*** Somewhere on SB Bragg *** Wes Summers walked beside his daughter towards Holodeck 8. Both were dressed in casual clothes, he carrying a wicker basket and she, a plaid rug folded over her arm. "So where's Guzman today?" Wes asked. Rangi glanced at her father and with a small smile replied. " He has a meeting of something or other...and then I think he's going to have his hair cut." Wes raised his eyebrows but said nothing, mentally conjuring up a picture of the Commanders ' unique' hair style. "Here we are..." he said stopping at the holodeck entrance. He carefully set the basket down and peered at the wall console.Rangi watched him punch in an access code and glanced around left and right while she waited. She returned her attention to her father as he stepped back and smiled to her. "I hope you like this." he said "It's been a few years since we were here" He extended his arm and bowed slightly, indicating that she precede him into the holodeck. The door slid open and they went inside. ** Holodeck 8 ** "I remember this place!!" Rangi cried and gave her father a glowing smile of delight. Pleased to know she was happy with the surpise, he replied. "Tenbury Bridge...shall we go on?" Rangi, smiling still, nodded agreement and together they walked a short distance along a stony track before cutting left onto the grass. It was an English Summers day. The sun was warm, the trees in full leaf and the air was scented with fresh cut hay. At the top of the sloping bank, Rangi laughed, clutching her hands together. "Oh look!......theres the pool...where we went minnowing ...excellent Dad." She turned to him, pleasure clear to see on her face. "Lets sit here then shall we?" he asked,glad that she remembered the outings of so long ago. Rangi selected a spot beneath an oak tree, partially shaded and shook out the rug, spreading it on the grass and kneeling to one side as she accepted the basket. Wes sat down and looked at the overhanging tree, the cerulean sky and the stone bridge, long disused and partially crumbling, that spanned a wide stream. "This looks really good." Rangi remarked, lifting plates and containers from the baskets depths."What a feast." Wes leaned back against the tree trunk. A few moments passed without comment,the only sounds, those of running water, birdsong and Rangis setting of the picnic. Rangi, glancing at her father, gave a him a second look as she realised his attention was trained on her in a thoughtful way. "What is it?" she asked, pausing in her act of placing a plate at his side. Wes blinked himself out of a daydream. " I was just thinking how like your mother you are. I see it sometimes...." Rangi lips formed a soft smile. She set a piece of bread on his plate as he explained : "I cant put my finger on it exactly...its the turn of your head, an expression... a movement...it's ellusive... but now and then...its Helene." They exchanged an understanding look. "Would you like some juice?" she asked. "Please " he replied and surveyed the meal set out on the rug. "There you go." she said, handing him a full glass. He accepted it and Rangi poured one for herself. "What do you remember most about your mother?" Wes asked, after sipping the clear amber liquid and selecting his first choice from the meal. Rangi settled herself and reached for a sandwich. "Ohhh...lots of things." she replied and turned her head to look down at the bridge and the cool water running beneath it. Some seconds passed. "I remember the music." she said, her attention still on the water. "I remember her playing in the evenings sometimes... and I used to fall asleep listening to it. " She turned to her father and smiled at him. "She was a beautiful pianist...I wonder why she always sang 'flat'" Wes gave a nod and chuckled at a memory. "I might be 'flat'...but you're too 'sharp' to mention it'....thats what she used to say. I dont know Rangi...but it was sadly the case." "She was a wondeful cook though." Rangi said. She leaned forward, picked up a knife and cut a piece of pie for each of them. "Gods know I dreaded Tuesdays." Wes said with some feeling. "Why?" Rangi asked in surprise. Wes flicked a hopeful ant from the picnic blanket. "Tuesdays.." he explained. "Baking day." He saw his daughter still didnt make the connection. "Your mother used to bake on Tuesday afternoons." he said " I always knew there would be the smell of fresh bread or cakes....biscuits or some such thing to greet me when I opened the door....but I grew to dread it." Rangi shook her head, still puzzled at his reasoning. "She wanted to teach you to cook!...dont you remember?" Rangi lips parted in a growing smile, understanding at last what he referred to. She busied herself refilling their glasses. "As soon a she heard the door she'd call 'Wes...come and see what Rangis made for you'.. and I'd find you both in the kitchen and you standing there with a plate of something or other....and your mother there behind you, giving me meaningful looks. " Rangi grinned and glanced across at him. He was staring at the largest container but obviously,in his minds eye, 'seeing' other things. "I had to eat it ofcourse......and praise you, tell you how tasty it was ....and Helene would be behind you, doubled up with silent laughter at