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Reparations

Posted on Fri Feb 8th, 2019 @ 9:16am by Commander Rita Paris & Lieutenant Commander Mnhei'sahe Dox & Hera

Mission: Earthly Visitation
Location: Hera's VIP Quarters
Timeline: 2396

Walking in step behind Commander Rita Paris, Mnhei'sahe Dox was a broken woman. As the two worked their way through the corridors of the Hera silently, Dox could only think of everything she had just inadvertently heard.

Moments ago, they had been in Sickbay with Captain Telvan where the Commander had been arguing with the Captain over her recent conduct, and Dox's conduct. Though arguing was far too strong a word as it was a completely one-sided dressing down from Commander Paris. Dox had been ordered to wait outside, but could hear everything.

Begrudgingly listening, as she couldn't exactly leave where she was ordered to stand, Dox learned a great many things. She learned that the Android, Kodria Mizu was the Captain's granddaughter. She learned just how deeply the conflict between the Captain and her Mother was going to go. And she learned the consequences of her own, shameful actions.

Still wearing the two solid pips marking her as a full Lieutenant as she walked, Dox knew it was a lie. She had stood by, doing nothing as she allowed the cosmic being known as Death execute three prisoners in the Brig of the Hera. She had walked into that brig knowingly with the Baroness Schwein Von Alcott and Death herself to interrogate the three men that had kidnapped and brutalized the ships CMO, Asa Dael. And in her anger, Dox stood by and allowed them to die on a Starfleet ship, as a Starfleet officer.

Officially, Dox had now been reduced back to a Junior Grade Lieutenant, among other things, all of which felt like less than nothing to the guilt ridden young woman who looked ahead at the woman she thought of as a Sister walking ahead of her. A woman who she had failed utterly. Her disgust with herself was palpable and rose in her heart like a weight of bile inside of her.

But she would keep her composure. She would follow and wait and accept her insignificant punishments. And she would not cry or break. That, she thought, was behavior reserved for those that deserved friendship. And in that moment, Mnhei'sahe Dox knew that wasn't her. Not anymore.

Striding through the corridors of the USS Hera, Paris called for the turbolift, then directed it to deck 4. When it arrived, she marched out of the lift and straight to the Flight Control office. As it was late, there was no one on the office at the moment, and once the confused Mnhei’sahe Dox was inside and the door was closed, Paris pointed to a chair in front of the desk, then seated herself in the one next to it. Looking out over the still active flight deck, she crossed her arms beneath her improbable bust, then began speaking, low and slow.

“I’m sorry that you overheard all of that… it was an error on my part, and in a day of errors, I should have been better than that,” Paris offered, then she sighed. “Sometimes a stand has to be taken and harsh words employed… but it should have been private. So say your piece, Dox. Permission to speak freely.”

Taking the indicated seat, Dox sat at attention. Her posture was rigid and her face was tight. It was everything she could do to make eye contact with Paris as her eyes kept snapping away for split seconds at a time like cornered animals trying to scratch themselves from a corner. Swallowing, the young Romulan woman's throat was dry and hoarse. Clearing her throat for a brief second, she replied. "I... have nothing to say in my defense, Commander. What I did... what I didn't do when I should have was... unforgivable. I will accept any punishments you deem appropriate."

“Yes you will, and you’ll remember the lessons, and you’ll do better next time. You already know the punishment, and you’ll take it without complaint. And someday when it’s your turn to be giving this speech to a junior officer, I hope it isn’t for something like this.” Paris sighed heavily, and as she did so, she visibly sagged. Suddenly the weight of the situation physically settled on her, and she wore her internal mood outwardly- that of misery.

“You let me down, Mnhei’sahe.”

While a part of her mind heard what Paris had said about this responsibility one day being hers, Dox couldn't accept the concept of ever regaining her rank or rising above it. The concept was completely alien to her guilt-ridden mind at that moment. But it was at the sound of her first name that her heart twisted itself into a knot.

