A Sisterly Perspective - Part One

Posted on Sat Mar 21st, 2020 @ 5:33am by Division Admiral April Dragon & Senior Chief Petty Officer Duran Halaar

Mission: Mission 98: Building Our New Home
Location: Various Locations - Starbase Vanguard
Timeline: 1245Hrs - September 11th, 2393

Senior Chief Petty Officer Dural Halar was sitting at the workstation she had in her living space. She was at a loss of what to do as she had no idea of how to move on, her wife was dead, as was everyone and everything that she had ever held dear in her entire life, her homeworld of Bajor had been reduced to nothing but ash and cinders as the Borg washed it clean of all life with plasma fire. Her wife's ship had died with all hands lost trying to defend the planet and now, here Duran sat in her chair as she sighed softly, she had no idea of what to do, or who to do it with.

Duran gently rubbed her face, as she considered what she wanted to have for lunch when she suddenly realized that she had not yet updated her uniform's wardrobe. The Bajoran female did like the older uniform but she knew it wasn't in use in this reality. She rose to her feet and asked the replicator to order her five new uniforms tailored to her size and dimensions, only added a little of size as she didn't want to be wearing skin-tight clothing. "Please enter security code?" came the answer from the computer. The Bajoran frowned but she gave it anyway. "Duran One Five Seven Alpha," she commented.

The requested items appeared, all folded up nice and clean as it made for easy storage. Duran retrieved the items as she went into the master bedroom to sort things out for herself, as she plucked her old uniforms out of the travel case, which was not hard as Duran had not yet unpacked. The small-framed Bajoran female then proceeded to strip out of her old uniform before she slipped on the new one, this one felt a lot more comfortable but had three layers whereas her old uniform was a single layer. She didn't mind the minimalist approach but she did mind stupid decisions made by others that directly affected her.

There was a sudden knock at the door. "It's open!." Duran called out, the door opened and in walked a very small-framed woman but one who had had several pregnancies, she had the classic big bust and wide hips of motherhood. Duran, for her part, was only a couple of inches taller but she had a much thicker build than the woman before her, who wore the rank of a Commodore. Duran paused as she recalled that this was a new rank, something called a Division Admiral which was also a rank that permitted a flag officer to be out in the field.

"Ma'am, what can I do for you?" Duran inquired formally.

"You look just like her... Shit, you are identical..." Dragon answered quietly.

Duran raised an eyebrow. "Ma'am?"

"Ahh... I'm Sorry Senior Chief... You look identical to your twin... Well, I assume she is your twin... Dural Syal."

"That was my name before I was made to give it up because the native that was here in this reality already held that name..."

"So you are Duran Syal, except her from another reality...?" Dragon inquired as she brushed her mane of unruly brown hair out of her eyes.

"Yes," Duran answered simply. "I didn't know I had a twin, native to this reality... I wonder what her life was like... Did she ever get along with her elder brother... Duran Jerrold?... That was his name in my home reality..." Duran paused as she sighed softly.

Dragon smiled. "The Duran Jerrold who is native to this reality is my husband and father to my various children..."

"Oh... This truly is a different reality... Is he happy here? is he... alright?" Duran paused, unsure of why she was asking in the first place.

"He manages, day by day with his PTSD issues... But he has me and the kids to keep him sane." Dragon answered quietly. "But there are some things he does not tell me... and some things he struggles to cope with... One of them is the fact that Duran Syal... The one who's native to this reality openly hates him." Dragon explained with a soft sigh.

"Oh... Well if it helps. I am Duran Halar." she paused. "Duran was the one who gave me life... He had to cut open mom to ensure I lived otherwise I would have died with her... He left me with scaring from my left shoulder to my left knee... But I do not blame him for this... It's a small price that I got removed as soon as I could." Duran explained.

"I wish I could get Syal to see reason on this subject, she refuses to move." Dragon sighed softly.

"Very well. I will deal with her myself. You no longer need to concern thyself with this issue... I will handle it and I will deal with said matter."

"Just like that?" Dragon smiled as she regarded the other woman. "Seriously."

"Yes," Duran answered. "The rest... will fall where it may lay and anything else is of no consequence." Duran paused. "Can I get you anything to drink or eat ma'am?"

"No thanks, Halar. You can call me April, as we are kin... You are the baby sister to my husband and that makes you blood kin to me." Dragon answered. "Much the same as Taselle." she then smiled. "You'd like her... If you don't hate Cardassians, I mean." Dragon added the last part in a hesitant tone of voice.

"Wait, you adopted a Cardassian child... and Jerold was alright with this?" Duran paused. "This is a different world."

"Well... I adopted Taselle right at the end of the war with the Dominion, in twenty-three seventy-six, for your time reference. I didn't meet Jerrold until we met on the USS Challenger... I didn't meet him until years later. By then Taselle was off at the academy, she knew I was seeing a Bajoran and Jerold knew of Taselle. When the two met for the first time. I damn-near had a heart attack, as I was so sure they did would not get along... but it was Taselle munching away on a Bajoran dish that was downright volcanic, I tried some and well... I was running to the bathroom every twenty minutes for something like six hours... fuck, that was abusive." she smiled as she regarded the other woman. "They bonded over their shared amusement at my suffering... But what was important was that they bonded. Now they get along quite well."

"Sounds like you have a fascinating family dynamic April. I look forward to getting to know you better over the weeks and months to come." Duran answered with a smile. "I will contact my twin and make my presence known... I also need to see Jerrold." Duran smiled. "Maybe he'll be like the man I knew in my home reality..."

"Jerrold is here... on the Starbase so tracking him down will be easy." Dragon paused. "But I recommend you wear something other than your uniform. Otherwise, he'll think you are Syal and he will get angry at you for no good reason. Also, do something with your hair... Anything other than a simple ponytail. You don't need to be confused with your twin..."

"I'll do that," Duran answered with a nod. "Let's see... Maybe brunette..." I dunno yet..." the Bajoran smiled across at the human who was smaller then she herself was.