Leeta

((Commercial Sector, Starbase 118)) ”HEY THERE!”. The shout immediately behind her, startled Leeta, making her stop dead in her tracks. Looking around, Leeta saw a stout man in a Starfleet uniform running up to her, holding her earring in his hand. It must have fallen off just as she stepped off the pad at the transporter station. She accepted the earring from the man with a grateful, but embarrassed smile. It was unlike her to lose her belongings like that. The silver earring was a symbol of the Ih’valla D’jarra and had been given to her by her grandmother on her mother’s side. She had been allowed to wear it throughout her cadet training and it was the dearest possession she had. She took a close look at the earring and was surprised to see that the clasp was broken. She’d been wearing the earring constantly for ten of her twenty-five years and never had it broken. Through all the battle drills and combat exercises it had stayed put. Now, that she was about to round off her training with the cadet cruise, it had fallen off. Leeta sighed tiredly and hoped that the broken earring was not a sign of more bad luck to come. Leeta put the earring in her purse and then looked down at the PADD in her hand to check the time. It was still early. A whole three hours to kill before she had to report for the briefing on the holodeck. She looked around the crowded Promenade, grimacing at the noise and bustle. She didn’t feel like being around people at the moment and she could feel a dull ache starting up behind her eyes. Leeta had hardly slept a wink all night. She and Andrus had exchanged angry words. Some of the things she’d said to him, she regretted now, but it was too late to take them back. Finally she had stormed out of the room back to her quarters, where she had lain in bed, tossing and turning, unable to sleep, his harsh accusations still ringing in her ear. She could still hear them now. What she desperately wanted to do was to cleanse her mind of it all – for a little while at least. Cleansing! That gave her an idea. With brisk footsteps Leeta headed down to the subway that would take her to IDIC, the Vulcan Spa. First a soak in the mineral pool and then a herbal massage. That would rid her body and soul of all that was toxic. After the treatments, she would emerge from the spa, fresh and invigorated and ready to face whatever new surprises Starfleet had in store for her later that day.