Chapter Text
“Might I join you?”
Lieutenant Commander T’Vrell was so used to everybody ignoring her presence in the starbase’s replimat that when Commander Lockridge asked, she looked up simply to glare at the first officer. That made Commander Lockridge hesitant, but apparently their conversation on Eylis had made the first officer more friendly, for she didn’t leave.
“I suppose there’s nothing stopping you,” T’Vrell finally said and returned to her food.
Commander Lockridge sat down and began eating her lunch, forgoing any more conversation. It was interesting, piquing T’Vrell’s curiosity. Why did the commander join her for lunch? That wasn’t something people typically did with T’Vrell unless they wanted something—and Commander Lockridge didn’t seem like she wanted anything at the moment but to eat her lunch. It wasn’t even a very Vulcan lunch, instead seeming to be some type of stew that contained meat.
T’Vrell knew she was staring when Commander Lockridge looked up from her food with a frown. “What?”
“I was just curious why you decided to share lunch with me,” T’Vrell said, keeping her voice inflectionless like a true Vulcan.
“You’re the only one I know in this replimat,” Commander Lockridge replied with a shrug, “and the rest of the tables are full.”
T’Vrell looked briefly around the room and realized that was the truth. Though the science officer recognized plenty of faces, none of them were anybody that Commander Lockridge would have known yet. She was new to its occupants, as most of them worked on the starbase.
“How long are we usually at starbase?”
“It varies,” T’Vrell replied simply.
“I’m just curious because my previous ship technically had a home starbase, but we were never really there.”
“We generally come back after every mission. Because we’re the only starship assigned to this sector, we often do missions for Admiral Asava as well.”
T’Vrell began to eat again, feeling less invested in the conversation now that she had figured out why the commander had joined her. It was a pathetic reason worthy of the first officer who seemed to struggle to be anything beyond a bore. Commander Lockridge joined T’Vrell because she had nobody else.
“What are you eating?” Commander Lockridge blurted out.
T’Vrell glanced up to lock a penetrating gaze with her first officer. This time, the commander backed down. She bowed her head, letting her coils slip over her face as she muttered a soft “Sorry”.
“Do you have something against my choice of food, Commander?” T’Vrell asked icily.
“It’s just… not a Vulcan dish,” Lockridge said, gesturing to T’Vrell’s plate. It contained a very flavorless-looking salad, but the lettuce in it was distinctly human rather than Vulcan.
“I don’t believe it is any of your business,” T’Vrell snapped. “Besides, you’re not eating Vulcan food either. What is that?”
Lockridge looked down at her plate, and said, “Maafe.”
T’Vrell scoffed. “That’s not very explanatory. Why don’t you tell me something more helpful, like what ship will be joining us for our survey of Kieqqa II? You just came out of that meeting, correct?”
That made Lockridge fidget with her spoon as she said, “There aren’t any Starfleet ships available, so we have been assigned a ship from the Vulcan Science Institute—the Velen.”
The fingers around T’Vrell’s fork tightened reflexively as she stabbed her lettuce with far more gusto than was needed. It was an emotional reaction indicative of her Romulan heritage, but one that was hard to control. Hearing that name had brought an immediate surge of hate.
“You recognize it?” Lockridge asked.
“The Velen is the ship of Captain T’Solla, the woman who prevented me from joining the Vulcan Science Academy.”
“You applied to the Vulcan Science Academy? And Captain T’Solla denied you?”
There seemed to be surprise in Lockridge’s voice, although it was hard to tell with her Vulcan tone. It suggested that Lockridge hadn’t meant the questions to be insulting, but T’Vrell nevertheless took them that way. She found it unfair how Lockridge managed to act like a superior Vulcan despite her human heritage. If T’Vrell was more of a typical Vulcan, nobody would be surprised that she tried to apply to the Vulcan Science Academy.
“I was the most capable person on the planet,” T’Vrell practically spat, once again failing to control the emotion in her voice. “I graduated top of my prestigious school class. I more than earned my way into the Science Academy. Yet T’Solla said no. She convinced everybody that my heritage made me unqualified! They rejected me because of the father I never wanted!”
“That seems illogical.”
“T’Solla cares less about logic than she claims to. With all her powermongering, she is more Romulan than I! I can guarantee you that she will treat me just as horribly as ever! This mission is going to be miserable!”