Dreamdust

Posted on Sun Aug 17th, 2025 @ 7:34pm by Rear Admiral Indi Hawk

1,019 words; about a 5 minute read

It hadn't taken Indi much time to unpack. She traveled light. Her quarters were larger than she'd expected. It had been a very long time since she'd served on a Starbase this size. Once unpacked, she roamed the empty space for a bit. The living room, the bedroom, the bathroom. It was a lot for one person.

She let her mind roam as well. Wander freely like it did so often lately.

Duty had kept her away from her wife for a very long time. Sure, they still had their connection, but she'd purposely dimmed that some time ago. It hurt to be able to feel somebody whom you couldn't get in touch with. It hurt like hell to be that far away. It hurt less if loneliness was the major feeling to deal with. So their Vo'Sh'un connection was barely existent. Her wife unaware of Indi's struggles and thoughts.

When Indi had learned where she would be stationed next, and more importantly under who she'd be serving, she had been carefully planning her arrival. She hadn't risen through the ranks to become an Admiral by being stupid. Sidra was a very good friend. Somebody who could read her very well. Something she'd been wanting to avoid at all costs. In retrospect, she think it had worked well. Their meeting had been a bit awkward and a bit stiff, but nothing that couldn't be explained by two friends who simply hadn't seen each other in a long time.

She wanted to work out first. First, before escaping her own mind. A workout usually made her feel her own body, reconnect with it, making it easier to shut down her mind afterwards. It didn't take long for her to locate and allocate a holodeck for her use. It was late at night, most people were asleep, so the corridors were empty.

Starting off the workout at its lowest level, she found herself in the suburbs of Freecloud, surrounded by objects, debris and people who wanted to attack her. Long years in security made this easy for her. As she cycled through the levels, space around them tightened. Opponents increased. So did their intelligence by using the objects around them.

She held her ground easily. The blow of a steel rod in her kidney felt surreal, dimmed. Remembering she was in a holodeck, she called out for the safeties to be overridden, confirming the command when the computer dutifully asked for it. This felt better. The blows she landed shot energy up her hands and arms. The blows she received made her feel alive.

Her body was in fit enough shape, considering her age. She lasted quite a few levels, taking out opponent after opponent. Her breathe became ragged and harder to inhale, but that's how she liked it. That was being alive. She felt she could go a few more rounds. At least until one of the opponents got creative, grabbed her by the back of her head and slammed it into an iron railing that led up an old service ramp. She heard her noise break, taste the blood and she could feel her head swim. This workout was over, that much was certain.

Even after she'd ended the program, she remained seated against the holodeck wall for a while, trying to get her head to stop swimming. Pushing her towel against her nose hard, had at least stopped some of the bleeding. Resignedly, she realized she couldn't avoid a visit to the hospital decks. Something she'd wanted to avoid, but couldn't be helped now.

It didn't take long for them to patch her up. Aan explanation had to be given, but holodeck accidents happened, so they didn't look too suspicious. Once back in her quarters, Indi figured she had to cover her bases. So, she sent a quick message to Sid's Yeoman, who would undoubtedly find out about a nightly visit to the hospital by Fleet staff anyway, explaining about the accident and guaranteeing she was fine.

Once that message was sent, she felt relieve wash over her. Relieve that she could almost let go. Almost. First, her replicator needed a few modifications. She'd learned to do them by one of the best in the business, and she'd since applied them quite a few times. Installing a second unit behind the main one, she tapped off the energy, installed a custom control panel that wouldn't log usage or elements, tapped off from the highest clearance levels and shunted it all through secondary relays and tertiary systems. Nobody would ever be able to trace the existence of this replicator.

Content with the result, she ordered a coke and downed it at once. She couldn't wait any longer. Her patience had run out. She'd kept up appearances for days before meeting Sidra. But not anymore. She could give in at last.

Tapping in the commands, a vape cartridge appeared, containing Dreamdust.

Laying down on the bed, Indi inhaled the content of the cartridge, immediately falling away in the world of hallucinations and blissful ignorance.

Indi Hawk
CSec, Epsilon Fleet

OOC, for reference

 

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