Sins of the Orion

Posted on 10 Nov 2018 @ 3:44pm by Rear Admiral Lirha Saalm & Commander Scarlet Blake & Commander Luke Wyatt & Nesh Saalm

2,346 words; about a 12 minute read

Mission: Episode 17 - Crystal of Life
Location: USS Galileo-A - Deck 2, Temporary Quarters
Timeline: MD -180, 1951 hrs

[ON]

After a medical check up, Rice had taken Nesh to some free quarters and put her under what Nesh would call Quarter Arrest. It wasn't her quarters so she wasn't confined. Rice had also taken her bag, so Nesh had nothing to distract herself with. She had showered and was now sitting on the sofa, watching the stars but not really seeing them. No. Nesh was thinking about how Lirha would react. She was worrying about it again and again until she covered her face with her hands and screamed until her throat hurt. Just to shut the thoughts up for a few seconds.

Being like this, worrying like this, it was something Nesh hated. Guilt did not suit her. She was too stubborn, too set in her ways...too blind for things around her to appreciate guilt and considering her sins. And right now, she had a lot of them. If she was being honest.

As Blake moved into the quarters, she came to a halt a few steps away from their stowaway, folding her arms as she watched the younger Orion in silence for a long, tense moment. After a medical had confirmed that she really was who she appeared to be, and that she was in good health, it was time to get the Captain involved.

Scarlet shook her head slowly before letting out a tight sigh as she watched the young woman with a cool gaze. "You know, if you'd have just asked your sister for help, she would likely have moved heaven and earth for you..."

Nesh met her eyes for a long moment before she sighed and nodded. She got up off the sofa, watching Scarlet. "I...know," she admitted softly. "At the moment it seemed...somehow the more...adventurous story. A great drama..." And now Nesh felt stupid, seeing how childish it was.

"Let's see how it ends," Scarlet replied quietly, shaking her head gently with something of a sigh. She tapped her commbadge, her gaze remaining on the younger Saalm. "Blake to Captain Saalm, we're ready for you in...our 'guest's' quarters," she phrased it delicately, in case Lirha had company.

It was 2000 hours and Lirha was supposed to be asleep. Which she was until she'd been rudely roused from her bed regarding a 'security incident' a few minutes ago. Pulling on a red and gray Starfleet tank top over her bare chest, she picked up her black uniform pants from the floor and tugged them up over her curvy hips before putting on her shoes. In less than a minute, she was in the turbolift, slightly disheveled.

The turboshaft stopped on Deck Two then hissed open, and Lirha rubbed some fatigue from her eyes while she exited and approached the first officer and security chief. She stopped in front of them, outside of the quarters they were now guarding.

"What is this about?" she asked the two of them without looking inside.

Having had his backed turned Luke had to turn around to see Lirha who was half asleep and dressed down. He already knew this was either going to go very well or very bad though seeing the captain only just woken up he was going to guess the latter. He glanced gingerly over to Scarlet before realising she was waiting for him to explain. "Captain everything is under control however we discussed and decided that it was best to inform you at the earliest opportunity. During a routine repair cycle, one of our engineers discovered a stowaway. Usually, I would simply deal with the matter which we have, however, this stowaway is a little more... Complicated and requires your direct involvement as a result."

Saalm blinked and widened her eyes slightly. "A stowaway..?!" In the entire time she'd been serving aboard Starfleet vessels, she'd never encountered an unauthorized passenger. Both the automated internal sensors and in-person security protocols were always in place and practically impervious to malfunction due to triple redundancies within the mainframe. "Who? How?" were her two immediate questions.

Lirha barely waited for a reply before her curiosity got the best of her and she stepped into the doorway to look inside. What she saw was incredulous at first then confusing and infuriating several seconds later. "...Nesh!"

Nesh looked at her sister, swallowing before she looked away, her teeth worrying her bottom lip for a moment before she gathered the courage to meet her sister's eyes. "Hi Lirha..." she said quietly. "I...used a smuggler device and hid. Thought I knew the layout better than I really did."

Both of Lirha's fists balled up until her sharp fingernails were cutting into the middle of her palms with anger. She looked back to Scarlet and Luke while forcing herself to be polite. She now knew the secret reasoning behind their discretion and appreciated their judgement. This was absurd by all reasonable standards for what she knew Nesh was capable of.

"Thank you, both," the captain said to her XO and CSEC. "Now please..leave us..." Her eyes turned back to Nesh as she stepped inside the quarters.

Blake met Wyatt's eyes for a moment, then looked back to Nesh before heading out of the room. She had a feeling that whatever scolding she could have given the young woman was probably nothing compared to facing her sister.

Honestly Luke wanted to stay and see what would happen but after Scarlet gave him 'the eye', the obvious dismissal from Lirha he made his way to leave. Technically he should be the one giving out the punishment with stowaways falling under his job title but he was willing to let this one slide. "Captain," He said before following behind Scarlet.

Nesh let out a shaky breath when the doors closed and she was alone with Lirha. She swallowed as she met her eyes, making herself stand her ground, hands going behind her back. "I..." she started and then shook her head. "I made a mistake. I thought...I childishly thought this was the way to go, to...go on the run here with you, away from mother and...my betrothed." She said the last reluctantly and looked away, frowning. "I just couldn't...couldn't go there. I know I should have just come to you for help but you always help me and I thought for once I could just do it myself. How stupid. How incredibly stupid of me."

The older Orion was still stunned and didn't really process much of Nesh's ramblings. "What? What are you doing here, Nesh?! You actually smuggled yourself aboard a Federation starship? My ship?" Then she paused and shook her head with a frown, waving her hand with anger before speaking in their native Yrevish tongue. "What do you mean 'my betrothed'?"

