'Round About Midnight

Posted on 22 Mar 2015 @ 8:16pm by Rear Admiral Lirha Saalm & Petty Officer 1st Class Siren Hex Saalm & Lieutenant Asahi Kita

1,803 words; about a 9 minute read

Mission: Episode 08 - NIMBUS
Location: USS Atlas - Deck 2, VIP Quarters
Timeline: MD -01 - 0030 hrs

[ON]

Tossing and turning recklessly in bed, Lirha let out an exasperated sigh and threw one of her pillows off the side of the mattress and onto the floor. It was late in the evening but she couldn't get to sleep for the life of her, and instead of a peaceful rest, her thoughts kept fluttering back to Siren. For some reason -- despite only being away from her for a couple days -- she missed her dearly, and it was very uncomfortable for the Orion to be sleeping alone without her.

In the darkness, Lirha slowly got up and grabbed a nearby LCARS laptop then brought it back to bed with her and activated the device. "Computer," she began softly, "open a comm channel to USS Galileo, Deck 1, room 01-0602," she instructed, then waited patiently for someone to answer.

"Hello...?" Siren answered after only a moment, leaning down over the desk to watch the screen from where she'd just been taking her jacket off from her shift. Her eyes shone and smile brightened when she saw who it was, sinking down into the seat at the desk to see her properly. "Lirha! Hell, it's quiet here without you...."

The Orion beamed with sleepy yet bright eyes at her wife through the screen. "It is quiet here too. I...missed you and could not sleep," she admitted somewhat sheepishly. "How have you been?"

"About the same," Siren rolled her eyes at herself, shaking her head gently as she leant back in the chair, getting comfortable with a gentle smile. "I have Belle and Snuffles to keep me company though. I think they miss you, Snuffles has been sulking..."

"Sulking?" Lirha asked with a bit of concern suddenly evident in her shadowed features. "Is he...okay? Have you been feeding him fresh meat and taking him to the holodeck? Did you brush his fur this morning? He did not eat Belle by accident, did he?" she began to ask, rattling off some the targ-care steps they'd been informed of when they purchased the baby creature.

"Yes, yes, yes!" Siren laughed warmly, shaking her head gently as she lifted her hand to reassure her. "Promise, lover. He's just...fussing around your side of the bed," she admitted, feeling silly for saying it out loud. "I know how he feels."

Sighing with a bit of relief, Lirha curled up against her bed's headrest and pulled the laptop close. Her next question was a bit unorthodox and would definitely violate some sort of protocol, but she couldn't resist asking. "Do you...want to come over to Atlas and spend the night with me? I can probably arrange it and get you back to Galileo in time for your shift tomorrow?" she suggested in a soft, inviting and sultry voice.

Siren watched with wide eyes, laughing warmly as she shook her head with disbelief. "We're at warp...isn't that....isn't that sort of dangerous? Like....atoms all over the galaxy dangerous...?" she smiled fondly all the same.

"I do not think so..." Lirha paused to reconsider and gave a slight shrug, "well, as long as the engineer is skilled...which Lieutenant Kita is. And I am sure he could make it happen. I am an admiral now, after all," she smiled back. Beaming while at warp definitely violated Starfleet protocol, but it wasn't a major violation in her mind.

Siren smiled warmly at how much thought Lirha gave to her. Even now they were married, it still caught her off guard now and then. That someone cared that much. That someone wanted to be with her that much. It was a feeling she loved but was still getting used to. She reached out, caressing a fingertip tenderly against the viewscreen, across Lirha's cheek. "Are you sure that it wouldn't cause a riot with everyone else wanting their lovers too?" she teased softly with a smile.

The thought had never crossed Lirha's mind, and strangely she didn't seem to care too much if it did. "It is late and I doubt very many people will notice," she answered with a casual and carefree shrug. "I will contact Lieutenant Kita and have him make preparations for your arrival. Say...in thirty minutes?"

"Sounds perfect, beautiful," she winked to her with a warm smile, blowing a kiss to her, already starting to stand up. "I'll be ready for you. Always am..."

Lirha grinned and gave her wife a playful wink before tapping the button on her laptop to end the communication. Her next move was to reach for her commbadge which was strategically placed on the nightstand next to her bed.

"Lieutenant Kita, this is Saalm," she said through the communicator. "I...require your brief assistance if you would be so kind."

The response that came from the other end sounded muffled, as if someone was speaking through multiple layers of pillows and blankets. "... What can I do for you, ma'am?"

"I need your assistance with a transporter sequence. Right now while at warp," she replied, hopefully letting her simple words speak for themselves before elaborating. From the sound of the young engineer over the comm, he appeared to be sleeping, and she felt bad she'd woken him. But, priorities were priorities, and hopefully the process of bringing Siren on board wouldn't last long or be too inconvenient for him.

