One Night Only
Posted on Thu Mar 9th, 2023 @ 1:58am by Fleet Captain Maxwell Culver & Lieutenant Rowena "Rena" Campbell
3,593 words; about a 18 minute read
Mission:
Mission One: Goodwill Tour [Part One]
Location: Senate Chambers Theater
Timeline: MD8: 1900 hours
Max wore a fitted black suit, the men’s corset he wore was dark blue. His bow tie, pocket kerchief and shoes matched that corset. A box at the symphony had been set aside for him and the senior staff of Triton Seabase, he’d been told - a gift for their final night in the Golden Towers. Settling into his seat, he noticed Rena Campbell had already arrived. It was not a surprise, this was, no pun intended, her stage.
Max smiled as a server provided him with a glass of champagne. “Rena, nice to see you. I wasn’t sure who was attending tonight. Most of the crew, I was told, had come to the earlier show. Either way, I’m glad I’m not alone.”
Rena had chosen to attend the later showing of the symphony, for no other reason than she felt like it was something that should *happen* at night.
She was well dressed, better than she had been at either the Base christening or the party. A long black skirt, billowy and flowing, and a beaded body suit, with a suit jacket over it was her choice of dress for the night. On her feet were silver high-heeled sandals, and her long, black hair she wore long and straight.
She spotted Max in the crowd; he was definitely hard to miss. She helped herself to some champagne, as well-just one, for appearance's sake-and smiled. "Good to see you, sir. Yeah, I heard the same; they were talking about movies on the Holodeck tonight. I had some paperwork to do this morning." It was true; she had to get his and Vi's visit notes filed away, and finish setting up her office. Since they didn't yet have an ACMO, she was under the Chief Science Officer, and it was hard to juggle both units at once.
Max chuckled. “Movie night should be something that happens when we’re on the ocean,” Max agreed with seeming disinterest. “Also, I’m glad we both chose not to wear our uniforms and that we don’t clash. It’s almost like we planned it.”
Rena chuckled. "Almost. You look nice!"
Too bad he played for the other team; Rena had a soft spot for the pretty boys. "And thanks. Many movie nights will happen, I am sure! And it's an old movie, so you're not missing out on much." She assured him.
She sipped the bubbly again and looked around. She knew they were in a Romulan space, but it was a LOT of them at one event. "What brings you out tonight? I would've assumed you'd have had the first booking!" Plus, she suspected he spent his nights in the company of his flavor of the month, usually. While she didn't judge, she did assume that Culver would be scarce on non-essential evenings.
Max sipped the champagne and he could feel an odd sense coming from Rena. He’d never felt it before and he’d have to ask Vi about it. “I’ve finished my reports before setting off to sea again. My evening is clear and the event doesn’t go so late as to have it interfere with my morning Command shift. One more lesson learned, Rena.” He smiled, his brown eyes bright with amusement.
She smiled. "Well, that's excellent progress. Another few times of that and you won't need me at all," she quipped. She was nervous-yes, a regular habit-but more so because she didn't have the others to play off of and hide behind, and also because of the sheer number of people. She wondered if they'd notice if she manipulated the air *just* enough to quiet them. She decided it probably wouldn't be wise, and returned to the Captain. "Anyway, I meant to come out with the others earlier, but I was doing some work. Commander Paxidor is going to put me through my paces. How did you meet her, anyway?" She KNEW there was a story there, and it wasn't necessarily something that needed or even SHOULD come up in a session.
Two of a kind, I guess,” Max answered. “I knew the Commander would jump in head first for this role and she doesn’t disappoint. Like me, her reputation proceeded her.” Max realized that sitting, his corset vest was too tight. He liked a slim waist and pronounced chest, but it wasn’t worth it. ’Beauty is pain, pain is beauty.” Max remembered the old saying of his Academy friend who used to perform in drag shows. The memory made him smile.
“As for needing you, as a counselor, there’s still a lot to unpack here. I’ve still got that celibacy vow on hand. Perhaps a fear of intimacy?” he joked.
Rena smiled. "Could be. We can explore that more next week. And yes, she certainly did!! This group is going to be...interesting. Fun. I am already feeling the camaraderie, which is a nice change from the more serious work and the large boats I've been on. And CERTAINLY a nice change from my work at the Academy."
