Beverly | Dr. Beverly Crusher (beverlycrusher) wrote in thedoorway, @ 2014-11-26 22:04:00 |
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It felt like it had been years, not months, since Beverly had been able to look out a window and see stars drifting by, faster than light. She knew that she’d missed it, and that she’d definitely missed the excitement that had been living on the Enterprise. Working with SHIELD and SWORD had made up for that, a little. But this, being on the Ascension -- it felt like home. It was a small ship, but there was still room on board to find a quiet spot, away from everyone else, to sit and contemplate the stars as they streamed by. Jean-Luc had found the spot with her, earlier in the week while the ship was being supplied, and now they made good use of it. Stolen moments with him on this mission were going to be rare, and she was determined to take advantage of this one. She sat, her head on his shoulder, and sighed. “It’s good to be back.” Jean-Luc Picard had been thinking similarly. He was not captain of the Ascension, but it almost didn't matter. He had spent his childhood dreaming of the stars, and over a year on earth's surface had been longer than he would have thought himself likely to choose at any point in the near future. He'd not had much choice in the matter, and good things had come with the stay, but this - this was where he belonged. There were a lot of uncertainties here. They knew where they were going, but not what reception they would receive. They had little to know information on the culture and the people there, and this was not Jean-Luc's galaxy. It had different people, different aliens, different planets… but all of that could be momentarily pushed aside in lieu of the current view of the stars. "It really isn't it?" He repeated back to her and he looked out the window, watching the starlines for a moment before glancing down at Beverly. And to be back in this way with Beverly, this was the best that he could have hoped for. "I realize we're not even halfway through this mission and I'm already hoping for another on. Maybe a diplomatic mission this time - the ability to go and meet another species, gain some external allies perhaps? Maybe I should bring up with Director Brand, what do you think?" “Another chance to get off-planet and doing some of what you do best? I think that a good argument could be made to her, and you’re probably the best one to make it.” Beverly chuckled softly. “I would sign up for that mission.” She would, even if it looked as if the hoped-for outcome of this would keep her busy for a time to come -- which she did look forward to, in all honesty. At home, in Starfleet, she had known what she had to do; there had been none of the recent uncertainty, nor any of the sitting on her hands that had been necessary due to the nature of the organization. “It felt good to prepare for an interstellar mission. Although I had to leave the wine at home.” She paused. “How much do you know about the work that Chekov was doing at Stark Industries? Was he, by any chance, working on a replicator?” A smile crossed Picard's lips and he nodded. "Then perhaps when all is settled from this one, assuming all goes as it should, I'll speak with her. After all, we have this ship and it shouldn't sit idle. And there might be a time when it would be good to know our closest neighbors. In addition we have the exploration and we're used to dealing with the Prime Directive, and used as well to not giving too much of our hands away -- we could find out more, in a way that should benefit, and not endanger our planet." He glanced out at the starlines. SWORD had been a good decision, even if much of what he had done in the first few months had held very little to do with space, or the things he had originally signed up for. But SWORD itself, although different from Starfleet, sometimes in ways that were refreshing and sometimes in ways that were uncomfortable, felt like a good fit. And as the organization settled, he could feel that he himself would be able to settle into a role that would hopefully bring good to this reality. The stars were soothing in a way that reminded him of France and the vineyards… and home. "I don't know for certain," Picard said aloud to Beverly's question. "I feel as if he was working on transporters of some variety? But I've no idea how far he got. I don't suppose it would be the sort of information Stark Industries would willing give up either and Spock - the one that was working in SI, is no longer here either. I'd have to think if I know anyone in SI who would be able to look into that for us - or willing to…" Beverly had found herself becoming restless before the mission had been announced, feeling as if she were a relatively useless member of SWORD. But along with this mission had come the usefulness and the busyness on which she thrived. It was nice to have these moments of downtime, especially with Jean-Luc, but soon enough she would be down in the sickbay, going over what information they had and making sure that she was prepared for whatever might pop up. "We'll have to plan on putting together a proposal, then. This mission should help, providing we make contact with another race this time out." And even that wasn't necessarily a given; as far as Beverly knew, this universe wasn't as well and diversely populated as their own. She watched the starlines with him, suddenly finding herself close to tears with how familiar it was and how much like home. But tears were pushed away when he spoke again, and this time she found herself nodding. "If Brand and Danvers are receptive to it, we might be able to approach Tony Stark about Chekov's work. He may decline to share that research, but at least we'll have tried." She sighed. "Geordi or Data would be ideal for that, however. I have no doubt that we'd have whatever we needed built in no time." And beyond that, Beverly missed them. She missed the entire crew -- her friends -- and she missed Wesley, and she missed her grandmother, and the list went on and on. What she did not miss was not having the relationship she did now with Jean-Luc. "When this mission is finished, depending upon how it goes I suppose maybe we can work on putting something like this together. We could even pull in some of this team, those who are used to diplomacy and working with other races and cultures - which, is a good portion of us - but if