In the Blood

Posted on 09 Apr 2015 @ 2:16am by Lieutenant Prudence Devin Ph.D. & Lieutenant JG Emmarie (E'Ma'ri)

1,220 words; about a 6 minute read

Mission: Episode 08 - NIMBUS
Location: USS Galileo, Deck 3 - Counselling office
Timeline: MD-03, 0700

ON:
There were at present three Orions serving on the USS Galileo. Of course, presently the crew were split up between the ships, but Prudence had noticed one of the other newer members of the crew. Lt. JG Emmarie had not yet seen a counsellor and when Prudence had spotted it, she had naturally arranged an appointment.

There were still a few minutes left before the appointment was due, so Prudence took the time to make sure her office looked respectable. She had a pot of green tea ready, two small cups and the plant had been watered. She herself was presentable in her skirt uniform with her brown hair pinned up on this occasion. Going between her office and sickbay during this training exercise meant she had to be a bit more...adaptable.

With a smile that showed she was happy with how her office was presented, Prudence sat down, closing her eyes briefly to ground herself.

Emmarie knew that she needed to see a counselor, but she wasn't yet willing to seek one out, particularly since she just was promoted to a new rank. The last thing she wanted was to be ruled unfit to perform her duties.

She too wore the skant uniform, and her hand frequently drifted up the the new hollow pip on her collar. She was proud of the achievements in her life, and excited for the challenges that were soon to come. As she reached out towards the chime, she saw the tone of her hands, something that didn't used to bother her. Green. More than just a color, it had become something of a racial slur that was derogatory towards Orion women. Now it was synonymous with whore... a term she honestly found preferable. If one was going to make assaults on the character of Orion women, they should have the testicular fortitude to say what they mean instead of just idly tossing around cowardly words.

You can do this. It wasn't just idle self-motivation; from the moment she'd received the summons to counseling, she'd felt...

Relieved.

She took a deep breath, steeling herself for whatever this appointment would bring, and she pressed the chime.

"Enter," Prudence said softly and smiled gently as she saw her. She stood out of respect, watching her before nodding. "Welcome to my office, Lieutenant Emmarie. I am Prudence Devin, the chief counsellor. Please, take a seat...would you like something to drink?" she asked, gesturing to the chair.

What first struct Prudence was the beauty of the woman before her. But Orion females often were. Even so, she was stunning by any standard and carried herself with a grace that Prudence had taken years to learn...yet for Emmarie it looked natural, an instinct almost.

"Uh, water with lemon," Emmarie said quickly. She tried to avoid caffeine... or rather, she was trying to quit a bad coffee habit. She took a seat in the seat that she was offered, then linked her ankles. She attempted to place her hands in her lap, but found that they were moving about in fits of their own.

She took a deep breath, making sure to practice the abdominal breathing she'd learned in choir as a girl. "I assume that this is about the brutes I met at Deep Space 9," she said. She knew that any counselor worth their salt would take one look at the incident that had occurred just six months prior and immediately want to talk to her about it. The Sabre-class USS Trinity hadn't had a designated counselor aboard, and though the CMO had tried to help as much as she could, there were obvious limits to her skillsets.

Prudence met her eyes for a moment before smiling gently at the words. "Actually, this is more of a general one to make sure you're clear for duty here on the Galileo and ready to work. But..." she moved to get the water with lemon. "Since you brought it up, perhaps you could tell me about it?" she carried the water over and handed it to her, holding the Orion's eyes.

Damn it, Emmarie thought. That was the one difficulty of overthinking; sometimes you self-fulfilled your own prophecy. She took in a deep breath and let it out slow as she debated how best to explain the whole situation.

"I was on Deep Space 9 before some shore leave on Bajor," she said. She remembered that she wasn't originally supposed to get leave, but had been added to the roster at the last minute. Probably some insider...

"I went to my quarters there, and meant to change out of my uniform into something more appropriate, so I took my clothes off." Good job, Emm, way to keep the stereotypes alive, she chastised herself for the 35th time. "As I walked into the sleeping quarters to change, someone grabbed me from behind." Her voice faltered, and her eyes began to mist over a bit.

"It... they... were Orion." She couldn't maintain eye contact with Devin, and she dipped her head as tears began to roll down her cheeks.

Prudence watched her, reaching under her desk. She took out the tissues, moving to her side. "Here," she said gently, watching her. "It's okay, you take your time," she added softly, wanting to reassure her, yet also encourage her to talk.

Truth was, it was clear Emmarie needed to talk. That she needed to get this off her chest. And Prudence wanted to help her, to make her feel better. And give her the tools she needed to move forward.

"They... they told me that my mother had been an influential Matron and they wanted me to 'claim' the slaves that my family possessed," Emmarie said. It was clear from her tone that she was disgusted by this thought.

"My family... I guess they believe that running a successful..." she couldn't bring herself to say the word, "operation... is a genetic trait." She sighed, shaking her head. "I spend so many years terrified that I was the product of a slave and that I would never be any better than that, but this is worse."

"What is 'this'?" Prudence asked, wanting to know with interest as she smiled gently. It wasn't a smile of wanting to know, but one of openness...of wanting to reassure her, that is was okay to say anything.

"The knowledge that I'm apparently "destined" to oppress my people and to force them into slavery because of who my mother is," Emmarie said, bitterness practically dripping from her tone. "I don't want to live my life fearing that these men will come after me again, and I really don't want to live in fear that my secret skill is slave mastery."

Prudence nodded with acceptance at her words. "I think you are what you make yourself," She said softly, holding her eyes for a moment. "Emmarie, you make your own destiny. I understand your fear. And the fear of your history. But...you are a product of your own creation. And you are not a slave mistress."

OFF:
Lieutenant Prudence Devin, PhD
Counselor

Lieutenant JG Emmarie
Assistant Chief of Operations

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