Warrior's Mess (Part 3 of 10)

Posted on 30 Apr 2015 @ 6:38pm by Rear Admiral Lirha Saalm & Lieutenant Olsam Mott & Lieutenant Tuula Voutilainen M.D. & Lieutenant Benice Gyce Ph.D.

2,188 words; about a 11 minute read

Mission: Episode 08 - NIMBUS
Location: IKS CharghwI' - Deck 18, Dining Hall
Timeline: MD 01 - 2240 hrs

Previously, on Warrior's Mess (Part 2)...

"Delicious, isn't it!" exclaimed Tuula as she grabbed another piece to pop in her mouth. "I like how they--" She froze mid-sentence as someone not too far from the entrance caught her attention. "Oh! Olsam's here! I have to talk to him; how do I look?"

Jaana just stared at her sister. "Well, for starters, that luminescent hair dye you used makes it look like you shampoo with radioactive waste. I don't know what is going on with your eye shadow, and your breath reeks of booze and raw octopus. Though, knowing Olsam, he may find that attractive."

"Excellent." I'll meet you back here in a bit, replied Tuula, quickly turning and pushing herself towards the newly arrived Bolian, leaving the rest of the octopus tentacle in front of her decidedly unenthusiastic sister.

And Now, the Continuation...

[ON]

Olsam spotted Tuula and lit up at seeing a familiar face. He gave an enthusiastic wave and made his way through the crowd like a bull in a china shop. "Tuula! Oh. Tuula." The look on his face dimmed considerably and he leaned down to her, speaking quietly out of the side of his mouth. "Your hair is glowing. Are you feeling okay? Do you have Verdenian hair lice? Oceolon slugworms? Denebian brain fever?"

"No, no, of course not," replied Tuula, flicking a lock of hair to the side. As she did so, she adjusted her posture, leaning forward and arching her back slightly to emphasize her chest. "It's bioluminescent hair dye. It goes well with my eyeshadow, don't you think?" Catching Olsam's gase, she looked up at him longingly and smiled.

Olsam's eyes narrowed at her as he kneeled down to get at eye height with her, wobbling as he did so. He brought his hands up to either one of her cheeks and ran his thumbs just below the eye shadow, keeping eye contact the whole time. He leaned ever closer to her, inches from her face, and then suddenly let go of her and stepped back. "Whew. I thought I saw an Idanian mindworm in your eye, I thought it might be responsible for your hair and the discoloration under your eyes. Turns out, it's just cosmetics. You're healthy, Tuula, congratulations. Oh! And yes. It looks lovely, very professional. Did someone on the ship do it for you?"

Tuula tried to remain calm as Olsam examined her eyes. His touch was so soft and sensual that it took all of her restraint to stop herself from wrapping her arms around him and forcing herself upon him right then and there. "I had a little help from Sigrid, from the science department. I'm glad you like it," she added in a tone which was decidedly sultry, before reaching for the zipper on the front of her dress uniform. "Olsam, is it hot in here or is it just me?"

"It's hot in here," Olsam said, almost a whine. It was always hot on Klingon ships. They were such a discourteous people that they could never seem to be bothered to lower the thermostat a bit, and given how much extra "insulation" he was carrying around it was almost insufferable. He noticed she was having a little trouble with the zipper so he swatted at her hands to clear the way and proceeded to unzip the dress for her. At first it went down entirely too far, so he zipped it back up. Again, too far, so down it went again. Finally after three or four tries he seemed to find a happy medium and withdrew his hands. "There. Maximum airflow while maintaining personal dignity. You sure do look flushed... Are you sure you're okay?"

"I'm feeling better than ever," replied Tuula, as she reached into her purse and 'accidentally' dropped a tube of lipstick onto the floor. "Oh, silly me," she said, giggling slightly. "Allow me to get that."

As she leaned forward to retrieve the lipstick, she paused for a moment mid-reach and smiled up at Olsam. From his vantage point, Olsam had quite the view of her tattooed chest.

As she placed her lipstick back in her purse, she looked back up at Olsam. "Though, I suppose I could use a 'physical.' Do you make house calls, doctor?"

