S3 - M2 The Butterfly Effect Pt. II

[Eydis]

Eydis had not ignored the romulan female but had been taking a assessment of her. A Romulan female science officer, a dangerous combination and one that apparently studied alien life forms. What little was available to the tholians on the stations database had been studied.

Thank you ensign science officer Sirol. There was several loses after that including some fighters. Tholians know the last thoughts of the dying. It lingers on us and we take it back to tholia prime to add the dead's verse to our planets song.

I do have something that might be off interest to you. It is a little beyond the current understanding of our own science caste memebers. If you have any time, we have been trying to domesticate a new species .

Eydis would give Sirol a light nod of hir head and then look at hir friend zex. "œ I will just enjoy this social event that is enough for me, friend zex. "œ

[Sirol]

< Katra Station / Gamma Brauhaus >
[DAY TREE - NIGHT]

Eydis had not ignored the romulan female but had been taking a assessment of her. A Romulan female science officer, a dangerous combination and one that apparently studied alien life forms. What little was available to the tholians on the stations database had been studied.

Thank you ensign science officer Sirol. There was several loses after that including some fighters. Tholians know the last thoughts of the dying. It lingers on us and we take it back to tholia prime to add the dead's verse to our planets song.

Sirol acknowledged the Commander's explanation with a slow nod and faced hir again.
She remembered the losses of that day; scanning and cataloguing them, which had been part aspect of her sensor duty, but she was not sure as to whether and how deep she should (or even could) dwell on the subject towards someone personally affected by these events.
Instead she gave the Commander an understanding look, and tried to pick up on something maybe more theoretical to not risk upsetting hir further.
"œI learned about the shared experience upon death, I can imagine it to be"¦ Challenging at times"¦
I however have not heard of the planet's song before. What is it?"
Sirol had always assumed for the memories of dead Tholians to be preserved in the Lattice in a similar manner as the Katra of a dead Vulcan was, but then again, her assumptions were just that: Speculation based on incomplete - and occasionally unreliable - sources which stemmed from external observations.

I do have something that might be off interest to you. It is a little beyond the current understanding of our own science caste memebers. If you have any time, we have been trying to domesticate a new species .

Eydis would give Sirol a light nod of hir head and then look at hir friend zex. "œ I will just enjoy this social event that is enough for me, friend zex. "œ

The scientist curiously tilted her head and gave the Commander a surprised, almost even excited look. She could be of use?!
"œA new species?" She repeated, while from behind her the Barkeeper returned, placing a second Irish Coffee on the table next to her.
Acknowledging it with a polite nod towards him, she reached out for the glass and took another sip of the curious and sweet Earth beverage.
"œ...I would appreciate hearing more about it. And I would certainly be glad to be of any help as well. Most cultures I have archived have a long tradition of domesticating surrounding species, including my own, so I might indeed be able to assist here.
At the moment I do not have much on my schedule other than setting up my new laboratory, so I am mostly free.
I will gladly network efforts with you and the science caste where I can."

She once more took a little sip.
There obviously were few things more exciting for someone of Sirol's profession than a new species.
"œ...What are their life support requirements? And did your people already name them?"

___________________________________________

[OOC: @Hrafn: Once more sorry for the delay.]

< Katra Station Falleg Family Quarters >
[SEVERAL DAYS LATER]

[Hrafn's Quarters - A few days later]

James laughed.  "A whole pint?  Well ok if that's what you want, I've never heard of people drinking Curry sauce but right now the Universe is a bit upside down."

Crista nodded back and looked at Lamar in Sirol's arms.  "I think that sort of proves a point and while I probably shouldn't be saying this, I think Hrafn considers you as a sort of adopted daughter, a bit like her eldest, Ruthie, or as a younger sister.  Either way you're definitely family and that's why we decided that you should see the other part of the message.  I understand why Ops split it, in case there were things in the part to you that was purely departmental."

