Late Night (Part 1 of 2)

Posted on 21 Nov 2012 @ 3:05pm by Rear Admiral Lirha Saalm

3,606 words; about a 18 minute read

Mission: Episode 02 - Resupply
Location: USS Galileo, Deck 2; Captain's Quarters
Timeline: MD 02, 2100 hours

[ON]

Having just finished making a log entry, Maenad was sitting upright on the couch in her office. She asked the computer what time it was, was told it was 2100, and she made a long groaning sound. She would have preferred if it were the next morning, but unfortunately her doze had only lasted a few hours.

Her biggest problem would be getting back to sleep later, she knew. She was good to last for another hour or two, but when the time came for her to go back to sleep, that sofa just wasn't going to cut it. For one, it made her neck sore and no amount of rubbing would do it any good, as she was coming to find out.

The office replicator was offline too, which meant she couldn't get herself a blanket or another pillow. Not that she would drink it, but Maenad couldn't even get herself a warm milk if she wanted. A chill ran up her spine.

"Computer, set temperature to twenty-five degrees," she said.

"Unable to comply. Temperature controls for non-living quarters have been temporarily restricted," the computer explained without the slightest of care.

Maenad let out a long breath, looking around the shadows of her poorly-lit office. The silence was beginning to unsettle her, what with the engines not running, and she decided that she could either sit there by herself in the cold of her office, without a pillow or blanket, without even so much as a cup of hot tea, or take the captain up on her offer.

Standing outside Captain Saalm's quarters a few minutes later, looking like a train wreck, she sounded the chime.

Inside her quarters, Lirha heard the sound of her door chime and let out a deep yawn. To say she was fatigued was an understatement, and she had been running on fumes over the past several days. The arrival of Task Group 72-C earlier in the day ought to have provided her with a bit more relief, but it unfortunately had done the opposite. With Starfleet personnel swarming the ship almost the entire day, the captain had found herself consumed with reports. Status reports, repair reports, casualty reports, mission reports...more than she ever thought was feasible to lay on one person all at once. And so, she had spend the majority of the day with her head stuck in her LCARS screen, as well as greeting new members of her senior staff who were starting to trickle in.

Making her way from her desk to the door, she wondered who might be outside. Dressed in a tight gray tank-top and wearing a pair of black leggings, Lirha pressed the button on her door's console and the gray entrance swished open, revealing Galileo's tall and attractive new science chief. The Orion smiled up at her and suddenly remembered the invite she given the woman. She looked even more tired than when they had met in the ready room, and judging by the dark bags under her eyes, needed some rest.

"Hello, Miss Panne." Lirha greeted in a soft voice. "I take it you're here to take me up on my offer?" she asked with a small smile as she stepped to the side to allow the woman to enter. "Please come in."

Maenad smiled as best she could and stepped into the captain's quarters. She felt like she was intruding, seeing that she wasn't dressed for company. Maenad decided that she should have stayed where she was and dealt with it; she wasn't a kid anymore. "Thank you, captain," she heard herself say. The warmth of the quarters and the sofa that she saw, hundreds of times better than the chill and the sofa in her office, kept her from leaving. "I fell asleep on the couch in my office, but I woke up and couldn't get back to sleep," she said to the captain.

The door swished closed behind the blue-collared woman as she moved into the room. Lirha listened to her explain the situation and waved her green hand to dismiss any concerns. "It's quite alright, lieutenant. After all, I was the one who extended the invitation. I assume your quarters are not yet ready?" she asked as she moved into the kitchen area and stopped in front of the replicator.

"No," Maenad breathed with a shake of her head. "I don't have a commbadge yet, so I didn't have anybody to page. Plus, it's late and I didn't want to get on anybody's bad side, and even if I did have one I wouldn't know who to call." Realising how ridiculous she was sounding, she laughed embarrassedly at herself, pinching the bridge of her nose. She must have been tired if she were starting to whine to the captain, of all people.

Lirha casually listened to Maenad explain her situation as she fiddled with the replicator controls. No commbadge? That was strange, the captain thought, but not implausible given the disorganized and damaged nature of her ship at the moment. No doubt a few things were out of place or missing. "Would you like something to drink or eat?" she called out from across the room, offering a beverage or snack for her guest.

