Conversations with Family - I: Celar

[Tachyon 0]

Conversations with Family – Part I

“Celar”

(+2 days)

Lt. Cdr. Tandaris Admiran

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The PADD in his hand had a slick feel. He realized his palms were sticky. Tandaris put the PADD down on his desk. His clean, bare desk. His office had never been this clean, not since he had inherited it along with engineering. Over time it had become a repository for PADDs and miscellaneous spare parts. He had abused the space—he recognized that now. But it didn't matter much anymore.

 

The cleaning crew had not been happy about the mess. Then again, there was very little to make them happy in the first place. You would be hard-pressed to find anywhere in the Excalibur that did not need a cleaning crew, a repair crew, and quite possibly a psychologist. The report Tandaris was writing for the decommissioning specialist had grown from a short summary of the system conditions to a lengthy dissertation on the ship's damaged status.

 

His console beeped. Tandaris scowled and then hit a button. A familiar face appeared on the screen, and his scowl became a smile. “Cel! This is a surprise.”

 

“Well duh. I knew you'd never call us, so I'd have to call you. I mean, I know mom and dad haven't beaten me. They haven't, have they?”

 

“You are the first.”

 

“I knew it! Tanny, you have no clue how dull things are lately. You've been a very rude brother, to disappear for all that time.” Tandaris winced at hearing her pet name for him. He was a decade older than her—give or take 300 years—yet her irreverence knew no bounds. Which was why they got along so well, of course.

 

“Next time I'll ask the aggressive alien species if they wouldn't mind sending a message to my sister for me,” Tandaris said dryly.

 

Celar nodded. “You do that. Or else.” She fidgeted with her pen.

 

Tandaris said, “I can tell you all about it another time. I'm really out of touch with Alpha Quadrant news. I can't imagine how much reading I need to catch up on. How are you? And the others?”

 

“Other than being completely bored, I'm fine. My application to Bajor was successful.” She grinned. “You're looking at the newest member of the expedition to the Temple of An-Mara.”

 

“That's uh . . . that's great.”

 

“Don't get too excited, Tanny. You don't want to strain yourself.”

 

“And what about mom and dad? Tania? Marcis?”

 

“Well, mom and dad are . . . mom and dad. Doing their little duet with me. Mom going on about how she's so disappointed I didn't follow in your footsteps, didn't apply for the candidacy program, didn't join Starfleet, blah, blah, blah. . . . Dad, of course, is telling me to ignore her and focus on finding my own path.” Celar sighed. She suffered from being the middle child, but Tandaris suspected she enjoyed that suffering slightly too . . . dramatically. He sympathized with her though—as the eldest, his parents had always expected him to set the example for his siblings. His mother, who worked for the Symbosis Commission, had assumed from the day he was born that he would one day apply to be joined.s

 

She continued, “Tania's excited about starting at Orith. She's going into exobiology.”

 

“Another scientist.”

 

“Yeah, well, Marcis will wreck the streak. His latest scheme is something about self-sealing stembolts. I don't keep track of that sort of thing though. You'll have to ask him when he calls—because I know you won't bother.”

 

“You wound me, sister.”

 

“You deserve it. I don't know why specifically, but I know you must have done something to deserve it. Get over yourself and come visit us before Starfleet ships you off to Andromeda or wherever they want to send you next!” Her image disappeared from the screen before Tandaris had a chance to return a quip.

 

He wondered where Starfleet was sending him next. The Gamma Quadrant was a tough act to follow. Where would he go if he had a choice? Maybe here on Earth, or Vulcan. Those two cultures had always interested him. Being chief engineer for the Excalibur was quite an experience, but Tandaris had never wanted the position and did not want to resume the responsibilities on another ship. He preferred warp field theory to warp field fact.

 

He stared at the Federation emblem that had replaced Celar. It was good to hear from family again.