She tried to focus on Max, and herself, and was slowly relaxing. She had always been little nervous, and high strung. Her mother had said she was "wound like a tick," though Rena had no idea what that meant. It had been a little difficult, being so sensitive and the only girl in her family. "Your vow of celibacy is only a promise to yourself and your people. You know I don't care what you do, right? I don't judge people-it isn't my place. I only help you to make the best decision for yourself with the information you give me," she said, gently.
“Mmm,” Max responded quietly. The lights were dimming now. “The vow is only a promise to myself. I think we ought to talk about that later, though.”
The lights went out for moment before the stage lights appeared. It was set as a triangle with clam shell concavities between sections. Metallic, but not quite silver. In the middle hung the Romulan Bird of Prey, once holding Romulus and Remus, now it only clutched their new homeworld.”
From there and occasional tuning hum until the conductor entered from stage right, took his position and - with hands adorned in white gloves, he began the first half of the evening’s music selection.
"You're correct, later is better," she said, turning her attention to the stage. Rena considered herself cultured, but she wasn't really prepared for a Romulan orchestra. She knew a little about them, as a whole, but they had a storied culture, older than both of hers. Soon, the music began. It was nice, actually-akin to that of a Terran pipe of some sort.
Max had been given a program. The flute represented the planet’s Air and the next selection would represent Fire. Once done, there would be an intermission for bathroom breaks, drinks and mingling. The second half would be Earth and Water.
Rena seemed not to have a program to follow, so he handed her his and silently indicated where they were at.
She quietly nodded and took the program from Max, leaning over to whisper "thank you" as she did so. It was actually quite nice, and she was having a good time. It was the first time she'd been able to fully relax in a public setting, and she realized she was a little on the neurotic side. A quick hologram to her mentor might be due; she fixed the others, but sometimes, SHE needed fixing, too.
Max felt a bit of anxiety from Rena for a moment and then it was gone. The flute played on, joined by a new instrument to Max’s ears and then another. Suddenly he was transported away, a dandelion seed caught on the general spring day. He floated along with the music, never leaving his chair, but also as one with the group consciousness. Max suddenly understood his parents’ concern at not belonging, of being without the gift.
He opened his eyes and watched the auras of blues and whites and even clear as they danced around the room. It was almost as stunning as the way he’d been caught up on the wind. He closed his eyes again, joined the group and enjoyed the movement until its inevitable conclusion.
He wasn’t sure what the Romulan response was supposed to be. Many of them were reticent, some even crying. Max reached out to feel their loss of their home. While he was too young to understand it, he could feel the terror and loss they felt. Now, it flooded in by the hundreds. Tears rolled down his eyes, genuine tears for their losses, not just of their home, but their families too.
Their box opened and a Royal looking Romulan appeared. “A gift, from Senator V’trel. He does not cry before our people because he needs them to understand that we stand as one on this planet.”
Max took one and handed it to Rena. He then took his own. With tears still in his eyes, Max responded, “I am not a Senator here, but I admire his resilience.” Max’s lips pursed as another tear rolled down his cheek. “I will let them see me cry. I will let them know I understand their losses. Thank the Senator, but I must lead my way.”
“A strong stance, Captain Culver. I would expect many who might like to meet you tonight, sir.”
As the box was cleared again, Max turned to Rena. “I hope that didn’t make you uncomfortable.”
Rena, too, was swept away with the music. Betazed had faced its own sordid history; though it was through her father's tales that she knew this, she still could relate to the Romulans as a species lost in the Universe. And as a PERSON; different from the others but desperate for a lifeboat of sorts. She let her abilities to sense and impact carry her away. It was powerful! She felt...a sense of injustice, perhaps. Next to her, her captain and companion for the evening, was crying. She shook her head, and said, quietly, tactfully, "No. I felt the losses, too." She wasn't showy with her emotions-but she didn't judge him for his. "It is a good thing that our hosts see it." She indicated that the usher could leave them alone. "Do you need some water?" Her natural inclinations to take care of people had kicked in.
