Chapter 2
THE WAY WE WERE BEFORE
(Roughly two years before the event took place)
(Braydon & Michael’s Quarters)
(U.S.S. Olympus)
(Deck 3)
(Stardate: 84780.74)
Michael was in his quarters working over his appointment scheduling for the next 2 weeks. The doors to the quarters opens up, Braydon walks through the door, and in his hands were two PADD’s one containing the duty rosters of the bridge crew and the other containing their performance evaluations.
Michael looked over his shoulder. From where Michael was positioned he was in the corner with a small glass table with a vase which has a bunch of purple orchids. The room was set out quite roomy. The quarters had a couch which was set in the middle of the room, facing towards to windows to the stars outside. The chair which Michael was sitting on was located in the corner near the relipicator, Michael liked the idea of not having to walk far to get a beverage replacement for himself. A small coffee table in located in front of the couch with a three chair dining table located to the far wall opposite to where Michael was.
Braydon walked over the couch and threw himself on to it. Michael turned his head softly towards where Braydon was sitting. Braydon’s hands were covering his face, and his feet were placed on to the arm rest of the couch.
“Long day babe” says Michael?
Braydon slowly removes his hands off of his face and turns his head to Michael was.
“Long day doesn’t cover it, the Ensign that operates at the science station on the bridge was stuffing up on his sensor reading” replies Braydon.
Michael intrigued with the conversation, places his appointment PADD down on the table and slowly begins to stand up.
“I swear the amount of times I had to walk over to his station to undo what the Ensign did you could swear, he was trying to piss me off” says Braydon.
Michael walked over to the couch and grabbed Braydon’s feet and lifted them off the armrest and sat down while placing his feet onto the armrest again.
“What was he doing wrong” asks Michael.
“Somehow the sensor module would shut down after he scanned the mineral deposits of the asteroids, which cause all previous scans done before hand to be lost somehow” responds Braydon.
Michael looked at Braydon with such disbelief of what happened.
“How long has the Ensign been out of the academy” asks Michael.
Braydon brought his legs off of the couch and straightened himself up and he stood. He could tell that Michael was going to be on the defensive regarding new crew members that are fresh from the academy.
He turned his head towards and says, Michael, “not this again, Michael I know that you have your opinion regarding this and all. But don’t start this now.”
Braydon walks away from where Michael was over to the window and stared off into space and slowly turned towards Michael.
“I don’t want to argue about this” says Braydon with a stern tone in his voice.
Michael looked at Braydon, “babe you know that those from the academy haven’t been on a ship let only know how to operate ships system instinctively.
And each ship system are going to be touchy, you had the same problem when you started” responds Michael.
Michael quickly stood up and started walking past Braydon, and just as Michael walks past him Braydon quickly and softly grabbed Michael’s hand and pulled Michael towards him.
Michael knew that Braydon was trying to suck him to him. Michael looked away from Braydon to give the impression that he wasn’t falling for it.
Braydon tilted his head little bit to the right and did the whole puppy dog frown and look. Michael turned his head a little bit and from the corner of his eye he could see Braydon’s face.
He groan when he saw the look that Braydon did.
“I hate you” says Michael.
Braydon continued to look at Michael with his soft puppy dog look.
“So are you going to admit defeat that getting crabby at an Academy newbie?” Asks Michael, Braydon puppy dog look quickly changed to a frown and disappointed look.
Braydon knew he wasn’t going to win this debate as he would like to put it.
“Fine, but you know that I will try and win the next one, you do realize this?” Replies Braydon.
Michael smiles with a sense of gladness.
“So what are you doing at this moment besides your evaluation submissions and duty rosters report?” Asks Michael as he softly removes himself out of Braydon’s grasp and walks over to the dining table and slips into one of the three sits of the dining table.
Braydon watches Michael ever so carefully, admiring Michael sense of stillness in his questions and proud posture as he watches Michael walk over to the dining table.
“Nothing at this point of time, those reports are due for a couple of hours” responses Braydon. “Why do you ask?” Asks Braydon.
Michael slowly turns his head towards Braydon and puts a quick smile on his face. Braydon knows that smile, Braydon smiles back and responses with his hands on his hips.
“Oh… Well we could do that. But I was hoping to go out and have dinner, because we haven’t done that in a fair while since being stationed on the Olympus” says Braydon.
Michael smiles turned into a big grin, he knows that is very much true. They had been on the Olympus for 24 months and during that time they haven’t had a moment to themselves to have dinner, besides the occasional lunch and coffee catch up when they aren’t overly busy with their responsibilities.
Michael quickly stands up and quickly glides over to Braydon and gives him an excited hug.
