"Prelude, Part 1"
Lt. (jg) Natalia Alexandria Druschev - Science Officer
Location: Starbase 324 - Romulan Neutral Zone Border
Stardate: 57906.13, 14h30
***
Natalia Druschev looked in the mirror at her long auburn hair - and decided
that it was in desperate need of a cut. She twisted the split ends in her
fingers and sighed with disgust. She hadn't taken care of her appearance in
the last month - even to missing on her running and avoiding the gym. It had
been a difficult month - apprehension, sadness and anger had run the gamut
of her emotions as she had separated from David. The romance had been a huge
mistake. He was the head of her project team to begin with - and he'd tried
very hard to take some time with Domenic - but that had failed dismally. Her
nine year old did not take kindly to 'boyfriends.' He could be so good - but
at times Natalia just wanted to ship Domenic off to school on Earth so that
she could have a life. At least then she could try to find someone who would
be with her longer than two months.
Domenic had been the result of a short romance with a Starfleet Academy
instructor - a Starfleet Command Officer that had swept her off her feet
during a memorable winter of skiing, romance, warm fires and a cabin in the
Swiss Alps. He'd shipped out before she had discovered that she was carrying
his child. She hadn't wanted to interfere with his career, nor cause guilt
over his abandonment of her. She had let him go freely and had just gotten
on with her life. It was only a year later that she herself had signed on
for Starfleet training following in the footsteps of her parents.
Domenic had been easy to deal with up until a year ago when he had gained an
accelerated learning program and been called 'gifted.' He'd grown an ego
almost overnight - and now he seemed to want to match wits with everyone. He
was clever, but in a childlike way - he was charming and an absolute devil.
Oh well... she thought. Time for a trip to the salon. She stared at herself
for a moment and noticed the tiny creases in the corners of her pale blue
eyes. The first signs of age! At least she hadn't found any grey...yet. Only
a matter of time. She smiled at herself - a test to see if she remembered
how to do it properly. When was the last time she'd smiled? Hell...she was
getting morbid! She needed a night out - a chance to let her hair down and
just relax. The Starbase had an extensive civilian quarter that catered for
that.
She was stressed out. David had avoided her like she was carrying the
Antidean Plague - and she missed him, but it just wasn't going to work. He
wanted nothing to do with Domenic - and now that it was over she had just buried
her head in her work and applied for a transfer to make things easy on both
of them. Let's face it, she thought. No career opportunities would come
her way on the Black Star Project - so much for sleeping her way to the top!
Not that it had crossed her mind at all - but it was the rumor circulating
science department anyway.
Natalia brushed her hair, angry with herself for the spiral her thoughts had
taken yet again.
She straightened her collar and uniform - she wore the single piece outfit -
it followed her curves and was more comfortable than the two piece and
jacket. Time for duty. Domenic was already on his way to school.
The Black Star Project was the fancy name someone in the Science Directorate
had come up with to describe their work on the study of Black Holes and
their effects. There were several streams of study reflecting the ideas of
some of the most profound thinkers in the Federation. Lieutenant (jg)
Natalia Druschev worked on one of the most classified projects dealing with
the nature of temporal anomalies and the affect that a Black Hole had on the
space-time continuum. With a Masters Degree in Astrophysics and a further
degree in Temporal Mechanics, Natalia was one of the core members of the
team lead by Lieutenant Commander David Covington, himself a full professor
in Astrophysics and Higher Mathematics. The shared work and the sheer number
of hours they had spent together had drawn them close - and eventually they
had fallen in 'love' - although now, Natalia considered this to be just a
side effect of their enthusiasm for the project.
As she walked into the main science lab for her team, she reflected that she
still hurt over the separation - and everyone who worked with her could
tell. David had avoided her on a personal basis - but in here, the team had
to function and he was the team leader. She made her way to her desk just as
David walked in with Ensign Jarrod Falten, one of the Operations Officers
that assisted in technical matters. They were caught up in a deep discussion
and did not seem to notice her.
Natalia watched them, hands gesticulating amidst an argument on some point
as they passed into the glass-walled office belonging to David. He looked
tired, she thought. Deep rings around his eyes and a pale cast to his skin
showed that maybe he too was feeling the pangs of separation. It was the
words that had been said that had built the insurmountable wall between
them. He had said some awful things - and she had reacted as any mother
would - and that was that. Natalia and Domenic were a package - you couldn't
have one without the other, and David couldn't accept that. He'd suggested
sending her son away now - to school on Earth and Natalia knew that he was
still too young for that.
She sat at her desk and stared blankly at the terminal. The light touch of
a hand on her shoulder made her jump, and the soft voice of Caroline Walsh
said, "Here - a heart starter..." She placed a cup of coffee beside Natalia's
terminal and gave her a smile. "How you feeling?" she asked, keeping her
voice down so that the other project members didn't overhear.
Natalia shrugged and returned the smile. "Empty." Caroline had been a
shoulder to cry on and her confidante. She knew everything, and had been
great in helping with Domenic and just being there to listen as Natalia had
unburdened herself. "I'll get over it," she added as she took a sip of
coffee. Hot and black, just as she liked it.
"I know you will." Caroline's expression showed that she understood. "Any
news on the transfer yet?"
"Nyet," Natalia lapsed into Russian as she shook her head.
"It'll come. David had to endorse it - even though he didn't want to."
Caroline had argued on Natalia's behalf without Natalia being aware of it.
Covington could be stubborn about work issues, and he hadn't wanted to
release Natalia from the project team based on her input into the sensitive
work. As Covington's assistant, Caroline had pointed out that the
deteriorating nature of their relationship was going to have an adverse
effect upon the whole team if Natalia wasn't allowed to leave now. She had
pointed out that as project leader he shouldn't have entered into a
relationship with a subordinate in the first place and that regulations
didn't approve of it either. It could very well get nasty for his career.
He'd given in then, and signed the transfer request. It was a further cause
of bitterness on his part.
"Yes." Natalia glanced at the man behind the glass wall and knew that he
would end up hating her. "I need to get away from here - as far away as
possible."
"Don't worry. It won't take long." Caroline parted with a grin and returned
to her own work leaving Natalia lost in thought.