Tablusa Rasa, Part 2

Posted on Thu 28th Feb, 2019 @ 12:31am by

672 words; about a 3 minute read

Mission: A Diplomatic Affair
Location: SB109 Security Cells
Timeline: MD 1, Mid-day Meal

Previously ...

"You know the old saying about curiosity and cats? I wouldn't want to be the cause of your expiring and being blamed for another murder I didn't commit, so ask your questions, and I'll tell you what you want to hear," Zelda said, shrugging.

And now the conclusion.

Isabella laughed at Zeldas' colloquium. "If I had a strip of latinum for all the times that has been said to me." The security chief moved closer to Zelda and softened her voice a bit. She reached over and placed her hand on Zelda's knee. "Zelda, who are you really?" she asked, trying to place as much sensitivity she could in her voice.

The question surprised the woman. "Zelda Alegari. I'm sure you've taken blood samples and run them through your databases. My father's name was Simon Alegari. I never knew my mother, not even a wispy child's memory of perfume or hair color. My father was a freighter captain, trying to eke out a living in the fringe worlds of the oh-so-marvelous Federation."

Bitterness seeped into her voice as she concluded. "A pirate attack killed him when I was 19 - I had just started college on an outback colony world, because it was cheap there. His freighter stopped in twice a year with trade goods, ... but I never saw him again, once I left the ship. He thought an education was important for me."

Glancing at the security officer, she added sarcastically, "He thought it would take me far. Wouldn't he be surprised to see me here, the farthest thing from what he imagined?"

Ignoring her last statement and question, Isabella pressed forward with her questions. "College huh? What were you majoring in?"

"Botany," Zelda answered immediately. "There's something magical about plants, don't you think?" Her voice was enthusiastic, and also held a touch of wonder. "You take a tiny little seed, and some of them are very tiny, you know. You put it in the right environment, and it may grow a mountain of a tree! Or it could be a forest wildflower no bigger across that half a centimeter. It's ... miraculous, really."

"Every year I buy a Bonsai tree, and every year I kill a Bonsai tree. They are so beautiful and so delicate. I try my best to take care of the little tree as if it is a child. a baby from my own body. But somehow, I end up hurting them." Isabella reached over to the tray and took another grape and popped it into her mouth. Picking up the bowl, she offered it to Zelda, hoping she would take a couple.

Zelda shook her head. "I don't actually like squishy food." She looked over the tray, but she was really nervous about trying anything on it, so she pushed it farther away and went back to the question of Bonsai trees.

"It might not be you. There are insects which lay eggs in the roots of Ficus Bonsai, for instance. You may have bought the tree with them, and then they developed. What are the symptoms." She spoke absently, visualizing the tree, but feeling a sense of loss. That's where she had meant to spend her life, with seeds and trees and flowers and vegetables ... and here she was. Where had she gone wrong?

"The tree dries ups and becomes brittle to the touch," Isabella said matter of factly and with some sadness in her voice. "I always need some major help to help the little tree survive." The Security Chief really could not keep any of her plants alive. No matter how much attention she gave them. She always had to have someone else come in and help.

"Do you ever need help like that Zelda?" Isabella asked the woman sitting across from her.

"Getting things to grow?" Alegari scoffed, deliberately obtuse. "Never. I have an affinity for plants - or they for me, I'm not sure exactly who's the impetus in the relationship. Nothing I touch ever dies."

 

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