Shoulder to Cry On
Posted on 07 Nov 2017 @ 5:55pm by Lieutenant Amaranai Franklin & Ensign Miraj Derani
Edited on on 19 Nov 2017 @ 12:23pm
4,494 words; about a 22 minute read
Mission:
Episode 15 - Emanation
Location: Sol System - Earth, Jupiter Station
Timeline: MD 44, 1300
[ON]
Amaranai was in her apartment. Charlotte was with Commander Nara, spending the day doing whatever. Amaranai was glad for that. The other day when Amaranai had returned from the courthouse, she cried and cried until there were no tears left in her body. Her body ached and when Charlotte had found her in her room with Fluffy cuddled next to her, the younger sister was worried.
The brunette explained what had happened with Lirha during the trial and the sentencing and wasn't sure what would happen now that Lirha was gone, but that Amaranai would still take Charlotte with her on whatever ship she was assigned as long as she was able.
Her datapad beeped with a new incoming message. Though Amaranai had cut off talking to most people, she was at least curious about who it was from. She looked at the datapad closer and saw a message from Miraj. She smiled slightly and opened it.
Miraj.
Real rum? A movie? Holodeck? Fly somewhere?
Amaranai's mind was buzzing after reading the message. She didn't really want to do anything but knew that she should. For her sanity alone and those around her, she really should get away. Amaranai sat up in her bed and her head began to protest by aching and blinding her for a moment. She put her hands to her temples to massage them and slowly the headache ebbed.
Climbing off the bed, Amaranai showered quickly and changed and then reached for her datapad. She pinged Miraj.
"Hey," she said. "One to beam up."
She materialised seconds later in the corner of a transporter pad the size of a tennis court at one end of a hanger she couldnt see the end of. Miraj was there to meet her, wearing a very short skirt lifted by a couple of net petticoats and a ruffled bandau top. It would have looked pretty good if it wasn't for the fact the skirt was cyan and orange plaid, with mauve petticoats and the ruffled top was a pretty shade of lilac that didn't quite go with any of it, and further marred by having otherwise lovely embroidery worked in courgette green.
The tellerite manning the controls nodded to Miraj and her guest and then left. "They don't let me use the controls," she explained. "Welcome aboard the Forlorn Hope."
Transporting between places had never been a problem for Amaranai. She had read that some people simply didn't like it or that they would get sick from too much transporting, but Amaranai had never had that problem. Seeing that she had to constantly transport down with Away Teams, she was glad that she had never had a problem.
It was strange, though, when she appeared on the deck of a larger than expected ship. The figure showing off her legs in front of her was easily recognizable as Miraj, though, even as the transporter beam faded. Amaranai offered a smile as she stepped down and was welcomed to the ship. Looking around the large hangar, Amaranai looked at Miraj again.
"What is this?" she said as she turned around and then turned back quickly to Miraj. "And don't just tell me the name of the ship again." She paused. "I mean, what is this ship and what are you doing on it?"
"It's where I grew up." Miraj said. "Dad's salvage vessel. He's in contract negotiations with Starfleet right now, for Galileo and a couple of others nearby. We can swallow a sovreign class whole, and a number of smaller vessels. Anything up to 1.5 kilomeyers cubed. It's basically a single berth space dock. We have a lab for forensic processing and our morgue has capacity for forty and we can expand storage up to seven hundred. We dont leave people or ships behind."
The girl was talking and Amaranai was attempting to process it all. She knew that Miraj had come from a salvaging family but never expected to get onto the ship. She was in awe of the mere size of the hangar and the comments that Miraj offered only heightened that awe.
"Amazing," she said. "I guess since your dad is in negotiations right now, we probably shouldn't take this thing for a joy ride, right?"
"No." Miraj laughed. "But Hope is the first ship I ever flew." A thought occurred to her. "Come on. There's someone I want you to meet."
Amaranai was unsure of who she was taking her to, but the one good thing was that whatever was going was at least keeping her mind from thinking of Lirha.
Miraj led Amaranai out of the hanger and across the industrial corridor to a turbo lift, which she directed to the hangar bay, and they rose up, opening out opposite another, much small hangar bay that contained workbees and other small ships that did the actual salvaging. It also contained a Cousteau class yacht and a Waverider.
