The Ghosts and the Lost - Part Seven

Posted on Wed Aug 31st, 2022 @ 6:26am by Captain Leah Anderson & Lieutenant Commander Monique Deepshadow & Lieutenant Commander Krista Deepshadow MD & Command Master Chief Petty Officer Miranda Deepshadow

Mission: Mission 109: The Travelers Path
Location: Various Locations - Starbase Vanguard
Timeline: 1820Hrs - November 18th, 2393

"Is that really a bad thing?" Krista answered. "Security tends to get looked at the least... and ensuring security works to get access to certain areas is a healthy thing... Ensuring that the right people have access to the right information or the right equipment is a good thing."

Miranda nodded her head in agreement. "Indeed, but it can also be taken out of context as well... Leah, you endured shit I can't imagine as I've never had kids of my own... and I honestly haven't the slightest idea of the nightmares that you still face on a nightly basis... and I know that what happened, still torments you."

"It does... It still causes me issues, even to this day..." Leah let out a soft sigh. "Robert has been a great help, I suffer to think where I'd be now or what I'd be doing were it not for him..."

Monique closed her eyes as she finally collapsed against the futility of resisting her own emotions as she began to gently weep.

Miranda likewise also began to weep as Krista regarded her mother. "You still need to forgive yourself for what you saw as your misdeeds upon older misdeeds... That everything that happened... You blame yourself for... Because there was nobody else to blame..."

Leah nodded her head, unable to speak, the tears flowing down her face as she cried.

"Time has been unkind to you mom," Krista answered. "The poison of that wound was never removed... Its been allowed to fester and taint you, turn you into something... else..." as she sat down next to her mother, before she slid her arms around her, before she gently hugged the woman who was her biological mother.

"I had no idea you were alive..." Leah answered as she felt her daughter hold her in her embrace.

"That does not matter mom, you have been far too hard on yourself..." Krista answered. "Carrying around all of this self-loathing, all of this self-hatred... Two Caitians took me in and raised me as best as they could... They also knew that would lose me the second I left home... Because I wanted to know who mom and dad actually were... Shelle and C'Nuri raised me but they accepted this fact... I am not their blood but I am their child. But that said. I am alive and I am also assigned here to the Starbase... So you'll have time to get to know me..." Krista smiled as she delivered that little slice of pie.

Miranda spoke up. "You are more then welcome to stay with me if you want... I did request family-sized quarters... and I don't mind the extra company."

Krista paused. "I don't have quarters assigned to me yet... The gear that I brought with me is in my office in the hospital... I went there first and got to meet Lieutenant Kadian Paris, my working partner, I am told she is highly skilled and competent..." she explained quietly. "I met her, she was... Interesting, to say the least."

"She is but she's been worked a lot recently... So be nice to her." Miranda answered with a nod of her head. "People tend to be demanding of her..."

"I can do that," Krista answered. "I've heard of Kadian Paris from others... I am told that she's great in terms of work but she's anti-social and tends to want to be left alone when she's offduty. I can't say I blame her really... I read her file though... Besides, she's quite the looker..."

"Oh?" Miranda commented. "What do you mean?"

Monique smiled. "She said the same thing about Sammy, said she was hot, and asked if she was available not realizing that Sammy was her half-sibling."

"Yeah well, Sammy does have a nice rack... But man, she has an ass to die for." Krista added. "Kadian has similar looks... Why that girl is not seeing anyone, I will never know."

Leah snickered softly. "Somehow, that's to what I had expected you to say." Leah slowly started to get to her feet but she fell backward into the chair before Krista noticed her mother was having issues, she stood up before she gently took her mother's hands and hauled her to her feet. Then mother and daughter embraced at long last. Krista smiled as she gently felt the larger woman's arms around her. She had always wondered if she had been wanted by her biological mother and while she had assumed that she had been unwanted or abandoned, it was nice to know once and for all, that this was not the case.
"I had never known that I was always wanted... I assumed I was a foundling or my mother had been killed in that robbery, it wasn't until later when I found out that it wasn't true..."

"You were always my child Krista... I wanted to be there one to raise you... and in failing that. I failed Monique too..."

"But you didn't fail with your other kid's mom..." Monique commented. "Do they know of Krista?" Monique asked.

"They do... They know she was the child that was stolen and then slain..."

"I recall Robert once saying something about that..." Monique paused as Miranda added. "My child, tortured, abandoned, and then slain... Yes, I desire revenge... but part of me wishes to watch this whole miserable universe burn..." Miranda regarded her sister. "Don't you think you were being a tad harsh?"

"At the time, no... But... Now I do..." Leah admitted.

"How could you not be too harsh mom?..." Krista asked. "Considering what had been stolen from you," she asked.

Leah found she had no answer. "I don't know what to think..."

"Then... Do nothing and just accept what's happening now... I am back, I have found my family... Maybe they will now find some peace..." Krista answered.

"Perhaps..." Monique answered. "I will try ... to seek ... my own peace..."

Leah nodded her head. "As will I... Robert should be told... Same with Davijaan... I suspect you'll want to meet him..."

"I would rather meet Robert another time... Same with Davijaan..." Krista admitted. "I suspect the people who will be demanding of my time will be many. But I just met you and letting you process all of this alone would be unfair of me... and its a lot for all of us... So we should try to face it together."

"Very wise." Miranda smiled. Leah nodded her head. "Yeah..." as Monique simply smiled.