Another Sachzny?

Posted on Sun Jun 30th, 2024 @ 9:20pm by Lieutenant Imik S'Niohun & Commander Jonathan Grayson

Mission: The Andromeda Strain
Location: XO's Ready Room
Timeline: Current

ON

Jon was in his ready room going through some Padds, Kate and Phoenix had just been promoted and there was a party going onto celebrate. Rather than put a damper on the party with his appearance (being a senior officer) He decided to skip it and attend to some unfinished business. He knew there was another Onjas onboard and he wanted to meet her and see if she was like his dearly missed close friend Sachzny.

he tapped his combadge. =^= Grayson to Imik. Will you please come to my Ready Room? =^=.

Having left the party early, Imik was making her way back to her cabin. Upon hearing the XO request for her to report she responded, "Imik here, I am on my way Commander." Some ten minuets later she pressed the chime, she had visited her cabin and changed into her uniform so she would be correctly dressed.

Hearing the chime, Jon stood and called out, "Come in." He was guessing it was Imik as she had said she was on the way. But he had learned not to assume so he waited for the door to open and whoever had pushed the chime to come into the room.

On entering the Ojnas Officer bowed, "Blessings upon your house Commander, I am sorry it took so long to arrive. I had attended the promotion party, and so had to return to my cabin to dress properly to report here."

Jon repeated the phrase like Sachzny had shown him. He bowed "Blessings upon your house Lieutenant. Please have a seat. You aren't late, all is fine." He assured her. "Would you like something from the replicator before we start?"

Standing and thinking, Imik then nodded her head. "A family member once told me of a Human who enjoyed Vanilla milkshakes, I would normally drink chocolate but this time I will try a vanilla milkshake please."

Jon absolutely beamed at Imik's reply. His smile lit up the room. "I think that can be arranged." As he walked over to the replicator. "Two vanilla milkshakes please." An instant later the milkshakes appeared. Taking them in his hands, he returned to Imik. "See, what you think of that." he said as he moved to his desk and sat down.

Taking a small sip, Imik let the flavour slowly fill her mouth. "It is as my family member told me, she is wise and told me much of Humans." Placing the glass down she look into Jon's eyes, "Now Commander, may I enquire as to why you wish to communicate with me?"

"Jon smiled, Your family member is very wise. I wish to talk to you to know you Imik. Isn't that reason enough?

A small nod of the head and a smile now played on Imik's lips, "Sachzny once told me that her Human lover had a curiosity that surpassed even her own, but where she wanted to know of Humans. Her human only wanted to know about her, this she found strange at first. But it was the reason she loved him, because he made her the centre of his world."

She stopped and looked again into Jon's eyes, "I see what she saw, I see why she loves you and why her heart aches." Picking her milkshake up once again, Imik seemed to glow slightly. After taking a sip she looked at the floor, "She has never mated, she states she can not mate because she is taken." Raising her head, Imik smiled once again. "I am as she was, I want to learn but only from you. I can not link with you because she has prevented it, Sachzny guards you still."

Imik's words reminded him so much of his dear close friend Sachzny, she even had the same speech patterns as Sachzny. "I love Sachzny and I always will." Jon stated. "She is my best friend even though we are separated by a great distance. I know I am never alone as she is always with me, thanks to the link we share. You were corrected when you said you had a family member who was wise. Sachzny is very wise." He took a sip of his milkshake, it reminded him of happier times. "I will be honored to have you learn from me though I don't know if I am the best teacher." He smiled when Imik said Sachzny prevented
her from linking with him. "That sounds like Sachzny. very proud, very caring and compassionate."

"She has always cared deeply about you, and yearns to return to see and hold you at least one more time. But her duties prevent this, she is Chief instructor in Human and Federation studies." Imik finished her milkshake and placed the glass on the desk in front of her, "What does the Sinkahue think of your relationship with an Ojnas? Could he believe that it will happen again? Do you wish it to happen again?"

The Ojnas Officer looked down as she spoke, Imik was aware that she was being both forward and possibly impolite. But she wanted to know exactly what this Human wanted from her, "I am not spoken for, this is because I have not wished to join with a male as yet. I mention this so that you are aware, I do not wish to take the place of Sachzny nor could I. But I also do not wish to mislead you, for if I did so Sachzny would charge me with dishonouring you and your memory."

