Distraction Part IV
Posted on Mon Feb 3rd, 2025 @ 8:43pm by Lieutenant Vura & Lieutenant Mira Jayna
Edited on on Tue Feb 4th, 2025 @ 7:13pm
2,275 words; about a 11 minute read
Mission:
Episode 16 - Silent Cries
Location: Holosuite, Zulg's Bar - Promenade Upper Level - Empok Nor
Timeline: MD001 1900 hrs
"Oh, shopping is always enjoyable. You never know what you might find that way. In fact, that was how I found Edmund," she suddenly remembered, her face slowly turning into a pout.
That was the second reference to Edmund, if she counted the page in Vura's sketchbook. Jayna wasn't much of a window shopper. She preferred to get what she wanted and leave. But this was something that caught her interest. "Is something wrong?"
Vura realized at this moment that she was apparently dwelling again on Edmund and Jayna was already astute enough to have picked up on it. We may not have much in common, but perhaps I could show trust by being open with her. Perhaps then she will let a little guard down. She shook her head, "Nothing of consequence. It will blow over in time. Edmund and I had a tiff earlier today, which is one of the reasons I came out to the Arboretum. It is just difficult when you fight with one of your best friends. I am certain that you can relate to that."
"I do understand. From what I know of the captain, I have every hope that it will be resolved quickly. He does not seem the type to hold on to anger."
"He is not," Vura readily agreed. "But the misunderstanding does not feel good. So, there it is." She smiled weakly at Jayna. "And it was not all for naught, as I finally got to meet and talk to you."
Jayna smiled wryly. "I'm not sure if that is a bonus. So, you need a bit of a distraction today? To give you both a chance to step back before talking over what happened?"
"Exactly," Vura answered simply and with an affirmative nod.
"Okay." That put a different spin on this, and now Jayna was willing to do more to help distract the counselor than she had before. "Have you ever tried making a musical instrument? Like a flute or pan pipe?"
"Making one?" Vura asked. She stood silent, her face going blank as she thought through her various experiences. She then grinned at Jayna and clenched her hands together. "No! I don't think I've ever done that before. How does one make a musical instrument?"
"Well, I was thinking of wood or bamboo. I've read about it, but I haven't actually made anything. The easiest are from reeds, but if you want to use other tools, you can make them out of wood."
"You haven't done it, either?" She audibly considered this. "Well, this should be an interesting project, if we can both learn together. What made you think of this?"
"I'm teaching myself to play the flute." Jayna shrugged. She liked learning new things. "I've also looked at techniques for making them, but I haven't actually tried to make one. Not yet, anyway."
"Teaching yourself? How have you been doing with that?" The Deltan's breath started to speed up. The idea of anything new excited her. "Well, how do you suggest that we go about making one?"
"There are tutorials on the computer. I've been using them to learn the technique," Jayna replied to the first question. "I also found a computer program where you can make a flute out of a reed or carve one out of wood with an instructor to guide you, but I haven't tried it yet."
"Should we just pull one up here, then?"
"Yes. If the instructor is terrible, we can simply end it and try another." Or just ignore the instructor and see what they could figure out on their own. However, Jayna was aware that they would need at least a little instruction, whether in text or by a teacher.
"Alright," Vura replied brightening. "Computer, please find a program that will teach us how to make a playable flute made out of wood. Please provide all the materials necessary to complete the program and an instructor to assist us with this project."
The computer replied, "Acknowledged."
Within a moment, they found themselves in a wooded area. A wooden table was before them and there were several knives, something that looked like a screw, and a saw on it. On the other side of the table from Jayna and Vura was a man with long brown hair tied back into a ponytail and a brown goatee. He was tall and lanky but wore a friendly smile. "Hello, my darlin's, so, you want to learn how to make a wooden flute, is that right, now?"
"Yes." Jayna looked around the woods to get a better idea of the types of trees and the terrain, then turned her attention to the man and nodded. Then she went to look at the table. "Neither of us have made one before and could use your assistance."
"I see. Well, my darlin's, 'tis nothing to it. Why don't we find a nice tree and cut a branch off, so we can start the process?"
Jayna looked at Vura and nodded. Then she selected the right blade and walked through the trees, feeling one branch, then another. She wanted one that wasn't too thick or too course. Or that had signs of insect damage. Finally, she found one to her liking and cut it off.
Vura watched as Jayna methodically went about finding a branch. She certainly does not behave delicately, like myself. We are very different people. Having observed Jayna, Vura started carefully maneuvering around the trees, making certain that she did not get scratched. She wondered what an appropriate branch would be. She decided on something delicate like herself. However, when she cut off one of the delicate branches, she noticed it broke awkwardly. It probably would not have a good enough place for holes, would it? Revising her strategy, she found another tree with thicker branches, reached up and sawed one off that had a width about half the diameter of her wrist. "I hope this is adequate," she told Jayna hopefully.
The half Vulcan looked at the piece of wood critically. "It should. The sound the flute makes depends on the size. That is a good piece to start with."
Jayna turned her attention to their instructor. "We remove the bark and make the outside smooth first, yes?"
