Chapter Text
Picard
Captain’s log, Stardate 2365.127. Lieutenant Vanessa Williams and Lieutenant Commander Data were sent on a recent mission to a newly discovered Class M planet. Although the planet was though to have undiscovered life, Vanessa and Data discovered a Romulan training base. With their cover blown, the Enterprise is on its way to rescue them.
“Open hailing frequencies, Mister Worf,” I ordered, as we approached the planet.
“Hailing frequencies open.”
“Vanessa to Enterprise, do you read us?” the familiar, feminine, accented voice that we all knew too well asked.
“Yes, Vanessa, we read you,” I answered.
“Data and I are in hiding at the moment. The mission has been compromised….again.”
“Again?” I mentally prayed that she didn’t mean a second problem had arisen.
“It’s a complicated story. I’ll be sure to put it in my mission report. Is there any way you can transport us back to the Enterprise?”
“Yes, we’re working on it now. Geordi, lock onto their coordinates.”
“Already done, sir.” Vanessa’s voice came over the communicator, but I couldn’t make out what she was saying. There was a lot of static and yelling. “Beaming to the bridge now.” Vanessa and Data appeared a few seconds later. Vanessa had almost fifty tiny cuts all over her face, each being about half an inch long. She had a smile and a tricorder in her hand.
“What happened?” Riker asked, examining the cuts.
“Well, we got discovered by a Romulan guard squadron, so that made us go into hiding for a little bit, but then we were discovered again so we had to find a new place, and then I ran into a tree.” She kept her smile, which didn’t surprise me at all. Despite being injured, Vanessa almost always had a smile. Truthfully, it was relieving, most of the time, to see at least one person remain optimistic.
“Oh my Lord,” I replied.
“It was quite fun, actually. Also, we were able to document everything we could of the planet.” She handed me her tricorder, which remained in almost perfect condition.
“Good job, Lieutenant,” Riker said, ruffling her hair, teasingly.
“Go to the med bay and get those cuts cleaned up. That’s an order,” I told her. Knowing Vanessa, if I hadn’t ordered her to do it, she probably would have tried stitching each cut using her mirror. She smiled at me and headed for the turbolift.
Vanessa
The cuts on my face stung, but I didn’t really care. I entered the med bay, which was empty. It was always a good day when the med bay was empty.
“Doctor Crusher?” I called. She was probably in her office.
“Yes?” she answered. I could hear her footsteps, as she walked around the corner. She looked up at me, her eyes going wide. “Vanessa, what did you do? Oh my God.” Dr. Crusher put down the papers she was holding, then walking over to me to examine the cuts.
“I ran into a tree. I just need a quick patch up, nothing big.” Dr. Crusher sighed, not surprised.
“Alright, come on.”
“I could’ve fixed it myself, but Picard ordered me to come down,” I told her, following Dr. Crusher to the office.
“I would’ve done the same thing. Here, take a seat.” I did as I was told. I stayed still patiently, letting her start to patch up the cuts.
“I hope the next mission is as fun as this one was.”
“Then it’ll probably be more patch-ups for me to do.” Dr. Crusher had a smile and a joking tone, letting me know that she wasn’t mad or frustrated.
“How have you been, Doctor Crusher? We haven’t talked in a while.”
“Oh, I’ve been fine. Not much going on recently.”
“That’s good to hear.”
“You seem very happy.”
“Well, the past few missions have been particularly fun and my father is also supposed to be transmitting later today. He hasn’t transmitted in a while, so I really hope he does.”
“He will.”
“Fingers crossed.”
“He will. You’re all patched up now, so you’re free to go.”
“Great, thank you. The next mission briefing should be happening soon, anyway.”
“I’ll see you there.”
Before I went to the observation deck for the briefing, I made a quick stop at my quarters. There wasn’t too much I had there, mostly just some notebooks and instruments. The room was pretty much a complete mess, which I had been putting off to clean up. I brushed out my tangled hair, using my mirror as a guide.
