Post 365: Someday You Will Find Me Part Two

Stardate:70809.0200
Title: Someday You Will Find Me, Part Two
Author: Zanh Liis
Scene: Arboretum
Time: Following Part One
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His genuine concern that perhaps she didn't drink because of some hidden, classified medical condition that he may need to be aware of for the future gave him just cause to pry. "Why not?"

"You're the former spy turned command level headshrinker slash supervising physician, you tell me." She gestured toward him with her fork, and nodded once. "This really is great, by the way."

"Glad you approve," he replied absently, as his mind flipped through the information he had read about her.

Traumatic childhood. Wartime service and injury. Her hazardous prior profession as a TI "Jumper"- a term that she herself had coined for the department right after she began working with them.

"If I were to hazard a guess," he began, as he tried to keep up with her rapidly fluctuating emotional signals as they screamed at him empathically."Perhaps it was something you did. . .frequently. At some point in time. A long time ago."

He sensed now that she was impressed not only by his instincts but also by his tact.

"I've lived what you could call several different lifetimes." She explained. "And in one much younger and stupider one, I thought that I could find the answers in a bottle. Fortunately, I caught myself before my twenty-something immaturity cost everything. It's funny, you know," she shook her head, "but the timeline that happened in? It was completely erased when we managed to correct the error that I was sent to fix. So in effect, it never happened at all. But the experience stayed with me, and so I just don't touch the stuff- not even synthahol. I appreciate the sentiment though, and I would definitely toast with you to celebrate your new position aboard the Indy if I had a cup of coffee to do it with."

"I understand. Thank you, Captain." He wondered how many other such 'experiences' had stayed with her, as well.

"But hey, don't let me stop you. You go right ahead, enjoy it. I don't mind in the least."

"If you insist." He poured a glass and took one sip, then set it down."What was it that you were trying to find at the bottom of that bottle?"

"You are bold, aren't you?" This clearly was a man who was sure of himself and confident in his skills. He was going to keep her on her toes.

"Have to be. Do you think people just volunteer things to me as their doctor, or as a counselor? No. I have to draw them out. Get them to open up."

"Gain their trust,"

"Exactly!"

"Well, if you really want to begin to gain my trust, we should get one thing straight then, right from the get-go."

"O-kay." Suddenly he didn't like the direction this conversation was headed in. . .
"If you choose to use our surveillance equipment to listen in on my private conversations ever again. . ."

*Uh oh.* He thought, perhaps he might have considered that impulsive decision more carefully.

". . .you'll be glad there are other doctors on this ship. Because it will take at least two of them to extricate my boot from your keister. Understood?"

He cleared his throat. Her tone was definitely commanding, but she injected just enough humor into the phrasing to make sure he knew that she was letting him off easily. This time.

"Don't get me wrong. Sneaky can be a very useful professional skill, if called for. I'll remember that you have the propensity, might come in handy someday. Just be careful how you use that talent in the meantime."

"Understood, Sir." He nodded, and raised his glass. "To Zanh Liis: a woman who knows exactly how to turn a phrase with skill and clarity."

"Back at you," she began, raising an imaginary glass into the air. "To Doctor David McKenna, a man who knows just how far his charm, and a very well timed Italian dinner, can take him."

"Cheers." He tilted his glass toward her and then took one more sip.

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Zanh Liis
Acting CO
USS Independence NCC-90791