Here Be Dragons?

Posted on 01 Mar 2016 @ 12:50am by Rear Admiral Lirha Saalm & Ensign Miraj Derani

1,768 words; about a 9 minute read

Mission: Episode 10 - Symposium
Location: USS Galileo - Deck 2, Administrative Officer
Timeline: MD 89 - 1610 hrs

[ON]

"Ensign Derani, please report to administrative office on Deck 2," said Saalm into her commbadge before lightly tapping it to cease the brief transmission. So far, Lirha's day had involved sifting through countless PADDs of provisions, supplies, personnel manifests, and intelligence reports all provided to her by Starfleet for Galileo's pending deployment. Most of them were typical admin affairs which seemed to consume more time than necessary, but she always found the new duty roster changes to be an interesting distraction.

Of particular note were the new crew members who had recently transferred aboard to replace some of those who had been reassigned over the past two months. In particular, Lirha noticed a new chief helmsman had been assigned -- no doubt due to the pending disciplinary actions involving Jynn and his sexual transgressions. Perhaps a change of pace would be good for the man, and she hoped Starfleet law would be lenient to him.

The new ensign assigned to replace him seemed to be an interesting woman, judged simply by the portrait in her personnel file. Lirha hoped a brief meeting between the two would reveal more information, especially the type that was not always on file.

Still unpacking in her new quarters, Miraj heard the summons and stopped trying to hang the jolly roger she'd aquired from one of her father's more interesting salvage jobs above her bed. It wasn't behaving. Her room on the academy campus had a totally different celilng. Suddenly the hooks gave way and dropped the entire thing on her head. She sighed as the fabric settled round her head, and pulled it off.

She didn't recognise the voice, so it wasn't the yeoman or the handful of other people she'd bumped into in the mostly deserted corridors. Only one way to find out who it was, so she trotted off to find the relevant office. Galileo was a small ship. It took less than three minutes for her to find it, and since the door whisked itself open as she reached for the chime, she just walked in.

An immediately wished she hadn't.

She knew that the Galileo was a flag ship, and that kind of meant there would be a flag officer on board. Somewhere. She just hadn't expected to meet them, let alone be summoned by them, before she'd even had a chance to unpack. Or ever. She was just an ensign. A freshly minted one at that. Her pip had barley been fixed to her collar.

But there was the Admiral, just as pictured in the briefing document she'd been given on the vessel, looking elegant and sophisticated and experienced and competent and everything Miraj was not.

She was in trouble. Already. It was the only explanation. She stood to attention, just in case. "Ensign Derani, ma'am. As requested."

Lirha looked up from her LCARS screen when the doors parted and she took note of the new red-collared officer who entered. With candy pink hair, blue eyes, and attractive features which resembled some sort of Boslic heritage, Lirha found her to be quite interesting upon first glance.

"At ease, Miss Derani," she replied with a welcoming smile before gesturing towards the vacant chair across from her desk. "Please have a seat. I trust you have had a chance to settle in to your new quarters?" she wondered.

Miraj sat quickly. "Yes, Ma'am. I was just adding some finishing touches when you called for me." Should she say more? Or was that bad? "It's practically home already."

"Very good," approved Saalm with a single nod. "And have you had a chance to meet any of the crew yet?" She wasn't sure if the new ensign had been present aboard Jupiter Station for the symposium, but if so, she might have ran into a few stray Galileans while they mingled and enjoyed the promenades.

"A few, Ma'am. I ran into Commander Kohl on my way to a lecture on developments in quantum slipstream, and I've formally reported to the Captain already. I've bumped into a few others." Like the not very Vulcan Vulcan, and the Petty Officer who'd been drooling over her brother. "I expect I'll meet them all soon enough. Can't be many places to hide from anyone on a teeny frigate like this one."

As soon as the words were out of her mouth, Miraj cringed internally, "Not that there's anything wrong with teeny ships. They're much more weatherly than the bigger hulls; thrust to mass ratio is better so they come about quicker, landing one doesn't require a parking spot the size of a small city..." She trailed off, hoping she hadn't completely scuppered herself.

Lirha agreed with that sentiment to some degree. "There are certainly advantages to our starship. Though we might not be as fast as some of the larger vessels, Galileo is very maneuverable by comparison. And our planetary landing capability affords us excellent atmospheric operations."

