Sha'mura and suspicion

Posted on Sun Jun 5th, 2022 @ 10:42pm by Captain Stenn & Ensign Alexandra 'Lexi' O'Connery

Mission: Mission 6 - Memory
Location: MACO Barracks F Deck
Timeline: Day 298
3025 words - 6.1 OF Standard Post Measure

Stenn was in his office when the chime went on his door. "Enter" He called, expecting one of his Operatives. Instead, it was a Human female, the Communications Officer he recalled. She entered, using a stick to walk.

"Ensign O'Connery" He greeted her "You are recovering from a broken leg injury I believe." He stood up and pulled out a chair for her

"Sit, how can I be of assistance?"

“Thank you Captain.” Lexi said relieved to be sitting down again after the walk to the Marine Barracks. She had been thinking about the argument with William all day and the nagging feeling about Smith. She had thought it could be something they could do once she was all healed up but it was seeming that their relationship was over let alone something that could strengthen them. “Well I want to learn how to fight better. I have basic combat training but communication officers are not as well versed.”

Stenn returned to his chair and sat down, interlocking his fingers as he placed them on the desk top. This was an unexpected and unusual request, particularly in her condition. "Logically, violence must always be the last resort of intelligent beings. Words and communication resolve more conflicts that battles..." He gave her a hard look "Why? Why do you wish to learn combat skills?"

“Yes and I know enough languages it is not that skill I lack. I want to be better.” The woman said simply. “We are in the unknown. We all need to be prepared.” She shrugged.

"Be that as it may. In your current condition, you could not complete the physical aspects of, for example, even Basic MACO hand to hand combat training" He replied, nodding towards her leg. "Advanced levels are more arduous and it will likely be several months before you would be physically capable for such training without risking further injury. I acknowledge your determination Ensign, however, realistically, you are not yet capable of undertaking the training"

“I know.” She snapped before taking a deep breath. “I am fully aware of my condition Captain. I do not need to be reminded of that liability that I have at the moment.”

She appeared to be taking the factual and pragmatic responses hard he noted, although clearly coming here had taken some courage and Stenn relented somewhat "There are, perhaps, some Vulcan techniques that you could begin to work on, some that could be undertaken in your current physical condition. Although they are not easy to learn and you may experience some... discomfort" He quirked an eyebrow, was she prepared to commit he wondered.

“Discomfort does not matter. We thrive in the discomfort zone.” Lexi answered determined. She needed something to focus on that was not the fear that thinking in John Smith brought up and something to help her grow stronger for what was about to happen she feared.

"Very well, I can show you some of the simpler forms of Sha'mura, it is similar to the Human art of Tai Chi but faster" He paused a moment, thinking. He knew that Tai Chi included slowed down combat moves. "On Vulcan we practice the movements at full speed, however, you could not do so, but we could apply them at a slower speed, as in Tai Chi, for you to learn and practice with, would that be acceptable?"

Lexi made a face. She had not considered tai chi would be something that was used for combat but who was she to judge when he was willing to help her. “Yes.” She agreed already standing.

A few minutes later they had relocated to the training room. Stenn removed his belt, tunic and boots. He stretched out and stepped on to the mat turning to face her. "Sha'mura and Suus Mahna are Vulcan martial arts, thousands of years ago they were developed by our warrior societies and are lethal forms of combat. Since the coming of logic we retain the arts for training mind and body to act as one, as aides to meditation and for the health benefits of activity, if needed, they can still be applied for purely defensive purposes." he explained

"In Sha'muaa the intention is train our mind and body to react to an attack, by yielding and redirecting the outside force away from us, instead of trying to counter it with an opposing force. When we do respond with force of our own we retain the ability to yield and divert if needed. As such these principles would be suitable for you to learn while you are currently injured. " He beckoned her forward "Leave your sticks and come on to the mat, find a stance which you can hold, is stable and that is not causing you pain, once you are comfortable we will begin, keeping all movements above the waist"

Lexi looked down at the plastic cast on her leg and nodded. She would be able to stand for a few minutes and no one other than Stenn needed to know. It would do not harm and he seemed to be taking everything into account.

Once she was ready he said "We will prepare with a few moments of meditation, become aware of you body and limbs, relax and release tension, concentrate on your breathing and focus your mind"

“Mediation I can more than do.” It was how she cantered herself often and brought some order to her life. Her leg was going to throb but she was determined to do this.