As they entered the hanger bay a man stepped out of the yacht. He was tall with shoulder length dark hair, and the plain black vest he wore showed plainly the long tapering shape of a man who took good care of his body. He was carrying a crate and the weight was making his arms flex in a most interesting way. He looked up from his crate, saw the two women and smiled. It was a smile that was the ruin of saints. His pale blue eyes sparkled like the sins of angels. He looked like something straight out of mythology, an incubus, or a god, and his posture changed as they drew closer, oozing a raw sensuality that promised an encounter that would be remembered in hushed whispers until the heat death of the universe.
As the two boarded the lift, Amaranai was still amazed by the enormity of the ship. She watched as the lift rose up to another hangar and moved closer to what looked like a yacht. The closer they came to the yacht, Amaranai could see the man that was standing on the deck. Closer and closer, it seemed as if the man was getting more handsome. Was that possible?
Amaranai leaned over to Miraj and whispered.
"I haven't been with a man in some time, but I have a feeling it's just like riding a bike, right?"
She realized her statement and chuckled.
"Sorry," she said. "Too many thoughts in my head and none of them are getting me laid."
"What?" Miraj asked, confused. Then she realised. She hadn't even noticed him. "Oh. ewww, yuck, no. That's my brother Mal. I want you to meet her!" and Miraj pointed to the Waverider. It was heavily customized, a pair of discreet nacelles added in along the wingline, the impulse manifod shifted over, a deflector dish built along the sleek lines of the underside. This was not just an atmospheric vessel, but one fully capable of warp. Not even the plating had escaped; the hull had been painted with a mural of sailing ships in close battle, firing canons, fire and smoke everywhere. "This is Annie or to give her full title, Queen Anne's Revenger." She patted the ship lovingly, as proud as any parent with a newborn.
Miraj's comment caught Amaranai off guard and when she mentioned it was her brother that the brunette had been ogling a moment before. Her momentary lapse of judgement in regards to the good looking guy standing atop the deck. And then Miraj showed off the ship and Amaranai stared at the girl for a moment. Amaranai blinked and then took in the ship in full detail. It was cool looking and appeared to be made for speed and comfort and had a fancy design on the hull.
Miraj mentioned the name of ship and Amaranai nodded in agreement.
"Nice," she said. "So we can go for a joyride in this?"
"Absolutely. Anywhere you fancy. We can go play chicken with Solar Flares, or buzz Stardock. Have you ever flown through the rings of Uranus. Everyone goes to Saturn, but Uranus has pretty rings too."
"Even though we aren't assigned to a ship right now," Amaranai started. "Buzzing Stardock seems like a risky move."
She chuckled and listened to Miraj talk about Uranus. It seemed so odd to think that she hadn't flown through much of the system.
"Well," she started. "Maybe Uranus to start and then someplace else?"
"Sure." Miraj opened the hatch, and was just about to get in when her brother moved up behind them.
"Aren't you going to introduce me, Mij?"
Miraj sighed, rolled her eyes to the roof of the hangar and turned around. "Amaranai, this is Mal; Mal this Amaranai." She gave her brother a look. "She's got a girlfriend." she warned.
Before responding to anything, Amaranai looked at Miraj.
"Mij?"
She looked over to the good looking brother and smiled.
"Hi," she said. "And yes, I do have a girlfriend."
Amaranai paused a moment as she thought about Lirha. She was sullen and her expression changed slightly to sadness. Yes, she had just been with Lirha a couple of days ago but her body already missed Lirha.
She forced her smiled again.
"It's a little complicated, but nice to meet you."
"Nice to meet you," He looked her up and down. "And if you decide you want less complication, get Mij to call me. Or even if you want more."
Okay, so Mal was very bold and handsome - an interesting combination. Cheating on Lirha with a woman was bad enough. She had plenty of guilt for that moment of weakness, would cheating with Mal make it any worse? Perhaps.
Amaranai smirked at the young man in front of her.
"Complexity is not something that I want to venture into at the moment," she said.
"Fair enough," He brushed his loose hair out of his eyes with one hand. It was an unconscious gesture, but it made his biceps flex in a very attractive way, and under the thin vest his stomach rippled. "When you change your mind, you know where to find me."
He turned to Miraj. "Don't be too long, Mij. I'll be off tonight. Fly safe, okay."
Miraj rolled her eyes, "I'll be fine!" and she headed into the cabin of Queen Anne's Revenge, beckoning Amaranai to follow.
