A Left, Then A Right

Posted on Thursday 2 August 2018 @ 22:22 by Commander Cale Llewellyn DSci & Lieutenant JG Saren Barel

Mission: Shoreleave
Location: Starbase 306 Gym
Timeline: Following Re-Living the Past
1185 words - 2.4 OF Standard Post Measure

Saren's mind was very agitated and scattered. He hadn't had that dream in years and he couldn't get it out of his mind. Entering the gym he was surprised to see one other person there, a human woman. Starbase's never slept, but apparently their gyms did. Saren went over to an area meant for martial arts sparring and form practice.

Normally Saren would be very methodical in his procedure when working on his forms. Tonight was not normal. As he moved through his forms, the moves were getting more aggressive as if he was in an actual fight. Several times he stopped and tried to refocus. The stopping didn't seem to work, so he just decided to work with his emotions. His teacher had a number of philosophical sayings, one of them being, "Don't try to push the wind."

Cale had awoken with a start by something other than his own dreams. But this dream wasn't his own but whose dream was it? And what did it mean? "I doubt I'll be able to go back to sleep after this," he said aloud even though there was noone in the room besides himself. "Great, now I'm talking to myself out loud."

He decided he would go workout to try and tire himself out. Hopefully there wouldn't be anyone in the gym at this hour. He got up and put on something that would be appropriate for exercising and strode out into the corridor. Making his way to the gym, he reached his destination in short order. He then stepped inside and caught sight of Lieutenant Barel then turned to leave. I have no desire to have another fight with this man, he thought.

As Saren continued his workout, Cale could feel odd 'energy' coming from Saren. It was almost as if there were two of Saren there. One was physical. The other felt almost like it was an electric version, for lack of better words, of the Romulan.

Cale shuddered as he felt the strange feelings he was getting from Saren. They were almost the same sort of 'vibes' he got in the briefing. "I'm sorry, Lieutenant, I didn't realize there was someone else in here. I'll leave you to your workout," Llewellyn said as he turned to leave.

Saren stopped, breathing a little heavy. He looked at Cale with very intense eyes. If they were any more intense they might be on fire.

Picking up a towel, he wiped his face, looked at the entirety of the base's gym and said, "Commander, there is nearly 232 square meters in this room, with only one other person besides myself. Unless you are trying to avoid me, I think there is enough space and exercise devices to accommodate three humanoids of our size. Given the way the female over there looked at you, you may also be able to get a date out of your trip."

"I just didn't wish to intrude on your workout, Lieutenant. I'm certainly not trying to avoid you. And just so you know, Lieutenant, females never held much interest for me as I'm gay but thanks for the idea," Cale said with a smile. He would never understand how people were always pushing him to go find women to spend time with when he felt it was obvious to even a blind person that he was a homosexual. But then he figured that the Romulan people didn't much like anything or anyone that didn't fit in with their world view. But then that was just supposition on his part.

"Ah", Saren said, pausing in thought as being gay was not a generally accepted life style in Romulan culture. "Very well, I shall remember that in the future should there be a need for the information. As far as my workout I believe your interruption was beneficial as my workout was not producing the desired result."

"I'm sorry for that. Is there anyway I can help?" Cale asked the Romulan somewhat reticent about hearing the answer but curious nonetheless. So he waited for said answer.

"Unfortunately not", Saren said. "I need sparring partners, well more truthfully targets. All holo-decks are in use and you would get hurt should you spar with me unless you are really a Klingon or Gorn in disguise."

Cale looked strangely at the Romulan science officer before saying "Try me. Just because I'm a scientist by training doesn't mean I'm an easy mark."

Saren looked at Cale and said, "As I am sure as a scientist you understand that the femur is the strongest bone in the human body. In a normal state, both Romulans and Vulcans can break the femur easily. If you are the empath you say you are, I am sure that you can tell that I am not in a normal state."

"Biology is not one of my specialties but yes I'm aware of that. And yes I can tell that. But I want to let you know that it doesn't take an empath to discern that, Lieutenant," Cale stated in plain terms. He felt as though he may be putting his life in jeopardy but he needed to do this in order to gain the man's trust. Or so he felt.

Saren smirked slightly and replied, "That is why I don't wish to spar with anything but a hologram. You seem to have faith in your own abilities, but I do not have faith in my abilities right now not to lose control."

"I have faith in your ability to not lose control, Lieutenant. But to each his own, I'm not going to push you into something you don't want to do. I'm gonna go now since I believe I can get back to sleep on my own. Good night, Lieutenant," Cale said as he turned to leave.

"As you wish Commander", Saren answered a bit confused at the Commander coming all the way to the gym and then leaving but to each their own. He didn't think he would ever truly understand humans.


Cale turned and left. Walking slowly, he looked around and smiled to the other officer in the gym. Sometimes, he thought he would never understand other species no matter how much he tried or wanted to. There just weren't that many similarities between humanoids as everyone thought there was.

Saren cocked his head and took a deep breath, "Commander, why exactly did you come here?"

Saren was used to asking questions, but usually scientific in nature, not psychological. He was not a counselor.

Llewellyn turned to face Barel once more. "Honestly? I was beginning to wonder why myself. But I came here because I felt something that was weighing heavily on your mind and I was concerned about you as a fellow officer. Nothing more, nothing less."

Saren looked at Cale, who could tell the Romulan was suspicious, and hesitantly said, "Thank you. I will be fine Commander. I won't hold you up any further."

Lieutenant Commander Cale Llewellyn, Dsci
Strategic Operations Officer
Second Officer
USS Merlin

Lieutenant(jg) Saren Barel
Chief Science Officer
USS Merlin