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"From Flirty to Frozen"
[previous post was "From Feisty to Flirty"]
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Setting: MASQUERADE DREAMS, Room 22-049
Stardate: 30152.1515

The arrival of their Commander into the room had scared everyone.  Maybe it had been the maintenance man who had returned having changed his mind, or to see the surprise described by the redhead first hand. So Ya'Han and the others had been pleased to see Shar'El instead of anyone one else, the Chief of Security not truly wanting to have to deal with another 'unplanned' plan.

"Split up and search every corner," Shar'El said in a commanding way. Time had not been their ally in this situation and the need to find answers only pushed them to move quickly.  Without knowing who else might have a key to this room, they could not afford to waste any time.

Everyone scattered leaving the Commander to make her way to the small table where she had seen the handwritten note in the bomber's memories before he died in the harms of the Hirogen.  As she carefully approached the small table, Shar'El saw her own reflection in the mirror on the wall.  If only she could access the reflections captured therein as easily as she could see the memories of others a great many answers would have been found.

With Lillie meticulously going over every inch of the bathroom while Sonja and Ya'Han investigated every fold of the bedroom, no one noticed Shar'El having suddenly stopped a few steps away from the table.

"The bed looks like it has not been slept in at all," Sonja said, silently considering the possibility that room service had already come by to fix the bed and possibly destroy some of the clues they all had been so desperately searching for.

"The cruise is set to last three whole weeks without any stops, right?" Ya'Han asked.  Although she knew the answer, she had wanted to hear some sort of confirmation to justify what she had found.

"Passengers will enjoy three weeks of luxury and peace while onboard the MASQUERADE DREAMS, one of RISA's most renowned cruise ships," the redhead answered in a deeper voice as if she had been reading some sort of advertisement or trying to sale the cruise to someone else.  "Why do you ask?" Sonja continued as she turned her attention to the focused Chief of Security.

"One small travel bag," Ya'Han said as she pointed to the bag in the corner of the room.  "Who goes on a three week long cruise with only one small bag?"

"Someone who knew they would not be here for the entire time," the engineer said with a sigh.  "That would explain why the bed was not used. The bomber likely paced up ad down the room the entire night thinking of what he was about to do."

"I still find it hard to believe that anyone would be willing to blow themselves up like that," Ya'Han said in disbelief.

"When your back is against the wall for whatever reasons, people can justify to themselves doing pretty much anything," Sonja said having turned to face the black haired woman.  "Everyone acts and react differently to certain situations.  You for example decided to run away from your home, and I am sure that it was not an easy decision, but it was one that you justified to yourself because you had to."

Ya'Han looked back at Sonja, thinking of the life the daughter of the High Sovereign had left behind as well as the train of thought that had led her to accept such a difficult decision.  Instinctively the Chief of Security reached for her purple hair as she brought it to flow over her right shoulder.

"It was not easy," Ya'Han admitted, for the first time not feeling any worries that someone else could see her with different color hair.  "There were days when I wanted to go back but I knew what this would mean," the daughter of the High Sovereign said as her hair shifted to match that of the engineer.

"You going back would have meant a nasty fight," Sonja understood, "and to avoid that you justified continuing running no matter the cost."

The two redheads gazed into each other's eyes for a moment, Ya'Han seeing the understanding of a friend reflecting back at her while Sonja saw years of sadness and pain crunched into a few simple seconds.

"It's alright now," Sonja said as she brought Ya'Han into a caring hug.  "You don't have to be alone anymore."

The two women shared a hug, one that would have been normally reserved to be between very close friends or even sisters.  After a few second though, Sonja slowly broke away having noticed something very peculiar about their First Officer.

"Commander?" the engineer asked as she made her way to the frozen woman closely followed by the black haired Chief of Security who had become aware of the odd scene.

"Commander?" Ya'Han repeated as she moved to be in a position to see the woman's face, one that seemed frozen in time as had been her body.

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Hanali Han

Ensign Ya'Han
Chief of Security / Chief Tactical Officer
USS ANUBIS, NCC-18501