Amaranai didn't say another word to Mal but nodded a goodbye. She still couldn't get past the nickname her brother used for Miraj but followed the pilot to the cabin of the ship. She sat down in the co-pilot seat and looked over to Miraj.
"So, Mij," Amaranai said with a smile. "How fast can this thing go?"
"I'm going to kill him," Miraj muttered to herself. "Pretty fast. She'll do up to Mach nine in atmosphere, plus full impulse and Warp Six in space. Won't take long to get to Uranus." She was silent a moment. "Sorry about Mal."
Amaranai ignored the first statement and then listened as Miraj talked about the ship and its speed capabilities. Miraj then apologized for her brother.
"It's okay," she said. "And I'm sorry too," she added and then paused. "It's kind of a weird time for me right now."
Miraj started flicking through the controls ready to leave. "Weird good, or weird bad?"
That was a really good question. It was just weird for Amaranai. She had cheated once on Lirha, had had thoughts of cheating again, and yet, missed Lirha's arms that had been around her so recently. Was there even an answer to that question?
"I don't know," she said after a few moments of quiet contemplation. "I mean, my girlfriend is in prison. How does one compensate for that?" She paused. "I did get to visit her the other day, but it's not the same. My mind is all over the place and it's letting me do things that it knows I shouldn't."
Miraj was intrigued, but she wanted to be sypathetic, not to salivate over details, "Oh? What happened?"
"We yelled. We cried. We talked. We had sex."
She paused.
"You know, the same old stuff."
Miraj didn't really know. "Is Lirha doing okay? I mean, don't they make you do endless therapy and stuff and till you're ready to go back to society. She's probably bored witless."
Amaranai thought back to the other day. Lirha seemed so distant and lost. And hurt.
"She feels so guilty that it's painful for her. She doesn't feel like she deserves me just as much as I don't really deserve her. We ended trying to avoid the inevitable that Lirha is stuck in prison and I'm going to be out here. I just don't know how we're going to stay together."
Amaranai looked down at the console to see if the ship was ready for flight and stayed quiet for a moment.
Miraj thought Amaranai was right. Lirha didn't deserve her. But she kept her own counsel there. "If she really wants it, she'll find a way." Miraj assured her. "And in the mean time, I can always help distract you. Like now. When I'm about to fly into Uranus ring!" She giggled at the terrible pun.
Amaranai nodded at the statement about Lirha finding a way. She laughed at the pun and looked at Miraj.
"Hey, if you want to stick something up there, you're going to need to buy me dinner and help me relax first."
And it wasn't as if Amaranai wouldn't mind getting drunk and having a fling with Miraj. After all, Miraj was beautiful and certainly a flirt, but again, her brain reminded her of the fact that she had already cheated on Lirha once.
Miraj laughed. "Well, once we've run out to uranus, there's a place in Hanoi Mal recommends for Pho, if you fancy it?"
Amaranai liked Pho but had not been to Hanoi and smiled.
"Really?" she said. "Does he take all his dates there?"
"I don't know," Miraj realised. "Probably not. He travels a lot. Girl in every port most likely. Ready for take off?"
"Every port?" Amaranai said.
Regardless of how good he looked, he seemed, all of a sudden, that Amaranai had become less interested in Miraj's brother. Her brain, however, reminded her just how alike she was to Mal in that she had already been sleeping around. Yes, she had committed to Lirha, but the Orion was in prison, far away. Her mind wandered to the ship she was sitting in as Miraj asked if she was ready. She knew it was a good ship and there shouldn't be anything wrong with it but sometimes shuttle flight just caught Amaranai off guard.
"Yep," she said.
Miraj started up and Queen Anne's Revenge rose up, and they headed for open space. "I dont know about every port, but he's used to seeing panties spontaneously combust when he walks buy, so he's pobably made a lot of friends. Don't pay any attention to him. He's too used to just having to smile at someone to make their inhibitions evaporate."
Thinking of how she felt when she initially saw Miraj's brother, Amaranai understood that some women might feel the need to just jump him then and there. However, people that think logically, like Amaranai, would soon realize that he was nothing more than a pretty face and little would come from any relationship with him.
"He's already out of my mind," she said.
Amaranai watched the sky change from atmosphere to upper atmosphere to the blackness of space. She had been in a shuttle a million times and she never got tired of seeing the Earth disappear like a speck of dust.
