Reunion Call (Nira Said)

[Ruth Sigurdsdottir]

[Lieutenant Nira Said | Security Office | Deck Ten | USS Discovery NCC-78393-B]

Nira hung on to every one of Ruth's words and thought a moment. Technically, her memories weren't erased, she remembered what happened in the town when she was Najwa Said, the runaway harem slave turned saloon girl.

"Not necessarily," she said. "It's more like a computer, and these memories were a file that was put in there by somebody else. Suffice to say, I was using a cover story, even using a full Arabic name, Najwa, for that...then suddenly, the cover story turned real. Those were just two days, yes, but it felt a little longer than that. I remember when I met that particular creature, then a blank. These false memories, including the ones over two days that I technically remember, they're also more of an overlap, though given enough time, they would've overrode my past memories before my whole past could've been rewritten.

"Savar knows about them, too," she said. "We have a sort of bond created in Pon Farr. I feel his emotions at times. Or rather, sometimes I'm feeling what he's feeling, and vice versa, but we've worked on that. But when we were in the past and I became Najwa, he could see something was wrong with me, and he was worried that the bond would work two ways, that he would fall under the same mind control as I have. He didn't, thank Allah, but nonetheless, he was very concerned. However, as a V'tosh Ka'tur, he was a recluse before we met. He stayed away from even other Vulcans, taking work assignments that involved isolation. I'm not sure he knows how to repress them.

"In addition," Nira added, "I'm somewhat fascinated by these memories. I like to review them sometimes. They're fascinating, the life I technically didn't live, I would've made Scheherazade jealous. The problem is that these memories come to me absolutely at an Allah-awful inconvenience, especially the more shocking moments.

"However, I can talk to him," she said. "See if he has anything that can help, maybe to help me stop dwelling on these. He probably might know something, who knows?" she added with a shrug and a smile.

"Oh, pardon for going off-topic," she added, "but how's I...Captain Galloway?" She stopped herself in time. She had been about to use Ian Galloway's first name, but she remembered he's a captain now, even though she had gotten on a friendly enough basis with him before his promotion to know his first name, particularly when flying with him in the holodeck with his and Don's favorite program.

[Ruth's Quarters - USS Challenger]

Ruth nodded.  "Well, talk to Savar, I think that's the best course of action for your memories at the moment, at least until any of us come up with anything else!"

She chuckled at Nira correcting herself about using Ian's name.

"In here, you can call him Ian, it's fine.  Like you can always call me Ruth for all I'm a Commander now and thus outrank you a bit.  Just if we are anywhere 'official' you'd have to call him Captain and me Commander.  As for how he is... still the mad, bad, Scot that we know and love.  He has Jessica here now so he's a lot happier. Still no time for wassicks, eejits and well you can tell by how thick his brogue goes how pissed off he is!"

"I enjoy working with him, we have a similar attitude to things! I had to hand over 'my' ship... least I didn't have to give it to a wimp!  I'm not sure if you know all about that... my meteoric rise from Lieutenant to Captain and then back down to Commander?"

[Nira Said]

[Ruth's Quarters - USS Challenger]

Ruth nodded.  "Well, talk to Savar, I think that's the best course of action for your memories at the moment, at least until any of us come up with anything else!"

She chuckled at Nira correcting herself about using Ian's name.

"In here, you can call him Ian, it's fine.  Like you can always call me Ruth for all I'm a Commander now and thus outrank you a bit.  Just if we are anywhere 'official' you'd have to call him Captain and me Commander.  As for how he is... still the mad, bad, Scot that we know and love.  He has Jessica here now so he's a lot happier. Still no time for wassicks, eejits and well you can tell by how thick his brogue goes how pissed off he is!"

"I enjoy working with him, we have a similar attitude to things! I had to hand over 'my' ship... least I didn't have to give it to a wimp!  I'm not sure if you know all about that... my meteoric rise from Lieutenant to Captain and then back down to Commander?"

[Lieutenant Nira Said | Security Office | Deck Ten | USS Discovery NCC-78393-B]

"Of course," said Nira. "I'll definitely talk to Savar."

