Do You Hear The People Sing?

Posted on 18 Jan 2018 @ 10:20am by Lieutenant Commander Gemma Alexander & Commander Jayla Kij

2,847 words; about a 14 minute read

Mission: Crossing Over
Location: Talons
Timeline: MD4 || 2100

It appeared to be karaoke night at Talons. That was okay with Jayla. She didn't sing. Ever. It was just a rule. She couldn't carry a tune if her life depended on it. But, she did enjoy listening to others and there was a great variety tonight.

She had chosen a spot near one corner to avoid anyone mistaking her for someone with any musical ability. She sipped her drink and listened as a young Bajoran man belted out a very rousing rendition of Do You Hear the People Sing.

Gemma knew this song, a fan of music she didn't always sing on key but that didn't matter as the refrain continued and others in the audience joined in, Gemma too. With passion and enthusiasm she joined in.

"...Do you hear the people sing?
Singing a song of angry men?
It is the music of a people
Who will not be slaves again!"

At this point Gemma gave into the impulse and, with a few others had climbed up on chairs, belted out the song for all they were worth. A few holding PADD's showing their friends so they'd know the words without being close to the Karaoke lyric screen.

"When the beating of your heart
Echoes the beating of the drums
There is a life about to start
When tomorrow comes!"

Though she did not join the singing, Jayla was enjoying the spontaneous performance immensely. Some of the people who were not singing were pounding on the tables, adding a sort of marching drum beat and she eventually joined in with a steady pulse. One, two, three, four, one, two, three, four! etcetera, in a steady beat.

The Bajoran who started it beamed at everyone joining in. So much for being mocked for his interested in ancient earth broadway plays. He began conducting the crowd as he continued to sing. Some of those who were further away from the hub drifted in to listen.

Gemma moved to stand on a table only to be shooed by a concerned looking waiter, without missing a beat she continued the song with the others.

"Will you join in our crusade?
Who will be strong and stand with me?
Beyond the barricade
Is there a world you long to see?"

Gemma gestured out the windows of the lounge as some continued to tap on their tables.


"Then join in the fight
That will give you the right to be free!"

The refrain about angry came around again and the crowd poured their souls into singing with passion that some in the audience felt could be heard back on Earth. Gemma was carried along by the current of the emotions happily singing about hope and sacrifice.

"Will you give all you can give
So that our banner may advance
Some will fall and some will live
Will you stand up and take your chance?
The blood of the martyrs
Will water the meadows of France!"

This whole experience was fantastic! Jayla was vaguely familiar with the story behind the song and so the fact that nearly everyone had joined in made her grin from ear to ear.

The the final refrain:

"Do you hear the people sing?
Singing a song of angry men?
It is the music of a people
Who will not be slaves again!
When the beating of your heart
Echoes the beating of the drums
There is a life about to start
When tomorrow comes"

The singing and music finally faded into silence.

Which was, of course, followed by cheering and clapping. Jayla joined them, having thoroughly enjoyed the spontaneous performance. She glanced around at everyone, still grinning. Really they had all been spectacular. She caught one girls' eyes and gave her a thumbs up.

Gemma grinned, she caught the look and jumped down. She knew the CMO by sight but generally didn't have need to see the doc as a professional so didn't know her well. "It's been awhile since I was part of a flash mob a choir sing." She grinned.

"I can't say I've ever done that," Jayla replied. "I can't carry a tune if my life depended on it."

Gemma smiled again, "That's not the point, the point is the passion. The emotion behind it, on key is fairly optional. "

"That reminds me of something a friend of mine used to say," Jayla replied. "I think she was quoting Beethoven. 'To play a wrong note is insignificant. To play without passion is inexcusable.' I suppose the same could be said for singing."

"There you go." Gemma said, "May I sit down?" She asked. Outgoing sure, but still British and there some rules of polite behavior still.

"Oh, where are my manners? Absolutely," answered Jayla.

Gemma smiled and sat down, "No problem, you a fan of musicals?"

"I enjoy watching them," Jayla answered. "Especially the comedies. I absolutely love The Music Man."

Gemma looked thoughtful as she cast her mind back, she liked musicals but some better than others. She shook her head, "Sorry all I can remember is something about a con artist and a band but he gets redeemed. Can't recall the music but I'll bet it was good." She put an order in with passing wait staff and turned back to the doc.

"I'd sing some for you, but I'm sure it wouldn't be recognizable," Jayla replied. "But, it's good music by any standards. Even Klingons like it! Or so I've heard," she added with a grin and a wink.