we have a plan, then it's more likely we'll get approval for it to happen." Jean-Luc liked the idea of doing precisely that. And perhaps outside of the general gladness to put together a mission that involved exploration and diplomacy and the things he'd dedicated his life in Starfleet towards, was the gladness that came from doing something like this with Beverly. It was astonishing to him at times how much their lives had become entwined over the past few months. There were times when he wondered if they'd had others from their lives more consistently - if it would have happened to the degree that it seemed to have. But then they had both always been on the verge of something at home… and being here, seeing the choices made at home - it had been enough to pull different choices here. "We should check on that too. I really wish we would have someone from science or engineering show up," he sighed lightly as well. "But I don't suppose that's likely unless we both get a Christmas present. Either way, I think it'd be worth talking to Brand and Danvers and see what work may have happened at Stark Industries. If he was working on a replicator - well, it'd be a good deal of use on a ship like this. We've got a lot on this ship we wouldn't need to take long-term if we could replicate." “We’ll plan on that, and make note of who would be a good fit for a crew for that sort of mission,” Beverly said. But now wasn’t the time for that. It’d be a bit like putting the buggy before the horse; this mission had barely begun. There would be time enough to think about the next one at the end of the current one. She nodded, agreeing completely. “Pending their agreement, I’ll put out feelers to those who might be a good lead. Or,” she reconsidered, “it might be best left to someone with a more technological bent. As useful as I find replicators and transporters to be, they’re not really my area of expertise. I’ll just nod my head and smile in agreement if anyone asks if I think it would be a good idea to pursue.” Beverly shifted, letting her hand slide into his, linking their fingers loosely. “You know, the only thing that this is missing is a good bottle of wine and a meal. We already have the conversation.” "I've got some protein bars," Picard quipped with a smile, pulling one from his pocket and offering it to her. In terms of who he'd want with him on such a mission, Jean-Luc could think of a few people already. It was perhaps one of the outcomes of having been ships captain for so long. He tended to evaluate and consider the people he worked along-side, looking at their abilities and their strengths and sizing up potential weaknesses almost subconsciously. But it was very certainly getting ahead of himself to think about it. His knowledge of this particular organization was fairly limited and his time within it even more so. It would all depend upon the Director's willingness to extend faith to this mission and perhaps take his suggestions regarding a crew. It was in the future, though, and not particularly relevant to this mission. And this mission felt important. The unknowns both of the event that had happened and the outcomes it seemed to have triggered felt as though it was something they needed to get a better handle on, in case it was something potentially problematic. This planet's defenses from extraterrestrials of any variety, would be quite lacking compared to what there was in Picard's century. "Do you think we'll find the answers we're looking for on Galia-9?" He asked her thoughtfully, turning his mind to the mission at hand. "Or even some of the answers we're looking for?" Beverly sighed. She had gathered all the information she could on earth, but nothing that would really be able to tell what it was they were looking at, and how it might affect people long-term. "I wish I could say. The problem we've run into at home is that people are very skittish about exposing the fact that they've been given these new powers. And until they start being forthright, we may never know how much it will affect us." She took the proffered protein bar with a murmured thanks, and continued after a bite. "My goal is to at least gain knowledge about how this has affected species before ours. And if I'm able to see how much we have in common, physically, with these people, I'll be able to do my job. But no... I really don't have an answer for you." "Everyone seems to have different things too," Jean-Luc noted somewhat unnecessarily. It was true that so long as people weren't sharing, they wouldn't learn much, but even if everyone who had new powers came and spoke to them he wondered how easy it would be to pull the threads together. How could the reasoning for so many different manifestations be very easy to put together. "Perhaps more unfortunately, so long as we don't have information about how it will affect us - people at large are going to continue to be skittish. And perhaps for good reason, if people decide that those with powers are dangerous, and the unknown is almost always considered a potential danger, they may mis-treat those that are, and those that have them will be less likely to discuss them forward - and so on." He sighed, thoughtful for a moment as he considered how best to bring the knowledge and experience they had at home into this particular situation. "I just hope we find some good news. And some answers that will be helpful to us in the long-term," he said quietly. "Hopefully there will be enough similarities that this will be the case. Or, if not to us, then to some species similar to us in our home reality so that we can potentially map differences. As it is, we're very much flying blind and I can never say that's my favorite thing to do. "And I confess, it worries me that we won't find any information, and we'll be stuck with the scenario described above. It seems there are some on Earth that are already making noises about super-powered individuals, and I feel that sort of conversation at the wide-spread level that those manifesting powers from this experience have been - is unlikely to lead anywhere good." He dug a protein bar out from himself, opened the wrapper and took a bite of it. That bothered Beverly, this human tendency to hate that which was different and unknown. Even worse was the desire to eradicate the differences, instead of approaching them with concern, and celebrating the differences. It was worrying, as Jean-Luc