Nira smiled at the realization of being off-duty and when Ruth mentioned her instant promotions. "Of course," said Nira. "And it's amazing how you achieved captaincy so fast. I think you were just a lieutenant or a lieutenant commander when I first met you on the Athena. How did you end up back as a commander?"

[Ruth Sigurdsdottir]

[Lieutenant Nira Said | Security Office | Deck Ten | USS Discovery NCC-78393-B]

"Of course," said Nira. "I'll definitely talk to Savar."

Nira smiled at the realization of being off-duty and when Ruth mentioned her instant promotions. "Of course," said Nira. "And it's amazing how you achieved captaincy so fast. I think you were just a lieutenant or a lieutenant commander when I first met you on the Athena. How did you end up back as a commander?"

[Ruth's Quarters - USS Challenger]

"I think I was a Lieutenant, ok this is a long story but I'll make it short as I can." Ruth said with a wry smile.

"OK you know that I was on the Athena, and I was asked to fulfil the XO position on the Challenger, but was based for a while at Innominatum base, they having taken a battering, and lost quite a lot of the crew both of the Challenger and the base in the process.  In fact, I arrived with about 15 mins to throw on my dress whites and attend a memorial service."

She took a swig of her coffee, which being Waring Special Blend, caused her to grimace in memory of things she was about to mention.  The blend being the one preferred by her late husband, Cmdr. William Waring.

"Anyhow that earned me promotion to Lt. Commander, as befitted my position.  Then Kirok got recalled to Earth and I had to take over rather quickly, I jumped a rank and was 'Acting Captain' for a few months until they decided I was doing a good enough job to take over full time.

"I asked for Sukal as my XO, got him... then lost him over time too, mostly because our arch-enemy had threatened his family, he did what, a few months later, I did.  Put his family first.  In his case he applied for and took a position at GHQ where he could have his family around him.  In my case, it involved chasing half way across the sector in a Delta Flyer after my twin sisters, running out on my own wedding in the process.  Well the wedding party.  He wasn't a jilted husband to be, but we didn't get a first dance.  And the worst of it... I hid all that from my family, my crew - bar Lahr, who wasn't head of Ops but I promoted him to such.  He delayed the Challenger to keep her out of harm's way so that when the time came she'd still be at optimum capacity. She still came off badly and that's with alliances of Romulans, Remans, Klingons and a few others who hated Leyton!"

The young woman let out a long sigh and shrugged.

"We rescued my sisters, thanks to an alliance I had with a Romulan Ambassador, then managed to round up ex-Admiral Leyton who had been our arch-enemy for a while.  However, someone assassinated him while he was in prison on Earth.  We were supposed to be having our honeymoon at Waring Manor which is mine still but prior to us heading to Earth, Will was put on a special assignment, and..."

Ruth almost hiccoughed but it was to hide the start of a sob because she really hadn't had time to stop and process it all.

"..at first he was missing, presumed dead.  I got confirmation and his ID tags sent to me at Katra Station at Yule. That was when I realised I was a widow.  However, things with Lahr had started long before that... that's another story tho, let me finish this one.

"Because of the assassination of Leyton, and the fact that there were only certain people with access to him, coupled with the fact that I was potentially a widow, and with my psych evals at the time they decided I was fit for duty but not in command.  So they shipped me off to the Discovery and since there couldn't be two Captains I took a rank reduction to Commander, and the position of CSO.

"However, things with me and Lahr were more serious than we had imagined, we missed each other frightfully, to the point of almost being sick with longing, and so I fought to get back to the Challenger, when there was an opening for Science Officer there, I took it, even though it meant hitching rides half way across a sector and flying myself from the final base out to the ship, where I found her once again in the middle of a battle.  I'm just glad that Ian knows me, and knows I can handle anything that flies.  I didn't start in Sciences, although that's my graduation from the Academy... my first post was in flight on the the Britannia! And so I was back on the Challenger, had my Lahr, was CSO... now we have Mr. Jyur and I'm now XO since Kyle, Commander Briggs, not sure if you know him or not... but he was XO and is now XO on Katra Station."

[Nira Said]

[Lieutenant Nira Said | Security Office | Deck Ten | USS Discovery NCC-78393-B]

Nira smiled as Ruth told her story, especially that Commander Briggs is a new XO at Katra Station.

