<USS Avalon> "Someone to Talk To."

"Someone to Talk To."
Ensn. Melanie Redgrave
 
The orange words on the black screen in front of her began to blend  together 
and despite her attempts at rubbing her eyes to clear her vision  Melanie 
could no longer make out what she was reading. After her interview with  
Lieutenant Snuffy, Melanie couldn’t get the idea of why Flubb had been killed 
 out of 
her mind, so she decided to look though crew logs and mission reports to  see 
if she could catch a bigger clue. In the crew logs she found a discomfort  
from crewmen who felt that Flubb was to disconnected. In Flubb’s logs he had 
to  
repeatedly look up the names of the officers he was talking about. ‘How hard 
was  it really to recall your first officer’s name?’ Melanie wondered as 
she 
tried to  stretch out the kinks in her shoulders.
 
Melanie looked up at the clock on the far wall and sighed. She’d worked  
through lunch and now the dinner break for Alpha was nearly over. Somehow deep  
down she knew that if Georgia found out what she was doing she wouldn’t be 
very  
happy with her. Melanie couldn’t help but smile just a little. Despite  
everything that had been happening Georgia seemed to step right in to claim  
Melanie as someone to fuss over and Melanie liked the feeling. 
 
“Computer log me off duty for the next three hours.” Melanie called out as  
she stood and stretched. A hot shower, a nice cup of tea, and a short nap 
would  do just the trick, or at least Melanie hoped it would. She headed out of 
the  Forensics lab and slowly made her way towards a turbo lift, she didn’t 
have 
the  energy to move any faster. Melanie was so tired that she didn’t notice 
the young  man who was working on the commutations system until he spoke to 
her. 
 
“Heading home for the evening, Ensign?” 
 
Melanie reached for the turbo lift call button as she looked over at the  
voice. It took an usually long time for her to realize who the boy was who was  
talking to her. “Only for a little while, Petty Officer.”
 
The young man nodded. “Working on a lead?” 
 
“At the moment Petty Officer the only thing I’m working on is a major  hea
dache.” Melanie replied as she watched the brown haired boy work on the  
malfunctioning system. She watched with hooded eyes as the young man picked up  
another took and turned back to the panel he had opened. “What are you doing, 
 
Petty Officer?” 
 
“We had a short in the comm system in this area. Everyone who tries to call  
from here ends up sounding like Harvey Firestein.”
 
Melanie laughed a little. When the doors to the lift opened she turned away  
from the young man and stepped into the car. “Don’t work to hard, Mister  
Kendrick.”
 
The young man gave Melanie a warm smile just before the doors closed and  she 
called out for deck seven. The lift seemed to move slower then normal but  
Melanie figured it was just her need to lay down that made it feel that way.  
When Melanie finally did get to her quarters she didn’t bother to turn on the 
 
lights. She went right to the bathroom and peeled away her uniform. After her  
shower Melanie put on an over sized t-shirt, made a real brewed cup of tea, 
and  settled onto her living room sofa. She was very nearly asleep when her 
comm 
unit  went off. 
 
Melanie half opened her left eye and stared at her terminal hard almost  
wishing it would be sucked into the void of sub space. With a heavy sigh 
Melanie  
resigned herself to the fact that who ever was called wasn’t going to go 
away, 
 so she got up and padded over to her desk and sat in front of the small 
compact  screen. She reached out and pressed the button to accept the call and 
very  nearly dropped her cup of tea.
 
“T’Arah?” 
 
A young looking Vulcan female with long breaded jet black hair and onyx  eyes 
stared back at Melanie. “Greetings Melanie. Have I disturbed you?” 
 
“Not at all. You’ve caught me on dinner break.” Melanie replied. 
 
The young woman on the screen lifted a perfectly shaped eye brow. “You are  
lying.” She looked at Melanie a little longer and then added. “You are not  
well.” 
 
Melanie smiled even though she really wanted to sigh in frustration. She  had 
never been able to hide things form T’Arah. Not when they were roommates at  
the academy, not while they both served on that short science mission to 
Saturn,  and definitely not while they were lovers. “I’m fine T’Arah. 
I’m just a 
little  tired. Leave it to me to arrive at my new assignment and be given a 
case an hour  after my arrival.”
 
T’Arah’s facial features relaxed but her concern was evident in her dark  
eyes. “I can see you are not sleeping well. When was the last time you slept, 
 
Melanie?” 
 
“I slept last night.” Melanie answered quickly. 
 
Dark eyes flashed for the briefest of moments with what Melanie could tell  
was amazement. “I should have known to make my question more specific when it 
 
comes to you my friend. When was the last time you slept through a complete  
human sleep cycle?” 
 
“You mean when was the last time I slept a full eight hours?” Melanie said  
just before sipping her tea. “When did I leave my mother’s?” 
 
The perfectly shaped eye brow went up again. “That has been weeks. I do  hope 
that is not that foul earl gray concoction you are found of. You’ll never  
sleep if it is.” 
 
