Vura And Edmund Talk Part I
Posted on Thu Dec 21st, 2023 @ 9:01am by Lieutenant Vura & Captain Edmund Merrick
Edited on on Sat Dec 23rd, 2023 @ 8:58pm
0 words; about a 1 minute read
Mission:
Episode 15 - The Evil That Lies Beneath
Location: Chief Counselor's Office - Deck 5 - USS Pioneer
Timeline: MD001 2100 hours
Edmund took one more lingering look around the transformed cargobay, then left the small piece of Paradise. As much as he wanted to linger longer, Merrick felt that there were things to talk to Vura about. He waited for Vura to catch up with him, just outside in the corridor.
Vura did not need a reason to talk to Edmund. She enjoyed his company too much. Besides, he had never reported to her and she was getting a little antsy about it. There was a brief temptation for her to put her hand inside his but she held herself back out of respect for both Edmund, she did not want to risk his mental state further, and his paramour, Rowena. She also wanted to know what the glances exchanged with Rowena were. Something was wrong and she was going to be there to help.
Cooing, Vura told him, in a sultry voice, "Edmund, darling, I do think that this is a bit too public for us, don't you? Mayhaps you come back to my place? At least my professional one...?"
Edmund flashed an amused smile at Vura's flirtation "I agree it is best to go to your counselor's office. Shall we?" He almost held out his elbow towards her, then realized that wouldn't be a nice thing to do, due to their first initial encounter. This time, he would have to resist his gentlemanly way of offering his elbow.
Vura led the way in silence, having noted Edmund's arm wanting to move out to allow her to take his arm. If only he were Deltan. I might allow myself to forget...to move on.... Mentally, she sighed wistfully to herself, hoping that Llaxia was nowhere near to telepathically hear any of this in her mind.
Once they arrived at the Counselor's office, the smell of lavender filled her nostrils from the plants at the entrance. She took a seat on the couch and gave Edmund a coy smile. "So, do we do this the easy way or the hard way?"
"Where would you like to begin? Ask questions and I'll answer. Just so I know where to start." Edmund taking a seat upon the single chair not too far from the couch but just enough away as well.
Resting her elbow into the couch cushion, she leaned on her arm and sighed lamentably. "So, hard way, then?" she quipped. "Well, when last we left off, you had prevented me from chasing after you. We were talking about you saving Rowena, your paramour. I wanted to investigate with you and you did something that rarely happens to a counselor, let alone Deltan." She pouted. "You told me 'no.' You promised that you would get back to me, but I've heard nothing. Why not?"
"Well, I actually became busy during the shore leave as I had stated. I went on the date with Wena." A soft smile crossed his lips, then it slipped away. "Before that happened though, she showed me the hand prints upon her back as well as her arm. It sent a chill over me. However, that isn't going to deter me from doing any other investigation. Besides that, I had gone around and set up some meetings with the various departments from both Poseidon as well as the Pioneer. Both Intelligence as well as security. I met the Chief of Security as well as his assistant chief of security, Lieutenant Jali Andloch." He rose from the chair and looked towards the replicator, "I am going to get a glass of water. Would you like one as well?"
"Water is so bland," her tone playful and light. "You should know I always want something more exciting by now, Edmund. Honestly, we still need to talk about noticing women more, though it seems you've been noticing a lot more lately.... Wena, indeed. Sounds like an eventful shore leave. Something we'll definitely have to talk about more but first things first...."
She pressed her lips together with a musical hum. "Well, if you're getting me a drink, I should think I'll have a Samarian Sunset."
Edmund went to order her drink then got his own, this time adding a slice of lemon. He walked over and handed the Samarian Sunset to Vura. "Indeed, it was an eventful shore leave. I even, as I had stated, met my former CO from when she was an admiral. Cara is now a Commander and part of the Command Staff of SB 50. I had asked her why she was a commander now and she was rather tight-lipped about it, though Cara had a teasing glint in her eyes as she stated that she wasn't going to say anything about the why," he told Vura with a fond smile playing on his lips. "It was lovely to see her happier than what she'd been in a long while."
Graciously, Vura accepted her drink, carefully making certain her fingers did not touch Edmund's. How to approach things without breaching patient confidentiality, Vura wondered. "So what did she tell you about the mark on her arm?" And did she go see the doctor, as I asked her?
"She just wanted to let me know as to how things were and to tell me what she is experiencing as a prelude to our date. Yes, she did tell me about the mark on her arm, we discussed as per the experience during the mission. Unfortunately, I've not been able to explore that shuttle we were on like I had hoped. Also, where the mark of the arm was concerned that is when she showed me the other mark which was on her shoulder. What Wena was telling me, I believe her. " Edmund then having taken a seat back on the single chair, he took a drink of his lemon water.
"Wena, definitely a cute nickname. So, what did she tell you?" Vura pressed gently.
"That she was feeling like she was possessed and that she's had this sensation before, and her feelings had been brushed off as to hallucinations. She mentioned that an entity had connected to her, it did give me great concern as something did happen when we were on that mission, as I had mentioned before. She mentioned that perhaps there needed to be an exorcist to come and help. She did tell me that she was working on that angle." Edmund leaning back in his chair, crossing one leg over the other.