"Commander Briggs sounds like somebody who's a long way from home," she said with a smile. "I would think that side from Katra Station the farthest I've been from home - and I mean Earth, in Abu Dhabi, not Betazed - had to be potentially a thousand light years away, when the Athena met these rivalling peoples, the T'Sari and the T'kori. Rivals who had barely become warp-capable, thus prompting a first contact opportunity."

A thought then occurred to Nira... "Uh, Ruth, what time is it? Out of curiosity?"

[Ruth Sigurdsdottir]

[Lieutenant Nira Said | Security Office | Deck Ten | USS Discovery NCC-78393-B]

Nira smiled as Ruth told her story, especially that Commander Briggs is a new XO at Katra Station.

"Commander Briggs sounds like somebody who's a long way from home," she said with a smile. "I would think that side from Katra Station the farthest I've been from home - and I mean Earth, in Abu Dhabi, not Betazed - had to be potentially a thousand light years away, when the Athena met these rivalling peoples, the T'Sari and the T'kori. Rivals who had barely become warp-capable, thus prompting a first contact opportunity."

A thought then occurred to Nira... "Uh, Ruth, what time is it? Out of curiosity?"

[Ruth's Quarters - USS Challenger]

"Oh yeah, I think barring um... well time travel, you know it exists given your recent experiences so not like I can reasonably gloss over the fact... but I digress... yeah I think Katra is the furthest I've been from Trondheim!  Or over on Iceland where I was actually born, either way!" she said with a grin. "I'm not sure they knew what had hit them when we had the Julbukking there over the year end festivities!  That was fun tho!" Ruth said with a chuckle.

"Time, um..." the XO looked up at the chronometer in her room and sighed.  "You know I don't have a clue because I keep forgetting to requisition that my chronometer is fixed.  I'm not feeling hungry, Lahr's not here yet but it's probs midway through Beta Shift ... dunno if that's any help.  I was on Alpha Shift and we've been chatting a while, and Lahr was going to be catching up with someone who was doing Gamma Shift... and we arranged to have dinner when he was done with them, he's meeting me here.  Since that hasn't happened yet either he's been severely delayed or they got engrossed in the game."

She shrugged.  "Two ticks I'm just sending a requisition on my PADD to Engineering...there done.  Computer, what time is it?"

'It is 1728hrs'

"There you go... 1728hrs, he's not late actually as I guessed he'd be here sometime between 1730 and 1800hrs!"

[Nira Said]

[Ruth's Quarters - USS Challenger]

"Oh yeah, I think barring um... well time travel, you know it exists given your recent experiences so not like I can reasonably gloss over the fact... but I digress... yeah I think Katra is the furthest I've been from Trondheim!  Or over on Iceland where I was actually born, either way!" she said with a grin. "I'm not sure they knew what had hit them when we had the Julbukking there over the year end festivities!  That was fun tho!" Ruth said with a chuckle.

"Time, um..." the XO looked up at the chronometer in her room and sighed.  "You know I don't have a clue because I keep forgetting to requisition that my chronometer is fixed.  I'm not feeling hungry, Lahr's not here yet but it's probs midway through Beta Shift ... dunno if that's any help.  I was on Alpha Shift and we've been chatting a while, and Lahr was going to be catching up with someone who was doing Gamma Shift... and we arranged to have dinner when he was done with them, he's meeting me here.  Since that hasn't happened yet either he's been severely delayed or they got engrossed in the game."

She shrugged.  "Two ticks I'm just sending a requisition on my PADD to Engineering...there done.  Computer, what time is it?"

'It is 1728hrs'

"There you go... 1728hrs, he's not late actually as I guessed he'd be here sometime between 1730 and 1800hrs!"

[Lieutenant Nira Said | Security Office | Deck Ten | USS Discovery NCC-78393-B]

"Thanks for the time, Ruth," said Nira. "I might have to go, It's getting close to dinner. Savar might be waiting for dinner as well, I'm going to talk to him about what to do. After that, assuming he has evening duties, we'll be sparring to work off dinner. Definitely moments to talk to him. Thanks for the chat, Ruth."