Max watched, mesmerized by the clockwork tuning in the fine symphony as flute joined piano and lyre to draw one away from their place, like a dandelion seed on the wind. When he opened his eyes, the entire Romulan audience was alight with a thousand different colors, many of them a blue and many more clear as air itself.
The second act began with a light rumbling of drums as the stage converted and the new players were arranged differently for a new acoustic sound. Max followed his listening, tapping into something so ancient, it now anchored him. Low rumbling of of wood on wood, the change to stronger woodwind instruments, always grounded by the rumbling. Max opened his eyes to see the life of a low fire growing with each new instrument, each new chord.
Suddenly, the room was ablaze with fire. Reds and yellows and blues and whites. His ability to see auras changed by music was a unique experience for him. Not just the music, but the way it unites that whole.
Next to her, she was aware that Max was having a real EXPERIENCE, and made a mental note to ask him about it later. Her own experience was much more of an emotional one-she could FEEL the fire of justice, of war, of peace, of belonging. The various feelings of passions of various types-some forbidden, some universal. She closed her eyes to immerse herself fully in the experience. Was it...warm in here? Yes, it was. Or it FELT that way, anyhow. She was finally back at her grandparents' house on Betazed, her grandfather discussing his fights for independence. The fire she felt was in her SOUL-a stirring from ancestors long dead, maybe.
She extracted a spray bottle of water from her purse, and handed it to Max. "If you want. For your complexion," she said. It was just cucumber water but it helped Rena to appear fresh after a particularly difficult session. They settled back in for Act Two after she used the ladies' room.
“Maybe just a bit of the spray,” Max answered with a quaint smile. “Wouldn’t want to have red room eyes."
She laughed a little. "It's definitely unbecoming a Captain." She took the bottle back, and replaced it in her bag. "I keep an entire first aide kit, plus a sewing kit, emergency supplies, and things like that, so if you need anything else, let me know."
She settled back in for Part Two; hopefully this one would be less...emotional for Max. She did worry, and her natural instincts to protect and mother - the very things that made her a good counselor - were starting to kick in. At least she still had her humanity. Not just for Max, but for the Romulans and Remans, too.
Max had used the restroom and returned with champagne for both of them. He set the glasses on the table in front of them. He had just sat in his chair when the light went down.
The Romulan symphony played a sherzo that was titled Earth - or the Romulan version of the word. Max has steeled himself during the intermission, but this trio of string instruments could have been met with boos based the feeling radiating off the Romulan crowd. Max could feel anger, resentment en mass. It felt like a lifetime that the twenty minute piece played.
When the trio were done, they were met with a smattering of applause and rumbling susurrations among the crowd.
Max was confused for a moment, then Senator V’trel stepped out onto the stage to thunderous applause. Once the crowd had settled, V’trel began his oration.
“Friends and family, I usually wait until the end of our wonderful Symphony’s performance. Artists, everyone of them. We are moved by the piece titled Earth because we still feel the loss of our homeworld. We remain in mourning, yet here we are. We are proving the Romulan people persevere and prosper,” here, at that word he paused - barely perceptible to the audience - because it reminded him of their Vulcan cousins. Continuing quickly, “no matter the place.”
From beneath the stage, a prop rose. Max needed to magnify the image in their box with the holographic projector. A curved, almost Y shaped vase rose out of the dark. Filled on each side with dirt separated by water.
Senator V’trel scooped a handful of dirt in each hand. “In my left hand, I hold soil from Romulus. A symbol of the last world we called home. In my right hand, I hold soil from Ihhuein ei'krih. The water between is from our vast oceans.”
V’trel made a great show, holding his hands up for the tense crowd to watch. “Let us join the past with our present. Joining Romulus with Ihhuein ei'krih and its ocean symbolizes our hope for the future of our new homeworld. Ihhuein ei'krih is our home now!”
V’trel poured the soil from each hand into the ocean water. “Let the water clean us of our past and commemorate our losses.”
Turning to the Symphony, the Senator bowed. “Thank you for allowing my intrusion to your wonderful show. This monument will be available for all Romulans of Golden Towers to mourn and to hope. You will add be allowed to add your memories to our new soil, our new ocean and our new world.”
As if the applause on his arrival hadn’t been enough, as Senator V’trel sank with the new monument to allow the symphony to proceed with its final movement, Water.
