Joint Log | Capt. Ivanova, Commo. Levine, Lt. Atarah - "Gone To Carolina In My Mind"

Posted on Tue Sep 9th, 2014 @ 6:42am by Admiral Rochelle Ivanova & Danielle Atarah & Commodore Andrea Levine PhD

3,259 words; about a 16 minute read

Mission: Are You Touched?

The Levine household was quiet tonight; the twins were asleep, Anne either sleeping or getting ready to in her room, and only Andrea and her mother sat in the living room, quietly, one reading a book, the other writing one.

Andrea yawned and shifted her legs on the couch. Her mother glanced at her from above the glasses, but said nothing. A shadow passed near the window, and then another, and before the older woman could say anything, a triple knock sounded through the heavy door.

Andrea startled, looking at her mother in dismay. It was late, at least three or four hours after curfew began. Too late for visitors, even guards. Her mother folded her book and snuck into the kitchen wordlessly, making her way to the second floor to watch over the children.


Andrea watched her go and walked to the door, looking through the peep hole. She took a breath and shook her head, opening it half way.

"Dani. What are you doing here, it's so late!"

"Heya, Cap," Dani smiled, and her ever-present company of a Trill smiled with her. "I have... things for you. Things that are better done in, uh," she glanced at Zett, "private."

"Don't take too long, little girl. We have work," Zett nodded with a smile, winked at Andrea, and turned to walk towards the shuttle. Dani pushed herself through the half open door and closed it behind her.

"Work?" Andrea folded her arms across her chest. "You're working?"

"Yeah," Dani nodded absently, "forget that, I have something for you, and this took a lot of effort, boss, so we better do this right," she pulled a PADD from her bag and turned, looking around the room. "Do you have a back room or something?"

Andrea gave the younger woman a suspicious look. "We have a basement."

"Perfect. Let's go."

"We're not going anywhere, Lieutenant, before you tell me what the hell is going on," Andrea looked like she was about to throw the young woman out of the house.

And she was.

Dani took a breath. "I got a message from Ivanova, and some stuff you need to see. I figured out a way to -- maybe -- start a comm channel that can be secure enough for a short conversation, but it has to be right now, in the next few minutes, or we miss the window." She finished, taking a breath and looking at Andrea impatiently. "And I'm not a Lieutenant anymore. I'm just Dani."

Andrea took a breath at the mention of her friend's name. "Rochelle? You spoke to her?"

"No," Dani shook her head and started walking towards the kitchen, making a guess at where the door to the basement would be located. "We had an exchange of messages. That's a much safer method, we can sustain it for longer. This," she pointed at the small screen in her hand, "is a very temporary plan." She found a door and opened it, looking at the descending stairway. "We have to do this quickly. I'm splitting the channel into smaller chunks and beaming it with military-grade encryption through the astronomical array. They're running a systems purge, it's the only time that this," she pointed at the PADD again, impatient, "will work."

Andrea descended the steps after Dani. She stopped listening somewhere after "messages". The prospect of speaking to her friend -- to anyone that is outside this wretched situation -- made her heart pound in her chest.

"No one will trace this back here?"

Dani gave her an incredulous look and shook her head. "Who do you think I am, boss? Seriously. Now," she pulled the bag from her shoulder and put it on the table, ruffling through it. "I went to Ivanova's place. She asked me to give you this." She pulled out a box. "But you can ask her what it's about yourself. Let's see if this sweet puppy works."

She bent over the screen and tapped the PADD for a moment, setting up the connection over a network of relays that overlapped and cycled, making it almost impossible for anyone to find its source. On top of that, it will change configuration every 5 seconds. No one will find this.

Andrea took a breath and waited, trying to calm her racing heart and prepare herself for whatever communication the young woman can produce. "Thank you, Dani."

Dani looked up at her friend with a small smile. "Don't thank me yet, boss. Let's see if someone answers."