"Best speed to my ass," Amaranai said with a chuckle.
"Hold tight." Warned Miraj, and then the stars streaked for a fraction of a second, and then they were looking at the pale blue orb with its feint white ring. "Uranus. Want to go penetrate its ring, Hnuh hnuh." she disssolved into silly giggles again. "Sorry. can't help it."
The jolt was quick but steady and the planet appeared in the viewscreen immediately after the stars subsided back to their natural position. Amaranai turned and stared at Miraj with her statement and shook her head.
"I suppose if you really want to penetrate the ring, you can. But not fast. It must be slow and gentle or you will ruin the entire experience for me."
She paused.
"After all, it's my first time."
Amaranai also began to giggle like a child at the inane jokes being served.
"Brace yourself, I,m going in!" Miraj angled her ship so they werent quite facing the sun, and then lowered Queen Anmes Revenge into the ice layer.
And the sky lit up like a kaleidescope, the sun catching the ice until the planet was all but obscured by the dazzling sparkle, and they were surrounded by a million diamond lights.
Amaranai didn't say anything as Miraj maneuvered the shuttle into the ice rings. She watched as the ship danced among the shards, sending pieces scattering and creating new designs to be admired until they were returned to their original gravitic rotation.
"This is so cool," she said.
The brunette didn't say anything else, instead just letting the moment happen until it was over. After several minutes, Amaranai turned to the pilot.
"Okay," she started. "Penetration complete." A little chuckle. "I think I need a drink to recover."
"Did the earth move?" Miraj asked as she started to glide around the planets, ice crystals raining onto the hull in and endless gentle rumble. "Where do you fancy for a drink? Back to earth? Jupiter Station?"
Amaranai thought for a moment.
"Well," she said. "Jupiter is right around the corner."
Pure showing off, Miraj set the ship onto a spin, rising out of the rings, and turning towards the huge gas giant, did loop the loops all the way.
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Joe & Luca's All American Bar & Grill, Jupiter Station
They sat at the wrap around bar, Miraj had her second choc choc-chip milkshake - she never drank and flew- and was slurping it loudly. Once she had blocked the straw with chocolate chips she put it down and asked. "Can I ask you a question."
When they arrived at the bar, Miraj ordered a milkshake. It was understandable as the girl still had to get them home in one piece. Amaranai, on the other hand, did not have that problem and ordered whiskey. And another. And another. She was starting on her fourth when Miraj spoke up.
"Go ahead. Ask away."
"You know when you came and played through a bit Bloodbeard's Treasure with me. And you ended up in the governers quarters," she started to stir her milkshake, not looking at Amaranai. "And he, you know, with the riding crop..."
Amaranai thought back to their time in the holodeck. It was fun, scary and exciting. She recalled what had happened with the riding crop and inwardly shuddered, not letting Miraj see that it still bothered her.
Miraj poked her milkshake with intensity now. "You could have called freeze program at any time. "
"Yes, I could have."
"Why didn't you?" There was some wistful curiosity in her voice, but she was looking so far down into her milkshake that her bunches completely obscured her face.
Amaranai thought for a moment and looked at her friend.
"I don't know," she finally admitted. "Maybe I was just curious to see what would happen."
At that moment, she also didn't want to admit to Miraj that she had gotten so used to being beaten by her father and one of her older brothers that a riding crop was nothing.
"Oh." Miraj seemed on the verge of asking something else, then stopped. "That's a lot of whiskey." she said instead. "Whats up?"
"It's not enough, really," Amaranai admitted. "But eventually it will do the trick."
Amaranai realized that she didn't answer the question, but she simply stared at Miraj hoping the girl would figure it out on her own.
Miraj hesitated a bit, she wasn't enitrely sure what was going on, but she could take some guesses. "It's Lirha isn't it?" but what? "Do...do you want to wait for her?"
Amaranai finished off the glass in front of her and waved to a waitress for another. She knew she would have to cute herself off eventually, but was hoping to get a good buzz before that happened.
"Of course it's Lirha," she said with a scowl.
The second question was what had Amaranai in such a funk.
"I don't know," she said. "Honestly. I just don't know. I mean, I love her, so part of me wants to wait for her to be out of prison." She paused. "But then, what sort of life will that be? Lirha won't be able to stay in the Federation, would that mean I need to go to Orion with her?"
