Infatuation

Posted on 16 Feb 2016 @ 2:34am by Rear Admiral Lirha Saalm & Lieutenant JG Kezmar Tsakti Ph.D

2,071 words; about a 10 minute read

Mission: Episode 10 - Symposium
Location: USS Galileo - Deck 2, Administrative Office
Timeline: MD 22 - 1630 hrs

[ON]

It was late afternoon and Lirha now found herself with little to do following the successful docking at Jupiter Station. Many of Galileo's crew had departed for a brief R&R, and the vessel had emptied out in a matter of only a couple hours. It seemed with good reason that the past experiences in the Mirror Universe had taken their toll on the officers and enlisted crew of the Nova-class, and the Orion sincerely hoped they would be able to unwind and enjoy some comfort before their next deployment.

The PADD sitting at the far end of the rear admiral's desk softly chirped to indicate an update, and she reached out with her green hand to procure the device and browse through the latest messages. There were several, apparently, and all of them pertained to new crew transfers who would be boarding the vessel within the next several days. Lirha scanned the small manifest to see if there were any intriguing additions, and of course, her eyes settled on a rather rare name which she presumed belonged to a member of the Selay race.

The Selay were not the most abundant of Starfleet crew members, for their induction to the UFP had only recently come in 2364. Lirha herself had never personally met one, and now she found herself intrigued and wanting to meet this new individual. She tapped a short communique into her device and sent a message to Tsakti's PADD instructing for him to report to her office, then leaned back in her plush desk chair and waited for a reply.

Kezmar had just finished checking in his belongings on arrival to the Galileo, strolling out of the cargo bay and into the hall. He had on his PADD the layout of the ship, which was luckily relatively uncomplicated due to its small size. He was planning to check into the research facilities, see if they were up to par. He had high expectations, considering Nova classes were designed specifically for research, and he was loath to be disappointed. But that would have to wait. Suddenly a notification appeared on his PADD, giving instructions to... was he reading this right? The Rear Admiral's Office.

Kezmar was visibly irked by this message. What does this bigwig want? Some of us have things to do. Kezmar wasn't even aware there was an admiral onboard, in hindsight he probably should've read the manifest more clearly. He would have much rather ignored it and continued to the labs, but he could hardly ignore the request of a flag officer. Sighing heavily, he made his way to the turbolifts, and headed up to the second deck where Lirha's office was located.

Straightening up at the door, the tall Selay straightened his teal collared jacket, preferring to look presentable to the Admira. Touching his forked tongue and shining the scales on his head, Kezmar tapped the door chime, waiting for a response.

"Enter!" called out Saalm from inside her quarters, who now looked towards the door with anticipation for her new guest. Instinctively, she tugged on the front of her uniform to smooth the red fabric down to her waist.

Once the doors slid open with a resounding hiss, in entered Kezmar, ducking to avoid hitting the threshold of the doorway. Looking around to get a feel of the room's layout, he quickly noticed the Orion woman in command red. He flicked his tongue in and out once, but then halted, his tongue giving him a whiff of Orion pheromones. He decided it best to not attempt to smell with his tongue for the duration of the meeting. Slowly raising his right hand into a halfhearted salute, Kezmar greeted Lirha with a "You requesssted to ssee me, ma'am?"

She looked up at the tall reptilian and smiled politely at the blue-collared creature. "Yes, Mister...Tsa-kti?" She tried to pronounce his name, hoping for the best. "Please, have a seat," she added, gesturing towards the vacant chair across from her desk.

Kezmar nodded, smoothly lowering himself down into the chair. His neutral expression softening into a small, half genuine smile. It was best to look at least somewhat optimistic to a superior officer. "Now, what iss it you called me in for, Admiral?"

Oh, just a chat about random things, she mused to herself in her head before answering out loud. "I see you have been assigned to Galileo's duty roster as our new assistant chief research officer," she began to explain. "I wanted to welcome you aboard and...get to know a little about you. I find that informal introductions tend to help build solidarity."

Just splendid, a meet and greet, Kezmar thought, resisting the urge to frown. Informality and socialization wasn't really his... cup of tea per se. Sighing, he dutifully replied "My name, asss you mosst likely know, iss Lieutenant Junior Grade Kezzzmar Tsssakti. I am twenty sseven years old, and I've sserved in Starfleet for five yearsss after graduating from the Academy, which is where I've ssspent most of my career. I have bachelorss in math and physicss, a masssterss in mathematical sscience, and a doctorate in quantum physicsss. I'm a well published resssearcher into the fabric of subspace. This iss my firssst sshipboard possting, asss well."

"I see. Your first starship posting?" It was usually an exciting time for crew members to finally be deployed aboard a starship, and so she smiled at that and nodded with understanding. "Congratulations. I hope it will be a fruitful adventure for you. Your academic history and experience is strong...are you looking forward to this deployment?"

The first thought that popped into his mind was a resounding No. He had a much cushier job at Daystrom, with even more advanced technical facilities and a hell of a lot more space than the Galileo. The only thing it had that was better than Daystrom was the arbitrary notion of 'adventure', though in Kezmar's mind adventure was dangerous and best left to more expendable personnel.

Trying to smile, but instead scrunching his face into an awkward grimace, Kezmar replied "It hass... it'sss pross and consss, Admiral. It is ssertainly a new exsssperiencsse."

