I've Got Nothing But Time

Posted on Oct 30, 2014 @ 3:45pm by Ambassador Xana Bonviva
Edited on on Oct 30, 2014 @ 3:45pm

Mission: Birth Of An Empire

“I’ve Got Nothing But Time…”



=/\=

“The chances of finding out what’s really going on in the universe are so remote, the only thing to do is hang the sense of it and keep yourself occupied.”

--Douglas Adams

=/\=

Location: USS PHOENIX

SD: 2.141025.0054

Scene: Family Quarters - Bonviva/Crichton

Jake was observant when it came to chassis; biogel packs he was all over; and he could build a positronic feed unit in his sleep -- and those were just the tip of the engineering iceberg. There was no question, when it came to making a ship move or a station hum, Crichton knew what to do, how to do it, and could do it without thinking, blindfolded and with just a cup of his beloved coffee.

But there was minutiae when it came to his family that admittedly had missed out on. Yes, he knew the *major* things -- Dahlia snored just like her targ and snuck in cookies when you thought you weren’t looking; Ben was in a rush to grow up as the baby and had a temper like *both* his parents; Erika was fiercely dramatic and had no problem letting you know that; no matter how old Gavi got -- he still retained that little boy inside who was an abandoned orphan. He knew those things but there were pieces to his family’s puzzle that he was missing.

Xana.

Even Xana who he was *connected* to; whom he missed (on the days he had a chance to stop and think or feel)...he knew he was missing out on. And for all their connection he could feel the sting of their connection stretching, pulling tauter...a tightness that had nothing to do with distance that could be measured in miles but in time.

So that’s why when Xana said she was going to come along with the kids, he jumped at it. He really hoped Eve never asked about his marriage, because he wasn’t ready to talk about that. The engineer wasn’t sure how to explain the change that was happening now. He could feel his wife, knew it was her.

But it wasn’t; not the way he knew her.

If he had to pick when it all changed...it changed Tuesday.

=/\=

TI: Tuesday morning

“You’ve got to be kidding me!” Erika yelled.

Xana waved her hands in the air in a “shushing” motion, “It’s not a big deal.”

The teenager stuck her hands on her hips and glared at the Bolian/Human. “It *is* a big deal. You’re not a teacher! Why do you have to do this?”

“Erika,” Xana sighed, “there are no teachers on the PHOENIX--”

“Ships don’t have teachers, they have Counselors,” the teenager snapped. “And we go to the Counseling Center for school.”

Jake and Xana had already talked about it the night before but clearly the kids were just getting wind of this in the morning. Dahlia and Ben were just coming out of their rooms. “*Mom’s* gotta teach us?” Dahlia asked. “Why not you?”

“Cause I have to go to Engineering,” Jake explained.

“I’ll go with you,” Dahlia grinned up at him.

“You can’t, I’m sorry Dee,” Jake apologized.

“You said I could,” Dahlia pouted.

Suddenly chaos erupted thanks to one teenager and one young girl.

“I don’t want my co-mother to teach me! What do *you* know anyway?!” Throwing a pillow across the room as she flung herself on the sofa she yelled, “I didn’t even *want* to be here, I was supposed to go back to BAJOR!”

“You promised, Jake! You said I could go to Engineering! I don’t need school, you didn’t go to school.”

Suddenly the parents were doing their best to calm down the young women, when suddenly they heard two distinctive sounds -- the sound of the replicator and the sound of the door chime.

The replicator was easy to figure out - in the midst of the chaos, Ben had pulled a chair up to the replicator. “Look, it makes ice cream!” he grinned excitedly holding up a chocolate banana sundae. Showing his family he said, “And it’s healthy cause it’s got bananas *and* a cherry!” Looking over at his dad he said, “Isn’t that what you said last night, Dad? You said two fruits make it good for you--”

“I got that one,” Jake announced as he cut off his son while running over.

Xana gave her a husband that didn’t take a psychic connection to figure out as she went to the door, while Angus and Taz followed behind. Opening up the door she found a tall Trill Counselor dressed in Counselor Teal with…

“Is that a *pug*? In uniform?” Dahlia asked from behind her.

“It is,” the Trill Counselor. “I’m Lt. Arion and this is Lt. Smooshy. And we’re here to talk to...the Bonviva-Byrne-Crichton-McInnis-Wangel family. Did I get everyone?” When they stared at him he admitted, “I just did that in alphabetical order, sorry if I got that out of order.”

All 5 humanoid heads nodded, while Xana and Dahlia stood aside to let the guests in. The dog and targ did their sniffing of Lt. Smooshy before all the animals decided that no one was a threat.

“Right so I’m here about the educational situation,” Lt. Arion explained.

