Finding the Unexpected
Posted on Wed Nov 12th, 2025 @ 4:05am by Commander Marisa Sandoval & Lieutenant Sivek
Edited on on Mon Nov 17th, 2025 @ 11:10am
1,852 words; about a 9 minute read
Mission:
In The Nick Of Time
Location: Main Engineering - Deck 3 - USS Herodotus
Timeline: MD008 1130 hrs
Marisa had not spoken with the chief engineer since they picked him up. She wasn't even sure if Thorrin had. Regardless, he was now a part of the crew and she wanted to get to know him. So, she headed to engineering to see if he had a few moment to talk.
Sivek stood before the main power distribution console, his hands folded behind his back, studying a column of figures as they scrolled upward. His expression was neutral--it frequently was--but behind it was a small particular satisfaction--one found in the order of things, the precision of details.
Across the room, a young engineer was crouched next to an open access panel, elbow-deep in a maze of circuitry. Now and then, she'd glance up toward him, awaiting another set of instructions.
"Route the tertiary power couplings through junction seven," Sivek said without looking at her. His voice was clear and full of certainty, though mildly distracted by thought. "It will reduce plasma waste by two-point-one percent."
There was a pause, followed by the clatter of a dropped tool. "Two percent?" she asked, skeptical but far from disrespectful.
"Two-point-one," he corrected.
Sivek stepped closer to the console, keying-in a sequence of commands that produced a gentle harmonic tone from the warp manifolds. The numbers shifted. The ship--to him--felt as if it just relaxed a little more.
"An elegant system," he murmured. "But inefficiently tuned. Energy management is not unlike meditation. An imbalance in one subsystem inevitably propagates through the whole."
Rising from the floor, the woman gave a faint huff of agreement. "You talk like the warp core is alive."
Sivek considered that. "Perhaps it is," he said. "It consumes. It transforms. It resists entropy. That is more than enough to warrant respect."
"And each one is different," Marisa added, hearing the last part of the conversation. "Thus requiring individual attention." She noticed the change in sound more by the ever-so-slight change in harmonics. Her gaze flashed to the main power distribution console, then to Sivek and the other engineer. "Is this an inopportune time?"
He turned at the sound of her voice, his right hand still resting on the console as if he was reluctant to break contact with it. The woman who approached was familiar--the Herodotus' Executive Officer. Marisa Sandoval. She had been present on Limonu with Captain Thorrin and had helped to secure Sivek's 'release.'
"On the contrary, Commander," he said, nodding in acknowledgment. "This is a most opportune time. The system is stable." He glanced at her for a moment, noting her long, dark hair and the way she held herself as confidently as a tree rooted in quiet strength.
"Good." Marisa smiled. "I thought I would stop by and see how you are settling in."
Sivek nodded his head toward Marisa curtly. It was as if he required a moment to compute her statement before generating a response.
"I am... reacclimating," he said. "The rhythms of a working starship are familiar to my body, though my mind still expects confinement." He lowered his voice slightly, leaning toward Marisa. "In those hypnopompic moments--upon awaking--I find myself... disoriented in my surroundings." He paused, his voice returning to its normal volume, adding, "I'm certain that will pass in time."
"It will. The mind takes its own time to adjust." She raised an eyebrow. "Do you believe you are here to stay, or do you wonder if you will be sent back to prison? That could be part of it."
He regarded her a moment before responding. "Belief," he said at last, "is an imprecise word. But yes--if one must use it, I believe I will return to Limonu."
His gaze meandered over to a nearby monitor that had begun to populate a blob of energy distribution data. "Everything I have observed of Captain Thorrin suggests he is a man of conviction. A man to whom procedure and consequence are not suggestions, but part of a greater structure. He will see the terms of my sentence fulfilled."
"One way or another, yes." Marisa paused. "But he is also a man who will not hesitate to manipulate the rules if he disagrees with them. I am not saying he is not serious about rules and consequences. He is. But he brought you here because you are needed. If you do your job well, you will stay. It is as simple as that."
"I understand."
Sivek's eyes flickered briefly toward her. "I find it interesting," he said slowly, "that despite your half-Vulcan heritage and your adherence to logic, you retain a human naming convention."
"My father is human, so my mother felt it logical for her children to bear his surname. My first name is from my father's culture, but my second name is from my mother's." She shrugged. "My mother insisted each of her children be raised Vulcan. Once we left childhood, we could choose to explore human emotions if we wished." She shrugged." I have been told I am too emotional for a Vulcan and too logical for a human. I find that both have merit."
Sivek regarded her with a faint tilt of his head. "Then your mother practiced a kind of logic beyond doctrine," he said. "She allowed choice. That is a rarer form of discipline."
