Sisterhood of the Travelling Green Girls

Posted on 02 Aug 2013 @ 8:19pm by Nesh Saalm & Rear Admiral Lirha Saalm

1,765 words; about a 9 minute read

Mission: Episode 03 - Frontier
Location: USS Galileo - Deck 2, Captain's Quarters
Timeline: MD 12 - 2105 hrs

[ON]

Nesh didn't even bother ringing the chime before entering Lirha's quarters. She wanted to spend some quality sister time...and besides, her sister needed so relax a bit. She looked around, frowning when she didn't spot her at once. "Lirha?" she called out, her teeth worrying her piercing on her lip.

Happily sitting on the floor in her sonic shower, Lirha had absentmindedly zoned out and was half asleep when she heard a familiar voice suddenly calling her name from what sounded like inside her quarters. There was really no one else on the ship would would dare just stroll into her living space without hitting the chime first, which made it even easier to identify Nesh's familiar presence.

Lirha slowly climbed to her feet then poked her head out of the shower to look down the hallway where she spotted her sister idly standing there. "I am in here, I will be right out." she said, then quickly finished up her shower and exited the bath. It took only a few minutes for her to rub herself down with a towel, after which she pulled on a loose T-shirt and pair of Starfleet-issue black shorts.

"Hi." she said to Nesh as she wandered out into the living room.

Nesh smiled as he moved to the couch, letting herself fall back on it. "I was bored, wanted to bother you," she said with a warm smile. "Besides, you've been so busy running this ship...we could do something distracting?"

The older Orion joined her sister on the couch and glanced over at her youthful features. "What did you have in mind?" she curiously asked while stifling a yawn, not entirely opposed to the idea despite the late hour of the evening.

Nesh smiled as she watched her, arching an eyebrow before chuckling. "Music, something good to eat and some gossip. You've been busy and distant lately and I want to know why."

Lirha wasn't sure how much she actually intended to tell Nesh about her current state of mind, but she at least owed her a brief explanation for why she had suddenly vanished from the ship for several days, and why she was now feeling burnt out. "Computer, play musical composition Saalm-five-five-nine." she called out to the ship's invisible audio processor. Right on queue, a playlist of modern Orion pop music began to play in sequence - not exactly Lirha's favorite genre, but definitely more up Nesh's alley.

"I admit...I do not feel like getting up at the moment. But you know where the replicator is...help yourself to anything in the kitchen." the captain added with a lazy and apologetic grin to her sister.

"Don't worry," Nesh said quickly as she got up, reaching to touch her sister's hair. "What do you want? I mean, you need something to drink or eat...can't have you fade away!"

Lirha sunk herself back into the cushions and lazily stretched herself out on the large couch. "Hot chocolate, please." she answered while listening to the pleasant musical tunes echoing throughout the living room.

Nesh got two of them, piling on the whipped cream, sprinkles, cookie and everything else. She felt like being a bit decadent. She moved to her, offering it over. "So...what's going on then?"

Accepting the frothy drink, Lirha took a long sip and licked some whipped cream from her upper lip before setting the mug down on the table in front of her. "Not much." she casually answered, "We are scheduled to depart the Rojar system tomorrow once USS Venture rendezvous with us. I, for one, am looking forward to heading back to SB-185. A bit of R&R seems ideal right about now."

"So do I," Nesh admitted and smiled as she stretched her legs out. "I can't wait to run around and see new faces..." she winked before biting her lip. "I want to get a bit more involved you know?"

"You do?" Lirha asked with an inquisitive expression. Nesh had traditionally been anti-Starfleet growing up due to her disdain for her older sister's prolonged absences while deployed, but apparently much had changed in the last month. "Well...of course." she replied with a grin. "Is Starfleet life growing on you?"

"No!" Nesh looked at her, feeling her skin heating. "No. And I still think your uniforms suck and when you put your Captain hat on you get boring...but...I mean, I'm stuck here. Might as well get involved or else I'll grow even more bored. And when I get bored I cause problems and you don't need that sort of stress added..." she said the last in a whisper, frowning. "Might as well be a bit useful here, you know? I can learn some skills and sell them off outside the Fleet or something."

Lirha let out a quiet sigh, somewhat disappointed that her previous assumption had been wrong. "You are right, I do not want you to get bored and cause trouble. And I do not want to have to explain that to our mother, either." she reflected. "Would you like me to speak to Lieutenant Cho and have her assign you additional duties?"