As the blood flushed from her face into her stomach, Dox turned white. Her lip trembled and she bit it to keep it in place as her eyes began to tremble. "I... I know I have, Commander."

“You were doing so well, and then this pirate business came up. And I thought you could juggle them both. I warned you, not to forget your duty, not to forget that you are Starfleet- and at the first moral challenge, you chose to be a pirate. Why, Dox? Where did I go wrong? Did I not prepare you? Did I not set the right expectations? Was it because we’re friends, my advice became more casual to you? Why, Dox?” There was a note of pleading in the woman’s voice as she spoke, and it was clear that she felt every bit the failure as Dox for having allowed her to fail.

Seeing the pain across Rita Paris' face was too much for Dox, as a small cluster of tears ran down her cheeks. At the break, she locked her body even tighter and the effort had become visually apparent as she was shaking in place, clutching her own knees so tightly that her knuckles were bone white. "When... when I received Asa's distress signal I was... I was on that... that ship. At sp... space dock."

Trembling, the words cracked out of her throat. "I just took off as fast as I could. I tried contacting you and the Captain but your comms were down. So I contacted the Hera and... I don't know who answered but they were telling me to stand by while they found Thex. I was closing on Mars and all... all I could hear was Asa's voice. I re... relayed the message, my coordinates and I requested assistance, but I couldn't... I couldn't wait. I got there but all I had was a god damn disruptor without a power cell and still no response from the Hera...

"There were four life signs from the coordinates of Asa's message... and two bodies. One was weak, but I... I didn't know the situation. I didn't want to just beam up someone at random. That ships shit sensors couldn't tell the difference from an El-Aurian or a Human. So I took the disruptor hoping I could bluff or at least use it as a targeting source for the ship to beam back and some comms and beamed down." The words were coming a little clearer and faster as the agitated officer recounted the events of the last day.

"I... I appeared between Asa and two of the men. When I saw Asa... When I saw what they had done to Asa..." Dox began shuddering in place, shaking her head as tears streamed down their faces. "I wanted to kill them, Commander. I... I wanted to beat them to death with my bare hands and..." Dox's voice sank to a whisper. "And I almost... I almost did."

Moving her eyes down to her knees, Dox took a few deep breaths as she tried to compose herself as best as possible. "I stopped myself. I... I stopped myself on Mars. I heard your voice in the back of my head and I stopped myself."

Bringing her eyes back up to meet Rita's, Dox's face was a mask of ultimate anguish. "But... when I went into the brig. When Schwein... When Schwein and Death... we... we were just trying to... intimidate them... get them to talk... what the Captain wanted and... I shouldn't have even GONE... then when she... when she started towards the first one... I just froze. I... couldn't... I didn't... I should've..."

Jittering in place, Dox was now in a full on panic attack as the weight of everything that had been building inside of her burst out. In the chair, the stout former full Lieutenant curled into a ball and buried her head deep in between her arms, raking her nails against the back of her own neck and pulling her own hair tightly forward.

This is the job, Rita she told herself as she watched the young officer fall apart. Giving her a moment to let it out, she sighed.

“Do you know why we fall, Miss Dox?” she asked simply.

As the moment passed, Dox's breathing began to quiet as she slowly released the death grip around her own body. Rita Paris's words seemed like they were coming from a million miles away as the world around her began to come back into focus. She didn't know how long she sat there, slowly raising her head back up as her breaths pushed out, slightly less shallow with each one. As she came back to a normal sitting posture, the bones in her kneck let out an audible series of pops as the tension released itself.

Wiping the tears from her eyes, Dox finally let out a strained response, her voice cracked from a silent scream. "So... we... so we learn... learn how to get back up, Commander."

“That is correct, Lieutenant,” the soft voice of the starship siren intoned. “You fell down today, didn’t you? It was a hard fall, and you got more than a few bumps and bruises, didn’t you? Mmmm hmm. But you’re still alive and you can still move. So now, that you’ve fallen, what’s it time to do?”

