Captain's Orders! (Part 2 of 2)

Posted on 21 Mar 2012 @ 1:06pm by Rear Admiral Lirha Saalm & Captain Jonathan Holliday & Nesh Saalm
Edited on on 21 Mar 2012 @ 1:07pm

3,314 words; about a 17 minute read

Mission: Episode 00 - Pre-Deployment
Location: San Francisco Fleet Yards, USS Galileo
Timeline: MD 04 - 1400 hrs

Previously, on Captain's Orders! (Part 1)...

John couldnt help but giggle at the childlike analysis of an interstellar starship, and the existence of the so-called "plant room". He wished that sometimes he would be able to see starships with the wonder and amazement of a teenager, but that was many years ago now, and unlikely to ever happen!

"haha yes, yes we do have a plant room. The arboretum is down on deck 4 - wanna take a look?"

"Nope, was just checking if you had one." Nesh said with a roll of her eyes. She broke out into a grin before grabbing John's arm and tugging him towards the turbo lift. She let out a little laugh, "Of course I want to see it...that is why I asked."

As he was almost dragged towards the turbolift, John took a second to compose himself, before returning fire with a line of his own.

"Fair enough, lead on captain-in-training, just watch out for the Denobulan Tectrapod, its an insect eating plant normally but I hear the bigger ones tend to have a craving for teenage Orion girls who make fun of well-meaning human XO's" He laughed, heading for the doors.

And Now, the Continuation...

[ON]

In a quite fitting show of her age, Nesh stuck her tongue out at the tall man sharing the turbo lift with her. "I will just make sure that I keep you between us...I doubt it has eyes, it might eat you instead." Her grin was playful, much like her sister's would have been in the same situation. She reached out and touched his arm slightly as she laughed. "Thank you for showing me around the ship, but it's in my nature make fun of you a little if you walk into it." She held up her hand and using her first finger and thumb gestured when she said the word little.

"I'll have to make sure I swing past a weapons locker first then - I don't think I'll be able to keep up with your razor sharp wit without a phaser young lady."

As the turbolift doors closed around him, he called out to the computer "Deck 4 - Arboretum" and the carriage began its swift movement to the designated section.
Exiting out onto deck 4, the ship looked the same as it did on all its other decks, although this area was far more heavily populated than some other areas. Science labs, analysis suites and storage facilities dominated this desk, essentially, if you were a science nerd, then this is where you would probably be found.

"Aaaand here it is...the plant room!" John said with some rather put-on enthusiasm, like a parent entertaining a small toddler
"Care to lead the way? The door's open"

Nesh rolled her eyes as she walked though the door. The room was rather impressive. She had been to greenhouses in Los Angeles, but it was completely different to walk from a dark hallway into a room that made it feel like it was outside. She looked up though the trees and brushed her hand along one of the plants. "This ship keeps getting cooler and cooler." She turned quickly towards John, "Don't tell Lirha I said that."

"I'm sure I can try to leave that particular detail out of my report to Starfleet Command" John said as they began to wander through the carefully organised flora that would be travelling into the depths of space with them. Watching as the teenager gazed at the myriad of species within the arboretum, John couldn't help but crack a joke of his own.

"I guess I should be careful not to lose you in here, with that Orion skin I might never find you again amongst all these leaves!"

"Oh ha ha." Nesh said as she swatted at John's arm. "I would love to see you explain to your boss that you lost her one and only little sister while you were in charge." Her tone was playful and accented by her once again sticking out her tongue before she turned back towards the plants.

"So.." Nesh started as she leaned over to smell one of the flowers. "You know my sister well?"

"no more than any other officer on board does I imagine" John said as he passed his hands over the delicate leaves of one of the mimosa plants in the arboretum, watching happily as it folded up its leaves in self defense. He had last seen one of these particular plants on earth at the academy, moments before he was shouted at by one of the new groundskeepers for daring to touch one of their plants

"We only met when I was assigned to serve under her, apart from that I don't know anything other than what's in her service record "

"That must we...odd?" Nesh said questioningly. She couldn't imagine being in a profession where you distance was expected, "I would never want to live in a life where you can't get to know each other because of protocol." She had heard her sister talk about it over and over, protocol, protocol,protocol.... "Granted, between Lirha, my mom and my sister Liviana, I am not allowed to get to know anyone on principle..." she gave John a little wink. "Being an Orion has its drawback." She added as she moved further down the walkway.

"
I guess you just get used to it after a few years in the fleet, it just ends up being second nature to us."

John took a moment to think in the point that the captain's much younger sister had brought up, he had never really taken long to focus on the matter as he was just so used to carrying out his orders. Generally the rules were that officers did not do too much fraternising in order to avoid senior officers showing any kind of favouritism to their subordinates

"Tough family huh? Being the youngest? Don't worry, now you're growing up you'll start being able to make your own decisions, decide what you want to do on your own terms, what you want to become"

"You really don't know my sister very well." Nesh said with a laugh as she shook her head. "The older I get the more they hold on." She turned to John as they reached the end of the walkway which put them back where they had started. "This place is really cool." Like a classic teenager with a short attention span, "What do we get to see next?"