She met her eyes for a moment before nodding, giving her sister a quick smile. "Sure. I mean, I could always stalk you but I am sure our mother would hate that even more..."

"I am sure I would most likely hate it more so than her." Lirha commented with a bit of dry truth, then changed the subject back to her science duties. "So tell me, what exactly did Lieutenants Panne and Cho have you doing? Hopefully the work was more than menial administration?"

Nesh watched her before shrugging. "Panne had me...just in the background. I observed a lot, actually. Cho has been busy...and I haven't bothered her by asking."

Slowly nodding, Lirha began to contemplate ways in which she could possibly get Nesh to participate more in the daily science operations of the ship. "Observation is often an important first step in apprenticeship, but I agree that it can be rather mundane at times. Perhaps you would like to learn more about scientific method and investigation? It would," she paused to think of the Earth term, "'open the door' for you to begin participating in lab experiments." she proposed.

"Do I get to mix stuff? I like mixing stuff," Nesh said lightly, arching an eyebrow playfully. She then sighed and nodded. "Yeah. Even if it is just helping out a bit, it would be better than doing nothing."

Lirha chuckled softly and nodded. "You can mix as much as you like...as along as you have adult supervision." she grinned. "I will be sure to put in a request with Lieutenant Cho for you." she added, then took another long sip of her hot chocolate and casually listened to the music playing in the background. "How are your school classes coming along?" she wondered out loud after a long pause.

She looked at her sister before shrugging, sipping her drink. "It's all cool, no one's kicked me out yet," she said and watched her for a moment. "It's just...it's all so structured, you know?"

"Of course it is...this is Starfleet." she replied with a playful smirk. Sometimes Nesh had the funniest habit of stating the obvious. "Think of it as practice for your future life. One of these days you will have your own responsibilities to manage, and you can draw on your experiences aboard Galileo if you ever have difficulty coping."

Nesh watched her for a long moment before giving a weak shrug. "Hey, I babysat a sick kid. I'm pretty much amazing, you know."

Lirha arched her eyebrow at the mention of babysitting. "You mean Lily? Lieutenant Commander Blake's child? She is sick?" she asked with a bit of concern.

"She's feeling poorly," she said and met her eyes, holding them. "Temperature. One of those colds, you know? I think. But I stayed with her and we chatted and I told her a story and she fell asleep. And she is still alive, so it makes me a pretty good babysitter, huh?"

"That is very sweet and kind of you." the older Orion said with a warm smile. It made her feel great to know that Nesh, despite her juvenile nature, could be responsible when it counted the most. "I remember when you once got sick when you were Lily's age...I stayed up with you all night while you were coughing and throwing up. Mom was very worried about you, but you pulled through after only a couple of miserable days." she recalled with much affection for her little sister.

She watched her for a long moment before biting her lip. "You said it was alright...and I said it wasn't, it was never going to be alright," she said, remembering. She chuckled as she watched Lirha, with humour. "Proved me wrong, huh?"

"Indeed." Lirha replied with a big grin, then moved close and gave Nesh a tight hug and a sloppy kiss on the cheek. "I am happy you are here on Galileo with me." she confessed for like the tenth time. "And if you ever get sick again, we have some of the best medical facilities and doctors in the fleet to take care of you. They certainly did for me."

Nesh hugged her back, but rolled her eyes at the kiss...but it was good natured and playful. "Gosh, you're such a soppy girl! Besides...I'll be fine. And I know I whine sometimes but I'd rather be close to you than away from you."

"Me too." Lirha patted Nesh's leg for reassurance. "So...what shall we do for the rest of the evening? Watch a movie? Keep listening to music? I have a couple hours of holodeck time saved up if you like?"

"Movie," she said and nodded, sighing softly. "Holodeck is for when we both have more energy."

Nodding in agreement, Lirha stood up and walked to her desk where she retrieved a PADD from the drawer, then returned to the couch and sat back down next to her sister. Cueing up the list of available films in the ship's archive, she passed the slim metallic device over to Nesh. "Your choice."

"Bad decision, Captain," Nesh took it, grinning as she started to scroll through the options. "But good sister."

[OFF]

--

CAPT Lirha Saalm
Commanding Officer
USS Galileo

&

Nesh Saalm
Scientist Mate (and sister)
USS Galileo

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