"Yes, of course," said Saalm, "but hopefully an enjoyable experience?" She wasn't too adamant about have crew members aboard who didn't share some sense of enthusiasm for the rare opportunity to explore the cosmos, and aboard such a small starship, personal dissent had a nasty habit of manifesting itself sooner rather than later. "Starfleet does operate in space, after all..."

Kezmar's piercing, yellow eyes twitched angrily for a moment, though it was barely noticeable. Her last comment particularly had irked him. Who did she think he was, some sort of idiot? Moderately annoyed, Kezmar replied in a deadpan, cynical tone, "How very obssservant of you, Admiral. It iss quite clear to me now why you are sstationed on one of the fleet's premier research vesssselss."

She smiled, taking that as a compliment and feeling somewhat flattered. She reached up to push a stray lock of dark hair from her cheek before continuing. "Since this is your first time on a starship deployment, I assume this is also your first time aboard a Nova-class vessel?" she presumed. "I...hope you do not find it too cramped. You are a rather tall person and our accommodations are sadly confined and limited." How he would fit into a Type-9 shuttlecraft and feel comfortable, she didn't know, but perhaps his species had different standards of comfort.

Kezmar was taken aback for a moment, raising an eyebrow at her reaction. Was she as oblivious to his derision towards her as he thought, or just being diplomatic? Sighing under his breath, the Selay responded a bit more genially, "Yess, this is indeed my firsst time aboard the Nova classs. And it iss, mildly dissagreeable with my sstature, though there isn't much I can do, iss there?"

"I suppose not. We all must make due, after all," she replied with a small smirk before continuing on. "If I may ask, what has brought you from Selay to Starfleet service? There are not many of your kind who often enlist in the ranks of Federation starship service, and certainly not as many for my own kind as well. What is it about Starfleet which compelled you to this adventure?"

Kezmar shrugged noncommittally, his expression returning to neutrality. "Starfleet is one of the largesst ssscientific research organizationss in the galaxy. Asss ssomeone with a great interest in sscience, it would greatly assisst my career to sserve for a while in the Fleet. I make no effort to hide that I am neither a patriot nor a good ssssamaritan, I'm ssimply here to purssue my studiess."

"What is it you specialize in, exactly?" wondered Saalm out-loud. "I assume you have a specific area of study that you enjoy and can contribute to?" Most scientists she knew were versatile yet preferred to deal with specific concentrations and disciplines within the greater context.

Scratching his scaled chin thoughtfully, Kezmar paused for a moment to collect his own thoughts before answering "Ssssubssspaccsssse mechanicssss. Sspecifically the relationssshipss between warp fields and the integrity of ssubsspace layers. While technically a physssicist, my work is often abssstract and theoretical enough to be closer to pure mathematicss than applied physssics."

Subspace mechanics. Lirha remembered that mention from his stated academic publishings, but she herself knew very little about the subject aside from the basics taught at the Academy. It was impressive, nonetheless, and she nodded to convey her thoughts. "I think you have found the right posting, if that is the case. Much of the stellar science we conduct is very relevant to your work I would imagine."

Kezmar nodded in agreement, flicking his tongue in and out neutrally. "I would hope ssso, Admiral. It seemss your little ship iss more than meetsss the eye, I'll admit."

She smiled inside at the compliment. The Selay man had a way with his words which she found flattering. "Have you had a chance to get settled in your new quarters yet and meet some of our science staff?" she then asked.

Shaking his head, Kezmar replied "No, I plan to do ssso tomorrow and through the next week. I suppossse I sshould meet the Chief Ressearch Officer first?" At that point, Kezmar was about done for the day. He wasn't planning to have any more meetings until the next day, God forbid he have to talk to too many more people.

"I am sure Mister Idris would appreciate that. Perhaps you would like to join me afterwards for a drink and a bite to eat?" offered Lirha who seemed happy to continue speaking to the young Selay. "There is not much for the crew to do in the next few days. Would you like to tell me more about your homeworld?" Her bright green eyes sparkled with anticipation.

No. Under normal circumstances, that's what Kezmar would have said with no hesitation, in a dour, rejecting tone. But this woman... She brushed off all his almost deliberately rude mannerisms with ease. The more he implicated that he didn't really want to be assigned to this ship, the more she seemed to like him. It left Kezmar slightly incredulous, he needed to figure this woman out. More for his own curiousity than hers, he nodded, replying "Sssure, that workss for me. What time workss for you?"

"2130 this evening?" she offered with an inviting smile before lowering her voice as if to reveal an important secret. "We have a small bar and lounge on board that the crew is rather fond of. I hope to see you there. And if there is nothing else, you are dismissed. Welcome aboard, Mister Tsa-kti."

"Thanksssss, Admiral." Kezmar's eyes lit up with a fiery intrigue for a moment, and for a fraction it appeared as if he almost smiled before the usual bad-natured scowl returned to dominate his expression. Standing up from his chair, Kezmar turned towards the door and grumblingly added "I bid you good evening," as he slowly made his way towards the exit, careful not to hit his head on the way out.

[OFF]

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RADM Lirha Saalm
Mission Advisor
USS Galileo

LT(JG) Kezmar Tsakti
Assistant Chief Research Officer
USS Galileo

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