Looking for answers
Posted on Mon Mar 13th, 2023 @ 5:42pm by Lieutenant Commander Rowena McGowen & Ensign Rachel Sinclair & Lieutenant Commander Hermia O'Rourke
Edited on on Fri Mar 17th, 2023 @ 2:51pm
0 words; about a 1 minute read
Mission:
Episode 13 - Crooked River
Location: SCIF - Deck 9 - USS Pioneer
Timeline: MD003 1500 hrs
- XO’s quarters, Romulan Republic Patrol Vessel-
Sitting in his quarters aboard a Romulan Patrol Vessel, Jor’ral was making a few final checks before making a subspace call that could fix a rather large whole in his life. From what Romulan intelligence had told him, the person he’d been looking for had not only joined Starfleet, but was currently serving on a ship that was currently in Republic Space dealing with a mystery of their own.
Taking a deep breath in, Jor’ral entered his command code and used the com frequency he’d been given to contact the intelligence officer onboard the USS Pioneer.
SCIF - Deck 9 - USS Pioneer-
Rowena just got herself a fresh mint tea, a recipe she found in the computer that possibly belonged to her predecessor when the computer announced she had an incoming communication. She tapped her console and a Romulan appeared on her screen. “Hello, I am lieutenant commander Rowena McGowen. To who do I owe the pleasure?" She took a sip from her tea. She never spoken to a Romulan before. Mainly because her career was all over the place. But now that she is on the Pioneer, she probably had to get used to that.
“Greetings Lieutenant Commander, I am Sub-Commander Jor’ral of the Republic Warbird Jo’sul. I was hoping you could help me. Do you have an Ensign Rachel Sinclair onboard? I believe she is in your security department if my information is correct”
Rowena looked a moment at the Romulan. Technically the Pioneer was not a secret vessel and therefor it's manifest was public knowledge. She was interested to know though why the Romulan was interested in this information. Unless there was something about Sinclair she wasn't aware off. "Yes, the information you were given is correct. We have an Ensign Sinclair serving as a security officer on board. May I inquire what it is you want with the Ensign?"
Taking a deep breath in, Jor’ral figured he might as well just get to the point rather then dance around the issue, “I believe that Ensign Sinclair might just be my lost daughter. I know it sounds strange, but I believe I can prove it” he said before tapping a few commands into his console. A moment later, two medical profiles were sent to Rowena’s computer, “these are the genetic profiles for myself and my wife. You should be able to have one of your famous Starfleet Doctors confirm my suspicions. Or, spirits forbid, possibly deny them. In which case I will apologise for wasting your time”
Rowena looked at the information coming in. "I will send this to our Chief Medical officer right away. I don't know if she has the time now. But I will give her a call. If you don't mind waiting a little?"
Jor'ral nodded, “take your time. I would like to be certain of this before proceeding any further”
She transferred the files to the CMOs console and then tapped her badge. "Commander O'Rourke, this maybe an odd request but could you match the DNA of the files I just sent to you with our Ensign Rachel Sinclair? She is the Assistant Chief Security."
"Understood, Commander, I'll get onto it asap." Hermia replied. She wondered what this was about, but knew when to keep her mouth shut.
Rowena looked over at Jor'ral. "I will call you back sub commander." She turned off the console and then got off her chair. "I coming to you doctor, I hope you're not busy right now. I will speak with you privately."
Jor'ral simply nodded, “very well, I have sent you the appropriate frequency to use in order to reach me” he said before the screen went blank.
"See you soon, Commander. Being busy is part of the job, but I'm intrigued, and I can make time." Hermia said.
Sickbay - Deck 5 - USS Pioneer
After receiving the data, Hermia ran it though a program that compered the data.
It would take a few moments to process, so she took the opportunity to skim Sinclair's bio and medical records. She hadn't met the woman as Dr. Goldberg had performed her pre-launch physical. A Romulan-Orion hybrid was interesting and she wondered which traits the woman had received from her parents.
Rowena walked in a few moments later and walked to the doctor. "Doctor, have you found anything." She was now curious herself.
The scanner beeped to indicate the scan was complete. Hermia brought up the results. All 25 tested markers matched. The verified as much as possible a father-daughter biological relationship.
The CMO then ran a second scan, it wasn't necessary, but repeatability was important in every experiment.
Rowena looked at the test. "Is this accurate?"
"Yes, as accurate as it is possible to be, ma'am." Hermia replied.
Hermia then tapped her comm. badge. "Ensign Sinclair, this is Doctor O'Rourke, please report to the Sickbay at your earliest convenience."
Sitting in her quarters, Rachel was about to head to the gym for a workout when she heard the doctor call over the intercom. Giving a sigh, she quickly retrieved her combadge and gave it a tap, “On my way Commander.” she replied before shoving the combadge into her pocket, picking up her gym bag and heading out for sickbay.
After about 10 minutes, Rachel walked in through the doors and looked over at the two officers who were waiting for her. One was the CMO, who had called her down here, and the other was the CIO, which was more of a surprise to her. Pausing for a moment out of confusion, Rachel nervously licked her lips before tapping over to the two officers, “You wanted to see me Doctor?”
Rowena also never met Rachel. The officer wasn't in her department, and she did read her name on the roster, since Intelligence did work with Marines and Security to secure the SCIF. "Welcome, I thought you should know, we, or rather I got a request from a Romulan sub commander, who thinks you are his daughter. I sent his medical files to the doctor to test this and the reason we called you here is because something came out of it. I haven't spoken to the Sub commander, cause I thought you wanted to see for yourself first and if you want this information to go back him." She looked to Hermia. "Doctor?"
"Ensign I compered the DNA sample provided by the Romulan Sub commander with your DNA sample that is on file and I have discovered a parent-daughter match. If the DNA sample provided by the Sub Commander is indeed his, then he is your biological father." Hermia explained.
