Personal Log: Dr. Anika Pierce

[Anika818 0]

She had a bad feeling about this.  At first Anika thought this mission would be relatively simple; they would be actors and actresses on a reconnaissance mission.  Sounded simple enough and fun too.  It didn’t take long before she realized the group was in a lot more trouble than previously thought.  Accents, dress, skin, hair, and eye pigmentations...those could all be altered rather quickly thanks to modern day science.  But what about mannerisms, character, attitude?  

 

Anika looked from comrade to comrade, from Dana to Ruca, from BJ to Sieben.  Could they pull this off as a group?  Had Andrea been right all along?  Dana seemed to be doing just fine with her character, no doubt the best person for “second born.”  Dana was a warrior by spirit, heart, and soul.  Anika knew that warrior class was a natural role for Dana; she had learned that in command games.  Dakota had a regal and commanding air about her as well, no doubt a great deal of it from command experience she had in the past, including the command games as well.  Anika wasn’t so sure about the rest of them...especially herself.

 

Anika grew up independent, relying on no one and never special treatment.  She had built that barrier around herself and it had remained for years.  And now here she was on a world, where that barrier had come back to haunt her.  Not only did she have to let the men behave as gentlemen, a concept that had eluded Anika for years, but she had to expect it without reservations as well!  She wondered how well Seiben, her last-minute “escort,” was taking this in, and if he had come to the same conclusions as her.  

 

Seiben had showed up at her door on the Arcadia with dark brown hair and brown eyes to match.  She wasn’t quite sure of how he knew she hadn’t “found a man” to “escort her” to the planet.  There were only two good ways he could have learned of such information—either someone on the command staff informed him or he found out through the Arcadian grapevine.  Either way, Seiben had showed up at her door, ready for the mission, asking to be her “escort.”  Before Anika had the chance to utter a word he mentioned Cpt. Moose and Cdr. Dacotah said it was okay for him to join the mission if Anika would allow him to be her “man-slave.”  Anika knew that he really wanted to be a part of the away team, and said yes.

 

Now planet-side, she almost felt bad for him.  Seiben’s newly died hair was itchy, and he was being put through circumstances she was sure he was unaccustomed to.  If they had the chance, she would try to talk to him when they were alone.  If not, she hoped Seiben would understand that her change in attitude was nothing personal.  It was time for Anika to try and get into character now that she understood what the character was.

 

Maybe Andrea was right.  If the mission of the away team didn’t cause damage to the pre-warp society, the mission might cause emotional repercussions for the away team.  She wondered just how busy Andrea would be when the mission was over, and just how many of her patients would be men from the away team...