Baby Steps - Part I

Posted on Mon Jan 1st, 2024 @ 7:30pm by Lieutenant Calliope Ito

1,144 words; about a 6 minute read

Mission: Lacertae Mortis
Location: Earth, Tokyo Japan
Timeline: A Week Ago

ON:

Calliope Eden Ito woke up to the shrill sound her alarm clock ringing. Here, in her home and sanctuary, there was almost no modern technology. Things were very much old school, she had a stove, a fridge, and the only modern tech was her view screen that tapped into a library of entertainment that she could watch.

Groaning she turned over to the left and her hand reached out to turn off the screaming clock. With the press of one button it stopped. Sighing she pulled back the weighted comforter and sat up letting her feet drop to the hardwood flooring and into the waiting slippers.

A year, it had been almost a year since she'd arrived here and left Starfleet behind for a mandated rest that included trips to the Starfleet campus here to see a counselor and keep up on the latest Engineering updates. Her physical issues had long since healed but her mental health was still a work and progress and she understood that it would be for a while yet.

While she had been against all this she did find that in taking this year, in speaking with the annoying counselor things were changing for her. She didn’t quite hate herself as much as she did before. She allowed herself the gift of admitting that she was worthy of taking care of not that she hadn’t before but was an unconscious kind of care. She did what she had to in order to survive and push through and that was it. Food had had no taste, water was something she did to survive and not nourish her body, showers to keep away the smell. It had been like this most her life and now she was slowly waking up as if she'd been asleep the entire time.

Today she had a counseling appointment but before that she had some time to complete some errands she wanted to. Standing up she reached for her housecoat and slipped it on tying the belt at the waist. She yawned and stretched and was interrupted by the chiming of her apartment door.

She threw a glance at the clock and then shrugging she headed over towards the door stopping on the threshold of the Genkan, the area in the entry way that was both a doormat and porch. She slipped out of her slippers and into the outside slippers she used to take the rubbish out. Pressing the button to the door she watched as it slid open to reveal a young girl of about 20 holding a note.

The young woman bowed. “Itō-san, ohayōgozaimasu.”

Calliope bowed. “Good Morning.”

“Note from Starfleet.”

She raised an eyebrow and reached out to pluck the envelope with some reluctance. “Arigatō. Anata no yasashi-sa wa takaku hyōka sa rete imasu,” she said bowing deeply. When she’d thanked the woman for her kindness she closed the door and removed her slippers again stepping over the Genkan threshold.

She opened the crème coloured envelope and slipped the paper out.

Starfleet Command issued recall Notice for Calliope Eden Ito.

Ms. Ito,

You are being recalled to the Sakura. A shuttle will leave from the Kyoto campus at 0800 hours on the fourth day from the date of delivery of this notice. You are asked to ensure you are ready for duty by then. Your final counselling session will be held today and you will be asked to complete the recall paperwork and deliver it tomorrow to the Tokyo campus recall office.

Regards,
Admiral Tobias Johansen
Starfleet Command


She sighed. There was a clenching in her belly. She had argued the forced leave and now she felt like arguing the recall notice. “Mā, kudaranai,” She swore, or in English Oh Crap It was the harshest thing she could think of at the moment when her mind was lacking the caffeine jolt.

She tossed the envelope on the table and headed to the kitchen where she put a pot to boil for her morning tea. She stood at the counter waiting for the water to boil. This note changed her plans for today so she had to think about how to rearrange her schedule and honestly that didn’t sit well with her. Last minute changes were…not welcome. She was not due back for another three weeks.

Her fists clenched and unclenched as her mind ran through her schedule mentally rearranging it. She hummed an old lullaby as she waited for the water to boil. When it did she picked up the kettle and poured it into the cup she had placed on the counter last evening before retiring. Routine, it was something she counted on. She had come up with little rituals to keep her going, things that had meaning for her. Tea in the morning was one of them.

She let the tea brew to the side as she opened the cooling unit and pulled out an egg, some milk, and from the cabinet above a box of dried pre mixed pancake mix. She opened the box and poured the mix into a bowl before adding one egg and some milk. She stirred the mix trying to clear her mind of everything and focusing on the spatula.

Calliope pulled the stove ball to the right listening to the gentle Click, click, click, before the blue flame erupted on the stove heating the pan. She added a cube of butter and then the thick mix letting the pancake brown on one side before flipping it.

The cooking took several minutes in which time she drained the tea bag and cut up the garnish of blueberries and kiwi fruit which she added to the done pancake and sprinkled with honey.

She carried over her meal and drink to the table and ate slowly once again shuffling her schedule in her mind. She would need to do laundry, clean the apartment, go to the counselling session and fill out the paperwork dropping it off today, not tomorrow as they asked. Then tomorrow she would treat herself to a trip to the spa before she packed up her things. She’d also wanted to have an outing tomorrow but she’d see, perhaps she could leave that for her last day.

Sighing again she stood and took her empty plate and cup cleaning them and letting it drain dry while she headed to strip her bed of the bedding. She tossed it all in the wash while she showered and washed and dried her hair. By the time she was done she hung her laundry to dry and left the apartment heading to her counseling session. It would be an interesting one, she had much on her mind thanks to the envelope that was delivered to her this morning.


To Be Continued…

 

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