Temporary Goodbyes

Posted on 10 Jan 2024 @ 7:01pm by Lieutenant Aria Rice & Commander Scarlet Blake

1,695 words; about a 8 minute read

Mission: Episode 19 - Tomorrow's Galileo
Location: IKS Praxis and USS Galileo-A
Timeline: MD01, 16:35

[ON]

Aria looked at the time as she sat in Kuran's room, taking a moment before she put the call through. First, a message for Gabriel, which she knew he wouldn't be able to answer. He'd be busy, but it would be waiting for him.

"Gabriel," she said, letting out a breath. "Wow, this is harder than I thought it would be. I'm...not coming back. To the Galileo. There's things there I can't...get my head around. The Temporal Prime Directive, but also the lack of...information.

I'm staying on the Praxis. I'm trying to find out more information about what happened. Because I am not sure if we're getting the truth..." she looked down, frowning for a moment. "I'm sorry, my hero," she suddenly said. "I wish I could give you a hug. Never compromise who you are, Gabriel. Not for anyone. I hope to see you on the other side of this, but if not...I love you. And I believe in you." She closed the connection before putting the next in. Sofie Ullswater.

"Sofie," she started the recording, giving her a small smile. "I know that if anyone can figure all this out, it's you. But I can't follow this time. I'm going out there, to see if I can find some answers. Or a future where there can be some peace if all of this doesn't work. If this is the true future, then...I have to bet on something. Anyway, it's not about that. I wanted to say goodbye, to say you are amazing and you can do anything. Believe in yourself, don't let the demons haunt you..." she closed the connection and let out a shaky breath. The next one...was a proper hail.

To Commander Scarlet Blake, secure channel.

Time ticked away, her heart racing as she watched the screen. Waiting. "Blake?"

"What's going on?" Blake asked quickly, even as she seated herself in front of the screen. "You should be on your way back over here," she added pointedly.

Aria let out a breath before she gave her friend a small smile. "I'm not," she said, her voice gentle. "I'm going to try and figure out what is going on. What went wrong. I..." she looked down for a moment. "I can't trust it anymore, Scarlet. Got to get the answers."

Scarlet leant forward to the screen with concern, her usually dispassionate features showing the sense of dread coiling up inside of her. "Aria, what have you done?"

Aria gave her a small, apologetic smile. "What I've had to," she said, shaking her head. "I'm staying, here. On the Praxis. I'm going to find out what is happening...the whole truth, about what happened, where the universe stands. If there is something here that is still good, with hope...or so I hope. Or equally, might just end up getting myself killed, but apparently I'm dead anyway so..." she chuckled, but grimly. "I can't follow Admiral Saalm and Captain Tarin in this, Scarlet. I just can't."

"You're not alone in that feeling, you heard people in that meeting," Blake sat back, shaking her head with disbelief as she looked to the viewport, her jaw tensing. "Plenty of us object to breaking the Temporal Prime Directive, but we can only change the way this plays out if we're in the room."

"Maybe you, and maybe Ullswater and Vala. Not me," Aria said softly, with a small smile. "Look...Scarlet. The Praxis won't interfere. And we won't attack the Federation, unless they attack first. It's the deal that got made. If...history gets changed, this never happened. If it doesn't and we are going to be living in this time, then...well...I need to make sure that there's something out there. Empires fall. New ones rises and..." she stopped, shaking her head. "This is harder than I thought it was going to be, and I thought it was going to be tough."

"Aria, it's not safe for you there," Scarlet said firmly, looking back to the screen to watch her intently, the worry clear in her eyes even if her features remained tense. "They could turn on you...or break their deal. What happens if you're captured? It's too risky to go out there alone."

"If Kuran tries to turn on me...I'll deal with it," Aria said softly, watching her. It sounded arrogant, it wasn't meant to be. She would have to deal with it, or die trying, as simple as that. And she was not afraid anymore. "I know the risks. I accept them. I got nothing to lose, Scarlet. Not even my sanity. I have to believe that there is a reason for it all, that...there is hope, in this galaxy, in this time. And I need to find out where it all went wrong, because...this is too big. The Klingon-Romulan Alliance, the other planets outside the Federation...we don't know what happened. We know what Saalm said happened, the Starfleet side of it, but we don't know if it is the truth."