She was hungry, but didn't want to show it. Maenad hesitated, unsure of how to answer. Was Captain Saalm going to eat? In that case, she had better eat something too. "Uh," she paused, prodding the inside of her bottom lip with her tongue. "No, I'm fine thanks. It's getting late." She darted her eyes around the floor, realising she needed to correct herself. "Unless you are - but if not, I'm fine." Stupid, she thought, squeezing her eyes shut. Stupid, stupid, stupid.

The captain arched her brow with mild amusement as she noticed the science officer seemed a bit uncertain about what she wanted. "Well...I could always eat, but the question is about you. Personally, I prefer Earth sandwiches late at night..." she said as she selected a ham and cheese sandwich from the replicator's menu and watched it materialize. She promptly picked it up and took a large bite, sighing softly as her teeth sunk into the warm and crispy bread.

Feeling that her decision was, Maenad nodded. "Okay, I guess I could go for a bowl of chicken noodle soup," she conceded. "Not a big one," she added quickly.

It didn't take long for Lirha to return from the replicator with the requested bowl of soup and a spoon in one hand, her sandwich in the other, and two glasses of water tucked between her arm and her chest. She set both meals down on the table and took a seat next to Maenad, giving her a small smile as she passed a glass to her. "Enjoy." she said, then proceeded to continue eating her sandwich.

Maenad pulled the bowl closer to herself and began to spoon some into her mouth. She didn't realise how cold she was until she felt the soup burning her tongue. On the second spoon, she made sure she blew first. "Thanks," she said after swallowing. "I'm really sorry that I didn't get all this sorted out when I first got here."

Happily chewing away at her sandwich, Lirha looked over and shook her head. "MNo need to apwologize." she said with her mouth still full, then finally finished swallowing. "Afterall, there's no way you could have anticipated coming aboard Galileo while she is in her current state." she added, then took a long swig of water from her glass.

That was true; after all, Maenad wasn't expecting assignment period - anywhere. She ate some more soup in silence, feeling herself warming a bit more with each spoonful. She glanced around the captain's quarters and tried to keep pace with Saalm's eating; Maenad didn't want to be the last one eating. "This is quite good," she eventually said. "Is it a personal recipe?"

"No, I simply selected one of the pre-programmed ones from the replicator." the captain answered with a shrug. "I find them quite enjoyable so I haven't felt the need to tamper with them." she added, then took another large bite of her sandwich. A quick glance over at Maenad revealed that she indeed seemed to be enjoying her meal. "You are from Earth, correct lieutenant?" she asked after she swallowed another mouthful.

"Yes, ma'am," she finished blowing on her spoonful, swallowed it, and set the spoon in the ever-shallowing bowl. "I am from Nantes," Maenad turned to look at her captain, still enthralled with the greenness of her skin; she had never seen an orion with her own eyes before today.

"...Nantes...Nantes..." Lirha repeated to herself quietly as she tried to remember her Earth geography. "Ah yes, from the European continent." she finally remembered, then drank another sip of water from her glass and then set it back down on the table. "It is a very beautiful area, if I remember correctly. Were you born there? Or did you relocate at some point during your youth?" she asked curiously.

With a shy smile, and trying to sound modest, she nodded. "Oh, it is very beautiful," she tried not to sound too insistent. "It's on the Loire in France." Normally she would have omited saying France, not wanting to seem pretentious, but she said it for the captain's clarity. "Strolling along the promenade in the port at sunset is something that I remember very fondly." She stared into her near-empty bowl, picturing it in her mind. "I lived there with my parents until I was twelve. Then, I was sent to a boarding school in Montreal, where I remained until I began teaching at Starfleet Academy."

"I see...and what prompted you to join Starfleet as opposed to remaining a civilian?" Lirha asked. It was a loaded question for sure, but one which had been on her mind ever since she had looked through Maenad's Starfleet record. Joining at age twenty-six was a bit behind the curve compared to many of the other career officers, and the captain was curious to know her story.

A reluctant smile gradually formed on Maenad's face, as though she were about to confess a nasty secret. "For most of my life I wanted nothing to do with Starfleet," she admitted. She kept secret that sometimes she still wanted nothing to do with it. "But, there were people who had been following my work at the Academy who wanted me there. I was hesitant, but after a few months of considering my options, I did it. I earned my PhD while teaching at the Academy, too," she said as an aside. "I took command courses at night, taught during the school year, and did time on starships during the spring and summer months. My work completely consumed me to get me where I am."