"I'm going to have to probe you for more information on your sister before I take you back I see - that kind of intel could come in very handy for my next crew evaluation with her!"

John paused for a moment to consider where else there was to visit, there were certainly plenty of places to wander on a ship even this small, but it was the challenge of finding something that would appeal to a teenage girl that was the problem, a subject that John was pretty much flying blind on.

"well, there's Main Engineering, or the Mess Hall, or if you really misbehave there's always Deflector Control - trust me, that place is guaranteed to bore even the hardiest Starfleet Engineer!"

Nesh let out a laugh. "Well then I had better be on my best behavior." She said with a mock salute. She thought it over for a moment, "I could use a snack?" She had just eaten lunch but she was kinda hungry--at the very least thirsty. "Mess hall?" She walked backwards the few steps until she reached the turbolift call button. She tapped it waiting for the door to open.

"I'm sure there's no harm in letting you exploit the replicators for a while - what do you feel in the mood for? It's only a short ride once the turbo lift gets here so it's always a good idea to make your mind up in advance I find "

"Sweet tea and chocolate cake." Nesh replied as the doors parted. She stepped onto the lift. She leaned against the back wall as she waited for John do work his magic and have the lift moving again towards their destination. "I knew what I wanted before I asked the question." She continued simply with a smile. She was glad that her babysitter seemed to be enjoying himself at least a little. She didn't want to feel like burden to anyone.

"that's a very human meal, you've chosen there - plenty of the on Earth will do that I suppose! Then again I hear chocolate is a universal love...alright then, lead on, the Mess Hal, is out of here, turn right, and follow your nose until you hit the big doors, you can't miss it, even when it's the middle of the night and you really want a snack!"

John had to admit, he was enjoying himself, something in the back of his mind was making him extremely pleased to see this Orion teenager enjoying herself, but he couldn't put his finger on exactly what it was.

"I have never been off planet." Nesh said easily. "My mom works a lot and neither of my sisters live at home so the replicator and I have a good relationship." She laughed a little as the lift came to a stop and she stepped off. "It can make Orion meals, but I have found that I like eating what my friends like." She turned to him as they were walking, "You strike me as a cup of afternoon coffee kind of person?"

"You're a rather astute young lady aren't you? In my entire adult life I don't think I've ever managed to say no to a good cup of coffee"

John had to admit, it had been a while since he had taken his last hit of caffeine, and his stamina levels were running rather low after running around keeping a teenage girl amused for the past hour or so. Right now the appeal of the replicator was almost unbearable.

"well then, I'll let the two of you get reacquainted" John smirked as the doors opened, revealing a rather quiet mess hall, with a bank of replicators happily humming away.

Nesh smiled as she walked over to the replicator banks. Tapping the button on the front, "Triple chocolate cake small slice and sweet tea 34 degrees...." She looked over a John realizing she didn't know how he liked his coffee. With a shake of her head she released the button and retrieved her little treat. "I'll meet you at the table?" She half ask have told as she turned and headed for the nearest unoccupied seat.

Nodding to the young girl John approached another replicator a little further along the wall. His coffee had been the same for the past 6 years; double sweet with cream, he felt the extra sugar hit was always an extra benefit on top of the caffeine. As the mug materialised in the small opening, he deftly collected it with his right hand and headed over to meet his guest, sitting down opposite her as she tucked into her snack

"So how do our replicators shape up to the one at home?"

"Pretty close." Nesh said happily as she pulled the recently emptied fork from between her lips. A grin broke across her lips as she took a sip of her tea. The two sweets and the contrast of temperature were most refreshing to the young Orion. "I am surprise ReeHee hasn't programmed Mom's cake into the replicator storage bank yet." She grinned back up at John, "How is your coffee?"

Ignoring the comment regarding his coffee, John honed in on the unusual nickname that the young Orion came out with. He had no idea exactly to what she was referring, but something told him it was going to be useful ammunition next time his CO tried to bribe him as had happened twice now. In both the babysitting match and the crew reports meeting, Lirha had managed to best him and win some kind of advantage, this sounded too good to be true.

"ReeHee? Please tell me you mean Commander Saalm?" John laughed, hoping to get the scoop on his CO's dynamic with her sister.

Nesh's cheeks turned slightly amber as she realized the slip. "Uh...yeah." She admitted as she placed another fork full of cake into her mouth. She took this little delay to think over how she was going to explain this. With a sip from her tea she began, "Lirha is fifteen years older then me." She stated it simply enough, "When I was little I had a hard time with her name...for some reason I had a hard time with L's for a long time...so Lirha became ReeHee and our sister Livana is Vanna." She set her fork down on the table and ran her finger though the frosting. Lifting it to her lips she placed it against her tongue and removed the sweet chocolate confection.