my misfortune!.....mostly it was hard as nails...could have broken a tooth on your sponge cakes!" he added darkly. "I never knew the ordeal you had dad" she said laughing at his description. Wes grinned at his daughter. "It didnt do you much good did it?" he asked in a teasing tone. "I was glad when the lessons faded out!" "No it didn't" Rangi replied candidly, thinking of a certain 'goulash' incident."Here...have a scone!" Wes took the offered morsel, inspected it thoroughly and, satisfied it wasnt one of Rangis homemade efforts, bit into it with relish. Rangi leaned back on her arms, stretching her legs in front of her,enjoying the surroundings.She sighed contentedly and watched two cream butterflies flutter across the bank. "Do you remember Nibbles?" she asked and turned her head to look at him. "Hrmph!......how could I not?" Rangi waited for the reminiscence,a small smile curving her lips. "You knew he was banned from the house ofcourse" Wes said with slight accusation. "Is that a coffee cake?" Rangi hurriedly roused herself and sat up, reached for a few crumbs fallen from the cake he pointed to and tasted them. "Ummm.....no...its ginger" "I'll have a slice then please." he answered and as she cut a modest piece continued: "The blessed thing hopped into my study one afternoon dressed in a woollen hat and frilly dress." Rangi took a sliver of cake for herself. "You came rushing in after it, hauled it out from under my desk and carried it out, cradled like a baby in your arms....I 'swear' that creature looked at me as if to say...'so? what are you going to do about it!!'" Wes shook his head in disbelief:"Nibbles!...it used to lie on its back in that little cart you had,its paws folded over the coverlet! You'd wheel him about all day long!" Rangi looked into the distance and pretended not to notice what he was saying, as though it was entirely natural to wheel rabbits about in little carts and dress them in dollies clothes. "You loved Nibbles didnt you?" Wes asked in kindly tone. "You were fond of him too." Rangi replied, looking back at him with a smile. "Ha!! who told you that!" he asked. There followed a short pause. "You did?" Rangi replied innocently. "Mmmmmm..." "Well...you never shot another rabbit after Nibbles came to live with us did you Dad?...in fact, you dont now do you?...DO you!!" she insisted, teasing in her turn. Wes wouldnt be drawn to a truthful answer. "They're a damned nuisance." was the non commital reply. The picnic meal had been eaten, only a few remnants remained. The ant was back with some companions. Wes eyed them idly for a while then, sitting forward from his relaxed position against the tree, said "Lets get this cleared up...fancy a walk along the bank?" Rangi agreed at once, and together they repacked the wicker basket.She helped him to his feet, the blanket was shaken,neatly folded and tidily placed on top of the basket. Wes pulled his jacket straight and brushed off one or two crumbs. They began to amble along the grassy bank. After a minute or so, he raised their earlier subject, using his pet name for her. "Do you know moppet? I miss your mother everyday. Even now there are times when I think..'I must tell Helene..she'll enjoy that'...and its a fresh sadness to me to think she's not there." Rangi turned her head to him but didnt interrupt. "She was everything to me...my wife...my lover...my confidant...my greatest friend in the truest sense. I was a lucky man to have such a woman in my life." He looked at the stream as he spoke then smiled sadly at his daughter, who linked her arm into his. "When Helene died it was a wrench for you and me.." he continued. "...but I tried to make it up to you,to keep your life as she would have wanted it." They walked a few steps and Rangi asked, "Do you wish you had had a son?" Wes looked sharply at his daughter. "Its not easy being both parents.." "Dad! " Rangi stopped, shocked at his words, realizing he had misunderstood her meaning."I'm not critising you..not at all....please dont think that." They began to walk on. " I missed mum ofcourse and I still do....but I never for one moment felt she could have provided anything you didnt.I just wondered if you'd have liked to have a son." He paused before answering, still unsure of her reason for asking, then smiled at her fondly. "No...we were more than happy with our little girl." he replied, patting her hand. " 'Our little bit of heaven' your mother called you...Rangi means...'heaven' you know." he added. "Mmmm!...yes I do know!" Rangi replied, with an air of mild displeasure."I just wish you'd found a better name for me thats all!" "Whats wrong with it?" Wes asked indignantly. "Well...'Rangi'...I ask you...what sort of name is that for a baby? "What name did you want?" he asked, interested to know the alternative she would have chosen. "Oh...I don't know...." Rangi picked the first name she could think of... "Mandy.... or.... Elizabeth..something like that." she answered feebly. "Mandy?!!! where did you conjure a name like that from?" he asked. She joined in his infectious laughter. "Well perhaps not that one then. " she reasoned. "....but its still better than the one I have!" *** End Log *** LtCmdr Rangi Summers CMO USS Chimera & Wes Summers (npc) Rangi