Needles, Haystacks and Red Threads

Posted on Thu Jul 23rd, 2026 @ 12:46am by Lieutenant Aenar Torek & Lieutenant Bela Swain
Edited on on Sun Jul 26th, 2026 @ 5:42am

2,003 words; about a 10 minute read

Mission: Lost Horizons
Location: Science Labs - USS Calypso
Timeline: Before "A First Look at Pellana"

The turbolift hummed quietly in the loud silence. Aenar threw a sidelong glance at the Counsellor. The Bajoran was glad of her company, but was puzzled at her volunteering so quickly. She did seem to enjoy his company, he conceded.

"So, a fan of trawling through historical shipping reports are we?" he asked lightly.

"Not particularly," Bela admitted. She then put on a smile and shuffled a foot slightly to the side. "However, you seemed to need some help and I do enjoy helping. I also do not understand why many ships disappear in this area, so, splittlng the work, well, it made sense, didn't it?"

'It makes absolute sense,' Aenar replied with a smile, the turbolift coasting to a stop and depositing them near the primary science lab. He indicated Bela should walk out first. 'It's just a shame that this piece of work will be tedious. Science can be much more exciting given the right circumstances.'

Bela let herself out first but only entered the corridor enough so that Aenar could stride beside her. "Nothing has to be tedious, Aenar. It is all a matter of how to make something more enjoyable. So, why don't we find a way to do that? Perhaps, make it a game?"

Clasping his hand behind his back, Aenar nodded after considering it a moment. "Fair, Bela. I'd like to know the rules and rewards of the game before we commit to it, though."

"I guess we will have to make those up," she said hopefully and innocently. "After all, I don't know what all of this research entails, either."

'Trawling through records, mostly. Training search parameters to pick up on obscure pieces of information on what ships disappeared when, and see if there's a pattern to them.' Aenar shrugged as they reached the door of the Science Lab, 'so ... the points should try to reflect that. And I suppose the reward would have to be sufficiently enticing to keep us going to the end ...'

He motioned to a terminal, 'make yourself comfortable Counsellor. Need a drink or anything before we dive in to the wonderful galaxy of shipping reports?'

The counselor sat in a chair, wondering if she completely misread the situation. If she did, perhaps it was for the best. After all, few beings were willing to be with someone like her. She shrugged lightly and said, "How about a Tequilla Sunrise?"

'Coming right up,' he called from the replicator. He programmed it to generate two of the drinks, and he brought them back to the terminal, setting one down in front of her as he scooted his chair up close next to her. 'Thanks for volunteering to help out,' Aenar said appreciatively, 'having good company around will help with the work.'

He lapsed into silence for a moment as he set the parameters for the search. Aenar glanced over at the Risian, and curiosity overcame his latent shyness. 'Why did you volunteer, by the way? This is hardly the most interesting ... I mean, anyone would be glad of your help.'

"Well," she started, wondering exactly what she should say. She was not particularly good at reading when someone was interested in her, so perhaps she was equally bad at misreading friendly banter. "The mystery intrigued me and you seemed to need or want my help. Not only that, nobody else seemed to require me at the moment, so why not be where I am needed?"

'I, well, yes, your help is appreciated,' Aenar stammered. 'But it's your company I like more,' he finished lamely. 'Not, uh, just as a colleague either.' He was unusually flustered, and flushed a bright scarlet. Why is this so hard?' he asked himself. We get along so well..

That returned the a larger smile to Bela's face. For an answer, she got up from her seat, stepped over to Aenar, sat on his lap, twisted the front of her body towards Aenar, wrapped her arms around his neck, and pressed her lips against his. She hoped that would suffice for a response.

Making a surprised noise, Aenar leaned in to the kiss and wrapped his own hands around Bela's waist. He broke it, and smiled sheepishly. 'I guess that's OK then?'

"That's a good start," Bela replied before bending in and kissing him again, pressing in closer to Aenar.

Losing himself in the kiss, Aenar made a little noise of frustration as the computer pinged that their search results were complete. He waved a hand over the console 'til he managed to get the pinging to stop.

Bela giggled lightly and asked, "Do you want me to move?" For effect, she wriggled in his lap, which was quite the opposite of what the question implied, as in extracating herself from Aenar.

His voice died somewhere in the back of his throat, and he shook his head. "No," he managed to squeak, blushing again. He kissed her again to stop the wriggling torture a moment, "This is much better help from what I was expecting...." He chuckled.

"I can help more," Bela answered with a knowing smile. "I do enjoy helping." However, he smile faded and she told Aenar, "Before we go much further, though, we probably should have a discussion. I'm a Risian counselor. Do you fully understand what that means?"

'I can't book you for a counselling appointment if we carry on any further?' Aenar asked, trying to get the gears in his brain working again. 'Because that would be an ethical problem for you?'

"Well, not completely...." She shifted again on him, moving to the side slightly. It was obvious that she was going to have to spell it out for him. "My therapy methods are all tactile. There could be a point where I may deem it necessary for the assistance of a patient to participate in certain types of intimate acts with them."

