Dinner in Vancouver, Part 2

Posted on Sat Feb 17th, 2024 @ 6:42am by Captain Daniel Jackson PhD & Captain Remy Johansen

1,971 words; about a 10 minute read

Mission: Character Backstories
Location: Trattoria Pennestri, Vancouver Island
Timeline: March 3, 2383 1930 hours, After Part 1

Remy sighed and gave Daniel the once over. He could no longer be the face she put to whatever issues were beginning to fester that made it difficult to do her job.

Their food arrived and the conversation broke for a moment while their plates were set down.

Remy picked at her eggplant. "Well, I'm sorry about yesterday. But perhaps you could relay my message."

Daniel smiled at her, "No apology needed. Your fire was refreshing." He took a drink of wine, before taking his utensils. "Vila is your husband also on the Issedon as well? What's his name? If he's on the Council we've probably crossed paths."

Vila nodded. "He is. Ben Johnson. He knows EVERYONE, has that kind of personality where he makes friends FAST," she said. "Tall, brunette, kind of that old Hollywood look," she said. "Met him at DS9 when he was just an Ensign and I was with the Militia still." She didn't go on, but would if pressed.

Remy pressed her lips to keep from smiling too wildly. "Old Hollywood. Do you carry an image with you or do I have to look up one later?"

Vila laughed. "It's not really a custom I ever considered so you'll have to look up his file," she said. "I DO carry images of my son, though," she said, reaching for her bag. She could brag on him all day. She pulled some shiny, small photographs from her bag, and handed them to Remy.

"Cute kid," Remy said. "How old is he?" She asked passing the pictures over to Daniel.

Daniel looked at the images for a few seconds before handing them back. "Does he take after his parents? Future scientific scholar?"

She smiled. "He's thirteen now," she said, putting the pictures away. "No, so far, he wants to be an Engineer, but he's only thirteen, so. There's time to change his mind," she said. "Do you have any children, Daniel?" She asked.

"No, no, not yet anyway," Daniel responded. "I know you don't have to have a partner to have children, but I guess I've always thought of that as something I would want to do after I met someone that I would want to raise children with. Is that too old school? Make me a romantic?"

Vila smiled. "Perhaps," she said. "It does seem to be the course that most take, though," she said. "Though there is one woman on our ship who is raising a child by herself, but it's not her child," she said. "We rescued a marooned ship awhile back, and the kid had lost both of his parents, and no other family could be found. She volunteered," she said. Vila definitely wasn't going to-Ben was weirdly possessive of his fatherhood. He bristled at the idea of adoption, even, even though Vila had wanted more children.

Remy took a larger than normal gulp of wine and hoped this line of questioning didn't turn her direction. She'd much rather listen to other people talk about this sort of thing than be backed to answering questions about her own love life, or kids for that matter.

"Remy?" Vila turned. "I know you're not in a relationship, but...maybe someday? Our Astrometrics guy is kind of cute," she said. "I could get you an introduction," she said. "He's Vulcan, though, would that be a problem?"

Remy looked over at Vila with an exaggerated look of confusion. "Didn't we just meet, like today?" Remy pointed out. "Do I look desperate? I'm not.. I'm not looking like that. I definitely don't need to be set up with anyone. Vulcan or otherwise. Do we have more wine?" Remy reached for the bottle, but Daniel beat her to it and refilled her glass before topping his off. He locked eyes with her for a brief moment before Remy quickly looked away.

"You're the one with good relationship juju," Remy pointed out gesturing back to Vila, "How did you and your husband get together again? You were still in the militia?"

Vila laughed. "Not at all," she said. "Just...you know. It's not necessarily psychologically healthy to not have a partner," she said. "Yes, I was with the Militia. I was running supplies back and forth between our base in Bajor and what is now DS9. I had to come back to the Station to refuel and reload. He was there on a stopover. It was one of those whirlwind things. Four weeks later, we were living together on his ship, and a few months later, we were married. Two years after that, our son was born, and...well, that's all she wrote," she said. That was the basic story. There were more details but those weren't important now.

"Your history really is fascinating, Vila," Daniel commented, sincerely intrigued by her history with the Bajoran militia. "How was the transition for you? To Starfleet life?"

Vila smiled. "The Officer's Training at the Academy was a weird adjustment. In hindsight, it was a really bad decision-I should have gotten more therapy and recovered a bit more from the things I experienced during the Occupation, but Ben was charming and I was stupid," she said. "Marriage and motherhood was more difficult," she said. She had had a bit of postpartum psychosis, but had been able to overcome it. "But feel free to ask me about it. It's better if we talk about it...so people remember, you know?" She said. She sipped her wine, and then turned her attention to Remy. "How did you guys get involved in Starfleet? My ex husband was born into it, and I suspect that's how most people get into it," she said.