"Good, we shall begin with three techniques, an upward and circular movement with the arms to ward off an attack; a sideways circular movement and a pressing, motion. I shall demonstrate them" He stepped back, relaxed, bending his knees slightly, and brought his hands to just above his waist height, holding the position for a second then he exploded into a series of blisteringly fast moves. Hands, forearms, elbows and arms flew through a range of movements fending off, disrupting and deflecting an imaginary assault.

He stopped, returned to the start position, held it for a moment and relaxed. Stepping back in he said "Your turn"

He showed her how to position her hands and forearms, palms slightly raised, little fingers higher than thumbs. "Now, as a blow comes towards you, bring the appropriate hand up in a circular motion, do not seek to oppose the incoming force but rather to redirect it away from you. Use your strength not to try to stop the blow but to move with it and send it away" He thought of a Human reference for her. "Think of your arms as the sails of a windmill in motion, pushing the blow away as though cutting through the wind, then coming back to be ready for another. We will begin slowly, ready?"

“Slowly.” She warned that she would not be able to take anything hard and she was sure that if she injured herself more the doctor would be cross with her and the marine for even allowing this. “But yes.”

Stenn drove a his left hand forward, moving it slowly but deliberately towards her center mass, aiming to strike her in the ribs.

The small blonde used the move that he had shown her and knocked his hand away from her.

As she diverted the strike, her palm and wrist sliding the blow from its intended line, sending it out to the side, he switched and drove one in with his right, switching back and forth between right and left, letting her build up rhythm and muscle memory through repartition. "Good, we will increase the speed a little"

They drilled, moving on to the two other techniques, bringing in using her shoulders now to direct blows off to the side, making an attacker lose their balance and a pressing motion using the back of the hand or forearm to push a blow up or down away from its target.

After some twenty minutes, the last two of which were a volley of strikes requiring her to use all of the techniques simultaneously Stenn called a halt. She had done well, particularly with her injury, but he could see she was not used to the exertion and was tiring now.

He was impressed she had stuck with it and not requested to stop. "Well done, Ensign" He complimented her

The woman nodded and hobbled to where her crutches were and used them to support herself allowing her leg to be off the floor. With her leg no longer needing to be supporting herself she glanced at the Vulcan and offered an exhausted smile. “Thank you Captain.” She appreciated his attempts to assist her in countering her fears.

You are welcome, Ensign" Stenn nodded. "If you wish to continue, we can set up some regular training sessions?" he offered

“I would like that in the future.” She agreed thinking it might be a good way for her to regain her fitness and stamina once she was back to fitness enough to be able to stand without crutches for longer than a few moments.

He noticed she was suffering from the exercise now and was keeping her weight off her injured leg, despite the sticks. "Is your leg causing you discomfort?" he asked "I can perhaps assist with that, although it would involve... physical contact"

The woman raised her eyebrow at the suggestion and indicated for him to explain a little more. No one had been able to assist her other than painkillers.

"There is a technique called neuro pressure, it helps to align the energy centers within the body. It can assist with a number of ailments, including reducing pain, aiding healing and relaxation" He explained "For your leg it would require applying pressure to the neural nodes in your foot and ankle"

“I have no idea what that is but if it will help I am all for it Captain.” She said past the point of caring as she almost flipped back down on the mat trying to be careful of her leg despite her sudden tiredness.

He had her sit down on the mat extending her broken leg towards him, he sat crossed legged and gently took up her foot, removing her sock. "As before, begin your centering meditation, relax and focus on your breathing, hold each third breath for a count of five"

Using his thumbs, starting at the base of her heel he sought out the various energy nodes and steadily applied varying degrees of pressure to the bottom of her foot as he worked his hands up towards her toes. Continuing down over the top of her foot and around her ankle. he could feel the flow of energy through the neural nodes changing as he worked. The Human energy flow was very similar to Vulcans he noted.

Lexi watched intently as he worked away without comment or question. It hurt slightly but she could feel her muscles unclenching and losing from the pain and tension that the injury was causing to her.

He continued the application for another ten minutes or so. He could feel the improvement in the nodes on her foot as those in her injured leg began to realign. There was still some other tension there though, this was not the same as that arriving from the leg injury. The contact between his fingers and her skin was allowing him to sense a small amount of whatever was causing her stress. It was powerful and appeared to be unpleasant, almost like the presence he had sensed in the shared dream.

He asked her directly. "You will excuse the inquiry, but it would appear that you are experiencing more that just physical pain from your leg..."

