Head First

Posted on 28 May 2018 @ 6:48pm by Rear Admiral Lirha Saalm & Petty Officer 3rd Class Jeysa Zeror

2,136 words; about a 11 minute read

Mission: Episode 15 - Emanation
Location: Rigel II - Avondale Production Facility Administrative Complex
Timeline: MD 102, 1800 hrs

[ON]

"Excuse me." Jeysa said to what looked like a receptionist. "I was given this Padd with orders to report here." She handed the Padd over.

The young man took the Padd and had a quick look through it. "Petty Officer Zeror..... please go and sit over there." He motioned with the Padd. "Someone will call for you when they're ready."

"Thank you." Jeysa said and headed for the area he'd pointed to which turned out to be a waiting room. She was the only one in there but as she waited to be called three more people; two Humans and a Bajoran entered and sat down.

The wait wasn't long before the door to the private office corridor swished open and out stepped a senior Andorian yeoman. His blue antennae curled inward as he frowned and looked around the lobby before setting his sights on a Trill woman with long blonde hair. "Zeror?"

"Yes? That's me." Jeysa replied, she stood up and took a few steps towards the Andorian.

"Follow me," the man instructed. He paused only for a short moment to allow the woman to catch up, then took the lead and walked down the secured corridor until they both came to a stop at the end of the hallway in front of the last row of doors. The yeoman reached out, activated the chime on the appropriate door's keypad, then spoke into the comm. "Captain, your 1800 is here. Petty Officer 3rd Class Zeror.

"Enter," came the reply of the woman inside, then the door swished open to allow her to enter.

Inside the small administrative chamber, Captain Lirha Saalm was seated behind her desk with her eyes locked on a PADD in her hand. She was busy typing away and inputting several pieces of information into the small display, and she only looked up briefly to take sight of the new red-collared arrival.

Jeysa almost froze with nerves, she hadn't expected to be meeting the Captain directly one on one. She took a few steps forward and immediately relaxed when she saw that someone had done their research on her skills; as an Orion sat before her and a very hot one at that. She came to attention. "Petty Officer Zeror reporting Sir."

The captain quickly finished her work then set the PADD down, looked up at the young woman, and smiled. "Hello, petty officer. I'm Captain Saalm. Take a seat." The female yeoman was taller than Saalm had imagined, and her long blonde hair contrasted sharply against the rows of spots along her cheeks and neck. She was an attractive young Trill with bright blue eyes and she appeared to have an athletic build hidden beneath her uniform. "I see you made it on time," Saalm added after a quick glance at the chronometer. "Punctuality is good for a yeoman," she then complimented.

"Thank you Captain." Jeysa said and sat down. "I have always been a good time keeper." She remarked.

"I'm glad. Are you a good record keeper as well?" the captain asked, diving right into the initial stages of the soon-to-be-yeoman's onboarding interview.

"Yes." Jeysa replied nodding firmly. "Record keeping was a main task for me as aide to the federation ambassador on Orion."

"Oh? You were stationed here in this system on Rigel VII?" Saalm hadn't fully reviewed the yeoman's service record yet but had noted the woman had prior experience in both Orion culture and linguistics -- the specifics of which, however, were still unknown to her.

"I have spent several years around this system with the ambassador." Jeysa replied "I found the Orion culture and their people very fascinating" She spoke in perfectly fluent Orion.

It was an unexpected yet pleasant surprise for the green-skinned captain to hear her native tongue being spoken without the universal translator dumbing down the language. "So you have picked up our language?," Saalm replied with a small smile, now speaking in her homeworld's native tongue. "How long did it take? And what makes us so...interesting?" she then wondered out loud.

"I was mostly fluent in the language after college on Trill, then I got to practise it more and more with the ambassador." Jeysa paused for a moment "And your culture is interesting in a few ways, like so much of what you do is considered criminal or illegal but you've somehow convinced the galaxy to let you get away with most of it."

She paused again a little uncertain that in present company if she should say what was in her head, eventually she decided to go for it. "And Orion women are so unbelievably attractive."

Saalm frowned and tilted her head to the side with curiosity. She wasn't quite sure what to make of the young woman's comments, specifically the insinuation of widespread criminality among her people. The latter comment about Orion attractiveness was unfortunately overshadowed by the former. "What exactly is it we do that is so widespread and illegal?" she then asked in an even-toned voice.

"A significant part of the economy is from the slave trade, piracy, smuggling though many don't see that as illegal." Jeysa replied, she noticed the change in Lirha's expression and thought she should have chosen her original comments a little better.

Saalm smirked at that statement and quickly dismissed it as ignorant waste. "Piracy and smuggling? That is how you refer to the Orion trade industry?" she replied, her eyes narrowing. "The Orion Empire has no membership in the UFP. You will forgive me, of course, if I remind you that my people -- and billions of others who remain independent in the quadrant -- don't live under UFP oversight. The Colonies are a free society to be subjugate to no one," she explained with reserved passion and speaking in Standard once again.

"True." Jeysa said switching back to standard herself. "I do not tar all Orions with the same brush though, my time with the ambassador showed that they're not all bad. They're loyal to their friends and family, mostly charming and incredible negotiators."

