"Interview", SD 9803.30

[Webmaster 20]

Subject: "Interview", SD 9803.30

Date: Mon, Mar 30, 1998 3:54 PM

From: Rhiannon L

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In a lull of standing down from Red Alert, Rhi took her long-overdue duty break.  She was sure someone would page her if she was needed, and she didn't intend to stay too long...

 

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Rhi sat in the lounge, sipping a tall glass of chilled apple juice and waiting for Lieutenant (junior grade) Jon Cohn to arrive.  She was slightly puzzled as to why he preferred meeting in the lounge, rather than in her office, but shrugged it off as part of the job.

 

Cohn walked in, in uniform and carrying his toolkit.  After looking around for a moment, he spotted Rhi sitting in the corner.  Rhi waved to him.  "Over here, Lieutenant."

 

He walked over.  "Ah!  There you are."  He set down his toolkit.  "Can I get you something?"

 

"No, I'm fine," Rhi said, touching her glass of apple juice.  "But please get something for yourself if you wish."

 

Jon headed for the replicator and returned shortly with a mug of hot chocolate.  He set it on the table and sat down.

 

Rhi shifted her position a little and sipped her juice.  "So... Lieutenant.  Where did you serve previously?"

 

"Let's see," he said.  "I just transfered from the Fek'lhr where I served for nine months.  Before that, I was undergoing some retraining at the academy for six months.  I spent the prior 3 months moping around wondering what to do with my life, the prior six months in a stasis chamber and, the prior two months as a security officer on the Trieste, attached to Space Station Nigala."

 

Rhi raised one eyebrow as he spoke.

 

"Before that," he finished, after a brief hesitation, "I wasn't in Starfleet."

 

"Quite a busy life you've led, Mr. Cohn," Rhi observed.

 

He picked up his mug of cocoa.  "Actually, the stasis chamber was rather dull."  And he took a sip.

 

Rhiannon nodded, stifling a low chuckle.  "Is there some... personal reason... why you have not stayed in one place longer than nine months?"

 

"No.  The circumstances were different each time," he said, sipping his cocoa again.

 

"I... see."  Rhi took a sip of her juice.  "Would you care to tell me the circumstances attendant upon your transfer from the Fek?"

 

Jon looked thoughtful.  "Actually, I'd rather not share them.  They're personal."

 

Rhi could sense some underlying concern but it was not in her job description to probe it, particularly not without Jon's consent, which he didn't seem willing to give.  Rather, she made the usual verbal suggestion.  "Mr. Cohn, you know anything you say to me is strictly confidential unless it endangers the safety of this ship or her crew."

 

"I understand, Counselor."

 

As he sipped his cocoa, Rhi caught a flicker of worry and really didn't like to dismiss it.  But she had to try another approach.  "Where did you grow up, Lieutenant?"

 

"Southern California," he answered readily, "several hundred miles South southeast of San Fransico."

 

She nodded.  "White sand beaches," she recalled with a smile.

 

After a moment's pause, she asked, "Do you feel that your childhood was normal?"

 

He neatly sidestepped the question.  "Actually I didn't go to the beach often.  And please, call me Jon if I may call you Rhi?"

 

Rhi shrugged.  "Certainly... Jon."  She shifted position to stop the baby kicking her in the ribs.  Then she waited silently, taking small sips of her juice, giving him time to get back to her question.

 

Finally he said, "Umm...as far as I know, Rhi."

 

She had her next question ready.  "What about your career choice?  You mentioned some retraining; what caused you to choose Engineering?"

 

"Well, actually, my undergrad degree was in Physics, and my graduate studies in political science.  When I was commissioned, I was assigned to to security for reasons particular to my case.  When I left and rejoined Starfleet, they insisted on retraining, and that's when my natural talents resurfaced."  He didn't look particularly proud of having those "natural talents".

 

"I see," Rhi said, nodding.  After a brief pause, she went on, "What about your family, Jon?  Do you have parents, siblings?  Have you been married?"

 

He answered quickly, "I've never been married.  My parents and siblings have..." he hesitated, "...all passed away."  An unreadable look crossed his face.

