SIM:Ensign Aresee Ventu: Crossroads

Ensign Aresee Ventu

"Crossroads"

August 27, 2005

In which a newly arrived Ensign Ventu begins to adapt to her life aboard the USS Victory. Note that her sister's name is still Alexandra at this point!

((Starbase Shuttlebay))

::Ventu meandered through the crowd, making her way slowly towards the shuttle that would take her to her new life. Around her, she was bumped, jostled, and nudged aside by the myriad Starfleet personnel hurrying to and fro around her. She stood apart, trying to project aloofness with her measured step and her head held high. Her attire, too, stood out among the others around her; she had chosen not to don a Starfleet uniform, as was sometime's a counselor's prerogative. Her chosen dress, a flowing blue dress, attracted some stares, but she was impervious...a mental force in a world that was so physical.::

oO This is it. This is what you've been waiting for. Are you sure...sure that this is what you want? Oo

::She shook her head once, clearing it of such rebellious thoughts. Of course this is what she wanted...Why should she be questioning it now?::

::She spotted the shuttle that she'd been ordered to report to and strode towards it. A few meters away, she saw someone out of the corner of her eye...someone whose gaze was fixed upon her. She turned her head ever so slightly and saw Fanel...Jacen Fanel, one of the cadets...ensigns, now...from her training class. He greeted her as he approached...::

FANEL: Hello there.

VENTU: Ensign.

::She inclined her head ever so slightly towards him, giving nothing away. She was giving nothing away, not this time. Fanel didn't look very put off, however.::

oO By the gods, did I WANT him to be put off?? Oo

FANEL: Nice to see you again.

VENTU: And you.

::She didn't know if she meant it. Thankfully, Fanel elected to continue walking rather than continuing the discussion, and Ventu fell into step with him. In a moment, however, her thoughts were interrupted by another voice, this one coming from inside the shuttle. Ventu looked up...it was Bower, another person from her training class.::

oO Gods, how many of us are they sticking on this ship? Oo

BOWER: Nice to see you guys again!

::Ventu gave him the same curt nod that she had given Fanel and marched up the ramp and into the shuttle. Once there, she made for the back of the small craft. It wasn't exactly roomy, but if she remembered correctly, there was a computer terminal at the back of the craft.::

oO Ah, yes...There it is... Oo

::Ignoring the others, Ventu sat down and ordered the computer to open a channel...::

VENTU:Starbase 118, Crew Quarters 934-7.

COMPUTER: Working...

::Ventu stared anxiously at the monitor for a moment before the connection was established. There, on the screen, was the beautiful visage of her adopted sister, Alexandra.::

VENTU: Alex...

ALEXANDRA: Aresee, what is it?

VENTU: Nothing. I just...I just wanted to let you know that I'm on the shuttle...we've just taken off.

::Alex rolled her eyes at the screen. Aresee smiled at her.::

ALEXANDRA: Aresee, I you just left ten minutes ago. I can survive for a couple of hours alone, you know.

VENTU: I know. But I'm going to...

ALEXANDRA:...Going to ask the captain the first chance you get if and when I can come on board. I know, I know, I know!

VENTU: Good. Thinking of you, Alex...

ALEXANDRA: Always.

::Ventu waved a half-hearted goodbye to the viewscreen and disconnected the channel. Alex's face disappeared, to be replaced with the Starfleet emblem.::

oO You'll be with her again soon enough. How could the captain refuse? Oo

::She looked back towards the front of the craft. The flight appeared to be almost over...she could see the aft portion of Victory growing larger in the viewports...The force field crackled around them as the shuttle nosed its way into the shuttlebay...::

BOWER: Well, this is it. Let's go.

::She looked at him askance. She wondered if he knew just how much he sounded like an executioner...::

::She allowed the two men to exit in front of her, only rising from her seat when she heard voices outside the craft. She appeared in the hatch, feeling detached and almost ethereal. Her two companions were heading out of the bay, and so she strode towards the person who looked like she was in charge...Commander Phoenix, if she remembered correctly. Her dress swooshed around her as she approached the other woman and the rest of her welcoming party.::

VENTU: Counselor Ventu, requesting permission to come on board.

PHOENIX: Welcome aboard the USS Victory, I trust you had a comfortable flight?

VENTU: It was...sufficient.

PHOENIX: Good to hear. ::gentle smile.:: Captain Hurne has requested for you to report to him the minute you arrived. Your duffel bags and other luggage will be taken to your new quarters; you will have time to settle in later.

::Ventu cocked her head slightly. Phoenix seemed to be friendly, but she seemed to be hiding something...her face had a certain tic that Ventu couldn't quite place.::

oO I hope it isn't me... Oo

PHOENIX: A visit to security and sickbay are part of the routine check-in protocol.

::Ventu nodded to Phoenix, showing that she understood, and immediately followed off after her two companions, the doctor, and some of the crowd.::

::Ventu followed her companions wordlessly, staring down at her feet. Even if she'd known the ship, she wouldn't have known where she was going. A small, still-lucid part of her brain snapped orders at her...::

oO Pay attention! You're the counselor...START ACTING LIKE IT! Oo

::She looked up just in time to walk through the doors into sickbay. Around her, her companions were being scanned, probed, and generally poked and prodded by the medical staff. Ventu watched everything with a vaguely detached expression until the smiling doctor turned to her. Immediately pasting a quasi-pleasant expression on her face, Ventu introduced herself.::

VENTU: Hello, Doctor. I'm Counselor Ventu.

HARDEN: Counselor, good to have you on board. You'll be able to read my reports on the crew tomorrow. After security has time to set all of you up in the ship's computer. Mr. Nugra is extremely competent. I think you'll like him.

CICERO: It'll be good to see the big green guy again.Don't let the teeth scare you, it's the claws that do the real damage.

::Ventu smiled weakly, but she had already detached herself from the situation again. She remembered that she should report to the captain next, so she wandered back out of sickbay and towards the end of the corridor, hoping to find a turbolift. Luck was with her...she found one straight away. As the doors swooshed shut behind her, she cast her mind away from her material self, trying to recall what had made her this way...::

oO A lot's happened. You are no longer the person you were at the Academy, or before that. And yet...I am, aren't I? Things haven't changed...I'm still me...but different. Oo

::She sighed. This was always the same circular path her thoughts traveled...::

oO You can't change what's happened. You are the COUNSELOR on board a STARSHIP now. Start acting like it! Oo

::The computer beeped angrily at her...::

COMPUTER: Please specify destination.

VENTU: What? Oh....Bridge.

::The computer gave a happier beep and the turbolift started moving. Halfway through the ride, a disembodied voice suddenly started speaking. Ventu was halfway through the roof before she remembered about her commbadge...::

oO And then there's getting used to the technology ALL OVER AGAIN... Oo

HURNE: =/\=Attention all officers: Please report to the briefing room at 1230 hours today. Meeting room deck 1.....I want to inform you of departmental changes and crew that are leaving us.. That is all....Hurne out.=/\=

::Ventu shrugged to herself. It was close enough to 1230...and she was heading towards deck 1. As the turbolift halted and the doors swooshed open, she walked briskly through the bridge and straight into the first door she saw. Thankfully, luck was with her, and it turned out to be the meeting room. As other crew members began to file in, she quickly chose a seat, and waited for the meeting to begin...::

Counselor Aresee Ventu
U.S.S. Victory