"The Bajoran Occupation does get overshadowed by the Dominion War," Remy pointed out. "I think so anyway. Maybe not by Bajor. I mean, I grew up knowing it was happening, but Federation school materials made it seem so far away by then. I was young, but old enough to remember our own war with Cardassia. But then, seemingly out of nowhere was this enemy you couldn't see. One that kamikaze armies, biological weapons...." Remy shook her head. "I was a cadet, but I think the fear, even from seasoned officers was still so... I don't know."

"They hit more worlds, and they hit them hard," Daniel added. "Humans have historically been willing to come to the aid of other planet but the Federation is made up of worlds who prefer to not be involved if they can help it. It's not easy to pretend it's not your war when it's your planet under siege."

"And were you an officer by then?" Remy asked looking at Vila. "You're right, I was born into. Lucky enough to be at the Academy during the war, I got pulled for duty before graduation."

Vila nodded. "I was, had just graduated. I went to school on Bajor first, while I was with the Resistance-by then, we were the Militia, I guess, but still doing guerrilla stuff, more or less," she said. "I transferred to the Academy in my last year-just enough to become an officer," she said. "I wasn't originally planning on joining Starfleet, but...you know, when you're twenty-one and the guy is cute, you do dumb stuff," she said, with a shrug. "I don't regret it, but I DO regret leaving my family behind," she said. "And yes...to us, the Occupation was the worst part of the Dominion war, but...none of it was good," she said. She smiled sadly. "It is good now-we're rebuilding, and things are better," she said.

"How about you, Daniel?" She asked, leaning forward.

"I wanted to be a scientist," Daniel answered. "I know there are multiple avenues for that, but for a Federation citizen, Starfleet seemed to be, and has proven to be the organization that is going to give scientists exposure to the newest discoveries, the latest research. There's been a lot of flexibility in my position as well. I get to dabble in different areas - at least get to find out what the best minds in some of the other fields are working on."

As Daniel talked about the best minds in the field his eyes locked on Remy's again, this time causing a distinct red flush in her cheeks and forehead, a stark contrast against her alabaster skin. She reached for her water and took a drink. And a slow breath in.

"Are you - are you familiar with my work?" Remy asked. "You looked at me like maybe you know something."

Vila watched, carefully. She was sharper than she looked and definitely smarter than she acted. She picked up quickly that she was the third wheel on a date that neither of her companions wanted to admit was a date. Interesting. She decided not to call it out. Instead, she nodded. "Well, Starfleet definitely has the best access to the newest and greatest," she said. "I just got a photon microscope in my lab that does some COOL things," she said. They weren't new, but it was new to the Fleet as a whole-the Science Council had been rolling them out slowly, and Vila was among the first beta testers, a fact that she found spoke to her background, instead of sheer dumb luck.

"ARE you interested in her definitely-not-illegal, totally-above-board work?" She asked. "If you two want some alone time, I can find my way back," she said. "Just let me know..." She hid a small smile behind her glass.

Daniel furrowed his brow slightly, "No, of course not. Dessert?" He offered. "I was referring to, well after our... shall we call it an encounter that Remy had the other day I may have looked her up and found the proposal she had put together for the conference on biogenics. A defensive perspective in case of attack. I remember the proposal causing a bit of a debate. I hadn't put the name to the research. Nor a face to the name until this week," Daniel explained.

Remy raised her finger to make a point to both of them. "Having my proposal rejected was disappointing, but it's not why I'm upset. There were a dozen other scientists with equally - perhaps even more important research than mine that needs to be getting out there." Remy looked at Vila, "Why would we want to be alone? We should order some chocolate cake."

Vila simply shrugged. "Seemed like more. My apologies," she said. "We haven't even finished dinner yet, but sure," she said. "What was your proposal? I know the director of the Science Council. They owe me a favor," she said.

"I'm sure it falls under the umbrella of security threat," Remy commented. This time she was the one looking at Daniel. "I've been part of several operations teams that have gone past enemy lines collecting evidence of the production of biogenic weapons and working on how we can prepare ourselves to combat against them."

Vila raised an eyebrow, and finished off the food. "I see," she said. "Yeah, no wonder no one will touch it. I mean, I personally would but I understand why others won't. I don't...always see eye to eye with the Fleet and the Federation about things. I really wish they would meddle less with our work. Though I do get it," she said. Vila still had a bit of a beef with the Federation on their failure to act on Bajor's half during the occupation, and it sometimes colored her judgement.

"I do too really. There just has to be a better way to get the information out there," Remy opined.

"I don't think that anyone disagrees with you, Remy," Daniel stated seriously.

She simply nodded. "How about that dessert?" She asked.

[END]

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