New Horizons

Posted on Wed Mar 5th, 2025 @ 10:59pm by Petty Officer 1st Class Ember Locksley & Petty Officer 3rd Class Helliun Inant

2,852 words; about a 14 minute read

Mission: To Boldly Go
Location: USS Fenrir - The Valhalla Bar
Timeline: Day 5 - after the crew board Fenrir

ON:

Grimacing ever so slightly as she shifted on the stool, Ember stretched her leg for a moment to try and get comfortable. Having been on a ship that had faced nothing but utter annihilation, she knew she was more than just a little lucky to have come out of it alive. But it had taken its toll. Weeks of medical treatment and rehabilitation had gotten her back on her feet...literally...and back to work. Still, every now and then, her body liked to remind her that it wasn't quite where it had been before the trauma.

The counsellor sighed, a soft sound that was in place of a shrug as she sipped her gin and tonic. She had reminded herself several times along the road to recovery that it was just one of those things in the fleet. She'd been a doctor in a hospital, and a doctor without borders in the most far flung natural habitats of the galaxy. Still, being in Starfleet had a whole set of challenges all of its own.

"Razor Storms and Fire Winds..." the words escaped Hel as she saw Ember, smiling as she watched her. She had served with Ember, on another ship that had earned Hel the scar she had on her face. She walked over to her, moving close, her elbow gently nudging the other woman's. "If it isn't Ember Locksley...on this little ship too."

Ember looked to her with wide eyes, grinning at seeing the tigress again. "Hel Inant...what trouble have you gotten yourself into to find yourself knocking around these parts?" she teased her friend, but the expression on her features showed genuine fondness at seeing her.

"Oh, you know, survived a ship blowing up..." Hel smiled as she sat down with her. "They needed some engineers and I was spare, so here I am. And you look good for someone who last I heard was confined to a bed..."

"They screwed and bolted me back together well enough," Ember chuckled softly as she motioned for the bartender so Hel could order. "Although I discovered I'm a horrible stereotype. A doctor who makes a terrible patient, who would have thought it..."

"Oh, I knew that the moment I met you," Hel said with a laugh, raising her eyebrows. "Because you expect more from yourself than anyone else." She smiled at the bartender. "A double of something...strong...with a smooth finish and a bit of sour bite..." she bit her lip and winked.

The bartender chuckled softly as he flicked his long, black hair out of the way during his neat turn to look at the shelves behind him that were lined with bottles. Riku was still learning his way around his new place of work, and the bar itself was in a soft opening phase, so they were still missing some stock. "How about a gimlet...?" he pulled down a bottle of gin followed by the lime. "It's technically a cocktail, but it'll do what you're after," he assured, measuring four parts gin to one part lime into a glass filled with ice. He stirred rapidly until the glass was cool to the touch, sliding it her way. "Satisfaction guaranteed."

"And if not...should I complain directly to you?" Hel asked playfully, looking at the glass before she picked it up. She took a sip, eyes widening before she chuckled. "Shame. The drink is perfect." She winked at him before she looked at Ember with playful warmth.

Ember rolled her eyes at her friend's antics, but her smile was fond as the man moved off with a soft laugh. "You're incorrigible, Hel..."

"Not my fault that the universe has so many...scrumptious people," she said, using a word she had recently learned and had taken enjoyment in how it made her lips move. She sat back with a dramatic sigh before she looked at her, her focus firmly back on the other woman. "So. How are you doing? Did they remove any scars?"

"All of them," Ember replied, but was already smiling because she knew what Hel's reaction to that would be. "I know, I know...but trust me, I have more than enough aches and pains to remind me of the saga..."

"Oh, see...I kept the scar and let the aches and pains...fade," she said with a smile as she watched Ember. "Shame, I would have liked to see your scars before medical took them away. Just...to see..." she raised an eyebrow before the smile faded a little. She reached out and took her hand. "It does my heart good to see you breathing, my friend."

Ember's smile softened at the genuine well wishes from Hel. She'd been there and gone through the same trauma as she had when their ship had been destroyed. There weren't many others who would understand so completely. She gave her hand a squeeze in return. "And I you...although you look great, Hel, I don't see anything..." she looked more carefully, knowing Hel's culture wouldn't have allowed them to remove any scars.

Hel shifted, turning her face to show her the scar that now had faded, but ran from her forehead and down to her cheek, over the eye. Only the fact her people's bone structure was how it was had she avoided being blinded. "In an explosion, you have to worry about the shrapnel..."

