Reporting in
Posted on Wed Apr 9th, 2025 @ 7:07pm by Captain Thorrin & Lieutenant Addison Talbert
Edited on on Sat Apr 12th, 2025 @ 12:27am
2,507 words; about a 13 minute read
Mission:
Like Sands Through The Hourglass
Location: Ready Room - Deck 1 - USS Herodotus
Timeline: MD002 0900 hrs
Before she went to report in to Captain Thorrin. Addison made some preparations. In one pocket, Addison placed a medical tricorder, just in case she would need it, in another, Addison tucked in a polished piece of Amazonite. If going by what she had studied about the energy of stones, Amazonite was a symbol of peace, truth, harmony and communication, and also hope. The stone was also a piece of home, for the colony she was from was named after the stone. It was what she had been told, when she was old enough to understand. One more glance in the mirror, Addison made her way to the lift.
The lift doors closed behind her, "Deck One" she uttered and was swept up to the bridge. The lift stopped, her heart rate quickened as Addison stepped out, her boots not making any sound.
She paused at the railing which over looked the rest of the bridge, gazing around, memories of other bridges surfacing from the depths of her mind, especially a certain one, the SS Panacea, one she had been in command of when her husband had died. One more glance, around the bridge, feeling goosebumps rise on her arms, Addison moved towards the ready room and pressed the chime.
Thorrin had begun to read daily reports on the timeline. He had Tarian compile them. With the doctor boarding and their pilot en route he thought it best to get to know what was out there. They would embark on their first mission together soon. He was deep in thought on the state of the Krenim throughout all universes when the door chime went off. "Do come in..." He spoke to the door in an accent that dripped with honey and butter. A sip of his ever present amontillado followed.
That voice with its melodic southern cadence, Addison could have sworn she detected the citrusy sweet scent of magnolias in full bloom on a warm summer night, when she stepped inside the ready room. A quick scan, there were none there, no magnolias only Captain Thorrin seated behind his desk enjoying a drink. His accent, reminded her of the visit she had made down south. She didn't know what part of the South his accent was from but it was pleasant.
"Greetings Captain Thorrin." Addison's voice having a slight Texan accent.
"Good afternoon Doctor. Welcome aboard the Herodotus. Please have a seat. May I interest you in a glass of amontillado. I trust your journey to Kok Station and this vessel by extension was a safe and enjoyable one." Thorrin had read the doctor's file and although she was a more than competent doctor. He did have some reservations about someone who was so fascinated with time being aboard this ship. The power this ship held could be hypnotic to one such as that. Not to mention whatever Jerimiah would offer. However, he pushed those thoughts aside as he had to give the woman a chance, feel her out as it were.
"Yes please" Addison replied to Thorrin's offer of the amontillado. "The journey was uneventful, and it gave me time to catch up on some reading. "Addison settling herself into the offered seat. An easy smile graced her lips, a genuine warmth in her blue eyes. "The drink you have offered, reminds me of a short story by Edgar Allen Poe, 'The Cask of Amontillado' she didn't feel uncomfortable with his assessing glance, she was doing much the same to him, trying to get a read upon Thorrin. He was attractive, could be seen that he had the manners of a gentleman. His accent, Addison still couldn't ascertain as of yet its origin. Not Texan, her roots were from Texas. Eyes that had seemed to have seen a lot in his lifetime.
Thorrin poured the glass and slid it across the desk. He assessed the woman in front of him as he did so. This was something that he did to everyone he recruited to the ship. However, there was a difference here. The doctor was the first to have a family, children to say the very least. He sipped his wine, sat back down and leaned back in his chair. "Tell me doctor. Why would you accept this assignment. I know you have been made aware that so long as you are serving here you are dead to the rest of the galaxy. It seems to me to be a sidestep of sorts for a young woman, who has an entire career and life ahead of her. We will see and do things that no one else will ever get to see or do, of that there is no doubt. But, the rest of my crew myself included has nothing to look forward to. So that begs the question what brings you here?"
An interesting question, on which Addison contemplated on, her thoughts went back to how she ended up here and the choice or choices she had made. Addison picked up the amontillado taking a sip allowing it to nestle upon her tongue to savour all of the flavours before she swallowed it, lowering her glass, "I felt that this was the choice I needed to make, the best choice I could truly make. I felt I was at a crossroad in my life where I needed to make a change, therefore I chose to accept the conditions that were presented to me." another sip from her glass before she answered the next part. "I wish to continue to learn, to gain knowledge and update my knowledge as to healing others. Plus maybe I can gain some insight as to what happened to me when I was 14. That has been a mystery that has puzzled me for sometime."
Thorrin of course knew of the event that she spoke of. He had read it in her file. However, it was not something that needed to be discussed at the moment. In truth everyone on this vessel himself included had something to correct or investigate through time. It was his job to make sure that no one altered anything. "The knowledge you speak of. There will of course be a lot to learn and to see. However, you know that you will never be able to share this knowledge outside of the DTI. You see as a member of this crew you are here until you die or no longer choose to be here whichever comes first. If it is the latter that comes first your mind will be wiped of all your experiences and the people you have met. You will be returned to your life with slight amnesia of the time you were missing. The knowledge of what we do here is that secretive, it is critical above all else that it never be known. I say this to you to make sure that it is something you can live with. For if it is not we can part ways now and you will have no memory of this meeting." Thorrin sipped his wine again. As with everyone else that had been recruited she must be made to understand exactly what it was she got into.
