Package from Mother "
By: Patia Zoei, Chief Counselor, [PC]

Stardate: 58204.26 1700

Counselor's office

Patia curled into the corner of her chair with the box from her mother on her lap. She rested the glass of tea on the table at her right hand. She gazed at the box, afraid to open it. Her hand rested gently on the top, before she closed her eyes and ripped open the first flap.

On the very top of the box rested a letter. The smell of her mother's special recipe peanut butter cookies wafted up as she picked up the paper. Her mother, despite modern technologies, still resorted to pen and ink rather than isolinear chips. Slowly, she unfolded the delicate paper.

"58204.21 2200

Dearest Little One,

I am writing this a little later than I had intended. As long as I am sending a package, I thought it would be best to include some cookies for you. It has been far too long, Patia, since you have been home and I have been able to cook for you. Coincidentally enough, just yesterday I stopped by Trina's parents' shop and picked some peanuts, fresh from the plant. I made the peanut butter this morning. It was ready just in time to make cookies for you.

The contents of this box are yours to do with as you please. Look at them now, or store them away, keep them forever or destroy them when you are done, it is your choice. I have held onto this information waiting for you to let us know you were ready for it. I have not saved it for me.

Patia, brace yourself before you review the packet of isolinear chips in the red binding. Those contain the pictures and transcripts from the actual investigation into Lucio's death. Some of them are rather graphic. I am not telling you not to look, but as your mother, I feel I must warn you to be careful. The chips in blue detail the information about the bribery and coercion attempts geared toward the situation on Earth at the time Lucio was killed. The chips in yellow are correspondence between Selenia Deinei and me over the last 30 years. She has followed your life, your education, your career. With Lucio gone, you are the closest she has to a child. Selenia didn't want to burden you with a request to stay in contact with her, but if you chose to do so, she would be very receptive to hearing from you. Finally, at the very bottom, there is an envelope. In that envelope are the treasures you received from Lucio. There are letters, drawings, photos of him and finally a picture of the two of you when you were quite small, shortly after you were bonded, I believe. If you do not want to keep those, please send them back to your old mother to look at when she thinks back to a gentler time, before violence touched our lives so graphically. I know I told you to do with the contents as you chose, but as a mother's prerogative, I can make requests.

Little One, never doubt you are loved or accepted, because you are both. As your father has told you, the decisions we made were the ones we felt would be best for you in the long run. If you want to discuss this with me, I am open to that. If you want to rant and rave and rage at me because I wasn't fair, I will understand. Patia, we weren't fair. The decisions we made all those years ago are not necessarily the same decisions we would make if we had the opportunity to make them again. However, those were the decisions we felt were best at the time. I hope you can find it in your heart to forgive us.

I look forward to hearing from you soon,

Mother"

Patia set the letter next to the glass. The condensation on the table top grabbed the edge of the paper. She carefully lifted it up and set it further away. She picked up the glass, took a small sip and swallowed hard.

She started with chips in blue. She scanned chip after chip. Snippets of conversation came back to her. From an adult perspective, those conversations took on a whole new meaning. Her parents had weathered a very controversial political storm.

As she put the last chip back into the blue binding, she glanced at the red binding. She reached slowly for the packet. With a slight hesitation, she slipped the binding off the packet. The first chip she slid into her PADD covered the official reports. Next, she viewed witness statements. She chuckled to herself about her mother's over protectiveness. Then, she slid in the chip that showed the pictures. Transfixed, she stared at image after image; the garden, Lucio's shoe by the back gate, a burn mark, and finally, Lucio himself. Each picture was imprinted into her mind. If she lived to be 1000 years old, she would never forget the horror of what she saw. The last picture slid from view and she pulled the chip from the PADD. Tightly, she wrapped the red binding around the packet again.

Next, she slipped in the first chip from the yellow packet. She scrolled through letter after letter from Selenia. The first letters talked about the weather and Lucio's activities. His achievements and childish hurts were intermingled. She hadn't realized their mothers had been as close as they were. Time marched forward, though, and the letters turned dark. After Lucio's death, she could feel his mother's pain and anger in every word. Time continued to march forward, and the letters returned to the more comfortable tones of the earlier letters. Selenia consistently asked how Patia was doing, how her studies were going, where she was in her career. Several times, she noted Lucio's mother asked if Patia was seeing anyone, involved in a relationship or considering starting a family. A sob caught in her throat. Her chest tightened uncomfortably, making her breathing more difficult. She put the last chip back into the binding.

Her fingertips rested lightly on the envelope. She picked it out of the box and slid it open. She chuckled as she looked at childish drawings and read heartfelt promises. Finally, she reached the last of the items in the box. Three pictures were face down in her lap. She flipped the first one over. A gap toothed boy smiled at her from his place between his parents. They looked as though they were at a festival of some sort. She could see a booth with prizes in the background and he clutched a sweet treat in his left hand. The next picture was a formal school portrait. It was the same gap toothed boy, but this time, you couldn't see the gap. His school uniform was buttoned severely to his chin. His expression was serious, but a mischievous twinkle was evident in his eye. Again, she hesitated, but forced herself to turn over the last picture. It had been taken at their bonding ceremony. She wore the dress that made her look as a princess. He looked as dashing as any eight years old could. They held hands and were both smiling self consciously.

She heard her sobs before she realized she was crying. She drew the picture to her chest and rocked forward. Slowly, she slipped from her chair, to her knees on the floor. Her sobs wracked her body uncontrollably.