Jon looked at Imik, surprise in his eyes."Oh no, no Imik nothing like that!Though I do appreciate your honesty. I want us to be friends. Nothing wrong with that is there? Sachzny can't get mad at us being friends can she?"

"In our society, the word friend has more than one meaning. As in your own society, we have different friends." Imik glanced at Jon, as she desperately tried to explain. "Sachzny was your friend, your special friend. But to her you were her one and only friend. The one which could never be replaced, or forgotten."

The Ojnas Officer now faced Jon directly, " I see no problem with us being friends, but unlike Sachzny I must remain at a distance. You see I honour and respect both of you, so our friendship must be a different kind to that which you had with her."

Jon gazed back at Imik. "Imik I would never do anything to bring dishonor to Sachzny or yourself. I hope you believe me." he stopped and asked her directly, "How will our friendship be different then
to what Sachzny and I have?"

Imik now glanced at the floor, "Sachzny and yourself had a romantically linked relationship, she would know your emotional state and react as required." She raised her head, "We would not have that, I would only know your emotional state if you were to inform me. I am also a pilot, my reactions can at times appear harsh or insensitive. So we would not enjoy the closeness that you and Sachzny enjoyed, there would be forever a distance to any friendship we had." Her head dipped again, "I am forbidden to use my psychic abilities as I would with other Ojnas, that also will impact on any friendship as it is a reminder that we are different."

"I appreciate you listing the differences in any friendship you and I have and what Sachzny and I had. Though to be honest, I think you are making excuses such as saying your a pilot. I'm a pilot and the XO of the ship. Sometimes I have to seem harsh or insensitive. It goes with the job. As for distance or perceived distance I think you are over stating it. You said you wanted learn from me. You can't if you are going to be distant."

Nodding her head, the Ojnas Officer glanced slowly back to Grayson. "Do you understand the gravity of being both on the vessel and serving with the personnel that Sachzny served with?" Imik moved embarrassingly in her chair, "There will be a distance because of that reason, she led us toward the Federation and she is the Ojnas that we must learn from. You had a relationship with her, and now you want us to also have a relationship a friendship. How would you approach such a relationship? How do you become friends with someone you learned about before taking on your duties?"

"You approach openly and honestly. That is the only way to learn about a person. it is how Sachzny and I learned from each other. It is why we are so close. You accept that person as a whole. You cherish the good qualities or traits and tolerate the ones you may not like. You let the relationship flow like a river, finding its own course. I wouldn't trade my friendship with Sachzny for anything. I learned a great deal from her, I still learn from her. I miss her but as I said earlier, it is why I wanted and kept the link. So I could always feel her, have her with me." Jon answered.

Imik sat and thought about what Jon had said, She fully understood the point he had expressed. "The link, why would you a Human wish to keep something which may harm you?" She rose and approached the replicator, she manually entered some details and waited. A quiet hum and two drinks now appeared, "This is a traditional drink from my home village, it is called 'Vlucemcia'. We drink this when we welcome a new family member into the family or when they return to us from service, I wish to offer it to you now as a symbol of our friendship."

Imik placed the dark coffee coloured liquid in front of Jon, condensation ran down the side of the glass showing it was ice cold. "It should taste of what Humans call mint, but it also has a chocolate type flavour mixed with the mint." She now stood with her glass in hand and waited to see what Jon would do, she had made her mind up and decided to live as Sachzny had lived and learn from her lover.

Jon picked up the drink as he looked at Imik. "Why? Because my friendship is Sachzny is worth the risk. It is worth any risk. Friends to that. They care and are concerned about those close to them." He brought the glass to his lips and took a full sip. A moment passed and smile found his face. "This is quite good! A unique taste to it. Relaxing and soothing. Thank you for sharing Imik."

Bowing towards Jon, Imik smiled and sipped her drink. "I welcome your friendship and will heed your teachings, may your life be long and fruitful."

Jon smiled radiantly at Imik. "I welcome your friendship and may your life be long, fruitful and happy."

As she continued to sip her drink, Imik thought about just who she was replacing. How could she replace such a being, but she would try and enjoy the challenge in doing so.

OFF

 

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