Why Doesn’t Anyone Listen?
Posted on Tue May 9th, 2023 @ 2:30pm by Daniel Martinez & Lieutenant Rowena "Rena" Campbell
1,985 words; about a 10 minute read
Mission:
Good Will Tour: Mountain Home [Part Two]
Location: Triton Seabase: Mess Hall
Timeline: After Song and Dance
Dani had been roaming the halls of Triton Seabase for hours. He couldn’t make it to the bridge and he was locked out of everything else, so he decided there was one last place he might be able to post up. He’d worn a light blue sweater with his combadge displayed and a pair of warm toned, brown pants with the same colored chukka boots.
He ordered something and sat down. He’d asked about the lady from the beach date, which wasn’t a date she’d chosen to go on. It seemed she’d left the base. Still, a friendly face seemed to have appeared. He didn’t know her, but she looked friendly and, by her dark irises, probably Betazoid.
As she was walking past him with her tray, he held up his hand, “Excuse me?” he asked, trying some Spanish charm. “I wonder if you could help me?”
Rena was getting ready to eat her lunch, face stuck in her PaDD. She had a bunch of stuff to do as they'd just arrived at Mountain Home, and she had two more major staff interviews to conduct. They were elusive and she might have to get Max to step in, which she HATED because it usually meant a battle. She looked around as, per usual, she was in her own head. Her eyes settled on the face the voice had come from. Where did she recognize it?! She smiled, though.
"Yes, I probably can; it IS my job to help people. Lieutenant Rena Campbell, Chief Counselor! What do you need help with?"
Suddenly, she realized who it was. Culver's boy toy!! She smiled more warmly. "Wait, are you looking for the Captain?" She set her tray down, and sat across from him. She was supposed to meet S'Tera soon, but she could wait a minute.
Dani crossed his arms quickly, he was tired of the crew recognizing him as the captain’s play toy, the situation was actually a very different with each passing moment. “Sorry to bother you, but you haven’t seen the Captain return from Mountain Home, have you? We had some business details to complete,” Dani said, using his Spanish education to its entirety.
Rena sighed. "Um...he's not...here. Did he...did he not tell you?" Rena approached the topic carefully-on the one hand, some of it was probably classified to civilians, INCLUDING people's lovers/spouses/children/etc, but on the other-keeping something like this from someone you were intimate with was...not a good thing. "He had to stay behind at one of the Romulan locations before a meeting with the Senate. He is due to return...
tomorrow, I believe," she said.
She had leaned forward, already in full "counselor" mode, and ready to help as she could. "I can't tell you much more than that, but it was very hush-hush. I probably shouldn't have told you as much as I just did." ’May the sisters of the tenth house bless her soul.’
"When you transported over, did he set you up in quarters and bring your things over?? If not, we'll start there!!" She was feeling a bit better now, and hoped that Dani would. "Also, I apologize for earlier; I bet you get recognized a LOT as just "The Captain's Boyfriend." I was just surprised to see you on this side-the civvies tend to stick to themselves on different areas of the base," she explained. She HOPED that Max had explained that she was an empath and could read him, otherwise-things were about to get AWKWARD.
Nodding, Dani adjusted his mind using the techniques he’d been taught as a child. “I guess I shouldn’t be surprised, Max makes decisions at the speed of a fly swat. Still, it’s really cold up there or down on the beach here. He could end up with hypothermia and I don’t know which situation would provide more protection from the cold, wind and water.
I’ve been blocked out but, maybe,” Dani paused and flashed his big blue eyes at her. “Well, maybe you could get through to him or even ask the XO or a doctor? And what about those people who were in the shuttle crash?” Dani asked.
Rena smiled, and picked up her PaDD. "Just a moment." She sent a quick message to S'Tera that Max needed her for a last-minute thing and she'd meet her later that day. She returned her attention to Dani.
"It's Dani, correct? Daniel? Which do you prefer?” she asked.
“Dani is fine. I prefer it as we’re working as friends of Max’s,” Dani replied, feeling sudden comfort among Max’s co-workers.
"I will see what I can do; if nothing else, I can set up my office for you; I have a futon couch in there. It's not perfect but it'll do." She paused a beat.
Dani put up his hand. “Max has me set up in crew quarters with a blue koala bear, six appendages, cute little face but doesn’t like to be picked up. Still, I do find him cuddled up against my chest most mornings,” Dani admitted. “I’m guessing there are reasons others don’t want to partner with him, maybe the cuddling? But just until this mess is sorted, I will take you up on your office to stay in your office.”
She nodded, a small smile playing at her face. "Sit'tch is...cute. A bit of a surprise when he joined the crew but cute nonetheless. We have quite the cacophony of races here. My own...girlfriend is Caitian." It felt weird to describe S'Tera in that way.
