driftfleet | (no subject)

Who: Beverly Crusher and you
Broadcast: Network - Video
Action: Blue Fish
When: September 1

[There's a strangely familiar cold that has settled in her bones, a dreadful chill that disorients her in the first few moments that she's awake. Her first thought is that something went wrong - very wrong - as they passed through the temporal distortion, but then... as she sits up and takes in her surroundings, the memories all come back in a flood. Atroma has brought Beverly back, a little older, a little blonder, and with a new Starfleet uniform.

Or maybe I never left, she thinks. This is not the Marsiva, these are her quarters aboard the Blue Fish, and none of her things look as if they've been moved. Though admittedly, her memories of Drift Fleet seem distant. By her reckoning, it's been three years since she's seen this room.

Not that "time" really means much, considering what's happened in the past few days.

The communicator rests where she left it on the bedside table. When she picks it up, she finds it's full of unread messages, crewmates and friends wondering where she is, each message sounding more alarmed than the last. With a sinking feeling in her stomach, she checks today's date: September first.]

Damn!

[Immediately, she sends a message to the network, via video:]

This is Dr. Crusher of the... SS Blue Fish. It seems our gracious captors sent me home for a while. I'm back now, and I'm safe, and I'm sorry to everyone who was trying to contact me this month. I'll be on the Blue Fish if you need me.

[There's a pause, as if she's about to say something else, but then she simply gives them a small smile, one that doesn't quite reach her eyes.]

Thank you.

[The feed cuts off and after a moment, she decides to head for the kitchen. Not that she's particularly hungry but - there's a good chance that's where she'll find at least a few of her crewmates.]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Coffee would be awesome! [Hey, that's right, she's allowed to have caffeine again. No more chems!]

You always have such awesome stories from home. Oh, so I get a bunch of new ones now!

[She smiles as she pours the coffee grounds out into the pot.]

And here's the best one of all:

[Pushing the start button, she turns back to face Wrath.]

Julian's okay. He got out of the prison camp.

He is! That's so great! Did you see him? I guess he doesn't remember anything from here, though, and you didn't either. But it's still so good knowing he's okay.

I didn't see him myself, no. We barely know of one another in our world. But, one of the men who was in the camp with him - Worf - he's a friend of mine and a former crewmate. They got out together.

[More significantly, Julian's now famous for violating Starfleet regulations and joining up despite his augmentations. But while she's certain Wrath would not care one bit about that, it's still not her place to bring it up, especially when there's no reason to. The important thing is that he is alive.]

Oh, I see. But still, it's good to know that now. I'm glad things have worked out better for him.

Me too. Takes a great weight off of me. I worried about him a lot when I was here before.

Thank you for telling me. I've been worried about him too. Though I figured he'd be okay. He's tougher than he realizes.

A lot tougher than most people realize.

That seems to happen a lot. People just don't know what tough looks like.

No - they think tough means someone big and burly when that's not it at all.

Yeah. Tough's mostly in the head.

[The coffee pot dings so Beverly turns her attention to pouring two cups for them.]

Do you want any sugar?

I'm used to drinking it black like the general. Tastes familiar that way.

[Even though she normally likes sweet things.]

[She smiles as she sets Wrath's cup down in front of her before grabbing her own and dropping a couple of sugar cubes in it.]

Stronger woman than I. I'll take it black if there's no other option but - [She stirs the sugar around] I much prefer it this way.

Eh, for a long time, that's all we had. And then it just tastes weird when you have it any other way. [And it's an anchor to the past, and she doesn't have many.]

[She nods.]

To be honest, that's part of the reason I wanted to make the synthehol. I've been drinking it for so long that real alcohol tastes a little off.

That makes sense. Is synthehol really different in how it works or anything?

[She nods.] It doesn't have the same intoxicating effects of alcohol.

...wow, then what's the point?

[Beverly laughs.]

It'll still get you... what's the word? Buzzed? But it won't incapacitate you and the effects wear off quickly - ideal for officers who might have to get to their stations unexpectedly and quickly.

Ah, I guess that makes sense. Almost as good as having an artificial liver.

Almost. Though in all honesty, we can repair a liver. It's the addiction that we worry about.

I don't think people are too worried about that at home. But shit gets weird when you think the world is going to end and then it doesn't, but the ending is really just happening slower. Or that's how it feels.

But anyway. A lot better where you're from.

Mmm.

[She thinks about the people in Bozeman, the shantytown and the bar made of tin and junkyard parts.]

I saw a glimpse of that, when I was in my world.

You did? How? I thought things were a lot better there.

Action

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