From the mouths of babes

Posted on Fri Jan 3rd, 2025 @ 2:54am by Llaudh Drusilla Creon & Rhianha Creon & Counselor Rufen Erebar

1,304 words; about a 7 minute read

Mission: Masters of the Stars [2]
Location: Counseling Suite 4
Timeline: 1405 MD -10 (Four days after DownTime)

"Ambassador, thank you for coming. And you must be Rhianha. My name's Rufen, but everyone around here calls me Counselor Erebar. Use whichever you prefer. If you'll come with me, we'll get started." Erebar greeted the pair politely with a pair of bows as they entered the counseling complex. He gestured to the counseling suite to his right. He realised it was a slight racial prejudice, but the sight of pointy ears made him pull back on his characteristic jocularity.

Drusilla and Rhianha entered without comment or expression.

"If you'd like to choose a different decor, please instruct the computer." Rufen said, taking a high-backed seat. There was also a couch and a pair of lounge chairs available

"It is quite suitable as is, thank you." Rhianha said, choosing the pair of seats, her mother sat next to her.

"Do you prefer Rhianha, or is there something else I should call you? Anha? Rhi-Rhi?" Rufen asked with a professionalism meant to belie the playfulness of his question.

"Rhianha is fine." She replied. There wasn't a lot of enthusiasm in her voice, but she wasn't being passive aggressive.

"How long have you lived aboard this station?" Rufen asked.

The elder Creon cleared her throat and shook her head to say 'next question.'

"I only came aboard a few days before the Qaraqorum arrived." Rhianha said, ignoring her mother's objection.

"Do you like it here?" The Counselor asked.

"Yeah. Especially since the Starfleet engineers got here. Nothing really worked at first, except the replicators. Now there's holographics everywhere. Now it's hard to be bored." Rhianha seemed to smile unconsciously as she said her last sentence.

"Where did you live before?"

Drusilla looked at her daughter, but Rhianha gave a look that was polite, but defiant. She could handle this. "New Romulus. Adalon Settlement."

"Do you miss it?"

"I miss my friends. But the settlement was too wild. New Romulus is still in a pretty undeveloped state, it's a young planet in an early evolutionary era. Lots of megafauna and flora. I like it better here." Rhianha said. She was quiet but confident.

"Have you made many friends here?" Rufen asked the girl.

"No. Well, there's Ipae, but she's basically an adult. She seems to like working, it's basically all she does. We don't have a lot in common. She's nice though, I always end up talking to her at dinners. Everyone else at school seems to have all the friends they want already. I think some of them are scared of me." Rhianha admitted, her tone betraying her hesitance to give the information out.

"What makes you think that?" Rufen asked, leaning forward out of curiousity,

"They just go quiet when I'm around. They don't say anything and they barely talk if I speak to them." Creon told Erebar.

"Maybe they're shy? You're kind of a celebrity around here, you know. Not everyone has an Ambassador for a mother, let alone one who used to command the station." Rufen said encouragingly.

"Maybe she's what they're afraid of." Rhianha said, prompting a slow look of disapproval from her mother.

"What do you mean by that?" Rufen asked.

"She was Tal Shiar. People know it. That scares them. Romulan and Federation." Rhianha admitted.

"I was led to believe this was to be a focused discussion, not a dedicated counseling session." Drusilla interrupted.

"It's important to establish rapport, Ambassador. I want Rhianha to know that she can trust me." Rufen said.

"She'll trust you regardless, you're El-Aurian." She looked to her daughter. "We've never been able to prove it, but it's well known that they have a sort of passive quasi-telepathic ability to engender trust and openness. It's why they make such excellent con artists." Drusilla told her daughter honestly.

"I don't know about being psychic, but it's true. Listening engenders trust. Do you trust me, Rhianha?"

"No." She lied. Rhianha believed her mother thought she was telling the truth, but she found it hard to believe this unassuming man had secret rapport-building powers. She liked him.

Rufen laughed. "Exactly. Would you tell me if you knew where your knowledge of the rainbow bridge procedure came from?"

"If it got me out of here." She said.

"It will. Can you?" He asked.

"I have no idea where it came from. I heard the words and I knew. It was like something I learned at school but hadn't thought about since." Rhianha was frustrated she couldn't explain it.

"Have you ever known something like that without a reason before?" Rufen asked, leaning back in his seat once more, making a note on his padd.

"I was a natural at hoverboarding when I first tried it. I have all 252 elements memorised." Rhianha said confidently.

"You're an impressive young woman by the sounds of things, but that's all much more within the realm of possibility. Nothing you can't explain?"

"No."

"When did you first learn about this station?" Rufen asked.

"What do you mean?" Rhianha queried.

"When did you first become aware that it existed? Was it when you first came here?" Rufen clarified.

"I don't..." Rhianha seemed to stop to think about it, staring into the distance. "Wait.. when I was.. no." She looked suddenly stupefied.

"Rhianha?" Her mother asked. She had been staring silently for too long.

Rhianha snapped back to attention like she'd just woken up. She looked disturbed for a moment, but quickly returned to her settled calm.

"I'm sorry, I don't feel well." Rhianha said. On cue, a trickle of green blood began from her nose. She pinched at it and leaned her head back.

"Oh, hell." Erebar said, jumping up and racing to his nearest supply kit for some absorbent strips. He passed her one. "Let me know if I can get you anything. How are you feeling?" He looked at his padd as he took his seat again, the passive medical scanners didn't show anything dangerous, but it was enough of a reaction to tell the Counselor they needed to stop.

"I'd like to lie down." Rhianha said, holding the strip under her nose. As quickly as it had started, the bleeding stopped.

"You can have the couch." Erebar said, standing. "We'll leave you alone. That'll be all for now, I think. Lovely to meet you, Rhianha." The Counselor told her, gesturing to her mother to follow him.

When they were outside, his joyful demeanour sagged. "Has that ever happened before?" He asked the Ambassador.

"Never." Creon told him.

"I'm sorry madame ambassador, but I can't say in good conscience that she seems totally free of outside influence." Erebar said.

"And what are the consequences of your disbelief?" Creon asked, unimpressed by his assessment.

"We may need to take a closer look at her. Nothing invasive, just some scans and DNA typing. If there are any augmentations, we'll need to look at them and explore their potential consequences." Erebar explained with a polished tone of understanding.

"Over my dead body, Counselor." Creon said, sharp but polite.

"I'm sorry Llaudh Creon, but I'm just the messenger here. The suite is hers for as long as she needs. The SMH will switch on and want to take a look if she's still out of it after half an hour. I'm available if you or she want to talk about any of this. Let me know, I'll make time." Erebar said before departing.

Creon watched the El-Aurian go, then looked back through the window in the door to Rhianha, who was sitting up again. She took a tissue and blew her nose. Drusilla entered once she saw Rhianha was done with her self-care, and took her daughter arm-in-arm guiding her daughter back to the turbolift even though she didn't need it. She had not felt this level of fear for her daughter since before she was born.

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