Sirol could not help but awkwardly chuckle a little.
She was aware that her vulcanoid metabolism; her comparatively slower physiological aging made her look and appear much younger than she actually was, yet as a matter of fact she was in her forties and had made her fair share of experiences already, including multiple universities and one and a half military career.
Seeing humanoids perceive her as young was always"¦ Refreshing in such a unique, exotic, almost even innocent way"¦

"œI very much appreciate Hrafn's perception of my person and my place within her family.
I am not very experienced with this sort of connection, but I will adapt."
Of course she had her own family, but things had been"¦ Difficult to say the least"¦
With her brother - a tightly mentally as well as emotionally connected vital part of herself and vice versa - dead, and the trust towards her mother fundamentally broken (before she passed as well), it only had left her with her father as a point of trust and reference.
Senator Sirol had been an infinitely loving, caring and accepting man, yet he also had his own duties and obligations, leaving familiar bonding as a secondary priority for the good of the Romulan people as a whole. An arrangement Sirol herself wholeheartedly agreed to and supported.
Yet the eventual result had been her slowly sliding into loneliness without realising; her subconscious telepathic mind constantly seeking out for company, no matter how much her rational, scientific side might have tried to deny that...

Crista nodded her head at the console.  "It's on there but I can give you the bare bones rather than having the kids have to watch that again.  I don't know about that one, but the twins will have observed how distraught Hrafn looked, they might even have caught the look on Rayek's face as his faded out and Hrafn's faded in.  Both looked worried.   In short she asked me and James, with Ujosso to look after the kids a bit longer.  Mentioned that the USS Healy was damaged... I think that was to let us know that they might have to stay there for a while to get things repaired, but... there's nothing come there or back, we've had no further messages so I can only assume that their communications at DS9 are down."

Crista paused as James came and handed Sirol her curry sauce.

"Enjoy!" he said passing it over and returned momentarily with a cocoa for Crista, and small bowls of ice cream for the children.  Tidu and Nerys took theirs with a grateful smile.

Sirol had been sitting there, quietly listening to the update; occasionally nodding in acknowledgement of the additional facts she learned here.
With a friendly nod towards James she agreed to his comment about unpredictable times, then hesitantly accepted the pint of Curry Sauce.
"œThe hot and spicy flavours remind me of the soups and drinks on Remus." She explained to - hopefully - make her choice less strange to him.
With that she took a sip from her curry and seemed to instantly relax a little, before she then focused Crista and the others again.

"Thank you Uncle James, you remembered my Targ Blood and chocolate log!"

"Cardassian Vole Blood you mean!" Tidu corrected his twin.

The other he put on a side table beside Sirol for if and when Lamar might eat it.  His had mini brightly coloured chocolate beans in, the way he normally asked for if they went to the ice cream parlour on the Promenade.

"What would you like Ujo?" he asked.

"Just a Ratkajino and some choc chip cookies please Jimbo!" the Klingon teacher said with a grin.  It was her private nickname for him that not even Crista used, they all knew it was just in fun, and she was trying to keep the mood light when really she wanted to go kill something in a holodeck with her late husband's Bat'leth.

When the children joked about the content of their ice cream, Sirol could not help but smirk a little.
As it was a universal similarity in seemingly all known cultures; getting together for a meal seemed to help lighten the spirits a little, and she was glad to see the children joke right now.
Looking at Lamar, Sirol softly booped the boy's nose, pointing at the bowl of ice cream with her eyes.
"œHey, Little Pioneer. Would you like some narexian brain snarks too? I heard they are rich in nutrients."

"Otherwise she just says that they're alive, and asking the kids to work hard and behave.  So... what went down at Bajor that they can't get messages in or out and she's not home yet because there's enough people on the DS9 and Bajor that could have given them a ride home, we're about a week to 10 days away, I'm trying to remember what the date stamp was on this message.  But if they're sending messages via probe, there's something very wrong happened there.  I don't suppose you can get any info from Ops... I assume you're as clueless as we are."

"œThe date stamp goes back eight days, seventeen hours and"¦" She quickly checked her holographic PDA. "œThirty one minutes.
It had been the first thing I investigated upon receiving the message in my laboratory. The first thing to confuse me.
I did in fact send a clarification request, yet have not received any reply. Judging by the current personnel spreading I can only assume that no one had yet had the time to read incoming requests.
I will however keep you updated as things move forward."
She hesitated, not wishing to worry Crista and the children any further, but she also knew that more minds would allow for a bigger picture.
"œ...Do you think what ever happened to the Healy might be connected with the supposed anomalous readings Ensign Murphy mentioned towards the Bajoran Wormhole?
She did not get into detail, yet seemed"¦ Puzzled to say the least"¦"

[Kirok]

< Katra Station / Gamma Brauhaus >
[DAY TREE - NIGHT]

Zex showed a devilish grin to Eli.  "So you're saying you trust me with this decision.  Hmm, what to order to you?" she said.  She putter her fingers together and let them bounce off one another.