Sighing, Dox tried to keep her head up as she was beginning to calm herself again. "Get up. Keep... moving forward."

"This is the job, Miss Dox. You get dealt a crushing blow, and you don't have time to let it stop you because you're five steps ahead of the apocalypse and losing ground. You're in shock but you have to keep moving, because you have to make a plan to head off catastrophe. The situation requires a hero, but there's just you." Standing, Rita Paris held out her hand to the beleaguered pilot.

"You're never alone, though. Because we're Starfleet."

Looking at Rita's hand for a second, Dox thought beyond herself and remembered Schwein out there.

"And there... are catastrophes to stop still." The young pilot said, her voice still hoarse as she took Rita Paris's hand and pulled herself up.

Offering a hopeful and encouraging smile, Rita checked the redheaded Romulan's eyes. She wasn't okay, and she wasn't at her best, but she was up and moving and she understood a bit more about the life she'd chosen. "Contact Maica, have her put in the recall order with urgency. That'll give us time to put everything together, hopefully."

Tapping her comm badge, Dox called out. "Dox to Maica. We have an emergency situation. The Captain needs you to contact Baroness Von Alcott immediately with a recall order. This is maximum urgency, she needs to get back to the ship now and she needs this message to be from the Captain. Please confirm."

Maica had been sitting in their quarters most of the night alone, waiting for any update on her wife from medical when the call came in and the stress and worry on her voice was clear. =/\="I... Yes, of course. I'll send it immediately and let you know when I get a reply."=/\=

"Thank you." Dox replied, then she turned her attention back to Paris.

"The Baroness has her own ship dock within the Hera, doesn't she?" Paris asked as she started moving for the door. She'd needed privacy and surroundings Dox would feel comfortable in. Now they needed to move and get things done, as she started bringing up scan records of the hospital wing of the brig from the assassinations.

"Aye, Commander." Dox replied, following Paris as they began to move with purpose. "Shuttlebay 3. It's hidden as a cargo bay on deck 23."

"Bring me up the schematic and that of the surrounding corridors. We'll be setting an ambush, Miss Dox, as a fallback if reason fails, so with an eye to that if you please," Paris grabbed a PaDD in the holder by the hatch and handed it to Dox as they moved out into the corridor, heading for the turbolift.

Walking and working, Dox pulled up the schematics for the area. "Got it, Commander. Outside of the primary entrance, there are four Jefferies tube access points, three ventilation shafts openings, the catwalk entrance to the control room. That's 9 possible egress points not counting the actual door to space, and that's holocloaked."

"All of them can be blocked off with forcefields, but Schwein's accesses could deactivate those currently. And none of that will stop Death." Then Dox scrolled to the exterior corridor schematics. "Similar issue in the main corridor. Within the first segment alone there are two Jefferies tube access points behind the lower paneling here and here."

"If we can stop the Baroness and not Death, all the better. She's the one we have to deal with. I think. Honestly?" Paris spun at the turbolift entrance, pressing the call button. "Kinda making this up as I go along. I still need some sort of scan of the entity..." the lift arrived, they hopped in and rode to Deck 8. Disomebarking, Paris looked to the overhead.

"Computer, the timestamp of the security footage I have on my PaDD here... do we have any more detailed scans that show a third entity present? Something quantum-ish...?"

=^= Confirmed. =^=

On Rita's Padd a first person camera watched a short woman hover as she turned to look, her face perfectly white and ashen, and her eyes piercing in the dark hollows of their sockets, some of her long black hair escaping from her hood as she floated. The woman wore a black hooded cape which fluttered in an imperceptible breeze over a floor length jacket, full body corset, and leather pants. Her thin lips pulled back to reveal long alabaster teeth.

"Who in the name of the gods is THAT?" Jake screeched.

"Jake, meet Death. Death... If he's not lying, dig in."