Gemma laughed, something she did easily and often, "fair enough, I shall have to check it on my own sometime." Her drink arrived, "I take it things are calm in sickbay? It's good to take a break now and again." She took a drink before returning her attention to the cmo.

"Yeah, we haven't had any space battles or rescue missions, so we're twiddling our thumbs down there," Jayla answered. "Well, no, we're running triage drills and doing one another's physicals and everything else you can think of to do in Sick Bay when nobody is sick or injured. I mean, on the plus side, everyone's okay, but on the downside, we're bored. Granted, we don't mind being bored because, as I said, it means that everyone is well."

"True enough, bit like being a pilot I suppose. We don't have much 'not piloting' related items to do. Even our routine is more training in the simulators and maybe a patrol here and there at the slow points." She said thinking about it, "We're a bit of a sometimes thing, just preparing for when we'll be needed." She continued, looking thoughtful. "I'd complain about the slow but like you it's good if its slow for us, suppose we'll just need to have a hobby or some such." She smiled. "Maybe we could join the Ship's Drama club." She struck a brief but silly pose.

"As long as we don't do musicals," Jayla joked. "Seriously, though, do you suppose some of the pilots would be willing to learn field medicine? It would give you something to do in your downtime and help Medical out during a crisis. Well, technically after a crisis; we get more injured in once all the fighting is done."

Gemma leaned back thoughtfully, "To be true, I've not thought about it. Though during a combat situation odds are we'll be busy but the aftermath would depend on if we've our own issues..." She thought for a few more moments, "but maybe could do, maybe you could write up a proposal for Rocco. I could add that we can also have likely volunteers tested for damage control ability since repairing people and equipment tend to be the two top priorities after a conflict. Still have to have time for training and the like for our own bailiwick but for special situations I can see where that'd be useful." Her words were measured, considering. "Need to mull it over a bit more but not a stupid idea..." She looked at the Doc, "Not that someone who can reattach an arm is likely to have them but good to confirm." She smiled.

"I tend to come up with some good ideas from time to time," Jayla replied with a grin, sipping her drink. "I mean, even if it's just treating your own, it would be a big help. We tend to get overworked and underrested just after a crisis. We can use all the help we can get."

"Well if you write up a proposal, I'll add my bits and we'll see what the Boss says." She with a grin, "Who knows he may decide it'll be useful to keep us out of trouble."

"You got it," Jayla replied, then she grinned sheepishly. "Can you believe I've never actually written up a formal proposal before? Hm, maybe I don't have as many good ideas as I think," she added cheekily.

Gemma grinned, "Well I don't know how formal it has to be, suppose you could just ring him up but I like to write ideas down first helps flesh it out before I put my foot in it. Though you might be ok being a genius doc and all." She winked jokingly, she did respect the doc so the joke was more of a gentle ribbing.

"I wouldn't go that far," Jayla laughed. "But, thanks for the vote of confidence."

"Hey my mum always never offend the person who cuts your hair, cooks your food, or heals your boo boo's" She grinned.

Jayla laughed. "I'm pretty tough to offend anyway," she said. "Even when people try, I usually just think they're hilarious for being so silly as to think they can hurt me with words."

Gemma nodded, "True enough I tend to believe first I'd actually have to care about your opinion for your words to matter..." She shrugged, "Now if someone gets physical its on but until then I got better things to do that don't involve me in the brig because I let someone get the better of me."

An image of a Hunter lying motionless on the floor of a bar flashed unbidden into her mind. If she had, in fact, killed him, it was in self-defense, but it was unlikely that she'd done more than knocked him out; Hunters were pretty tough, after all. She shoved the thought away quickly and offered a grin. "I can get pretty nasty if my friends or I are threatened," she agreed. "I'm told I've got a pretty nasty death glare when I'm angry. I think it comes from Belar Kij; he was awfully gruff."

Gemma, gave a laugh at the Doc doing a death glare but couldn't be sure she missed a story there and just moved on, "That's got to be handy, all those lives and experiences. If ones a cook say and you're not do you know how to cook? Or do doom glares translate easiest from one host to the next?" He voice was joking but overall attitude was curious, she knew the basics of how trills and their symboite worked but wasn't entire sure of the details. How did one deal with all that in their head?

