Emotions

[Kairi 0]

Prell stepped out of the Senior Staff meeting as it ended, and leaned up against the wall for a moment, getting his bearings and clearing his mind. The last few days had been really tolling on him, but he was trying not to show it. There was too much to do. As he thought that, he straightened up and continued down the hall, toward the turbolift, and the Alpha engineering lab.

 

Kairi had just stepped into the engineering lab. She had just spent the last few hours in the holodeck with the Shadow, watching movies. It was to help him understand the vast array of human emotions. They had just finished watching Gone with the Wind.

 

A few minutes later, he walked into the lab, nose buried in a PADD, and almost bumped right into Kairi. "Oh! I’m sorry."

 

Kairi wasn't paying much attention herself. She smiled at him. "Hello Chief. I didn't see you there."

 

Prell smiled. "How are things holding up in here?"

 

She looked around, returning his smile. "Oh things are going pretty well. How is Beta doing?"

 

He put his PADDs down on a table, sighing. "As best as it can...we took a pretty bad beating."

 

"I bet..." she replied. She sat at the edge of a console. "I've been meaning to ask you something. People seem to be really down the past few hours, but no one would tell me what is wrong. I would’ve thought they'd be happy we were all together again. What is going on?"

 

He looked at Kairi, puzzled. Then it dawned on him. "Oh."

 

She frowned at him, wondering what was happening.

 

He took a deep breath. "During the battle before we past through that wormhole, and during the wormhole events itself, Captain Davies was seriously injured."

 

"Fatally enough that Gamma had to put him in stasis. From what I've heard, he is essentially, well....." He took another deep breath.

 

Kairi was in shock. Did she just hear that right? She gasped and put a hand over her mouth. Her eyes began to well up with tears. "Are....Are you sure?"

 

He nodded. "I haven't seen for myself, but I was with Harper when she found out."

 

She did something a little out of character. Kairi, tears running down her face now, went to Prell and hugged him. "This is just one nightmare after another."

 

Prell was a bit surprised, but hugged her back. "I know....it's like it never ends."

 

She buried her head in his chest, soaking his uniform with her tears. "I want to go home..."

 

Javin was quiet. He didn't know what to do at the moment. His symbiont Prell was feeding him help on what to do in this situation, but none seemed right. He and Kairi were good friends, but she had just taken him by surprise.

 

She looked up at him, wiping her tears. Kairi stepped away. "I...I'm sorry..."

 

He looked at her. "No, no it's ok. I was..just...surprised."

 

Kairi sniffled as she continued to wipe her eyes. She tried to recompose herself into a professional manner. "So what are we going to do now?"

 

He looked for words to say. "Harper wants the repairs done as fast as we can manage it. We need to find the ship, or ships that opened the wormhole to here.”

 

She only nodded in reply. Her eyes still trying to fight the tears.

 

Prell looked at her. "Are you going to be ok?" He looked at her, worriedly.

 

"Y..yeah I'll be fine." She tried to force a smile, but found it hard. " I could use a little food and some rest."

 

He nodded. "Isn't that the advice you gave me a few hours ago?"

 

She gave a genuine grin. "Yeah, I suppose it was. Do you have time to get something to eat? I...I kinda don’t want to be alone right now..."

 

He nodded. "Sure, come on."

 

She smiled at Javin. "Thank you."

 

He smiled back. "No worries." The two leave the engineering lab, heading for the mess hall.