“What about the others? The shuttle?” Dani asked about the shuttle that spun out of control over the mountain on the holographic massive screen, but no explosion, no readings. Just told by the magistrate that they were all presumed dead…something about that bothered him.
"They...crashed. Are presumed dead but that's why Max had to stay behind.
“The meeting with the Senator is to discuss what went wrong. Max is a fully trained Starfleet officer; he is fully equipped to deal with whatever the elements OR the Romulans throw at him." She knew this.
In the end, when it REALLY mattered, she knew he'd be OK. He was MANY things, but capable was near the top of the list. "Why don't you eat something, and we'll figure out a plan." She tapped out another message on her PaDD. "Just messaged the Captain; don't know if he'll get it but I can try. We'll hit security first. As I said-if all else fails, you'll be safe and left alone in my office."
“My concern is for Max. He’s staying somewhere where it’s a minimum negative thirty two degrees Celsius. If he is wet, this will increase his his hypothermia exponentially. He’ll need a dry suit if he’s in that kind of water. Otherwise, he’ll need heavier jackets, pants, socks and boots. Maybe a space heater if they allow it.”
Rena nodded, sending out some positive, light vibes out. "I understand. I really do. I will see what we can do; I can't promise anything, but...it would look badly if he's um...too uncomfortable while he waits, you know." She was trying to assuage his mind while she also panicked-she hadn't really realized the danger that Max might've been in. "I'll do my best to find out." She said, her voice low. Suddenly, she wasn't very hungry.
“I’ll follow the directions from the computer to reach your counseling officer, Counselor Campbell. Thank you for helping out and I’ll wait there until we talk again soon."
She smiled. "OK! I'll be in touch as I can. Did Max happen to give you something called a combadge?" Hopefully, the Captain had had the foresight to do that.
Dani pointed to the device worn on the left side of his chest. “Of course I can’t use the device, Counselor Campbell. Doing so would paint a target on me,” Dani paused and wondered how much the counselor knew. “Suffice to say, relations between my father and I are not going well right now and Max has been prattling on no end about it. At least in private…and he’s not wrong,” Dani seemed to look ashamed.
“With as little as a single word, my father could shut this dream down. Let these Romulans fall into the hands of some very dangerous enemies, Counselor,” Dani finished. “And have the Federation and Starfleet leave them to die again?
“At the hands of these new enemies, the Romulan Free State would kill them outright as an example, the Klingon/Reman Alliance would put them in a work camp until they died, the Gorn Hegemony would eat the rest alive or use them as breeding sacks, the Fenris Rangers would sell them, pimp them, worse…and who knows who else is out there to sweep in and destroy this planet?!“
Rena smiled. "I actually meant so you could contact me but I do understand. I am worried, too. There's a lot out there that we don't know. And what we DO know is equally scary. I do know, though, that not too many things enter Romulan airspace uninvited and live to tell the tale." She sighed. "Your father sounds...mean. Would you like to discuss it sometime?" Surely Max told him she was the Counselor, and hopefully, he wouldn't think she was prying. "You're never required to!"
“Counselor Campbell, I’m just now getting an understanding of how “mean” my father is. He’s been tracking my brother and I since we were children, very young. Probably as babies.
“After my brother, I don’t know if my mother lived or died because of him or because of poor performance by the the nurse as he had the court paid to charge her with. My mother would have disagreed with his excessive oversight of her sons.”
“God damn it, you people are doing it again. You’ve changed the subject. Max could freeze to death while we dine here in ignorance. And when he’s dead, they’ll present him with some medal of diplomacy posthumously, of course, but what difference will that make? He will still be dead.”
Rena fought an urge to roll her eyes; gay men were by far the biggest drama queens she'd ever met, and she'd just spent four years in an all-female dorm. Instead, she shrugged. "I said you weren't required to talk to me. You did that on your own," she reminded him. "Commander Paxidor says she spoke to him an hour ago, and he is fine. Have you met her yet?" She asked. "That would be the next place to go." She finished her own lunch, and looked at him. "Take your time, don't worry. Max will be JUST fine." She was very confident in that, and spread some calm feelings into the air around them.
“And the counselor sends me to the security officer so I can spend the night in the brig,” Dani grumbled. He sat in his chair, his food untouched as he made some conclusions. “Counselor, if it’s all the same, I will be back to my own quarters, assigned with the blue bear. Maybe he and I can make something out of all of this.”
Dani excused himself, took his tray and set it in the recycler before heading back to bunk with his odd bedfellow.
Rena nodded, but sighed. Sometimes it seemed like she caused more trouble than she helped. Still, she HAD tried. "I'll be around if you need me," she called after him. "Well. Hopefully S'Tera won't be too upset," she said to her sandwich.
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