Erika gave Xana a triumphant glare, “I *told* you that we’d be going to the Counseling Center.”

Owen Arion gave an apologetic smile. “Sorry, while that’s true on most ships it’s not here.”

“Oh,” she frowned. “Why not?”

“Cause it’s only just myself and Lt. Daziel. And Lt. Smooshy.” Shrugging he explained, “I’d love to do it but I can’t. But I feel bad.”

Ben, deprived of his “healthy” ice cream breakfast, began clapping, “Is it Lt. Smooshy? Is he our new teacher?”

Owen began laughing and Lt. Smooshy, sensing some indignity on his behalf, snorted. “I think Lt. Smooshy would love that too but he’s also got a full caseload.”

Dahlia gave her brother a look, “*Ben*, he’s not a real Lieutenant.”

The Trill gave her a look mixed with a light smile. “Young lady, I’ll have you know that Lt. Smooshy has a full Starfleet record including a commendation for successfully calming the survivors of the USS SAN JOSE.”

“Oh.” The Bajoran/Bolian/Human paused then let that sink in. “Wait...the *dog* has a Starfleet record. REALLY?”

Jake held up a hand, “So what’s going on with our kids?”

Owen’s blue eyes twinkled. “It’s most definitely in all respects *not* a school and in no way shape is the person leading it a teacher.” Sighing he admitted, “Trust me, he’s *not* a teacher.”

Xana and Jake exchanged a look at that.

Owen held up his hands, “But this saves you from having to have fights about having to teach your own kids, and from your kids being disappointed from not being able to going to work with you--”

“Eavesdropping?” Xana asked.

“You’re not the only family with these fights,” Owen replied. “And there will be a curriculum; we’ll be having an open house at the Vulgar Tribble at 1000 if you’re interested..” After a pause he added, “Not that I’m overseeing this or have any say in this.”

Ben grinned, “No Lt. Smooshy is overseeing it.”

=/\=

Scene: The Vulgar Tribble

Owen sighed as the families streamed in. There were 22 minors on the PHOENIX which meant that even if most of the kids came it would be a pretty full day for the…

“Where the hell are you?” he muttered scanning the tables. Looking around he saw John Doe and asked, “Have you seen him?”

“Under the bar,” Roger van Horne explained pointing in the right direction.

The Trill sighed as subtly went behind the bar, at 1000 (not that should raise any concerns in a room full of children, he thought to himself sarcastically), and then ducked underneath. “Storm,” he whispered, “what are you doing?”

Storm Bomba sat cross-legged under the bar rocking himself. “Nope, not a teacher. I’m Operations, I’m XO. I’m not a teacher,” he said.

The Counselor had hoped it wouldn’t come to this; he was going to have to refer to his notes. Memorization was *not* his friend, never had been. Grabbing an ever-ready PADD, he tapped away until he found the notes from Storm’s previous Counselor, the azure woman with pointed ears who was comatose in Sickbay:

From the field notes of Lt. Phia on Lt. Cmdr. Storm Bomba

Storm Bomba has been used by the neo-Essentialst movement. Although Storm Bomba (prior to his recent stay in the hospital) was of sound mind, he did not, in my professional opinion, fully understand what he was getting himself into. Rather, Bomba conceptualizes life through overly-simplistic concepts of “team” (or “us” vs. “them”) mentality without fully realizing what the “us” vs. “them” means. As a result, Bomba knew he wanted to be a part of the “us” without knowing what the “us” was or how it was defined.

Going forward, to rebuild Lt. Cmdr. Bomba, this will be critical to his self-identity without the neo-Essentialists. He will need another “us” to be defined through; one that allows for a healthier self-realization, if such a thing is possible after the traumatization that he has been through.

“Storm, don’t you miss it?” Owen asked quietly. When Storm looked blankly at him, the Trill asked, “Being a part of something larger than yourself? Being a part of a team?”

The Risan blinked his eyes several times until he said, “A team? *My* team?”

“They need a leader. Who’s it going to be?” Owen asked. Tapping his PADD he said, “Some one has to guide them. Give them the skills they’ll need so they don’t trip up.” Then he held out the PADD to Storm for him to take.

Owen sat behind the bar with Storm Bomba who was picking at the loose gray tunic until some light went off behind his light eyes. Then he took the PADD, and tucked it under his arm. Dusting himself off he stood up, jumped over the bar and said, “Team! Come with me - we’re going to learn but more importantly we’re going to we’re going to take this to the next level! Who’s with me?”

As the kids cheered -- seemingly free of their parents for a few hours -- Owen groaned and muttered, “What have I unleashed?”

=/\=

TI: Tuesday night

“And then Mr. Bomba said we’re part of his team,” Dahlia explained over dinner as she had her soup.

