| Date & Time: | Day 01, 1227 |
| Location: | Promenade Replimat |
| Written By: | Elizabeth Grayson Olivia Grayson Sebastian Hayes |
| Post Date: | 02/28/2026 |
| Episode: | Ep. 2 – On Shaky Ground |
Sebastian Hayes had been drifting from place to place for the past three years, a majority of that time being spent on Earth. Sebastian was angry, he was angry at everyone and everything around him as he thought about what happened. His wife Margaret had been unable to have children, which was something he’d desperately wanted, and then she passed when he was trying to figure out why.
Sebastian had eventually arrived at Stelvik Station, but sitting there in the promenade only made it worse for him. So far he’d counted half a dozen children of various ages, even the damned Commanding Officer had a kid. Sebastian felt disgusted, he didn’t know Captain Cohen personally but the man was in Starfleet. Starfleet officers weren’t as deserving of children in his opinion, at least not anymore.
The former medical officer felt a surge of anger coursing through him as he thought about the Captain having a daughter and here he was with nobody. The jealousy led to rage, that was only calmed when his attention was turned to what appeared to be a young mother and her daughter. He sat there quietly, watching the two of them. When they sat down nearby he could listen to their conversation carefully without raising suspicion.
Olivia sighed as the eight-year-old sat down across from her mother and leaned her head over. She rested it on her balled fist as she watched her mother carefully. The promenade was jam packed with people, especially the replimat. Olivia wanted desperately to get away from so many people, but her mother had promised they’d explore the promenade just the two of them.
The eight-year-old waited for her mother to slide the snack plate with the cup of cool milk over to her. Once it was in front of her, Olivia’s eyes lit up. Perhaps that was why she felt so grumpy? The child thought about it for a moment before she picked up one of the crackers that was in front of her. “There are a lot of shops Mommy.”
Elizabeth Grayson sat down across from her daughter, trying to ignore the vast crowd of people that had formed on the promenade. They’d been on the station for less than a week, and each time a new transport arrived the promenade got crowded. She reminded herself in silence to ask her husband if this was the last of the transports coming for a while.
“There are Liv,” She answered the child with a warm smile, she could tell her daughter was getting worn out from there being so many people. They’d been on the promenade for less than fifteen minutes at that point. But Elizabeth hoped her daughter would be sated with something to snack on, while they waited for the crowd to thin out.
Olivia smiled as she munched away on the cracker, now effectively ignoring the crowd, “I wonder what Daddy and Owen are doing?” She asked her mother. “We could have brought Owen with us,” The child said softly. Part of her wanted to see as much of the station as possible, but it seemed that her mother didn’t want her wandering alone.
“Your Daddy is working, and Owen is spending time with his friend. The one he just met two days ago,” Elizabeth answered, “Dillon?” She questioned with her head tilted to the side. There were at least two families in the same corridor as they were.
Sebastian continued to listen to the interaction between mother and daughter, not only did this woman have one child she had two. He felt that surge of seething rage building up once more as he tried to focus his attention on the drink in front of him. Sebastian had long wondered what his children would have looked like. But he also found that he couldn’t focus on that, he’d gotten himself guest quarters when he arrived earlier in the day.
Sebastian had followed another young mother and young girl as they disembarked, then he was met with watching another Starfleet officer being there. He hated Starfleet, and wondered why they had to be in the system in the first place. Why did they have to be anywhere at all? Sebastian stifled a grunt as he continued to listen and watch.
Olivia had listened to what her mother had to say about her brother, “That’s okay Mommy,” She said softly between her chewing. “I really like spending time just the two of us anyway.” The eight-year-old confirmed as she grabbed the next cracker. By that point the child was no longer paying attention to her surroundings. The crowd had started to thin out a little bit, but not that much yet.
Elizabeth was paying close attention to how crowded it really was, as she continued to talk to her daughter. The eight-year-old was at least distracted enough to no longer notice the crowd of people. There were a few shops on the promenade, some restaurants, the bar, and offices. Elizabeth looked over her shoulder, a couple offices. She returned her gaze back onto the child, “I like spending time with you too Liv,” She answered.
Sebastian wondered how old the little girl was, and based on the number of Starfleet personnel on the station, he wondered if she was the daughter of a Starfleet officer too. He scoffed at the thought, he needed to focus on something else. His anger had started to cool a little bit, the flame in his gut dying out slowly until it was nothing more than ebbing embers. Sebastian eventually decided that he needed to get up.
Listening to this conversation, and watching the people as they came and went only made things that much worse for him. Besides, he could easily be noticed if the crowd continued to thin out, and he didn’t want this mother to believe he was watching them. Sebastian knew the security office wasn’t that far away. He didn’t want attention to be drawn to him and he got up before casually walking away from the table.
Elizabeth watched as another table emptied, and there were fewer people on the promenade. She’d definitely ask Norman about the transports, the man was in the operations department anyway so he should have an answer. Elizabeth noticed her daughter eating the last cracker and finishing the milk too. “Ready to see more stores?”
“Oh yes Mommy,” Olivia answered, her mood had greatly improved. She must have been hungry as she picked up the empty plate to return it to the replicator. The eight-year-old was beaming soon enough as she took her mother’s hand and allowed herself to be led out of the replimat. There were now fewer people, that only helped improve her mood.
Sebastian had walked far enough away that he’d barely noticed the mother and daughter leaving the replimat after him. He put his hands in his pocket and started toward the bar after reading the sign on it. He could slip in there and hide in the corner, maybe collect his thoughts for a little while before returning to the guest quarters he’d been assigned.
Part of Sebastian wanted to leave the station entirely, he could easily get back onto a transport ship as it was leaving. It would be easy to slip on unnoticed just like he’d slipped onto the last one leaving Earth unnoticed. The cabin he’d gotten into was empty, and based on the passenger manifest it would remain so. Sebastian had, in fact, managed to slip off unnoticed as well before getting himself into quarters that had been unassigned. He took on an assumed name, and nobody knew he was there or at least as far as Sebastian knew anyway.