Green Women

Posted on 27 Feb 2012 @ 2:09pm by Rear Admiral Lirha Saalm & Nesh Saalm

2,263 words; about a 11 minute read

Mission: Episode 00 - Pre-Deployment
Location: Starfleet HQ, Lirha's Quarters
Timeline: MD 03 - 2030 hrs

[ON]

Despite still being somewhat early in the night, Lirha was exhausted. She had spent most of the afternoon sitting in her office conducting personnel interviews and reading over mountains of paperwork in order to prepare the Galileo for launch. When the sun had finally set about an hour ago, she had breathed a sigh of relief and packed her bags, returning to her quarters shortly afterwards.

Now, she sat on the bed in her room wearing a tight Starfleet tank-top and a pair of old athletic shorts. The Orion reached over to the desk next to her and grabbed the small, portable console and set it on her bed. She adjusted herself and laid down on her belly as she flipped the screen up and began to tap away at the communications screen. It had been several months since Lirha had spoken with anyone from home, and she was quite anxious to find out how her mother and sister were doing. It didn't take long for her to find her family's comm channel, and she pressed the transmit button to open a visual link to whoever was home. While she waited for someone to answer, she pushed a stray lock of dark hair from her eyes and tucked it behind her ear.

Nesh had been sitting at her desk attempting to avoid doing her school work. She hated school. Ok, it wasn't that she hated school she just didn't see the point. It was boring and lead to things like college or the Starfleet Academy. She wanted neither. A smile crossed her face as she need for a diversion presented itself in the form of an incoming communication. Excitement ran though her as her sister came into view on the screen. "Oh my god, Lirha. " she stared with a larger then life grin. "I was hoping you would call soon."

Lirha smiled back with bright eyes at the sight of her sister on the small screen. "Hi," she said in a soft voice as she took in Nesh's appearance. Although it had only been a few months since they had last spoken, she seemed to have grown up by a few years. Her normally long and curly black hair had been cut short around her chin and straightened, and her skin's natural eye shadow had finally developed. She looked more like a woman than the little girl Lirha was used to seeing. "It's good to see you...hope you weren't busy when I called?" she asked.

"No!" Nesh responded quickly. "Just trying to avoid doing my school work." she looked over her sister for a moment with a big smile. She had missed Lirha, more then she cared to admit on a normal day. "And don't go giving me the lecture about how important an education is to my future...I hear it constantly from mom." she rolled her eyes in remembrance of that exact conversation earlier in the day.

Lirha chuckled and stared back at her beautiful little sister. "Of course not, Nesh. You know, I wasn't very fond of school either when I was your age. Mom and I got into quite a few fights over the years... I'm sure she's told you about some of them, by now." she said with a smirk. "How is she, by the way?"

"Busy." Nesh responded easily. "She is still running that little shop down on Baxter. Business has been good, but we have dinner together every night." She fight back the loneliness that crept into her voice. She was happy for her mom and for Lirha, she really was. It didn't change the fact that she wanted to start living her life. "She misses you...she tells me I remind her of you a lot...and I mean A LOT." she laughed, "How are you? I heard you got your own ship command thingy."

"I'm okay," she answered with a sigh, then propped her head up with her hand under her chin. "I've been busy also... and yes, I've got my own 'ship command thingy'." she said with a light laugh. "It's called a starship, Nesh. The USS Galileo, to be exact. She's a small survey vessel and is just finishing construction here in San Francisco." she said, then picked up a PADD from her bed. She queued up a picture of a Nova Class ship, then transmitted the image to Nesh's console for her to look at. "What do you think?" Lirha asked, hoping for her sister's approval. She had the feeling that Nesh wasn't particularly fond of Starfleet, but Lirha had worked hard for her newest command and was proud of her accomplishments so far.

Nesh downloaded the photo and look over it quickly. As far as she was concerned the ships all look the same. "It's nice." she said with a smile towards her sister. "Survey vessel...that's pretty cool." she was glad that she wasn't on one of the more ominous sounding ones. "So since you are in San Fransisco.." She started as her tone turned a little more hopeful. "Does that mean you are going to get a chance to come see me? I mean us?"

"I wish I could, but I'm too busy right now with my duties." she answered apologetically, turning her eyes away from her sister for a moment. She knew Nesh wouldn't be very happy, considering they were in such close proximity to each other at the current moment.

A rather genius idea suddenly flashed through Lirha's mind and she looked back up at her sister with a hopeful smile. "Do you have any plans for tomorrow? Other than school?" she asked.

"I was going to go help mom at the shop since I don't have school tomorrow." Nesh started, their mother had wanted her to do more something more constructive then sitting at home talking with her friends. "She just wants to keep and eye on me...Why do you ask?" Her face curled up inquisitively as her mind began to wonder what her sisters intentions were.

"Do you want to come visit me at Starfleet HQ?" she proposed with a raised eyebrow. "I can pick you up in the morning and we can spend some time together during the day and later that night... I haven't seen you in so long, I really miss you." Lirha said softly with a smile. "You can tell mom that I kidnapped you." she said with a mischievous grin.

