The Visitor

Posted on 31 Oct 2017 @ 6:36pm by Petty Officer 3rd Class Constantin Vansen & Rear Admiral Lirha Saalm

2,578 words; about a 13 minute read

Mission: Episode 15 - Emanation
Location: Earth - Australia, Perth, Penal Colony
Timeline: MD 51, 1542 hrs

[ON]

The woman frowned slightly as she looked around penal colony. So basically, the only reason ever to go to Australia would be because Lirha Saalm was there. Still. A good enough reason for the shuttle flight over. Despite being a short and slender thing, the woman seemed to have little care about that. Or the fact that the boots she wore had high heels. She wore a tight top with a jacket over it and red jeans so tight it was almost as if they were painted on her. She wore her dark hair in a tight pony tail, red streaks showing that matched the top she wore. Her waist, already a tiny thing, was shown off with a wide black belt. The face was youthful. Young. She looked young, like a teenage girl rather than a woman, her eyes done with black, her lips ruby red. She flashed a quick smile at the burly guard, giving a quick but playful salute. "Visitor for Lirha Saalm," she said before taking a PADD and offering it over.

The man grunted and took it, reading over it. "Lieutenant Junior Grade Aria Rice...Security?" he asked the last as a question and looked down at her, raising an eyebrow over steely blue eyes.

"Yep. That's me. USS Saratoga," Aria said and smiled, lifting the box. "With cookies. Scan them, scan me, take one if you want to and let me see Saalm."

He grunted and nodded weakly, motioning her through. He scanned her and the cookies, just letting the computer come up with the results. "Chocolate chip?"

"Double," Aria said and opened the box, offering him one. "And nothing sharp on me. Promise."

The man nodded weakly before he tapped his badge. "Call Saalm to a room, I got a visitor for her."

The walk down the corridor seemed to drag on forever, the only real noise in Aria's ears the sound of her steps. She bit her lip, worrying it before she reached to check that the pony tail was still high and tight. She had missed Lirha. Really missed her. After her transfer from the Galileo, it hadn't been the best of times. She had missed the crew, missed her friend...and yet, it happened in Starfleet. So she had missed when everything hit the fan, safely away on the Saratoga, which she did like but she was a heavy old thing. When she stood outside the door, Aria waited a second before entering, looking around for a moment. No Lirha yet. She smiled weakly and put the box down, uncovering it before she sat down, cross-legged, on the table. Waiting.

The visitor call had been a surprise to Saalm. It wasn't the first one she'd received since she'd been incarcerated, but after being told who it was, she'd been awash with anticipation. Aria Rice was one of her former officers in a life that seemed so distant now, but the Orion had nothing but fond memories for the petite bundle of trouble.

The visiting room's door in the penal colony swished open and in stepped Lirha with an escort of two guards. She was dressed in a grimy-stained loose gray jumpsuit and slowed her step as she looked around. It didn't take her long to spot the dark-haired Human woman, and she walked over to her and took a seat at the table. "...Aria. Well, hello again," she said then offered a small smile to her.

Aria looked at the guards before she looked at Lirha. Without hesitation she shifted on the table to her hands and knees, leaning close and kissing her gently on the lips. "Hello Lirha," she said, her blue eyes gentle. "I brought cookies." She slid off the table and into the chair, pushing the box to her. "Experience tells me that chocolate chip cookies cures everything bad, if only for a few minutes." Lirha looked beautiful. Even rough like this, with the diry, loose clothes...she looked beautiful.

Saalm was caught off guard by the kiss, but it felt good. Strange in a way, considering she hadn't seen or heard from the young woman in almost two years, but it felt natural. Her smile grew as she watched Aria sit down, and then she looked at the gift box she'd brought. Her favorite Earth confections.

"Aria... What are you doing here? How did you find me?"

Aria gave a small shrug, her blue eyes shining with warmth. "What, you think that we don't get scuttlebutt on a patrol ship? I heard about the Gally and got concerned. So I pulled some favours. And I got told you were here. So I took myself a little sabbatical. Decided to see you," she said and looked down at her hands, spinning a thumb ring around. "Like I said. Was concerned. I always thought I'd somehow get transferred back to the Galileo and serve under you again. Didn't happen so I decided to take action." She met Lirha's eyes, holding them firmly. "Because I missed you."

