A Quiet Encounter

Posted on Thu Oct 1st, 2026 @ 10:05am by Lieutenant Commander Lin Yue & Lieutenant Commander Melanie D'BrooNi- Haistro

1,532 words; about a 8 minute read

Mission: Bloodline

ON

Lin Yue had discovered that one of the quieter advantages of a starship was that there were always places where a person could disappear without actually being alone. The Saratoga's lounge was one such place. It was late enough in the ship's duty cycle that most of the crew had either retired to their quarters or gathered in the noisier recreation areas, leaving the lounge pleasantly subdued. Lin sat alone near one of the panoramic windows, a small ceramic cup of tea resting between her hands as the stars drifted silently beyond the glass. Her uniform had been exchanged for a simple, fitted training top and dark trousers, her hair loosened from its usual precise arrangement. It was one of the few places aboard ship where she allowed herself the luxury of being unobserved.

She had brought a slim PADD with her, though she had spent considerably more time contemplating the tea than reading the report displayed upon it. The day's tactical exercises had gone well, but Lin had learned long ago that competence did not require constant attention. Sometimes the mind needed permission to wander, her thoughts briefly turning toward the cultures she had encountered during her diplomatic assignments—and how little any report ever captured the nuances of actually meeting another people. A soft chime from the lounge entrance drew her attention, and she looked up almost absently.

Her expression changed by the smallest degree as she recognised the figure entering the room. The ship's Doctor. Lin had seen her before, of course, though only in passing during the bustle of the Saratoga's first days underway. She had yet to have the opportunity for a proper introduction. Her eyes lingered for a moment, instinctively taking in the details before she could consciously stop herself: posture, pace, expression, the subtle manner in which she carried himself. Old habits. Lin lowered her cup gently onto its saucer and regarded her with quiet curiosity as she approached.

"A Samarian sunset please?" Mel said. Sickbay was fully operational and it had taken her and her staff days to store and file away everything. Now she deserved a reward. She sensed the other person before seeing them, turning she recognised the geisha lady. "Hi how are you?"

“Doctor,” Lin offered, her voice carrying the quiet warmth that rarely extended beyond the carefully measured edges of her usual composure. She inclined her head towards the seat opposite her. “Would you care to join me?”

Her gaze lingered briefly on the empty chair before returning to the Doctor. The lounge remained as quiet as ever, yet Lin found herself wondering if solitude had truly been what she was seeking when she had come here. Perhaps, beneath the ritual of tea and the excuse of a PADD, she had been looking for something rather less tangible: conversation, companionship, perhaps even the beginning of a friendship. It was an unfamiliar thought, and one she kept carefully to herself. For the moment, she simply offered the invitation and waited, her expression softening into the faintest hint of a smile.

"That's very kind," Mel said taking the offered seat. "I hope you don't mind if I order some food as well. I got engrossed in some research earlier I forgot lunch."

“Please,” Lin replied, her tone carrying nothing but graciousness as she settled back into her seat.

Something about the Doctor's introduction caught her attention. Lin had already noted that she was Trill, yet knew her name and it struck her as distinctly human. It was a small detail, perhaps insignificant to most, but Lin had always been attentive to such things. Names carried histories, cultures, and sometimes stories that were not immediately apparent.

“Your name is Melanie, is it not?” she asked, her head tilting ever so slightly. There was no judgement in the question, only genuine curiosity. “It is a rather human name for a Trill.”

"My father was joined and had hosts that came into contact with many humans. He named me after one of them's sister because he though the name was beautiful. My middle name is Kelis. Much more Trill," she said as the waiter brought her drink and handed her the small spoon. "Thank you. Could you also fetch me some Macaroni cheese with pulled pork please?"

He nodded.

"I had a human husband before my most recent husband," she explained. "He was a dab hand at pasta."

She smiled picking the small spoon up and tapping the glass as the colours appeared and mixed beautifully. "That never gets old,"

“I’m sorry. I didn’t know,” Lin offered quietly, genuine apology softening her voice.

She had not intended to stir old wounds, and although the Doctor's expression had remained composed, Lin noticed the subtle change behind her eyes at the mention of the two men. It was fleeting—so slight that another might easily have missed it—but Lin had been trained to recognise the things people chose not to say. The momentary tension, the hesitation, the quiet hurt that lingered beneath an otherwise carefully maintained composure.

She did not press for an explanation. Some wounds were not hers to examine, and Lin understood better than most that silence could sometimes be a form of kindness. Instead, she simply inclined her head, allowing the Doctor the dignity of deciding whether she wished to continue or change the subject.

"Its okay," Mel said. "It gets easier to talk about when you have been widowed twice. First one lost on an away mission. We made it 14 years. Second husband got a queen bluefin inside him and didn't survive it. I was pregnant at the time. I managed to get me, and my daughter off the station and Starfleet aware. Unfortunately my son was stillborn. Its very fuzzy. They said I lost a lot of blood during the birth and they had to drug me a lot. Its not all bad. Lots of good memories too. I was blessed to have experienced the love of both men even if we didn't grow old together.

What about you? Any significant other?"

Lin was caught off guard by the Doctor's history. There was a brutality to it on several levels, and Lin suspected it had left a far deeper mark than the woman before her was willing to admit. Even so, there was a quiet strength in the way the Doctor carried herself, and Lin respected it enough not to pry further. Instead, she allowed the subject to pass and turned her attention to the question that had been directed towards her.

"I'm engaged to a terraforming engineer," Lin explained, a small smile tugging at the corner of her mouth. "He specialises in introducing livestock into newly terraformed environments to begin the fertilisation and revitalisation of the local soil."

She gave a soft, amused laugh.

"My friends all joke that I caught myself a cowboy. But, in many ways, I suppose the analogy isn't entirely wrong."

"How frequently do you get to see him?" Mel asked. "What planet is he helping to terraform now?"

"It's barely a Class-L world, called Veylora, in the Orendria System. It's about two sectors over from our destination, and I last spoke to him this morning."

Lin's expression softened as she spoke of him, the faintest smile touching her features before it faded again.

"As for when I last saw him..." She paused, her voice becoming a little quieter. "That would have been during my last shore leave. We met on Risa, about twelve weeks ago."

There was a note of sorrow in her voice now, the kind that came from being separated from someone she loved rather than from any uncertainty about the relationship itself. Despite the distance, and the long stretches of duty that kept them apart, there was no mistaking the affection she held for him. It was evident in the way she spoke about him, in the warmth behind her words, and in the small smile that she couldn't quite keep from returning.

Mel nodded and offered. "Its hard I know being apart. Ian had to participate in some security operations sometimes a few weeks as it was on certain planets. You just have to keep yourself busy to keep your mind off missing them."

"Indeed," Lin replied, a faint smile tugging at the corners of her mouth. She tilted her head slightly, as though something had just occurred to her.

"Speaking of which, don't we have a briefing to attend?"

Her expression shifted as she mentally retraced the day's schedule, trying to remember precisely when the briefing had been set for. For a moment, her mind raced through the timetable, hoping they weren't already running late.

"Oh do we?" Mel said. "Good job I didn't order that food. Guess dinner will have to wait for later. Shall we?"

Lin glanced towards the time displayed on the nearby terminal and gave a small, resigned smile. "We really should be going," she remarked, rising from her seat and gathering her PADD. With one last glance around the quiet lounge, she followed the Doctor towards the exit, the two women leaving together and making their way towards the waiting briefing.

END

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