"I'm not sure of your tastes, so I will get something you can try and keep with the St Patty's day theme.  Barkeep!  One green beer and a shot of irish whisky, Jamison if you have it" she said.

"You can have the beer or the whisky alone.  Or you can drop the shot into the glass.  But if you do, you have to drink it fast" she explained.

"Yes.  I definitely want to try it.  What's it called?" she asked Sirol.

Then she turned to Eydis.  "Well I'm glad for that.  Are you comfortable standing or should move a bit so that you can recline from the ceiling?" she asked the Tholian.

[Eli Ferris]

As Lieutenant Eli introduced himself and his fielt of work to her, Sirol gave him yet another friendly bow.
"œPleased to meet you, Lieutenant.
I think I have not yet had the chance to speak to anyone working in flight control. I can imagine it might be occasionally challenging to keep track of all the traffic around Katra."
She paused for one moment, then leaned a little forward.
"œ...Do you and your team sometimes get the chance to actually fly the shuttles you are managing?"

Eli gave a nod, thinking of the various flight patterns, patrols and the like that that was what kept him in his office. "From time to time and not nearly as often as I would like. I'd rather be out flying than in a control center directing flight patterns. The hazards of being the leader."

< Katra Station / Gamma Brauhaus >
[DAY TREE - NIGHT]

Zex showed a devilish grin to Eli.  "So you're saying you trust me with this decision.  Hmm, what to order to you?" she said.  She putter her fingers together and let them bounce off one another.

"I'm not sure of your tastes, so I will get something you can try and keep with the St Patty's day theme.  Barkeep!  One green beer and a shot of irish whisky, Jamison if you have it" she said.

"You can have the beer or the whisky alone.  Or you can drop the shot into the glass.  But if you do, you have to drink it fast" she explained.

"Yes.  I definitely want to try it.  What's it called?" she asked Sirol.

Then she turned to Eydis.  "Well I'm glad for that.  Are you comfortable standing or should move a bit so that you can recline from the ceiling?" she asked the Tholian.

Eli laughed a bit at Zex's thoughtful considerations. She was well suited to a diplomat role, kind and aware of other's needs. It was a good trait. "I'll give it a shot," he said with a raised eyebrow and sarcastic grin.

[Hrafn Falleg]

[OOC: Sorry everyone. I'll have to keep it short today any probably throughout the weekend.
My sickness got worse and staying awake for long is hard atm. :/
@ Hrafn: I'll get to the scene in the Family quarters a bit later. I hope that is okay with you.]

< Katra Station / Gamma Brauhaus >
[DAY TREE - NIGHT]

Sirol hesitantly raised her glass towards Commander Eydis pointing out Ensign Zex's competence in problem solving.
It was good to see seemingly everyone around this table agreeing on that, and as it was custom to most people Sirol had met, such an agreement tended to be the reason to raise one's glass.
When she took yet another sip from her Irish Coffee, she eventually made herself comfortable in her seat again, still looking at Zex and Eydis.

It did not escape Sirol, that Commander Eydis had been completely ignoring her and everything she had said. For a moment, Sirol was not sure what to think of that.
Had she said or done anything wrong?; anything to upset or offend the newcomer?
Had it something to do with Sirol stating her condolences for the Commander?
With a tad of insecurity and disappointment in her eyes she focused the candle in front of her again, before finally silently exhaling, and looking up to Anth McCutcheon again.
The scientist slowly nodded.
"œI am familiar with that term. My language has a similar metaphor, referring to a child being given the wrong name."
She did not do any further explanation of it.
Yet according to Romulan culture and tradition the name given to a child was supposed to reflect the destiny the parents hoped to bring upon their child. Just the way Sirol's first name was "˜Dvenn', which translated to "˜unifier' and was supposed to lead her into galvanising both of her parent's clans.
A child with a wrong name; an incompatible destiny to say so, would be seen as a strange oddity at best, a sad coincidence at worst, and it was one of the colloquial prie examples of a black sheep in Romulan culture"¦

"œ...You do not bore me. Please, go ahead. I appreciate every new scientific perspective." She spoke with a soft voice, loosely folding her hands around the little candle again, which at this point, Sirol seemed to have metaphorically adopted as hers...

