For Sister and Starship

Posted on 23 Aug 2022 @ 5:37pm by Rear Admiral Lirha Saalm & Lieutenant Commander Ryan Alexander

1,248 words; about a 6 minute read

Mission: Episode 18 - Cold Station 31
Location: Regula I - Level 16, Administration Module
Timeline: MD 02, 0851 hrs

[ON]

"Saalm to Alexander. Report to my office. Regula I, Level 16 administration module."

The Orion captain's green fingertips left her commbadge. She leaned back in her chair then pushed a frustrated hand through her dark hair. In front of her was a desk and LCARS terminal full of local SITREPs, duty logs, intelligence reports, and personal affairs. She barely had an hour to get her affairs in order before departing the station on short notice. It was almost too much for her to handle. How could Starfleet possibly expect an officer - a captain - to maintain any semblance of normal life with the series of orders they'd given her? How could any man or woman in the fleet comply with the pace at which Command delegated their orders?

He couldn't help but smile and chuckle to himself as he heard the summons. "Copy ma'am, on my way." Ryan responded. Since coming to the station things had been fairly busy promotions, debriefs, setting up watches. It seemed that work was endless and free time was never there. Can't wait till we leave port. Ryan thought to himself as he threw on a uniform and quickly made his way to Level 16.

It didn't take him long to arrive in front of the Lirha's temporary office. Ryan could only wonder what the nature of this summons was for, but he had a couple of good ideas. Those possible topics swirled in his mind as he gave himself a quick once over before pressing the door chime.

"Come!" The door unlocked and hissed open.

Ryan stepped in, a small smile taking shape as he approached Lirha's desk. "LTJG Alexander, reporting." Ryan said as he came to attention with practiced precision.

"Ah, Ryan." She was pleased to see him. It'd only been a day since their joint debrief by the station's strategic operations officer. "Enjoying Regula I so far?" she winked. There wasn't much to the deep space facility, in her opinion. Specialized scientists and a skeleton crew of Starfleet personnel composed the entirety of the station's occupants. Recreation was sparse and it certainly didn't have the amenities of larger starbases.

Ryan relaxed a little further as she spoke. "Not a whole lot. I opted to give the rest of my department the first round of shore leave. I was hoping to head to the cafe at some point. I heard that they have fresh coffee, not replicated."

Lirha gestured with an open green palm to the empty chair across from her desk. "Have a seat. I can pull some strings to get you a personal supply if you want?" she offered. "As a parting gift." It was going to be hard to tell him about her new orders. Even harder to leave not only him, but the rest of the Galileo crew on their own for the foreseeable future.

Ryan moved to take the offered seat stopped midway down. "Excuse me, ma'am, but can you repeat that?" He said half-way between standing and sitting down.

She sighed and her eyes drifted down to a random PADD on her desk. The moment to tell him was now upon her. "I've been called away from Regula One by fleet command. I leave in just over an hour," the captain revealed. She knew he would have questions so she tried her best to preemptively answer. "I...do not know when I'll be back. Two weeks? A month?" She looked back up at him. "I wish I could tell you where I'm going but my orders are classified."

Ryan furrowed his brow and frowned, before nodding once. "From the sound of it, I take it that I won't be allowed to accompany you." He stated, more for confirmation than anything else.

"No. I don't think you'd want to. These types of assignments are not often pleasant." She partially believed her own words. Another part of her would feel relief in the knowledge that someone she knew well and trusted would be at her side when she arrived at her secretive destination. "For now, Galileo needs you more than I." Her gaze turned apologetic. "Can you do that for me?"

He meet her gaze, obvious reluctance taking hold. Ryan couldn't help but remember all that they had been through in there time together. "I can, ma'am." Ryan finally spit out, obvious pain in his voice.

Lirha could hear the emotion in his voice. It weighed on her even more than she'd predicted. Keeping eye contact was becoming difficult for fear of allowing her real feelings to show. "I assume Commander Blake will be in command of the ship until I return. She will require your expertise to lead your department." She paused. "You are a good officer, Ryan." And a good friend. "Every ship in the Federation would be proud to have you."

Ryan nodded again, fighting the the lump that was slowly forming in his throat. "Likewise ma'am. I will make sure to keep the lights on for you. And...ma'am, if you need anything at anytime, please let me know." He says after a long moment hoping that his meaning was clear.

"Oh, I will," she grinned. Lirha had already made some private preparations for the Ops chief during her journey. "In fact, I'd like you to look after my sister until I return to the ship. Nesh has a habit of getting herself into trouble where it shouldn't be possible. I figured since you run the Operations department...you can keep your eye on her. She likes to claim she's an adult now - and she is - but she won't really grow up for at least a few more years."

"I think that that is something that I should be able to accommodate. Have you told her anything about you leaving?" He asked.

She shook her head in the negative. "Not personally. I've asked Commander Blake to relay my absence to her. But Nesh is young. Curious and smart. She will start asking questions I cannot answer and she will probably hate me for it." It was a difficult situation for the older Saalm. Sometimes the less her loved ones knew about her, the better off they would be. Even if they didn't fully realize it. "I hope you understand."

Ryan let out a slight sigh. "I do ma'am, to a point anyways. I promise that I will look after your sister to the best of ability, though I still want--well nevermind. I will make sure that the light is on for you when you get back." He finished, a small smile touching his face for what felt like the first time since he had heard the news about Lirha leaving.

"So many lights and so little time," she teased. "Just don't turn my quarters into a Cardassian torture chamber." She stepped close to him then extended her green hand for him to formally shake. "This is not goodbye forever. Just...for now. Thank you for everything you've done for me and Galileo."

Ryan clasped her hand, giving it as intimate a squeeze as he could give to his captain before nodding. "I will do my best ma'am, but I can't keep the XO from doing it, however. Just call me when you need me, ma'am."

[OFF]

--

CAPT Lirha Saalm
Commanding Officer
USS Galileo-A

LTJG Ryan Alexander
Operations Manager
USS Galileo-A

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