First Impressions

Posted on 03 Oct 2023 @ 10:44pm by Ensign Tora Zalos & Lieutenant JG Montgomery Vala
Edited on on 06 Oct 2023 @ 2:30pm

2,067 words; about a 10 minute read

Mission: Episode 18 - Cold Station 31
Location: USS Galileo-A - Deck 3, Multi-Purpose Laboratories
Timeline: MD 18, 0930hrs

[ON]

It was already looking to be intense day. Vala had an already packed schedule: He'd need to meet the CO, XO, CMO, the CSO... Important acronyms to know but a it was certain to be a bit of an information overload.

Given that he had some downtime after his medical check, he had decided he could not pass the day without visiting the Galileo's labs, his new workplace. He traced a path through the Galileo, moving from sickbay to deck 3 where the Multi-Purpose labs were located. He found them with only a couple of checks of maps along the way.

First impresssions were, as they say, everything. After a few minutes, Vala walked into the first multipurpose lab on deck 3 and gave a small smile. The entire science department on the Asgard could have fit into this room, and he knew there were other. He was finally on a ship that took science and exploration seriously. It had been too long. He wandered over to a station and began the process of syncing up his personal files to the ships computer.

"Oh, hello." The speaker was an attractive young Cardassian woman seated a few terminals over who'd turned around in her seat to regard the newcomer. She blinked bright amber eyes as she studied him with a smile on her lips. "Funny how I've been here since morning and not seen a single soul - but then again I have been buried in work of late. So are my- our- colleagues busy, or simply very good at hiding?"

A soft giggle escaped her lips. "Just kidding. I haven't met you yet, not even among the crew I've seen aboard - so you're probably new. I remember these things." She quipped, tapping a finger to the side of her head. "My name is Tora. How about you?"

Vala jumped slightly, and turned to face the origin of the voice. He hadn't noticed anyone in the room. "Uhm... yes I am. New I mean." He nodded his head respectfully in greeting. "Lieutenant Montgomery Vala. I'm the new deputy of the department." He walked towards her and extended a hand. "You may call me Montgomery of course. It is a pleasure to meet you Tora."

The offered hand was firmly shaken and let go. "Deputy head of department. I think we've gotten off on the wrong foot, then. I apologise for being so casual at the start." She remarked. "I'm new aboard as well. So far my time here has been pleasant, though I've heard quite a few unsavory things from our colleagues." Especially Sofie. Wowee, how do you top a recounting like that? "But I'm sure our fortunes will change! In any case. I specialise in anthropology - if you need someone to study a civilization, I'm your woman."

"No, no please don't stand on ceremony for me." Vala raised his palms. "Casual is not a problem at all. We will be working closely together. A science department should be a collection of peers, moreso maybe than any other department. I find being too formal can stifle the spread of ideas." He lowered his hands. "Unsavory? Hm." He thought about how his last posting had ended. "Seems to be the lot of a Starfleet ship. I'm no stranger to adversity in any case." He felt oddly sanguine - he hadn't been looking for an easy ride. "Your specialism is certainly far from mine. I am very much of the hard sciences side of things. Particles, fields. The quantum foam." He smiled slightly. "It's good to know someone already that I can rely on for cultural insights. Science departments are always a big tent."

"Indeed. Studying people is such a fascinating field of scientific study: I really don't know why it doesn't interest people more than it does," Tora remarked breezily, settling into a much more relaxed posture with her hands in her lap. "I've always found people interesting. How did we manage to create so many cultures and so many religions and so many different societies with just the number of us in the universe. I used to have to deal with a lot of people, you know, before coming to Starfleet. It was simply fascinating to see people from all corners of the universe come by me, all with the very same woes and stresses, funnily enough. Apparently burnout, horrid management and falling out of love are universal afflictions." Tora smiled. "No matter what kind of society or culture one comes from."

"Sounds about right." Vala gave a dry chuckle. "I can certainly speak for myself in saying that when it comes to the crunch, Rihannsu society has its fair share of saints and villains like any other." He could picture a few of each. "Hopefully you have found some universal... what would the opposite of an affliction be... comforts as well?"

Tora smiled slyly. "Funnily enough, I have. Or I suppose the word isn't funnily - more unsurprisingly. Alcohol is one, apparently, and so is whiling away your spare change on frivolous things to derive some form of rudimentary satisfaction. For some it's being surrounded by attractive people - men are especially guilty of this, or so I've found. I suppose when one feels like there are holes in their hearts they try to fill them with whatever they can find. And what easier place to find such filler than one's own primal need?" Once again the gleam in her eyes seemed to suggest that she knew exactly what she was talking about. "Though I'm still not quite decided on whether or not the urge to spend money exactly counts."

"Very insightful." Vala nodded thoughtfully. "You certainly have a wisdom about you, Tora." What she said certainly seemed all too familiar. "My experience of peoples from Earth, at least, is that they consider themselves 'above' money. Perhaps it is possible for a society to transcend the need for material wealth?"

