PLOT - JDL | Admiral Hark, Admiral Red, Com Ivanova, Kyym - "Part Of Your World" pt. II-II

Posted on Mon Mar 2nd, 2015 @ 2:08am by Admiral Rochelle Ivanova & Fleet Admiral Blyx Red & Commander Logan Grant, PhD. & Admiral Alexander Hark

1,823 words; about a 9 minute read

Mission: A Spot To Kill

"I was just a Captain when she broke my heart, tore it in two and lied to me about Marcus..." the words struggled to find the tip of his tongue but tumbled out at speed once they'd found the exit, the lump in his throat that he'd felt when Blyx first bought this to his attention returned with a vengeance, "I never knew... not until Blyx showed me that when I went to visit her on Cold Station Theta,"

"She always said her chance for fairytales had up and left when she was serving on Deep Space Nine." Rochelle nodded, slowly putting two and two together, "She never really seemed upset about Marcus leaving... She just said it made things a little more and a little less complicated and he..." She sighed, trying her damnedest to catch herself before something broke and the river of emotion came rushing through, "He was never a father. And Blyx..." The little woman had never felt so small, so lost as she spoke and released the book from her grasp, offering it back to the man. "She'll go to the grave protecting the skeletons in my family's closet." A puff of steam boiled up from her lips as she blew a huff and closed her eyes. "I've seen you over the years... I knew you only as her friend until some asshole in the academy told me the story between you and my mother and I thought..." She smiled painfully, not daring to reopen her eyes, "I thought you were just the good guy that had gotten screwed over but felt the need to keep tabs on the ex-lover's kid after she died. You know... Tragically noble. Even then you seemed to care more than Marcus."

"That's all I was doing, I loved your mother more than I can ever put into words and I wanted to be sure that you were guided in the right direction, I wanted to help you make her proud. Everything I see in you now I saw in her every day I spent with her, the burning desire to be the best she could be," Xander replied as he placed the tome on a table beside them and moved to offer her a chair. The weight of the galaxy was coming down on their shoulders, "When she went missing... Did you ever wonder who it was that sponsored you into the academy?"

"I'd thought it was something she'd managed to arrange before she'd died and then they just took pity on the messed up kid she'd left behind." Rochelle's head shook as she slowly absorbed everything the man, her father, was saying to her. "I knew there had to be something deeper. I knew it." She sniffled, taking the chair he gestured to and sat with her head hung in thought. For that moment she wasn't a Commodore or a Queen, she was a little girl again and dealing with the tidal wave of hurt and relief that came pouring through in bucketfuls of emotion.

"When Blyx showed me the journal... It was if I had known all along but refused to acknowledge it, but I honestly never knew a thing, Rochelle," the greying man replied with a slight sigh as he took the seat next to her and turned to look over her, "If I had I would have come to you sooner, but you know what she's like, she only told me when it was of the utmost importance,"

The little redhead nodded, finally lifting her head back up enough to look at him. "I know." She said, "Blyx has always been unstoppable and unwilling to call in reinforcements. She must trust you and must have known what you'd do... What you'd say."

"She knows that the last thing you want is to be trapped on this planet, she knows that the only reason you'd ever consider doing it is to protect your crew, or someone you love," Xander replied as he ran a hand over his head and smoothed the greying hair down, glancing to the door before looking back to her - to his daughter, "She also knows that you'd listen if I told you that there is no need to stay. Name a regent, take a porter." he added with a slight smile, "We can have your crew safely back on your ship in seconds and the last thing these... people are going to do is risk kidnapping someone with Starfleet's flagship in orbit and her Commander in Chief on the surface. They might act big when they think they're getting something they want, but the last thing they need is a war with the Federation. It's one they won't win."

Rochelle blinked and tilted her head as she listened to him, slowly settling into a strange and new found role she'd never thought possible. The man that sat beside her was one who ended worlds, one who waged great wars and had been one with Klingons during the war. Alexander Hark was a legend, and one even she had a healthy fear of. Yet there he was, soft as a kitten and wearing his heart on his sleeve for her to either cultivate or crush. "She's right." She replied in a whisper, "The reason I'm here is a mix of both." Protection and love, the very things she'd fought for so hard and long. The crew, she knew, were loyal and fierce -- and love? It was there. Somewhere above them, it was there. Studying the Admiral as he spoke, Rochelle couldn't help but notice him for who he was.

