Broken Ties

[A Davis 0]

Broken Ties

 

Her small hand firmly secured by her adoptive Romulan mother, Annisha’s gaze wandered imploringly toward Amanda as they passed, as though her young mind bottled up a torrent of emotions. Annisha’s free hand gave a quick wave before they rounded the corner to the docking area. her action leaving Amanda choking back the emotions she’d kept in check for the last few days, dreading the day that came all too quickly.

 

“Don’t torture yourself like that, Amanda,” urged a soft voice next to her. “She’s gone to a good home, to good stable parents; she’ll have a lovely life, and surely they will visit, or at least you can visit them.”

 

The voice belonged to Sidra, Amanda’s friend and confidante since childhood. They’d chosen similar paths, as is often the case with close friends. She was right, of course, but Amanda still could not help staring - first at the docking ring, then out the viewport as the Romulan ship departed, taking Annisha to her new home.

 

“You remember when we first parted, Amanda,” Sidra continued, “and we both had that same feeling, that we would probably never see each other again? And, honestly, how many times have our paths crossed? And now we find ourselves at the same posting.”

 

It took several minutes of contemplation before Amanda turned to face her friend. They’d shared many a secret concern, the most recent being the plight of the Romulan orphans: if they would be reunited with their families, find good homes, or spend the rest of their childhoods making a family with the others who had nowhere else to go.

 

“It’s not that, Sidra,” Amanda finally replied, her expression more concerned than melancholy. “I’ve become close to so many of these beautiful children and so far I’ve had no problem watching them leave. But I have a very uneasy feeling about Annisha, about her parents. It’s something I can’t quite put my finger on. Something about them just makes me... shudder.”

 

Sidra glanced out the viewport to an empty berth, then to the standard departure vector that Annisha’s ship had taken, but it had already merged with several others in the channel, making it impossible to distinguish one from the other.

 

“I had the same feeling, Amanda. Why didn’t you tell me before now?”

 

“I don’t know,” she said on a sigh, “I believe I was either hoping I was wrong, or perhaps putting it off to my own feelings for her, wishing I could keep her here, somehow. You know, even adopt her myself.” She finally looked up to Sidra. “But the feeling is still there, and even moreso now that they’ve gone.”

 

There was a long period of silence between them, finally broken by Sidra. “I think we should tell the captain.”

 

“Yes,” Amanda agreed, “I do believe we should.”