The thought that death glares were a thing that transferred from host to host made Jayla laugh. "We tend to pick up affectations the easiest," she explained. "The death glare was particular to Belar, but all subsequent hosts have caught themselves doing it. As for other skills, it's not as if we just pick them up, but we can definitely draw off the memories to make learning it easier."

Gemma nodded a small pleased smile at the shared joke, "Well that's a shame, so I should not recommend being joined as a way to suddenly learn about thermodynamics for that paper you don't want to write." Then she said in mock anger "Man, I really wanted to learn advanced martial arts without putting the time in. There goes my grand plan..." She joked drinking more of her ale. She hadn't expected to meet up with the CMO and have a chat tonight but was generally happy to go where life led and make friends as she may.

"I can think of some things I'd rather not practice," she replied. "Too bad none of my previous hosts were handy with a phaser."

Gemma nodded, "Maybe a martial arts expert? That'd work too..."

"I suppose anything would help," she agreed. "But, specifically, I've got a phaser certification that I still need to pass. I'm a terrible shot. Back in the academy, I managed to just barely get a 62%- the minimum to pass. I'm lucky if I'm getting 20% right now."

Gemma frowned a little in thought, "Any idea why that is?" She asked wanting to try to help. It could be anything but hand/eye coordinate or confidence was usually the culprit.

"Mostly because I'm out of practice," Jayla replied. "And I'm out of practice because phasers terrify me. I'm not sure why. I mean, I like when people on my side have them, I just don't want to handle them myself. It's a sort of phobia."

Gemma frowned slightly, "Have you talked to anyone about that?" She asked gently, not sure she knew enough about those sorts of things to help her new friend. "Is it just phasers? Maybe a stop gap could be to learn another weapon?" Crystal blue eyes were gentle as she considered ways to help.

"I'm pretty sure it stems from my phobia of hurting people," she replied. "I'm pretty good with throwing knives. I messed around with a bat'leth for awhile, but lacked a proper teacher. But, both of those have alternate purposes. Knives can be used to cut food; the bat'leth can be used to defend oneself against wild animals and has become an art form. Neither are primarily used to hurt people. But, a phaser..." She sighed. "A phaser's primary use is to at least stun- which hurts. Oh, sure, it has other uses, but for someone who hates the thought of harming anyone, it's a weapon that hurts."

Gemma listened intently and quietly to Jayla's reply, then took a few moments to consider her own. "It never seemed to hurt much to me..." she'd been stunned in practice before, "but your the Doc and maybe know the biology of pain better than most." She started thinking carefully, "Odds are if you're firing it though you're saving people from a lot more pain than a stun. I mean if you didn't have meds and had to set a broken bone you'd do it right?" Her voice was non-judgemental, even kind just trying to figure this out. It was a sort of new view she'd not considered before but was game to try to help Jayla with.

Music and talking continued around them but at the table the mood had shifted from light banter to a more serious conversation smoothly. Gemma being adaptable and genuinely interested shifted focus with it. She could always party later.

"Hm," said Jayla thoughtfully. "I never thought of it like that before. It's always just been a weapon before. But, you have a point. It doesn't really hurt much- a bit of a poke and then nothing- and it could save many lives. I'll try thinking of it like that next time I go practice." She smiled gratefully at the other woman. "Thanks," she said. "I feel better about it already."

Gemma blinked, slightly surprised then smiled, "Well I'm glad just remember you're helping prevent a lot more pain. Even if its just protecting yourself, if you get hurt that's one less person we got looking out for us if we get hurt. And if you want a practice buddy just let me know, I'm not the best but the hand to eye is pretty good." She smiled again pleased to have helped.

"I might just take you up on that," she replied. "I could use some coaching, if nothing else. And you seem to have done a pretty good job so far."

"Fair to middlin'" she said her confidence obvious, "Sounds like fun, I suppose that's one option of what passes for girls night out on a ship..." She finished her drink and waved the waiter over and put in a new order, the waiter glancing at Jayla questioningly as well.

Jayla considered it for a moment, but ultimately shook her head. "I'm good, thanks," she said. "I think I'm winding down, to tell the truth."

The waiter nodded and left, Gemma replied, "I'm going to hang out for a bit maybe go back up there and sing some more but we should hang out more, this was fun." She said sincerely.

"Definitely," agreed Jayla, finishing off the rest of her drink. "I've got the latest edition of the Doctor Who holonovels. Maybe we could go on an adventure in space and time sometime."

Gemma grinned, she knew the reference and raised her glass, "Then here's to mad women in blue boxes."

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