"Sure," Olsam said, shrugging. It was, of course, standard procedure for doctors to give one another physicals in accordance with Starfleet regulations. Dr. Allyndra had been kind enough to extend the courtesy to him, although they'd done it in Sickbay, though he didn't see why they couldn't do it in Tuula's quarters. "Do you need a gynecological examination, as well? I can't recall from your personnel file if you're up to date... I'll need to bring my equipment if you do."

"That might be a good idea," replied Tuula, barely able to contain her excitement. "Don't worry about 'equipment' though; I have plenty of toys in my quarters."

Olsam's brow drew together for just a moment, but he let the comment pass. Some ladies were very particular about the sort of examinations they received, and while the antique equipment Tuula had was...well, antique...it was nonetheless very thorough. And when it came to gynecology, it was always best to be thorough.

Lirha had wandered around the buffet table on her own for a while, mostly observing her own Starfleet crews and their interactions with the Klingons. Strangely, she also found herself noting their food preferences and was rather surprised to see so many of them actually eating gagh and several other of the rare Klingon delicacies. Without vomiting. She was quite impressed, and it seemed her stereotypes of Humans were a bit off base which was a welcome delight. So far, things seemed to be progressing much more smoothly than the dinner with the Cardassians had several months ago.

Now, Lirha found herself in need of company and she had slowly begun to notice over the past few months that she'd become more and more isolated from the usual daily interactions with the crew. Most likely it was due to her rank and position which didn't often afford the opportunity for casual banter, and she was now beginning to feel a bit lonely.

Spotting Galileo's red-headed security investigations officer who had seemed to become the popular lady in the room, Lirha made her way over to her through the crowd and stopped to chat. "Lieutenant," she said with a welcoming smile. "Are you enjoying yourself?"

"I am, Admiral." Gyce was a bit curious for why the ship's mission advisor had singled her out. By her last account, Admiral Saalm was not entirely fond of her suggestions to lessen narcotic and stimulant abuse.

Still, who was she to carry a grudge. She smiled and stood up in respect to the flag office. "You are free to sit here, if that is your desire, Ma'am."

"Thank you," replied Saalm as she took the offered seat, then gestured for the lieutenant to sit down. All the pomp and circumstance for her rank still felt a bit strange to her, but such was life she supposed. She looked up at the brown-eyed Bajoran with her own warm eyes. "Is this...your first time around many Klingons?" she asked, trying to break the ice.

"Kosst no," Gyce laughed from what must of been an inside joke. "A few years back I and my partner worked a joint case with a pair of KDF Internal Security. Something I can't really get into, since that case is about to go to trial. But I stayed on one of these about two weeks. I take it you spent a lot of time around them, Admiral?"

Lirha's ears perked up at the mention of Klingon security and classified information. She was, of course, a former chief intelligence officer herself, and she had spent the better part of her old career engaging in juicy gossip. Unfortunately now wasn't the best time to pry considering the circumstances, and so she instead focused on the lieutenant's question.

"More than I care to admit," she answered with a subtle grin. "The Orion colonies were all once subjugates of the Klingon Empire, and even to this day they visit our worlds quite frequently to engage in business. Most of it illegal and one-sided, but they are a common sight. I was also raised aboard a trade freighter, so I have had my share of run-ins with them in a non-Star fleet capacity."

There was that knowing head bob of Gyce. Regrettably so. She understood far better than most what it felt like to be oppressed by another otherworldly power.

"It is good to see you found a way out of that situation, Admiral." Gyce meant it too. It was rare to see people come out of such hells almost unscathed.

"It was for the best," Lirha concurred. "Once the Dominion War broke out, the trade routes became unsecured and piracy was rampant...Starfleet had to commit all of their resources to the war effort and internal security became lax." She paused to look down at her bowl of wiggling gagh while she reflected on her youth and the death of her father at the hands of Nausicaan pirates. "At the height of the war, trading became so dangerous that my mother permanently resettled us on Earth. My sister and I spent the rest of our lives growing up in San Francisco."

