Selective Noise Part 1/2

Posted on Sun Aug 2nd, 2026 @ 11:53pm by Lieutenant Darik Moreau & Lieutenant Alice Penrose

2,195 words; about a 11 minute read

Mission: Ghost Starship
Location: Lounge, USS Missouri

The lounge was relatively quiet, considering that the ship was currently stationary. But Lt. Darik Moreau suspect most personnel were focused on the abandoned Galaxy-class ship. He took a sip of his drink, a tumbler with three ice cubes and a liquid that looked light amber. He lifted it to his lips and sipped it, spice and honeyed sweetness sparring across his tongue. He put it down and looked at the PADD in front of him, without any real desire to pick it up. He could work. But it had been a long day already and what he wanted was to...just not. For a moment, just...not work.

The doors slid open and Counsellor Alice Penrose moved into the lounge, in no particular rush. She wore a simple dress rather than her uniform, a vintage tea-dress in emerald green. Her long dark hair was allowed loose off duty, and she had a real paper book tucked under her arm. She moved for the replicator, pursing her lips in thought before deciding on a peach infused iced tea. She had no plan, just a little spare time, and the silence of her quarters had grown heavy.

Darik watched her, a little bit curious. It took a moment for him to recognise the counsellor but once he did it was clear to him who she was. "Counsellor Penrose," he said, loud enough for her to hear it. He stood, out of habit, watching her. He wore his uniform, because truthfully most of the time he wore the uniform.

She looked across with a raised eyebrow, smiling when she saw who it was. She lifted her hand in greeting before taking her glass, moving toward his table. "I think you can safely call me Alice in the lounge..."

"Then you must call me Darik," he said and gestured for her to join him, a small smile on his lips as he watched her. "Please, sit down if you wish. The...PADD is just for show, I fear."

"And the book is just a...barrier," she admitted with a small, half smile as she took a seat with him, setting it on the table. "How are you doing, Darik?" she asked, and inwardly grimaced. She sounded like a Counsellor, but she hadn't meant to.

"Bored," he said and met her eyes, smiling, before he shook his head. "It'll pass, it's the boredom of settling onto a new ship with a new pulse. And a new department." He tilted his head, to try and glimpse the title of her book...her barrier.

Alice chuckled softly as she realised what he was doing, twisting the book so he could see the cover properly, not minding his looking. "The Secret Garden. It's a children's book really, but I read it every year."

"I've not read it," he said and nodded, before he looked at her for a moment. "So it's a ritual for you? Reading it every year? Or...does it just happen it is every year because you find yourself missing it?" he smiled, picking up his glass to sip.

"A ritual. I always start in January," she gave a half shrug, thinking how best to describe it. "You should read it, it wouldn't take you long. It's about a girl, an orphan, who finds herself living in a strange place. She's...contrary, is the word they use. Sullen and bad tempered. But she finds solace in nature, especially in the secret garden she discovers."

A soft chuckle escaped him, at the description, and he gave a nod. "I might give it a go. I read a lot of the classics growing up. I suspect I did not...come across this one," he looked at her, a small smile coming to him.

"It's old," she half warned, shaking her head with a small smile as she sipped her iced tea. "About 1910. But...people don't really change much, only culture."

Darik let out a breath before he sipped his drink, a small smile on his lips. "I do not mind ancient literature," he said, his voice quiet. "I was reading a lot of ancient Earth literature when I was young. Branched out a little bit later to non-Earth literature..." he gave a small shrug. "My father never stopped me picking up one of his books to read."

"This one is about how nature can nurture and heal. It might be for children, but there's something relevant in that," Alice admitted with a small, half smile. "I'm a fast reader though, so...I can fit a lot in."

"As a counsellor?" he asked, curious as he sat back to watch her. "Or as someone who loves literature?" the question was genuine...he was curious if she saw the relevance of nature being healed from a personal or professional place.

"As an idea," she admitted, shaking her head with a weak smile, resting an arm on the table as she looked out of the viewport while she talked. "I know, it's unforgivable not to live and breathe counselling..." she added with a small, wry smile.

He chuckled at that, nodding. "Yes, how dare you. You should be going around psychoanalysing everyone and everything you encounter. Is a potted plant a plant, or a symbol of a person's desire for inner growth in an environment of metal and recycled air..." he said dryly, his blue eyes shining with it as she watched her profile.

She chuckled softly at the way he put it, tilting her head with knowing amusement. "Mine are just plants," she assured.

"Then you are already winning. I don't have plants," he said with a throaty chuckle, shaking his head. "Not green fingered enough."

"You wouldn't want one?" she asked, her surprise not quite showing, but she always found it almost sad when someone didn't have a bit of natural life in their quarters.

"I grew up on the Moon," he said with a small smile, shaking his head as he let out a breath. "You had the parks. And some people had plants indoors but...Dad was always more interested in ancient dead things than live things. And I...wouldn't like to see one die of neglect."

"But would you like one?" she asked, looking back to him with interest. Because he hadn't actually addressed that in his response.