Maenad turned to face the captain, still half-smiling. "What changed my mind was the prospect of travelling the stars and meeting new species, new ancient civilisations. My doctoral studies took me all over the Alpha and Beta Quadrants, to all the worlds known to have an identifiable connection with the ancient humanoid. I was a provisional science department head for that three year mission, which they later counted toward time-served." She made a gentle sigh through her nose. "You just can't do those kinds of things, with this kind of equipment - or protection - as a civilian."

Lirha listened to the science officer's story with much intrigue. Being a former Operations and Intelligence officer, the field of science was a bit foreign to the captain but she understood and wholeheartedly agreed with Maenad's last sentence. "Indeed." she replied in a soft voice, returning the smile. "From the rumors floating around that I've heard, Galileo is one of the most coveted assignments in the fleet amongst science personnel. We have several specialized facilities which should allow you to conduct your research at the highest level."

Rather embarrassed, Maenad didn't know how coveted their ship was. If it were true, she felt an ounce of guilt for those would-be science chiefs who were denied transfer for somebody who had never even heard of the Galileo. "That's what the faculty chair told me when he said I was being reassigned. He said that I could probably do more from here than the Academy or any university. My office looks to be quite the work station."

Shoving the final piece of her sandwich in her mouth, Lirha nodded in agreement. "Oh yes, your facilities are quite expansive." she said in between chewing. "I admit, sometimes I feel out of place with my red collar whenever I walk around on Deck 4." she joked.

Maenad sipped away the last of her soup and sighed quietly, warmed up and feeling more comfortable. "I'm excited to explore them tomorrow, to see what sort of equipment I have." She nodded to the empty bowl. "Thank you, that was delicious."

The captain smiled in reply then slowly stood, feeling a painful twinge in her leg. It was probably a result of her previous injury combined with her over-exertions the past few days, and Lirha silently kicked herself for not taking better care of her body. Biting her lip, she bent down and collected Maenad's empty dish as well as her own, then limped her way into the kitchen and put them in the recycling bin. She returned several long moments later with two snifters of brandy and handed one to her guest. "I thought you might like a drink before bed." she explained in a light voice. "I can certainly use one."

Watching Captain Saalm limping her way toward the kitchen, Maenad's heart sunk. Seeing her captain, so kind and generous to her, in pain disturbed her. She wondered exactly what had happened to the ship before she had arrived; injuries, deformities, disease, violence - the body in general and all the things that could happen to it terrified her in ways that nothing else could.

Had the captain been injured by a blast to the ship in combat? Was she personally attacked? Or, was it something more sinister? She glanced around the now-empty room imagining cardassian ghosts rifling through her things, blood on their hands - perhaps sitting right here where she had eaten her soup.

Captain Saalm's return was a welcome distraction from her thoughts, which had a tendency of becoming haunting when left idle. "Yes, thank you," she smiled, showing her teeth, and accepted the glass. "Are you all right? That's a nasty limp."

Lirha sat back down next to Maenad, this time sitting closer to her. She briefly contemplated how much she wanted to tell the woman about her past troubles, and decided to take a calculated approach. She wasn't particularly shy about telling her story as long as it didn't involve too many questions. "Honestly? I've been better..." she admitted in a soft voice. "During our previous mission, a certain Klingon captain seemed to take great pleasure in causing me pain." she added, her eyes drifting towards the soft carpet beneath their feet.

Maenad sunk a little more, unsure of what to say. What concerned her most was the captain's words that a klingon captain took pleasure while causing her pain. Did Maenad hear her correctly? Her stomach turned, a spark of rage was struck. Desiring to comfort Captain Saalm, Maenad wanted to press her hand against her back to let her know that she was there, if only to be a shoulder. She decided then that she hated whomever it was that had violated her captain.

Knowing there was nothing that she could say, Maenad did place a single hand against the captain's back, rubbing it gently. Saying that she was sorry would just not do; if what Maenad was thinking were true, understanding what had happened to Captain Saalm was impossible, so she made no attempt but to just be there.

