When no one is around

Posted on 21 May 2018 @ 11:15am by Ensign Callin Mastrel & Commander Allyndra illm Warraquim
Edited on on 21 Aug 2023 @ 2:14pm

921 words; about a 5 minute read

Mission: Episode 16 - A Far Sun
Location: USS Schofield - General Mess
Timeline: MD 02, 0005 hrs

[ON]

The events happening since arriving in the Pleonid system and now being called away had made for more than a busy day and it did not look like it was going to get better. The ship was at red alert and heading out toward a freighter with hostiles around it. She knew this old ship was a science vessel not a ship of the line exactly.

She sat in the mess that was all but deserted and sipped at a cup of replicated blood. She needed both the energy and protein for it had been a long time and she had started to have that faint feeling. Right now the bridge should be quiet as they sped toward their destination but soon all to soon things would be happening again. Sleep might be a distant memory at this point but the body did require some needs.

Sleep would have been nice, but Callin hadn't been able to find it easily tonight. There was too much going on, out here in the Schofield, inside his own head, that at last it had seemed he could either explode trying to force his racing mind to silence in his cramped quarters, or he could do something with all that energy. A jog through the short corridors had brought him here, to the mess hall, long after he should have been asleep.

"Good evening, Commander," Callin offered in hushed tones as he stepped inside and saw her familiar, winged shape at a table. The young man breathed deep and evenly, steadying his rhythms. He frowned slightly; there it was once again, the void around her. "I hope I'm not disturbing you."

"Allyndra," she replied. "We are not in a formal situation so please. I see you look like you have been exercising, have something to drink and if you do not mind have a seat. I would not mind the company if you wish to stay."

With a quick grin that replaced his earlier frown, Callin headed to the replicator, ordered up a glass of cool water, and joined her at the offered table a few moments later. After taking a sip from his own cup, he figured a simple inquiry would be easy enough to start with - though it was still a bit disconcerting to feel so...blind. "What are you drinking tonight, Allyndra?"

"Oh, I do not think you would like what I am having,” Allyndra swirled the cup for a moment looking into it. "It is replicated blood, part of my nutritional requirement." She said the latter matter of fact way.

A little more intrigued than he was grossed out, Callin sat up straighter, "Given how nutrient-rich blood can be...and your unique physiology. I hope you don't find the question offensive, Allyndra, but I would venture to guess your people require an equally unique diet?"

She gave a small tilt of the head. "You have been reading haven't you? While we are hematophages in general most of the diet consists of sugary fluids and soft fruits. Our digestive systems are much more simple then most and cannot handle solid foods. It is because we can fly and weight is the enemy of flight, reduced guts means less body mass. Easy energy means a way to supply muscles quickly and easily. Also we are not homeothermic, thus not as much requirement for more copious quantities of nutrition."

Though he appreciated the lesson, filing it away as another of the bits and pieces he knew of this field of science and that, Callin couldn't resist asking what he guessed she must have heard from so many of her shipmates before. There was a shining, daredevil look in his eyes, "What is it like Allyndra? Being able to fly?"

Allyndra smiled and replied, "What is it like to be able to read emotions? I can tell you that is something I never really thought about, it just comes. We have to learn and the ground is a harsh mistress but once when one learns one's wings, it is a freedom, a feeling like being almost a god, the world is below and you are just suspended. Of course, nature is there to remind you when you get tired, or a storm blows in who really is in charge."

"It sounds wonderful," Callin said softly, eyes distant for a moment as he thought about it. Perhaps there would be a way to use a holodeck to experience something similar...he would have to investigate this at some point. "And I understand. Explaining what it's like to sense other minds to someone who does not..." He shook his head.

"To each our talents," Allyndra lifted her glass. "For example, you should see the rather garish display this place has. You see I can see into what most races would call the UV spectrum. The streaks in my hair have patterns that you cannot perceive without help. I on the other hand have trouble distinguishing shades of red. Tholians have remarkable ability to sense heat signatures and on it goes." She made that odd rolling shrug. "I find our differences fascinating and how each came about just as much so. I think it is what lead me to the medical side."

Allyndra finished her drink and got up, "Well nice to talk, but duty calls."

[OFF]

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Cmdr Allyndra illm Warraquim
Acting Executive Officer and Chief Medical Officer
USS Schofield

Ensign Callin Mastrel
Science Officer
USS Schofield

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