Sestras

Posted on 21 Jul 2016 @ 1:03am by Lieutenant Commander Joey Geisler & Senior Chief Petty Officer Mila Rasputin

3,055 words; about a 15 minute read

Mission: Risky Business
Location: Administration
Timeline: MD 6 || 0700 Hours

After the ship’s impromptu wake up call in the very wee hours of the morning, Joey took the first free second she had to go back to her place to get into uniform. Running around the ship in a pink nightie, even if it was only for a short time, was just too long in her book. For a few seconds, she contemplated trying to go back to sleep, but the fear of being tossed from bed a second time, or getting the call that the ships had been found, kept her from doing so. Still, the Chimera and Cochrane had yet to be spotted, but she knew that could change at any second. And, when it did, she’d be ready to go… which is what brought her to where she was now.

Gone were the nerves, emotions and fear. Now, she was ready. She and Rico stepped off of the turbolift and out into the corridor of deck six. Her focus the last couple of days had been pouring herself into preparing for something that could likely get her killed, but that was what she volunteered for. None of this was about her, though. It was about keeping the crew of the Black Hawk safe… about getting a step closer to putting an end to all of the Consortium mess that was going on. It was more than time for them to fail… to fall.

The past couple of days consisted of her going over mental checklists more than a dozen times and spending as much time training as she possibly could. That required Rico to be kenneled, but the second she had a free second, Joey sprung him and spent as much time with him as she possibly could.

As she finally came to the door leading to Mila’s office in the administrative part of the ship, Joey took a deep breath and let it out slowly as her thoughts drifted to Camila. She found herself sympathizing with her in that moment. It had to be hard on her sending her people into unknown situations like the one that she and Cooper were going to be facing eventually. The Security Chief had more than her fair share of things coming her way presently, and it came as no surprise that Camila told her she hit the bottle after she readied the tri-cobalt device. Hell, if she were in that position, she’d have done the same thing. If there was a Thalaron device on board the rumored warbird, that was likely their only chance of survival. She really had to hope Camila knew that.

Realizing she’d allowed her thoughts to wander, Joey extended a finger to press the chime and waited to be granted access. Her thoughts traveling to Harvey. It had been more than forty-eight hours since she’d last seen him, but that was likely for the best. A few times, she found herself wanting to give him and go see him, but they’d agreed they would see one another when it was all over. Things got pretty… she didn’t quite know what word to use, but she wanted to spare them both that and give him a little space, which was one reason for her arrival to the Yeoman’s office.

“Rico… you be a good boy,” she said, crouching down to take his furry head into her hands so she could scratch him behind his ears. The canine had no idea what was going on, but he sensed sadness coming from his handler, which earned a low whine from him. She smiled and laid her forehead against his, then closed her eyes. “I know, I know. I don’t want to let you go, either, but it’s not fair for me to have to keep putting you in a kennel like I have been. Sure, you don’t stay in long, but it makes me feel horrible, and it isn’t fair to you.” She moved her hands down to his sides to give him a good rubdown as he dropped the sock he carried in his mouth to kiss her. “I promise I’m going to see you very soon, but I’m going to miss you. I love you, you big baby.”

“Enter!” Mila called out as she organized the PADDs which were to be delivered to various department heads, personnel and updated information on casualties of the night before. She and Chow had taken a tumble around her quarters, but neither of them had been hurt and she promptly taken Chow to her bed after replicating straps to make sure neither of them were tossed again once she found out the ship wasn’t under an attack. There wasn’t much she could do as a Yeoman in the situation, but she found sleep hard coming until the ship made its way out of the disturbance and now she had some dark smudges under her eyes to display the lack of sleep she had gotten the night before.

Joey and Rico walked into the office, clearing the proximity sensors so the door would close behind them. She smiled when she spotted Mila, but it quickly faded when she saw the dark circles under her eyes. “Mila… are you okay?” she asked as she moved toward her. Like the shorter brunette, she was lacking sleep, but thanks to a little makeup, she’d been able to cover her dark circles fairly well. “Sit… please. The last thing I want is for you to fall over.”

Mila’s face lit up when she saw Joey and Rico, then she gave a chuckle when she heard what the woman had to say. “I am sitting,” she said. “Chair is being very tall so I am seeing well over top of desk. I am feeling like giant at times, then I am seeing what tall is when you are coming in.” A plate of some kind of dumplings and strawberries sat near her terminal and she gestured towards it with a free hand. “Please, have syrniki. Is better for you than replicated breakfast, then you are telling me why you are here with handsome young officer.”

