Family Matters

Posted on Tue Jun 23rd, 2026 @ 8:41am by Emilie Temple & Lieutenant Jarok

Mission: Shore Leave
Location: Deck 5 - Play Centre

ON:

Katrine Temple had immersed herself in a book while sitting next to an artificial beach display. The large interactive wall in the Pandora's play centre was currently showing backgrounds of Earth shorelines in rotation; something she had learned to program herself. The other kids were too busy being occupied by the new slides, swings, and apparatus to want to use the wall and it suited her mood perfectly. She was engrossed in her story, with the sounds of lapping waves, seagulls, and shifting sands playing in her ears, while images of bright beaches bathed in sunlight filled her peripheral vision. She had relaxed into a vinyl couch, PADD underneath her nose as she read peacefully. That was until a Vulcan female, probably a year or two younger than her, approached the screen and started to use it.

"Oh." Kat startled, her reading interrupted. She looked up to see the Vulcan tapping at the screen. "I was using that."

"No, you were not." Sha'El reportedly plainly, unflinching from her work on using the console. "You were occupied with your studies and had not interacted with the console for at least fifteen minutes."

"It was setting the mood for my reading." Kat argued with a huff. "I'm reading about a lighthouse on an island and the beach scenes were helping."

"If you require visual stimulus for your reading, may I suggest improving your imagination abilities." Sha'El simply said. "Clearly, you are deficient in that regard."

"Deficient!" Kat snapped, throwing her PADD down onto the couch and sitting upright. "You are so RUDE!"

"Katrine." Emilie approached, having witnessed her daughter's temper flair. "Apologise for that."

"But!" Katrine protested by sticking out her lower lip. "SHE just came over here and messed up MY reading!"

"That's no excuse to raise your voice and act this way." Emilie said gently, "That's not how we express ourselves if we want to be listened to."

"I must apologise also." Came a male voice from behind. Emilie turned to see Lieutenant Jarok, still in his uniform, hands clasped behind his back. "My daughter tends not to ask for things."

"That is categorically untrue, father." Sha'El glared at him. "I merely saw this device was not being currently used and wished to partake in an activity. It is not my responsibility that she wished to use it selfishly."

"SELFISHLY!" Katrine stammered, tiny hands balling up.

"Katrine," Emilie warned, standing to place a hand on her daughter's shoulder, "That is not how we respond."

"Sha'El, you are being deliberately insulting to Miss Katrine." Jarok stated firmly. "It is entirely unnecessary."

Sha'El sighed loudly, "I apologise for being insulting." She said, looking to Katrine then quickly to her father. "Is that acceptable?"

"Do you mean it?" Jarok asked, his tone showing this was about giving a lesson now.

"I didn't want to upset her." Sha'El spoke into her shoes, "But I do have a right to use the equipment, father."

"And you could have asked if it was available, first, and avoided this conflict." Jarok warned. "Do you see how your actions have brought conflict?"

"Yes." Sha'El quietly replied. "I'm sorry."

Emilie prompted Katrine to respond. Katrine curled up her nose and shook her head. "Katrine, she's apologised to you. Let's not over-react, okay?"

"Fine." Katrine pouted. "I accept. You can use the screen."

Sha'El wanted to say 'I was going to anyway' but sensing her father's disapproval, chose to stay quiet and nod instead.

"I can show you the fun games if you like." Katrine offered, moving over to the screen.

"I do not wish to play games, I wish to use it to practice my hand-eye coordination." Sha'El said firmly.

"Yeah, that's one of the games." Katrine insisted as she looked for the right program.

Stepping back away, Jarok and Emilie exchanged knowing parental glances.

"All is right in the playground once more." Emilie said with a smile.

"For now." Jarok added.

"I'm Emilie Temple," She held out her hand to shake with the officer.

"Lieutenant Jarok," He responded and gently took her hand, fulfilling the human greeting. "Chief Intelligence Officer. You are the spouse of the Captain, correct?"

