Post by Captain_Quintus on Apr 4, 2016 5:38:06 GMT
Postby Jocelyn Nidari » Wed Sep 30, 2009 12:11 am
"Tauna, you aren't going to believe this. Tauna! TAUNA!"
"WHAT!?" The petite raven-haired woman scowled as she poked her head in the room.
"Oh, there you are," her balding, gray-haired husband said sheepishly. "I wasn't sure if you heard me."
"The entire colony heard you," she said dryly. "I was in the studio. What do you want?"
"Guess what came in our last data package," he said, beaming as he waved the tablet. "Starfleet Medical Journal."
"Is that all? You're retired. Just tell them that we don't want to continue our subscription."
"Just read it," he insisted.
After wiping her hands clean on her paint-smeared smock, she took the tablet curiously. "What am I looking for?"
"Page two, second paragraph."
Her lips moved as she read aloud. "...plague …Komai …under the direction of Doctor Jocelyn Nidari." She blinked and read the sentence again, then looked up at her husband. "That isn't funny, Ardu."
"It isn't a joke!" he protested. "She sent it to us herself."
"And you don't think our daughter is smart enough to doctor a few data files? She obviously sent it as a joke. No planet has plague epidemics any more. Those are so twenty-first century."
"I thought you'd say that," he said smugly, slapping a tablet into her other hand, "so I accessed the 'Fleet medical files myself and pulled the public reports."
She scowled, reading. "She altered the public reports, too? That is illegal."
"Tauna, don't be daft! Those are secure, legitimate reports. Give our daughter some credit!"
"Fine," she said curtly, stacking the tablets and shoving them back at him. "Good for her. Do you read anything in there about her love life? Is she engaged yet? Married? Does she have a child on the way?"
"Stop being ridiculous. She isn't even thirty yet! She has plenty of time to start a family."
"Not on a starship, she doesn't! If she even manages to find a nice boy to marry, do you know what the mortality rates on starships are? One in four officers that ship out never makes it back alive!"
"That can't be right. Where are you getting your facts?"
"Don't worry about my facts!" she said hotly. "I'm trying to make a point that even if she makes it through her first tour she is never going to settle down enough to raise children."
"Tauna," he said, lowering his voice. "Calm down and stop wishing her dead. She is on a fine ship, under a fine captain, despite his unfortunate hair color, and is serving with a good crew. Starfleet doesn't send their ships out to be shot at and blown to bits. I doubt she has even seen any sort of hostile engagement. Most are diplomatic or humanitarian missions, aiding those in need." He waved the tablet at her. "This is a fine example. She helped to save an entire planet of people. Is there a worthier cause?"
"Yes! She needs to give us grandchildren!"
"Jana has given you two and she is four years younger than Jocelyn! What more do you need, woman?!"
"More," Tauna said bitterly. "I love both of my daughters, but Jocelyn was so bright and had such potential. She has such perfect bone structure and it would be a shame to waste her beautiful eye color. Don't you want to see little versions of her running around?"
"Of course I do, but in good time. She will have her family in due course and not before. You can't force her into it."
"I shouldn't have to force her into it. She should want children. At least two, to honor the primary Centauri. What if she were to be in some sort of accident that prevents her from ever having children? What if her ovaries shrivel up and die?"
"Will you just stop? The fact that you bring it up every time you talk to her only pushes her further away. If you aren't careful, she will swear off men entirely and you will never have grandchildren from her."
"She wouldn't!"
"Stop harping at her or she might," Ardu said warningly. "Now, go write her a gushing congratulatory letter about her achievements without asking her how soon she's going to be popping babies out of her vagina."
"I would never be so blatantly crude," she said haughtily.
"No," he conceded, "but you would be so cruel."
"You write her, if it means so much to you."
"I already did," he shot back. "And I guarantee you that a letter from you -- a sincere letter with none of your barely hidden accusations -- would be worth ten of anything I send."
"I don't see why," Tauna sniffed. "You are her plainly her favorite."