News of Galileo's demise had certainly reached out to the corners of the Federation over the past three months. But it was surprising for Lirha to learn that word of her trial had spread so quickly. How long had it been since she'd been sentenced...five weeks? Eight? Time seemed to slow down in lockup and the Orion wasn't sure anymore. But did it really matter?

Lirha caught a whiff of the chocolate chip cookie scent and her mouth moistened. "I missed you too," she said, looking back into the other woman's blue eyes.

"Good. Knew I was unforgettable!" Aria kicked her legs and smiled, reaching out to touch her hand. She watched her, taking in her features before she looked down at their joined hands. "Lirha. Anything you need, tell me. I want to help." And she did. She really wanted to help in any way she could. Because Lirha would always hold a special place in her heart.

It sounded like a genuine offer, but Saalm wasn't sure there was much the junior officer could do. She also didn't want Aria to worry too much -- as bad as prison life seemed, Starfleet's facilities had far superior conditions to those on her homeworld. "I think your visit has been quite enough, so far," she replied with a small grin. "How did you really find me? What starship are you now serving on?"

Aria shifted uncomfortably for a moment, her face in clear struggle with her thoughts as she considered how to best put this. "I am serving on the USS Saratoga. She's a heavy thing that can take a lot of hits, so we are on border patrol. Been doing that since I left the Gally. As to how I found you?" she met her eyes again and smiled weakly. "An acquaintance in Starfleet Intelligence sent me a message. You remember her. Markos. Well...it was enough for me to ask my Captain for leave. And my Captain, she said it was no problem."

"I suppose she always did have a prying mind. And connections," Saalm thoughtfully replied as she recalled the former Intelligence officer who'd once served under her. It made sense that a woman with her networking infrastructure would have found out about her trial. "Who is your captain? I don't know many that would let one of their officers request leave during a deployment."

"Captain Rosalyn van Ross," Aria said and smiled gently, shaking her head. "Nowhere as good looking at you and mouth of a sailor on the quiet." She raised an eyebrow as she watched Lirha, smiling gently. "Anyway. That is how I am here. Now." And for Aria that was enough. She was here, Lirha was here and she was happy with that. If she could help her, even just be talking.

"I suppose this isn't my most flattering moment," the Orion motioned to her drab-colored garments and the walls and ceilings of the visiting room, "but I don't get many visitors. It's usually 'Saalm clean this, fix that relay conduit, scrub that replicator'. But maybe I've earned it. I never really was Starfleet's model officer." She forced a weak smile.

"I don't know...it is never the 'model officers' that changes the universe," Aria said lightly as she watched her. "You kept us all sane through Hell and back. Trust me, serving under you with some of the things we went through, I am flying through the random battles with smuggling ships, angry people and random abuse thrown at me from people whose ships I'm searching..." she grinned suddenly, eyes shining. "Do you think Captain Kirk was a model officer? I mean, really? The model officers are nothing. It's the renegades that change the universe." She realised she was repeating herself and shut up, chuckling weakly.

Saalm scoffed and rolled her eyes at the mention of the infamous Starfleet captain. "Kirk?" she repeated. "He was a relic from a different age. He was not an explorer...not a true one."

"Okay," Aria laughed warmly as she leant closer. "How about...Admiral Janeway?" she asked as she winked. "Not conventional at all in the end, was she?" she sat back, self-satisfied, oddly enough fallen into the old pattern of playfulness she had developed with Lirha.

"No, I suppose she wasn't." Janeway's journeys had been the product of unorthodox and often dire circumstances, the likes of which most captains and crews never had to face. "Somehow I have a hard time imagining her being relegated to a facility like this," Lirha added.

"I don't know..." Aria smiled gently and looked down, considering her words carefully. "She always struck me as a woman who would do anything for her crew...just like someone else I know."

Anything was right, Saalm agreed. "Like making alliances with the Borg and destabilizing an entire quadrant?" Despite Janeway's historic triumphs in the face of adversity, there were some -- including Saalm -- who thought her actions lacked foresight. But she didn't want to debate the merits of the famous admiral, and she knew Rice was just trying to help. "I'm sorry, I know you meant it as a compliment."