Nesh's smile soon matched Lirha's as the thought. "I would love that." She could think of nothing better then spending the day with her big sister. Lirha may not know it but Nesh idolized her. She hated that she was gone so much but she was grateful her big sister was so happy. "But we should at least tell Mom...after you come get me...I don't want her thinking I ran away again."

Lirha paused, then narrowed her eyes. "Ran away?" she asked in a cautious voice. "What did you do, Nesh?" she demanded in a sisterly manner.

Nesh had realized her mistake as soon as the words has left her lips. An uneasy almost guilty smile came to her face as she thought about playing it off. "A month a go...there was this boy." she started. She couldn't look at Lirha while she retold the story. "He had tickets to a concert and Mom wouldn't let me go since I had school the next day." She looked back up at the screen. "So she thought I was at school and I was really in Huntington Park with Markus." She shrugged, "Mom was pretty pissed...I just got ungrounded a few days ago."

Lirha sighed and shook her head in a disapproving manner. "Aren't you a little young to be running around with a boyfriend?" she said. The sentence was phrased as a question but Lirha didn't give her time to respond. "If I was mom, I'd be pissed too. What is it with you always pushing her and making her job tougher?" she asked, scolding her younger sister.

Nesh let out a huff at Lirha's comment. She shook her head for a moment before she looked her sister in the eyes. "You don't get to yell at me from a million miles away about what I should or shouldn't do with Mom. No offense Lirha but you aren't exactly around anymore...and you aren't my mother. Can't you just be my sister...for once!" She looked down at her hands in her lap once she had finished speaking. "He isn't my boyfriend." she mumbled.

"Listen, young lady," Lirha began in a firm tone which resembled that of their mother's, "I might not be mom but I still care about you just the same. I know I'm not around much and I'm sorry, but you know what my life is like..." she said, letting her voice trail off softly at the end. She didn't want to get upset with Nesh or give her a hard time, but she really did care about her.

"You're right..." Nesh started meekly. "I know exactly what your life is like." She finally looked up. "But have you ever thought as to what mine is like?" Just like her sister had before her, she didn't give her a chance to answer. "I am the one that sees how sad Mom is when she thinks no one is around. I am the one she holds on to so tightly because she doesn't hear from you or Livana for months." She shook her head slightly. "So yeah, I went to a concert with a friend even though mom told me no, and for one night...I got to be a normal kid." She felt for her mom and while her tone was harsh the statement held truth.

Lirha looked down and swallowed a lump in her throat. She knew her absence was probably tough on their mother but had never realized the extent until this moment. "I'll be right back." she whispered, then muted the screen as she slowly got up off her bed and walked to the sink in the bathroom. A flood of painful emotions swarmed through her head and it took her several moments to gather her composure. Swallowing a large glass of water, Lirha paused to look at herself in the mirror. Her eyes were red and wet, and she hastily wiped the tears from her face. She finally returned to her bed, un-muted the screen, and looked back at Nesh. "I'm sorry." she said quietly.

"I am too." Nesh said almost as quietly as Lirha. She raised a hand up to her cheek and wiped away the tears that was perched on her emerald cheek. She stayed quiet for what seemed like forever. Just staring at her hands. She finally looked up, "So...are you still going to come get me tomorrow? I promise to tell mom."

"Of course I will," she answered with a warm smile. "How does 0730 sound?" she asked, hoping that her sister would be awake and ready to go by then.

Nesh's sadness faded into a large smile. She was so relieved to not only get to see her sister but that she wasn't that mad at her. With a vigorous nod she finally replied. "I can be ready by then...and Lirha...thanks."

The captain winked at her younger sister, happy that she would be ready at the proposed time. "I can't wait to see you," she said softly and stared at Nesh through the screen, "You've grown up into a beautiful lady." she added, happy that she had received the better parts of the family genes. Lirha put two of her green fingers to her lips, kissed them, then pressed them against the screen for Nesh to touch.

Nesh's cheeks flushed a pale amber at her sisters compliment. She gave an embarrassed smile. She didn't say anything, but she did mimic her big sisters movement. Placing her fingers to her lips and then to the screen where her sister's were. "I love you ReeHee." Her lips curved into a genuine smile.

Lirha felt her heart melt after being called ReeHee. It was Nesh's pet name for her, first adopted when she was still a baby and could barely pronounce Lirha's name. "Love you too," she said, "Get some rest tonight because we have a busy and fun day ahead of us tomorrow. That's an order." she finished with a big smile.

Nesh put her hand together as if to clap but with the repetitive motion. She spoke with an excited nod, "I will...you get some rest too." With that the transmission was terminated. With a renewed gusto Nesh returned to her studies. It their mother was going to let her go tomorrow she would have to have proof she had finished her homework.

After the screen turned dark, Lirha closed her portable console and returned it to her nightstand. She rolled over in bed with a satisfied smile on her face and stared at the grey ceiling as she thought about what activities Nesh might enjoy while she was in San Francisco. The captain still had a full day of work ahead of her tomorrow, but she was confident she could make some arrangements to keep her sister happy and busy while she was stuck in the office during the day.

[OFF]

--

CMDR Lirha Saalm
Commanding Officer
USS Galileo

Nesh Saalm
Little Sister
NPC'd by Barel

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