Coincidences

Posted on 28 Mar 2013 @ 2:44pm by Nesh Saalm & Captain Jonathan Holliday
Edited on on 28 Mar 2013 @ 2:47pm

1,042 words; about a 5 minute read

Mission: Episode 03 - Frontier
Location: USS Galileo - Deck 5 - Stellar Cartography
Timeline: MD4 1000 Hours

[ON]

A secret mission from the ship's captain wasn't usually something that John would have worried about, but this one was a little out of the ordinary. With the younger Saalm sister currently serving aboard Galileo, the captain was obviously a little concerned that Nesh fit in and adapt to starship life as easily as possible. As the captain however, she couldn't be seen to be giving preference to one member of her crew over others, even if this one was indeed her younger sister.
So a short message to the XO's office later, and John found himself heading down towards the science labs, specifically Stellar Cartography - somewhere that he had to actually focus on remembering the last time he had set foot.

Passing several junior science officers on his way along the corridor, each more perplexed than the last why the ship's combat-orientated First Officer was in their "territory", John finally found his way to the correct lab and opened the doors ahead of him.

Nesh stood at the pod, leaned over the controls. In front of her a giant galaxy map sprawled across the viewscreen, and she periodically broke her gaze from its swirling depths to jot something indecipherable into the PADD at her side. Unobserved, she was intensely focused, using the pod controls to manipulate the map to various angles and trajectories. Nesh tucked a stray curl behind her ear. She clearly knew how to use the system controls at their basic levels, belying the inaccuracy of her normal bearing which lead most to believe she couldn't operate her way out of a paper bag. That being said, at the sound of the doors opening, she whirled around on her feet and clumsily pressed one of the side buttons. The map blinked and disappeared. Which meant it would not save her place settings. "Dammit!" she muttered under her breath, snatching her PADD and tucking it in her pocket. She pasted a smile on her face and watched Holliday enter the room. "Hi. Mr. John. Yep. Well. Hello." She waved and then stuck her hands behind her back.

John could not help but smile at the almost childlike innocence of the young Orion. Most Starfleet officers would have ended up on the end of disciplinary procedures for calling him "Mr John" but the young scientist's mate, would at least on this occasion, be spared the Brig.

"Thats Commander Holliday...or sir." The XO replied. "And we don't usually wave to our superior officers - you don't see me waving at your sister now do you?"

John felt something that would probably be akin to a father explaining something to his child - a scenario that the XO doubted he would ever be put in, at least in the short term at least.

"Report Miss Saalm. What is your current task?"

Nesh tried to resist the flush that darkened her cheeks and neck. She remembered their first meeting, where he'd told her to call him John, forgetting that she was now technically a crewperson in her haste to greet him. "Sorry, uh, sir." She held out the PADD. "I'm practicing copying down maps. Lieutenant Cho showed me how to use the computer stuff to look at information, Mae--" she started, then changed her mind. "Uh. Lieutenant Panne, wanted me to learn how."

"Excellent work. A firm understanding of LCARS system interfaces is a necessary skill for any Starfleet officer."

John took the PADD from her hand and took a moment to look at the processes she had been running - they were all primarily standard data transfers, with a few errors and slip ups that would be expected from someone still getting to grips with Starfleet systems. After a moment, he offered it back for her to take from him.

"Not bad at all. Very good progress actually. You seem to be settling in well down here?"

Nesh bit her lip absently. Starfleet. There was that word again. Her mom and Lirha both had Starfleet Fever. She was an artist, not a commando. She told herself that her journey here was only to escape Aila's wrath, but the truth was, she did enjoy working in stellar cartography. It made her feel smart, competent. Those were good feelings. Did Lirha experience that all the time? Nesh stood straighter. "Yes. Sir." She took in the man's rigid demeanor and decided to show him some sympathy. "She sent you here, didn't she?" she asked perceptively.

The XO seemed to have underestimated the intelligence of their youngest crewmember. Either that or John was particularly bad at keeping up a ruse for even the shortest amount of time. No matter what the reason, there was no point the Commander trying to lie any further.

"The captain thought that it would be prudent for me to ...tour the science labs...and if I happened to bump into her sister, ensure that she was alright...this is purely coincidence of course."

"Oh, of course," Nesh smirked. He did not strike her as the scientific type. He was missing his phaser rifle, she thought. Still, she spoke fondly. "Well, tell my sister that the science labs are just fine. And if she happens to ask about me," Nesh added knowingly, "I'm fine too. Really," she said sincerely.

"I'll...make sure I feed that information back to Captain Saalm along with my report on the readiness of our science facilities. Or if you wanted to deliver the information yourself, her duty shift ends at 1600. Think of it as training for your later career in Starfleet."

John replied with a wry smile on his face. The young Orion seemed to be coming on in leaps and bounds every day she served aboard the Galileo, and if she turned out to be anything like her sister, she would be a more than competent officer.

"Carry on Scientist's Mate."

Career in Starfleet. Oh boy. Nesh refrained from cringing and nodded. "Uh huh," she said unenthusiastically. "Oh, yeah. Yes, sir." She was about to wave again, but wisely thought better of it.

[OFF]

CMDR Jonathan Holliday
Executive Officer
USS Galileo

Nesh Saalm
Captain's Sister/Scientist's Mate, CIV
USS Galileo

RSS Feed