"What do you think?" Vura wondered aloud. "I saw how you were looking at her in the briefing."
"There is something going on, and she gave me some information as to her investigating. I still don't know if I have the right to share but as I said, I believe her. I am just worried, she has a lot going through her mind. The Maleficus, the ship she was on. I hadn't looked up what it was dealing with what it dealt with." Edmund taking another sip of his water.
"I'm worried, too, Edmund. Both for her and now you. This is a lot at the beginning of a relationship. I want to help." She sighed and then took a long sip of her drink. "You told me that you would come back with information and I don't know that this is sufficient. I may have to do more on my own now."
The Counselor heaved a heavy sigh, hoping that whatever she decided to do did not injure her relationship with Edmund. She cared about him too much. However, too many facts were falling into place for her and she had to take some sort of action.
"I am stepping into this relationship with Rowena with eyes wide open. Hopefully it works out. All I can do is take things one step at a time," Edmund replied. "Have you ever had a paranormal experience? I have and it saved my life," he informed Vura, as he drained his glass. "I am sorry that what I came to you with isn't enough information to satisfy you. I am treading carefully here without revealing anything that could be classified." Edmund for some reason was feeling slightly out of sorts and he didn't know why it was so.
"And that is part of the problem, Edmund. I may need that classified information." She pursed her lips together. "Like you, I believe that something is wrong and I'm piecing it together. Unfortunately, I cannot share more than that. If I did, this ship would be one Deltan shorter." Uncharacteristically, she completely drained her drink without savoring it at all.
"Promise me that you will be careful, Edmund...."
"I will be careful, but you've not answered my question. Have you ever had a paranormal experience?" Edmund was rather curious about that. And Vura seemed to be dancing around the question.
"I have seen strange things but nothing that eventually could not be explained," Vura admitted. "Magic and the paranormal have one thing in common. They are things that we cannot explain. It does not mean that they can't. It just means we do not have the answer right now."
Edmund gave a nod at that answer. "All right then, fair enough answer." He looked at his now empty glass, "I think that I had best go. I've got a thank you note or two to send off to Cara and Mickey." Edmund lowering his leg to the floor in preparation to stand up. He looked at Vura. "You be careful as well. And the things that Rowena had told me were confidential and personal. And I do not feel that I needed to talk about everything that she and I had spoken about," he informed Vura, putting his hands upon his knees, Edmund stood up.
Vura was not certain who Cara and Mickey were but she gave him a simple nod of acknowledgment. Vura could not tell Edmund that much of what he told her, she had already heard from Rowena's own mouth. She wanted to reassure him, reach out to him, or maybe something more; however, she knew she could not and would not. "No, of course not. Nor should you. Something must remain solely between significant others."
She looked away for a moment, swallowed heavily, and then plastered a smile back on her face as she faced Edmund. "I'm really happy for you. I know how hard it is for you to open yourself to the potential of love again."
"You didn't get much of a shore leave besides our encounter did you. I seem to recall you mentioning something to that effect." It not being lost on him as to her reactions towards the current subject. "You didn't allow yourself to get refreshed in some aspect. Not even going down to the planet below Poseidon Station?"
"I had some breaks. I met a lot of interesting people. I also had to work. My job is never, well, fully completed." She shrugged. "It keeps me active and engaged."
Edmund gazed at Vura for a few moments, then decided to sit back down, instead of leaving. "Look the reason why I haven't said much of what Rowena had told me, if someone tells me something in confidence, I keep quiet about it. However, perhaps we could talk about it. Especially since you may know the same information that she told you? I though feel as if I am betraying her confidence as well." Edmund went quiet for a moment as he considered the next words he was going to say.
The Deltan looked down at the floor, avoiding Edmund's gaze. Morosely she told him, "I don't have the privilege of telling you anything that Rowena might or might not have said to me in a professional setting, Edmund."
She shuffled her feet and then sat up for a moment. "If I could be convinced there was a danger to the ship or to herself, that might be a different story. But, it isn't. Not unless she let me or we talked together." She moved a little closer to Edmund, "If you thought it was difficult being a Deltan, try being a counselor."
"Having been in security is also difficult. Vura, what she told me was of the ship she used to be on, as I had mentioned, USS Maleficus a ship dealing with the Paranormal, and as she had put it, it was special ops of a sort. And wasn't something of common knowledge. She told me how that ship no longer exists and how those that used to be part of the crew had mysteriously disappeared or had died. She told me she was the last of the crew. She also told me about the handprints - how they appeared when she had first arrived on the Pioneer. No one had abused her, nor hurt her as she's not been in a relationship for a long while."
After stating that part, Edmund rose up to get another drink, this time not water, but scotch. "Would you like another Samarian Sunset?" looking over his shoulder towards Vura.
A Joint Post By
Captain Edmund Merrick
The Cure Executive Officer, USS Pioneer
Lieutenant Vura
Chief Counselor, USS Pioneer
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