* * *

Rochelle was nearly asleep when the sound of a computer beeping began to slowly drive her crazy. It was incessant, clawing at her nerves until she swung her legs out of bed and clawed through the dark until she found the source. A PADD, one of the many she'd brought full of fine literature, was screeching and begging for her attention. Bleary eyed she pressed the palm of her hand to the screen, watching it light up and present a picture so very different than the lines of Dumas that she was expecting.

The face looking up at her certainly wasn't Edmond Dantès. It made her breath catch in her throat and her heart skip a couple beats as it kicked up its heels and rejoiced.


"Andrea!"

Andrea grinned. "Roch--" the video jumped, pixelated, froze, and then resumed, snowy. On the other side of the quadrant, Andrea Levine's expression fell. "Rochelle? Can you hear me?" She looked up at Dani helplessly, and the engineer jumped towards the PADD and removed its back cover, attaching a secondary piece and punching a series of commands into it.

"Give me a moment," Dani muttered, and then adjusted the screen again, placing it in front of Andrea. The grainy picture stabilized, then focused, crisp as if the woman stood in front of her in the same room.

Andrea sighed in relief, lowering herself into a plastic chair near the small table. "Rochelle. It's so good to see you. Can you hear me?"

"I can do better than that, I can see you!" The redhead responded suddenly so very awake as she brushed hair out of her face. Dani had done it. She'd found Andrea alive and well and that was enough to make the young woman's heart truly soar.

Andrea's grin threatened to cut the woman's head in two. She grabbed the screen, relieved, wishing she could hug the woman. Tight. "Oh, you don't know how good it is to hear your voice and see your face," the older woman sighed, tears in her eyes. "I am so relieved that you are okay. I heard what happened," she gestured beyond the screen, at Dani, forgetting the woman was outside the angle of the camera, not really caring, "I am so sorry... but I was so worried for you. I am so glad to see you okay." She narrowed her eyes with half a smile, "are you okay?"

Her knuckles were white on the PADD as she held it, perching precariously on the edge of her bed as Andrea spoke and both women beamed brightly. Tears wet the corners of Rochelle's eyes as she listened to Andrea talk. They were a thick mix of happy tears and sad tears as emotion welling in a knot deep in her chest. It was obvious Dani was there, sitting, listening, helping. "I figured she would." Rochelle responded with a little sigh, "I'm coping, it's a long road but I'm marching. This isn't about me, this is about you. Are you okay? Where are you?" Oh Hell, it didn't matter. Andrea was alive. She wanted to tell her about her hallucinations in the mines, about how brave and valiant Landon had been when he'd come to rescue her. She wanted to tell her how lonely she was, how sad, lost and broken hearted -- but none of it would come, it would all wait until she knew the woman was safe and secure either on the Vindicator or a similar vessel.

Andrea smiled and nodded, fighting tears of her own. She could read the expression on Rochelle's face clear as day, so vulnerable, so exposed, so fiercely holding on despite terrible loss. She nodded, sharing the moment, her wet eyes delivering the message her lips did not.

She swallowed finally and took a breath. "I'm okay. They came for us... for.. for me, at first, but then it stopped." She glanced at Dani, who crouched silently in the corner. "The kids are okay, too. They..." she didn't want to tell it all, not quite, not the experiences of the first few weeks of the takeover, the stress, the panic, the executions of so many of her peers, Logan away, his status unknown, and Anne... so far away at camp... it was too much to burden the feisty new Captain. Too much to listen to from afar, helplessly.

"Everyone is okay. They let my mother come and stay the night. That helps. And Anne would have loved to say hello, but she's upstairs," Andrea gestured at the ceiling instinctively, "sleeping. Though she's probably playing games with Schlompi instead," she let out a choked laugh, full of tears. "We all miss you."

"I miss you all, too." Rochelle laughed lightly, the first of her tears spilling over the brims of her eyes as she watched and listened to her friend, her mentor speak. "There's a little boy on the ship, a Trill boy. Pond and I gave him his first tour of the bridge the other day and I swear he reminds me so much of Anne." There was a little pause then as she looked off screen, gathering herself and her thoughts with the shake of her head and a heavy swallow. She knew Andrea knew, the woman was far from stupid or naive. "Gods... I thought you were all dead, Andrea. I thought I'd never see you again." Rochelle Ivanova was crumbling only to be rebuilt by the overwhelming joy the knowledge of Andrea's relative safety brought her.

