[USS Vanguard] RPG: O Discordia!
- From: "andywoho@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx" <andywoho@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: ncv80221@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Tue, 21 Sep 2004 17:27:44 -0500
Capt. Dominic Santos
New Vanguard
Following "The Oddities of a New World"
[The following takes place after the above post and any reply Steve would like
to make for Kieran.]
Captain Dominic Santos sat at a long table, surrounded by Kieran Darkwater,
Zena Quetan, Desdemona Barrett-Brown and Aliyah-Amores Lopez-Fitzgerald.
Santos cradled his chin in the palm of his hand and stared off into the
distance where a group of youngsters played with the dog/raccoon creatures.
(Earlier, Zena had learned they were called "toros.")
"The primary question on my mind, right now, is who 'foretold' our coming?
Moira McCaw's offhand, almost careless, remark is unsettling to me," Santos
said.
Quetan sipped from her cup. The beverage was called "Q'turna," made from a
fruit that grew natively, abundantly, and was harvested for many uses; the
popular beverage was one.
"There are telepaths or sensitives among the crew, Nick. It's not that
far-fetched."
"Telepaths are one thing, but fortune tellers are another." He turned to Des.
"Des? Do you sense anything...amiss about this timeline? Or what they're
telling us?"
Des turned and looked at Santos.
"I don't know, Nick, and frankly, I'm a little surprised at the question."
Santos frowned, his eyebrows reaching skyward to show his confusion.
"I mean, what's Starfleet's mission? 'To seek out new life and new
civilizations'? For once, it's right in front of you. And you know what? They
don't want to kill you, or harvest your organs..."
"Yet," Darkwater said.
Des continued, "...or steal the Vanguard's trilithium, or kidnap me, or turn
the space-time continuum upside-down by holding us hostage in the holodeck.
They just want to get to KNOW you. And for some reason, you're suspicious of
that!"
"Yes," Santos said evenly. "I am."
Des threw her hands up in the air. "You know what? For once, since that awful
time on Galinia-4, Trevor's happy, I'm happy. I'm glad to know these people,
Nick. With your natural inclination toward suspicion and--dare I say
it?--paranoia, I'm surprised, frankly, that your species ever got off that rock
you call a homeworld at all." Des got up. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I have
some people I'm supposed to meet." Des walked off without a glance back.
"Handled with your usual aplomb and tendency toward the subtle and nuanced,"
Darkwater nodded at Santos. "Well done."
"Thank you," Aliyah nodded at Darkwater.
"Wasn't speaking at you," Darkwater said quietly.
"This squabbling is a waste of time," Santos said. "We'll reconvene and regroup
later."
The others got up to leave, and Aliyah walked with Santos.
She took his arm and they walked together without saying a word for a few
minutes.
"Does it bother you that you don't have family here?"
Santos shrugged.
"It does, doesn't it?"
"I feel left out of the loop, I suppose," Santos shrugged. "I have no reminders
here of who I was, or what I became. Or what my family became for that matter.
Have you run into any Lopezes or Fitzgeralds?"
"A few," Aliyah said.
"And...?"
"They were...interesting," she smiled.
"Interesting? How?"
"Just interesting."
They were quiet for a while longer. Then: "It turns out the Lopez-Fitzgeralds
and the Valentines were quite close. That made me feel good."
"That's nice," Santos said.
"'Nice'?" Aliyah teased. "That's all you have to say?"
"I don't know what else to say. That...feeling, that experience, is something I
can't have here."
"Do you want some Vulcan cheddar with your Klingon blood-whine?" Aliyah laughed.
"Far be it for me to whine," Santos laughed. "You have my permission to stage a
mutiny if that should ever happen."
"Deal," Aliyah said. "But it won't ever come down to that."
They continued down the path, away from New Vanguard.
--------------------------------------------
(Elsewhere, in the woods some distance from the New Vanguard settlement.)
The figure stood and addressed the gathering.
"They're becoming complacent-sloppy, and they're comfortable with the idea of
being here."
Figure #2: "What do we do-behave? When do we act?"
"Soon. Let Sam finish-complete with his repairs."
Third figure: "The ship is no good to us-useless in its present condition."
Laughter.
Figure #2: "Are you sure you know how to operate it?"
Figure #1: "Desmond does. He claims-says his grandfather taught him everything
he knows about the bridge of the Vanguard, claims-says he could locate the
controls blindfolded."
Figure #4: "Good, very good-excellent."
Figure #1: "We brought them here for their ship, and I don't intend to let them
leave with it. Our ancestors dreamed of leaving this place and have kept that
dream alive in us for a century-one hundred years. Is it not our best destiny
to fulfill theirs?"
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