Ravi boarded the Shuttle that would carry her from the USS Calgary across to The USS Cygnus, which was apparently going to be a bit more of a challenge than she had first imagined.  She was fine about the Cygnus itself and the role she would play there and was really happy to have been appointed ACMO as that fitted beautifully with her previous role on the USS Colony.  It was another ACMO position but different in that it would be a bigger ship and a bigger, more advanced SickBay.  

However, she had been following Fleet News and had just learned that the Senior Officers of her new ‘home-to-be’ had been changed radically and the people she had studied up on, had been promoted away.  Now she had to try to find out something about whoever would be replacing them so having no contacts on board the Calgary, she was at least able to ask around in Ten Forward and of the Communications Officer with whom she’d made friends when she first came aboard there. 

Perhaps those were not the best sources of information, when she looked back in Retrospect later on, but they were all she had at the time and she was very curious. Thankfully she was not a cat and therefore not in danger of worse, but nonetheless, she would come to regret the effect that curiousity was about to have on her shortly.

What her new “friend” He’Vek the Klingon in Communications had to say had been a little disquieting as he had been somewhat amused to tell her that the new CO was Bajoran and so were a large percentage of the crew on the Cygnus. That amusement should have been a red flag in itself. 

Ravi had protested that  ‘so was she…..a large percentage Bajoran’  – well, half, which was no dismissible percentage but ‘Vek’ had replied that she didn’t “look” very Bajoran and she had to admit he was right on that one.

“Well, they…… ” she emphasised the ‘they’ part of that…  THEY had better learn not to judge a book by its cover, then hadn’t THEY?  She had retorted, slightly offended but with no leg to stand on in arguing this.   “And anyway….. I’m more Starfleet-Terran than either of my blood genetics…. so that will have to help.” she said, realising that it didn’t HAVE to do any such thing.  What would HAVE to help, if such a thing was possible, would HAVE to be how she dealt with this.  How she presented herself and how she was perceived as a professional.  Those were the things that would help her.  Those and her open, honest, sometimes even naive if she admitted it, nature.  Cardassians had very little of what Ravi was made up of, save for their devotion to family.  

“……and also….. 40% of my new colleagues won’t be Bajoran at all!” she added, beginning to wonder if He’Vek was onto something but then dismissing it as pure speculative mischief on his part and pushing it out of her mind as irrelevant nonsense – if only she had made that resolution work! 

Once on board the shuttle, Ravi took a seat and watched the others around her.  She smiled and was pleasant. 100% her usual friendly self.  Then she saw the most impressive man she’d set eyes on.  Judging by his uniform and rank pips, this was the Captain and his Bajoran features were …. well… breathtaking…. if she was honest with herself.  She tried not to stare.  He was tall, strong….. NO!  This was NOT the right way to start.  ~back up baby!~ she told herself sternly but silently.   Averting her eyes on instinct it suddenly occurred to her that it wasn’t good NOT to look him in the eyes but it was too late, the moment was gone and she was cross with herself already.  

The rest of the journey was uneventful and she spent the whole time determined to get a chance to see the CO again and to greet him properly, but he was nearer the door than she was and the crowd of officers and crew leaving in and orderly fashion prevented her from pushing through to him before he was gone.

~oh well~ she consoled herself.  ~He’ll have time to find out I’m not the type to avoid eye contact normally, he just took me by surprise and it’s all He’Vek’s fault for planting the seeds of doubt that I let grow enough to pull me down at a crucial moment.  I’m an idiot.~ 

Pushing her shoulders back and looking openly at every single person she saw from then on, Ravi went on with trying to mend her bridges and squash the sinking feeling that she’d allowed to grow inside her from the poisonous and ridiculous seeds of doubt her former “so called friend” had sown.  

The ACMO’s quarters were easy to find and she settled in happily, trying to forget everything, relax and start tomorrow fresh and better.  This was going to be fantastic and she wasn’t going to be sabotaged by doubts and/or gossip.  She reminded herself she was a Lieutenant (jg) and Officers didn’t have doubts or listen to rubbish rumour and malicious hurtful gossip.  Settling in, she went to find the CMO but found she’d missed him going off to his shift so she smiled at a lot of people until her face began to tell her she was overdoing it and shook herself back to normal.

As she finally drifted off to sleep, Ravi tried to recall exactly how her biological parents had looked but the mists of time and growing up had made their faces a little bit hazy.  Rose-coloured perhaps, as memories can be when people are lost and gone.   

Her mum, she knew, was beautiful.  Tall for her Race but slender and with the loveliest nose ridges.  Ravi’s own Bajoran nose ridges were hard to tell apart from her Cardassian exoskeletal forehead “spoon” as the kids at school had called it.  The blue tinge that signified her female gender was faint but still, she was told, pretty and her Mother’s Bajoran Earring that her adopted parents had kept for her, for when she grew old enough to be asked if she wanted it, was to her own mind, attractive. She had accepted it with gratitude and wore it with pride.  She had always known that her large brown eyes had come from her dad and the dark hair too, but her not-so-pale skin was a sign she wasn’t the usual product of Cardassia Prime where everyone seemed so contrastingly fair beneath such dark locks.  

No.  No-one could think she was anything but a very nice Terran Starfleet bred officer and a great Medic…… well, she had to prove that second bit yet, but she would.  Just give her time.

Lt(jg) Raviran Dattek-Winters

ACMO

USS Cygnus