“Hej, Lillemus”; or, “Drawn, Pressed, Forged”

Posted on Thu Oct 9th, 2025 @ 1:00am by Lieutenant Commander Alexander Espersen

Mission: Lower Decks
Location: Alexander Espersen's quarters
Timeline: After "It's the Ocean!"; before "The Next Arrival: Tial"

Alexander Espersen was a man who consistently felt the pressure of time.

The crew maintained Earth standard time, and eight hours out of the available twenty-four he was responsible for bridge overwatch. Half in the chair, half doing rounds, always a commbadge away.

Then came his crew oversight duties, specifically with the so-called ‘Department of Misfit Toys’, delinquent crewmembers that for all their misbehaviour, Alex knew their potential.

Then there was the paperwork, which reproduced like Tribbles. It didn’t help that Captain Skyie’s definition of ‘Command Training’ included foisting her pile onto his desk.

Despite it all, he still needed sleep, and as the first call in case of bridge irregularities, he never got enough of it.

And he needed exercise, perhaps more than most. Sometimes he turned the gravity up while working out, just to feel that sense of accomplishment like when he aced those physical tests that the wiry kid from Mars had no chance of passing.

Usually he exercised or went for runs alone, but recently Natalya had been joining him. Their routines often overlapped, placing them both in the gym or along that perfect 5k loop around the corridors at unusual hours. He never waited for her, never expected her, but the loop felt a little longer when he ran it alone.

With all of that out of the way, there were scant few hours left in the day to cater to his social, emotional, or mental health.

Tonight there was only time for one activity. He could call Michelle and talk about his week, or he could work on some of his art.

He chose the latter, with three crafts he could make progress on before a last-minute run would fully exhaust him.

Alex had spent the last two nights working on one of them. His subject had been silently taunting him as its delicate features defied his ability to re-create them in pencil on the page. Two aborted attempts lined his waste bin. But then it started coming together, and within an hour on his third night of work he was finished, holding in his hand a perfect drawing of the crimson flower that had captured his and Benvenuto’s attention. Every line, curve, shadow, and rare for him colour brought the flower to life.

It was ready for its recipient.

The plant itself was now ready to be a key ingredient in his second project of the night. It would not be finished tonight, but Alex was happy to spare a few minutes to get it started.

The flower went between two sheets of blotting paper, and then two sheets of cardboard. On the back corner of his workbench, the stack went under a heavy pile of books. Time would finish the process for him.

He checked the time. Half an hour left until he wanted to start that run. But his third piece would take days, and wouldn’t be finished until they left the Tial System, so he could spend thirty minutes setting up and progressing on a more mundane part.

”Computer,” he said as he started getting his workstation ready. “Begin recording.”

The computer chimed its assent. And as he set up his tools and components, he spoke, in a voice softer than perhaps any on the ship had heard before.

“Hej, Sigrid. I hope you’re able to hear this. It’s Stardate seven-two-one-one-one, or February tenth I suppose. You always laughed when you heard me talk in Stardates.

”It was my birthday last week. Don’t worry, I forgive you for not calling, you’ve not exactly been able to get to a comm line. Michelle, I’ve told you about her, she gave me a handmade Red Panda stuffed animal, and a note telling me not to be a stranger. Sweetest thing anyone’s done for me in years.

“The Captain gave me quite the gag gift, a unicorn statue with something deeply inappropriate instead of a horn, with a plaque that says ‘You’re really one of a kind’. That’s right up her alley, actually.

“A lot of the people here give me a hard time, but a lot of it comes from a good place. Sure some find it funny getting under my skin, but a lot of them do it with care. Captain Skyie is a great mentor and friend. If not for our ship’s reputation, she might help me get my own command chair. You’ll meet her one day.

“She’s letting me teach again, actually. I have a group of underperformers that I’m whipping into shape. Don’t worry, not literally. They made mistakes, but they’re among the best in Starfleet. Just…I seem to be the only one who can see it right now. And they keep me on my toes better than any alien incursion or warp core failure ever could.”

On the workbench were now the tools he would need. An extremely precise scale. A laser torch rated to 2000 degrees C, with safety gear, precision tools and a work surface capable of handling such temperatures. A mounted magnifying glass, one which polarized at extreme levels of light. A long wire of high purity gold along with clippers and a tiny soldering iron.

He continued speaking as he started clipping and precisely folding the gold into links in a slowly growing chain.

“I seem to have a workout buddy. Natalya commands the ship’s Marine contingent. Toughest woman I’ve ever met, makes Britta look like a preschool teacher. Takes the craziest risks I’ve ever seen. But never haphazardly. She considers the risks versus the outcomes and makes smart, if reckless, choices. You should’ve seen her jump through space between two ships. But people are alive because of it, that much is sure. I think you’d like her too. I—ow!”

The soldering iron caught his finger just for a second. Not enough to do any harm, but surely enough to feel it. Time to wrap it up maybe; focus properly on what he was doing. Besides, what else could he say about Natalya Markova? Maybe more another day.

”Well I should get back to focusing on this. If I burn myself worse, I’d have to go see Doctor Kellerman, and I’d really prefer not to do that tonight.

”I love you, Lillemus. I’ve sent with this message a drawing I made. A flower that reminded me of our trips to the Amazon Dome. I’ll have Khay put it on the table with the rest of them. You must have a collection right now. I keep in touch with him when I can. He and the kids are doing well, so don’t worry. They can’t wait for you to come out of this.

Knus. Elsker dig altid, Alex.”

He waited a few seconds before addressing the system. “Computer, save that to an isolinear chip for me.” He worked a little longer on the chain until he caught his finger a second time. Alright, enough was enough. He had a solid ten centimetres done, probably a quarter of what he needed. He’d finish later.

It was time for that run.

With luck, the loop will feel shorter tonight.


END

Lieutenant Commander Alexander Espersen
Crafting calm in turbulent hours