It was the scan from the Baroness von Alcott's own cybernetic tricorder eye.

Looking slightly confused for a second, Dox tilted her head as it occurred to her. "That's... not who I saw. Not exactly, anyway. That's from Schwein's point of view? But it's different from how she described her to me. Anyone that can see her sees something different based on... uh... how you perceive the idea of death. HE saw a monster."

"Oh... oh, that's unpleasant. That looks like she's feeding off their life energies, and-" Rita paused to zoom in on the still image. "She's sharing it with the Baroness, look how her readings spike here. I suspect that's how she increases their bend... hm. Fortunately, we happen to have an expert in these sorts of things onboard. Miss Dox, your security clearance is about to go up."

Approaching the VIP quarters, two Amazonian guards flanked the door, and both gave both her and Dox the once over, threat assessing them. One was tall and lean, but muscular, while the other was short and compact, a bit burly. Both were humanoid females. Looking between them, Paris nodded. "Ladies."

"Computer, unseal hatch of VIP quarters number 11. Authorization Paris, R, LTCDR, 8675309," Paris called out to the overhead.

=^= What is your weight? =^+

"Seriously?" Paris muttered under her breath. "165 pounds as of this morning."

The computer chirruped, and the door slid open. The Amazons stepped aside to let the officers pass.

Hera raised one finger as the pair entered, mouthing the words as she read them in her latest novel - War and Peace. It only took her a few moments to get to a good stopping point before she was able to slip her bookmark into the physical paper book and set it aside. Standing, she greeted the two Starfleet officers that had come to see her. "Rita! and the one I felt in space when we got close to Gaia! It's good to see both of you hale and hearty! What brings the both of you here at this unusual hour?"

"Bad news. Hello Hera... this is Lieutenant Dox. Lieutenant Dox, this is the goddess Hera, formerly the tyrannical despot of Meroset 347." With the introductions out of the way, Rita launched into her pitch for the problem at hand. "We've got a few minutes to prepare to face a manifestation of Death itself that's bonded to our friend. We need to know if the bond can be separated so that they can be isolated. And of course, we'll be hoping to hold Death, because we'd really rather not kill her, not unlike yourself. So if you could offer some sage wisdom and whatnot, it would be very appreciated right now. Computer, isolate this PaDD's data."

With the confirmation chirrup from the overhead, Rita handed Hera the PaDD with the tricorder playback from the first attack.

Taking the PaDD, Hera looked it over as she talked. "It's so good to meet you, Lieutenant Dox. When I saw you out there I tried to act as a beacon of life to guide you back as best I could. No one deserves to... Oh my..." As the playback progressed, one hand went to Hera's mouth in surprise.

"I see why you came to me..." Moving over to the table, the Greek Goddess set the PaDD down on it flat and thought a moment before tapping at it a bit to isolate the particular data streams in the sensor feed to study them, her brow furrowing in consternation. "I can confirm that this is indeed the spirit of the ferrymaster. Not even the Q can stop this being. If they've bonded with someone, that means they've found a successor. There are only two ways I know of to break that bond. The first is for the person to overpower Death in a game, which, let's face it... Death cheats like a bitch. The second is for that person to lose their essence somehow, such as bartering it off to someone like me."

"On the bright side, this does look like an unnatural bonding so there are probably all sorts of extra limitations on both of them." Looking up at Rita and Dox, Hera looked at them questioningly. "I know I started sensing hints of this presence after the mess with the Puppetmaster... But with the deaths this crew experiences I didn't pay it any heed. Please... Is there anything you can tell me of how this happened?"

"On the Worldship, the cultists were attempting to perform a blood sacrifice to summon Asmodeus. The ceremonial dagger nicked the Baroness and she caught me across the thigh. Baroness decided taking the knife out of the equation was the answer, so she took a stab to the guts and held it there. It nearly killed her, but we got her to Sickbay in time. The EMH could see her too, meaning she followed her up from the surface. Apparently they've been companions ever since." Rita was reasonably proud of herself for succinct reporting of bizarre phenomenon today.

