USS Dark Fire (IC)

[sereneotter00]

◅ XIANA MARLOWE ▻​

She took it as permission to let herself lie back on her sheets, although she continued to speak. “Sergeant, you’re a blessing. I owe you a drink when I recover. Nonalcoholic.”

The change was small so far, but she trusted she’d wake to feeling better. Hopefully, without a trace of a hangover and with a mind ready to work. “I neglected to introduce myself; I’m sorry. I’m d—” She couldn’t recall if he knew of her position or not.

Might as well play it safe. “Xiana. Be safe on your return, and thank you again,” she yawned, getting comfortable in her bed. “Please extend my regards to K’alena.”

 

[The_Weeping_Angel]

Stardate 29870526.1450

“Of Course, Xiana.” He replied as he left her bedroom, closing the door behind him so she could rest. Once in the hall he shook his head. “I wonder how she knows the Major,” he asked himself heading for the turbolift.​

 

[sereneotter00]

◅ XIANA MARLOWE ▻​

Luckily, it didn’t take too long for Xiana to doze off. The alcohol in her lowering was proving to be a fantastic relief. In the moments before falling asleep, she mentally prayed to manage to sleep all the way to the next morning. She needed that awful day to come to a definitive end—the deaths, the attack, the parasite, the ceremonies, the shameless alcohol poisoning, everything.

If all went well, she would wake at five AM like always, go on a run, and attend to her duties. She would be refreshed, attentive, and focused. She could pretend like her brief period of immaturity had never happened.

Ultimately, Xiana fell into a deep sleep, dreaming of her home back on Earth and of reorganizing her kitchen cabinets in alphabetical order.

 

[milkmaiden38]

Hora

“Commander Reeves that is not a therapy question. It needs to be something like… who is the most assertive person on the bridge team? Or what your prefect compliment and why? Or what holo-deck simulation do you like? Or who would be the least embarrassed at a Vulcan logic debate.” Hora explained to the commander.

“Or if your next date were a starship… what kind starship would you be? A nimble scout ship, a classic like the constellation class, or huge like USS Dark Fire?” Lt Harris suggested

 

[The_Weeping_Angel]

Stardate 29870526.1500

“A perfect complement would vary depending on the situation is it for a man or a woman giving the compliment? Why are they giving the compliment?”

“As for holodeck simulations I prefer combat scenarios or rock climbing. I’ve traveled through The Forge on several holodeck simulations. I’ve also run holo-simulations for each of the Enterprise bridge’s.”

“I would be the least embarrassed at a Vulcan Logic debate of anyone here, as I often hold debates with my wife over ethical situations from past diplomatic events.”

“As for what kind of starship I would be I would place myself in the Galaxy classification, though I’m sure L’Sa would argue that I should be classified as a Dreadnought Carrier comparable to the Dark Fire. I would place her in the NX Enterprise or Defiant classification.”

“As for a therapy-based question for the group. I pose this question, If you had to confide a secret in someone on the bridge, whom would you trust to keep that secret? And why? And the counter, whom would you not trust to keep that secret?”​

 

[milkmaiden38]

Hora

“Wow…” Hora said as Commander Reeves answered all the suggested questions.

When he asked “whom would you trust to keep that secret? And why? And the counter, whom would you not trust to keep that secret”

Most of the bridge team shouted out answers. All of which were similar to Ensign Newton answer. “I’d trust Commander Reeves to keep a secret, basically he always shows a lot of discipline. I think I can trust him. And the Captain to not keep a secret, Sorry captain but I just don’t know you that well.”

Lt Harris was the exception “I’d trust Captain Hora. She probably been asked to keep lots of secrets. No wait, let me change my answer. I’d trust Dark Fire to keep a secret. Petty Officer Olson to not keep a secret.”

“Why Petty Officer Olson?” Hora asked

“She told everyone about my excitement in meeting you the first time” Lt Harris explained.

“Hey, that was not a secret” Petty Officer Olson said to defend herself.

“Hold up, this is just a game. Let’s not get defensive. Did I react, when basically the whole bridge team trusted Commander Reeves over me? No” Hora replied.

“However, I think we need to get back to work. Commander, I’ll be in my cabin, call me when the simulations are complete.” Hora ordered. Then she got up and walked off the bridge.

“Good job everyone. You hurt the Captain’s feelings” Lt Harris said

 

[The_Weeping_Angel]

Stardate 29870526.1900

“Captain, Dark Fire is complete with it’s simulations. I’ve sent the report and the most likely outcomes from each attack/defense type based on the simulations.”