"Impressive..." Ember chuckled, carefully styling her friend's hair around it. "This covers it a bit though. If you were human, I'd call it lucky. But I have a hunch your people wouldn't agree..."

Hel smiled as she leant into the touch, completely trusting with it. "It's destiny," she said in a dramatic voice. "It was written in the stars."

Ember laughed, shaking her head with a soft sigh as she tucked the hair back behind her ear to show the scar off. "You know how I feel about 'destiny'..."

"Oh, you don't have to believe in it to be taken along for the ride," Hel said, easily leaning a little into the touch. "Some things just are. You can call them fate, destiny...coincidence. Some things are. The sky looks different from every planet but the stars...their patterns change, yet they look the same no matter where in the universe you are. Water is wet. It can be the colour of rust, it can be clear, it can be green...but it is always wet. Some things are, Ember. Can't change it."

"But some things you can change," Ember replied quietly, shaking her head as a sense of seriousness darkened her blue eyes. Because it was something she believed whole heartedly in. "Some things you have to change."

Hel watched her before she nodded, reaching to take her hand. "And fight. Even when it is hopeless...we fight. Because we are both not about to go down quietly." It had been true. She had seen it in Ember...there was steel and fire in there. More than the woman let on.

"Well let's face it, Hel, when it comes down to it, we can't rely on someone else to do it for us," Ember replied with meaning, giving her hand a delicate squeeze. "We can hope for it, but not rely on it. Most certainly not out here."

Hel chuckled at that, nodding as she held her eyes. "Out here? Amongst the gods themselves?" she winked and took her drink to sip. "I'll rely on you and your brains. And the brains of everyone here. Once we get to know them...well. It will be good. It is not a big ship."

"I like it so far," Ember nodded with a small but warm smile as she looked around the bar, soaking it in. It was a decent bar as far as ship establishments went. An old fashioned bar, a space for tables, a space for music, warm amber colouring and a great view. "You'll never guess who turned up to see me off..."

"No...who?" Hel asked with surprise, just watching Ember, the way the light played off her hair, the way she looked. She looked alive, and after what she had been through she was so relieved to see it.

"My ex-husband," Ember shook her head with a weak smile before taking a significant mouthful of her gin and tonic, as if bracing herself for the memory. "Strolled into the lounge, bold as brass, to tell me that I didn't really want to head out on a starship afterall. Can you believe the gall of the man? Typical James too...not 'don't go because I'd like you to stay'...it's 'don't go because I know what you want and need better than you do'. Unbelievable."

Hel looked at her with disbelief before she smiled, a slow and dangerous smile. "Maybe I should talk to him, let him know where he should head..." she said lightly, taking her drink to sip. "Neck up in razor sand..."

Ember couldn't help but laugh softly, both at the image it created and at the way Hel had reacted. It helped her to feel a little vindicated at least. "The hilarious thing is he never really cared much either way when we were together," she glanced down to her hand, her ring finger - now absent of the diamond it had once displayed - brushing against the middle one. "Funny, how even a person's 'true colours' can still change hue in different lights."

She looked down at her hand, considering it. "You should have let me eat the ring," she said, meaning it, looking at her with a small smile. "You will do better than him, Ember. If you want to. If not, well...I do well without anyone tied to my bed."

Ember gave her a small but grateful smile, squeezing her arm with appreciation. "Thank you, Hel. But...why eat the ring?" she asked, watching her with curious blue eyes. Sometimes, she could never quite tell when Hel was being serious.

"It might give me some nutrients, and you could relish in the fact it would go through my digestive system," Hel said as she looked at her and gave a small smile. "You know, so if he had asked you could tell him that."

Ember laughed out loud, unable to help herself even as she covered her mouth to try and smother it back. "One of these days, Hel, you have to let me examine and study you...you're something else."

"You know it..." Hel said as she looked at her, leaning closer to whisper. "And of course you can study me, but I don't want to be turned into one of those...academic papers. Sand's Stone, I couldn't cope with the fame. And then everyone would want a piece of me. Some of them...maybe a real piece."

"No, no," Ember said quickly, her features turning serious with sincerity as she squeezed her shoulder with respect. "Not for other people. For my own curiosities. I...miss learning about people," she admitted softly. Indeed, she'd spent so much of her life living amongst native people of traditional cultures, learning about them and their lives, their differences and similarities.

