Lunch Hour is Sacred

Posted on 14 Jun 2016 @ 3:29am by Rear Admiral Lirha Saalm & Lieutenant Commander Ryan Alexander

1,326 words; about a 7 minute read

Mission: Episode 11 - Divinum Mundi
Location: USS Galileo - Deck 1, Captain's Ready Room
Timeline: MD 12 - 1250 hrs

[ON]

The sound of the door chime disrupted Lirha's lunch-snacking. Prevalent hunger and a desire for fresh seafood had permeated her thoughts throughout the past several hours, and now she found herself finally able to retreat to her office in order to indulge in a freshly-replicated meal.

With a wing-slug Caesar salad in front of her and a large portion of romaine lettuce and dressing skewed on her fork, she paused and looked towards the door with hesitancy when the arrival of a visitor echoed softly throughout her office.

"Enter..." she said in a quiet voice, then shoved the contents of the fork into her mouth.

Ryan took a deep breath, giving him self a quick, final, once over to make sure his uniform was in order. He tucked the data PADD under his arm and stepped through the hatch, making a bee line towards the Admirals Desk.

"Ensign Alexander, reporting as ordered." Ryan said in clear and practiced manner, standing ramrod strait at the position of attention.

Lirha looked up from her salad with inquisitive light green eyes. She briefly studied the man who had entered -- a young-looking gold-collared ensign with light brown hair and blue eyes which seemed to make him appear older than he probably was.

She slowly set her fork down in her bowl then dabbed at the corners of her gold lips with her napkin.

"At ease, ensign. I was not expecting company so soon," she mused out-loud. "What brings you to Galileo on such short notice? Noting urgent, I hope?"

Ryan relaxed slightly, quickly bring his hands and the PADD behind him, resting in the small of his back. "No, sir. I am just checking in." He said as he handed her the PADD containing his orders. "Neither had I. The transport I was on made the Galileo one of her first stops." He continued with a shrug.

She took the offered PADD and set it down next to her lunch. She would browse through it shortly, but in the meantime, she preferred a bit of conversation. "I see. Was your trip uneventful? We experienced some heavy atmospheric storms during our descent...I am surprised you were able to arrive in one piece."

Still standing, Ryan nodded. "Yes Sir, it was fairly benign. The transport down here was a bit, uh, shall we say rough?" He said with a shrug and a smile. "Though it was nice seeing some of fellow class mates one last time." Ryan offered.

Classmates, she wondered privately. Considering his junior officer rank, that usually meant he was most likely straight from Starfleet Academy at San Fransisco. "Are you a recent graduate on your first posting?" she inquired.

Ryan smiled. "As an officer, yes sir. I just recently graduated from the academy. But this is actually my, uh, second? No, third posting. Well, actually, that depends if you count deployments off post, but yes, this my third posting if you don't count deployments." Ryan said confidently.

"And what were you doing before your Academy assignment?" she proceeded to ask. perhaps he had come from a different government or maybe a different branch of service, and she was interested to know the details.

Ryan smiled. "I served 5 years with the Corps, under Counter Intelligence and Surveillance. Conducted a few, uh, 'deployments,' caught a few bad guys." Ryan said with a shrug, feeling he had an idea where the next question was going. "When my enlistment was nearing its end, I was romanticized out, with a lure of civilian life. I tried the bar tending thing for a bit, but I missed it too much, so I applied to Starfleet Academy to see if I could get in. When I did, I accepted it." Ryan said smiling.

Slowly nodding as she listened, she couldn't help but give him a small smile to commend his accomplishment. "You should feel proud. The Academy is very selective these days," she replied. "That you were able to graduate is also quite an achievement."

Ryan nodded and smiled. "Just doing the best I can with what I have, sir."

Her thoughts then turned towards his prior Corps duties. As a former intelligence chief herself, she wondered what exactly the Marine-version of ISR was like. "What exactly were you doing on your intelligence assignments?"

"Mostly we spent a fair amount of time going through computer systems, intense scans of ships, stations, and classified building. Conducted interviews, tracked shipments, etc. etc. " Ryan said with smile. "If we found something we would conduct an investigation. Sometimes when making a port call on a non federation planet we would actively collect. Nothing will get Klingons talking then a drunken brawl with a bunch of Marines." Ryan said waxing philosophic and chuckling at the memory. "But that is the extent of what I can talk about here, sir."

"Oh? The rest is classified?" she teased with a smirk, knowing full-well she could gain access to most of the juicy tidbits she desired.

Ryan could see the glint in her eye. "Yes Sir. Though I am sure that someone of your, uh, position, could easily take a look if you so desired. If you do so, I recommend the ones with the Keywords either Beaker or Grognard." Ryan said with his own glint in his eye.

"I will keep that in mind." Lirha thought he seemed like a very approachable man, and continued on with his onboarding. "I take it this is your first time aboard a Nova-class? Or did you serve on one during your cadet cruise?"

"First time, officially assigned to one, my team conducted one CI sweep when I first was assigned to the unit. My Cadet Cruise was on the Intrepid, of the Intrepid-Class." Ryan said, with a grin. "I like the Nova's though, small and hardy." He said happily.

Lirha gave an unseen mental shake of her head. It wasn't that she didn't disagree with his sentiment, but rather that she didn't feel it was the best way to describe her starship. "Small, yes. Hardy? I believe the correct term would be 'practical'." She let out a quiet breath and tried her best to elaborate. "We lack many of the comforts of larger starships...the things that many Starfleet officers nowadays take for granted. Our corridors and accommodations are tight, and this is essentially a space-faring observation platform." She gestured with her green hand to the ceiling and walls of the confined CO's office. "I hope you will not mind close-quarters with your shipmates?"

"Not at all sir, had to do it a few times for extended periods of time. The Corps is always used to doing more with less, that includes physical space." He said with a smile, he knew what she meant, however, he was used to living in cramped conditions.

"You Marines always seem very...adaptable. Perhaps that is why Starfleet finds your services so valuable," she mused out-loud. "Well, I am happy to have you on board, Mister Alexander. Do you have any questions for me before you report to your station? Have you met anyone in your department, yet?"

Ryan shook his head. "No sir, you were my first stop after I got off the transporter pad." He said with a smile.

"Very well, then." She looked back towards her salad and instantly craved another bite. Hopefully this time with a bit of privacy. "If there is nothing further, then you are dismissed. Please check in with Operations and Medical before you begin your duty shift. Oh...and welcome aboard, Ensign Alexander." She flashed a smile that parted her gold lips and put her white teeth on display.

Ryan nodded. "Yes Sir, thank you for your time." Ryan said. completing a well practiced about face, and proceeded out of the Admirals Ready Room.

[OFF]

--

RADM Lirha Saalm
Commanding Officer
USS Galileo

ENS Ryan Alexander
Operations Officer
USS Galileo

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