“And I’ve added the preliminary roster for Lt. Aegeri’s replacement, there are three candidates. I’ll be performing interviews tomorrow to access personal qualifications to the post. Are there any questions you’d like to have included?”

Beta shift had arrived an hour ago so Reeves was simply finishing his tasks for the day, but he made it a point to greet each new crewman as they entered the bridge. He still got a lot of confused looks as nobody was used to him doing this. There were even a few soft jokes about him being replaced by a human.​

 

[milkmaiden38]

Hora

Hora looked through the battle simulations. The highest rated ones involved closing the wormhole. Then dealing with the parasite on each planet, space station, ship. However, the strategy depended on closing the wormhole first.

Hora was familiar with wormholes. A hole created by a rapidly rotating blackhole. A wormhole connected disparate points in spacetime. It may be visualized as a tunnel with two ends at separate points in spacetime. In this case between our galaxy and the andromeda galaxy.

Collapsing the hole was a terrible waste, as it provided easy transportation between the two galaxies. However, since the federation was under attack, it was justified. There were a few ways to collapse the wormhole. Most common was to use a specialized energy beam, often referred to as a "phase-conjugate graviton beam". The beam disrupted the subspace topology that maintained the wormhole's stability, effectively causing it to pinch off and close.

USS Dark Fire had the power needed to generate the beam and collapse the wormhole. Hora pressed her commlink.

"Commander Reeves lets talk about collapsing a wormhole. My quarters in one hour. Bring some food"

 

[The_Weeping_Angel]

Stardate 29870526.2000​

Stepping from the shower Cmdr Reeves looked at L’Sa as she handed him a towel to dry with. “Looks like I’m back on duty.”

“Yes, It does seem that way. I would recommend chicken, anything from Orion is an aphrodisiac by nature and she may misinterpret you bringing anything like that.”

“Yes, she may.” Reeves agreed as he ordered the Dark Fire to prepare fried chicken and salad.

2030​

Entering the Captain’s quarters Cmdr. Reeves stopped just inside the door his hair freshly gelled and his uniform crisp and clean.

​

 

[milkmaiden38]

Hora

Hora was in her uniform. As the door opened, she stood up slowly as her eyes narrowed.

“Commander Reeves… is that Terran Chicken?" She asked with caution.

“Yes and salad” He answered flatly.

“There are reports that the sympathizers wish to kill me with Terran chicken eggs. Orions are very allergic” Hora said

“There are no eggs in either of these dishes” Commander Reeves assured Hora.

There was a quiet pause then a smile appeared on Hora’s face “I trust you. Let’s eat.” Hora suggested

She had a table set for the dinner, and next to the plates were her notes about closing the wormhole. The commander put food on each of their plates as Hora filled their drinking glasses with Non-alcoholic cider

She raised a glass and toasted “To a successful mission”

They both clicked glasses and took a drink. Hora tried some chicken and salad. She had no reaction.

“This is good” She replied. Then she changed the subject.

“Before we talk about tactics… I want to discussion your inattentiveness toward me." Hora said

A questioning look appeared on the Commander’s face.

“Yes” Hora said “You have been greeting bridge team members and being more open. It's not like you. However, you have not been more open to me. I feel kind of left out. Why?" Hora asked with a raised eyebrow.

 

[The_Weeping_Angel]

Stardate 29870526.2015

“I apologize, Captain. I was hoping you would not notice. I was concerned that you would take any… openness.. on my part as an invitation for more personal or sexual relations.”

“It’s difficult for me to be personable to others everyone dies. Any and all interactions with humanoids brings about friendship, and loss.”

“Since my MACO career, and the loss of a great number of friends and allies I’ve limited the number of interactions. As each person around me that dies affects me, just as my death will affect those around me, by reducing the interactions I’m able to reduce the discomfort and pain those deaths will cause.”

“I’m also curious why you’ve discontinued the practice of Captain’s Mess? Captain Marcus would have breakfast with the senior staff and we’d also have our morning meeting during such times. Since taking over you have not had any group meal other than the Diplomatic one.”