"I did...but you're not really seeing beyond this moment," Aria said softly, not a criticism, just a fact. She reached out and took her hand to just hold. "What can I do to help, Lirha? I mean...really help."

Saalm shrugged. How could Aria really help? "I don't think there is anything you can do...aside from visiting me, which has been nice. I've been tried and convicted by Starfleet's high court and I don't think there's much that anyone can do." It was the sad truth of the matter and one Lirha'd come to terms with over the past several weeks.

"Yeah, well...they're all pricks anyway," Aria said with a wave of her hand. "You know, Lirha...I had it all planned before I came here." She smiled to herself, kicking her legs as she let out a shaky breath. "Take some equipment with me, a few chosen people. Would be easy enough really. When did the guards last see any action. So...get a small riot going, get you out of here...hit one of the independent space stations, get yourself a ship..." and Aria sighed, shrugging. "But I know you would never go for it so it just remains a fantasy in my head. The great escape plan."

It sounded ambitious for a such a facility at the heart of the Federation, but Lirha liked it. She couldn't help but laugh a bit and shake her head. "I'm sure it would have been a magnificent escape. But," she paused and shook her head, "I don't want to become a fugitive and have that cloud follow me for the rest of my life," she tried to explain. "My sentence is five years with a parole option in two-and-a-half...it could be worse."

"Mm...and will they let you serve once you have been released?" Aria asked softly, watching her for a long moment. "Because they should. You're damned good at what you do." And she believed that with all she was.

Saalm shook her head and sighed with disappointment. "No. I'm to be deported back to the Orion colonies," she revealed. At least they hadn't threatened Nesh or Aila's citizenship, and that was what she privately cared about the most.

Aria frowned at that before she nodded weakly. "This is all so messed up," she finally said, exhaling with annoyance as she stood. "I mean, you were the greatest Captain I ever served under. You got your people through so much and this is what Starfleet goes? Idiots..." she huffed and put her hands on her hips, frowning.

With a bashful smile, Lirha offered her thanks to Rice with a soft squeeze of her hand. "Thank you, Aria. That means more than you know." However casual the compliment might have been, she took it to heart and helped remind herself that she still did have friends. "Being a captain is sometimes as political as it is operational. We all have to answer to someone in Starfleet, after all." She then paused and inquired about Rice's posting.

"Do you like your new captain?" Saalm was unfamiliar with Saratoga's most recent captain and wondered who it was.

Aria looked at her with surprise about the question before she relaxed her shoulders. She took her hand properly, shrugging. "She's alright. Not as smart as you," she met Lirha's eyes before chuckling. "She runs a tight ship. Not afraid to let her hair down now and then...figurative, she has it shaven close to her head. She plays the guitar sometimes. Once, on the beta shift, she turned on a ship wide announcement and played us some blues. Because 'it's that sort of day on the 'toga. I don't see her often though, I tend to stay away from the bridge. I go on the bordings though. Lead the team and check out the manifests and all that of suspected smugglers."

"Any good stories so far?" Saalm asked, wanting to know some of the gossip to cheer her mind up.

"Well..." Aria's lips curled into a smile and she moved close to sit with Lirha. "Let me tell you about this small ship we got sent to...this guy, he was wearing all leather. A Terran. He gave us a false named and only responded to the false name..." she started, leaning closer to whisper the dirty bits of all the innuendos and all the illegal goods they found that was on its way to Risa.

Lirha listened to the story and the details of the adventure. In a strange way, it was that sort of excitement she missed the most about Starfleet. "So you slept with him?" she finally asked at the end, wanting to know the juiciest of gossip.

Aria raised an eyebrow before she bit her lip and gave a small nod. "I have always had a soft spot for pirates," she said playfully. "And he was...tall and...strong. Could put me over his shoulder like a caveman if he wanted to!"

"Well then...tell me all about it," the Orion grinned as she leaned close.

[OFF]

--

Lirha Saalm
Prisoner 29-388-290

&

Lieutenant Junior Grade Aria Rice
Security Officer
USS Saratoga

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