With a surprised, almost even shocked look Sirol's eyes widened a little.
Sure, in her own society the means of getting rid of "˜uncomfortable individuals' tended to involve military police and secret service, and usually ended in vanishing of the subject in question.
But for some odd reason Sirol had always assumed the Federation to be more"¦ Considerate"¦ With its "˜black sheep'. The pinnacle of legal inconvenience she had ever heard of had been penal colonies for criminals, but this here"¦
Defaming an innocent scientist?
Stealing his work and holding him responsible for the - well documented - fallout following it?
It was humiliating, and Sirol could not help but spare him a sympathetic look.

"œIt is"¦ Very unfortunate"¦ How your situation has been tampered with.
Is there no way to circumvent your current penalty with actual physical proof that you were not involved?"

Sirol tilted her head and gave Ensign Zex a friendly, yet awkward little smirk.
"œDo not worry. Nothing is your fault.
It is a bar after all, so alcoholic beverages are to be expected.
I was just not aware of how difficult to identify it can be when overshadowed by sweeter tastes.
I enjoy sweet tastes too. Alcohol inside sweets is a new concept for me, but I am not opposed"¦"
She once more took a sip from her glass, eventually emptying her first drink for the night, and loosely waving towards the Barkeeper, intending to order yet another one.
"œ...Would you like to try a sweet, berry flavoured drink from one of my homeworlds?" She ten asked towards Zex, giving the Ensign a warm, inviting smirk.

As Lieutenant Eli introduced himself and his fielt of work to her, Sirol gave him yet another friendly bow.
"œPleased to meet you, Lieutenant.
I think I have not yet had the chance to speak to anyone working in flight control. I can imagine it might be occasionally challenging to keep track of all the traffic around Katra."
She paused for one moment, then leaned a little forward.
"œ...Do you and your team sometimes get the chance to actually fly the shuttles you are managing?"

< Katra Station / Gamma Brauhaus >
[DAY TREE - NIGHT]

[As NPC Anth McCutcheon]

"I learned something new today!  Thanks Ensign Sirol, I'd like to learn more about Romulan culture sometime.  We don't interact socially enough with most Romulans so we don't learn such things about the more... " Anth sighed and put his finger along the side of his face tapping where the arms of his glasses folded if he took them off.

"... I dunno what to call it.  See I've probably already said far too much about my research, but yet not told you really anything about it, and we're just chatting, but at the same time, I've not said anything that's classified either, if someone overheard me, well without breaking into my personal papers again they wouldn't find anything that I can't tell anyone.  Same with the Romulans and many other species but, no offence, most Romulans I've come across, present company excluded, are rather stand offish... I've not found one that would share things about their family life.  Oh well,... Commander Rayek ah tr'Lhoell,  but I think rather that Tess ah... Commander t'Lhoell rather softened him and he's so proud of Fvienn too and fatherhood has softened him too but a lot of people are still terrified of him!  But other than how the baby or his wife are he's not that forthcoming about personal life, I don't know if that's a Romulan thing... but what I'm trying to get at is... ordinarily we'd never get to hear about this 'wrong name' thing, we only get the interaction between the department heads and we get whatever information has been deemed suitable to exchange.  We are probably not even learning 10% of the things each culture has to offer."

He paused and smiled.

"As for my personal situation and my bent on the scientific.  I first got into the idea of synthetic life forms when my wife, Louise died in childbirth.  We lost both the twins too.  I would do anything to bring Louise back and well... that's when I started experimenting.  I had her DNA, and well... so I was working with scientists on human Soong-types, then this thing happened... I think there was a mole in the lab that's the only thing I can think of.  As for can I prove my innocence.  It's not so much they thought I was directly involved it is more that they wanted to take my work away from Daystrom so that they didn't get attacked by Leyton, and I was ordered to cease any building work, I could research all I wanted so long as I wasn't actually building anything.  Solluk and Hrafn accepted me here only under those terms.  Plus this is a big place, and remote... so there's a lot of appeal for someone who wants to be inconspicuous yet able to study all kinds of species..."

His eyes widened as Eydis appeared.