Andrea swallowed, nodding again. For a while, she thought they'd be dead too. She thought everyone was dead. It all happened so fast, with such brutal efficiency, there was a while there where Andrea worried everyone she knew -- on or off the planet -- was either dead, or jailed.

"I know. I was worried. We heard stories here. Federation First took over the news publications, they are saying that the entire of Federation space was taken over, the Fleet was disbanded..." her voice trailed off, choking, and she cleared her throat, taking a breath. "Rochelle... I... " her face moved closer to the screen, her eyes full of worry, of longing, "have you heard of him? have you heard from Lo--" Andrea's voice cracked, and Dani's head popped up at the corner of the room, worried. Andrea took a quick breath and blinked away the tears. "Have you heard anything from Logan?"

Rochelle's head shook, her eyebrows flattened in a somber expression of sorrow. "No." She replied softly, her tongue worrying her lower lip, "But... I did hear that a lot of people were able to safely evacuate the station he was on."

Andrea didn't bother stopping the stream of tears from her eyes. "Yes, I've... I heard," she glanced at Dani again. The young woman picked herself up and made her way quietly to the small table, glancing at the band on her wrist. "I heard he was out of the station in time, but.." she swallowed. "But that's all I heard. Nothing since, and that was a couple of months ago," she sighed, closing her eyes. "I'm so glad you're safe. They tell us terrible things. Terrible. You can't be sure what to believe anymore," she admitted, and looked up at Dani.

The younger engineer walked around the chair and crouched, putting herself directly into the camera angle, her red flared hair bouncing lightly on her shoulders. "Uh, I... don't want to break this off, but we don't have a lot of time, and there's this," she pointed at the box. "And another thing that we need to talk about." She looked into the camera sheepishly, embarrassed to get in the middle of the emotional moment.

Andrea pulled the box over and opened it, showing its contents to the small screen.

"I'm sure he'll turn up eventually. He's strong and he's smart, Andrea." Rochelle nodded as if to affirm the statement, cementing it for her friend. In all reality she was cementing it for herself. She now had hope that Logan, too, would be alive and just as perfect as Andrea. He had to be, there wasn't another option.

Dani's appearance, and the vibrant red of her hair, made the young Captain blink. Her brow furrowed and she nodded in understanding, "I understand." She'd accept the shortness if only because it meant there would be longer periods, more of them, until she could see Andrea in the flesh once again. The box opened and the contents came to light, the Colt .45 and the sketch by Da Vinci carefully packed away.

She licked her lips again, chasing away the emotional dryness that had instilled. "The gun is for you, Dani. I know it's old, but it still fires and will help you in a pinch. The sketch..." She paused allowing a small smile, "Andrea you need to hold onto that sketch, you're going to be delivering it to me soon enough."

Andrea examined the sketch, nodding, allowing herself to hold on to the hope that this is a sign things will happen -- that she will see her friend again, and Logan, and everyone else she worried about, and give this back to Rochelle. Safe. "I'll keep it safe," she nodded, and handed the gun carefully to Dani with a handful of loose .45 bullets.

Dani recoiled, visibly, staring at the weapon as if it was made of pure cryptonite to her very soul. She shook her head. "I can't keep this. That better stay with you, Cap. You should have something to protect yourself. I'm fine." She hated guns, and phasers, and rifles and anything else whose main purpose was to kill and maim. They made her feel more unsafe than going bare handed. And she didn't think she could hide this piece from Cardello, or Zett or Smith. If any of those give her a reason to point a gun, she'd be screwed before she can pull it out and aim it, anyways.

"Keep it," she raised both palms with a shake of her head and Andrea looked at the revolver for a moment, considering.

