Cl.01.02 – It was a short but very pleasant walk to the small cabin in the woods of the Lonar province on Bajor. Calyssa must have roamed these woods for hours and hours when she used to live her during the occupation. She recalled that she had given each tree in the vicinity of her home a name, she still knew some of them. ‘Hello, Budwaur’ Calyssa thought, greeting the Maya-nut tree that passed on her left. Thought he occupation was not that long ago, she could not recall a lot of it, at least not of the days when they were living here in these woods. Her father once told her that their days in the woods have been good ones, except for the last two years, when the threat of the Cardassians became more personal towards the Aelyn family. She reckoned that her subconscious mind had blocked the bad memories, allowing her to only recall the good ones.
She opened the old fashioned mechanical lock on the door and once inside, she made her way to the bathroom, where she put on the shower. Once again, she removed her dress and stepped into the small cubicle, allowing the hot jets of water to warm her body that had cooled off considerably because of the swim in the cold well water. Ever since the occupation ended, most of the restoration and resettlements did not take place in the Lonar province, probably because it simply was to secluded. It formed a peninsula on the Northern hemisphere but access via land was quite hard because a high mountain range stood in between the Lonar plains and forests and the rest of the continent. Most transports went through the air and by the sea, these days. When the occupation ended, Calyssa was already serving in Starfleet but after her first assignment on Deep Space 8, her father moved back to Lonar from Naren II but instead of returning to this cabin, he acquired a larger house in the province Capitol. He still lived there, except for when his work kept him away, something that seemed to happen quite frequently as a minister.
After the shower she put on the standard issue Starfleet duty uniform, something she had not been wearing for over three weeks. While straightening her collar, she allowed her mind to wander one last time on the three fantastic weeks of shoreleave she had. The first week was spent on Earth with her friends, the second week she took a trip to Naren II where she grew up after fleeing from Bajor and the last week, she had the forest cabin here on Bajor all to herself.
“All good things must come to an end.” She said, closing the cabin door behind her. After locking it, she put the cabin in her bag which she carried over her shoulders. Using the commbadge, she attempted to get a hold of the Bajoran transporter authorities and requested to beam directly to the ministry of culture. It did not take long before approval was arranged and minutes later she walked on the white marble tiles that lined the pavement a few meters in front of the Bajoran ministry of culture.
“I am here to see minister Aelyn.” The sound of those particular words still sounded quite off in her ears. There was a time her father was nothing more than a mere carpenter and craftsman but after his return to Bajor he started working on his career which has led him to being the minister of culture.
“Who can I say is here to see him?” Obviously the lady at the desk had not noticed the family resemblance, which was a hard thing because Calyssa and her father did not share that many physical traits. “Calyssa Aelyn.” The lady at the desk looked up, her brown eyes looking straight at her. “I take it you are family then?” The Bajoran lady kept looking her in the eyes. “I am his daughter, I thought to look him up before I report back on my ship.” The lady smiled. “I’ll see what I can do for you but the minister has a long day, full of appointments.”
“I understand. I will wait right there.” She said, pointing at a sofa underneath a window. The lady nodded and she started to find out whether the minister could receive her while Calyssa slowly made her way to the sofa in the corner of the ministry’s lobby. As she set down, she was wondering that Admiral West wanted to share with her. Daniel was someone who respected when one of his crew was on a shore leave so apparently the matter was urgent.
“The minister is on his way down now.” The lady had approached her to give her that message. Calyssa would not have had any problems with coming up to see him, which probably would have been easier for him with his busy schedule and everything. Anxiously she awaited him in the lobby. Now that he was coming out of the elevator, she walked over to him.
“Hello, Calys. It is good to see you again.” They intimately embraced as they approached each other. “How is the cabin, is she still doing fine?” Kastor asked his daughter. “Everything is fine, but the wood needs some repainting.” Calyssa smiled, reaching in her pack for the key so she could give it back. “Keep it! I probably won’t be visiting for quite some time and I probably have a spare key anyway.” Kastor said, guiding his daughter outside for a stroll in the ministry’s garden. “Have you been simming in the well?” Kastor asked her, knowing that that had become somewhat of a daily ritual in the last year that they lived there. Calyssa smiled. “How did you know?” Her father chuckled. “I do not understand how you can do that, that water must still be freezing.” Calyssa smiled. “Good for the body.” She replied. “I take it you report back to your ship now?” Kastor asked and Calyssa nodded. “I had a wonderful three weeks here in the Alpha quadrant but unfortunately, duty calls. It is time for me to return to The Reach.” Calyssa said, something in her voice gave away that she was sorry to have to leave but Kastor could also detect a hint of enthusiasm. She still is a Starfleet Captain, eager to explore. “Will you be careful, my love?” Kastor said. “Of course, dad.” She said. “The Gyor war is over for nearly two years and ever since The Reach is quite peaceful. I cannot wait to finally get back to shard hunting.” Calyssa referred to Chozo shards. Though they had discovered quite a few of them in the last seven years, they still had about 99% percent of them to go. “Until the next time, daughter of my” Kastor said, smiling wryly, knowing that he will not be seeing his daughter for some time, perhaps even years. “Good bye, father.” Before they parted, they hugged one more time.