"It is. Both my parents have taught me much. My one regret in working for DTI is that my family will be told I am dead." Even though she would miss her conversations with them, she knew she belonged here.
"That is an odd paradox to accept," he said. "Serving aboard a vessel that can alter the very nature of time, yet submitting to the permanence of loss."
He moved toward the console again, his tone calm but coloured with curiosity. "It would theoretically be simple to return you to the precise moment of your departure. To erase the absence before it was ever felt. Your family would experience no grief, no passage of time, no break in continuity."
"Yes, but for that to happen, I would need to resign from the DTI." Then, considering other options, she added, "It also depends on the official story for why I cannot be contacted. Currently, I am listed as being on a deep space assignment. It is equally likely that, if I leave the Herodotus, I could simply return from that assignment." And even if she was declared dead, she could, as Sivek said, go back in time to either return from her assignment or not go at all.
Sivek's brow lifted just a fraction as Marisa finished speaking.
"A pragmatic interpretation," he said. "And a merciful one. You find comfort within paradox rather than resistance to it. That is commendable."
He stood silently for a moment, gazing at the antimatter flow readout. Then, almost imperceptibly, his posture changed. He leaned toward her, folding his hands behind his back once again, but the gesture was not entirely formal. It was much closer, almost confidential.
"There is," he began, his voice lowering, "a matter I have carried for fifteen years." Sivek paused again. "I have had no opportunity," he continued slowly, "to address it with anyone capable of understanding." He paused a third time. "You are the first Vulcan I have encountered since my incarceration who is not a prison warden, attorney, or interrogator. I hoped, perhaps, you might... accommodate a request of a personal nature."
Marisa raised an eyebrow. There was one personal matter that Vulcans rarely spoke of in front of others, and seldom amongst themselves. "I...have someone on the ship. However, you may not be aware of this, but there are holographic programs that help Vulcans in need of such accommodation. There is one such program available in the holosuite here."
Sivek blinked in the midst of the silence that grew between them. It stretched into several seconds too long to be comfortable.
"I see," he said at last. He switched his gaze from her face to another nearby display--any readout would suffice at that moment--and found himself staring at the ship's energy distribution.
"I... regret the phrasing of my request," he said, remaining neutral. "It appears I have created a misunderstanding."
He drew a slow breath and lifted his chin a little. "My intent was not--" he hesitated, searching for some precision in his wording--"of a biological or mating nature. I am not presently in the throes of pon farr, nor do I anticipate such a cycle for several years. I received injections on Limonu to inhibit these... desires."
She shook her head, mostly at her own egregious error. "It is my misunderstanding, and I again apologize." She paused willing to move past her faux pas. "I do not know many who choose Limonu. A hologram is more common; or they simply fight their way through pon farr." She gave him a half-smile. "It is a surprisingly common alternative."
Sivek nodded, knowingly. "What I intended to ask, Commander, was whether the Herodotus carries fresh gespar."
That made her laugh. It was quite a distance between what she thought he was asking and what he actually wanted to know. "No. I am afraid it does not. But the station we use as a base of sorts does."
"Of course," he said, tone softened. "Again, please accept my apologies--my phrasing was imprecise."
He looked down at the console again. "Gespar was a luxury on Limonu. The closest substitute was a fungal compound from the prison's hydroponic sector. It didn't taste like gespar." He raised an eyebrow in remembrance, adding, "Nor did it taste like anything that should have been consumed."
"That sounds...distasteful." Even prisoners had a right to decent food as far as Marisa was concerned.
Sivek's expression softened--but only slightly. He hadn't considered how long this detour in his incarceration might last and had therefore proceeded on the assumption that making friends would be a wasted pursuit. However, speaking to Marisa--this Vulcan hybrid--had him at least reevaluating that position.
"I appreciate you taking the time to come here, Commander. It is... restorative to speak plainly with another of my species."
"I appreciate that you feel comfortable enough to speak plainly," she countered. Then she smiled wryly. "Especially after my misunderstanding. And I do hope you can find a home here."
Sivek inclined his head to Marisa, a gesture that in any other species might have been a smile. "A home would be an unexpected outcome," he said evenly. "But a welcome one."
"Heraclitus said, If you do not expect the unexpected you will not find it, for it is not to be reached by search or trail." Smiling, Marisa added, "I found an unexpected home here. I believe you will as well."
A Joint Post By
Lieutenant Sivek
Chief Engineering Officer
USS Herodotus DTI-30656
Commander Marisa Sandoval
Executive Officer
USS Herodotus DTI-30656
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