Hel's eyes softened and she nodded, watching her. "Then what is stopping you?" she asked as she touched her cheek. "I am in the line of the Matriarchs. I have the spoken stories of my people in my heart. I can...teach you."

"I would love that," the gratitude was clear in Ember's eyes as she smiled to her, squeezing her hand. "And one day, I would love to visit if I can. I...turned my back on that part of my life. I'd been used to visiting more traditional cultures with my parents when I was younger, but doing it alone...it was good for a while, but then it became so...lonely. But doing something like that with a friend would be entirely different."

Hel's eyes softened at the words, her fingers going to Ember's chin. She stroked it for a moment before she nodded. "You would do well there," she finally said, meaning it. "A strong woman. They'll respond to you easily. And share their tales...I would show you the Glass Sands with the Caverns below. I would show you the Trees of the Dead...and the Endless Lake."

Ember watched her with awe for a long moment. Even the names they used were so evocative. Storytelling was woven into everything they were and everything they did. "I'd be honoured," she replied with full sincerity, not wanting her to think for a single moment she was being flippant about it.

Hel smiled as she nodded, pulling her hand back. "Of course, we are only just setting out. Shoreleave will be months away and who knows if we will be close enough to my home planet to visit."

"There's no rush," Ember assured with a soft smile as she sat back to sip her drink, shaking her head fondly. "We have plenty of time to enjoy the journey along the way..."

"And you can teach me about the universe...the things I can't understand," Hel said and then dramatically hit her hand on the bar. "The unspoken social rules!"

Ember couldn't help the slight laugh that escaped, taking in the exotic features of her friend. In an ideal world, Hel wouldn't change one little bit. But who wouldn't want to understand the world they inhabited? She had her own thirst for knowledge, she could hardly fault Hel for hers. "You seem to be doing pretty well, Hel, I'm not sure there's much that actually puzzles you. I think there are things you just ignore because they don't appeal," she replied with playful accusation.

"Of course there is. When was the last time you saw me at a formal dinner?" Hel joked, her eyes shining with the warmth of it. There were things she ignored. Rank was one of them. She might take orders, but she didn't let rank stop her talking to people. It had landed her in hot sands before.

"And the time you managed to actually convince our First Officer that you physically couldn't tie your hair back for that dinner party because 'it doesn't work'," Ember watched her knowingly, her eyes narrowed, but it was clear she had fond memories of the escapade.

"Yes, that was a good one," Hel said with a warm smile, nodding. "I really should have made up more fun things about my people. Imagine if I said that I could only work in my underwear?" she sighed at the idea. It would be freeing, to work on a warp core in less clothes.

Ember gave a playful tut to her teasing, shaking her head slowly. But in truth, she loved her friend's mischief. It was so refreshing, especially in the fleet. Despite having spent the last four years in the fleet, she still didn't feel like a born and bred fleeter. More, she was an outsider that had found herself dropped into the unique world of Starfleet. When she had joined, she had thought that there would never be a dull day in such a vocation...but the truth was, there were plenty of dull days. Usually on the way to or on the way back from missions. People like Hel made it worth it. "You see, if you really want it to work, you have to start small...something like shoes. 'Sorry, Sir, I just can't ground myself unless I can get a grip with my feet'...then maybe the jacket, because it's just far too hot to work in..."

Hel's eyes widened and she laughed, reaching to grip her hand. "Yes! Small things to lull them into a sense of security. This...this is why you are brilliant, Ember. You think as logically as a Vulcan but with the sense of fun that brings my people and yours closer." And she could envision it too...the small things that would make life fun. That she would enjoy doing because not so secretly, Hel enjoyed pushing boundaries. She wanted to do what she wanted to do.

Ember laughed softly, nudging her shoulder fondly to hers, her blue eyes shining with her own slight sense of mischief. "That may be so, but if you tell anyone I encouraged you, I shall deny it," she gave a playfully dramatic arch of her eyebrow.

"Of course!" Hel laughed as she shook her head, her eyes shining with it. "I am not a...what was the word? Snitch?" she moved her hand to rest on her own chest. "Your name will not pass my lips if someone asks..." she winked and lowered her hand, putting it on the bar. "Another drink?"

"Most definitely," Ember chuckled softly, lifting a hand to the bar tender before Hel could get in first...otherwise who knew what she'd be drinking. "Same again, please, *just* a single..." she added for good measure, her features the picture of playful authority.

OFF:

PO3 Helliun 'Hel' Inant
Engineer

&

Dr Ember Locksley
Counsellor

 

RSS Feed

Comments (1)