Communication And Suprises

Posted on Mon Jul 1st, 2024 @ 3:58pm by Captain Bethsabée Leroux & Lieutenant JG Calanthe 'Cal' Diaz

Mission: Remnant
Location: Communication centre
Timeline: Day 400
2440 words - 4.9 OF Standard Post Measure

Beth was not at all looking forward to explaining what was going on to Calanthe but there she was sat waiting for her to arrive on shift with several cups of tea. Tea seemed to be the only thing that was helping her pregnancy and keeping the morning sickness at bay which she needed an hour or so let up to get through her list of things that needed to be done. Calanthe needed to know about the fuel issues, Avira and medical needed to know and finally, she needed to work out how to tell the crew about her pregnancy.

She took a deep breath, feeling the warmth of the teacup in her hands, trying to find some comfort in the familiar ritual. The aroma of the herbal blend helped soothe her nerves, if only slightly. “Good afternoon,” Beth called as the door opened. It would be like stepping back a year for the woman she suspected but it was the only place that would be private enough.

For a single, irrational moment, Calanthe froze mid-stride in the entrance and glanced around the room before fixing a furrowed brow on the Captain. Leroux was right, in that the scene was familiar enough that even a few months ago, it would have been considered normal to see the senior officer tending her primary post, but now the other woman's presence only seemed to radiate an anticipation that left Calanthe immediately on-guard. "Uh, hi. Captain," she added immediately.

Beth gestured to the seat opposite her. "Sit down, Calanthe. We have a lot to discuss." She handed her a cup of tea, hoping the gesture would soften the weight of the news she was about to deliver.

Oh god, she knows something. The immediate guilt made no sense because there wasn't anything the Captain could know about that would cause any concern, outside maybe the small matter of senior officers sorting through relationship parameters. Nothing about that was public though, she'd even managed to keep it off Lexi's radar for the time being, and yet as Calanthe eased herself into the seat as requested, there was a knot in her stomach forming faster than the avalanche of excuses ready to pour from her mouth. "We do?"

Beth took another steadying breath and shifted in the seat that was no longer her own. "First, we need to talk about the fuel issues that have come up today. We've run into a shortage that could affect our future due to a leak. I need your help to come up with ways communications can use less fuel."

A flair of instant relief was quickly snuffed out as Calanthe understood the severity of what her Captain had just said. "There's a fuel leak?" The brunette's brow furrowed. "How bad?"

Beth had mentally rehearsed the conversations she needed to have, feeling the weight of her responsibilities pressing down on her. The fuel issues were critical, and keeping everyone informed was essential to maintaining the ship's operations but actually having to tell people who relied on her was the most daunting part of being Captain she was finding. "100 days."

Calanthe was never one to understate her emotions, which had possibly played into Leroux's decision to have this chat be just between the two of them. Slack-jawed disbelief saw the Communications Chief stare at her Commanding Officer with mouth open as the slow ascension of her heart-rate threatened to become a pounding in her ears that overrode all else. "100 days?"

Beth hesitated for a moment, then took another sip of her tea. "Yes. We need to make some decisions about how to manage our remaining supplies and prioritize our routes. I’ll need your input and quick action on this as I know it is not communication but I know the skills we need as linguists and I need someone else like that assisting me as I am not at my best right now."

Normally an appeal for help, particularly one as direct as this, would have snapped Calanthe immediately out of her own train of thought. This time, it took a little longer to recover from the shock, which started as a flare of overwhelming panic and then quite swiftly became a cold numbness that left her unable to really process any sort of emotional reaction beyond disbelief. It was not dissimilar to the sense of detachment she'd described to Ben just after the encounter with the carnivorous space station, though it was the first time Cal had experienced since that initial recovery stage. She blinked several times in an attempt to piece the Captain's words together and then nodded slowly.

"Of course I'll help, though you're wrong in thinking that there's nothing Communications can do to lessen the load." Thinking nothing of the boldness it took to tell a Command Officer they were wrong, Calanthe shifted into efficiency mode to continue. "First of all, internal communications have remained fully automated across most areas of the ship, outside personal quarters where we trimmed the sails a little the last time it was necessary. We can reassess priority levels and increase foot traffic to start relaying non-crucial information as a physical delivery." Being a glorified postman wasn't quite what she'd signed up for but hand-delivering messages would at least count as adequate daily exercise.

"Secondly, the translation protocols we received from the Realians are absolutely imperative for external communication but we've been running them continually because we weren't sure the integration would stick if we turned it on and off again as required. It's on the list to discuss with with them when we make contact next, but we should probably consider risking it. From what we've learned, there's a good chance anyone we encounter will already be running something similar and, if not, we can use ours as a fall-back."

Beth sat back in the chair and nodded. She was never one to get upset when she corrected. She had department heads for a reason as they could be there knowing parts of the ships that she could not. “Well there is the woman I know and love.” Beth commented. “If that is what you think will work for you and I have no issue with us taking risks right now.” It felt like the only way they might thrive at all with this current issue is by taking risks that they had not before.

"Being understood by alien races means nothing if we're drifting alone without enough fuel to power basic life support." It was no more comforting to express the dire alternative out loud but Calanthe felt bleakly resigned to confronting the worst case scenario head-on. "Manual handling of non-priority messages will have some wear and tear, mostly on my shoes, but I'll start working on a reporting framework for departmental updates. It might be time to start scheduling more frequent face-to-face meetings too. The more information we can exchange verbally, the less we'll need to use the comm. system for anything other than emergency coordination."