Rachel simply stood where she was, her face drained of all colour, which for her was quite the achievement. Her expression wasn’t one of fear, but just pure shock. Even if this particular Sub-Commander wasn’t her father, they either knew where he was or had a way to obtain a DNA sample from him. Taking a step backwards, her legs immediately became like jelly and she collapsed to the floor, falling on her backside with a considerable thud. This ship was turning out to be a series of firsts for her.
"I'm sorry, I should have asked you to sit down first." Hermia said offering her hand to help the Ensign up. "You can sit on the couch in my office while you think things through." She added.
"The fault is mine too, I should have anticipated this as well," Rowena said, feeling guilty for not seeing this could happen. But she had seen so much in her life, she didn't think this was the worst. But no one is like her of course.
Taking the offered hand up, Rachel looked between the two officers without saying anything. Her mind was full of questions but she wasn’t sure whether or not to ask them. Where has he been all this time? how did he escape? Is her mother alive? So many things she wanted to know. Taking in a deep breath, Rachel eventually settled on Hermia, “may I use your office to contact this person? I would like the two of you there of course, but I think I need to see them”
"Sure”, Hermia said and led the way to her office.
Rowena reestablished the connection. "This is Lieutenant Comander McGowen, seeking to contact sub commander Jor'ral." She waited calmly for a response as she looked a little concerned over at the Ensign.
Sitting in the CMO’s office chair, Rachel took several deep breaths in and out in an attempt to keep calm. While it was true that she had no memories of her biological parents but she was hoping that just the sight of this man’s face may stir something. Closing her eyes as Rowena made the connection, she waited for the Sub-Commander to respond.
As soon as the Romulan commander appeared she said, "Sub commander, my apologies for the delay. This is doctor O'Rourke, the ships chief medical officer and..." She paused a moment before she revealed the ensign. "This is Ensign Sinclair."
As the face of the man appeared on the screen, Rachel’s face went pale as something stirred deep in her soul. It felt like a hand had reached out and taken hold of her stomach and has started shaking it around.
Starring for a moment, Tor’ral blinked a few times out of disbelief as he leaned forward towards him monitor, “by the Spirits, you’re the spitting image of your mother” he said, as a tear formed in one of his eyes. Quickly wiping it away, Tor’ral looked up at the other officers in the room with Rachel, “may I assume the profile I sent over was a match?”
"Yes, I tested the DNA profile you provided with that of Ensign Sinclair and the result showed parent-child relationship. I ran the test several times to be certain. If that DNA profile is indeed yours, then you are Ensign Sinclair's biological father." Hermia said. She didn't detect any signs of deception from Tor'ral, but with Romulans it could be difficult to do so, due to their extensive training.
Rowena looked from Tor'ral to Rachel and then said, "Ehm...doctor, maybe we should, give them a moment?" She signalled to the door of the CMO's office.
"Indeed." Hermia agreed. "Ensign, will be just outside if you need us." That said she followed Rowena out of her office.
Waiting for the others to leave, Rachel tried to think of something to say. After a moment of silence, she figured anything would be better than just starring at each other, “so, um……Is my mother alive?” She asked
Blinking a little at the question, that wasn’t the first question Tor’ral expected to hear. Taking a deep breath to calm himself, Tor’ral nodded, “yes, your mother is alive. She’s on the new homeworld helping to set up habitats and housing for the Romulan people” he answered before another tear rolled down his cheek, “we’d thought we’d list you. All those years ago”
Starting to feel a little nervous, Rachel put on the best smile she could. She wanted to say something like ‘well, here I am’ but unfortunately all that came to mind was “I’m sorry, I don’t remember either of you. I can trust the DNA sample you sent as the Doctor is quite shops at her job, I just……” she said with a shrug.
Quickly giving a nod, Tor’ral held up his hand, “of course, I understand. This all must be very strange to you. You know what I’ll do. I’ll use my contacts in the federation and see if we can meet up somewhere. Feel free to bring whomever you wish, an entire security detachment if that makes you feel safe. Maybe seeing me in person might spark something” he said, just as an alert sounded behind him, “oh, I’m sorry my daughter, I must go. But before I do, know this. Your name is Nilessa Verona“ he said before closing the channel.
Sitting in the doctors chair for a moment, Rachel let this information sink in, “Nilessa Verona…” well at least she had something to go off of.
As they came outside Rowena turned to the doctor. "Doctor, when this is over, I think I would want a word with you." She rolled up her sleeve. "There's something I need to have looked at as well." She showed the mark on her arm. The red hand print like someone grabbed her really hard.
Hermia looked at the hand print. "Does it hurt? How did you get it?" She asked.
Rowena pulled her sleeve back down. "Would you believe me if I said it just appeared? And it hurts sometimes, sometimes it itches, it even burns sometimes."
"It sounds and looks like a burn." Hermia said. "But, its shape and your lack of knowledge about how you got are strange." She added. "I'd like to give you a scan, when time permits."
Rowena nodded, "Yes when all this is over."
"Okay." Hermia said.
Stepping out of the doctors office, Rachel took a deep breath before looking over at the two officers, “thank you both. I think I need to go make a booking with the ship’s Counsellor."
"You're welcome, Ensign." Hermia said with a smile.
Rowena nodded too, smiling. "If you need anymore, you know where to find us." She rubbed over her sleeves. I hope you found what you are looking for."
A Joint Post By
Ensign Rachel Sinclair
Assistant Chief Security/Tactical Officer, USS Pioneer
Lieutenant Commander Hermia O'Rourke
Chief Medical Officer, USS Pioneer
Lieutenant Commander Rowena McGowen
Chief Intelligence Officer/Second Officer, USS Pioneer
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