Another pause.
"And then the other part of me just tells me to let her go and run away as far as possible."
Miraj wasnt sure that wasn't a good idea. "Um. Maybe you should. Let her go, I mean. Afterall, she's going to be in that place for a long time. And in less than 12 months she's gone from being married, to propositioning me, to being with you. And she is an Orion. They have...needs." Lirha was going to break Amaranai's heart eventually, she was sure of that. Perhaps it was better to get it over with sooner rather than later.
Miraj was right. Lirha was gone with very little chance of the two of them being together. But it was love. Wasn't it? The waitress placed the fifth whiskey on the table and Amaranai took it in her hands and swallowed it carefully.
"She has needs?" Amaranai said, placing her glass down. "I have needs to and her sitting in prison is not taking care of my needs."
She chuckled lightly.
"I understand what you're saying. I really do. I just don't know."
Miraj reached out and put her hand over Amaranai's, gave it a squeeze, "I can help with the needs thing."
Amaranai was about to flag down the waitress for another drink when Miraj's hand touched hers. It was soft, gentle. Then the words came and Amaranai looked up and stared at the other girl.
There had been feelings, initially, with Miraj and Amaranai wasn't sure if the other girl would reciprocate, so Amaranai never really did anything about it. And then Lirha happened.
"Really?" Amaranai said with a smirk. "Flying me around planets at supersonic speed to give me a rush?" She paused. "Or perhaps something more . . . intimate?"
Miraj went red around the edges when she realised what she'd said. "Er, no. Not that. Not that i don't like you but i'm... I don't know what I'm doing and I don't know whats going on wiht Luke and its all a bit up in the air." She said quickly. "I meant I can help sort you out. Be your wingman again. And if all else fails, I can draft Mal to be your boy toy for an evening."
Amaranai chuckled at Miraj as she flubbed through her statement. It was nice to know that she liked Amaranai but the brunette really knew that wasn't what she was talking about.
"As much as he is good looking," she started. "I don't think I need a boy toy for an evening."
She wanted something more substantial. More long term. Her thoughts raced back to her recent visit with Lirha. That could have been long term, but would it ever be possible?
"Maybe," she continued. "I need to take a break for a short amount of time." She paused. "But you can still take me on supersonic flights to help give me a rush."
There was a longer pause then.
"At least, until we're reassigned."
That possibility hung between them. Then Miraj said, "I'm sure we'll all end up together. Dad says Fleet likes to keep traumatized crew together as far as it can. Maybe we'll end up on something large, with lots of new faces I can set you up with?"
"Traumatized crew?" Amaranai said. "I mean, I know that we went through a lot, but is that really how the Admirality will look at us?"
"Thats what Dad says. But he hasn't been in Starfleet for years. I dont feel that traumatized. Do you?"
Amaranai thought back to the experience on Kreanus. It wasn't as bad as some of the other crew had dealt with. She had hidden with Luke until he had gotten too sick and Amaranai had to finally find a doctor. Luckily it was around that time that they had found a way to leave the rogue planet.
"I mean, it was crazy and I wasn't sure how long I could stay hidden without being caught, but I wasn't traumatized."
"Exactly." Miraj drained her shake with a noisy sucking sound. "What they did to the admiral was way worse." Only when it was out did Miraj realise they were back at Lirha again. "Oh. Sorry."
The comment caused Amaranai to look down at her empty glass and consider another. She lifted her hand to get the attention of the waitress. Before she even arrived, Amaranai lifted the empty glass and waved it toward her to order her next round. Amaranai heard the apology and shook her head.
"Don't worry about it," she said as she waited. "It was unfair. Not just the sentence but the punishment as well."
Miraj signalled for another milkshake, then squeezed Amaranais hand again. "You know I'll do what I can to help." Her friend was right. The whole situation wasn't fair. "Even if that's just buying you more whiskey."
"That will be a good start," Amaranai said. "But eventually I'll need more than whiskey."
Amaranai thought about the girl that she had slept with several weeks ago - it almost seemed like a lifetime. Had it been a lifetime? Amaranai didn't want to cheat on Lirha, but she didn't want to be cheated out of having Lirha at some point. But with the Orion sitting in prison, it seemed as if Lirha would be out of the picture for a while.
[OFF]
--
Ensign Miraj Derani
Lieutenant JG Amaranai Franklin
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