Interlude part 6

Posted on Sun Dec 27th, 2020 @ 9:23am by Ensign Evelyn Moro & Lieutenant Aemilia "Millie" Stepanova

"It's just my father now. He's still working in the accounting division on the 133th floor. My mom died a few years ago so I don't think he'll retire anytime soon. The work gives him something to think about other than an empty house. I call him a few times a week and check on him." Marcy took a long sip. "He's very proud of my position."

There was a soft wrinkle at the corner of Millie's eyes. "When was the last time you got to see him?"

"I saw him three months ago for his birthday. We had dinner at his favorite Glintarian restaurant."

Millie smiled. "I am glad. James--he doesn't seem like the type to grant personal time."

"He didn't. But he was...occupied with a girl of the week for a few hours."

Millie nodded in understanding. That made far more sense. "I gather that's a regular occurrence?" She took a sip of her mimosa.

"I sometime think of myself as a madame with a retirement plan. He sees them, I have to investigate their background, approach, and secure."

"Ugh. That's just..." Millie gave a sympathetic chuckle. "Granted, I could have used your help a while back. My friends make for horrible matchmakers."

"Do you think your friend is worrying about you vanishing on her?"

Millie gave a quiet sigh. "She just got done spending the last two months hacking Patricia's Intel account and was able to convince Trish's husband AND the Captain to send a rescue mission out looking for us. Evelyn just got me back--I'm sure she's horribly worried."

"He was frantic when the two of you dropped out of sight. Noone in Starfleet knew where you were. We checked."

"I'm not sure that we knew, either. We were ambushed during our travels and crashed-landed. Lost half the shuttle on the way down. Trish broke her leg in the crash, and it took 2 days for Sickbay to clear the radiation damage from the system's sun out of my body." Millie took a bite of melon. "I wasn't kidding this morning about cooking snake."

Marcy crinkled her nose in disgust. "Well here comes our food. No reptiles, I promise."

Millie gave a smirk. "So, you had to go searching for us?"

"He ordered me to shake down every contact we had."

There was a pause. "Define 'shake down', Marcy."

"Bribe, extort, threaten...the usual."

"Well, if Starfleet didn't know of this little arrangement before, they do now." Millie downed the rest of her mimosa in one shot.

"Millie, my employers have owned your employers longer than we've been alive many times over."

The counselor gave a quiet sigh. "There was a time when I rather enjoyed being a name that nobody recognized. Turning down a spot at the Bolshoi was more attention than I ever wanted. But now--the Klingon ambassador to Earth dotes on me, I'm negotiating a cultural exchange with Vulcan, I've had two first contacts, and now your boss has heads of Starfleet looking into me?"

Marcy shrugged slightly. "We're only dealt the cards, we don't own the casino."

Millie gave an appreciative nod to the waitress as she brought Millie a fresh mimosa. "Now, we just have to convince James that you are ready for a seat at the high rollers table."

Marcy gave a slight nod as she caught the waitress's eye for a fleeting moment then took a sip of her own drink.

"Well, here's to a seat at the big table," Millie raised her mimosa in a bit of a toast, "and maybe building a friendship from our predicament."

Marcy clinked the glass. "Indeed."

Millie took a sip of her drink. "Now, the next step is to convince him that you likely have a better knowledge of the company's inner-workings than he does."

"Let's slow down, I don't need sent to the re-education centers," Marcy chuckled but stopped quickly as Millie's fork clattered to the plate below.

Millie's brow furrowed. She took a sharp breath in, reaching for her glass and taking another drink.

"Are you alright?" Marcy put her glass down, watching Millie from across the table.

"I--" Millie took in a shallow breath. "I can't--" As she tried to set her glass down, the base of the flute caught on the edge of her plate and the glass tipped over, spilling the remaining drink across the tablecloth.

Marcy quickly stood, moving to Millie's side. "It's okay, keep calm. Some help here?" She looked to the waitress who brought a glass of water and took the other glass away. "Here...sip this and breathe through your nose, nice and deep."

"My chest--" Millie gasped. As she reached for the glass, her other hand instinctively grasped Marcy's arm, whether for physical support or emotional.

"Just drink, it'll be okay." Marcy helped steady the glass of water for her.

Millie took a wheezy breath, putting the glass to her lips and drinking. She took in another raspy breath.

"There you go. Nice and steady." When the water was gone she kept her hand on Millie's shoulder. "Panic attack. I've seen it happen before."

"But--" Millie put a hand on her chest, as trying to will her lungs trying to cooperate, "I've never--"

"You've just spent months in a jungle. You can't tell when that will brew up out of nowhere. But you're gonna be fine now." She gave a reassuring smile.

Millie gave a shaky nod. "Perhaps--" Her breath was deeper this time. "Perhaps I have been pushing myself too fast too soon, da?"

"Why don't we head back so you can rest?"

Millie nodded. "Perhaps we can convince the gondola operators to let us off at the top."

Marcy nodded, helping Millie to her feet. "Let's not mention this to Mr. Nadall, you know how he worries. If he hears about this he'll have a dozen doctors poking and prodding you."

She nodded once again. "I'm sure he has more information about my medical history than Starfleet itself. Give him anything else, and he'll start finding long-lost relatives."

Lieutenant JG Aemilia "Millie" Stepanova
Chief Counselor, USS Mercutio