 

Softly, Rhi said, "I'm sorry."

 

"Thank you," he said, "but they did not die young, and they had good lives."  He sipped at his cooling cocoa.

 

Rhiannon thought about that as she took a drink of her juice.  He had siblings who didn't die young?  How odd.  How very odd indeed.  He didn't look any older than mid-twenties himself, if she was any judge of Human age.  She was so puzzled that he startled her by speaking again.

 

"Y'know," he said,  "This is the first *real* Ten Forward Lounge I have ever been in?"

 

Laughing just a little, Rhi asked, "Have you been in an unreal lounge then?"

 

"Well," he explained, "on just about every space station in the galaxy, there's this chain of saloons that use the name 'Ten Forward Lounge'.  They're real dives.  After I left Starfleet the first time, I spent a lot of time in them."  He drained his cocoa mug and set it down on the table.

 

"Ah," Rhi said, nodding.  "Never been in one myself."

 

"You're not missing a thing," Jon said as Rhi drank about half her remaining juice.  "What about you, Rhi?  Could you tell me a little about yourself?"

 

"So... Jon... is there anything you particularly wanted to talk about?"  They spoke at the same time, and she laughed.

 

"Ummm... I dunno," he dissembled.

 

"Me?" Rhi queried.  "Not much to tell...  I've been aboard for a couple years, my bondmate and daughter are back on Earth now..."  She shrugged.

 

Jon nodded.  "It's good to have somebody to go home to."

 

Rhi thought how true that ought to be, but didn't say anything.  "I hope you will begin to consider the Republic your home.  I know I do."

 

"Well, I tend to think of myself as a Republican," Jon said with a barely suppressed smirk.

 

Rhiannon heard a touch of innuendo in his comment.  "Wasn't that some ancient political party on Earth?"  All she could remember was that they had the symbol of an Elephant.

 

Jon looked, strangely, worried, but he plowed right into the subject.  "As a matter of fact, there is.  It was a party within the United States set up in the 1850's to halt the expansion of slavery.  But also, republican could mean an attachment to republican government, i.e., rule of law with a regime of equal political rights."

 

"I see," Rhi said, nodding.  She thought she could learn a great deal about him just by letting him talk.

 

He went on, "Of course as the decades passed and the laws changed, the parties... degenerated into instruments of class warfare.  ::Saddened at the thought::  At least until the "turnaround" of the 2020's and '30's."

 

Rhi nodded again.  "Mmm-hmm."

 

"Am I boring you?" he asked suddenly.  "Once I start talking, I tend not to stop."

 

Quickly, Rhi smiled.  "Oh, no, really, that's what I'm here for, and it really is interesting, all this ancient history."  She really was learning quite a bit about him by his choice of subject matter.

 

"Ancient history, huh?  I guess anything over 50 years is considered ancient these days."

 

Rhi laughed.  "Well, before my grandparents were born is ancient to me."

 

He nodded.  "Well, anything else you'd like to know, Rhi?"

 

She thought there was plenty more she'd like to know, but he didn't seem willing to tell her.  "Is there anything else you'd care to tell me, Jon?"

 

Just then she became aware of a shadow falling across the table, and she looked up to see Lieutenant Commander Locutus standing there.

 

"Rhiannon, why aren't you back on the Bridge?" the Commander asked.

 

She was startled.  "I... I haven't been paged."

 

"We are at red alert," Locutus said.

 

Blushing greenly, Rhi unpinned her com badge to check the battery.  Dead.  Always at the worst possible time.  "Red alert again?  Oh dear."  She began to stand up.  "I'm terribly sorry, Jon."

 

"Ten minutes ago," Locutus was saying.

 

"Well, we were just about finished," said Jon.  "Thank you for your time, Counselor."

 

"Thank you, Jon," Rhi added, "please let me know if you'd like to talk again.  And again, welcome aboard."

 

Very embarrassed, she went on, "Thank you for coming to tell me, Commander.  It seems the battery in my com badge is dead."  She smiled at both men and hurried out.