"... point in case, I never thought I'd ever see a Tholian up close and personal!  Greetings, I'm so pleased to meet you and learn more about your species!"

Eydis had not ignored the romulan female but had been taking a assessment of her. A Romulan female science officer, a dangerous combination and one that apparently studied alien life forms. What little was available to the tholians on the stations database had been studied.

Thank you ensign science officer Sirol. There was several loses after that including some fighters. Tholians know the last thoughts of the dying. It lingers on us and we take it back to tholia prime to add the dead's verse to our planets song.

I do have something that might be off interest to you. It is a little beyond the current understanding of our own science caste memebers. If you have any time, we have been trying to domesticate a new species .

Eydis would give Sirol a light nod of hir head and then look at hir friend zex. "œ I will just enjoy this social event that is enough for me, friend zex. "œ

< Katra Station / Gamma Brauhaus >
[DAY TREE - NIGHT]
Sirol acknowledged the Commander's explanation with a slow nod and faced hir again.
She remembered the losses of that day; scanning and cataloguing them, which had been part aspect of her sensor duty, but she was not sure as to whether and how deep she should (or even could) dwell on the subject towards someone personally affected by these events.
Instead she gave the Commander an understanding look, and tried to pick up on something maybe more theoretical to not risk upsetting hir further.
"œI learned about the shared experience upon death, I can imagine it to be"¦ Challenging at times"¦
I however have not heard of the planet's song before. What is it?"
Sirol had always assumed for the memories of dead Tholians to be preserved in the Lattice in a similar manner as the Katra of a dead Vulcan was, but then again, her assumptions were just that: Speculation based on incomplete - and occasionally unreliable - sources which stemmed from external observations.
The scientist curiously tilted her head and gave the Commander a surprised, almost even excited look. She could be of use?!
"œA new species?" She repeated, while from behind her the Barkeeper returned, placing a second Irish Coffee on the table next to her.
Acknowledging it with a polite nod towards him, she reached out for the glass and took another sip of the curious and sweet Earth beverage.
"œ...I would appreciate hearing more about it. And I would certainly be glad to be of any help as well. Most cultures I have archived have a long tradition of domesticating surrounding species, including my own, so I might indeed be able to assist here.
At the moment I do not have much on my schedule other than setting up my new laboratory, so I am mostly free.
I will gladly network efforts with you and the science caste where I can."

She once more took a little sip.
There obviously were few things more exciting for someone of Sirol's profession than a new species.
"œ...What are their life support requirements? And did your people already name them?"

"Oh how cool, tell me more.  Would you mind if I set my PADD to record what you say? Or could we have an official meeting on this sometime, rather than this fun social event, could I at least make notes?"

< Katra Station Falleg Family Quarters >
[SEVERAL DAYS LATER]

Sirol could not help but awkwardly chuckle a little.
She was aware that her vulcanoid metabolism; her comparatively slower physiological aging made her look and appear much younger than she actually was, yet as a matter of fact she was in her forties and had made her fair share of experiences already, including multiple universities and one and a half military career.
Seeing humanoids perceive her as young was always"¦ Refreshing in such a unique, exotic, almost even innocent way"¦

