Reaper: Mixed Meetings

Stardate: 00718.2136
Title: Mixed Meetings
Author: Lt.  Commander Nelson Reaper
Scene: USS Carpathia
Time: Morning after "...  Sweet Sorrow"

Austin met Nelson in the hall outside his quarters.  There was an obvious anxiety in the XO's face.  Nelson didn't notice, he was too excited about his family's return to the ship.

"Hey, 'Austin-baby'!" Nelson said, slapping his superior on the back.  Austin eased up a little, and allowed himself to be teased.  "Ooh, whatsa matter, still sore from yesterday's game?" Nelson laughed as he started out the door at a quick pace.

"Hey Nelson, how about some breakfast?  Where are you off to so early?" Austin asked.

"Shuttle bay.  Louise and the baby are due on board in 10 minutes!" Nelson huffed around a corner toward the turbolift with the XO trotting behind.

"Ten minutes?  I thought they weren't due to board til 0930?"

"Nurse Gretchen cleared 'em for early boarding.  Ain't she just such a sweetie?" The two men stepped onto the turbolift.

"Umm, look Nelson, there's something on my mind I'd like to discuss with you.  It's...  difficult." Austin was about to muster the courage to hand his friend the PADD he'd received from the captain the day before. The turbolift stopped, and a pair of crewmen stepped in.

Both officers stood silent as the crewmen engaged in small talk about their night shift.  The lift stopped again at the bay deck and Nelson and Austin stepped off.

"What is it?" Nelson asked when they were alone again.

They walked side by side among the dozens of crew and shuttles.  Various freight movers slid between rows of cartons and containers as all was being made ready for their departure from Starbase Arcadia the next day. Nelson slowed and pointed, "There, bay 2B," and he turned toward a bay door just opening for an approaching shuttle.

The two men watched silently as the vehicle cleared the forcefield and landed.  After it was docked, the aft section opened and a dozen or so people exited.

Austin stammered, "Nelson, I..."

One small individual ran from the crowd toward the two men.  It was Istari, the littlest Reaper.  Barely two years old, he toddled fast toward Nelson and called out "Dod-DEEEE!" Every face within earshot lit up as the father-son reunion was witnessed.  Nelson picked up and hugged the little boy tightly, spinning him around as he did.

Austin looked absently into the dispersing crowd, not quite sure what to do at this point.  Instantly, his eyes met those of Louise as she walked slowly toward her husband.  She looked tired, and emotionally spent.

Their gaze held a long fraction of a second, and they seemed to each other the only two in the whole shuttle bay.  Time slowed as Louise spied the PADD in Austin's hand and her blank face was overcome with fear.  She looked back up at Austin, and knew why he was there.

Her eyes pleaded silently with him as he firmly held his gaze upon her face, judging her, scolding her, daring her to come forward.  He clenched the PADD tightly in his hand, knowing that only seconds ago he was the only person separating his friend Nelson from the truth.  As Austin watched the tears form in Louise's eyes, he knew he no longer had to be.  The captain was right: this was indeed a family matter.

Austin turned toward Nelson just as Louise approached and buried her head in the nook of his shoulder, embracing him.  Slowly, he turned and walked away.  With measured steps, he headed for the turbolifts, and his duty station.  He briefly thought of the words he'd use when he informed the captain of his decision, and then his thoughts turned elsewhere.  Perhaps one last visit to the Rem was in order before casting off, and one more round of oblivion under the glittering, mind-numbing disco ball.  Yes, he decided, it most certainly was.

LtCmdr Nelson Reaper
Chief Operations Officer
USS Carpathia

Reaper, L: ...Sweet Sorrow

Stardate: 00718.0454
Subject:  ...Sweet Sorrow
Author: Louise Reaper
Time: After "Parting is Such..."
Scene: USS Carpathia

The morning briefing had just come to a close.  As the senior officers exited the room, Captain Johna approached his Executive Officer.  "Your opinion on a rather...  delicate matter, Commander?"

Austin looked up, fairly surprised.  He'd expected that the day's routine business was concluded.  Ro gave him that 'let's go' look and Austin rose and followed the captain to his ready room.

"What is it, sir?" he asked when they were both inside.