“May I ask why?”​

 

[milkmaiden38]

Hora

“Breakfast… I guess I forgot to set something up. I’ll set up a breakfast for tomorrow morning. Who do you recommend I invite?” Hora asked

“I hope you agree, but I think our next step is to collapse the wormhole. I know it is a terrible waste, I know the parasite will be trapped here and that might make it more aggressive. But we need to cut off any resupply from its home galaxy. I thought we just use a "phase-conjugate graviton beam". Hora stated

 

[The_Weeping_Angel]

Stardate 29870526.2030

“I’d start out smaller than Captain Marcus. Myself. Dr. L’Sa, The Major, The Counselor, Dr. Grissom – The Chief Medical Officer, The Chief Engineer – Lt. Frye, and possibly one of the pilots as a reward for exceptional service during the last few space combat missions or the religious fanatic that assisted on the StarBase mission.” Cmdr. Reeves replied to her question about the breakfast. “The Chef is quite skilled and knows everyone's dietary restrictions.”

“As for the Wormhole, we need to find it before we can close it. And the beam should work to close the Wormhole, as long as it’s the right frequency, otherwise we could make the space-time breach more stable and possibly permanent.”

“We’ll need to do a number of tests to get the correct frequency and find out where the wormhole comes out at. I’m hoping that the counselor is effective at communication with the Parasite entities, which would eliminate the need to close the wormhole.”​

 

[milkmaiden38]

Hora

“Excellent suggestions for our first breakfast. I think smaller is better. How about yourself, Dr. L’Sa, the Major, The Counselor, and if we must Dr. Grissom.” Hora stated. “Oh and yes the Chief Engineering Officer, 1st Lt. Kaywinnet Lee Frye. I have not met her yet.”

“Now about your confidence in The Counselor. I’m not sure it is well placed. She did not make me feel better during our first interaction. I made it clear I wanted to fuck her during our sessions and she wanted to keep it “professional”. Doesn’t she realize that fucking is professional for an Orion? I already know what you are going to say… I need to adapt. You be proud of me, I did. I have been very professional with her. Anyhow, my real point is she is not going to get any information out of the parasite. We need to shutdown that wormhole before more of those ships we just blew up come through.”

“Now about personnel, why is the chief engineer only a 1st Lt? She should be a commander or at least a Lt Commander.” Hora asked

 

[The_Weeping_Angel]

Stardate 29870526.2045

“We need to give the counselor time to work with the Parasitic Alien Life-form. Otherwise we’re in the wrong and the aggressive ones.” Reeves replied.

“Promotions are given based on time in service and skills. Not the position. There have been Lieutenants as Executive Officers as well as Master Chiefs as Chief Engineer’s. Lt. Frye has unique insights into the workings of the Dark Fire, but she has done nothing to suggest that she should be promoted to Lieutenant Commander.”​

 

[milkmaiden38]

Hora

Hora finished her last piece of chicken and started to lick her fingers. “I can taste the eleven herbs and spices, this chicken is finger lick’in good” She told Commander Reeves as their diner/meeting ended.

“I’ll see you, tomorrow morning, 0800 for our first Captain’s breakfast” Hora said as she bent over to kiss the Commander good night, but then quick stood up again. And just shook his hand.

“Thanks for dinner, my treat next time” Hora said as the commander departed.

0800 Captain’s Mess

Hora had arrived early to make sure everything was ready for her first breakfast. The chef would cook whatever people ordered, but she had also placed a few Orion finger foods on the table to include wing-slugs. She needed to remember to warn people that Orion cooking was known for its hot spices, which could induce tears. Also, some of the spices were aphrodisiacs.

It was at that moment the Admiral call came in. "I'll take it in my stateroom" Hora ordered Dark Fire and departed the mess.

 

[The_Weeping_Angel]

Stardate 29870526.0500

Using a holodeck Cmdr Reeves ran one of his personal exercise programs. With a heavier gravity than Vulcan and the pain settings at nearly lethal it hurt when he got cut or shot, but the work was hard and enjoyable. Much better than lifting weights or running in place on a treadmill.

0600​

Compiling a list of candidates for the Captain he sent the list of four to the Captain. A Klingon, A Romulan, a Human, and a Bonded Trill.

Repairs were still underway as well as resupply of the torpedoes.

0800​

Joining L’Sa outside the Captain’s Mess they walked in together. Major K’alena was already there as was the Chief Engineer.

 

[sereneotter00]

◅ XIANA MARLOWE ▻​

After the longest sleep of her life, Xiana had woken up refreshed, albeit much earlier than she usually did. She had dedicated the early hours of the morning to developing a list of topics to study further (prioritizing the unique cultures on the ship), reviewing her current patients’ progress, and attempting to figure out an in for the ship’s prisoner. When her office lights started making her eyes blurry, she had returned to her quarters and prepared for her meeting. Although she was curious about the subject of the gathering, she had to admit she was looking forward to being better acquainted with the others formally.