[Lieutenant Nira Said | Chief Sec/Tac Officer's Quarters | Deck Three | USS Discovery NCC-78393-B]

Savar certainly looked surprised, looking up from making the finishing touches to his dinner, when he saw Nira arriving at their quarters for dinner. This was earlier than expected, she usually worked a lot later.

"Evening, Imzadi," she said. Seeing as he was busy making dinner, she called up her own at the replicator - doner kebabs this time - and sat at the table with him, once again looking around their quarters. True, it used to be Commander Felder's, and Nira moved in after her promotion. It was bigger than she was used to, but fortunately, it meant it was big enough to share with Savar.

"You're early," said Savar. "You usually come in a lot later as of late."

"I've been chatting with a friend," said Nira. "One of my old colleagues from the Athena. Close enough I can relate problems to."

She tucking in a moment and then said, "Savar, I wanted to ask you if you can help me with my memories. Specifically..."

"...the ones you've never lived," finished Savar. "The ones implanted by the T'hunga. Don't think I see them when we exchange pleasantries mentally," he added, tapping his head. "I know they bother you, Nira. It's that obvious when you wake up, the sheets are moist with your sweat."

"Sorry about that, Savar," said Nira. "This friend of mine, she recommended talking to you about them."

"I see," said Savar, raising an eyebrow. "Don't know how much I can help with repressing them, after all, I'm a young Vulcan, practically a toddler considering our lifespan."

"I don't want them repressed," said Nira. "You know that I like to review them from time to time, fascinating as they are. I don't want them, however, to hit me at unawares, for my head to automatically pull them up when I'm not thinking."

"And to also help you sleep better," said Savar. "It's not healthy for you to work the way you are now."

"Yes, my friend did mention that as well," said Nira. "That's another reason why I wanted to talk to you about this."

Savar pondered a moment, and he finally said, "I may know a way, Nira. Are you familiar with Vulcan neuro-pressure?"

"Should I be?" asked Nira.

"It's something I know," said Savar. "I started learning about it in my teens from my mother, who's an expert at it. Though she tutored me at times when I applied at the Academy. I've been learning about it for twelve years."

"It takes that long to learn about this neuro-pressure?"

"Are you kidding?" scoffed Savar. "I only managed to learn the basics in the time I had, to be good at them. It takes a helluva lot longer for a Vulcan to be an expert, he'd have to be at least fifty."

"Sounds like the kind of thing do devote most your life to," said Nira.

"As I said, I only learned the basics," said Savar, waving it aside. "Neuro-pressure is a mental and physical technique for relaxing not just the muscles, but also...the mind."

Nira leaned in closer, fully interested. "Is it a massage technique?"

"It's a lot more than that," said Savar with a smile. "It involves stimulating neural nodes and pressure points in a humanoid, like a Vulcan or a human or, in your case, a Betazoid. It's difficult to master, that's why it takes so long, and that's why I only got so good at the basics in the twelve years I had in training. It's also very personal, given the amount of physical contact involved."

"Well, that's not a problem," said Nira, making a wider smile. "We're already a couple."

"True, but the intimacy involved can make a lot of people uncomfortable. However, there is a constant demonstration of an application of neuro-pressure, one that's extremely useful for incapacitation..."

"...the nerve pinch," said Nira instantly; everybody knew about the nerve pinch.

"That's right," said Savar.

"When shall we start with this?" asked Nira.

"Anxious, are we?" Savar cocking an eyebrow before his expression melted to cautiousness. "It's a good idea, but I'm hesitant to do it; it's mostly because in the hands of a novice, things could go wrong."

"Like what?"

"Best case scenario, a headache. Worse case scenario, nerve damage. Given that I know the basics, I don't know the other techniques. In fact, if it were to go wrong, you could end up hospitalized."

Nira pursed her lips at the idea. Savar could see the expression.

"I'm going to have to think about it," said Nira. "Depends on how bad the memories get."

[Ruth Sigurdsdottir]

[Lieutenant Nira Said | Security Office | Deck Ten | USS Discovery NCC-78393-B]

"Thanks for the time, Ruth," said Nira. "I might have to go, It's getting close to dinner. Savar might be waiting for dinner as well, I'm going to talk to him about what to do. After that, assuming he has evening duties, we'll be sparring to work off dinner. Definitely moments to talk to him. Thanks for the chat, Ruth."