Captain Johna walked solemnly to his desk and retrieved a PADD.  He handed it to Austin.  "There has been an incident on board Starbase 185.  Normally, you would not be involved with this decision, but I need your advice." Saying no more, he sat, leaving the XO to read.
~~~

"Oh my god, she KILLED him?" Michaels gasped.

Ro nodded.  "Claimed an attempted rape defense.  185's CMO validated her story by citing the bruises on her shoulders.  But read further, Mrs.  Reaper's full post trauma medical report follows."

Austin skimmed the PADD, then read aloud, " '...mental trauma consistent with subject's account, but recent physical evidence suggests...' oh my god, is this for real?"

"So it would seem.  And now my dilemma is this: do I tell Lt.  Commander Reaper that his wife slept around on him, or leave that to her?  I have never been a good judge of family matters.  That is why you are here. That, and you know Nelson probably better than anyone except his wife.  What's your opinion?"

Austin sat back and sighed.  "I think I will be late for our volleyball match with Bally and Mulder, that's for sure." He stood and paced the room.  He stopped briefly and addressed the captain.  "What are the chances of making this...  go away?" he shook the PADD containing the report as he spoke.

Ro only sighed.  "Nil.  That copy came directly from Admiral Kelly.  It may be classified to protect Louise from the stigma associated with the accidental death, but the affair...  well, that's the best he can do.  He's graciously decided to let us have a go at it before submitting it to Starfleet personnel, which is why I need an answer.  Soon.  It would not do to leave the good Admiral out to dry on this one, would it?"

Austin looked disappointed.  "I suppose not.  Let me handle this, sir.  Can we get 24 hours out of him?"

"Most likely.  What do you plan to do?"

"I'm not sure, but I'll keep you informed."

"Very good, Commander.  Dismissed."

Louise Reaper
Civilian
USS Carpathia

Reaper, L: Parting is Such...

Stardate: 00718.0852
Subject: Parting is Such...
Author: Louise Reaper
Time: Before "Burned Into My Memory (ouch)"
Scene: Starbase 185

"Thank you, Commander.  Yes, I'll be ready at 0600.  See you then."

Louise Reaper closed the Starbase's internal commlink and looked despairingly to the floor.  A male hand reached to her shoulder from behind, caressing it, kneading it.

"Then tonight is our last night together," a male voice said.  Louise did not respond.  Slowly, she reached with her own hand toward the man's, reluctantly, longingly. Softly, she said, "Yes."

A long moment of silence followed.  For Louise, it was less than comfortable, but welcome.  One long moment with only the dimness of the room to behold, only the familiar staleness of the air to contemplate.  Silently she closed her eyes and her hand became cold stone over that one of flesh on her shoulder.  She could touch, and it would mean nothing... couldn't she?

The silence was broken by a coarseness she was becoming all too familiar with.  A rough voice, an over-strong hand.  She was pulled away from the desk and spun around in her swivel chair.  There before her was the face that, only three long nights ago, comforted her in her moment of weakness.  It regarded her now with a distance that laid her bare, exposing her regrets.  She knew that distance was simply a reflection of that in her own gaze.

"John, I..." Louise began.

"... can't," the man abruptly finished.  "I know.  I can feel your reluctance." His words were cold.  He removed his hands from her body, and she relaxed unconsciously, but visibly.  The man looked off to one side, and shrugged.  "I should have known.  You're just too good for your own good.  And now you're going to run off to your high and mighty husband on the Starfleet fast track, and be a good little wife and mother again, eh?  Do you really think you can be satisfied with that role ever again, after what you've done here?  And do you think you could ever face that man after what you've shared with me?"

He was standing now, looming over her while she sat in the chair, shaking, sobbing, seeming to cower beneath his oppressive form.  She neither noticed his dominant stance, nor would she have cared.  She was in her own misery, wallowing in her misdeeds as they threatened to consume her.  Raging with herself in her own mind, she was taken by surprise when he took her by the shoulders and forced her out of the chair.

"Well, don't you have anything to say to me?" was what he meant to say, but little more than the first word ever escaped his lips.  Instinctively, Louise raised her forearms, separating herself from the powerful man's grasp.  Rising on her own, the heels of her hands came down below his ears with more force than she estimated.  The man reeled back, reaching for his head in pain.  As he became prone, Louise wheeled around and put her foot against his larynx, shoving him violently backward.  As he fell, he tripped on the coffee table, and fell neatly into the edge of the desk.  The base of his skull contacted cleanly, and separated from the spine.  He fell to the floor, finally, with surprising grace, and lay silent.

Louise stood dumbfounded as she looked upon the dead man.  She was shaking, her muscles tense, her heart pounding.  She began to sweat, or realized she had been.  She knew the meaning of the faint cracking sound she heard as his head hit the desk, but fought to deny understanding.  Turning wildly, she ran into the room where Istari lay sleeping, scooped him into her arms, and ran as fast as she could to the infirmary, the image of the powerful man following her all the way.

Louise Reaper
Civilian
USS Carpathia