“One of those very very human days where a few things have gone wrong. My memory was effected when I broke my leg.” She explained thinking it was just that, that he could feel. She was not going to explain about William as she had no idea where they stood but she needed to tell someone about her thoughts. “I am struggling with aligning myself with what I know as the truth in front of me and what everyone else knows.” She murmured slowly moving her feet towards herself and grabbed the sock to put back on.

"We all know our own truth Ensign" Stenn replied quietly, remaining seated cross-legged. "How we bring harmony to our personal understanding, with that of others, and of reality itself is the challenge we all face. Confusion over our beliefs can disrupt our internal balance and lead to conflict, within ourselves and with others. On Vulcan we use logic to bring balance. Perhaps logic could be applied to your present struggle?"

“It sounds daft. I logically know someone that is onboard but my returning memory doesn’t register them and neither have I mentioned them at all in my personal log.” She explained shaking her head feeling silly for saying it to someone who did not really know her.

"That would appear to be an unusual situation to comprehend" Stenn agreed, not quite sure of her meaning

“It is silly so don't mind me Captain I am struggling with my memory.” She sighed making a move to stand up despite how much it was awkward to do so.

"If this is what is causing your increased stress, then it is not silly and should not be dismissed as such" Stenn remarked, remaining where he was. "If we apply logic, there are two puzzles to address. The first being your memory, which you acknowledge, has been compromised by your injury. The second, your personal logs, which, to our knowledge have not.

Logic dictates that we must discount the first problem, for the time being, your memory is unreliable. Thus, we can address the second problem, your personal logs. Due to my own coma, I am unaware if there was any damage to the ship which may have caused disruption to computer systems and logs, so as to erase or alter your entries. Was there ever such an event?"

Lexi struggled to her feet with help from one of her crutches and stood there looking thoughtful as she thought everything that Atlantis had been through. “Nothing.” She said simply. There would have been more than just damage to her logs if so.

"Then we can presume your log entries are intact and unaltered" Stenn nodded "Therefore we can also presume that you did not make a record of your interaction with the person concerned. That could be for a number of reasons. Why is it that you believe you would have made such an entry? And who is the person to whom you refer?"

“Because Ensign Smith is close to my boyfriend and I have mentioned everyone at least once over the last year onboard. It would be impossible for me to not mention him in the job he has when I am working on the morale of the ship. We would have surely worked together.”

"Ensign John Smith?" Stenn nodded "I see. That is...interesting..”. He trailed off

“Oh?” The communication officer asked.

"Because I too, have no memory of Ensign Smith" He admitted "Prior to a few days ago I do not ever recall having interacted with him. I had assumed it was because I myself was injured and comatose and that we had not done so before my injury. There are several crew members whom I barely know, even now. I had thought him to be one of those. What is it that gives rise to your concerns concerning Ensign Smith?" He asked, intrigued to hear her reason.

“If I do not remember him, then how is he here?” The woman stated clearly. Everyone onboard had been onboard since they had left Earth so how could someone join them?

"Whether we recall him or not, the fact is, he is here" Stenn replied "Have you discussed this with anyone else, to the boyfriend you mentioned?"

“Yeah I did.” She admitted frowning at the feelings even mentioning that event brought up. It hurt to know how little William had believed and supported her. He had thought it just her memory. “He just thought it was my memory issues.” She admitted sadly.

"And who is he?"

“William.” She said simply. There was only one after all.

"So the person responsible for the safety and security of this vessel does not accept your concerns" Stenn commented "And believes your amnesia is the more rational explanation. Logic would tend to support that but for your log entries which do not."

He thought for a moment. "Where there are facts, your logs, there is evidence. I would suggest you look for more evidence Ensign"

“He accepts my concerns but there is very little proof. There is nothing he can act on but I will look for more.” Lexi said feeling protective of William despite the argument they had. The man was not able to see what was going on but neither could the rest of the ship.

Stenn let it go that her logs were something that could be acted on, or at least reviewed.

He did offer "That would be a positive action, I will also review some of the MACO files to see if Ensign Smith appears in there. It might be better if this matter was kept private until there is more evidence, either way." He suggested. Partly it would attract less attention if there really was something amiss and secondly, if it was just her amnesia, he did not want her to be stigmatized by a simple mistake.

It would also let him do some checking on his own without drawing attention.

The woman nodded, she understood the rational and agreed wholeheartedly. Private would be better as she did it want to draw attention to herself or him if Smith was a danger. “Thank you for listening and understanding and all the other things Captain.”

Stenn nodded, getting to his feet. "We will talk again Ensign"