said. “I’ll be keeping my usual meticulous notes, of course. You should read over them, see if anything jumps out at you that strikes you as similar to any of the races we’ve encountered. I always like a second set of eyes.” It also worried Beverly that with so few people stepping forward about having powers, she had little or no way to make comparisons between a human who hadn’t exhibited powers and those who had. If the event was causing any sort of deterioration within the affected people’s cells, there was almost no way of knowing. So far as she knew, none of the crew of the Ascension was exhibiting new powers. Making a mental note to look at that the minute they returned to earth, she looked over to Jean-Luc. “It’s a slippery slope that those people are taking, Jean-Luc, pushing for regulation like this.” Jean-Luc took another bite of the bar and glanced out at the stars. A View so similar to that which he was used to from the bridge of the Enterprise or his own office. It was a view that made it somewhat of a challenge to recognize or remember that this world - while like his own - had its own set of challenges and a long way to go before reaching, should it ever do so, the stability of 24th century earth. He nodded his silent agreement to review her notes and his brow furrowed slightly at her final sentence, because it was - and history had never recorded incidents like this ending well that he could recall. "It is, and yet it is also somewhat easy to see where the concern comes from. We don't have anyone with 'superpowers' at home, just other species and look at how frequently we clash, and struggle for agreement and there are species we still do not completely see eye-to-eye with at all times. People fear what they can't control or fight, they always will probably, but how to make them see that it may not the best way to approach this -- that these individuals can do a good deal of good in this world if given the opportunity -- that is a question." He shook his head and looked over at her. "I suppose being here on this ship, working with SWORD, to a certain degree we have thrown out any semblance of the Prime Directive, but I don't know exactly how we do otherwise under the circumstances, and it isn't as if our views are not well-known on this planet in some way or another, so maybe what we find here will be able to assist back on Earth. Answers that can help people understand the event, and thus promote reconciliation rather than division." Beverly was quiet, processing what Jean-Luc had said, and eventually sighed. “It’s easy to look back and only remember how far we’ve come, and not look forward to see how far we have left to go,” she said thoughtfully. “And with so many people who claim to look to Star Trek as a beacon to hold up as an example of how humans should be treating each other an other species, it makes it doubly frustrating to know that the voices raised in anger will be the voices that will be heard.” She nibbled at her bar, and sighed again. “But is the Prime Directive really in effect on Earth? It was the world that literally created us. Now out here… I can see how it would be, but those regulations haven’t been written yet, and what would come naturally to you or me as Starfleet officers may not be second nature to anyone else -- although I think I am not giving them nearly enough credit. Everyone is very good at their jobs, and has a good head on their shoulders.” There was only a bite left of her bar, and she popped it into her mouth. “You and I could go all day, discussing this, Jean-Luc, and it won’t reconcile anything. All we can do is present what we find, and give our recommendations, and hope that they’re accepted.” "It's easy to see in literature what we would like to see in our own reality, but much more difficult to make it come to fruition," Picard sighed himself and stared out at the stars. It was so simple to see the way people should treat each other, but from a distance things were always far easier. At the distance they were from these stars they couldn't see the turbulence or disruption of the surface - life tended to present itself in unrest - peace and accord were things to be sought out, but they were not so easy to come by in the moment and this version of Earth had a long way to go before it reached the relative peace of Starfleet, but even that had its moment, and its challenges… it still had growing to do and it would have been foolish to suggest otherwise. "They do, and I'm proud to work with all of them. It's a different world and what we know is only a piece of it and they have to make their own journey, as it would be at home we're only a piece of that journey. And I think you're right about the Prime Directive, it's not the same situation as it would be in another world in our reality, or even probably another one out there." He waved a hand at the stars. "I just don't want to lose sight of the… need to allow cultures and societies their own growth in my quest to improve the one we currently find as our home." Beverly smiled ruefully. "I think that regardless of what we say, this particular society will grow its own way -- we've already seen how much it differs from our own past. We are in a unique situation, and for as concerned that these humans will see to their destruction, I am hopeful for them. They created us, after all." She shifted, ready to resume her duties. "I suppose I'll see you in a few shifts --" She broke off, looking to the windows; the movement of the ship had changed dramatically, slowing and shuddering. The star lines broke up, going from straight, almost continuous lights to dotted lines to, finally, stars in fixed positions. "Something's wrong." At that moment Wash was on the comms, and Beverly stood smoothly and turned to reach her hand down to pull Jean-Luc to his feet. Picard had noticed it too and was already half to his feet when he took Beverly's hand. A moment to listen to the comms and he frowned, giving Beverly's hand a squeeze. Clearly something was up and they might both be needed elsewhere. Flying out into space where there were so many unknowns - including this ship they were currently hoping would get them to their destination and return them home - was always a risk. "Hopefully this is nothing serious," he spoke aloud. "But I'd best get to my station. I'll see you shortly," He gave her hand an additional squeeze and let go - the mission was calling. |