Some basic voicetesting for the Big Man Himself

[faire_en_sorte_que]

I do have to say that the journal name you've given me is a bit on the clever side: something showing some respect for my roots in France as well as what I normally say while in command of a ship.

But with the mention of ship I must remind you of something, Mun: I have a duty to the Enterprise, and while I'm certain Will can handle his own on the ship I still have a responsibility to Starfleet and to my crew to lead by example. I cannot do that while I am in your...what was it you called it, "headspace"? Understand, I do prefer some fantasy time now and again like my forays in the Holodeck as Dixon Hill, but that is on my off time.

I request you return me to my proper place.

Comments

[faire_en_sorte_que]

That is disappointing to hear, Lieutenant, but if we are safe and in no immediate danger of harm then we can use this time to aquaint ourselves with those around us, experience what it is like in this anomaly.

[There is a second or two of thought]

What year is it for you?

[tasha_yar]

She fidgets some more. "I...can't be sure of that, sir. I've been told there's something...No, that I am subject to or part of some kind of temporal anomaly."

[faire_en_sorte_que]

My last memory places me at 2379. You...

[There is a pause. Would this be a violation to admit this? There is the incomplete option, so Jean luc will take that.]

You and I parted ways quite some time previously.

[tasha_yar]

"I died," she says, filling in the blanks. "But I'm also -" She gestures. "Here. And not dead for another seven years, or dead on the Enterprise at a time I should have been on the colony. Or dead with the crew when we changed course from Farpoint Station and came to a rift in time. It's like grasping at lubricated filaments!"

[faire_en_sorte_que]

I can understand your frustration, Tasha. I...I don't understand how you're in this situation, but you seem very knowledgable as to what has happened to you. In all the variations.

[There is a sigh]

I must say this: for the times I have known you died, you died in doing your duty.

[tasha_yar]

"There's been time to investigate," she says with a trace of irony. She sighs. "Commander Data probably would have found himself out of this limbo by now," she grouses.

At his other comment, her demenor changes slightly. "That offers some comfort." she straightens. "It's the way I believed it would always happen."

[faire_en_sorte_que]

I would trust that Data would be able to, or at least gain insight into how this place works. Still, I don't know if even he could.

[There is a slight amused smile. Picard knew, although it took Datas court case to learn of it. The smile does go away with with the second bit]

I am not one to support such...fatalism.

[tasha_yar]

"Maybe not, but I'd feel better -" She shakes her head. "Forget I said anything, sir. I'm glad he's not here."

"Maybe not, but I'm a security officer. Death is an acceptable risk, moreso than most command line officers." This is something she may not have added before now, but she tacks it onto her statement. "And maybe I was always living on a kind of borrowed time. At least I made sure to have very few regrets."

One, really. It has to do with that amused smile, though she isn't aware of that.

[faire_en_sorte_que]

Doing ones duty, even with the expressed understanding that death can easily come with it, is an admireable trait. But the mention of borrowed time is telling. If she were around, I would recommend a visit to Counselor Troi.

[tasha_yar]

She smiles a little at that and humor warms her voice. "Another person I'm glad is not here." The imp grin spreads. "Please tell me her and Will figured things out." Not that the captain need know, but there was a pool. It felt disrespectful to put credits into it, but she did watch the proceedings with a kind of wishful interest. She's was not a romantic regarding herself, but someone, in her estimate, should find that kind of semi-mythic happiness.

"It's not that I had a death wish. I loved my life, but the spectre of death has always been chasing me, sir - since I was a little girl. I learned to live with it by accepting a warrior's path."

[faire_en_sorte_que]

[There is a knowing smile from Picard]

Oh yes, they did. One of the last things I did with them as members of the crew was officiate their wedding.

As for the later...I would think it a consequence of growing up on Turkana IV. Forgive me for extrapoliating your life when it is clearly not my own, but for a child who grew up there, doing what you could to survive, one would get the feeling of...Finality.

[tasha_yar]

"Oh, thank goodness for something." In a way, that makes her death and subsequent exile to this limbo feel less...useless.

"That is exactly what it is. No need to apologize. At least with Starfleet there was a chance of serving a greater good, with a life or death."

"So...what did the great Jean-Luc Picard end up doing in my absence?"

[faire_en_sorte_que]

[Well, he wasn't hoping for this]

There was not much to myself. I led. I made contact. One of the things that happend was my assimilation into the borg Collective. The Borg are a cybernetic race with no individuality. Everyone did what they could to get me back.

I did lose my brother and nephew, not too long before the loss of the Enterprise D

[tasha_yar]

At the news, she lowers her eyes. "Permission to speak candidly, sir."

[faire_en_sorte_que]

Permission granted, Lieutenant.

[tasha_yar]

"You were - are - an ideal to me, Captain; in my mind, the perfect officer." She takes in a breath. "But the idea of having only sad or traumatic things to report? It saddens me greatly. As silly as this is going to sound, sir, I had hoped for something more for you, though I'm not sure what that would entail."

It was a two-fold hope. Mostly, she hoped the family she had made for herself among the bridge officers of the Enterprise flourished. In some ways, maybe it was the daughter's hope for a father. Also, if Picard had found a way to balance command and the rest of life, maybe, just maybe, there would have been a hope she could have as well. Sure, it was all academic, but it felt real enough.

[faire_en_sorte_que]

On the contrary, you should think of what was omitted. You and I are separated by quite a bit of time, and I only have two negative things to share. It's not because those were the only two that mattered, but because it is quicker to share the negative.

[There is a small smile]

i could share that Will is now in command of the USS Titan, or how we were instrumental in the saving of a whole system of planets, or how now I am in command of the Enterprise E, or that I have had several encounters with the Borg since my assimilation and that the very act gave me quite a bit of insight into how they work. I could go on and on about how we encountered over one thousand different versions of the Enterprise from just as many different universes. I have had my losses, yes. The Enterprise lost a wonderful Security Officer in you. We have lost many aspiring ensigns. But in the end the triumphs far outweigh the losses.

[tasha_yar]

"Starfleet survives and thrives, as always, sir, due to the hard work of its people, but -" She shakes her head. "I still feel as if...Nevermind, I don't know what I'm trying to say."