“And we have to make things scalable,” Ben explained. Looking over at his father he asked, “But why do we have to make things scaly?”

“It means to make smaller or bigger,” Jake explained. Looking over at Erika, he asked, “What did you think?”

The Bajoran/Human teenager thought about it as she munched on her ramufta. “I’ve been to worse schools.”

Jake noticed though that Xana pushed around her dinner on her plate, not saying anything. A couple hours later after Ben and Dahlia had gone to bed and Erika was sitting up in her bed reading, Xana and Jake were sitting up in their room reading.

“What’s the matter?” Jake asked quietly.

“Nothing,” Xana smiled as she squeezed his hand.

“Hey,” he replied. When she looked at him he said, “It’s *me*.”

It felt good then, to just be with him, to feel his love and concern for her; it felt like a warm blanket wrapped around her. “You’ve got enough going on,” she replied, which was true. She knew he was dealing with still the aftermath of the Stockades while being understaffed in Engineering.

“Yeah,” he nodded. “And we’re married. That means you should talk to me.”

“I know that,” she said. Sighing she settled in next to her husband, resting her head next on his shoulder. “It’s stupid.”

Jake chuckled, “I am going to have to institute the same rule for you that we do for the kids? No using the “stupid” word.”

The azure woman chuckled. She rested contentedly besides Jake, just enjoying the moment before admitting, “I didn’t do anything today.”

Jake waited for the other shoe to drop before realizing that was it. “Ok...want me to put you to work in Engineering?”

“Ha,” Xana snorted. “You know *that’s* not happening.” Sighing she admitted, “I’ve had a job for as long as I can remember -- my family’s restaurant, then to escape that I went into the Fleet, then I became an Ambassador, then back to the Fleet, then I started Angel’s Angst, then back to Ambassador, then politics.

“Now...now I don’t know what to do with myself. I’m 37 years old and for the first time since I can remember I don’t have a job. I started working in my family’s restaurant when I started walking, I think, so I should be thrilled I have a break. I guess I am but I just don’t know what to do with the time. I thought I’d spend time with you and the kids but you have Engineering and the kids now have school, even with they got home from school they had after school stuff and now have friends and activities,” Xana explained. Looking over at Jake, the Bolian/Human’s violet eyes shimmered, “I don’t know who I am anymore. I don’t have my family here - I left my other son on Earth and I can’t contact him. I can’t contact my family on EARTH or BOLARUS IX. I don’t have friends. I don’t have any way to pass the time Jake. I just walked around the ship all day with Angus and Taz waiting for all of you. I can’t keep doing that.”

Jake held Xana close for a long time. Leaning against her husband’s chest she admitted, “I know it’s petty after what you went through but you asked.”

While she was tucked against his chest, the Engineer sighed and hugged his wife tighter. “I can fix this.”

Xana rolled her eyes, for all the good it did her. “I told you, I’m *not* going to Engineering.”

Jake’s laugh rumbled deep in his chest. Tilting up his wife’s head so she was looking at him he said, “No but you’re married to the Chief Engineer. I know you want to contact Gavi, but we can’t and not even I can help you with that. But we can find you something to do and we can make it for you.”

=/\=

TI: Wednesday morning

When Jake woke up on Wednesday morning it was next to a tuft of white hair. This wasn’t unusual, given his wife’s distinctive hair. What was abnormal was that it was attached to a small body, rather than a tall female one.

“Ben?” he asked with a yawn.

“Daddy?” Ben asked with a yawn.

“What are you doing here? Bad dream?” Jake asked as he sat up.

Ben shook his head as he snuggled in more. “Mommy is re-arranging the living room.”

“Huh?” Jake yawned again and ruffled his son’s head as got out of bed. True to his son’s word, Xana was moving what little furniture they had. Yawning again (it was a little after 0520) and asked, “Interior decorating?”

Xana was whistling as she moved around some of the chairs. “Hey Jake.”

As Jake made his way to get his coffee, and bleary eyes consumed it before turning back around he realized that Xana was now hanging lights up. “Need a hand?” he asked as he walked back over.

“I got it,” she smiled.

“It’s not like I don’t do this,” he offered as he held her legs, while he watched his wife do a pirouette on a chair to hang a red light. “What is that?”

“It’s a growth light for the Diomedian scarlet moss that I’ll be planting,” Bolian/Human explained as if it was the most natural thing in the world.

“I don’t think I had enough coffee for that to make sense,” Jake admitted as he kept holding ont his wife’s legs while she kept hanging lights.

“We were talking about hobbies, remember?”

“Right.” Jake looked around. Racking his brain, somewhere in some recess he managed to put something together he didn’t know he could with only two gulps of caffeine. “Diomedian scarlet moss...red lights..are you trying your hand at ethnobiology?”

