Breaking the Routine

Posted on 13 Jul 2018 @ 10:26am by Lieutenant JG Rizil Chaya & Rear Admiral Lirha Saalm & Chief Warrant Officer 2 Oliver Sylver

2,221 words; about a 11 minute read

Mission: Episode 15 - Emanation
Location: Rigel II - Avondale Shipyards Administrative Complex, Gym
Timeline: MD 105, 0526 hrs

[ON]

The light thud of quickly repeating footsteps could be heard echoing across the walls of the shipyard complex's gymnasium. The hour was early and Gamma shift personnel were still finishing up their duty rotation, which meant the majority of the facility's personnel were either still in bed or slowly waking up. For Lirha Saalm, however, the quiet period during the early morning was soothing and relaxing, and she'd taken to getting her PT exercises in before the day started as opposed to in the early evening when the gym was crowded.

Alone in the workout room and occupying one of the treadmills in the corner, the Orion captain's dark ponytail bobbed from side to side with each hurried step while she continued to run at a good pace on the machine. A heavy sheen of sweat coated the woman's face, neck, and chest, and her emerald skin glistened under the lights. Her breathing was heavy yet fluid -- the result of having run almost five kilometers so far -- and her thighs burned from the endurance of the run. The small console attached to the treadmill in front of her showed fifteen more minutes left before she could take a break, and so she sucked up the discomfort and fatigue she was feeling in an attempt to push to the finish.

The doors to the gym slid open after another five minutes or so had passed and a young woman wearing a black tank-top and sweat pants bounced in, offering the Orion a smile and a wave. "Morning!" she said cheerfully as she headed to the back where a punching bag dangled from the ceiling. She began taping up her hands and took a swig of water, before setting it down on the bench. Her own hair was buzzed short, and she had three tattoos: two on the inside of her left forearm in illegible Cardassian script, and one large megaphone on her right bicep surrounded by stenciled Bajoran. She was a bit taller than average, and muscular, a sign that she spent a lot of time in places like this. "Whew, all right," she gave a couple practice jabs, circled the bag and struck out against the hard surface. Her d'ja pagh dangled from her ear as she swiveled to miss the bag swinging toward her. "How's it going?" she tossed over to Lirha. "I'm Chaya, by the way." She pronounced it khai-ya.

Lirha glanced down at the chronometer on the treadmill. What time was it? 0532 it read. Who was this new woman and why was she so chatty at an ungodly hour of the morning? The captain continued her run while her legs stretched out for every long pace of the jog. Turning her head, she took in the sight of the new arrival. "Lirha. Lirha Saalm," she replied in between breaths as she huffed during the final kilometer. "You're up early, no?"

"Yep!" Chaya replied cheerfully. "I'm a morning person. Plus, this place is always dead crowded in the afternoon. Lirha Saalm... oh, you're my CO! I mean, uh... sir. Ma'am. Captain." She saluted, even though they were indoors and she wasn't wearing a cover.

A wry smile tugged at the corner of the captain's gold lips. She shook her head to dismiss the formality that was being presented to her. "At ease, Miss Chaya," she replied with a friendly huff, still jogging. The Bajoran's mention of her assignment to Lirha's ship meant it could only be Galileo-A, and Saalm looked back over at the short-haired woman to try and place her face to one of the portraits she'd reviewed on the ship's manifest. "Lieutenant...Rizila?" she tried to recall from memory.

Oh, thank the Prophets. At the mention to be at ease, Chaya's whole posture relaxed marginally. "So close! It's Rizil," she smiled genuinely this time, less the awkward grimace of before. "How long have you been going at it?" she motioned to the treadmill, and gave a couple jabs of the punching bag for good measure.

The woman's enthusiasm and cheerful nature rubbed against the calm and quiet session she'd been having thus far. Saalm continued to focus on her pace while the soft thud of running steps continued. "Long enough," she plainly answered, not one for much chit chat at the moment. After a short ensuing silence, the captain continued with a followup question in between pants. "Did you just arrive here at the shipyards? I have not seen you before."

"I arrived about a week ago," Chaya answered, following a lead hand punch with a swift round-house and hammer fist once she spun all the way around. "Transferred from the Seine," she added, still smiling brightly.

"I see. And what brings you to my ship?" the captain then asked. More sweat was now dripping down from her forehead, and she reached up with the back of her hand to wipe it away while she continued to run.

"Just your run of the mill reassignment," Chaya answered. "I'm pretty stoked about it, though. The Galileo is unlike anything I've experienced so far. I'm looking forward to broadening my horizons, so to speak." She smiled sincerely as she spoke over her shoulder, before turning around to hit the bag with two consecutive jabs.

"It's not a run of the mill ship though...and your horizons will be very broad after serving on the Galileo," a voice said from the doorway. Oliver Sylver was dressed in comfortable workout clothes, looking at the two women with warmth. Lirha Saalm. Now it had been awhile since he had seen her. But he was glad to be serving under her again.

"Morning!" Chaya called out to the newcomer with just as much enthusiasm. She wiped her arm across her forehead and paused her workout to grab a towel, wiping off the sweat at the back of her neck. "Sounds like you're speaking from experience," she grinned at Oliver.

"Sort of...Oliver Sylver," he waved, because he didn't assume people shook hands. "Captain," he nodded to Lirha. He doubted she remembered him and he had done his onboarding interview with the XO.

Saalm took a quick glance over at the gym's entrance during her final kilometer to see what the new commotion was all about. "Hello, chief," replied Saalm in between huffs while she quickly recognized the newly-assigned conn officer. It seemed her once-private exercise session was now being invaded. "So what's your excuse for being here so early?" she interrogated.