"Maybe. But there'll always be societies that don't for whatever reason, and it's because of them that dabo wheels everywhere turn. Trust me. I know." Once again thr look in Tora's eyes suggested that she knew exactly what she was talking about. "Above money and material wealth doesn't necessarily mean they've above wanting other things, though, as you surely know of all cultures, everywhere. Romulan culture, you said? Did you grow up there?"

"Dabo...?" Vala only had the vaguest recollection of the word. "A game of some kind I assume? I'm not familiar." He felt a little awkward - his experience of the Federation had been confined to Earth and Daystom, then the outermost fringes when he was on a commission. "Romulan, yes." He nodded slightly. "I did grow up there. I spent a good number of years grown there too." His mind swam with memories, many of the pleasant, but with doom looming over all of them. "Romulan culture is... well... defined by wanting things, as you say. Take every particle of restraint, rationality and repression of a Vulcan, and turn it on its head. It is a fierce place to grow up in. My people play life as a great game, and as I stand before you I suppose I am evidence that there are losers as well as winners." He gave a sanguine shrug.

"The only real losers are the people who lose things and refuse to get back up stronger and better." Tora retorted with a smile. "You might have lost the game you're supposed to be playing back home, but here you are, being successful in your own way. It doesn't matter what the result of your game back home was. Here you're winning and that's all that matters, to me."

Vala paused, studying Tora with an intensity that surprised even himself. He was momentarily caught off guard by her earnestness and the weight of her words.

His thoughts wandered back to where he had come from, to the complex political games, the treachery, the relentless ambition that marked every step of one's career. Those experiences had shaped him, made him cautious and sometimes overly so. And yet, for the first time in a long while, he felt he was in a place where he didn’t have to be constantly on guard, where he could perhaps let the walls down just a bit.

"That's very kind of you to say, Tora," he began, his voice carrying a hint of emotion. "Honestly, it took me a long time to find my footing after arriving in the Federation. The political landscape back on Romulus... it’s a treacherous one. You constantly watch your back, strategise your every move. It's like a game where the stakes are incredibly high." He sighed, brushing a hand through his hair. "But you're right. Here I've found a new path, a different game to play, so to speak."

He chuckled softly, the sound echoing in the lab. "One that's less about power and paranoia, and more about discovery, growth, and collaboration. And I genuinely hope to play it well here, on this ship. Especially with colleagues like you. It's refreshing to meet someone who looks beyond the surface, who seeks to understand the person beneath the uniform." He paused, shaking his head a little and regaining his composure. "I have spoken a lot about myself. Tell me a little about yourself. Beyond the anthropologist that is."

"Well. There's really not a lot to me. Cardassia was my home for only a few years before my uncle carted me off to Risa, where I lived till I was a teen. Then I moved off world and spent some time as a dabo girl before coming to Starfleet." She said, amber eyes gleaming. "It's nothing special. I've heard stranger stories from people far more ordinary than me. I'm not shy about who I am or where I've been and what I've done - they're a part of me and don't define me, as much as a few of our colleagues might like to think. And, well, a few others in Starfleet. Funny how they'll accept someone like you, who has lived on the homeworld of one of the Federation's greatest enemies, and treat people like me like I've just murdered someone." She remarked candidly.

"We are shaped by our stories, indeed. Risa must have been quite the place to spend your teenage years. I have never visited but have heard a lot about it." Vala found her grounded approach very refreshing. "I would say 'accept' is a bit of a stretch. When I first came to the Federation the Dominion War had not begun and I was treated with much disdain. I worked hard to earn some modicum of trust. Then when the Romulans joined the conflict things eased. Now after the supernova I end up recieving pity more than I'd like. Funny how things change." It had been a strange shift of feeling to be sure. "I find people deep down are incredibly suspicious of me though. I suppose old habits die hard." He shrugged. "I never really understand why people focus so much on the bad over the good - the Cardassians sacrificed much in the end, but people remember what they want to remember I suppose..." He trailed off. "Hopefully this crew embraces you in any case."

"I hope so, too." Tora said with a smile. "I really hope they do. I suppose change needs to start somewhere, and I intend to be that starting point." She declared proudly, puffing her chest out. "I know, I know, it'll take a while. Months, years, maybe a decade or more? Whatever the case, things need to start from some point." Tora took a moment to stretch. "Got any plans for later?" She asked. "I could go for a drink when we're done here."

Vala smiled at the invitation. "I would be very happy to, though it will have to be later. I have a long list of meetings today as part of joining the crew, and then I believe there is some kind of banquet going on? So perhaps after that?"

"I'll take you up on that," Tora smiled back at him. "Just let me know when."

[OFF]

--

Ensign Tora Zalos
Science Officer
USS Galileo-A

Lieutenant (JG) Montgomery Vala
Deputy CSO
USS Galileo-A

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