Blind Corners

Posted on 30 May 2013 @ 8:57am by Chief Warrant Officer 3 Lamar Darius & Lieutenant JG Victoria Crawley

1,165 words; about a 6 minute read

Mission: Episode 03 - Frontier
Location: USS Galileo - Deck 4, Corridor
Timeline: MD 07 - 1615 hrs

[ON]

Having just completed a full day's work of support craft maintenance and prep in Galileo's main shuttlebay, Lamar Darius' last duty for the shift was to report back to the flight control office on Deck 4 and log his efforts into the ship's computer. The process went smoothly enough and after about ten minutes, he logged out of the office's terminal and was finally finished with his obligations for the day. He wasn't exactly sure what he was going to do for the evening, but the idea of a fresh-cooked meal was tantalizing. He hadn't eaten in close to six hours and his stomach was famished, and the more he thought about food, the more hungry he became.

Moving out of the office and into the corridor with a swish of the gray door, he looked put his head down and swiftly walked towards the turbolift at the nearby corridor junction. As he rounded the final corner, he inadvertently plowed full-steam into another crew member who was also turning the corner at the same time. Lamar was a large man and former Marine, and was not phased by the contact as much as the fellow crew member. Quickly reaching out to grab a hold of him/her before they fell to the ground, the warrant officer shook his head and offered his apologies. "Shit...I'm sorry..." he mumbled.

Victoria blew on a piece of hair that had fallen out of her ponytail. "No, it's my fault. I wasn't paying attention, as usual." She grabbed her PADD off the floor and smiled at the man apologetically. Hoping that this wouldn't become a habit with her, she turned to leave, but then whipped around again, facing the stranger.

"By the way, I don't think I got your name. I'm Victoria Crawley, the new psychologist."

Lamar looked at the rank pips on the blue-collared woman's uniform and gave her a curt nod. "Lamar Darius, support craft pilot." he replied as he introduced himself in kind. "A pleasure to meet you, ma'am." he added, then offered his large hand in greeting for her to shake.

Accepting his hand, Victoria decided that she liked Lamar; he seemed to be one of those people who wasn't really phased by much, even if someone-like herself- awkwardly bangs into him head-on because she wasn't paying attention to her surroundings.

Shaking her hand then releasing it, the warrant officer finally had a chance to look over the woman in front of him. She was about average height with a lithe frame and long red hair which accompanied a set of striking blue eyes. She was attractive, to say the least, and Lamar made sure to put on his best appearance for her...and after all, she was a commissioned officer.

"So...you're new to Galileo?" he inquired, trying his best to seem casual and avoid further embarrassment.

She nodded. "Yeah, I just transferred from the Venture. I'm hoping to start work in the next couple of days, but we'll see what Dr. Panne says." She was set to meet with her tomorrow; hopefully all would go well and she would be cleared for duty without a problem.

"Venture, huh?" he remarked with a small grin. "Must be a bit of a shock going from a Galaxy Class to a Nova Class..." he commented, remembering the first time he was assigned to Galileo and wandered its tight and confined corridors. The two ship classes were almost worlds apart and it had taken Lamar a couple difficult weeks to make the transition.

She shrugged, "It's not so bad. I mean, yeah, the Venture was much bigger, by far, but it's not so bad here. It'll be easier to meet the rest of the crew, I imagine, and I'm looking forward to that." She had noticed some very intriguing species on board, species she had never seen before, and she was very anxious to get to talk to them.

"Yea, it's easy enough...sometimes all you have to do is run into them when you're turning a corner." he said in jest with a soft chuckle.

She laughed. "Very true. Although I'm sure that not everyone take it as well as you have."

Lamar smirked and waved his hand dismissively. "Well when it's happened enough times, you sort of get used to it." he replied, then briefly paused to change the subject. "I heard you mention that you need to talk to Lieutenant Panne...have you met her yet?" he asked.

"No, not until tomorrow." Just thinking about the meeting with her new boss made her nervous. It was the same feeling she had before and during job interviews. Isn't all that was, though, just a glorified job interview? That's what she hoped, anyway; at least that way she could mentally prepare herself beforehand instead of freaking out about it. "Hopefully all will go well and I'll be cleared for duty."

"I wouldn't worry about it too much." the warrant officer said, "I would think that the lieutenant wants all the extra help she can get, especially with all of our scheduled away missions and expeditions. It's been pretty busy around here recently."

Victoria wasn't as sure about it as he was, but she was grateful for the reassurance and she flashed him a brilliant smile . "That's good to know. It certainly can't hurt anything."

"As long as you're not late, I don't think she'll have any reason to chew you out. I could be wrong though.." Lamar replied with a deep chuckle, then casually leaned against the wall. The new lieutenant in from of him seemed rather nice and cordial, but he also didn't want to take up too much of her time if she had places to be. "Well, I should probably let you get going. I'm sure as a new transfer you've probably got a few things to take care of. Unless...you're up for joining me in the mess hall for a quick bite?" he offered.

Victoria didn't need much convincing. "Sure," she said. "I could use some food, actually. I forgot to eat earlier." That was a bad habit of hers; she'd get so wrapped up in her work that she would forget about everything else.

The warrant officer grinned and motioned with his hand for Victoria to follow him. "Great. The mess hall is up on deck two, not too far. Dinner doesn't start being served until 1900 but the replicators are always online. And I'm sure there's a few leftover burgers and chicken sandwiches from lunch if you're in the mood for that sort of thing." he commented as he began to walk towards the turbolift.

"Sounds good to me," she said, grinning back at him and quickening her steps to follow him into the elevator.

[OFF]

--

Lieutenant JG Victoria Crawley
Psychologist
USS Galileo

WO Lamar Darius
Support Craft Pilot
USS Galileo
NPC'd by Lirha Saalm

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