The rear admiral then changed the subject slightly to that of a more personal nature. "May I ask what brings you to Galileo? Was it a personal request or simply the luck of the draw?" She hoped she had said that correctly, for Lirha occasionally confused her Human idioms.

"A bit of both, ma'am. I wanted to stay on the Beta Quadrant side of space, but I wasn't bothered about a particular berth. When they asked I just said wherever I'd be the most use. I've got a lot of experience flying in dangerous and difficult space, gravimetric anomalies, strange atmospheres, high density debris fields, solar coronas, that sort of thing. I guess they thought if anyone could put a science vessel rail deep into the science and get it out again, it was me."

"Interesting." Lirha made a mental note of the different spacial obstacles the young woman had mentioned, then leaned back in her chair and curiously tilted her head to the side while she regarded her. "And how does a new ensign in the fleet have such experience in the cosmos outside of a simulator?"

"My father's in Salvage. I've been flying for him since I was old enough to remember. He likes to go after stuff in interesting places, which usually means tricky, insanely dangerous or downright impossible. ANd once he's got the thing working, someone has to fly it out." Miraj's eyes got a little misty. "One time he went after a Renaissance class that had got stuck in a minefield during the Dominion war. He could only get partial maneovres back on. The conn was sticky and the whole thing was flooded with radiation, so I had to do it in an EVA suit." She remembered the incident, just before she'd entered the Academy. It had been nerve wracking. "That was fun."

The ensign's childhood story reminded Lirha of her own. She had been raised her family's trading vessel and had learned the tools of the trade as she had grown up. Negotiation techniques, linguistics, and cultural assimilation had all been ingrained into the young Saalm throughout her childhood. Hearing Derani's own similar story helped her to empathize and relate to the new senior officer.

"An eventful upbringing, no doubt," Lirha said with a private grin. "Out of all the careers possible to you considering your aptitude...why choose Starfleet?"

Oh, so many reasons. "I'd like to fly a cap ship that actually works." She said, and began counting on her fingers, almost talking to herself. "I'd like to fly some of the newer ships, like a Discovery class. I'd love to try to double axis spin a Sovereign. I'd give up a vital organ to test pilot a Dauntless if they could get one working. Can't do any of that anywhere but Starfleet."

This much was true, Lirha agreed. "Yes, but why Starfleet? I am sure the KDF could use an accomplished pilot. They have an impressive array of vessels that are quite advanced and maneuverable. And you would be guaranteed to feel the rush of combat at the helm."

The young hybrid looked at the admiral. The Orion woman might as well have spoke actual Klingon for all the sense that question made. "I'm a Federation citizen, ma'am. I don't think the Klingons would have me. And-" She hesitated. "Whilst I've only flown combat in a simulator, I've seen what it does to ships, and the people in them, first hand. That's not what I'd call a rush."

In a way, the pink-haired ensign's reply had helped answer Lirha's question. If not flying for the sake of glory, it seemed the young woman was more interested in the love of piloting. "I suppose that means you would not be interested in our officer exchange program with the Empire?" she mused out loud with a sideways grin.

Miraj pulled at her lip with a tooth. Of course she'd like to fly a bird-of-prey or dozen. For exactly the reasons the admiral had highlighted - they were fast and tricky in real space, even if they were almost always routinely overgunned at the cost of everything else. "Maybe one day, but I need to get some official hours with Federation capital ships first."

"You will certainly get your chance. And I hope you will enjoy your time aboard Galileo. She is unlike any other starship in the fleet and our previous helm officers have become very quaint with her." The rear admiral leaned back and clasped her green hands together in her lap.

"Well, welcome aboard, Miss Derani. Do you have any questions for me before I send you on your way?" she asked, affording the new crew member to inquire about anything which might be on her mind.

Miraj had dozens of questions, but none she was going to risk showing her inexperience by asking the admiral. They could all wait for people whose pips weren't quite as intimidating. "Not really ma'am. I'm just looking forward to taking him out and seeing what he can do."

"Her," Saalm corrected. "Galileo is our lovely mother who always seems to protects us." Lirha was quite fond of the tiny starship and had developed an affinity for her over the years. "In that case, you are dismissed. Enjoy the rest of your day, ensign. I trust we will see each other soon," she added before turning towards her desk's LCARS terminal to retrieve a new incoming message from Jupiter Station.

[OFF]

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RADM Lirha Saalm
Mission Advisor
USS Galileo

Ensign Miraj Derani
Chief Flight Control Officer
USS Galileo

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