[Lieutenant Nira Said | Chief Sec/Tac Officer's Quarters | Deck Three | USS Discovery NCC-78393-B]

Savar certainly looked surprised, looking up from making the finishing touches to his dinner, when he saw Nira arriving at their quarters for dinner. This was earlier than expected, she usually worked a lot later.

"Evening, Imzadi," she said. Seeing as he was busy making dinner, she called up her own at the replicator - doner kebabs this time - and sat at the table with him, once again looking around their quarters. True, it used to be Commander Felder's, and Nira moved in after her promotion. It was bigger than she was used to, but fortunately, it meant it was big enough to share with Savar.

"You're early," said Savar. "You usually come in a lot later as of late."

"I've been chatting with a friend," said Nira. "One of my old colleagues from the Athena. Close enough I can relate problems to."

She tucking in a moment and then said, "Savar, I wanted to ask you if you can help me with my memories. Specifically..."

"...the ones you've never lived," finished Savar. "The ones implanted by the T'hunga. Don't think I see them when we exchange pleasantries mentally," he added, tapping his head. "I know they bother you, Nira. It's that obvious when you wake up, the sheets are moist with your sweat."

"Sorry about that, Savar," said Nira. "This friend of mine, she recommended talking to you about them."

"I see," said Savar, raising an eyebrow. "Don't know how much I can help with repressing them, after all, I'm a young Vulcan, practically a toddler considering our lifespan."

"I don't want them repressed," said Nira. "You know that I like to review them from time to time, fascinating as they are. I don't want them, however, to hit me at unawares, for my head to automatically pull them up when I'm not thinking."

"And to also help you sleep better," said Savar. "It's not healthy for you to work the way you are now."

"Yes, my friend did mention that as well," said Nira. "That's another reason why I wanted to talk to you about this."

Savar pondered a moment, and he finally said, "I may know a way, Nira. Are you familiar with Vulcan neuro-pressure?"

"Should I be?" asked Nira.

"It's something I know," said Savar. "I started learning about it in my teens from my mother, who's an expert at it. Though she tutored me at times when I applied at the Academy. I've been learning about it for twelve years."

"It takes that long to learn about this neuro-pressure?"

"Are you kidding?" scoffed Savar. "I only managed to learn the basics in the time I had, to be good at them. It takes a helluva lot longer for a Vulcan to be an expert, he'd have to be at least fifty."

"Sounds like the kind of thing do devote most your life to," said Nira.

"As I said, I only learned the basics," said Savar, waving it aside. "Neuro-pressure is a mental and physical technique for relaxing not just the muscles, but also...the mind."

Nira leaned in closer, fully interested. "Is it a massage technique?"

"It's a lot more than that," said Savar with a smile. "It involves stimulating neural nodes and pressure points in a humanoid, like a Vulcan or a human or, in your case, a Betazoid. It's difficult to master, that's why it takes so long, and that's why I only got so good at the basics in the twelve years I had in training. It's also very personal, given the amount of physical contact involved."

"Well, that's not a problem," said Nira, making a wider smile. "We're already a couple."

"True, but the intimacy involved can make a lot of people uncomfortable. However, there is a constant demonstration of an application of neuro-pressure, one that's extremely useful for incapacitation..."

"...the nerve pinch," said Nira instantly; everybody knew about the nerve pinch.

"That's right," said Savar.

"When shall we start with this?" asked Nira.

"Anxious, are we?" Savar cocking an eyebrow before his expression melted to cautiousness. "It's a good idea, but I'm hesitant to do it; it's mostly because in the hands of a novice, things could go wrong."

"Like what?"

"Best case scenario, a headache. Worse case scenario, nerve damage. Given that I know the basics, I don't know the other techniques. In fact, if it were to go wrong, you could end up hospitalized."

Nira pursed her lips at the idea. Savar could see the expression.

"I'm going to have to think about it," said Nira. "Depends on how bad the memories get."

[Ruth's Quarters - USS Challenger]

"Any time!  Give my regards to Savar, hope to meet him one day!" Ruth said and smiled.  "I'll send you a copy of my schedule when rotas come out but for next month I'm on Alpha Shift unless anything untoward happens.  Being XO I can be pulled in for a lot of different things."