"Assist-..." There was a long pause while Asahi rolled himself out of bed. "Is there a dignitary coming on board? I can be in the transporter room to punch it in in like... five minutes, ten if they want me more decent than my pajamas..."

A dignatary? Lirha thought to herself. Well, she supposed Siren was a dignitary of sorts; she certain was special and deserved the best treatment. "Yes, a dignitary is arriving from Galileo shortly. Ten minutes will be fine," she replied while starting to put on her own uniform and run a comb through her hair.

Asahi had found himself scrambling around for a light, or at least some article of clothing. "I'll try to look presentable. Meet you in the transporter room, ma'am."


Eleven Minutes Later...

Walking quickly down the corridor of Deck 4, Lirha turned the corner at a junction and immediately sighted the familiar entrance to Transporter Room 1. The door parted with a soft swish as she stepped through, and she was relieved to see Kita was already present and waiting for her. "Hello, lieutenant," she greeted.

"Ma'am." Asahi was as presentable as one would have expected someone who just rolled out of bed ten minutes prior. He was dressed in a slightly disheveled version of his normal uniform, hair completing the look. It was a miracle he managed to pin his pips onto the right collar, but it didn't deter him from setting the transporter platform up to receive their visitor. "We should be all set. I had whoever was working Gamma over on the Galileo to verify the connection. Wouldn't want anyone losing their molecules through warp!" Despite the lack of sleep, Asahi was as chipper as could be. "Everything is all set though, ma'am. We're just waiting on the Galileo to send our guest over."

The synchronization between both starships soon commenced, and with the help of Galileo's own transporter chief working diligently on their end, the risky transport process soon commenced.

"I'm confident our chief's punched in the right coordinates and code. I'll just have to make sure the stream stays stable." While hard at work on his end to keep the transwarp beaming process stabilized, Asahi hummed a little tune to himself, perfectly content. The air above the platform shimmered the moment he pressed the giant red light, blinking some unknown warning at him that he ignored. Soon, the 'dignitary' had arrived safely and soundly, despite the other ten warning bells and whistles that went off on the console. "And here we are ma'am, our dignitary has-... oh."

The moment Asahi laid eyes upon Siren, his smile disappeared, cheery disposition halted and realization washing over that the truth had been... fudged. "Oh I see." Had Lirha been a little more honest with him, Asahi would have likely been more receptive upon Siren's arrival. At this moment, however, the engineer felt a tad betrayed. "Miss Siren, I'm sure your molecules have righted themselves properly, but a transwarp beaming tends to be a little disorienting. The Atlas has a brilliant doctor aboard if anything seems amiss." Solemnly, he nodded to Lirha, severing the connection between ships and sending a message to the Galileo that their passenger had arrived safely. "Ma'am, if you'll excuse me, I have some sleep I have to be getting back to." Without another word, he stepped from the console, and left the room.

As soon as the doors were closed, Siren ran down the steps of the platform to get to Lirha, throwing caution to the wind over any side effects. "Miss Siren indeed...Mrs more like," she teased with a warm smile as she took hold of the fabric on the front of Lirha's uniform, using the grip to both tug Lirha against her and pull herself against her body, kissing her warmly.

Beaming with a bright smile, Lirha pressed herself firmly against Siren and happily returned a very deep and passionate kiss while tilting her head to the side to let her tongue lap warmly against her wife's. Her arms quickly wrapped around her and stroked her back and curvy hips for several long moments before she pulled back and took a much-needed breath of air. "Did you miss me?" she teased.

"Didn't you just feel it? What do you think?" Siren teased but with a fond smile as she nudged her nose softly to hers. "What did I do wrong? Being posted away from you so soon after the wedding feels like a cruel and unusual punishment," she whispered with a playful edge, but the sentiment was real.

"Mmm..." mumbled Lirha with her lips now nestled against Siren's neck where they began to gently kiss her sensitive skin. "Nothing wrong. It is Starfleet's fault." She pulled back and looked into Siren's blue eyes with a sensual expression, then reached down to take her hand and pull her towards the exit. "My quarters. Now."

"Mm," Siren quirked an eyebrow with a playful smile at the commanding edge, letting herself be led all too willingly away, having missed being so close to her new wife. "Yes, Ma'am...."

[OFF]

--

RADM Lirha Saalm
Commanding Officer
USS Atlas

Lieutenant Asahi Kita
Chief Engineering Officer / Acting Executive Officer
USS Galileo / USS Atlas

PO1 Siren Hex Saalm
Intelligence
USS Galileo
[PNPC Blake]

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