She swallowed hard and looked away from Aenar. "I know that would be difficult for many to accept but I have to be up front about it. I do not want you to be surprised later. So, if you can handle it, she brought a hand behind his head and stroked it to the base of his neck, then, well, I'll be yours."

A little spark of jealousy fanned itself to life deep inside his breast. Bajoran culture was by necessity far more conservative than Bela's - war, occupation and war had reduced his people to the mere thought of survival for almost a century, and the family unit had been the core of that. 'I ... can try. For you.'

"It may never happen," Bela replied with an apologetic shrug. "But, it would not be fair to not warn you in advance," she told him with a sad smile. "I applaud you for being willing to try. I promise to make it worth your while." Without waiting for a response, she maneuvered her entire body so that she was strattling him. She then reached in and passionately kissed Aenar.

He whimpered in response, and clutched her closer. Aenar figured he'd be fine ...

Bela pulled back after a moment. "We probably should get some data, otherwise the Captain may be disappointed in us," she informed Aenar, wiggling on him in a manner promising so much more in the future.

He shook his head to clear it of the fog that had settled on him. 'Yeah, you're right - let's check out these results,' Aenar said with a small smile, 'hopefully they've turned something up ...'

Bela adjusted herself to evenly distribute her weight on Aenar so that she was looking downward at the records. "Can you see over me?" she wondered.

'Just about,' Aenar replied with a hint of amusement in his voice as he looked over the crown of her head. He leaned forward so she was settled against his chest as he looked at the same records. 'Kind of sparse, aren't they?' he opined.

"They are," Bela agreed, practically cooing. "You know," she continued with the coo in her voice. "We could quickly read through these and take advantage of any unused time."

A cavalcade of images crossed his mind as he blushed again. 'We could ... but only if we're thorough with the work first. I ... can't not turn in something I've half-assed, you know?'

"I completely agree," Bela replied turning into Aenar before giving him a sensous kiss. After pulling away, she said breathlessly, "I prefer full asses, myself."

Aenar's mouth formed soundless words for a few seconds as his brain rebooted. He managed a nod and a weak, "I agree entirely," as he tried to focus on his work again. "Let's just ... get this done before we, uh, mess about some more."

"But, of course," Bela replied happily as she lightly bounced in Aenar's lap a couple of times. She looked down at the materials and scanned them. "Not even distress calls...."

'No,' Aenar replied, determined not to be distracted by Bela for the moment. 'Looks like a lot of them drop into the system, then just disappear. Nothing obvious on long-range scans, and then when a rescue ship finally arrives, just a trail fading out around the third and fourth planets. No debris, nothing.'

He ran a hand down her spine, 'it's very strange.'

Bela squirmed gleefully as Aenar's hand trailed down her spine. "It is," she confirmed. "Is it always the third and fourth planets? That's rather narrow and very strange."

'It's not a random pattern,' he opined. 'It's just the time intervals are random - no sense in the gaps between them. No correlation to ship size or typical propellant loads as far as the data shows.'

"OK, so the pattern is not random but the intervals are. Why? It makes no sense. That would imply a need or a want from whatever is causing these disappearances and it only acts when it has one. That would almost imply that there has been some sort of intelligence behind the disappearances and that can't be right, can it? Not over this lengthy period of time, right?"

'Why not?' Aenar asked in reply. 'Vulcanoids are a long lived species. So are several others. Not too hard to imagine a species that has a dormant cycle, like a hibernation thing ...'

"That's an interesting hypothesis," Bela admitted. "However, without any pattern, which there does not appear to be here, that theory is rather doubtful." She turned sideways into Aenar. "I think we have done as much thinking as we can and should for now...." She gave Aenar a devilish grin. "As a counselor, I think that a rest period should be prescribed for now."

'An active rest period?' Aenar asked, tone slightly perturbed.

"Hey!" Bela insisted sweetly, "Turn that frown upside down!" She then pouted prettily, "What would be wrong with an active rest period?"

'Nothing at all,' Aenar replied with a quick, fleeting smile as he wondered whether his stamina would be equal to the task. 'Just lead the way ...'

"Supply closet?" Bela offered. "Can't be gone too long and a trip to either of our quarters woudl noticed. Can't have the Commodore think we're slacking...."

"There's one between Science Labs 1 and 2," Aenar said, quickly checking them for occupants, "Ah, no-one there. There's a botany experiment, and some exotic alloy testing, but no active phases for at least the next two hours ..."

Bela hopped off of Aenar and then grabbed his hand. "So, whare are we waiting for?"

"Nothing important," Aenar replied, getting up out of the chair and offering her smile, and kissing her forehead. "Let's get to it."

Bela squealed happily, took Aenar's hand anxiously, and practically pulling Aenar, led him off for some stress relief.



Lieutenant Bela Swain
Chief Counselor
USS Calypso

Lieutenant Aenar Torek
Chief Science Officer
USS Calypso

 

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