A bit surprised at the woman's affection, Lirha looked back up and gave her a small smile. "I suppose it could have been worse; at least I have all of my fingers and toes." she said with dry humor. She didn't attempt to move, she felt Maenad's hand to be strangely comforting. Lirha didn't know the science chief very well yet but being an Orion woman, greatly valued compassion and empathy. "Our doctor, Lieutenant Ni Dhuinn, did a good job with my recovery. I am in debt to her and her staff." she added.

Maenad withdrew her hand and gave a single nod. "I look forward to meeting her, then; doctors have always scared me," she said with a little embarrassment. Maenad took a generous swig of her brandy.

Lirha picked up her own glass and followed suit, taking a long sip out of her snifter before setting it back down. "I'm somewhat used to them by now." she confessed. "I have to see them almost every week for my pheromone suppressants...they're not quite as scary once you get to know them." she added.

Maenad frowned. "Your pheromone suppressants?" she asked. She knew that orions had powerful pheromones, but she had no idea that they could be... that alluring. "Are they really that strong?" she was genuinely interested, now. Captain Saalm was, after all, the first orion she had ever met.

"Yes, quite strong." the captain answered with a sideways smile. "Orion females begin producing their pheromones during puberty and by the time they are sixteen or seventeen, begin to secrete them. It's a natural occurrence to our bodies, nothing we have control over." she explained casually. "Orions are a very emotional species and when a group of us gets together for an extended period of time, our pheromones cause us to react and feed off the emotions of the group. Growing up with my family for example, there were plenty of times one of us was distressed or unhappy by something, and if we didn't help calm them, we would all be feeling gloomy within a few hours."

Lirha paused to take another long sip of brandy from her glass, feeling the strong liquor warm her body from the inside. "Here on a Starfleet vessel with such confined spaces and small rooms, it would be hazardous to most males' health to spend more than an hour in my presence. Even many females react to the pheromones as well, although they usually develop negative symptoms such as headaches and mood swings."

Maenad began to wonder about that. Would the captain's pheromones entice her or push her away? She bit her bottom lip; she didn't like not having control of herself. Maenad enjoyed the... occasional... drink or two and she knew how to conduct herself, but being under the influence of someone's pheromones. How would she know if she were genuinely attracted to her? Would she? Could she? Maenad smiled nervously as she looked to the captain, taking another sip of her drink.

She studied the captain's face, then her hair, neck and shoulders. She was beautiful, she thought. Or was she? Maybe she was under the captain's influence already? Was it attraction, or was it just acknowledgement? You could find someone attractive without being attracted to them, couldn't you? These were the problems that Maenad had to deal with on a regular basis; she asked too many questions, thought way too much, tried to make sense of things that didn't need to made sense of. "That must get frustrating," she said breathily, after several seconds. "How could you ever know who really likes you..." she shook her head. "I'm sorry, I probably sound ridiculous."

A light chuckle escaped the captain's lips. "Well, the ones who like me tend to come back the next day." she answered with a wry grin. "To be honest, I never gave much thought to how I influence people until I settled on Earth. I had an incident with a boy at school when I was finishing high school but aside from that, I can't remember a time when it became a big issue." she added as she pondered her earlier years of life.

It was at that moment when Lirha suddenly remembered a discussion she had recently had with Pola. She almost kicked herself as she realized that she had been prohibited from taking her weekly suppressant until she was fully recovered from her injuries. According to the good doctor, Galileo's medical staff didn't want to risk any complications which might arise with the synthetic compound. But now, with Maenad in her quarters for the evening and in close proximity to her, Lirha suddenly became concerned. Thinking quickly, she slowly rose from the couch and made her way towards her desk. After fumbling around in one of the drawers for a long moment, she returned to her seat and offered Maenad a white pill capsule. "Take one of these, please. It's a pheromone blocker...just in case. I admit, I forgot I was under orders from sickbay not to take my suppressant...something about complications with my recovery. I promise I wasn't trying to seduce you." she said, accompanied by a sheepish and apologetic smile.

To Be Continued...

[OFF]

--

CMDR Lirha Saalm
Commanding Officer
USS Galileo

Lieutenant (JG) Maenad Panne
Chief Science Officer
USS Galileo

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