“Well, at least you are sitting down,” the taller woman said with a laugh. She felt a bit foolish, but the only thing she could blame it on was exhaustion. Lack of sleep did things to one’s mind. “Thank you for the offer, but I’m okay for the moment.” Pushing the fact she hadn’t slept from her mind, she settled down in one of the available chairs. “I was hoping you’d be able to bring Rico to Harvey for me. I would, but…” She swallowed a lump in her throat. “I’ve been training every chance I get, and have had to put Rico in his kennel while I do. He doesn’t stay in there long, though, but it makes me feel bad when he is.”

“Eat,” Mila insisted, shoving the bowl at her. “Is full of protein and you are looking like bad area of space.” She crossed her arms and gave a stern look to the taller woman. “Also, if you are having time to bring Rico to me now, why are you not using same time to bring Rico to him instead of coming here?”

Joey reached for one of the syrniki, but she didn’t bite into it. In fact, she wasn’t even all that hungry. “I’m… uh… I’m giving him some space. And, we agreed we would see each other after this was over. If you can’t, it’s okay. I know you’re busy. I just thought that you might have reports to bring him after what happened.”

“Da,” she said. “I am going to be seeing him soon, but what is this space you are talking of? I am thinking that all is well after great balloon and water battle unless there is something more happening after that which I am not knowing.” She moved one hand in a ‘Well?” gesture as if waiting for Joey to tell her.

“I went to see him after I left you to see if he would be able to keep an eye on Rico,” Joey replied. She chalked Mila’s forgetfulness to lack of sleep just as she hadn’t realized the Senior Chief was sitting down.

“I am apologizing,” Mila said. “It has been rough couple of days.” She reached for one of the syrniki’s and dipped it in the strawberry glaze at the bottom of the bowl and took a bite. After she chewed and swallowed, she looked back at Joey. “Is still not explaining why you are waiting until this is over until you are seeing him again.”

“I’m not entirely sure, really,” the taller brunette said, glancing down at the syrniki in her hand before she looked back to Mila. “There were a few times I almost went to see him, but I thought back to wanting to give him his space. Things got a bit… emotional, deep… I’m not even sure what word I want to put to it exactly. I just think it might be better if you brought Rico for me. It just doesn’t seem fair, or right, for me to show up to drop Rico off, then have to turn around and leave again.”

Mila mentally mulled over that information for a moment, then devised an impromptu plan over the unfairness of the situation. Harvey and Joey were both good people and Joey was becoming more like a sister every day; she had even said the tall brunette was her unofficial Russian sister. Now she smiled as the plan came together in her mind and a way to carry it out. “I am doing this on two conditions,” she said “One, you are agreeing to officially become my sestra.” The universal translator interpreted the word as ‘sister’ and Mila continued. “The second is that you are accepting token from me for when you are going on mission.”

“Done,” Joey said with a smile, feeling a bit of relief flood through her. Being an only child, she welcomed the thought of having a sister. A smaller… older sister.

Mila smiled and reached into her desk and pulled out a small box that a ring or something similar could fit in and handed it to her. “I was wanting to give it to you other day, but have been very busy ever since you are winning everything at poker game.”

A smile formed on her lips at the thought of the poker game. The fact that she’d won what she did was by sheer luck, but for her, a win was a win no matter how it came to her. She accepted the small box from Mila after setting the syrniki back down, then examined it. “We’ve all been rather busy lately, haven’t we?” she asked, opening the box to look inside of it.

Inside was a silver broach with six amethyst gems shaped like a lily settled into a small velvet padding. “I am hoping you are liking it,” she said. “I am always wearing something purple and my sestra is needing something as well to match, da?”

Joey reaching into the box to pull the broach out. “Wow… it’s beautiful, Mila. Thank you.” She unzipped her jacket to pin it on the gold shirt she wore underneath. “I don’t own a whole lot in the way of purple, but maybe this is the beginning of changing that.” Rising to her feet, she gestured for the shorter woman to meet her halfway around the desk.