Nesh looked at her before she swallowed, switching to Yrevish as well. "I ran away to escape the wedding...I...I miscalculated...," she admitted and frowned as she looked down, rubbing the back of her neck almost harshly.

Now remembering the details of her final conversation with Nesh at the shipyard before she'd departed, Lirha suddenly understood the true nature behind her sister's motives. "You 'miscalculated'? What you just did will get you sentenced to a rehabilitation facility for three years!" she yelled. "And did you tell mother?" Lirha quickly answered her own question, "...No, of course you didn't..."

Nesh looked at her, taking a deeper breath. "Better three years there than a lifetime of being married to someone I do not love," she countered swiftly, squaring her shoulders a bit at the words. "I did the wrong thing, yes. But it was either run off here or run off somewhere where she couldn't get a hold of me. I know I bring shame on the family by doing this but Lirha...you always do what you want, you always stay strong and do the right thing! All whilst being yourself. I know I went about this completely wrong, I know I should have told you sooner and asked for your help and you would have stepped in. You would have told mother and you would have..." she stopped herself, swallowing hard as she looked away. The next words were quiet and thoughtful. "You would have ended up doing something that would have soured your bond with her. And you would have done it for me. I love mother. I love you. I know that lately I...have been acting selfish. I have thrown away things because...of what many see as something stupid. But being around you showed me I could be myself and do something I love. I love my art. And I love my freedom. A husband would take that freedom away just now as I am finally finding out who I am. I felt...helpless, Lirha. I felt trapped. And I did something stupid. I know I did..."

The older Saalm sighed and folded her arms across her chest after listening to Nesh confess her most private thoughts. It was a lot for Lirha to digest -- perhaps too much at present -- and there would no doubt be much reflection between the two in the coming days. It wasn't that Nesh's actions were necessarily unjustified, but Lirha's duty and the Starfleet uniform she wore meant she had to act as both sister and commander to strike a delicate balance.

"Nesh, I can't take you back to the core worlds," Lirha replied with a severe glare. "Galileo is on a one-way trip to the frontier. We aren't turning around...and I can't just put you on a shuttle and send you back without an explanation to Starfleet. Then they would punish you." She remained silent then revealed the new reality. "I hope you realize what you've just done. You'll be spending the next three years here, on this ship," she gestured to the ceiling and bulkheads, "in these walls."

"I'd rather be in a prison of my own choice than chained to a man," Nesh said defiantly, swallowing as she held her sister's eyes, not looking away from the glare. Because she had already acted stupid, she would sleep in the bed she had made.

Lirha wasn't sure if Nesh fully appreciated the gravity of her current situation. Nor if she could. She was young and sometimes naive which meant her mistakes weren't always intentional -- some were just due to a lack of life experience. But this one seemed to be a calculated and dangerous gamble. "Fine. We'll talk more about this tomorrow after my shift. In the meantime, you're confined to quarters. When was the last time you ate or showered?" she then asked with concern for the stowaway's well being.

Nesh frowned at the change in tone before she let out a breath, shaking her head. "I don't know," she finally said and met her eyes, switching to Standard. "I'm tired..."

"Yes, you must be." Lirha then walked forward to close the distance between them and gave her taller younger sister a hesitant hug. "I am mad but we are still family. And...you're still welcome here," she grumbled to Nesh in private before tapping her commbadge.

"Saalm to Blake and Wyatt. We are ready for you now," she said to the two senior officers still waiting on the opposite side of the door.

Luke was first to re-enter the room, he nodded courteously to Lirha and smiled sheepishly in the direction of Nesh. "Captain, Miss Saalm" He added for good measure not wanting to be rude before turning to his questions to the Captain. "I suspect your Miss Saalm will be staying with us since we are too far along our journey?"

Blake glanced to Luke at his question as she came to a standstill next to him, hands resting on her hips. She knew he was likely right. She looked between the sisters, seeing the expressions on their faces. At least everyone was still in one piece...if drained.

Looking up to both Luke and Scarlet, Lirha nodded in the affirmative. There was no justifiable reason for Galileo to change course now, even with her new unexpected passenger. "Yes. For the moment she is to be confined to quarters. I will...deal with this tomorrow," she grumbled in a quiet voice, rubbing her tired eyes. "Please get her cleaned up then give her a hot meal and a full medical evaluation. And some civilian clothes," she added with a final glance back to Nesh before leaning in closer to Wyatt. "I want a full analysis of her smuggling device by 0800."

"I'll take it to the labs now and see of science can make anything of it, If Nesh would also let me know when she got it and show me how it works would help." the chief security officer said looking between the woman in front of him.

Lirha gave Nesh one of those 'you better or else' looks with the strongest severity.

Nesh looked at Lirha before she nodded, looking at Wyatt. "Some dodgy area, but I can do my best to fill in the details." Besides, so what if she got in trouble with smugglers after this. Didn't matter.

Blake let out a long, heavy sigh, moving to Nesh as she motioned to the door through to the bathroom area. Lirha and Nesh were family. They'd get over it, and move on stronger. It might not seem it right away, but she was pretty sure the family bond was strong enough in this case. "Come on, young lady, first thing's first..."

[OFF]

--

CAPT Lirha Saalm
Commanding Officer
USS Galileo-A

LtCmdr Luke Wyatt
Security Chief
USS Galileo-A

CDR Scarlet Blake
First Officer
USS Galileo-A

Nesh Saalm
Captain's Sister
USS Galileo-A
[PNPC Vansen]

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