Sibling Support

Posted on Sat 7th Apr, 2018 @ 4:17pm by

700 words; about a 4 minute read

Mission: Brushfires
Location: Orchids & Jazz, Deck 600
Timeline: MD 4, 2200

Previously on Starbase 109:

"Yeah, but I'm here with you now, Bells."

And now the Conclusion:

Henry stood straight up as he could and looked over to Jade. "Sorry Jade, didn't mean to turn into a weeping willow within the first five minutes of meeting you."

Quietly, Jade had watched the siblings interact. She'd seen the love and the compassion passing between them. "No need to apologize. It seems to me there's plenty to weep over. 1/3 of your crew complement would be ... 200 people? I'm so sorry for your losses." Lantz couldn't actually say she didn't know what that would be like, or that she couldn't imagine how someone could deal with such a loss. She did, and she could, all too well. With their shorter lives, it must be even more difficult for humans, however.

She set two glasses of her finest whiskey on the bar in front of the Perrys, and took up a glass of clear liquid herself. "To the crew of USS Samurai, those who were, and those who still are." Touching glasses gently, they all three tossed back their drinks.

After a moment of silence, Jade cleared the bar and said, "Now, what would you like to drink? How about dinner with it?"

"Sure, I'm game," Henry said, as he picked up on of the menus at the bar in front of him. But before Henry could even glance at the first page, his little sister stepped in. "Jade, I already know what he wants. Go ahead and get him some French Onion soup and a turkey and ham sandwich."

Henry laughed at the fact that his sister still knew what his favorite meal was. "Am I that predictable?" He asked.

"Only for the two last decade of our lives together," she jested back.

Smiling at the interplay between the two of them, the club owner asked, "And shall I make that for two?"

Isabella looked over to her friend behind the bar and said,"Of course."

"So Jade." The engineer asked, "what kind of trouble has my sister started on Vanguard so far?"

"Oh, I don't know that she's started any, but she's finished a bit. The first time I saw her, she'd just come on board and was looking around for the person who was to meet her. My immediate thought was, 'I'm glad I'm not the person who's late!' Still, I went up to her and said hello. She didn't put me in a headlock, and we've been friends ever since," Lantz laughed.

"Yeah, I was not happy about that, but Jade did lighten the mood of the situation. And big bro, in regular Isabella fashion, I stepped right into it as soon as I got on board. In short, our CO was murdered before my eyes, and there wasn't a darn thing I could do to stop it."

Quickly Jade added, "That's the truth. I've heard it from more than one source, and Isabella, you should definitely not look on that as your fault. The Colonel could be ... pig-headed, I think humans say?"

Solemnly Isabella looked up at Jade and nodded her head. "Jade, I know there was nothing I could have done about that. I'm not alright with it, but I am learning to live with it."

Henry looked over to his sister and reached over to place his hand on her shoulder. "Sis, sounds like you went through something very traumatic. It's just another thing to add to the monstrous other things you've seen while working out alone in the fringes of space. But, I want you to talk to someone about it if it begins to bother you. I know how you can get, and not want to talk about your feelings."

"Good advice, big brother," Jade smiled. She'd missed the whole family thing, losing hers when she was so young. Seeing the two in front of her, Jade realized once again what it was she'd lost. There was almost a bubble of privacy surrounding the brother and sister, and she realized she really wasn't needed here. Turning away from their moment together, she added, "I'm going to go check on your dinners."

 

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