“That I would love much more, a nice dinner then a sweet “dessert” later”, replies Michael as he winks the word dessert.
Braydon smiled when Michael winked that word. So they both quickly went into their bed room and got changed out of their uniforms and quickly changed into a nice comfy casual outfit.
Ten Forward was known to be the nice hang out on the ship, so they proceeded to head out of their room together, Michael walked beside Braydon as they walked down the corridors to the nearest turbolift.
Just as they turn the corner, they both bumped into Sammy Jays. Sammy looked at Braydon and Michael. Sammy had a smile on her face.
Michael knew what she was smiling about.
”Ok! You can stop smiling now” says Michael.
“Well I can’t help it, when you two are together, I instinctively smile because you both are like to magnets. You super charge me with your feelings and all, and it’s very hard for me to block that off. So if anything you two should stop”, Replies Sammy with a big grin on her face.
Braydon had a hard time getting used to the idea of Sammy being a Betazoid, it made him feel like he wasn’t being probed. Braydon changed his smile into a frown, and Sammy got offended by that quick change in appearance.
Michael knew that something went wrong, and he knew what it was. Michael turned to Braydon and said.
”Babe, Sammy was joking about the not smiling and being happy” says Michael.
The history between Sammy and Braydon was never the easiest one. Michael recalls the day when he first told Sammy that he and Braydon were dating. Sammy was excited and happy for Michael. Sammy had said to Michael that when he ever finds himself that right person for him, that he would introduce him to her. Michael kept that promise to her.
So when Braydon meet Sammy for the first time, Braydon felt out of place, Sammy could pick that up. Braydon felt ever more out of place when he was told that Sammy was a Betazoid.
Michael never knew what had happened between Braydon and Sammy, but he had obviously guessed that Braydon had thought something about Sammy, because the next thing he saw was Sammy throwing a punch into Braydon’s face. The force from Sammy’s punch had thrown Braydon onto his back from where he stood.
Michael was absolutely shocked with the actions that Sammy had displayed. He looked towards Sammy and all he could see what complete disgust on her face, Braydon who was on the floor with a broken nose, had jumped up quickly and yelled at her in Klingon.
The one thing that Michael had learnt about Braydon was being a half human and half Klingon, Braydon was easy to anger. As much as Michael admired that about Braydon, he was sometime scared of what Braydon temper would get him into some of the times.
Michael quickly intercepted Braydon’s body posture and jumped in front of Braydon and quickly grabbed Braydon and shouted, “Braydon! Stop!”
Braydon noticed what Michael did, and quickly turned around and walked away from Michael and Sammy.
Michael thought to himself that he will talk to him later, once he had calmed down and all. Michael quickly turned towards Sammy.
“What the hell was that?” Michael interjected before Sammy could say something to Braydon as he walked away.
“He thought terrible things about me, and he had recalled event that had happened where his was read without his permission by a species that were telepathic. And he expressed what he wished he could do to them” responded Sammy.
Michael was stunned by what Sammy had said, but as Michael has known to not quickly judge. He wasn’t able to say anything back to her in that moment. But Sammy had felt the shock that Michael was in, so she was able to know that Michael was thinking as such.
“I know I was out of line with what I did. But all I felt from him was absolutely resentment towards those that are telepathic. And I reacted to his feeling, so please assure him that I didn’t mean to attack him like that, but it wasn’t very hard not to push aside what he was feeling and all” says Sammy.
Michael nodded to what she had said, normally he was the one that would dissolve situations as such from becoming volatile. Michael turned towards where Braydon had walked off to, Sammy in turn said, “go after him and explain things to him please. I will go and allow you time to sort it out. But be safe please” says Sammy.
And with that Sammy turned towards the corridor that was behind her and proceeded to walk back to her quarters.
Michael quickly walked in the direction of where Braydon went, but he wasn’t able to find him. Michael quickly tapped his commbadge.
“Markus to Burnett?” say Michael
Michael waited for Braydon to respond. But there was no response,
Michael tapped his commbadge again, “Computer where is Commander Burnett?” Say Michael.
A female voice response to Michael request,” Commander Burnett is in Ten Forward.”
Michael thought to himself, wow…. He is quick on his feet. Michael quickly headed to the Turbolift, the door to the turbolift opened and Michael walked in. Ten Forward says Michael.
The door to the turbolift closed and it began to move. Michael wasn’t sure on how to approach Braydon, he knows that he can’t approach Braydon, as he normally would when he is counselling his patients. So he had to rethink on what he was going to do.
The turbolift came to a halt and the doors opened up. Michael walked out of the turbolift, and turned right from the turbolift towards the double doors of Ten Forward.