"I am, and the Education Administrator onboard the Pandora." Emilie nodded. "I look after the school and child care facilities on the ship."

"A tireless task, I assume." Jarok responded. "I am... new to fatherhood. I was unaware of Sha'El existence until recently."

"Oh," Emilie said gently, surprised by this admission, but she didn't want to pry. She smiled helpfully, "Well you seem to have picked it up quickly. She clearly listens to you."

"I suspect that is her Vulcan upbringing, more so than my parentage." Jarok said, a slightly glib tone to his words. "But I appreciate your sentiment."

"Hm I don't know, you've got that parent look down already." Emilie lightly laughed, "The 'I mean business' look. You've got it."

Jarok turned to her and offered a small smile. "Thank you. It has been a hard adjustment period. Her mother passed two years ago, I had no idea she had even had a child until Federation child services delivered her to me. Her grandparents have also passed. I took leave from duty to care for her, help her adjustment, and we have been trying to navigate our way through the loss and building our relationship. It has been quite difficult."

"Of course," Emilie said softly. As administrator, she was somewhat aware of the circumstances of their arrival but hadn't wanted to pry too deeply and Nyx, being Nyx, wasn't going to share his officer's personal lives like that. "I think finding comfort and companionship on the ship will help Sha'El adjust. I know they got off to a rough start but our home is always welcome to you both."

"Thank you, Mrs. Temple, that is most gracious." Jarok responded tightly; he didn't want to admit that the thought of finding comforting friends for Sha'El and himself brought him significant relief. "It has been just her and I for a while now, I think we would both enjoy the company of others."

"Of course, that's what shipmates are for." Emilie laughed. "Please, just call me Emilie. And I don't make empty offers. I'm sure we can arrange for Katrine and Sha'El to have some playdates or find similar interests for them. There's only a couple of girls Kat's age on board, I'm sure she'd love a friend."

"Sha'El can be stubborn but also very insightful." Jarok mused, "She will suspect that we are trying to arrange a friendship for her.... Emilie."

"Perhaps, but we'll find a way to make it work," Emilie shrugged, "All children can be stubborn, from time to time, but you learn to work around it."

Jarok managed a small smile, "I am pleased to hear it."

"And we have a very good sitter for when Nyx and I need parent-time." Emilie added, "Doing this on your own can be a lot. Please, let us find you some help so you're not trying to do everything by yourself."

Jarok frowned at this, feeling a passing moment of doubt and a little bit of confusion, as he felt he had been managing okay on his own. But he chose to take the human' sentiment at face value. "I appreciate that."

"That's what we do on the Pandora," Emilie smiled, "Take care of each other."

"Yes, the ship has a reputation for being like a family." Jarok replied, "It is why I chose to return to service here, instead of a starbase."

"Smart move." Emilie nodded, "Plus we have some of the best facilities in Starfleet on the Pandora. Everything to keep kids and big kids alike occupied for hours. We will find something for the girls to do together."

"They appear to be bonding already." Jarok replied, nodding to the screen. Katrine was showing Sha'El how to play a game where they squished jumping bugs on lily pads, then used moved a frog to eat them up. It was a game but it also taught hand-eye coordination, strategy, and reflexes. Both the girls were giggling and shouting as they squished the next bug on the screen.

"Ah yes," Emilie beamed, "We do have physical games and activities too, so it's not all screen based. We try to balance their time."

"Sounds encouraging." Jarok nodded, "I believe I saw a cafe attached to the play centre? Tell me, do they make a robust tea?"

"Indeed they do." Emilie smiled, "Come, the drama is over for now anyway. Let's get you a relaxing tea and I can tell you strategies for dealing with an even bigger child."

"Sha'El?" Jarok asked, creasing his brow in confusion.

"No," Emilie sighed, "I mean Nyx."

Jarok stifled a Vulcan laugh as they sauntered over to the cafe. For the first time since arriving onboard the Pandora, Jarok felt like he could actually relax.

OFF