“Okay, today’s the day,” I reminded myself. “Dad’s going to call and then you can tell him all about the Enterprise. Everything will be fine. Sure, it’s been a while since he’s called, but this time, he really means it.” I wasn’t doing the best job at reassuring myself, but I made myself remain optimistic. Even though Dad and I hadn’t talked via a transmission in a long time, despite him promising to, I still had hope that he would today. I took a deep breath. “You’ve got this.”
“Riker to Vanessa,” Riker’s voice came through on the communicator.
“Let me guess, mission briefing?”
“Yep.”
“On my way.”
Everyone took their places at the round table of the observation room. I was the third chair on the left side, next to Deanna and across from Worf.
“Alright, everyone,” Picard began. “As you know, this next mission is rather on the more dangerous side. We have discovered a Romulan base, hidden on Zoria II. This base has been creating and harboring weapons that can and will pose a great threat to the Federation. The Enterprise has been assigned the mission of infiltrating enemy lines and shutting the base down, destroy it if need be. However, Vanessa, you’re to stay here on the Enterprise. News of a Vulcan female with long red hair has spread rapidly through Romulan communications.”
“Captain, I could always attempt to change my hair color or something about it, so that they wouldn’t wouldn’t recognize me.” I wanted to be on this mission so badly. I loved infiltrating enemy lines, and I had never seen a Romulan weapons base before. It was a thrill I couldn’t even begin to describe.
“No, that wouldn’t work. Besides, you’ve just recently returned from a mission. You deserve a break from being part of the away team.”
“I can handle another mission. If I can change my appearance, even temporarily, then they wouldn’t recognize me.” I could see Picard starting to get frustrated, which could’ve turned into a good or bad thing.
“Vanessa, this isn’t for debate. You’re not going.” Damn. I was already starting to plot. I had to find a loophole. I slightly nodded, not responding. “They also have documentation of the encounter with Data and Vanessa,” Picard continued, speaking to the group. “That information needs to either be collected or destroyed. We will arrive at Zoria II in three days. Any questions?” No one spoke, but I had already, mentally, made a major decision. “Good. Dismissed.” Everyone moved towards the door. As I passed Picard, he grabbed my arm subtly, just below my shoulder. “Don’t do anything either of us will regret.” I nodded and he let go. I walked out the door. Deanna was the only one waiting for me.
“I could feel that you were planning something,” she said, walking with me. We entered the turbolift. “You heard the Captain, Vanessa. You won’t change his mind.”
“I can find a loophole, Deanna. I know I can. I just need a little bit of time.”
“It sounds more like you’ve already considered it and decided upon it.” I shrugged, knowing that she probably already had an idea of what I was thinking. “Vanessa.”
“I kind of do. I mean, I don’t know if I really want to do it, but I will if I feel it comes to it. And I pretty much feel that way now.”
“Personally, I believe you’re letting your frustration cloud your judgement.”
“Maybe I am, maybe I’m not, but Picard knows that I’m ready for another away team mission. Galaxy, I live for them. I can make myself blend in.” The turbolift doors opened to my deck and we walked out, heading for my place.
“I don’t think this is about truly wanting to just go on the mission. I think you’re trying to prove that you can keep doing it.”
“The away team missions are all I really have to do. I finish mission reports on time, I take care of what I need to around the ship, but the missions add a little action and adventure. It’s the kind of stuff I need.”
“But one day without it isn’t going to kill you, Vanessa. It’s one mission.” We entered my place, which I was suddenly really embarrassed about. It was truly a disaster zone. I had been meaning to clean it, but I guess I had just been more focused on the recent missions.
“I know, but it’s deeper than that. I just feel like I have to do this. You know, like it’ll complete some type of cycle with the most recent missions.” I opened a drawer, looking for a particular object.
“I’m not going to say whether I agree with your choice or not, but I will support you either way. Okay?” I turned my head and nodded.
“Thanks, Deanna.”
“Just tell me what you’re choosing to do.” I found the object in the drawer and turned around, holding it in my hand. I held it up for Deanna to see. Her face dropped, knowing that her thought was correct. It was a pair of scissors.