Unexpectedly familiar face

Posted on 16 Aug 2013 @ 3:51am by Tarishiana Barel & Rear Admiral Lirha Saalm & Captain Jonathan Holliday

2,104 words; about a 11 minute read

Mission: Episode 04 - Exodus
Location: USS Galileo - Deck 1, Captain's Ready Room
Timeline: MD 02 - 1010 hrs

[ON]

The time in sickbay had seemed to drag. The nurse had just wanted to make sure nothing was wrong with the baby before releasing Tarishiana. She was grateful for the thoroughness but had been getting ansy. She knew that Markum had wanted to stay with her but duty called and she was once again on her own. She had lost most of her things but at least she had replicated a new corps uniform in the quarters she shared with Markum.

Her next task was the talk to the Captain. She didn't know if the Orion was aware of her presence on her ship but after the time she had spent on the ship she owed her at least the courtesy of saying hi.

Using the ships computer, Tarishiana had located the Captain. She wasn't surprised by the fact that the women was in her readyroom. A smile came to her face as the doors to the turbolift parted revealing the bridge. After exiting the lift she came to a stop in front of the readyroom door. Tapping the chime she awaited permission to enter.

"Come in." came Lirha's reply from behind her desk as she was suddenly interrupted from her administrative work at her desk's LCARS terminal. She had grown very used to visitors in her ready room over the past months and quickly shifted her weight in her chair to sit upright, then strategically pushed a dark lock of hair back behind her ear to make herself look more presentable.

Tarishiana took a deep breath not sure why she was suddenly nervous. As the doors parted she took a few steps forward, moving towards the Orion's desk. "Captain Saalm,." She started with a smile as she hands came to rest on her distended belly that was quite noticeable in her uniform. "I didn't feel right being on your ship and not at least saying hi."

The captain glanced briefly at the new arrival then did a double-take, first at the woman's familiar face, then at her large belly. "...Miss Barel...?" she wondered, somewhat incredulously. Lirha stared at her for a long moment and finally decided that her eyes weren't playing tricks on her; the woman standing in front of her was indeed Galileo's former chief science officer. A smile slowly spread across her gold lips, then quickly vanished when she realized where Tarishiana must have come from. "How did you get on board? Were you...in one of the escape pods we recovered?" she hesitantly asked with a bit of trepidation.

Tarishiana could easily understand the emotional response of the Captain. The situation was hard enough without the personalization. With a slight grin she began, "Yes, Ma'am. I am not too worse for wear to be honest. Had a few bumps and bruises but I have been all patched up." She looked around the readyroom. "I have to admit, I have missed this ship." She smiled at the thought.

"I am grateful you were unharmed. And...welcome aboard." Lirha replied. "I seem to remember a young junior grade lieutenant who kicked sand all over me at the San Francisco beach not even a year ago." she smirked. "It seems that life has been treating you well since then." she commented in reference to the woman's obvious pregnancy.

Tarishiana let out a loud laugh. Her face lit up with amusement as she recalled the first moment she had met her then CO. "I had completely forgotten about that." If she was the type of female who blushed this would have been a moment the crimson coloring graced her features. "You could say that...Markum sure was surprised when I came on board."

"I am sure he was." the Orion replied with a knowing smile. "And did you have a chance to get reacquainted?"

"Yes, Ma'am." Tarishiana said with a grin. "We ran into each other in sickbay. Like I said I am very glad to be back on this ship."

PADD in hand, John swept into the Ready Room like a maelstrom. The stress of taking aboard so many survivors had led to more than a few supply shortages, and Galileo would need a major restock when she next returned to spaceport.
Completely oblivious to what was going on in the room, the XO still with his head focused on the PADD marched across the room.

"Captain I need to speak with you about our supply levels, we're using up a lot of our emergency rations and with all the extra demand on our power reserves I think our warp core might be...pregnant?"

The XO had of course, by the end of his sentence looked up, and had to take a double glance at the face of one of the first crewmembers that he had encountered since his transfer to the Galileo with a noticeable expansion in her waistline.

"Lieutenant Barel? I...wha...Captain?"

Lirha grinned up at John. "I take it you remember our former chief science officer? She was apparently on board USS Venture when they were attacked, and we recently retrieved her from one of the escape pods. Needless to say, I am very pleased to see her again alive and well." she explained.

"How can I forget? Lieutenant, it's good to see you looking so...well." John had forgotten about the relationship between their former Chief Science Officer and their former Chief Engineer, which from the look of her belly had obviously come to a little more than a working admiration.

"Actually..." Tarishiana said with a grin. "It isn't Lieutenant any more. It is simply Tarishiana Barel." She paused for a moment looking between the two officers. "I retired my commission about three months ago. I am with the Science Corps now." She motioned to her uniform as she mentioned the Corps. "That is why I was on the Venture."

John had been so preocupied trying to get around the return of one of his officers and her current condition to notice the change in the pips of her uniform, specifically the lack of said pips.