"After the Occupation of Bajor, I went to Earth more or less to study law enforcement," Gyce admitted. "There wasn't anything left of my family's vineyards and my aunt and uncle were busy repairing a temple at the time, so it felt right for me to start over as well."

Lirha gave the Bajoran a sympathetic smile, one which she knew wasn't quite sufficient enough to convey her true feeling about the matter. She was quite aware of the many atrocities the Cardassians had committed during the occupation, but for now, she tried her best to be professional. "You seem to be doing well for yourself now. I think it was a good decision."

"Meh.. Your XO seemed to think it odd that I transferred out of an elite investigative unit and was sent here." Gyce took a small sip of her bloodwine, if only to be polite to her hostess. "But regardless of where assignments lead me to, I can't complain. If I do nothing else with my specialty here, I'm at least working the biggest social study of behaviors."

Cocking her head slightly to the side with a bit of inquisitiveness, Lirha wondered what the woman across from her thought of Galileo. "Are you enjoying your new assignment? I imagine it is a bit different from your past ones. The science vessel aspect."

"Not really," Gyce admitted. She knew there was a CoC and she was as a result, a bit apprehensive about talking about the issues and roadblocks the XO put up. Virtually preventing Gyce from investigating Seleya's true motives.

"Truth be told, Admiral... I knew this was not going to be anything like my last assignment. I imagine once I settle in, things will be less jaded from my perspective," Gyce admitted hopefully.

Smiling slightly, Lirha raised her silver mug of bloodwine towards the Bajoran in a half-cheers. "To settling in. It always comes easier than we think," she mused. "For better or for worse."

"I'll buy that," the Bajoran agreed as she raised her mug and then took another sip.

To Be Continued...

[OFF]

--

RADM Lirha Saalm
Commanding Officer
USS Atlas

CAPT Jonathan Holliday
Commanding Officer
USS Chronos

Ensign T'Vanna Murray
Chief of Operations
USS Aventia

Lieutenant j.g. Naois Mercy
Chief Medical Officer
USS Nautilus
[PNPC T'Vanna]

CPO Tyrion Faye
Intelligence Officer
USS Galileo
[PNPC T'Vanna]

Cadet SO Wintrow Paragon
Helmsman
USS Galileo
[PNPC T'Vanna]

Lieutenant JG Drusilla McCarthy
Assistant Chief Counsellor
USS Galileo

Lieutenant (JG) Tuula Voutilainen
Medical Officer
USS Galileo

Ensign K'os Beaumont
Assistant Chief Engineering Officer
USS Galileo

Lieutenant Commander Andreus Kohl
Executive Officer
USS Nautilus

LCDR Allyndra Warraquin
First Officer
USS Galileo

LTJG Luke Wyatt
Chief Security/Tactical Officer
USS Galileo

CPO Keval Grayson
Operations Officer
USS Galileo

LTJG Grayson Jones
Chief Engineering Officer
USS Galileo

LTJG Emmarie
Asst. Chief Operations Officer
USS Galileo

PO2 Eva Kovalev
Propulsion Specialist
USS Galileo
[PNPC Zhao]

LCDR Norvi Stace
Commanding Officer
USS Galileo

ENS Janna Voutilainen
Stellar Cartographer
USS Galileo

Lieutenant Olsam Mott, M.D.
Acting Chief Medical Officer
USS Galileo

Crewman Apprentice Sigrid Thelin
Scientist's Mate
USS Galileo
[PNPC K'os Beaumont]

LTJG Benice Gyce
Security Investigations Officer
USS Galileo

LCDR Dea Mialin
Commanding Officer
USS Aventia

LT Jared Nicholas
Linguist
USS Galileo

LT Min Zhao
Chief Operations Officer
USS Galileo

AMB Solene von Lanthen
Diplomat
USS Galileo
[PNPC Khnailmnae]

CDT Nesh Saalm
Scientist's Mate
USS Galileo
[PNPC Khnailmnae]

Arandon Khnailmnae
Botanist
USS Galileo

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