For a moment he wasn't the warrior, he was the man with eyes like the ocean, eyes that easily mirrored her own. She couldn't and wouldn't deny him, not when he perched there as an anxious father willing to move mountains and destroy civilizations for his daughter. Any proper father would, the difference was that hers had the actual tools to make it happen. Tools she knew needed to remain sheathed for the sake of his career and life. "They'll do whatever they can just short of war. They'll cite their laws, the deal I made... They'll fight. Especially Kyym. She seems to be their mouthpiece." Rochelle said with a shake of her head and found herself reaching to touch him, to rest her shaking fingers on the back of one of his hands.

"Well, for now, be their queen and make your demands," Xander replied as he placed his other hand over hers, capturing it between his, "They will get your candidates for regent ready by morning and your porter by afternoon. We can be out of here by the evening,"

Licking her lips Rochelle ducked her head again, "I'm supposed to be married by evening." It was ridiculous, just by sound alone. The idea of getting married to some idiot she'd been forced to pick from a line up while Amelia cackled over her shoulder and asked them to pose and strut had made her ill at ease and just plain ill. But the heavy weight of his hands holding hers, however, boldly stated that everything would work out and be alright. After all, it seemed so simple and so ridiculously easy when he said it. "Commander Dahe'el is aboard the Vindicator?" She asked, looking up for confirmation as she sorted out her thoughts and rifled through her options. "I don't want him on the surface or anywhere they can put their hands on him when this happens." No explanation was needed, but she'd felt the need to verbalize her thoughts regardless.

"All information shows that he returned to the Vindicator, internal sensors show he entered the Jefferies tube network and then... disappeared, which I'm told by your crew means he's found somewhere on the ship that no one can find and from his file... I can see why," Xander replied with a bow of the head as he stood slowly and pulled her up with him, "Make your demands to Kyym, Rochelle, and don't take no for an answer. I've heard about what happened with the Commander and God help them if they try anything stupid."

Drawing a deep breath, Rochelle allowed her father to guide her to her feet. "He's safe then." She breathed and looked up to search the man's face, letting herself understand him and everything he demanded she accomplish. "I didn't mean to have him hurt..." It was futile. Explaining her love life to someone else, let alone someone who was meant to be her superior and her father simply didn't fall correctly. She shook her head and steeled herself, "I'll do what needs to be done to get this taken care of. You have my word."

"Well, you have the full weight of Starfleet behind you, just to make sure that the Atlanteans understand the strength of your position." Xander replied as he pulled her in close and wrapped his arms around her, placing a gentle kiss on the side of her head, "Show them the ferocity that made me love your mother so deeply."

She nodded, letting her eyes fall close and her arms folded around her father's bulky frame, holding him to her for all she was worth. Fear and frustration joined hands with her insecurities and the pain that had come to pass. They were all so intricate and all so powerful, but they melted and turned to nothing but a pool of empty promises the moment she allowed him into her world as something more than the gargoyle she'd once viewed him as. Father was the word on the lips of ever girl. It was synonymous with 'God' in so many ways, and it had taken her twenty-seven years to finally be able to know it with any great meaning. It was fresh, new, but she could trust it and she could bank on it to come through when all hope had seemed lost and life had hung so precariously.

He didn't judge her for what she had and hadn't done, he simply stood and cradled her against him in hopes of lending her the strength and resolve she'd lost and he still carried. "I will." She replied, setting her jaw, "I won't let you down." It seemed like a never ending promise, one she damn well hoped she could keep.

"You never have, she'd be proud of you." was all Xander could find to say as he held his daughter against him, a vain effort to protect her against the world when the only thing that could really protect her was the strength of her own resolve.

--- End Log. ---

Admiral Alexander 'Xander' Hark
Commander in Chief of Starfleet
United Federation of Planets

Admiral Blyx Red
Commanding Officer / Quadrant Commander
Cold Station Theta
Cheydinhall Sector

Commodore Rochelle Ivanova
Commanding Officer
USS VINDICATOR, NCC 78213-E

Kyym
apb Spaceman
Atlantean Ambassador

 

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