A Long Overdue Chat (Part 2)

Posted on Wed Apr 19th, 2023 @ 12:58am by Major Chiyo Shimada & Captain Elizabeth F. "Liz" Beurling

888 words; about a 4 minute read

Mission: Descent
Location: Marine CO's office, Deck 16
Timeline: After 'A Long Overdue Chat (Part 1)'

Previously, on Star Trek Tokyo:

Chiyo leaned forward.

"Liz, why are you asking me about Tatsuo?" She asked. "You know he's a sore subject for me..."

And now, the continuation:

"Well... There's something I never told you:" Liz responded, beginning to turn red. "I mean, we've served together long enough that I don't think we should be keeping secrets from each other. Tatsuo... Is a sore subject for me as well. Let me explain: Back when I first met him on the Redemption, I thought he was a great guy. He was funny, loved to crack jokes, and we got along fine. Became good friends, as a matter of fact... But then one night, I had a... Particularly erotic dream about him..."

"What was the dream about?" Chiyo asked.

Liz smirked.

"If you've ever had sex with Tatsuo, which, Alice's mere existence leads me to believe you have at least once, then you know exactly what that dream was about." She responded. "My bunkmate heard me orgasming in my sleep, and wouldn't let me live it down. Pretty soon, people were calling me '2nd Lieutenant Orgasm.' I'm lucky that nickname has not followed me through my career. And the thing is, I didn't even have that dream during my Pon Farr. If I had, I would have dismissed it as a Pon Farr induced fever dream, but the fact that I didn't led me to question my relationship with Tatsuo, and whether or not my feelings for him went deeper than friendship."

Liz took a puff of her cigarette and sighed.

"When I finally worked up the nerve to confess, he... Told me he was already seeing you." She admitted. "I wanted you two to be happy, but that didn't mean that, deep down, I still wished for Tatsuo to see me like he saw you. That's one of the reasons why I agreed to be a stripper at Tatsuo's bachelor party; I was holding onto that faint hope that he'd see the light and leave you for me."

"Liz..." Chiyo sighed.

"I know... I know it was selfish, but I had to at least try. And that made the Redemption's loss here in the H'atoria sector all the more painful." Liz muttered. "I must admit, when we started serving together on the Marston, what, five years ago now? I hated you. I hated your guts. I thought the universe was playing a sick joke on me, making me work with the woman Tatsuo thought was better than me. I hated that you had assimilated Tatsuo's name, felt it was disrespectful to the deceased. I resented Alice, resented what she stood for: That yours and Tatsuo's love was so strong, it had produced a child. I was so deeply frustrated with simply being around you that I almost quit the Marston after only a year."

Liz took another puff of her cigarette.

"You want to know why I stuck around though?" She asked. "All those things about you that I hated? I realized you were doing them out of hope. You had assimilated Tatsuo's name in the hope that he was alive out there. Alice, when I finally started to get to know the kid, I saw bits of Tatsuo in Alice. I've said it before, but your intense, burning hope relit my long-extinguished hope. And now that we've been assigned to the H'atoria sector, my hope's burning brighter than ever, which is why we're here having this long overdue chat. Because like you, I want to believe he's alive somewhere in this sector, and we're going to find those answers... Together. Maybe after today, not as marine commander and marine vice commander, but still as sisters in arms."

Liz sighed.

"I guess what I'm trying to say is... I loved Tatsuo too." She said. "If you want to... Demote me or... Transfer me, I... Completely understand... But, if you do; please consider 1st Lieutenant Rudd as a candidate for my successor? She's a good marine, ma'am, who puts the lives of others above her own."

What felt like an eternity of silence passed before Chiyo finally spoke again:

"Liz... I appreciate you being honest with me." She said. "I'm not going to transfer you, I'm not going to demote you, neither in rank nor position. What happened in the past is behind us. And if we're going to find the answers to what happened to Tatsuo all those years ago, we need to be in the present looking to the future. We might not like what we find, but one way or another, we're going to find those fucking answers. As marine commander and marine vice commander, AND as sisters in arms!"

Chiyo had stood up while she was talking, and extended her hand to Liz when she had finished. Liz stood up and accepted the hand.

"Thank you, Captain." Liz said. "It's an honor to continue serving alongside you."

"Now, if you'll excuse me, Dr. Febin's probably wondering why I'm late." Chiyo said.

"Of course." Liz nodded. "Hold down the fort while you're gone?"

"You know me too well, Liz." Chiyo smiled as she stepped out the doors.

Posting by

Captain Chiyo Shimada
Marine Commander

1st Lieutenant Elizabeth F. "Liz" Beurling
Marine Vice Commander

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