"œI very much appreciate Hrafn's perception of my person and my place within her family.
I am not very experienced with this sort of connection, but I will adapt."
Of course she had her own family, but things had been"¦ Difficult to say the least"¦
With her brother - a tightly mentally as well as emotionally connected vital part of herself and vice versa - dead, and the trust towards her mother fundamentally broken (before she passed as well), it only had left her with her father as a point of trust and reference.
Senator Sirol had been an infinitely loving, caring and accepting man, yet he also had his own duties and obligations, leaving familiar bonding as a secondary priority for the good of the Romulan people as a whole. An arrangement Sirol herself wholeheartedly agreed to and supported.
Yet the eventual result had been her slowly sliding into loneliness without realising; her subconscious telepathic mind constantly seeking out for company, no matter how much her rational, scientific side might have tried to deny that...
Sirol had been sitting there, quietly listening to the update; occasionally nodding in acknowledgement of the additional facts she learned here.
With a friendly nod towards James she agreed to his comment about unpredictable times, then hesitantly accepted the pint of Curry Sauce.
"œThe hot and spicy flavours remind me of the soups and drinks on Remus." She explained to - hopefully - make her choice less strange to him.
With that she took a sip from her curry and seemed to instantly relax a little, before she then focused Crista and the others again.
When the children joked about the content of their ice cream, Sirol could not help but smirk a little.
As it was a universal similarity in seemingly all known cultures; getting together for a meal seemed to help lighten the spirits a little, and she was glad to see the children joke right now.
Looking at Lamar, Sirol softly booped the boy's nose, pointing at the bowl of ice cream with her eyes.
"œHey, Little Pioneer. Would you like some narexian brain snarks too? I heard they are rich in nutrients."
"œThe date stamp goes back eight days, seventeen hours and"¦" She quickly checked her holographic PDA. "œThirty one minutes.
It had been the first thing I investigated upon receiving the message in my laboratory. The first thing to confuse me.
I did in fact send a clarification request, yet have not received any reply. Judging by the current personnel spreading I can only assume that no one had yet had the time to read incoming requests.
I will however keep you updated as things move forward."
She hesitated, not wishing to worry Crista and the children any further, but she also knew that more minds would allow for a bigger picture.
"œ...Do you think what ever happened to the Healy might be connected with the supposed anomalous readings Ensign Murphy mentioned towards the Bajoran Wormhole?
She did not get into detail, yet seemed"¦ Puzzled to say the least"¦"

[Hrafn's Quarters - SEVERAL DAYS LATER]

"No judgement, Miss Sirol, each to their own, but that makes sense and if it's pleasing to you, no skin of my nose and a pleasure to serve you, Madam!" James gave a little mock bow with a flourish, falling into, as the person who while he liked and admired Hrafn greatly he was comparatively the newcomer to the family, so he was trying to keep the spirits of the others up as much as he could.  He knew he was fighting a losing battle but he could but try.

"Wot Na-narex- narexian? brain snarks?" Lamar asked, the concentration on saying the word helping to stop him crying a little.

"Narexian's I've heard of but what are brain snarks?" Nerys asked.

"Whatever they are, sounds cool, could I have some too please?!" Tidu chipped in totally unfazed by everything if there was food he enjoyed in the offing!

Once the children were answered, and somewhat calmer and mollified, Crista gave a grateful look to her fiancÁ© for the idea of giving them ice cream, he translated it correctly and gave a little shrug then softly said "It was granny's fail safe for me, glad to see some things cross the generations seemlessly!"; and then to Sirol.

Ujosso taking advantage of the situation of calmer children, gave a wry smile and said.

"When I sometimes accompanied my husband when he was in the KDF, I know if there was a lot of interference around a certain place the only way to get messages thru was to do what Hrafn, Rayek and presumably other people on the Healy did, and record then send a probe out.  I'm not very Science-y minded, I did work in Ops tho so I understand that side of it.  If something has happened around the Wormhole, and that's radiation related potentially... then that's probably all the interference needed.  I think Crista said that we hadn't had anything from Ruthie or Nevir in the past week ish either."

"That's true.  Do you know if we've had anything ... y'know official stuff through.  I don't want to know what DS9 has been sending to us, just if any messages have been getting through.  If not there's two possibilities... well several but in the case of the Healy and Hrafn I mean."

The Afro-American woman from the Deep South offered up a prayer that it was the second conclusion and not the first.

"The worst scenario..." she cast a look to the kids and knew she didn't need to elaborate more than "...or possibly even something happened to DS9.  We know the Healy was damaged, if they couldn't put into DS9 are they limping on to some other station, and of course with the interference on the comms even if they got to another station... they might get a message off but it wouldn't get through, would just bounce back."

Taking a sip of her hot chocolate she brightened up.  "If it's just interference and they thought 'ah well we'd better let them know that we're alive...' then likelihood is that they're safe and sound on DS9, or in Hrafn's case she's probably gone to see her in-laws if she could find transport to Bajor or take a shuttle down.  She's not the world's best pilot but she can fly a shuttlecraft.  And it's simply a matter that she can't get word back to us.  I know Captain Solluk and Mr. Rayek wouldn't begrudge her seeing family if they could spare her for a while.  Yes, that's probably what has happened!"  Crista said definitively drawing a line under the matter, nodding her head in agreement with herself, deciding that Hrafn was alive.

Ujosso suddenly choked on her Ratkajino.  "The kids... Nerys especially..."

