Look to the Stars

Posted on 18 Jan 2014 @ 10:38pm by Rear Admiral Lirha Saalm & Amril

1,621 words; about a 8 minute read

Mission: Episode 05 - Solstice
Location: Starfleet HQ - Officer's Barracks
Timeline: MD 05 - 1250 hrs

[ON]

PADD in hand while she let out a quiet yawn, Lirha tapped the door chime to the Vorta's temporary quarters in Starfleet HQ's officer barracks. She had not seen much of Amril since they had all returned to Earth, but had vaguely been informed of several meetings which he had attended with various members of Starfleet Command. No doubt the admiralty were curious to know more about him and his 'official' reasons for defecting to the Federation, but sadly, Lirha had not been called to testify or to be present at any of the inquiries. As such, she felt it prudent to visit him personally, as she was generally very fond of the amiable purple-eyed man and hoped that everything was going smoothly.

"Captain!" the voice of the vorta, as effervescent as ever, chimed out. "How are you?" He smiled and reached to shake her hand, a Federation gesture he had picked up pretty quickly. He was dressed in civilian clothes, of the type one expected to see a vorta in, though with a bit of Federation flare apparent in the design.

"Very well, thank you." She shook his hand in return and gave him a friendly smile, her eyes briefly scanning the inside of the barracks room before returning to him. "Actually..." she paused and decided she needed to let Amril know of Galileo's recent command change, "I suppose I should inform you that I am no longer the ship's captain. The admiralty has apparently seen fit to promote me to a desk job, so I will now be in direct control of our task group while Captain Holliday commands Galileo. I will remain on board the ship, though, so you will still see me around."

"Ah, that is unfortunate," Amril said with unusual solemnity, "I am very sorry. Is the Galileo not small for the flagship of a Task Group?"

She slowly nodded in apparent agreement. "Small, yes. But we have apparently built up quite a prestigious reputation amongst the members of Starfleet Command, or else they would not have seen fit to use a Nova Class as a flagship." She tried to justify it as best she could, but even she was not sure why they had not been given a larger ship by now.

"Why don't you come in," Amril suggested, gesturing her inside, "I can replicate a drink for you."

"Water would be good, please," she replied as she stepped inside, then moved to a nearby vacant chair and sat down. "How have you been recently? I came to check on you and see if your meetings with Starfleet have been going well. I have not been told much, which is a bit worrisome..."

"Oh, I'm quite fine," Amril told her, getting two glasses of water from the replicator and sitting down across from her. "Starfleet is most interested in what I am able to tell them about the Dominion. They do not all trust me, however. I'm sure they will try to keep me here, either to learn more or to keep me out of trouble." The idea seemed to amuse Amril, for he gave her a sly smile, "I never knew we vorta were such a terror to your people. I should think a Jem'Hadar would frighten you more."

It was a valid question and one which Lirha hadn't given much detailed thought to. "Well..." she rubbed her chin in thought, "I suppose it is more a matter of what the vorta represent. A Jem'Hadar is a soldier and nothing more. They are the pawns of the Dominion and serve only as weapons. Once a weapon loses its power, it stops being a threat. Vorta, on the other hand..." she tried to phrase her next statement as delicately as possible, "are the Changelings' administrators. You are much smarter than Jem'Hadar and your species was directly responsible for controlling and deploying the Dominion's soldiers and ships. So in a way, Vorta are sometimes seen as more dangerous because they are smart and wielded more power during the war. Enough power to order the killing of civilians on Cardassia Prime during the final days of the conflict."

"Very diplomatically put," Amril observed with a pleased smile, "I suppose that is part of being a captain in Starfleet. I do not think most fear vorta for what they can do, however; they are disturbed by vorta because of what we represent. A Starfleet officer sees me and sees his comrades killed in battle, civilians massacred, death, destruction, mayham, all at the hands of calm, cold, calculating masterminds of war and politics. I remind Starfleet officers of everything they hate, and that disturbs them." He smiled at Lirha, unbothered by his analysis of what people thought of him.

"I would not be too harsh on yourself, Mister Amril," Lirha grinned. "Not all officers feel that way and it has been over ten years since the war. But...there are a few for whom the wounds of battle are slow to heal, and even if they are accepting of you, they tend to remain cautious. Do not take it personally." She adjusted herself in her seat before continuing.

"Of course not, Captain," The vorta reassured her.

"Did Command inform you of your future aboard Galileo? Are they going to let you remain on board?" she proceeded to ask, curious as to whether or not she would need to find a new operations chief soon.

"They seem hesitant, but I would rather be with the Galileo than at Starfleet Headquarters. Perhaps a word or two from you would help?"

She nodded in agreement, realizing her word of recommendation might make the stubborn admirals more open to letting him serve on Galileo. "I will see what I can do...no promises," she winked in a teasing manner. "In the meantime, the rest of the crew is on leave. Do you have any plans for your vacation? Or is Starfleet going to keep you here at the HQ for the duration?"

"I suspect they will want to keep me here as long as possible," Amril said with a knowing smile, "However, I do manage to explore the planet when I am not needed. Under supervision, understandably. Do you have plans, Captain?"

"Yes, I am planning on visiting my homeworld after the ship refits are complete," she answered. "It has been quite a while since I have been there, and I am hoping my younger sister will enjoy the adventure along with me."

"Do we have our next mission?"

"Not that I am aware of," she replied with a shake of her head. "I can only assume Starfleet wants to complete our refits and personnel changes before we are assigned another deployment. If I hear anything, I will be sure to let all of the crew know." Lirha was rather grateful for some time off, and the notion of not having a pending mission looming over her head was very peaceful and calming.

"If you could arrange for me to receive the Galileo's new specifications, I can stay up to date in the event that I join you again when you depart."

That sounded like a good idea to Lirha. She wasn't exactly sure what type of security clearance he was now holding, but assuming it was of similar status to when he was a member of Galileo, she didn't see anything wrong with sharing some of the refit specifications with him. "I will have the information sent to your PADD," she replied.

"Well," Amril said, "I would very much like to spend time with you and the rest of the crew during your visit, if you happen to spend time on Earth."

She smiled politely but eventually shook her head lightly. "I am afraid I will only be here on Earth for another week or two. I am planning a trip to Rigel VII as soon as the major ship refits and repairs are completed. However, there are a few of our crew who will be hanging around Earth and enjoying their time here. Would you like me to put you in touch with them?" she offered.

"If you tell me who they are, I can contact them," Amril assured her, "Starfleet has not revoked my provisional rank, you know, though I have no authority off ship. I am allowed the same amenities as most guests of Earth." Amril smirked slightly, "I do believe the admirals don't know what to do with me."

"Most likely not," she agreed with a light laugh. "It is certainly not every day that we see Vorta on Earth, especially in a Starfleet uniform. Nevertheless, I will send the personnel information to your PADD and hopefully you can get in touch with some people. There are also a few new additions to Galileo's Operations department, and it would be prudent to check in with them."

"I will be sure too," Amril agreed.

Lirha drank the rest of her water then placed the glass down and rose from her seat. "I must tend to some other matters right now. It was good to see you and I am glad to hear the admiralty have not been too hard on you. I will be sure to check in with you again as we near the end of shore leave," she said as she briefly stretched and prepared to exit the room.

"I look forward to it," Amril assured her, rising and walking with her to the door. "Good Afternoon, Captain."

[OFF]

--

CDRE Lirha Saalm
Commanding Officer
USS Galileo

Lieutenant Amril
Chief Operations Officer
USS Galileo
played by Psylus Anon

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