"Note to self, make sure I slip that one in somewhere" John had to try and avoid laughing as he took a deep glup from his coffee, it was refreshing to know that he might actually be able to get one over on his CO at some point before they were too far away from Earth. Looking to his left, he could see through the full length windows that made up one wall of their mess hall. Outside, the state of the dock seemed to be improving every hour, more and more of the excess equipment and personnel slowly began disappearing as time went on.

"Looks like we'll be launching on schedule...the dock's looking pretty empty right about now...lets just hope they remembered to put the engines together the right way round otherwise we might not be leaving as easily as we hoped!"

Nesh laughed as she once again took up the fork to finish the rest of her snack. With a sip of her tea she was once again speaking, "Are you like Lirha and itching to get back into space?" She grinned as she asked the question easily masking the sadness that promoted the question.

"Well....I guess the straight answer is yes!" John replied in a matter of fact tone, it was true that he never felt quite right sat on the surface of a planet, and the quicker he could feel the vibrations in the deckplates from a successful warp jump the better.

"I just feel more at home in space - I grew up on Mars, so Earth isn't really a home for me, it's just the place I went to the Academy at...now space, thats a different matter, out there its your wits and your skills against the unknown, its a real challenge....one that I miss"

Pausing for a moment, he took another gulp of his ever-depleting coffee, before returning to the conversation.

"How about you? Ever thought about following in your sister's footsteps?"

"Oh no...no...no no." Nesh replied as she vehemently shook her head. "I am going to Baylor in Texas and studying art...I want no part of Starfleet regardless of what my sister wants." She finished the last of her cake and pushed the plate away. She washed down the sweet desert with the remainder of her sweet beverage. "Someone has to actually stay with on Mom..." She bit back the comments about her sisters, "So the responsibility falls to me." she finished with a smile before rising from her chair and placing her plate and glass in the disposal bin and returning to her seat.

"Responsiblity huh? See you sound like an XO already" John laughed to himself as he finished the end of his coffee.

"And speaking of your sister, I'm sure she's dying to get you back to herself....I'm pretty sure she's in her Ready Room....wanna go track her down?"

Nesh let out a breath, "Yes...I think that would be a good idea." She rose from her seat. "Let you get back to your piles of paperwork." She grinned.

"Don't remind me...if I leave it much longer it'll start moving around on its own."

Standing up from the table, John led his young guest back towards the turbolift, and finally back to the Bridge. It was still quiet up there, nothing more than a few technicians wandering around, but the small room off to the side of it was his destination. Approaching the door, he pressed the chime.

"Enter." Lirha called out as she sat in her chair reading over a new intel report. She casually pressed a button on her desk's console and the display went dark as she turned her attention towards the door.

With permission granted, John pressed the release key and watched as the doors sprang open in front of him. Ushering Nesh inside, he stood to attention once again in the presence of his captain.

"Lieutenant Commander Babysitter reporting as ordered ma'am" he said with a wry smile on his face, looking down at the teenager to his side.

A big smile spread across Lirha's gold lips as she looked up at her XO and little sister. "Did you two have fun?" she asked, noticing that Commander Holliday seemed in rather unusually good spirits. Rising from her seat, she walked around her desk and next to Nesh, putting her arm around her shoulders and giving her an affectionate squeeze.

"Well ma'am....it was....strangely enjoyable...you Orions must have some hidden ability to overcome the despair of a room full of PADDs"

John had to admit, it had been a nice change of pace to get out of his office and explore the ship, certain areas he still hadn't managed to see properly, like the arboretum, and this little distraction had been just the right opportunity for him to finish learning the layout of his new ship.

"Your ship is pretty cool ReeHee." Nesh said with an excited smile and twinkle in her eye as she returned the hug. She couldn't help but give John a little wink at the use of her sisters pet name. She quickly look up at her, "I can see why you like Star Fleet so much...but I still don't want to join." She finished with a laugh as she hugged her sister again.

"Well, not everyone is space-worthy." the captain replied with a grin as she looked at Commander Holliday. "I'll be sure to abduct you again the next time we pass through the Sol system." she said to Nesh, then turned back to her XO. "Thank you so much for showing her around, you have no idea how much of a help you've been." she said to him with a warm smile.

"No trouble at all ma'am, with your permission, I've still got a ton of work sat in my office to finish off...unless there was something else you needed?"

"No, I think you've helped quite enough for the day, Commander." she replied with a nod. "You're dismissed whenever you like." she said with friendly and appreciative eyes.

"Well then ladies, I'll leave you too alone, you know where I am if you need me."

Nodding to both Orion sisters, John turned on his heels and headed back out towards the Bridge, it had been a rather enjoyable afternoon for him, albeit a little different to what he was used to. Nevertheless, he hoped that it would happen again soon.

[OFF]

--

CMDR Lirha Saalm
Commanding Officer
USS Galileo

LTCDR Jonathan Holliday
Executive Officer
USS Galileo

Nesh Saalm
Captain's Sister
NPC'd by Barel

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