He looked at her with surprise at the way she said it, before he chuckled. "I have never given it much thought," he admitted as he let out a breath. "Maybe start slow. A holographic one. See if it survives."

She chuckled softly at that compromise, nodding lightly. His cautious nature had likely saved his life more than once. "If you ever want a real one, you can have one of mine. I can plant up a young one for you."

"You truly have green fingers then. Making things grow in space," Darik said with a touch of awe, thinking. "Interested in antique literature, owning antique furniture...growing plants. Have a clear moral backbone..."

Alice glanced down with a weak, half smile at the way he put it, shaking her head lightly. "Are you calling me dull?" she asked, but with a soft chuckle.

"No," Darik said as he looked at her, a small smile coming to him. "I'm calling you balanced. You're on a starship, member of a service...who cares about where she has been, and being in touch with the things that reminds her of it..." he winked, to soften the...read of her he had just done.

Alice glanced back to him, a small smile pulling at the corner of her lips at his reading skills. "I grew up around plants. I always turn over part of my quarters to a growing table. "

"I..." he paused for a moment, looking at his glass before he smiled. "I remember a home with...sharp lines, sharp shadows...but warm. I had a puzzle box. And art. My mother loved art."

"A puzzle box?" she sipped her drink, watching him with interest at that. "One of those traditional ones?"

"It's a...common child's toy on Cardassia," he said softly, a small smile coming to him at the memory. "She showed me how to solve it and then handed it to me...I asked her to do it again, she said if it was important enough I'd...remember it."

She smiled gently at his memory. It would have been the kind of thing she'd have loved too. "And did you work it out?"

He nodded as he looked at her, before he let out a breath. "Spent half a night doing it, when I should be sleeping. But when I showed it in the morning..." he looked down into his glass as he picked it up. "She was proud."

Alice watched with a soft smile of awe at the look on his face. He still felt it. All these years on. "It sounds wonderful," she replied, honestly. It would have been the exact kind of thing that would have stayed with her too.

He sipped the drink, clearing his throat. "Of course, it didn't fit in the case when we had to leave. I like to think she kept it," he said lightly, before he looked out at the stars.

She took the chance to study his face. She knew he and his father had been separated from her when war had been on the horizon. It was heartbreaking. "I would have, if it had been me."

"I don't think she was that sentimental," he finally said and let out a soft breath. "Who knows. If she didn't, it would have burned with the rest of the city at some point." He swallowd and then smiled. "Sorry. I am not entirely sure how we got onto this subject. Ah...plants."

"Don't be sorry," Alice said softly, a slight frown having settled on her features as she shook her head gently at his observation.

He glanced her way, a small smile coming to him. "If you ever get your hands on a Cardassian puzzle box...I think you'll enjoy it. There's no marks on it to guide you...just the sound and feel."

"I think you're right, it's the kind of thing I like to do to keep myself occupied," she admitted easily with a small smile. "I'm not sure I'd be as good at it as you though."

"I haven't done one in years," he admitted as he moved his glass, just to watch the melting ice cubes. "I am not sure I would...be that good at it anymore."

"Maybe you should try?" she suggested before shaking her head with a light shrug. "You need to keep your mind active with your work. It would be perfect..."

"It is not a bad idea," he said after a moment before he placed his glass down, turning to face her a bit more properly. "Would you try one too, Alice?"

Alice watched with surprise before settling back in her chair to watch him with knowing green eyes. "Well, I suppose it does seem only fair...."

"It is," he said with a nod, his blue eyes shining with warmth, even if his smile had faded a little into something more...serious. "And I do enjoy fairness...and music."

"Well, that's something we can agree on," she let him know before tilting her head at herself, shaking her head. "The music part, I mean."

"Most humans seem to enjoy it," he observed lightly, glancing over to the stars. "And I enjoy it too. Not...all music..." he added, almost playfully.

"Earth's Classical period?" she asked lightly. It was her favourite, both to play and to listen to. Although, the Romantics were also fascinating, and even Baroque in its own way.

"Somewhat..." he said with a small chuckle, thinking for a moment. "It's not what I play, but I won't turn my nose up at Bach. Not...Johan Sebastian. But Carl Philipp...." he added the last quickly, meeting her eyes.

She watched him with surprise at the mention. It wasn't often someone referenced the son over the father. "Interesting...the composer with a foot in two worlds..." she replied lightly, but glanced to him with a small smile of amusement, knowing he'd realise what she was saying with the comment.

He chuckled and nodded, watching her for a long moment. "Although if I was to follow my father's taste in music...there would be a lot more Earth country."

"Country?" she couldn't hold back the note of surprise in her voice. She'd expected that as much as hearing he enjoyed fantasy novels.

"He has a thing for it," Darik said and gave a small shrug, lips curling upward in a small smile. "Listens to it a lot...so I did too growing up. He'd put it on when he thought I was in bed, while working. And I'd hear it through the small flat."

Alice couldn't help the small smile that came with the image he conjured. It felt...cosy. "You play it?"

To Be Continued in part 2


Lieutenant Alice Penrose
Chief Counsellor
USS Missouri

Lt. Darik Moreau
Chief Intelligence Officer
USS Missouri

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