"Thank you." Rochelle admonished Andrea. The Da Vinci was priceless, irreplaceable and one of those things she knew would be high on a list to steal if it fell in the wrong, or greedy, hands. It was Dani's reaction to the sixshooter that caught her attention and baffled her the most. The gun was another collectible, but a dangerous one with a purpose. It wasn't called a 'peacemaker' for nothing. "Alright..." She said, brushing away the last of her tears, "Andrea... I'm sure you know what to do with it."

Andrea nodded. She wasn't entirely happy keeping a gun in the house with the children, but these were desperate times. She will keep it in the safe; these are the times such a weapon might be of use, and despite her own dislike of violence, she was absolutely not beyond using weapons for protection. She could use it. "Thank you," she gave Dani a look, for the first time wondering what it was the woman did on Earth right now. That "work" the other woman spoke of, worried her. "I'll get those back to you safely, Rochelle," she smiled, letting the tears dry on her cheeks, "you just make sure you stay safe. Stay strong," she swallowed, giving that advice for them both. "Take good care of yourself, Rochelle; things will always happen outside, things that grab your attention and insist on actions. That's the nature of our world, of being a Captain." She smiled, a proud smile, her chest puffing up a bit unconsciously. "You're a Captain now. But you're also human; don't forget to take care of yourself for your crew."

The little redhead smiled with pride as a driving force. She'd joined the elite few the moment she'd become a Captain, something she'd over looked and failed to think about until that very moment when Andrea looked upon her with such confidence. "I'll do what I can, Andrea. I won't let you down." She'd made that same promise to Malone, but to Andrea it meant something more, something deeper. To Andrea it meant the world. It was a daughter speaking to a mother on graduation day, spreading her wings and flying for the first time.

The screen crackled, blinking out momentarily and coming back fuzzy, static marring Andrea's regal face. Rochelle's smile faded as if she knew time was being cut short. "I love you, Andrea. Send my best to Anne? Let her know to give Schlompi a hug for me?"

Andrea smiled. "You'll never let me down, Rochelle. I'll send Anne your love, and I'm sending you a hug, too." the screen crackled again, and Dani, looking at her wristband with worry, gestured a 'cut it' sign. Andrea looked into the screen again. "Keep that hug for me. Give it back when we meet," she managed, hoping the message passed. She held the screen a moment longer despite the snow on it, not willing to let go.

"She'll be okay," Dani muttered, somewhat awkwardly, picking up the equipment back into her bag. "You both will be." That is why she came here, she thought. To make sure. To make it right. "I'll try to see if we can do this again, but it won't be too soon. The Astronomical array I've used is purged once a month. I'll see if I can find another to use."

"Thank you, Dani," Andrea nodded, remaining in her seat for a moment. The woman knew the way out, and she, with her puffy eyes and her racing heart, was in no rush to climb up into the house. Not yet. "Thank you."

Dani nodded with a small smile. "You're welcome."

* * *

Sitting there on her bed, Rochelle stared at the screen as it sat in gray and black speckles of static. She'd heard Andrea's promise, the way she'd asked that she hold onto that proverbial. A strangled whimper left her lips as she realized she'd been plunged once more into the loneliness of her bedroom at Qapla`. She blinked a handful of times, shaking her head as she looked away from the screen and turned the PADD off before setting it back in her bag.

Returning under the scratchiness of her sheets with a heavy heart wasn't her idea of a good time. But Andrea was alive! She told herself, allowing the faint flickers of joy return at such knowledge and the warmth of Andrea's verbal embrace. Laying her head against her flat pillow, Rochelle blinked into the darkness seeing nothing but allowed her mind to wander to the task at hand; retrieve Andrea and her family. She'd do it, somehow, as soon as she possibly could.

They'd all be together again.

---

Captain Rochelle Ivanova
Commanding Officer
USS VINDICATOR

Danielle Atarah
Ex-engineer, USS VINDICATOR
Grifter / Thief
Federation-controlled Earth

Commodore Andrea Levine
Professor, Starfleet Academy
Dean of Astrophysics
Tenured Researcher, R&D, Starfleet Command
Federation-controlled Earth

 

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