Addison sipped at the wine once more, recalling the story she had mentioned when she stepped inside Thorrin's ready room. 'The Cask of Amontillado' where in the end, a person found themselves sealed up behind a wall left to die. This agreement joining the crew of this ship, the DTI, was by far more preferable in regards to the ending of that story, or in her case meeting her doom against the stony wall of a mountain. Addison might not be able to share what she learned with anyone else outside of this ship. She had no one she could even share this with. And she didn't want to either. With the secrecy of knowledge, if a person ever found out, too many calamities could happen, a butterfly effect.
Addison contemplated the wine glass, looking into the wine itself, then raised her eyes towards his, a look of determination and an unwavering decisiveness. "Captain Thorrin, I assure you this is something that I do want. The other alternative isn't something I would want. If I were to be taken back to the time I was taken in by the DTI, I wouldn't be alive as far as I know. I wouldn't even be asking if I could be sent back in time and have a tweak to the situation I was facing. It just wouldn't feel right to do that, not for me. This," she gestured with her left hand while she held the wine in her right hand, in general towards the Herodotus, "This is something that I can live with, as I am alive and can keep up my learning, as well as keep the crew healthy as best as I can." she raised the wine glass to sip at the last amount of the amontillado, savoring its flavor. "This is very good."
"Very well then. Welcome to the Herodotus. There are a few things medically you should be aware of going into this assignment. The Chief Security, the Temporal Operations Officer and myself are all El Aurian. As such we are susceptible to Temporal Psychosis. After each time jump we are going to have to be evaluated for symptoms. Our Chief Engineer is a Lanthanite and has a similar connection to the timestream as we El Aurians, so she will have to be checked as well. Lastly and perhaps most importantly is our pilot. M'Ressa is a resident of another universe. As such she suffers from Temporal Necrosis. She will come see you monthly for a months supply of medication and self administer. So, as you can see there is going to be quite a lot of work for you on this ship." Thorrin sipped the wine and relished in the taste. She was not wrong this was a quite a good Amontillado. "As for the wine. I have an extensive cellar under lock and key."
A smile, a nod, "I can't say I blame you if you've got your own collection of delicious wines" Addison still having the taste of the wine upon her tongue. "Now for another matter, before we do go on a mission I am compiling scans on the crew to have a comparison. Much like you had mentioned, keeping track of how everyone is before and after is very important. I have brought a medical tricorder to take a scan of you, unless you prefer to have it done in medical."
"I wondered when you were going to get to that. There is not much if anything that gets past me. Go ahead and take the scan. But in the future my dear doctor lead with the obvious." Thorrin took the last sip of the wine that he had in his cup. "I will add that all the medical records for the crew will be made available up until the moment they died or disappeared. As for M'Ressa the DTI will release the entire medical workup that was done at headquarters when she was found."
A lopsided smile from Addison, at Thorrin calling her out, "Yes Captain, I will make certain to lead with that next time. Time is of the essence." the smile slipped away in response as to M'Ressa. "I am grateful that her records, as well as the others records will be available. It will help to keep track of changes that will occur. " Addison rose from her chair to walk to the right side of Thorrin's desk, pulling out the medical tricorder from her pocket. She entered in the details of who the scan belonged to, unhooked the hand held scanner to run it over Thorrin from head to toe.
Addison was quiet, listening to the whirring and humming and the rhythmic beep of the device as it took its reading of Captain Thorrin.
Being up close to Thorrin while the scan was running, Addison became even more aware of his presence, his muscular physique-the very essence of him could be rather intimidating. That made her heart skip a beat. Thorrin exuded a great deal of confidence, the feeling of him being able to take charge of a situation. And yet looking at his eyes, even though they were semi cloaked in mystery, Addison felt there was more to him.
Addison wasn't getting any sense of-wanting to run away screaming. She wasn't a telepath nor an empath like other races, still though, she knew how to read a person. Somewhat. A observational skill that a doctor needed to check for signs of illness or distress. While the hand scanner did its job, she was making her own assessment. The tricorder beeped, indicating that Addison was done scanning Thorrin.
Looking at the data, Addison smiled. "There, it is done and you have been logged in. Thank you Captain Thorrin, everything checks out, and you are in good health." A pause before she moved from his side, "Your name reminds me of a character's name from a rather famous classic book. The Hobbit. Thorin Oakenshield." in her mindseye Addison added his hair being longer, down to his shoulders. He could fit the description of Thorin Oakenshield. Once on the other side of the desk, Addison stayed standing, gazing at Thorrin.
Thorin smiled as she stepped back around the deck. He poured himself another glass of wine. "There you see the epitome of perfect health. Comes from all the wine. As for the name... My dear doctor where to you think Mr Tolkien came up with that." The tone in his voice was one that said he could be serious or he could be making it up. One just didn't know. "Now, in the parlance of this beloved fleet of ours. You are dismissed."
One more look in Thorrin's eyes, Addison gave a nod. With El Aurians, one never knew as to whether they could be the source of inspiration for writers, artists, and dreamers. What little she knew of the race, one never knew. She did like the possibility of Thorrin having been an inspiration to Tolkien. "Thank you Captain." Addison turning to leave, giving a backward glance towards Thorrin as she exited. In her mind a song played, it being haunting and beautiful. Misty Mountain (Cold) was the title. She made her way to the turbo lift, took one more look towards the ready room door, then the bridge before the door closed. As the lift headed to deck 4, a question came to mind. What will happen next? She answered her own question. Only time will tell.
A Joint Post By
Captain Thorrin
Commanding Officer
USS Herodotus DTI-30656
Lieutenant Addison Talbert
Chief Medical Officer
USS Herodotus DTI-30656
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