"What's the matter Auntie Ujo?" Nerys asked.

Ujosso recovered herself and asked Tidu to stop thumping her enthusiastically on the back which he'd done automatically thinking she was choking on more than a mouthful of coffee gone down the wrong way!

"Thank you Tidu, I'm fine.  Nerys... do you remember when we lost Tidu for a while.."

"Couldn't exactly forget, was a lot quieter!" she teased.

"Oi!" Tidu interjected with a grin.

"Point made..." Nerys reacted with a mock innocent look on her face.

"Forget that..." Ujosso said waving away their sibling teasing.  "...remember you said that he wasn't gone, you could feel him like your Mammy could feel him.  And when you first came here and we had to move the station you said you could talk to your Mammy with your brain.  Now, it's a long way to DS9, I'm not suggesting that you can actually send whole messages but... can you feel her, you'd know if she..." 

The Klingon headmistress stopped suddenly, realising if Nerys couldn't feel her mother it would be like she'd been hit by the USS Enterprise full on at maximum warp.

"It's ok Auntie Ujosso, I know what you mean, I'm old enough to realise and, well we've seen a lot of death on Katra too.  It's mostly..." she gave a sidelong look at Lamar which the adults understood and nodded.

"I can even feel Grandpa Kurt, we can't talk but we give each other little mind tickles at times.  I have the strongest connection after Mammy with him, I think, and I'd like to have it investigated further when Auntie Tess isn't busy, that the females are more attuned..." she shrugged.  "I can have a go at reaching out to Grandpa to sort of test that it's working and then reach out to Mammy..."

"Only if you're sure, darling girl!"  Crista cautioned, psyching herself up to catch the girl if she fell emotionally.

"Tids, come and hold my hand and think about Grandpa Kurt.  Oh Nantie Sirol I don't know if you know... Grandpa Kurt is Mammy's Daddy.  He's part Minarian so we get some of it from there.  Anyhow let's try."

She sat next to Tidu and held his hand, before too long she felt the familar tickle and got a fit of the giggles.

"Well Grandpa is ok, don't know where he is, not sure anyone does as he's working undercover but he's alive and this is working.  Now to see if we can find Mammy..."

Lamar slipped off Sirol's knee and went over to his siblings, leaning up against Nerys his brain almost screaming "MAMMY...WHERE ARE YOU?!"

[Tekin Residence, Bajor]

Hrafn lay on the bed that had been put aside for her use.  She had requested that she stay with her in-laws while repairs were done on the USS Healy, as she knew that she could get up to DS9 within in a short time.  Permission had been granted so long as she was around every other day for departmental meetings with the rest of the faculty.

Half dosing off, bored with the Scientific paper she was reading, she suddenly sat bolt upright when she felt the tickle in her brain, the kids, they were thinking of her.  That was the twins.  Then almost like a lightning bolt, the tickle was stronger hitting her almost to the point of causing a headache.

"Whoa, Lambchops...it seems you've got the family gift too!" she chuckled out loud.  She knew over this distance the fact she got even a tickle was amazing, but she gave back with her mind a sort of peaceful, loving feeling and hoped, praying to the Prophets, that they would feel it and be comforted.

Her father in law came in "Did you say something my dear?"

"I did, I think the probe we sent with messages has got to Katra, you know of my ability to communicate with my children and other empaths and mind users with permission, but we can't obviously hold a conversation over this distance but I got the tickle in my brain... they're worried.  I think they're worried that I'm dead."

"Still nothing to indicate that we can get anything through unfortunately, but Prophets willing... soon."

[Hrafn's Quarters - Katra Station - 20 mins later]

The children were all sat on the floor playing a card game, Nerys determinedly trying to keep the attention of her brothers since she knew that if anything did come back it might be delayed.

Eventually, she felt it, then there was a look of awe mirrored in Tidu's face and a grin split his face in two, Lamar got up and ran to Sirol.

"NANTIE SIROL!!! Mammy's ALIVE!!!"

[Kirok]

< Katra Station / Gamma Brauhaus >
[DAY TREE - NIGHT]

"That's the sprit" she replied to Eli.  She patted him on the back in a platonic manner.  Then she looked around the room and smiled.

In that moment, everyone was happy.  Her heart swelled with love for them, her chosen family.  She truly felt like the Katra was her home.