She has much to learn, the captain privately thought to herself. She hadn't expected the junior yeoman to enter her office and state her personal opinions of Orion society and culture, but she supposed it was prudent to occasionally hear an unfiltered perception of her species from an outsider -- if for no other reason than to take note of the types of prejudice she might encounter as she traveled the stars.

"Well. We can discuss the merits of Orion civilization at a different time," she decided out-loud, then decided to return to the business at hand. "In the meantime, tell me what brings you to Galileo."

"I had gotten a little bored with the diplomatic corps." Jeysa said, "I had kind of hoped to be going around the galaxy with the ambassador, not planet bound here, I wanted to see the galaxy."

"You'll certainly get that chance," the captain grinned. Perhaps more than any other available assignment, the new Galileo would soon be warping to the farthest reaches of Federation space. "For three years we will be far away from the core systems. What is the longest you've been on deployment before?"

Jeysa did some quick maths in her head. "I had been with the diplomatic corps for a little over three years. Most of that in Orion space."

"So this will be your first starship assignment?" Saalm then asked. She was unsure how much the young woman had traveled during that period versus being stationed planet-side.

"My first true assignment yes." Jeysa replied. "I was....directed to the diplomatic corps straight out of enlisted camp, the most ship time I've had was part of a training cruise with the officer cadets."

Saalm leaned back in her chair and regarded the attractive woman with more curiosity. "I see. And have you prepared for this? To be away from your friends and family for such a long time and to live in the confinement of a starship?"

"Never had too many friends, hard to keep them when you're such a distance away for such a long time." Jeysa told Lirha. "As for my family, they didn't like my decision to leave Trill too much so I don't talk to them very often. Based on that I think I'll be ok." She gave the slightest smile though she did certainly think getting used to a small starship would take some time.

The captain returned the smile with an understanding one of her own. She knew people came from different circumstances and had different relationships with their kin, and she could never be one to judge. "Perhaps this will be a chance for you to make a new family? Starship crews are often very close and intimate with each other. There are few secrets and we all look after each other on a daily basis."

"I hope that will be the case." Jeysa said. "It will be good to meet new people."

"It is fun," Saalm agreed. "And what about your career?" she transitioned along a similar line of thinking. "What do you eventually want to do in Starfleet and where do you see yourself at the end of this assignment?"

Jeysa took a few moments to come up with a response. "Truth be told I am not sure. My skill set it a little limited right now."

Crossing her legs beneath the table, Saalm pondered how best to rephrase the question in a more casual and less specific manner. "If I were to suddenly offer you any position or posting in Starfleet, what would you choose?"

"An explorer." Jeysa said after some more pondering. "Somewhere out on the fringes of Federation space, meeting new species and learning about them." She knew that it sounded like she'd just reeled off the fundamentals of the Federation but that was her choice.

It wasn't the most descriptive ambition, but the captain assumed she hadn't quite narrowed down a line of work yet. Yeomen usually requested their profession because of the fast-track to command, and maybe that was what the young woman was hinting at. "Well, there's still time to figure it out," she replied to the Trill with a nonchalant gesture. "Exploration can take many forms, and one doesn't necessarily need a starship for many of them. Figuring out what we want to do in life is part of the journey."

Jeysa nodded. "Hopefully this assignment will be a major part of the journey for me." She hoped she'd regained the Captains good side after her earlier comments about Orions.

"Good." Saalm smiled. "I hope so. When was the last time you had a full physical done?" It didn't take the captain long to return to the subject of duty, for it was the true reason they were both here.

"Maybe... six months ago, I am not quite sure." Jeysa replied.

Saalm could look it up in the petty officer's records if she needed to, but if it'd only been that short of an amount of time, there was probably no need for another evaluation before she came aboard. "We can worry about it later. You look fit enough," she complimented with a thoughtful gaze over the tall blonde's body. "Do you have any dependents? Family or pets that you will be bringing on board?"

Jeysa shook her head. "No Sir, just myself and a bag of stuff."

"Good. Well, you can report for duty as Galileo's yeoman. Congratulations, Miss Zeror," the captain decided with finality. She liked the young Trill woman in front of her and hoped she could be a mentor to her in time. A 'life coach', of sorts, as the Humans liked to say. Rising from her seat, she reached out with her green hand to offer it to the petty officer.

Standing up as well Jeysa took Lirha's hand and shook it. "Thank you Captain." She said, the excitement on her face was clear to see.

After shaking Zeror's hand, Saalm reached down into one of her desk's drawers to retrieve several items for her new assistant. "You'll need these to board the ship. She's still docked for now so there's still limited access. But you should be able to move in," the captain explained while offering a new commbadge and Starfleet ID card to the yeoman. "Dismissed."

"Aye Sir." Jeysa took the items and held them by her side, she came to attention again for a moment before turning to leave.

[OFF]

--

CAPT Lirha Saalm
Commanding Officer
USS Galileo-A

Petty Officer Zeror
Captain's Yeoman
USS Galileo-A
[PNPC Mimi]

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