ask them."

Pausing for a moment, Dox put her coffee down and took a deep breath. She thought of Death sitting at the edge of her bed telling her things she shouldn't know and made a decision. "I know I said we weren't going to talk about this. But... you know me. From your life. Who... what are we to each other?"

Kodria thought about it for a moment before replying. "I think... You're the cool aunt that takes me out with you to get in trouble and shows me the more dangerous side of the galaxy. You've taught me how to handle myself when I'm in a fight and what to do if I'm lost. You're not only one of my Captains and mentors, but you're family."

Stifling a tear at the idea, Dox leaned forward in her chair to put her hands on Kodria's. "Thank you. That makes me happy to know."

Dox dipped her head to the side slightly to meet Kodria's eyes. "And Im betting you have a lot of family here. I know I do. Real family. I'm honored to include you among them."

Then Dox took a breath and chuckled lightly. Death told her she was going to love well over two hundred years. She told her she would have eight grandchildren. She already knew to much. But she weighted that and decided she was willing to take that burden. "Ask me. It's okay."

"Well... There is one question... Do you really fight alongside Schwein von Alcott?" Kodria looked up at Dox like a kid looks up to a heroine.

"Technically, I haven't yet. But yeah. We're both Artan Baroness' under Captain Telvan." The question was a strange one as her recently upgraded status as a Baroness, while not common knowledge, was current. No damage to the timeline as she could see. So there had to be more. "Why?"

Kodria clammed up at that point, a bit like a kid with a secret they wanted to share but knew they couldn't. "Nothing. Nevermind."

Android or not, Dox could read the anxiety off of Kodria like a book. Something was wrong and she didn't want to say. "I won't push you to say anything you don't want to. I don't want you to to feel uncomfortable. But if there's anything I can do to help, I will."

The young android sighed heavily. "No, I'll just have to ask later. I will be writing some letters though, cheering people on."

Smiling with a sense of melancholy behind it, Dox tried to change the subject a little to lighten Kodria's mood. "So, I'm the 'cool' aunt? Go figure."

The young android wiggled her feet happily. "You are. Everyone else wants me to have structured learning and premeditated fun and carefully planned blahblahblah..."

Dox laughed a little, which caused her ribs to ache just a bit as she did. "Well, I look forward to meeting me too so I can learn how to relax."

Then her smile settled into a slightly melancholy expression. "I'm glad I got to know you now, Kodria. Maybe it's cheating, but it's nice to know I've got you to look forward to again."

Kodria smiled more softly. "I think me being here is cheating."

Reading a shift in tone, Dox wanted to bring the mood back up if she could. "Hey, I'm the cool aunt, right? Cool aunt's encourage cheating." She said with a slight laugh.

"But you didn't have any control over being here, Kodria. So don't beat yourself up over struggling to do the right thing. It's all any of us can ever do."

The young android sighed heavily. "Yeah but I can't help but think that maybe I'm here for a reason. But if that were true, I'd have some inkling in my memory of something someone had said about more than there already is... But I can't find anything. I've found links to my rescue... But not to anything else I'm worried about... Which means I can't say anything... That I didn't say anything... And that's, in the end, the right thing to do... Right?"

Sitting on the small couch across from the chair Kodria was sitting in, Dox scooted I've and patted the empty cushion next to her. "C'mere."

She didn't know what she could do to help, but she desperately wanted to, which seemed to be remarkably similar to what the youthful Android was struggling with. "Sometimes you just have to do what feels right even when it doesn't make sense or might be dangerous. How do you think I got beamed into space."

Hopping off the chair and snuggling up with Dox, Kodria thought about it a moment. "I gave Aunt Rita something I probably shouldn't have... Told her a few things about the future. It's dangerous and doesn't make sense, but I couldn't help myself..."

Putting her arm around Kodria, Dox began petting her hair lightly with her other hand. It amazed her just how strongly the young android engendered such strong protective feelings in her. "Do you know what I do whenever I don't know what to do, Kodria? I ask your Aunt Rita. So I'm betting that you did the right thing."

The young android visibly relaxed as she snuggled in tighter, starting to doze off a little. "Yeah, she always knows what to do. Not even death can stand up to her."

Smiling as she stroked Kodria's hair, Dox thought that it sounded like a very accurate assessment of Rita Paris. But she left it at that as her loving future family tucked herself tightly up against Dox's soft side, falling asleep in her arms.

After a short while, Dox leaned her head over Kodria's and drifted back to sleep as well.