Making Acquaintance, part 2

Posted on Thu Apr 1st, 2010 @ 10:52am by Commodore Samantha York & Lieutenant Lorne Jaxara

853 words; about a 4 minute read

Mission: What Lies Beneath?
Location: Suzette's Quarters
Timeline: Current

ON

[OLD]

"Why? Don't you know yourself?" she asked, mildly surprised.

[NEW]

"Don't tend to think about me much." Lorne said with a laugh. "And I usually don't get close enough to others, to let them see me, either."

"They don't see you?" Suzette asked, before she understood what he meant. "Oh. Okay. But you should still know yourself." She shrugged. "Didn't Shakespeare say To thine own self be true?" She wasn't making much sense. Even to herself. That was a dumb thing to say.

Lorne laughed slightly. "Some of the things I have lost in my memories, and personality, I'd rather they stay lost."

"I think we all have things we wish would stay lost. Some of us have things that are lost we wish we could find. Not many are truly happy with both the lost and the found."

Lorne smiled. "Some memories were worth keeping. Some were not. Dominion Hospitality really needs some tips. I gave it negative 3 gajillion stars."

Suzette nodded. "The Dominion War was a bad time for many people. Those memories should only be allowed to keep us fighting for peace."

"Sadly, I have far too many. I spent a great deal of time on Vulcan, learning to repress them, so they did not hinder my quality of life, or sanity." Lorne said.

"That's a good thing," she said, nodding. "Too many people let bad memories ruin their lives. You sought help to keep that from happening. I am fortunate in that I have not had to deal with war first-hand."

"Fortunate indeed. There was more than one reason why I specifically chose Vulcan techniques to have such memories repressed. I haven't really... discussed it with anyone. Including the 19 Starfleet Psychiatrists who ran quite the battery of tests, before letting me back on active duty."

"More than one reason?" she asked, now curious to know what other reasons he could have.

"My wife was a Vulcan on the colony I was working at, when the Dominion attacked. Somewhere, in my scrambled brain cells at the time, she had left her Katra. That's why it took so long on Vulcan, to master the meditation techniques, and get the memories into a controllable state. For just those select couple years, I enjoyed what life would have been like, if I had had a Symbiont. Greatfully, I didn't. I don't think I could deal with another person's thoughts in my head." Lorne said with a laugh. "But that's what keeps me going, really. Not just my memories. Hers too."

Suzette thought about that for a bit. She was sorry he'd lost his wife. But glad at the same time. That was confusing. And a little disconcerting. "A few years? It should not be difficult to take a katra out of a human, should it?" She didn't know a lot about Vulcans, but it seemed a bit odd to her.

Lorne shook his head. "Bringing a Katra in an unprepared mind, through a Dominion 'retraining' camp makes it much more difficult. And I'm a trill, not a human. Different Psyches, different mental makeup."

"Oh. Yes. That would make a difference," she said softly. "Maybe having her katra with you helped you survive? You were never truly alone during your imprisonment."

Lorne nodded. "I'm fairly certain."

Suzette sat in silence for a few minutes, not sure what to say next. Finally she asked, "What do you like to do when you're not working?"

Lorne shrugged. "Eat. Sleep, if the Doctor insists. Think about, or plan for work."

"That's not much of a life," Suzette said, shaking her head. "You need to have hobies, relax. There must be more than work."

Lorne shrugged. "My last two... let's call them places of occupancy... did not leave any room for such activity. And sadly, I recall very little of who I was before..." He stopped. "I guess you will just have to teach me a hobby."

"Unfortunately, I have a great deal of paperwork... and I wasn't really intending to stop by... but... I do hope to talk to you again. In the very near future." Lorne finished with a smile.

Suzette returned his smile shyly. "I think I'd like that." She walked with him to the door. Her expression turned a little sad as he once again appeared 3 dimensional. "Good luck with your paperwork."

Lorne smiled. "As long as there are no feral vermin, or bothersome lounge managers in my office, it should go by well." Lorne said with a laugh. "Though I suspect either is possible. I'm fairly certain my assistant chief is getting in trouble."

He laughed slightly. "Based on the test questionaire for the position."

He steped towards the direction of the lift. "You are, of course, always welcome in my office. No dogs allowed. Allergies."

Suzette wasn't sure whether to be alarmed or amused. He was quite a puzzling person. She shook her head and smiled. Maybe, just maybe, the lounge wasn't as bad as she thought it was.

OFF

Lieutenant Lorne Jaxara
Chief Security/Tactical Officer
USS Orion

Ensign Suzette de Fresa (NPC)
Science Officer
USS Orion

 

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