“Good morning,” Xiana chimed politely as she entered, giving a lookover to the room before returning her attention to those who had already arrived. She gave a friendly nod at the recognition of K’alena—and a quiet prayer that their whereabouts of the previous day wouldn’t be mentioned until they were done.

“You must be Dr. L’sa. We haven’t met formally. I’m Dr. Marlowe,” she spoke, extending her hand to the Vulcan. “I’ve been made aware that you have a focus on xenobiology. I’d love for your input on some research of mine if you ever have the time.”

 

[The_Weeping_Angel]

Stardate 29870526.0805

Glancing at the Human’s outstretched hand L’Sa lifted an eyebrow before holding up her hand with her fingers splayed in the Vulcan greeting. “Long Life and Prosperity Dr. Marlowe, I would be interested in hearing of your research.”

“My schedule is not overwhelming at this time and allows me some external processes and research time.”

“You do understand that psychology is not my area of expertise as I study the genetic makeup of the body not the mental and emotional makeup of the mind.”​

 

[sereneotter00]

◅ XIANA MARLOWE ▻​

“Oh, wonderful, thank you,” Xiana replied, awkwardly bringing her hand to her side.

“I do understand, but in my current project I’m seeking to look for more physical manifestations or reactions on my subject. A very neuropsychiatric approach, if you will,” she explained. “Since it’s a being I’m entirely unfamiliar with, I’m trying to retrieve as much information as I can, down to the seams. Biology is not my forte, but I’m hoping it will grant me more insight. Any input would be appreciated.”

 

[The_Weeping_Angel]

Stardate 29870526.0810

“I will do what I can to assist you in this matter. Which species are you studying?”L’Sa asked. “There are several thousand known sentient species in the federation as well as the millions of non-sentient species.”

Using a fork she stabbed a flavored crouton before eating it slowly. “I’ve had first had experienced with only a few hundred of them.”​

 

[sereneotter00]

◅ XIANA MARLOWE ▻​

Xiana couldn’t help but take a look around the room. She didn’t want to admit that she still wasn’t quite sure what kind of creature she was dealing with, beyond the information Dark Fire had supplied. Mentioning that it was the parasite could further alarm others. Or worse—cause them to doubt her attempts. With only a day’s difference since she first spoke to the creature, she too wished to have been ahead.

Her gaze returned to L’sa. “Perhaps we could meet in my office to discuss specifics later? I do have my notes and other information stored there. Regardless, I truly appreciate your assistance; thank you.”

“With that being said, I was unaware of these morning meetings. Is it new or circumstantial?”

 

[The_Weeping_Angel]

Stardate 29870526.0815

“The meeting, or breakfast, used to be a standard event under Captain Marcus. The stopped after he died. This is the first since Captain Hora Layvnullo came on board. As to whether they will continue or not I don’t know, as they are at the Captain Discretion.”

“Typically, Captain Marcus would have smaller gatherings, but occasionally he held larger ones on the occasion of promotions, birthday’s, anniversary dates, or other special events.”

“I can visit your office later to discuss your subject of study in more discreet surroundings."
​

 

[sereneotter00]

◅ XIANA MARLOWE ▻ ​

She nodded at the information, her arms crossing loosely over her chest. “I see. It can be lovely to have lively gatherings like that. I’m sure not everybody is attracted to socializing, but it can cut some…” Stiffness? Tension? Reservation? “...stress in the workplace. I’d be a fan if these meetings continue. Having a chance at a slow rise to the morning is excellent with productivity, if allowed, of course.”

She was no one to talk. If on the clock, any second that Xiana wasn’t being productive felt like a needle being slid into her back. Perhaps she could benefit from a counselor herself. “On another note - and I hope it isn’t too forward - what beauty products do you use? I’m constantly in awe of your hair; it’s gorgeous.”

 

[The_Weeping_Angel]

Stardate 29870526.0820

“Thank you, I’ll send you a list of the things I use. One of my direct ancestors was human, as such my hair is a naturally occurring atavistic genetic anomaly possessed by my fifth great fore-mother. The same ancestor possessed blue eyes as opposed to the more normal brown of Ni’Var. As a childe my parents would color my hair and make me wear contact lenses to fit in better with my classmates.”

“When I left my parents home to live at university and off world I stopped doing such things as I found them unnecessary, and I was no longer affected by the emotional teasing of my peers. I also allowed my hair to grow to a more offworld length as I study non-Vulcan lifeforms more than Vulcan ones.”

“I also helps to disguise my Vulcan heritage features when needed.”​