"You left the fleet? That was a rather severe move as it not Lieu....Miss Barel?"

Tarishiana could understand his confusion. She had met officers like Holliday. She respected them but she suspected that the only way they would leave the Fleet was against their wishes. She nodded as she began her explanation. "It is a very long story, but my joining Starfleet wasn't as noble as other's might have been." She took a breath and looked back at the Captain with a smile on her face. "Gives me a little more freedom...in the long run." She let the implication hang in the air. Her pregnancy itself filled in the gaps quite well.

"Yes, I can imagine." Lirha chimed in. Not being a commissioned Starfleet officer most likely had its benefits, especially for someone who might not be completely devoted to the lifestyle or wished for more flexibility to pursue other interests. Which wasn't necessarily a bad thing, as it took a certain type of personality to be able to enjoy constant deep space assignments far from home. "What exactly is your position within the Science Corps?" she proceeded to ask.

"I am a xeno-linguistic specialist." Tarishiana started. "I specialize in the language input and output systems on the ship. The universal translators and such." She loved her new position. She had the opportunity to focus on her languages with only a slight interruption from the other science disciplines. "It is my main focus, but I pretty much fill in where I am needed."

"Interesting. That sounds very intriguing...and are there any additional systems which you are certified to operate?" she asked, wondering what the full extent of her technician job entailed.

"Most of the science scanning arrays." Tarishiana started, "Pretty much any computer terminal in the science section. It helps that I have a background in engineering." Her hands moved to her lower back. She cast an almost pathetic look at the Captain. "Do you mind if I have a seat? My back is killing me."

Lirha winked then nodded at the pregnant woman. "My apologies, yes, of course." she gestured towards the large couch in the room. "I must admit...I am slightly jealous. Were it not for my command duties, I would most likely be pregnant as much as possible." she added with a light laugh. Thoughts of her desire to have children began to run through her head, and she hummed softly at the prospect before mentally shaking the idea from her mind for fear of distraction from her current job as Galileo's commanding officer.

Tarishiana let out a little sigh of pleasure as she sank into the couch. She adjust slightly as her still tender ribs made their presence known. "I can tell you that it is worth it, but I will be happy when this is over." Her hands rubbed her belly as she looked over at the Orion next to her but her eyes bounced back to Commander Holliday. "I am sorry if I am monopolizing your time. If you have ship business to deal with. I am sure we can catch up another time." She was enjoying herself, but she understood the demands of a Starfleet Commanding Officer.

"I..er...yes, yes of course. Captain I'll just leave this report on your desk and erm...good day!"

Not wanting to get caught up in the obviously oestrogen-filled environment forming ahead of him, John dropped the PADD on his CO's desk and made a break for the door, quickly feeling the need to replicate a steak, and then spend as much time as possible on the phaser range.

Nodding at John as he excused himself and oblivious to his plight, Lirha turned back to Tarishiana and the situation at hand. "It is good to have you back on board, however it appears that you are stuck with us for the time being. Venture's saucer section is still back in the Rojar system, and SB-185 is a long way away. I hope you do not mind if we adopt your services for the time being?" she proposed.

"To be honest, I am hoping you will adopt my service for a while." Tarishiana smiled. "My service on the Venture was temporary until an official assignment could be made." She looked over at the Orion. "As you can imagine, part of the reason I left the fleet was to stay with Markum. He is a lifer and will never leave the fleet." Her smile accented her statement. "So I left to stay with him. The Science Corps allows me more freedom with where I am working. Short jaunts to other ships but nothing more then I am willing to do." Tarishiana almost hated how that explanation made her sound, but she had made her choice. Starfleet had been a means to an end. Now her focus was to keep her family together regardless of the consequences.

"Hmm..well, I appreciate your loyalty to your family." Lirha sympathized. "But please remember, as long as you are a serving member aboard Galileo, your loyalty is to our ship and crew. And because our vessel is technically the property of the Science Corps as well...I suppose that makes us affiliates." she smirked at the funny idea.

"Understood, Captain." Tarishiana said with an nod. "I promise you, your ship will be my first priority." She grinned. "And I guess it does...I have to admit that this is a bit....different."

"Excellent. Well, it is good to have you back on board." the Orion captain stood from her chair and walked around the side of the desk to offer the woman her green hand to shake. "Congratulations on your unofficial transfer. For now, at least." she said, 'unofficial' being the key word for the moment.

"If there is nothing else, you are dismissed. And if you have not already, please report to sickbay for a physical." she added, her eyes flickering towards the pregnant woman's belly.

Tarishiana nodded as she took the offered hand. She pushed herself up from the couch, in a not so graceful manner. "Will do." With that she left exited the readyroom. Her goal was to take a nap before she had to report for her first assignment on the Galileo.

[OFF]

--

CAPT Lirha Saalm
Commanding Officer
USS Galileo

Tarishiana Barel
Science Corps Technician
USS Galileo

CMDR Jonathan Holliday
Executive Officer
USS Galileo

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