Scarlet let out a long, tired sigh, pinching the bridge of her nose in an effort to keep herself still and calm. Truth was, she understood where she was coming from. She'd appealed for Lirha to give her a reason why she should step over the line and break Starfleet's Prime Directives, but she'd received a lecture instead. She had the same questions and doubts as Aria. But to see her leave? To lose her, again, when she'd only just returned? For her to be out there, alone, at such risk? "Maybe we're the ones that have something to lose if you go, Aria."

"You'll be fine," Aria said and nodded, watching her. She wanted to say so much to her. But time was running out. There was only this. "I...just wanted to say a temporary goodbye to you. Because...I don't know if I'll ever get to explain why I am doing this. And your..." she looked down, frowning. "And I always want you to think the best of me, Scarlet. Your opinion of me has always mattered a lot to me."

Scarlet sat back heavily with the words, shaking her head with disbelief as she looked away. Her eyes reddened before she closed them, willing her breath back to a steadier rate. "My opinion? Of you?" she fell silent for a long, cold moment, not trusting herself to speak. And when she did, her voice was...tired. "Aria...I don't know if I can do this without you."

Aria watched her, swallowing back her own emotions. "You can. You're the strongest person I know," she said softly, meaning it. Scarlet had always been so strong, so smart. Aria loved her. Aria worshipped her on the quiet. She wanted to make a joke that Scarlet had helped shape her, and see where that got her. But no. A joke wouldn't do. Not now. Not when this could be the last time she spoke to her. So she said what she knew in her heart. "You got this, Scarlet. You're a lioness."

Scarlet looked back to her, her dark lashes glistening with unshed tears. She swallowed back the emotion that welled from the prospect of Aria leaving. At the prospect of losing her. Because under it all, she knew this was much, much bigger than either one or both of them. How could she look her in the eye and tell her not to do what she believed in? That she shouldn't risk herself to do the right thing? She let out a soft, heavy breath, leaning close to the screen, to watch her intently. "Aria, I swear by the stars, if they so much as threaten you, I will flay them alive...and if you don't come back in one piece, I will flay *you* alive...do you understand me?"

Aria smiled at the words, her breath hitching in her chest. Her heart felt too big for her ribs, a thing she could feel at Scarlet's words. At their true meaning. "Understood," she said, before she let out a shaky breath. "So...might as well make this official. I, Lieutenant Aria Rice...Resign my Commission in Starfleet," she met her eyes, holding them with determination. It might have been the hardest words she had said.

Blake looked down at the words, her features a whiter shade of pale as she composed herself. "Aria...please, before Tarin gets involved, be absolutely certain about this. I mean, *absolutely* certain. And consider that even if you must resign, that doesn't mean you have to leave with them. Promise me that, at least."

Aria watched her for a long moment, a small smile coming to her. "I promise. I am certain, but I will...keep that in mind while I talk to her," she said, shaking her head before she frowned. "I want to talk to Tarin myself. I'll tell her now. We might not ever have seen eye to eye, but I owe her that at least." She suspected it would not be well received but maybe if she could explain her reasoning, the other woman would understand where it came from.

Blake nodded, even if the action was barely perceptible as she held her breath until her chest ached with it. "Understandable," she replied quietly, even if part of her was in denial as to what was unfolding. "Aria...please look after yourself. And come home safely."

Aria nodded, taking a slow breath at the words. "I will," she said, meaning it. "You and Lily keep safe. And keep an eye on Sofie and Gabriel for me."

"Just concentrate on looking out for you over there," Blake said firmly, watching her with clear concern as she shook head. "I've got this lot."

"Alright...blue skies, Scarlet," she said, smiling to the other woman before she terminated the connection. And put in the hail to Captain Morgan Tarin.

[OFF]

Lieutenant Aria Rice
Chief Security Officer
USS Galileo-A

&

Commander Scarlet Blake
First Officer
USS Galileo-A

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