The doors slid apart revealing no one else by Braydon and 2 bottles of Blood Wine that were in front of him. Michael frowned at the sight of the alcohol that Braydon had in front of him.
Michael slowly approached him and just as he was about to announce his present. Braydon slowly turned his head.
“I think I should not be near you right now” says Braydon.
Michael was stunned again.
“And why is that, if I may ask” replies Michael.
Braydon slowly turned his head back towards the windows starring out into space.
“Because I said so, it isn’t safe for you right now”, Braydon states with a stern low voice.
Michael slowly walks to the chair nearest to Braydon. He could see that Braydon has had a few drinks already.
“I will take my chances”, says Michael as he proceeds to sit down.
Braydon glared at Michael as he sits down in the chair near him.
“So what did that, Sli-Vak” say about me?
Michael wasn’t fluent in Klingon, but he knew that what he said wasn’t a compliment as such.
Michael quickly disregarded the comment and continued to answer the main question.
“Sammy had told me what you had thought of regarding telepathic abled species, and what had happened to you. And she responded to your thoughts as well as what you felt about them” replies Michael.
Braydon quickly turned his head when Michael told him what Sammy said. “She had no right to read me like that!” Yells Braydon towards Michael.
Michael kept his composure when Braydon yelled at him, even though it wasn’t towards him, it was more towards what he had said. “She didn’t read you, she felt your thoughts and emotions regarding what you had wished to did to those that harmed you”, replies Michael in a stern voice.
Braydon looked at Michael, but didn’t respond to what he said. Michael knew that he shouldn’t ask what had happened. But Braydon needed to move on from his problem and anger towards others that could potentially be harmed by him.
“So you want to tell me what happened, that caused them to telepathically assault you?” Asked Michael.
Braydon had hoped that Michael would never find out about this. But he knew that there wasn’t no way Michael was going to forget about this. “Right now, I don’t wish to talk about, but I will give you access to read up on this” says Braydon.
Michael was confused by what he had said. Braydon had grabbed Michael by his hands and he turned his hand palm up and placed a smooth long rectangular shaped item into the palm of his hands and closed it.
Michael opened his palm and saw an isolinear chip, he wasn’t sure what the chip was for. Braydon explained that this chip would give him access to the file that he would be able to read up on. And with that Braydon got up and slowly turned towards the doors to leave Ten Forward,
Michael quickly got up and was about to say something to him, but then Braydon interjected. “Until you read what has happened, don’t come near me until then, allow me the time to calm myself down for a while. That’s all I can ask of you.”
And with that Braydon walked out of Ten Forward with Michael standing there with the chip in his hand. Michael thought about what had happened to Braydon, what was the reason for why those telepaths did what they did to him, and for what reason would they have to read his mind for.
Michael proceeded to head out of Ten Forward towards the turbolift. He ponders a bit move on what Braydon is going through, and wished he could more for him. But Michael was told to stay away until he knows what went on with him.
The doors to the turbolift opened and Michael proceeded into the lift.
“Deck 5” says Michael to the computer.
The lift doors shut and the lift proceeded to his destination. He speculated on what he would find once he put in the isolinear chip in.
As he thought on it more the door of the lift opened.
Michael not noticing the doors opened,
“Are you ok sir”, asks a young female ensign.
Michael quickly moved his head and noticed the doors were open.
“Oh. Sorry I didn’t notice. Yes, everything is alright” replies Michael.
Michael proceeded to walk out of the turbolift and turns left towards his quarters, the young ensign watches Michael turn down the corridor, and she shrugged her shoulders.
“Good night Sir”, she replies.
Michael doesn’t say a word back to her. And she proceeded to enter the turbolift. Michael didn’t realize until the last moment that she said something, but he was too lately to say something back, so he continues to walks towards his quarters.
He arrives at the door, but he suddenly stops. He was scared of knowing about what’s on the chip. And with that he quickly wipes the thought from his mind, he knew that sooner or later he will be too intrigued in not reading up about this.
He taps on the panel of his room to enter. The doors of his quarters were small, but he didn’t care. He was used to having a small room to live in.
As he enters his quarters, he see his work station where we reviews patients and appointments for his patients.
To his right was a 2 seater couch with a small coffee table. Against the wall directly in front of the couch was the food replicator. He turns to his table and the computer terminal that is situated there with his chair.
He wasn’t sure on whether he should look at it now or to give himself time to prepare for whatever he may find. Either way, he knew that he would have to look at it eventually.
He pulls out the chair that’s at his work station, and inserts the isolinear chip into the computer terminal.
Authorization accepted announces the female computer voice.
What Michael saw wasn’t what he had expected.