“Could use O’Connery as postal pigeon.” Beth said trying to lighten the mood. Lexi loved talking to people and it would most likely get rid of all her energy that the woman somehow had. “I have started a more face to face process where I can already but thank you for making me realise why I might have been doing that.” Beth might be Captain now but she had been a communication officer for a long time.

The first remark had warranted a tired huff of laughter, and the latter tempered that to a similarly-weary smile. "Good to know responsibility hasn't dulled your senses for what really matters."

"Lastly," Beth said, placing a hand on her stomach, "I am pregnant. I need to find a way to inform the crew about the fact I am pregnant. It's not something I can hide much longer, and they deserve to know."

For the second time in what seemed like as many minutes, Calanthe was left blinking as if struck around the face with a cold fish. Of course there had always been idle speculation about the possibility of raising children on the ship. Once the initial phase of blind hope had passed and they'd been forced to view the future as uncertain at best, it seemed reasonable to at least consider a time in which decisions and compromises needed to be made regarding the formation of family now instead of waiting for the possibility of returning home. Cal just hadn't expected their Commanding Officer to be the first to explore the alternative.

"Congratulations," she found herself saying, though her expression did very little to hide her shock. "I, well....wow."

“Wow is exactly what I said.” Beth admitted laughing a little at the shock. It was a shock to everyone including herself but it was very much thanks to the Releaian technology that it had happened when she had been taking contraceptives. “But yes I am close to 12 weeks now and well Michael isn’t onboard.” Beth sighed. She had sent communication to Michael but she was not overly sure it had been received yet.

Having not yet reached the point of considering the father, Calanthe hesitated for a moment as a rush of empathy at least reassured her that emotional numbness wasn't threatening to become her new normal. There they all were, facing uncertainty about being able to move forward at all, with a fuel shortage making it very likely they would need to seek alternative arrangements, possibly for the rest of their lives, and Beth was shouldering the responsibility for it all whilst growing an actual human...all by herself. "Are you okay?" The Lieutenant's tone had softened, bypassing protocol to offer the Captain a friendly ear.

Beth looked up from where she had been awkwardly playing with her hand when she heard the response surprised at the woman. She had not been asked that question and she was not entirely sure if she was okay but she was sure with people's support she would be. "I think I am still in shock but I am sure that I will be okay. It's not something I had expected." She admitted.

"I'll say," Calanthe replied with feeling, though she stopped herself from saying more just in time to avoid pointing out how crazy trying to raise a child would be under current circumstances. It wasn't as if Beth had a choice even if the timing was less than stellar. Still baffled by the news, the Communication Chief sat in silence for a moment before slowly shaking her head. "It's bound to start happening though, right?" The hint of mystification to her tone made it sound like this was the first time Calanthe had really grasped the idea. "It's not just fuel we're running out of, we've been slowly depleting our options on just about everything for the past few months. Birth control is not exactly easy to barter for."

“I did not run out and we have plenty of birth control. My birth control became useless thanks to realian medication.” Beth sighed. “But yes I can imagine it will happen eventually. I did not expect to be the first.” She admitted wincing at how people were going to react to the news.

"Are you going to find out what it is?"

It was unquestionably a completely Calanthe move to find the single speck of excitement in an otherwise very tense situation and focus on it. Admittedly, the idea of being able to steal a baby for snuggles was an infinitely better thing to dwell on than being marooned on an alien planet in three months time.

"I have not really thought about it to be honest," Beth admitted settling into a more comfortable position to have a discussion that was more friendly. She had still been trying to get her head around the fact she was pregnant let alone anything else like what sex the baby would be or if it was human or half Romulan. She had not been back to sickbay to question anything.

"Hopefully a little redhead at least," Cal smiled, being no stranger to the age-old conundrum of hair envy. Her sleek ebony waves might have been coveted by some but she admired Beth's vivacious colouring, which seemed altogether more interesting. "We should talk to Lexi about how to clue the crew in though. My gut tells me we should inform Department heads and ask them to pass it down to their crews but that lacks a certain degree of celebration. How much privacy do you want, that's really the question."

“I would like a little privacy. It feels a little embarrassing as Captain that I am the one getting pregnant.” Beth admitted softly. “Can you talk to Lexi first and then we can have that conversation once she has calmed down.” Beth said looking at hands. It was why she was holding it so close to her chest for so long.

"Of course I will. And I don't think you need to feel embarrassed. If anything, this will pave the way for others and ensure there are processes in place for dealing with children in the future." As someone who had always desired a large family herself, Calanthe couldn't claim a lack of personal interest in Beth's journey even if she wasn't ready to consider the compromise of deep-space parenting. "If fuel continues to be an issue, keeping options open is going to be important."

Beth had not thought of it that way at all it did not elevate her worries but she could at least try and see it as a positive. “I suppose you might have a point, Calanthe.” She admitted quietly as she rose awkwardly from the chair.

The other woman scrambled to her feet slightly too late to offer assistance, leaving Calanthe's only option to hover a little awkwardly as she walked the Captain to the door. "I'll get to work on the internal communications proposal. We should be able to set up the manual relay process fairly quickly, I'll just have to break the news to my guys that they're about to do a lot less sitting around." Reaching out, Cal lightly touched Beth's elbow. "And I'll talk to Lexi tonight. Make sure you come see either of us if you need anything, okay?"

Beth glanced down at the touch on her elbow and nodded. "Thank you Calanthe." She assured relieved that the woman had reflected on things both ship wide and personal and gave her some clarity. "I will try and remember that."