Commodore Taybrim - Like Where You Are

[Alora DeVeau]

I just love the way Jamie brings her characters across in her writing, and the atmosphere here is just like a breath of fresh air as I read this. 

 

((Academy Campus Green – StarBase 118))

Some Cadets enter the academy because they had a family tradition of Starfleet service.  Some had high hopes and were the first of their family to move forward and enter the ranks to better themselves and make a name for themselves in the universe.

Very few could say they made a calculated mistake, took a near-fatal electrical shock and decided to change careers in the aftermath.

Even fewer could then boast that they went far higher than they ever dreamed and made far more of themselves then they ever would have as a civilian scientist.

And yet somehow, incredibly, that was exactly how Sal Taybrim got here.  Sometimes he even wondered how that path had wandered through the universe to end up here.

Taybrim: I spent a lot of time working with Starfleet medical in the aftermath.  Not only in recovery but on reports.  I liked how the approached problems with a goal towards solutions rather than Federation science which tends to approach problem with an intent to keep questioning and hope that someone finds use from the data.

Harper: Something that could have been a tragedy turned into a benefit.

He nodded gently, considering that perspective.

Taybrim: Some things are truly tragedies that cannot be turned.  I would not disparage the suffering to say that all bad situations can be turned into benefits.  But I do find that it is a powerful strength to be able to understand when tragedy has a potential benefit and to seize it when you can.

He had seen too much pain and suffering to think that there was really, truly a silver lining in every cloud.  Sometimes things just sucked.  Sometimes life was unjust and unfair and the only way to get past that was to be able to stomp and yell and be angry at how unfair it was or sad at how much it sucked.  Processing difficult situations was as important and valuable as being positive.  Sometimes moreso.

Harper: Do you ever wonder what your life might have been like had you not received that shock?  

He gave a gentle assent, his gaze turning towards the simulated horizon.  He would have much stronger telepathy, but his empathy would have stayed at baseline sensitivity.  He would have stayed complacent in his role.  He would have married for social standing.  He would have probably been a good father.

It would be different.  He probably would even be happy.  But he was already happy and didn’t feel the need to dwell on what ifs when the right now’s were something that gave him joy.

Taybrim: Sometimes.  I don’t dwell on what ifs more than as a curiosity.  ::He smiled gently:: I like where I am.  But, as a curiosity… I probably would have eventually been promoted to work on the planetside facility of Tona IV, settled down, married and had kids.  My mother would have liked that a lot.  It would have been pleasant.

Sal generally found ways to make things pleasant.  It was just in his nature.

Taybrim: What about you?

Harper: I’d likely have stayed on Earth.  Maybe I would have gone into the medical field.  At some point, I would have taken over the ranch from my father. 

He nodded, trying to imagine her on a ranch.  He had a vague picture, but not a clear one, not from seeing how much she shined as an Starfleet cadet.

Taybrim: But…?  ::he prompted the rest of the story.::

Harper: Things change.  My path led me here.  Now we’ll see where else it leads. 

Taybrim: That is all we can do.

They walked in silence for a few moments before she changed the direction of the conversation once again.

Harper: Do you missed Betazed? 

Taybrim: I am nostalgic for it when I think about it.  I enjoy when I visit.  But I do not miss it so much to be melancholy.

Harper: ?

He smiled, looking out at the academy green that sprawled before them, having completed a half loop and coming back around.

Taybrim: I have the benefit of liking where I am, very much.  That chases the doldrums away.

Harper: ?

Taybrim: Do you miss your home?  

Harper: ?

He nodded gently.

Taybrim: I think that is natural. 

Harper: ?

~*~
tags/tbc
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Commodore Sal Taybrim
Commanding Officer
StarBase 118 Ops