"Enjoying my spare time, Captain," he said with a small smile, moving over to start stretching. "And trying to get my patterns to alpha for now. Trying being the operative word..." he looked Chaya and gave her a nod as well. He then looked over at Saalm again and grimaced. "I...I am not interrupting, am I? If I am, just say so, I'll do some running in the corridors instead."

Chaya smiled back at him in an attempt to be reassuring, focusing on the bag in front of her.

"No, not interrupting. I'm almost finished, actually," Saalm answered, now slowing to a light jogging pace during the final cooldown minutes of her exercise. "Have you been keeping up with your flight hours?" she then asked, hoping the chief was logging his required sorties to stay proficient at the conn.

"Yes ma'am," Oliver said with a warm smile and moved to one of the bars, rolling his shoulders. Might as well do some pull ups. Get himself going. "Love it too much not to log the required hours. Besides, I have not had many plans when I have been off duty, so flying was a natural thing to do."

"Very good." It was reassuring for Saalm to hear and she privately agreed the extended downtime was becoming a bit boring. "Miss Chaya is one of our new Security officers," the captain then added in an effort to introduce the two junior officers even more. "And Mister Oliver is one of my helmsmen," she said to the other woman. "He's been stationed aboard Galileo for...three years?" she wondered out loud, trying to recall his service record from memory.

"It's great to meet you, Mr. Sylver," Chaya held out her hand to the man with a bright smile on her face. "You can call me Chaya, or Miss Chaya if you really want to get fancy. Or, you know, Lieutenant Rizil, if we hate each other. I'm assuming we don't. We don't, right?" She consulted Lirha with an exaggerated side-eye, very much kidding around.

"Not yet," the captain replied with a sideways and subtle glance which portrayed the tiniest bit of mischief.

Oliver chuckled softly, shaking his head weakly. "I am sure we will get on well, ma'am," he told Chaya without any real hesitation.

"Mister Sylver has spent almost twenty years in Starfleet," Saalm recalled from memory in an attempt to shine a light on the mysterious conn officer. "I'm sure he and the other chief warrants have some...interesting stories to share around the mess hall."

"Oh, right on!" Chaya grinned. "I've been in the military more-or-less the same amount of time, but I've only been with the 'Fleet for eleven years. You'd better dish on those stories," she poked a finger at him playfully.

"Afraid my better stories are back from Marine training, if only because I was younger back then," Oliver said with a small smile before he glanced over at Lirha. "But get a few drink down me and I am sure I can find something suitable...although...you will make your own stories on the ship. The way most of us do."

"Oh, you betcha. Fortune favors the bold and all that," she gave a little fist pump. "Ha ha ha!" Chaya actually said the words ha. ha. ha. like, out loud, before pausing to consider. "No, that didn't land. Eh, you win some, you lose some."

He chuckled warmly at that before he moved to the bag she was using, but didn't touch it. It was her session and he'd be happy to offer any help in steadying the punching bag, but he didn't want to overstep either. "That's life," he said with a chuckle. "I am glad I popped in here, I usually tend to just run in the mornings."

The treadmill came to a stop and Saalm stepped off. She snatched a towel from the nearby rack and started to wipe the sweat from her forehead and arms. Apparently the warrant was also keen to do his exercising at the same hour as she and Rizil, which meant Saalm would need to find a new gym soon -- one that no one else was using. She was particular like that.

"I think my machine will welcome your presence," the captain said to Sylver in between sips of water from her bottle.

Oliver looked at her with surprise before he smiled warmly. "I..." he chuckled and rubbed the back of his neck, a bit awkwardly. "I like to run with scenery changing. Hangup from being a Marine, we used to run everywhere when we were training. Treadmills...I get bored easily. I don't have the discipline that you do, Captain. I really just came to the gym to try some stretches and punching a bag...or weights. I wasn't sure, I suppose I was...bored."

"Oh. Well Miss Chaya might enjoy a sparring partner, in that case?" Saalm suggested. She wasn't one to incite violence between her crew, but in the presence of boredom...it could be entertaining.

Oliver looked at Chaya with interest and bit his lip, holding her eyes for a moment. "What do you say?"

She cracked her neck from side to side and grinned, lightly tapping her fists together. "Let's do it. Boxing? Freestyle? Dealer's choice." She gave a playful jab at the air.

"Whichever you prefer," Saalm simply chimed in. She assumed the choice would come down to a matter of proficiency. "Just do not hurt each other. I don't want to have to file a report to Medical."

"I'll go easy on him," she joked with a mischievous glint in her eye.

Oliver chuckled softly, looking at her before he let out a breath. He was a bit uncomfortable with the prospect. Perhaps it was some silly idea of not wanting to offend mixed with not wanting to fight a woman. "I don't mind," he said softly. It seemed a better way of saying it. "I am rusty though, I don't often fight real people."

"Well, you're in luck, because I happen to be a highly sophisticated Terminator robot." She fell into an approximate offensive stance, lowering her center of gravity slightly as she lightly maneuvered on her feet. "I'll let you take first shot."

"Oh..." he laughed at the words before he nodded. "Okay, Warrior Princess...let's do this."

Chaya rose her hand and motioned for him to attack!

[OFF]

--

CAPT Lirha Saalm
Commanding Officer
USS Galileo-A

Chief Warrant Officer 2 Oliver Sylver
Flight Control
USS Galileo-A
[PNPC Vansen]

Lieutenant JG Rizil Chaya
Security/Tactical Officer
USS Galileo

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