A day in the life of...

Posted on Mon Oct 17th, 2011 @ 12:13am by Lieutenant Elena Valdez

Mission: The Fate of the Swiftsure
Location: Deck 8, Sickbay
Timeline: MD08, 1645 hrs

“…I’m guessing your cat scratched you because he didn’t like the zero-g environment.”

With a final flourish of the dermal regenerator, Elena repaired tissue damage caused by the feline in question. The bloody gashes (which were surprisingly deep to be from an everyday house cat) had come perilously close to Ensign Yoder’s family jewels, much to his embarrassment and her amusement. Elena didn’t know why the ensign had been floating around naked in zero-g with Mittens the cat; as a doctor she had learned long ago that there were some questions that should never be asked.

“Okay, Ensign,” she told the young officer. “All done. You can put your pants back on.”

He hastily did so and shuffled out, leaving Elena alone in her sickbay. She didn’t have the place to herself for long, however, as Ensign Tenebroso drifted in for his duty shift within a few moments.

“Afternoon, Ensign,” she greeted him with a friendly smile.

“Doctor,” he responded, rather dourly. Ensign Tenebroso was living proof that wild mood swings were not limited to human females, despite stereotypes that indicated otherwise. Quite often Elena found him to be open-hearted and friendly, with a smile that could charm anyone on board the Iapetus, including herself. But then the next day he would be the complete opposite, quick with a glare and caustic remark for Elena, the nurses, or anyone else who rubbed him the wrong way.

As it was looking like today was one of “those” days, Elena didn’t feel inclined to hang about sickbay any longer than duty dictated. Tenebroso’s arrival hailed the end of her shift; with an “Adios,” she was out the door before the man had a chance to ruin her evening.

In her quarters Elena flopped face-down on her bed for a few minutes, enjoying the silence. She had had a long line of patients that day, ranging from officers with exotic flus to the ship hypochondriac to Ensign Yoder with his cat attack. It was satisfying work, all things considered, but she was glad it was over for now.
With a sigh, Elena rolled off her bed and started rifling through the last of her luggage. She had put off unpacking many of her things in favor of spending her free time meeting new crewmates and exploring the ship. Lately, however, the room was starting to look less like an officer’s den and more like a raccoon’s, so it was probably time to stop procrastinating and put stuff where it belonged.

After a while Elena had everything sorted, stowed, folded, hung, or otherwise stashed out of sight. She gave her duffle bag a shake before folding it up and away, only to be startled when an isolinear data chip fell out and hit the floor. Setting the bag aside, the doctor picked the chip up with a puzzled expression on her face; it wasn’t Starfleet issue, nor was it one she had brought with her from Mexico.

Maybe it was something her father had tucked into her bag before she left. The thought made her smile. He had done the same thing when she left for the Academy, and it had turned out to be a recording of him singing off-key Mexican folk songs so she wouldn’t forget home.

Eager to see her padre’s surprise, Elena popped the data chip into the port by her room’s desktop console. A man’s face blipped into life on the display, but Elena’s smile morphed into a scowl when she saw that it was not her father as she had expected, but her roving half-klingon husband.

“Heya, honey,” he said in the recording, his face plastered with a charming smile.

Elena slapped a hand down on the consul, ending the recording. She stood and fumed at the blank screen, thinking that an extra duty shift with the dour Ensign Tenebroso would be preferable to watching her significant other parcel out a load of crap. Damn Ethan! She had just finished purging their last encounter from her mind when he had to go and remind her of his existence.

With a sigh and a mental resolution to finally divorce the man, Elena turned the recording back on. Might as well get it over with.

“Heya, honey. How’s the Federation treating you these days? I was wondering if you’d do something for me. I know I don’t deserve any favors, but I’m asking anyway. And if you won’t do it for me, then do it for Aeryn.”

Elena’s brow furrowed slightly as she listened. Aeryn? Her sister-in-law? What did she have to do with anything?

“She hasn’t contacted anyone in the family for a while now, and we can’t exactly contact her because…well, you know.”

Elena had to chuckle at that. Ethan and several of his family members couldn’t use official Starfleet channels of communication because there were a number of warrants out for their arrest. Smuggling, racketeering, disorderly conduct, illegal trespassing, theft…Elena didn’t know, and didn’t want to know, the entire list. Aeryn was an enlisted marine in Starfleet, so it made sense that Elena would be able to contact her when Ethan could not.

The recording continued. “Nine months ago Aeryn took temporary leave of her duties on the USS Excalibur to help me on a salvage operation. It’s a long story, but suffice it to say that things didn’t end well. She got hurt, we got separated, and I haven’t seen or heard from her since. Elena, you know my sister; she’s as close to indestructible as a person can get, and I almost lost her that day.”

In the recording, Ethan’s eyes were bright, almost feverish, and his normally handsome face was twisted with such a look of guilt and anguish that Elena suddenly wanted to comfort him in some way, despite the physical and emotional distance between them. She continued listening to the message, not sure what to expect.

“I know Aeryn’s alive, but I can’t get in touch with her. Please Elena, if you can, get a message to my sister on the Excalibur. Let her know I’m sorry for everything. I’ll never ask her to go on another hair-brained adventure. And let her know I miss her.”

How could she refuse such a request? Elena had mostly forgotten the person under Ethan’s armor of insincerity and sarcasm, and for a brief moment she actually missed him. But then she watched the final segment of Djemrai’s recording.
His charming smile was back, not looking one bit forced. “So Bob and April say hi, as do Cindy, Joon, Kaylan, Jeiter, K’Tarn, Mara, Mack, Mark, and Mari. Pretty much everyone, actually. They were all a little hurt to hear you finally made it into space, but not to join us on the Luck. They aren’t the only ones feeling snubbed.”

Here it comes, thought Elena, bracing herself as Ethan’s face darkened with barely suppressed emotion.

“So what gives, Elena? I asked you for years to leave Earth, and you never would. Said you had soil in your blood, or some bullshit. Now, out of the blue, you change your mind, but you join Starfleet?! I know we haven’t been on very good terms, but I never thought you’d betray me like this. Betray all of us on the Luck.”

Without any expression Elena continued to watch her husband on the desktop viewscreen as he ran one hand agitatedly through his short hair.

“All these years I thought I was the selfish one,” he continued. “Asking you to give up your home in Mexico for me and mine. But I’m starting to think that it’s all you, Elena. You do what you want without regard for those whose lives are tied to yours. No discussion, no compromise, it’s your way or no way. So. If you ever decide that the people who love you actually matter, look us up. You still have a place on the Emerald Luck. You always will. But I’m done feeling guilty for the way things are between us. For that, you’ve no one to blame but yourself. Goodbye, Elena.”

The screen went black, and Elena removed the data chip and set it aside. Normally she would have been thoroughly riled up after listening to Ethan for any length of time, but now she felt nothing but an empty sort of sadness. For once he was completely right, and she knew it.

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Lt. JG Elena Valdez
Chief Medical Officer
USS Iapetus