"They've been far more than companions. Death can't be far away from Schwein for any length of time without apparently being pulled back. And she's been... overwriting herself over the Baroness. Schwein used to have a thick, German accent and it's gone now. Behavioral quirks are starting to mirror each other. Schwein can feel it when Death takes someones life."

Then the nervous pilot added. "I... Apologize, but I have question that's... tangentially connected. You said you acted as a... beacon for me in space. And I did see you for a few seconds just before I saw her as I passed out. But when I woke up in Sickbay, Death was there watching me. She... she said she had been actively trying to keep me alive while Asa... Doctor Dael... Worked on me."

"Did she do that? Or was that you?" Dox asked with a quizzical expression of concern on her face.

"I acted as a beacon as long as I could, as I felt the approach of Death. What their role in your survival was, I know not but I do know that Death never lies."

Looking across at the goddess, Dox nodded slightly as she pondered Hera's answer. "Thank you."

The goddess pointed down at the PaDD. "What I do know is that if they can't be far from your Pig friend, you have an opportunity no one else before has. You can isolate Death and keep them both away from dying things, which will feed the transformation. Also, as long as Death has not completely taken over, you still have a chance of redeeming your friend. You will need to convince her to win back her sense of self as a start. Then either beat Death in a game or combat... Or barter off her essence to one of my kind..."

Hera stared down at the PaDD for a few moments, a look of consternation on her face. "If there were any demigods left to wed her to, that might work..."

"Mmmm, last shot at a demigod I knew transferred off the boat in utero on Earth. Oh great, there's another regret I'll likely get to have in 18 years when they blame me for how their lives turn out," Paris muttered as she rose to pace, organizing her thoughts. "But win back her sense of self... and beat her in a game or combat. Okay, we can do that- I'll bet she can't beat Sonak at chess, and I'm pretty positive we can put a good old-fashioned high-tech alloy bullet through her if all else fails."

The Goddess of Matrimony shook her head. "Your Pig friend has to do it and you can't exactly kill death... But if you play to her strengths..."

"Play to her strengths… okay, duly noted," Paris let slide calling the woman 'pig', which she personally couldn't stand, but it seemed irresistible to others. "Now, a follow-up question, Hera. Could she be influencing the behavior of those around them, not just the person she's bonded to?" In her heart of hearts, Rita was desperately hoping Hera would confirm this and give her something to work with as to why her shipmates had become so bloodthirsty temporarily.

Nodding, Hera tapped at the PaDD some more, trying to find a reading it might not give her. Eventually it did somehow give it to her, perhaps by divine providence. "This... Right here. This quantum signature is proof that Death has a Domain Aura like I do. Unlike me, however, she's drawing energy in through it. If you've noticed any oddly aggressive behavior, depressive thoughts... Things that might lead to deaths around the ship, then this would be an influencing factor. Scan for this quantum signature, and block it if you can."

Listing to her words, Mnhei'sahe Dox took a step backwards in shock. She had refused to entertain the thought that her actions, inaction or unchecked anger in the Brig could have been anything but her own when Captain Telvan had suggested the possibility. But hearing the idea here and now spoken almost matter-of-factly shook the red-headed Romulan.

Hera looked up at the half Romulan woman as the shock hit her. "What? It's like breathing for my kind. When you move around, do you consider the breeze you make that rustles the leaves of nearby plants? If Asa hadn't gotten a domain blocker from the Asgardians and hooked it into the field emitters around my quarters, you'd have a lot more new families aboard your vessel over my stay here."

“Yeah, you’re a terrible influence,” Rita muttered offhandedly as she realized the implications of what Hera had said. That would explain the uncharacteristic behavior onboard the Hera, in Dox, the Baroness and the Captain- which meant she owed the captain one hell of an apology when she got through the current crisis. But for now, that had to wait. The job was on and the clock was ticking, with the life of the Baroness at stake.