Max waited, but there was a long silence. He could feel the crowd, even the symphony were mourning, anxious, hopeful, contemplative. It was a moment of silence for their collective losses and they were great. Max was able to keep the tears that welled up in his eyes not to spill over.
Rena's response to the holographic magnification was unexpected. She was...crying. She wasn't worried that it made her look weak or lesser. She just...hadn't expected it. She wiped at her face, and smiled as the symphony started back again. She was ready to experience more. She had an idea that the Romulans had a fantastic array of cultural events, but she'd never experienced them. She was definitely glad she was able to have this opportunity.
As it began again, she sat back, to soak in the feelings. She wondered what it was like, to not have the gifts that she and the Captain did. She'd have to ask her younger brother. He'd not inherited their father's gift.
The final movement, a Sonata, began. Titled Water, it drew from the three previous movements and United them to represent their new homeworld. Though the name, Water Home, was entirely disinteresting and wholly uninspired, the sonata meant to represent it was anything but. Starting low and slow, it elicited the memory of the first movement, Air. A moment later, Fire, the second movement met almost seamlessly within the first. Within the first five minutes, Earth, had joined.
Max watched the auras of the crowd which suddenly reflected in the blues and whites of skies and airs, reds, oranges, whites and blues of fire. Suddenly, to his surprise, greens and browns and colors of every flower and tree grasped portions of the entire crowd. The Senator had plead their case for their new homeworld well, it seemed.
Finally, the final melody, Water, joined the musical chords and united all four movements into one. To Max’s eyes, the theater was alive with the four elements, not just existing in one group or person, but in beautiful waves of harmonic perfection. It was glorious!
This was no cause for tears, but celebration. The Romulan culture had not only survived, not only endured loss and heartache, but had grown again. It had survived and seemed stronger than ever. It was almost an epiphany that Max could not just enjoy his time as Captain of Triton Seabase, but he could see parallels between his own people and the Romulans. He could share in their great loss as his own people continued to recover themselves from the Borg attack - and despite how long ago it had happened to the younger races, it was still fresh to the El Aurians.
He had discovered a common ground. He’d discovered a shared tragedy, though different in its delivery.
The final chords of the Sonata played, bringing the soaring sound of near perfection to a quiet hum. Max was uplifted, inspired and astounded. And then, to his surprise, a sudden chill ran up his spine as the entire gathered symphony played seventeen notes.
The first seven notes of the United Federation of Planets universal anthem. Max’s eyes flashed to their host, Senator V’trel gave a slight smile. Suddenly, both men were in the spotlights, literally. Max raised his glass of champagne and saluted the Senator first before turning to the gathered symphony artists and conductor. He gave them a warm smile followed by a deep bow from the waist.
“Bravo!” he cheered! He wasn’t sure if there was a word that applied in their language, but he shouted it anyway.
Rena watched her boss's responses to the music. She wasn't good at telepathy-she had to work at it-but they were both empathic, and highly so. Rena had inherited most of their mother's abilities, the only one of the three siblings to show any aptitude at Betazed skill. However, she attempted to calm him, but let herself also feel the things. For her, it was mostly a feeling of something she couldn't quite describe-buoyancy, maybe, or hope. Buoyancy would be fitting, wouldn't it? Suddenly, Max was under a spotlight, and she ducked out of the way as the Federation theme played, and she hummed along.
As the lights came on, she smiled at Max. "You did good." He was actually a great person, his fecklessness aside, and she was proud to associate with him. Now, to get home before she panicked at the crowds.
Max could feel Rena’s sudden anxiety at dodging the crowds, a feeling he didn’t share. As if on cue, the Senator’s usher entered their box. “Captain, Counselor, you may leave through the safety of the Senator’s transporter. There will be much interference in your departure and we can not guarantee your safety through should you exit with the crowd.”
Max felt a slight disappointment with this, but after the recent assassination attempt on his life, he could see the reason. “Thank you. We will accept your kind offer,” Max responded.
Following a long hall, Max and Rena entered a typical Romulan transporter room, though scaled down for only a few. Stepping onto the platform, Max and Rena were whisked away in a swirl of lights and atoms, returned safely to Triton Seabase.
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