If T’Arah weren’t a Vulcan those lines would have been yelled, but yet they 
 
still managed to have a stinging stern tone to them. “No it isn’t earl 
gray,”
  Melanie answered as she placed the cup onto her desk. “it’s actually the 
last  bit of that relaxation tea your mother created for me the last time we 
were on  Vulcan.” 
 
“I will request that she prepare you some more and have it sent to your  ship.
” T’Arah stated. “What has happened that you are not taking proper care 
of  
yourself?” Melanie opened her mouth to reply but T’Arah cut her off. “Do 
not  
tell me it is your work. I know you far better then that, Melanie.”
 
For a brief moment Melanie thought about lying but then remembered she’d  
wanted to talk to T’Arah. “Everything has gone to hell at warp speed, 
T’Arah.  
She knows.” 
 
T’Arah nodded in understanding before asking, “The woman you believe to be  
your sister. You showed her your evidence?”
 
“Not exactly.” Melanie said as a warm blush colored her cheeks. “I was  
called down to a crime scene and came face to face with her. The moment I saw  
her 
I forgot where I was and everything I’d found out about her. Including the  
fact she was half Betazoid.”
 
T’Arah would have looked surprised if she were not Vulcan. “You allowed her 
 
to read your thoughts. Why did you not use the metal shielding I taught  you?”
 
Melanie sighed heavily. “I wasn’t thinking about metal shielding at the  
time, T’Arah. The only thing I could think of in that moment was the fact 
that a  
strange woman I had never met before was standing there staring at me with 
eyes  that mirrored my own.” The very faintest of a smile tugged at the 
corner 
of  Melanie’s lips. “Georgia said that I have our mother’s eyes.” 
 
The last part of Melanie’s statement was said so low that T’Arah would have 
 
missed it if not for her Vulcan hearing. “What is the problem my friend?” 
 
“She doesn’t believe me, T’Arah. She read my thoughts before I could 
bring  
her the proof, before we could get to know each other, and now we come to find 
 out that Georgia has known about me all along.” 
 
Melanie told T’Arah the whole story while she finished her tea. She told  her 
about the conference room, Georgia's promise to their parents, about Skyler  
passing out, and about how they were now avoiding each other. Tears welled in  
Melanie’s eyes while she spoke. For the first time since this had all started 
 she was letting her defenses down and allowing herself to feel all the real 
raw  pain this was causing. She knew that T’Arah would later tell her that 
her 
 emotional response was a human trait that made life harder then it needed to 
be,  but for some odd reason she felt safe enough to break down in front of 
her. 
 
When she was finished the concern and caring in T’Arah’s large eyes seemed  
to make her feel better. “Perhaps there is a reason she does not remember 
you, 
 Melanie. Perhaps it is more a matter of her blocking her memories rather 
then  havening forgotten them.” The confusion on Melanie’s face was clear 
so T’
Arah  went on. “She is partly Betazoid is she not?” Melanie nodded. “Then 
there is a  chance she has suppressed the painful memories of what happened to 
you 
and your  family. If the memories are suppressed it could be a danger to her 
to force her  to recover them to quickly.” 
 
“The meta-conscious of the telepathic mind.” Melanie said softly. 
 
T’Arah nodded. “This Georgia woman should monitor the psilosynine levels in 
 
her paracortex.” 
 
Melanie nodded as she wiped her eyes with a tissue. “Georgia has been  
looking out for Skyler for a long time, T’Arah,  I’m sure she already  
is.”
 
“Then you must not push, Melanie. You could do more harm then good without  
realizing it.”
 
“Why do you think I’m avoiding her!” 
 
Melanie regretted raising her voice even though T’Arah didn’t react. 
T’Arah  
allowed a moment to pass before she spoke again. “Because you are scared.  
Because you are wounded and hurt. Because you are at times to idealistic for  
your own good.” 
 
Melanie huffed. “And what does that mean?” 
 
“It means my dearest of friends that you went there expecting happy ever  
after which was not logically possible.”
 
The truth sucked and really hurt. Melanie didn’t reply she just curled up  
into her chair and flicked the edge of her empty tea cup. After a few long  
moments of stillness Melanie finally looked up at the image on the screen.  
“Thank 
you my friend.” 
 
T’Arah merely nodded. “Do not return to work this evening, Melanie.  
Practice the techniques I have taught you over out years together and sleep 
well  my 
friend.” 
 
Melanie nodded and promised she would before promising she would come to  see 
T’Arah if she could when the ship got back to Earth. She then disconnected  
the call and made another cup of tea. 
 
“Computer log me off duty for the rest of the night.” 
 
The computer acknowledged Melanie’s request and then Melanie did as T’Arah  
had suggested. She meditated for a while and then slipped between the cool  
sheets of her bed and finally fell asleep and stayed that way the whole night.

Other related posts: