Catching Up

Posted on 20 Feb 2014 @ 10:08am by Rear Admiral Lirha Saalm & Lieutenant JG Victoria Crawley

1,088 words; about a 5 minute read

Mission: Episode 05 - Solstice
Location: Starfleet HQ - 1st Floor, General Mess
Timeline: MD 09 - 1235 hrs

[ON]

Sitting by herself at one of the corner booths in Starfleet HQ's busy general mess hall, Lirha took a long sip of iced tea from her glass then proceeded to stir her salad around while mixing in more dressing. It had been an uneventful day so far, one devoid of any essential meetings or pressing matters, and the commodore had found herself wandering the halls most of the morning with extreme boredom. Lunch was now a welcome change of pace, and she quietly began to eat while glancing around and surveying all of the unfamiliar faces present in the large cafeteria.

Victoria looked around at all the people around her, still getting used to the idea of being back on Earth. It was very strange, to be sure, but it had been fantastic seeing her parents again. She'd spent the past couple of days with them, helping her father with some renovations to his bar, shopping with her mother, cooking badly, and she wouldn't have traded it for the world.

She smiled to herself as she grabbed a salad and a water and looked around once again, trying to see if anyone she knew was here. Her face lit up when she saw none other than the Captain (Commodore, now) sitting by herself in a booth.

"Commodore!" she called out enthusiastically and headed over to her table.

Lirha waved her fork at the familiar red-headed scientist when she heard her title called, then motioned her over and indicated for her to take a seat. "Good afternoon, lieutenant," she said in between bites of her salad. "How is your day going so far?"

Victoria set her food out in front of her on the table and smiled. "It's been great! It's nice to finally be back on Earth again. Especially after all that...Borg...stuff..." she finished lamely. "How about you, how've you been enjoying shore leave?"

"I wish I could say it has been relaxing, but I have been a bit busy since we landed. Meetings with the admiralty, new crew assignments, et cetera," she answered while casually chewing on a piece of lettuce. "On a good note, the ship refits and construction are coming along well. No major delays have been reported so far. The Le'kt apparently did a very thorough job repairing our ship back at Setisar VI."

"That's fantastic!" Victoria took another bite of salad and sipped her drink. "Hopefully you'll have more of a break when the ship is done."

Lirha nodded enthusiastically. "Yes, I hope so," she answered. "I have made plans to travel to Rigel VII once all of the refits are finished. It is my homeworld and also the place where I was born, and I have not been back for quite some time. I am bringing my sister with me as well...she has not been there since she was a small child."

Victoria's eyes widened a bit. "Nice! Do you guys have any family there still or have they gone somewhere else...?" She trailed off, not sure how to finish the question.

"Most of my family relocated to Earth during the Dominion War," the Orion began to explain as she picked away at her salad with her fork. "We were traders and it became increasingly unsafe for us to make our runs...with all of Starfleet's fleet resources going to the war effort, it was hard for them to police their internal borders and so piracy began to run rampant throughout many of our trade sectors." She paused to take a few sips of her drink then continued. "My older sister, however, is still on Rigel VII. Although I think she is currently off-world attending a festival."

Victoria nodded, stirring her drink with a straw. "Do you have anything planned after you get there? Movies, or rock climbing or whatever you guys like doing?"

Lirha had quite a few things planned for her trip, but most of them would probably not interest the young scientist sitting in front of her. Instead, she focused on some of the more exotic activities she had planned. "Yes, many things...most of my time will be spent in the city reveling in Orion culture, but I also plan on visiting the beaches, seeing some art and theater performances, and visiting Vajripam's famed tribble farm."

"And you? Do you have any plans for shore leave?" Lirha asked, wondering what Crawley was going to do with her free time.

Victoria nodded eagerly. "Yeah, I've been with my parents for the past few days. My dad is renovating his bar a bit, so I'm helping him with that. We're hoping to open it up in a few days. Other than that, I'll probably just spend a lot of time resting at home with my mom." She took a bite of salad.

"A bar renovation?" Lirha's ears perked up at its mention. "We are currently constructing a bar on Galileo, as you may or may not be aware. Perhaps when you finish with your father's establishment, you could give our personnel a hand?"

"Of course! Anything I can do to help," Victoria responded, taking one last sip of her drink.

Lirha munched away on her own salad and nodded in agreement. "I believe Lieutenant Kita is working with some of the other engineers and Operations personnel. I can send the details to your PADD, if you like? I am sure he would appreciate an extra set of hands."

"Please do!" she said, her face lighting up at the thought of actually having a bar on the ship.

The Orion made a mental note to include the young scientist in the bar construction, then let some silence develop between then as she focused on her lunch. Mess hall food wasn't the best, but she preferred it over replicated dishes any day of the week.

Struck by a sudden thought, Victoria looked at her watch and jumped up. "Oh, I have to go now. I promised I would be back home soon to help finish some things with my mother. count me in for the bar construction; I'm honestly crazy excited about it." she smiled at the commodore and silently started freaking out about the possibility of having a real bar on the ship. "It was great talking with you, commodore!"

With that, she picked up her tray and walked away from the table.

[OFF]

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CDRE Lirha Saalm
Mission Advisor
USS Galileo

LT JG Victoria Crawley
Psychologist
USS Galileo

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