“Yes!” Xana grinned. “I thought it would be handy. And really interesting.”

Feeling a dread that he didn’t want because he was right, Jake inhaled, “Uhm, when you were in the Fleet - I didn’t realize you were in Biology.”

“I wasn’t.”

“Medicine?”

“I technically was Pilot,” Xana explained as she jumped down, “but before I could do that I wound up doing Security and then Ops before going into Command. Why?”

Jake looked at the massively complicated setup in their quarters, and it was on the tip of his tongue to explain how Scientists and Doctors couldn’t get this kind of experiment to work, and decided he liked sleeping in his own bed. “So where’s the next light going?”

=/\=

TI: Thursday morning

“Jake.” Shake. “Jake.” Shake. “Come on I know you’re still not asleep.”

Jake groaned. “I can pretend.” Rolling over he stared at his stepdaughter. Kissing her on her wrinkled nose he said, “What’s up, Dee?”

“It’s Mom,” Dahlia explained. “Her gongs woke up me. How did it not wake you up?”

Jake could have explained that prison, combined with drugs, now made him a deep sleeper but figured that wasn’t a wise thing to explain to a 9 year old. Yawning he got up and saw his son was *again* in his bed. “Ben? What are you doing back in here?”

“It’s comfy,” Ben yawned. “And Mom isn’t here bothering me.”

The engineer was going to ask a question when he heard the aforementioned gongs. “Right, I just heard that.” Looking at the kids he said, “I guess I’m going out.”

Dahlia and Ben just looked at him.

“Coffee,” he muttered as he stumbled out of bed.

“Dad?” Ben asked.

Jake was almost fearful at that; there was something in Ben’s voice that had him caught off guard. What was he going to say if his son asked why Xana was doing this? How could explain this? How do you explain to a boy a mother’s search for identity? A not quite mid-life crisis?

“Yesterday, I got to go to Sickbay as part of my tour of the ship with Mr. Bomba, and I met the *funniest* doctor - Dr. Foster,” Ben explained. “I really liked him. Can you take me back to Sickbay? He’s my new bestest friend.”

It was worse, Jake thought to himself; his son liked Cade Foster. “I don’t have enough coffee to deal with this,” he muttered as he heard another gong from the living room.

=/\=

TI: Friday Morning

“Jake, this has got to stop.”

At least this morning he was semi-prepared for it. Oh no not for what his wife was doing, but at least when he rolled over he knew what to expect. “Morning Erika,” he yawned.

Erika stood there, in her lavender pajamas, with her hands on her hips. “I didn’t want to come in here,” she lectured him. “But it hasn’t stopped.”

“I know,” Jake yawned again, his eyes closed. “What’s this morning?”

“Opera.”

Jake thought about that. “Xana has always liked opera,” he said. Not that he liked opera; but it was a well-known fact she liked opera. Sadly there was no avoiding it - both Italians and Bolians were mad about the opera, and his wife was no exception to being obsessed about loud people who sang melodramatically at the top of their lungs.

“Klingon opera? And she’s singing. And performing all the parts,” Erika explained. Giving a glare she said, “She. Can’t. Sing. At. All.”

“What?” Jake asked.

“She’s got a bat’leth,” Dahlia offered with a yawn from the foot of the bed. “When did we get a bat’leth?”

“Where did you come from?” Jake offered.

“My room,” Dahlia explained logically.

“And she’s waving it around,” Ben said from the other side of the bed. “I’m pretty sure it’s not anything I’ve heard. Are they bad words? Can I say them?”

“Probably not,” Jake exhaled as he flopped back on the pillows. “Which opera is it?”

Erika shrugged. “The one where they all die at the end.”

“The only rule about opera I know is that they always die at the end,” Jake explained.

Erika gave him a look, “And that’s why we’re hiding out in here.”

=/\=

NRPG: And there you go - you were all worried about what would happen to the kiddos and what Xana would do. It’s all very simple - here’s the high-level overview:

Storm Bomba is leading the “school-that’s-not a school”. This works as he’s a civvie and not a parent or an officer (at the moment). If any of this changes we can revise as necessary.

Xana is so bored and that she’s currently driving her family crazy with “hobby-of-the day” stuff.

I'm presuming our lounge is "The Vulgar Tribble" but if that is the incorrect adjective then please note that the 2nd scene takes place in "The [Insert Correct Adjective] Tribble" Lounge ;)

I am open to hobbies that will drive Jake and the kids crazy! :)


Jamie: Hope I did Storm justice - please let me know!

Shawn: We'll get back to our other writing and JP whenever we're free. Thanks as always for letting me borrow Jake :)

=/\=

Sarah Albertini-Bond

as

Xana Bonviva