“What about a full God?” Paris was reaching now, but desperate times called for such measures as she took the PaDD back to isolate that quantum energy frequency Hera had pointed out. “Thor is single, although it would be a hell of a leap to get him to come all this way then hope to get them to hit it off. Hell, what could I even use to entice him here, forget about making a love connection? I'm not the best of matchmakers...”

"Isn't he married to Sif?" Hera asked, a look of consternation and confusion crossing her face. "Or has... What? Uh..."

“Apparently she passed on and he has been in mourning. He actually hooked up with the Baroness and French in a tag-team… what, it’s the 24th century… and I was hoping to play matchmaker between von Alcott and Thor and doing a terrible job of it, but I’d rather she be herself and alone then co-opted and overwritten by someone else.” There was also the thought in the back of her head that she and Hera were apparently also connected, which was a potential cause for concern. But one crisis at a time.

“So, this isn’t exactly your bailiwick, but got any great ideas how to lure Thor for this, Hera?” Feeling her way in the dark and bumping into the furniture, Rita stumbled along trying to make a plan in a situation that left her once again out of her depth. “Aside from the wooing and all of that…”

"Actually... I do." Looking between the two, a plan started forming in the golden goddess's head. "I'm the bait, Death is the motivator. As soon as you start interfering in Death's plans, she's going to go after you and none of this..." Hera motioned at the quarters around her. "Is going to prevent me from protecting you in any way I can. As for the connection between Thor and ... Her name... I have got to be mishearing it... If there's any sort of love there, I can work with it and get them betrothed to each other."

“So you’re proposing that we contact Thor to explain that we’re going up against the Reaper and if he wants you to face justice he’ll have to come intervene?” Paris walked through the logic slowly. “Because you’re going to defend me from her because you know I’m going to endanger myself… aw, Hera, that’s sweet. Hopefully it won’t come to that, but that plan is pretty darned good. And while we’re not usually about mind manipulation, causing feelings to blossom for the positive to save lives all around… well hell, I do that with words, and you aren’t doing harm with it. And if we can make a happily ever after out of this, that would certainly be the optimal plan. Hera, you’re a genius!”

"Well, my greatest weapon is being clever, after all..." The disgraced deity blushed slightly at the comment and glanced back down at the PaDD, tapping at it to itemize the scan data they would need for the coming encounter. "Now... Are there any further questions? I don't have all the answers, but I'll do what I can to answer what I can."

Pausing for a second, Dox turned to Paris with a slightly quizical look on her face. "Commander. I know we're short on time, but I do have a question... but it's not about this? May I?"

"Well, my greatest weapon is being clever, after all..." The disgraced deity blushed slightly at the compliment and glanced back down at the PaDD, tapping at it to itemize the scan data they would need for the coming encounter. "Now... Are there any further questions? I don't have all the answers, but I'll do what I can to answer what I can."

Pausing for a second, Dox turned to Paris with a slightly quizzical look on her face. "Commander. I know we're short on time, but I do have a question... but it's not about this? May I?"

“By all means, Miss Dox. You’re an active participant in this plan, and your input is valued and vital. So a personal question might not seem relevant now, but it could be. And Hera has been as helpful as she can be, so giving her more chances for redemption and helping others is never a negative. Please do proceed,” Paris ended as she herself tried to come up with any further questions.

"Thank you, Commander." Dox turned to Hera, maintaining her professional posture, but her expression was still confused. "My... apologies if I'm overstepping my bounds by asking....but... As I understand it, your own personal power has been greatly diminished. There are force fields and dampeners in effect. You just said you would push past that to protect Commander Paris. I understand that."

Letting out a slight breath, Dox continued. "You appeared to me out there in space. As a beacon. We're never met before. If using power weakens you, why? Why did you do that for me?"

