Post 263: Seeing Ghosts

Stardate:70629.1500
Title: Seeing Ghosts
Author: Lair Kellyn
Scene: Seven Time: Following "Babies, Me?" By TC Blane
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"May I have another kava roll, Oko-mekh? Please?" Lair Arie made circle after circle around the elaborately constructed dessert station. She seemed to pick up speed with each pass.

Her mother reached out and held her back by the arm just before she bumped into TC Blane. He was carrying a plate laden with all manner of pastry and sweetened confection. Kellyn smiled at Blane apologetically as he side-stepped the near collision and went back to his table.

"No you may not. You are already bouncing off the walls. If you think I'm letting you have another speck of sugar today you're kidding yourself." Kellyn frowned at the child. "You are still in trouble for sneaking out last night and waking poor N'Dura. We are going to have a talk about that later, make no mistake. You'd have been grounded to quarters already if not for the ceremony."

Arie ignored the part about her forthcoming disciplinary hearing. "What if I eat some lamila root stew first? With rinta milk on the side? Then can I have a chocolate disk cake instead of a kava roll?"

"No way, no how. Not even if you drank a liter of milk."

"Osa-mekh," Arie spoke sweetly, turning toward Salvek. She knew that of her two parents, if she was going to be allowed to get away with something, Salvek would be the one to give in to her. As unlikely as it seemed he had a definite soft spot where his daughter was concerned.

He was staring out the window, watching the stars go past as they continued in orbit of Bajor. His plate of food was still in his hands, untouched since his wife had handed it to him.

"Don't even try it, little woman. Your father isn't going to let you have any more junk food, either." Kellyn warned.

Arie tugged on Salvek's tunic. "Osa-mekh, I am speaking to you! Did you not hear me?" She folded her arms disapprovingly, showing clearly the Bajoran side of her make up as she threatened to break into a full-fledged temper fit if he didn't look at her soon. She stood on her tip toes and tried again. "Father!"

Salvek startled and looked down at the child. "I am sorry. I did not hear you. What is the matter?"

Arie began to plead her case, and Kellyn held up her hand to interrupt. She didn't get to interject her thoughts on the matter though, because she felt a hand tap her on the shoulder and turned around.

"Well, hello there, stranger."

Kellyn dropped her plate. Food and pieces of the china dish covered her boots and the carpeting.

"Oh, my." She thought she must be seeing a ghost. "Can't be."

Dr. Ashlyn Trind bent down beside the Bajoran, grabbing a handful of napkins from the buffet table nearby and starting to blot up the mess.

"Oh, but it is." she smiled broadly. "It's so good to see you, Kellyn."

Too stunned to react, Kellyn just stared at the long-lost friend she had thought she would never see again. The Trill finished cleaning up the mess efficiently and after wiping her hands off, she turned back to the engineer.

"Lair Kellyn is speechless. Will wonders never cease?" Ashlyn's arms were now around Kellyn, hugging tightly. "Look at you! Has it really been almost a decade since your wedding? And they said it wouldn't last."

She teased a little about the long-shot relationship between the mild, wise Vulcan and the hot-blooded, hot-tempered Bajoran. A relationship which she had observed rise up from ground level during construction. "I heard that you adopted a child- is that Arie?"

"Yes. Oh, wow. This is- but when did you- how did?" Kellyn stammered and Ashlyn giggled.

"Don't hurt yourself, Sweetie! I know a lot has happened since," she paused, "Since. We'll have to work on all that catching up. I'm here on special assignment to help with the away teams, in case there are any signs of post traumatic stress or,"

Kellyn grabbed Ashlyn's sleeve and pulled her a good ten feet farther away from her husband and daughter. She seemed almost panicked.

"Did you say you're here to perform counselor duties? Because we're still missing our Tues."

"Yes," warning bells sounded in Ashlyn's head as the tone of Kellyn's voice changed so dramatically. "Why?"

"Thank the stars," Kellyn leaned forward and whispered into Ashlyn's ear.

"Something is wrong." She indicated Salvek with a nod of her head. "He's been changed by this mission. I can't get him to tell me what happened. No one else would know it to look at him. But." Kellyn's eyes darkened with sadness. "I know it."

"He didn't recognize me when I reported for duty on the surface." Ashlyn confided. "I thought that was strange. I know it's been years, but I did stand up in your wedding. What specifically bothers you about his behavior?"

"He won't meld with me." Kellyn whispered. "It's been more than ten years since our first one and in that time there has only been one other span during which he refused. But that was different. He was protecting me from things I was not yet meant to know," She thought of Zanh Liis, Temporal Investigations and how both had complicated her life and marriage for years. "This is not that. It's like he's just closed himself off, even from me. I can't stand it."

"It sounds as if he's retreated fully into his logic." Ashlyn watched as across the room, Arie tried and failed to hold her father's attention. "He's running from something."

"I don't know what your counseling schedule looks like, but please, do us a favor. . ." Kellyn clutched Trind's arm as if holding on for dear life. "If you're prioritizing distressed people to talk to- put Salvek at the top of your list."

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Lt. Commander Lair Kellyn
Engineering Officer
USS Independence NCC-90791