White and Black

Posted on Fri Feb 19th, 2021 @ 3:33am by Captain Elijah Rutherford & Commander Dominic Aldrich & Crewman Recruit Zeria

Mission: End of Line
1707 words - 3.4 OF Standard Post Measure

Zeria entered sickbay and went straight to Dominic who was just about to be released. "There you are,"she said with some amusement as if she'd recently misplaced him. "I have a couple of questions I'd like to ask you if you have a moment?" The truth was she was afraid she'd come very close to losing him and it frightened her more than anything else she'd ever experienced including leaving her home and coming here with him. Although that had been scary, she'd had him to fall back on. She didn't know what she'd do without him in this universe.

Dominic sat up and smiled, "Well, hello to you too, dear." He reached out a hand to draw her closer to him. "What do you want to know?" He was feeling good physically and Zeria showing up had only brightened the moment.

"I guess the first sentence is more of a statement that I think you should agree to. Let's get married here, now. And secondly, I know that it's traditional for brides to wear white but honestly . . . . I've just left a planet with so many traditions that they've forgotten how to be kind. I think I want to do my own thing. Any objections?" She rocked on her heels a bit, waiting for an answer.

Dominic was silent for a moment. He wasn't silent because he didn't want to marry her, he was silent because they had a plan. They had discussed when and where they would have the wedding and why. He was a plan-oriented person; spontaneity was not one of his strengths. Then, he looked at Zeria. He really looked at her and saw an earnest love in her eyes. Her questions were born out of a love he could see as clear as day on her face. He decided to let his normal thoughts about plans and such go. Dominic smiled, put his hands on her shoulders, pulling her closer, and said, "Anything you want, mon cher." He then kissed her forehead.

As he moved back from the kiss, he looked at her again, this time taking her hands, "What brought all of this on? That is, if you don’t mind me asking."

Zeria closed her eyes for a moment, soaking up the affection that somehow she still wasn't used to yet. "I just don't want to have any regrets. And . . . you got hurt and I would very much regret that we didn't get a chance to marry if something happened to one of us. We can have a big party for our families too." She shrugged. "I guess I got a little scared."

Dominic couldn't help but smile. "You are such a blessing." He sighed lightly and then continued. "I have been serving on starships or bases for a long time. I guess I've gotten used to being in danger. Perhaps too much so. Perhaps I've allowed it to happen because I had no one I was in love with to think about. I had friends and crewmates, sure, but they were signed up for the same danger. You, though, never lived this life. You lived such a peaceful life before I blew into your world. You remind me everyday that life can be so much more than stress and work. You've given me a gift I can never repay. So, yes dear, I will marry you as soon as you want. Of course my family will be a bit sad, but my promises are to you now to protect and provide for, so that's what I'll do."

"Oh Dom, you don't owe me anything and I can take care of myself. You saved me just as much as I did you. It may have been a peaceful life but it was lonely, I never had anyone until you walked into my garden that day. But, it would put my mind at ease if we did marry here. The Captain could do it and we can spend plenty of time planning a big thing when we are back at Earth. So . . . . what about the not wearing white idea?"

Voices could be heard coming around the corner, "And we are now coming to sickbay where we are treated for our wounds." one could be heard saying,

"Well well, a might more friendlier than what is on Adna station." Another could be heard, sounding like an old man.

Then coming around the corner would be someone in a security uniform, guiding a smaller man wearing robes and a wizard's hat.

"And this is Lieutenant Commander Dominic Aldrich and Zeria." The security officer looked at the two. "Sorry for any interruptions, this gentleman had brought the Captain's Chef here to safety and was looking for someone in charge. You are the only one that we've come across so far."

Oz stepped forward, with serious expression on his face, flashed a smile then it faded.

"I am Oz, and I am a holo-person, one of a small amount that had gained sentience, and want to help shut down Adna. I have a friend who is a solid, who has been helping us make contact with some members of your crew. And she is unable to move on her own free will, as she is in some sort of machine that keeps her alive and yet being able to communicate through some neural connections." Oz paused for a moment as he realized he was throwing out a lot of information at one whack. He was worried as he felt that time was of the essence.

"So sorry for tossing that all at once but there is more. There is a jammer which is preventing communications between your ship and those on the station. Now my friend has been able to communicate with those that have communicators but only on the station and its not been an easy task for her to do. This is due to Adna having gone insane or developed a glitch which has taken the safety features off any sort of interactions." Oz decided to stop there and give Aldrich and Zeria a chance to mull over what he had just tossed at them.

Zeria blinked, taking this all in. She wasn't technically a Starfleet officer, Captain Saulitis had arranged for her to join the crew so she could remain with Dominic. But she wanted to help. She just wasn't sure how.

Dominic studied the hologram closely. "That is a lot of information to digest, and I am more than willing to lend my skills to shut down Adna. I need to know though, have any other holo-people gained sentience and decided not to rebel against Adna?"

"I honestly haven't come across any. I've gone searching for others who have gained sentience, I just haven't been able to find any others besides Gwendolyn, Glowbug and the Guardian. He is the one guarding Splice. Splice is the one who is connected to the device I previously mentioned. The one that is human." he stopped for a moment collecting his thoughts then said. " I have come into contact with a Commander Lhaes and Commander Murphy. Murphy I found out is an engineer. He maybe going to go shut down the jammer. There is a Dr. Marlow, who is also with several others, A woman by the last name of Hawke, and a woman by the name of T'Par, and a man named Orin. I got a report from Gwendolyn, she and Glowbug, are, from last I spoke to them,with Marlow and those with her."

Dominic nodded, "Alright," he slid off of the bed, "point me in the right direction. I'll do what I can to help out."

" I can do that, also have the two of you had a chance to get some rest and something to eat?" Oz looking at both Zeria and Dominic. "If you have, then we'll need supplies to turn off Adna. And to save the remnants of my small group."

"Can I do anything?" Zeria asked. Her specialty was plants so she couldn't fathom how she could help, but just sitting there while they did all the work was not in her nature.

Oz gave a Zeria an assessing look, noting the intelligence in her eyes, and noted that her hands showed signs that she worked with her hands. "If you don't mind my asking and not think me being rude. What is your specialty on this ship? I can see that you work with your hands, so am very interested."

"Well I was a farmer, but on the ship I've sort of become the unofficial hydroponics bay keeper." Zeria wasn't sure what else to call it. "I putter around in there like it's a greenhouse on my home planet and provide fresh ingredients for the crew to eat."

"And you know how to make simple repairs with your equipment, and you've done that on your farm?" Oz asked, for to him it was basically logical that a farmer would be able to make small repairs or for that matter dealing, with hydroponics simple repairs can be made. "And your fingers seem to be rather dexterous, I might add."

"Yes," Zeria said, wondering what he was getting at. It wasn't as if she would know the equipment here, it was very different from what she was used to.

"Good, I am thinking that the skills you do have will be most helpful, what would be needed is knowledge of how to deal with connectors and rudimentary electronics, wherein to sabotage electrical items. You will most definitely be useful in doing that." Oz replied to Zeria "Perhaps some tools and anything else you might need to accomplish this."

Oz looked at Dominic, "I will be able to get you there, a back access to where the mainframe is at, at least a section of it."

Dominic nodded, "Very good. We should stop by my office. I have a set of tools that may be helpful to overload the system and make our work a little easier." He looked over as Zeria, noting the apprehension in her face, "We'll do this together. I can guide you as we work."

She gave him a small smile and squeezed his hand. "Alright."