"That would seem logical," the instructor told Jayna. "But, no. If you do that and then have your wood split when making a hole at an end, you have wasted effort. So, what I would like you to do is tie strings around one end. Tie them tightly and then we will drill a hole on that side. After that, we will remove the bark and smooth it."
"I'd like to be sure there are no flaws first." She looked up at the instructor. "The wood also needs to be aged, does it not?" Or should she just instruct the computer to age the wood and make sure it has no imperfections, then she could do as the instructor said.
"It does," the instructor replied. "Have you done this before lass?"
"No, but I've researched it." She usually liked to have a general idea of what she was doing before putting something into practice. "The information I saw said that seasoning the wood was best--even though I don't agree on how long that particular expert recommended." She looked to Vura. "What do you think?"
Vura shrugged. "I'm here for the experience. We have him, so we should probably listen but I'm all up for experimentation, too."
Jayna nodded. "Okay. So, we bore the hole first, then remove the bark and make sure there are no flaws. And if there are, we find another piece of wood and start over." But she wasn't sure about just tying a string to one end of the flute. She'd comply, if that's what it took, but she also used a small vice grip to hold the flute in place and marked where the blow hole and finger holes should be, then heated a drill bit and carefully cut into the wood. When that was done, she checked her measurements and the holes to be sure they were in the right position and glanced up at the instructor before moving on to drill a hole down the center.
"The reason for the 'aging,' as you call it, is so that the wood can dry out," the instructor continued. "Three weeks of drying is what is normally required, but we can do it here."
Vura was trying to drill a hole but her nails were getting in the way and she did not have a great deal of strength to get into the wood. "Let me help with that," he told her, as he gently tugged at the wood branch.
The Counselor informed the instructor, "You're so sweet. I really appreciate your help. I really don't want to break a nail, but I could fix it."
"Think nothing of it, lass." Upon finishing it all, he put it into a machine that dried out the wood for the equivalent of three weeks.
He then looked up at both women, "Alright, now...." He stopped and noticed that Jayna had already drilled her holes. "Well, I see you're just the star pupil aren't ye?" he asked Jayna.
The half Vulcan laughed. "No. I did a lot of research, but this is my first time putting it into practice." She knew the next step was the hole down the middle. Then removing the bark and smoothing the outside. That was the easy part. After that, it would take more finessing and help from the instructor. So, while she let the instructor help Vura, she worked on the hole and the bark, then carefully smoothed it with sandpaper.
Then Jayna waited for the instructor to explain the next step.
Vura watched Jayna interested as the half-Vulcan laughed. I see. So, you take more after your human side but you like to analyze everything. Interesting. That explains so much about our interactions. "You have a nice laugh," Vura told Jayna. "You should let it out more."
"I, umm...thank you?" Jayna wasn't quite sure how to respond to that. She was serious more often than not, but she had been mellowing a bit more lately. She definitely had more to smile about. "I would say that I'm more of a blend of both cultures than my sister."
"Why do you splice yourself like that?" Vura asked seriously and curiously. "We all have traits that we probably got from someone or somewhere but splicing yourself up makes you sound like you're less than who you are, Jayna. Just be you, whoever that might be. Personally, I like the Jayna that just genuinely laughed. It was the most 'you' that you have been with me all this time."
"I don't consider it splicing. I consider it blending." She gave Vura a curious glance, wondering-but not willing to ask--who or what the counselor thought she was. "I am always myself, unless I'm infiltrating somewhere. I'm generally serious as that is how I was raised."
"If you say so, Jayna. Though, logically speaking, why say something comes from a half if you're blending?" The Deltan smiled innocently, yet self-satisfied towards Jayna. "In any case, we should probably finish our flutes, no?"
It wasn't worth explaining that she still felt she was part Vulcan and part Bajoran. "Yes." Then she went back to working on her flute.
Vura smiled, satisfied. Jayna still viewed herself as two halves and not as a whole and had proven it to Vura. Perhaps she could assist Jayna in becoming a whole, if Jayna would let Vura do it. Perhaps today was the start of something. At least she hoped so.
Therefore, Vura turned to the instructor who helped drill Vura's holes and then he directed the two of them to put beeswax and linen oil on the flute to finish it. It came out a golden hue at the end of the process and Vura studied it. "I wonder if we could change the color? I feel like my flute should be more of a cerise red. What do you think, Jayna?"
"You could always use a different oil to tint it red. Or simply ask the computer to change it to a red wood." Jayna was pleased with how the flute turned out. For her first try, it wasn't bad. She needed to let it sit for a bit, or have the computer age it, then try to play it. But however it turned out, she planned to try again.
"Yes, but having the computer do it would diminish the effort we put into it." She sighed. "Ah, well. Perhaps next time." She then looked at Jayna and asked, "Should we terminate the program for now?"
"Yes. We've done what we came here to do, and it went better than I expected." She was also surprised that she enjoyed spending the time with Vura. But Jayna was still not pleased with the counselor's bias against Neil.
"Thank you, Jayna for the day," Vura added. "It was a pleasant distraction."
A Joint Post By
Lieutenant Vura
Chief Counselor, USS Pioneer
Lieutenant Mira Jayna
Intelligence Officer, The Cure
USS Pioneer
RSS Feed