Mila rose from her chair and became a few inches shorter immediately and came around her desk to take the taller woman in her arms for a tight hug. “You are welcome, Joey,” she said. “Purple is being color of royalty and you cannot be sestra if you are not royalty. Now you are having purple and you are being my sestra and nothing is ever to be changing this.”

“I always wanted a sister,” Joey said, returning the hug. Her right side protested, and she ignored it as long as she could before it just go to be too much. A pained breath sounding a lot like a hiss escaped her clenched teeth, but she fought through it. The wake up call she received was a rather painful one, and she’d been able to ignore it for the most part except there was a great deal of pressure on it at the moment.

She released the taller woman and took a step back when she heard the hissed breath and gave Joey an appraising look. “You are being hurt last night?” she asked.

“It’s nothing too major,” she replied, placing her opposite hand against the side that was slightly throbbing a bit. “If I have time to, I’ll have it taken care of.”

Mila frowned. “You had better,” she said sternly. “You are being smarter than that, Joey and I will be frowning if I am not seeing report that you are getting it taken care of. I am meaning this.”

“I make no promises, Mila, but I will try if time permits. I’ve got a lot going on. In fact, from here I’m going to the training facility to start getting my gear together,” Joey said. “When the ships are finally spotted, and I’m alerted… all I’ll have to do is grab and go. Makes things easier on me that way. I’m going to try to get a little more training in, too.”

“If you are having time to train, you are having time to heal, too,” Mila said with a slight frown. “I am not wishing to see casualty report with your name on it, Joey. Not because something stupid and not because you are not fully prepared. Please take time?”

“You won’t see a casualty report with my name on it, Mila,” she said, reaching out to wrap her arms around the smaller woman for another hug. “But, after I finish with my gear and get done with training, I’ll see what I can do. Don’t frown so much. You’ll give yourself wrinkles.”

“I am thinking when I am making you sestra, Russian stubbornness came with it,” Mila muttered as she hugged her back. “Is very bad trait unless you are dealing with Captains, then is good trait. You are practicing with Yeoman who has many years of being Russian and dealing with Captains, but you are having good start on stubborn. You are to be bringing yourself back in one piece of I am putting foot in painful place.”

Joey laughed. “I read you loud and clear. I’m not too keen on being worn as anyone’s sock. Oh!” She stepped back and produced a PADD to have over to Mila. “This is for Rico. It has all of his replicator codes, feeding times and everything on it. I know I’ll have him back before I know it, but it’s always best to be safe than sorry.”

Mila accepted the PADD and looked at Rico. “You are very smart boy to be knowing how to use PADD and replicator,” she said, knowing that the PADD was to be given to Harvey and not Rico. “I am thinking that I am having to teach Chow this trick, now.” She looked up at Joey again. “Just be bringing yourself back so I am having sestra and Harvey is having no reason to be making like turtle again. I am one person and he is hard to coax from shell.”

“I’m going to do everything in my power to make that a reality, Mila. I promise,” Joey said before she turned to Rico. She crouched down in front of him and hugged him. Up until this moment, she managed to hold it together. For nearly four years, she’d done everything with her canine companion, but the next job she had to do… she’d be doing it alone. It would be odd, but she knew taking him would be a guaranteed death sentence since she wouldn’t be able to get him back if she needed to get out quick. There was no way she’d be able to live with herself, which was the main reason she’d made the heart breaking decision to leave him behind. “Remember what I said. You be a good boy and listen, and when this is all over again, I’ll spoil you rotten.”

Clearing her throat, she scratched his head until she was sure she’d be able to speak without her voice cracking. The moment it came, she got to her feet and rose to look at Mila. “I’ll see you again when this is all over.” And with that, she walked out of the office to go to the training facility to continue with her preparations.

Rico watched as the door closed behind his handler and let out a whimper. He moved to it and walked in a full circle once, twice, then a third time before he settled down to lay his head on his paws. Another whimper was heard before he looked toward Mila without much movement as if asking her if Joey was coming back to get him.

Mila watched her go, then looked at the beautiful white German Shephard and how sad he was already. “You are to be seeing her again,” she assured Rico and hoped it was the truth. With the PADD of his feeding times and replicator codes on top of another stack of PADDs, she got up and motioned for Rico to follow her. “Come,” she said. “We are to be taking you to Harvey and he will be taking care of you until Joey returns.” With that, she headed out of her office, leaving a trail of orders in her and Rico’s wake and headed for the bridge.

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