Meet Lt. Zariel Sindile, temporarily assigned to Voyager for its rescue mission in the Badlands. Now she's stuck in the Delta Quadrant, her children are at home without her, she has no one to depend on, and her darkest secret is about to be laid ba...
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Stardate 50968.2
Zariel gathered up several PADDs and said, "Well, y'all, here I go." Wally gave her a thumbs up and Samantha and T'Lin encouraging nods, as she left for her meeting with the Captain. Zariel nearly walked into B'Elanna at one point in the corridor, not looking where she was going, frantically rehearsing her presentation in her head. They both said, "Sorry, Lieutenant," at the exact same time, then both grinned and continued on their way.
Zariel went into the bridge conference room to find Captain Janeway already there, sitting on one of the long sides of the table. She indicated a seat next to her and said, "Well, Lieutenant, your idea sounds fascinating. I can't wait to hear more about it."
Zariel sat and spread out her documents on the table in front of her, and launched into her spiel. The plan would involve an almost instantaneous way for each bridge station to have access to pertinent information regarding events as they developed, courtesy of a computer algorithm that would monitor bridge operations, cross-reference with data stored in the ship's database and present pertinent information automatically in real time. As Zariel went through her plan, the Captain began nodding, emanating excitement about the possibilities. Zariel finished, and Captain Janeway said, "Lieutenant, this is extremely promising. Permission granted to implement the retrofit at the science station, and beta-test the system."
"Thank you, Captain, we'll get right on that."
The captain leaned back in her chair. "Was this your idea, Lieutenant?"
"Not entirely, Captain, a bunch of us worked on it. Not just Xeno, but a couple of folks from Engineering too." Zariel glanced sideways at the captain. "If you'd hated it, though, it would have been all me."
Janeway laughed, and Zariel began gathering her PADDs and preparing to depart, but the captain laid a hand on her arm. "A moment, Lieutenant Sindile. Now I have a proposal for you."
"Yes, ma'am?"
Janeway folded her hands on the table. "Tuvok advises me that your studies with him are progressing extremely well."
Zariel folded her hands in her lap and looked down at them. "He's an able instructor, Captain, and I'm a... motivated... student, if nothing else." She looked up abruptly, and said, "Captain, I haven't had the opportunity to apologize to you, I..."
The captain raised a hand to stop her. "And you won't have that opportunity. There's nothing to apologize for, and I don't want to hear that again. Understood?"
Meekly, she answered, "Yes, ma'am."
"Tell me about your training with Tuvok."
"Well, Captain, we've gotten to where I can block out everything pretty reliably. We've been pushing that by having me block more people at closer range, for longer periods of time. Next, I'll start learning how to open to people selectively, to pick out just one voice. Tuvok tells me that'll be more challenging."
"Well, Lieutenant, I'm delighted to hear of your success. Let me ask you this: would you feel less ambivalent about your ability if you could use it in an official shipboard capacity?"
"Yes, ma'am, I guess I would." She looked down again. "It would make up for a lot."
Captain Janeway laid her hand on Zariel's arm again, sympathy in her eyes. "Then if you're interested, and if you and Tuvok can convince me it would be safe for you, I was wondering if you'd like to train in first contact protocol and conflict diplomacy."
Zariel's eyes went wide and flew to meet the captain's. "Really, Captain? Yes, of course I would! That's..."
Janeway leaned back in her chair and folded her arms. "Let me be quite clear, Lieutenant. Your safety is paramount. We will proceed with this only if I'm certain it won't be harmful to you."
"Of course, Captain." Her eyes slid off into the distance, thinking. "I could provide you immediate feedback during a first contact encounter, I could sense deception or apprehension, I could..." As she was speaking, her hands began to move absently, forming words in sign language, tracking with what she was saying. She blinked in surprise and refocused, however, when the captain began speaking the words she was signing. "You know ASL, Captain?"
"Yes, I've studied it. How do you know it?"
"My cousin was born hearing-impaired, and the defect couldn't be corrected until he was done growing. The whole family signs. It's actually kind of fun to be able to converse clear across a baseball field, or right under somebody's nose." She grinned, and Janeway smiled back. "Thank you, Captain, I can't tell you how much I appreciate the opportunity." She swept her devices together, stood up and said, "If I may, Captain? I find I have considerable new work to attend to."
Janeway gave her an approving smile. "Dismissed, Lieutenant Sindile."