Hera looked up at Dox and smiled motherly. "Because it was the right thing to do. But in a more... Explanatory manner... I need psionic energy to survive or I'll fade from existence again. I've found that selfless service and sacrifice of my self gives me a form of power that's... Sustaining. I can't go around transmuting things and performing miracles, but healing someone or acting as a beacon... Shielding someone from Death... As long as it doesn't really benefit me. It's almost like how the Asgardians draw their power, actually. They devote their lives to duty, service, and honor and it gives them great strength and power and over the centuries they only get stronger. I hope to find a similar path and not use the Olympian organ that I was born with."

Sitting down in one of the chairs at her table, Hera started waxing philosophical as she occasionally did. "I suppose it's like running on fossil fuels all your life. You think you'll have an unlimited supply so you just burn all you want as fast as your will desires, throwing energy all over the place... Then one day you wake up and you realize your coal and petrol is gone and all you've got left is a set of solar cells and a potato battery and you have to figure out how to make them work or die. Then someone amazing and unexpected comes into your life and offers you a second chance... Tells you that there is a way to make them work and hands you some wires to hook them up."

Looking up to Dox, she smiled again. "Did that answer your question?"

The first authentic smile in a what had felt like an endless day of pain and torment spread across the young pilots face as she understood what Hera was saying. It was Rita. She was talking about the golden clad example of everything one could aspire to standing beside her. Everything Rita Paris had been to Mnhei'sahe Dox, she had also been for the Goddess Hera.

Rita Paris was Hera's beacon in the darkness, and that was something Dox understood perfectly. It was.something she had feared lost forever just minutes ago.

"It did, thank you very much." Dox offered a polite bow and a heartfelt smile to the goddess.

“Well, you’ve given us a lot to work with… thank you, Hera. If this is going to be as bad as you say, and you are determined to do what you do, I certainly can’t stop you. But I can make it easier on you,” Rita Paris explained as she walked to the door. “Computer, unseal hatch. Paris, R, LTCDR, 8675309.”

=^= What was your mother’s first name?” =^= The computer asked, and Rita found herself choking up a bit, though she couldn’t say why.

“Valentina,” she replied, looking at the goddess Hera and worrying that this might be the last time she’d see the reformed tyrant who had become quite a fixture of her life. The computer chirruped, and the door slid open, both of the Starfleet security officers came to attention outside the door.

“Ladies, Hera is going for a stroll. You are to take her to the Arboretum, and let her enjoy the surroundings until I call for you. I won’t be along on this one, so you two will be on your own recognizance. I have faith in you, however. Am I understood?” It might just get her court-martialed, but Rita was ever a creature of instinct, and this seemed to be the right thing to do.

That's when Dox's comms finally chirruped with Maica's reply. =/\="Maica to Lieutenant Dox. I finally got a reply from Schwein. She's about twenty minutes out of the system and headed our way. Also... She didn't sound like herself... Even in text..."=/\=

"Excuse me." Dox nodded to Hera as she tapped her badge. =/\="Dox to Maica. Thank you, we think we might know why. Please forward the message to my PaDD. We'll keep you posted on the Captain, thank you."=/\=

Hera rested a hand on Rita's shoulder and smiled in a knowing way. "I'll miss you but I'll do my best to enjoy my time in the arboretum without you. You go do what you have to do and I'll pray for you."

Turning to face the goddess, Rita searched her eyes as she spoke. “I can’t stop from doing whatever you are going to do, it seems. But please… don’t get killed doing it. You’ve come so far and there’s still a lot of good you can do in the universe.”

Impulsively launching into a hug, Rita whispered in the goddess’ ear.

“If you get yourself killed, I will be very cross with you, because then you’ll never be able to tell my kids stories about all of this someday.”

Stifling back a surprising flood of tears, Rita Paris turned and strode off with a purpose.

“Come along Miss Dox. It seems Armageddon is closer than we thought, and we have a brilliant plan to enact…” As soon as I think of what to say, at least…


 

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