"Which is why, coming from you, the praise will mean so much more."
"Tauna, you aren't going to believe this. Tauna! TAUNA!"
"WHAT!?" The petite raven-haired woman scowled as she poked her head in the room.
"Oh, there you are," her balding, gray-haired husband said sheepishly. "I wasn't sure if you heard me."
"The entire colony heard you," she said dryly. "I was in the studio. What do you want?"
"Guess what came in our last data package," he said, beaming as he waved the tablet. "Starfleet Medical Journal."
"Is that all? You're retired. Just tell them that we don't want to continue our subscription."
"Just read it," he insisted.
After wiping her hands clean on her paint-smeared smock, she took the tablet curiously. "What am I looking for?"
"Page two, second paragraph."
Her lips moved as she read aloud. "...plague …Komai …under the direction of Doctor Jocelyn Nidari." She blinked and read the sentence again, then looked up at her husband. "That isn't funny, Ardu."
"It isn't a joke!" he protested. "She sent it to us herself."
"And you don't think our daughter is smart enough to doctor a few data files? She obviously sent it as a joke. No planet has plague epidemics any more. Those are so twenty-first century."
"I thought you'd say that," he said smugly, slapping a tablet into her other hand, "so I accessed the 'Fleet medical files myself and pulled the public reports."
She scowled, reading. "She altered the public reports, too? That is illegal."
"Tauna, don't be daft! Those are secure, legitimate reports. Give our daughter some credit!"
"Fine," she said curtly, stacking the tablets and shoving them back at him. "Good for her. Do you read anything in there about her love life? Is she engaged yet? Married? Does she have a child on the way?"
"Stop being ridiculous. She isn't even thirty yet! She has plenty of time to start a family."
"Not on a starship, she doesn't! If she even manages to find a nice boy to marry, do you know what the mortality rates on starships are? One in four officers that ship out never makes it back alive!"
"That can't be right. Where are you getting your facts?"
"Don't worry about my facts!" she said hotly. "I'm trying to make a point that even if she makes it through her first tour she is never going to settle down enough to raise children."
"Tauna," he said, lowering his voice. "Calm down and stop wishing her dead. She is on a fine ship, under a fine captain, despite his unfortunate hair color, and is serving with a good crew. Starfleet doesn't send their ships out to be shot at and blown to bits. I doubt she has even seen any sort of hostile engagement. Most are diplomatic or humanitarian missions, aiding those in need." He waved the tablet at her. "This is a fine example. She helped to save an entire planet of people. Is there a worthier cause?"
"Yes! She needs to give us grandchildren!"
"Jana has given you two and she is four years younger than Jocelyn! What more do you need, woman?!"
"More," Tauna said bitterly. "I love both of my daughters, but Jocelyn was so bright and had such potential. She has such perfect bone structure and it would be a shame to waste her beautiful eye color. Don't you want to see little versions of her running around?"
"Of course I do, but in good time. She will have her family in due course and not before. You can't force her into it."
"I shouldn't have to force her into it. She should want children. At least two, to honor the primary Centauri. What if she were to be in some sort of accident that prevents her from ever having children? What if her ovaries shrivel up and die?"
"Will you just stop? The fact that you bring it up every time you talk to her only pushes her further away. If you aren't careful, she will swear off men entirely and you will never have grandchildren from her."
"She wouldn't!"
"Stop harping at her or she might," Ardu said warningly. "Now, go write her a gushing congratulatory letter about her achievements without asking her how soon she's going to be popping babies out of her vagina."
"I would never be so blatantly crude," she said haughtily.
"No," he conceded, "but you would be so cruel."
"You write her, if it means so much to you."
"I already did," he shot back. "And I guarantee you that a letter from you -- a sincere letter with none of your barely hidden accusations -- would be worth ten of anything I send."
"I don't see why," Tauna sniffed. "You are her plainly her favorite."
"Which is why, coming from you, the praise will mean so much more."