A moment of Sadness

Posted on Fri Feb 15th, 2019 @ 6:23pm by Lieutenant Jane Sinclair MD, DVM & Lieutenant Gente López-Fonsi

1,603 words; about a 8 minute read

Mission: Mission 2 - Love ORION Mistaken
Location: Swimming Pool
Timeline: 2261.192 1702

Gente was bored, with nothing much to do. He walked into the swimming pool on the USS Legacy. He was minding his own business. The transition from the USS Arlington to the USS Legacy, had been pretty smooth. He was enjoying his time down in engineering. However the Chief Engineer told him to take a few hours off. He had been spending to much time in Engineering. He was trying to familiarize himself with the engine.

He walked over to bench, and placed his towel down, took off his sandals as he walked over to the pool, and dipped his feet into the water. A tad bit on the chilly side, he thought to himself, as he took his foot out. He started to wonder if this was a good idea. He started to think about up and leaving everyone on the Arlington, after ten years.

He started to walk towards the other end of the pool, he happened to notice Jane, he just waved his hand, to say hi and walked past her. He stood there for a moment and started to mentally prepare himself to dive in. He dived into the pool, and a sudden acceleration of cold streaked across his body. For a brief moment, he was shocked, his body quickly adapted, as he rose to the surface, he could hear a voice singing.

At first he thought he was imagining it in his head. The voice was lovely but sounded sad, he continued to swim down the lane. He was using a basic power stroke. He listened to the lyrics of the song, as they focused on swimming to the otherside of the pool.

"Arm yourself because no one else here will save you
The odds will betray you
And I will replace you
You can't deny the prize it may never fulfill you
It longs to kill you
Are you willing to die?
The coldest blood runs through my veins
You know my name."

He started to think, this was not his imagination. He never had thoughts of anyone trying to kill him, he was trying not to put to much attention into the song, as he made it down to the other end of the pool. He rose up from the shallow end, allowing the water to receed from his head back down to the pool. Using his own hands, he wipped away the water, and noticed Jane was singing. He debated about saying something to her. But maybe she wanted to be left alone. He did not want to be rude, and interrupt her personal time.

Gente dived back into the water, and started to swim to the other end of the pool. As he swam to the surface, he could her Jane singing again. He continued to listen to her voice. It was very lovely, despite the sadness of the songs she was singing.

"A door left open, a woman walking by
A drop in the water, a look in your eye
A phone on the table, a man on your side
Or someone that you think that you can trust
It's just another way to die."

"Let the sky fall
When it crumbles
We will stand tall
Face it all together
Let the sky fall
When it crumbles
We will stand tall
Face it all together
At Skyfall."

Gente wondered who had Jane wrong? He continued to swim to the other end of the pool. He was trying to be respectful, but was also a little concerned. He kept telling himself, let it go Gente, she wants to be left alone. You have your own damn issues to deal with. Part of him felt that his career had stagnated. He should be a Chief Engineer, and because of his own set backs, he was still an assistant chief engineer. Gente made it to the other end of the pool.

"If I risk it all
Could you break my fall?
How do I live? How do I breathe?
When you're not here I'm suffocating
I wanna feel love run through my blood
Tell me is this where I give it all up?
For you I have to risk it all
Cause the writing's on the wall"

By the fourth song, he swam over to Jane, and just listened to her. He could see the tears coming down her face. The music was beautiful, but very sad. He felt a little transference from the music. He was feeling sad too. Wow she was good, not even trying she had them both feeling sad. He could relate to this last song. He risked his career and held himself back, just to get a chance to serve on a constitution class starship. Now he was here, but was he happy? Yes and no. He was happy to be here on the Legacy, yet he had to look into, at what cost? 10 year career, no wife, no kids, no senior position.

He knew he needed to address Jane's musical choices. It had reached him, and clearly it was reaching to her as well. He was concerned for her. Would she run or would she talk to him? He grabbed his towel and started to dry off, as he put the towel around himself, and walked into the music room. "You have an amazing voice." He said, hoping not to scare her away. He hoped she would want to talk. He waited to see what she said and did next.

Jane hadn’t realized that the door to the music room and the door to the pool were both still open, and that her voice carried into the swimming area. She jumped when Gente, a full foot taller than her and wearing only a swimsuit and towel, startled her. But she quickly calmed down. She wiped the tears from her eyes. “Thank you, Gente. That’s very sweet of you.”

Gente simply smiled. He was still concerned for her. Was she just expressing frustration. Or was this a cry for help? "Are you practicing for a musical performance?" He asked. He was hoping this was not a cry out for help. He had a feeling deep down it was. He stood at the door way, waiting to see what she said.

Jane chuckled a bit. “In a way, I always am. I love performing. But no, this was supposed to just be a bit of fun. I didn’t think I would end up crying.” A few more tears came into her eyes.

"Music has a way of moving us all." Gente said, and then continued on. "Sounds like your choices in songs moved you. Allow the music to express itself to you." He said, hoping she was listening to what he was saying. She sounded reasonable of mind. Clearly she was trying to tell herself something.

“You’re absolutely right,” Jane said. “I...I don’t know why I’m feeling this way. The music has dug up feelings of loneliness. But I didn’t think I was lonely. I’ve been so busy, there hasn’t been time to be lonely. But all of a sudden...it’s like there’s a piece of me missing. Like I was meant to be close to someone, but now I’m not. Do you understand?”

"I do, I am an engineer and a workaholic, the chief kicked me out, and told me to do some exercises." Gente said, trying to play down with his tone. He knew what it was like to get caught up in his work. Most of the time he took his work, with him. Always trying to solve something, on his free time.

“Probably best for us all to get some socializing in,” Jane replied. “Maybe that’s all this is. Too much work and not enough fun.” She paused. “It doesn’t feel quite like that. But I do need to have more fun with the crew.” She wiped her eyes. “Gente, when you’re done swimming, did you want a bite to eat? I’ve not had dinner yet. And I could use a friend.”

"Alright, give me about an hour?" Gente asked, hoping that was okay with her. Gente had just started to swim, so he should complete the laps, to keep the chief engineer off his back. He honestly thought about skipping the swimming laps, but he knew if he did, it would bug him all night. But on the same token, he hated to keep anyone waiting. He hoped that Jane was willing to wait.

Jane smiled. “Of course. Finish your swim. I’ll be here playing a bit longer. Come and get me when you’re ready, yeah?” She turned back towards the piano. “Leave the door open if you want. I like it when people can hear me. And Gente? Thanks for coming to talk to me. It was very sweet.”

Gente smiled, as he started to walk away slowly. "You're welcome, I won't be to long." He said as the scene starts to fade with him, heading back to the pool. He quickly tosses his towel on a chair, and starts his laps again.

Jane turned the pages in her notebook and found another song. Unfortunately, another one that tugged at her heartstrings and reminded her of a loss she couldn’t quite remember. Her cheeks grew wet again as she sang.

“Nobody does it better
Makes me feel sad for the rest
Nobody does it half as good as you
Baby you’re the best.”

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