Small Talk

Posted on 27 Dec 2021 @ 11:00pm by Lieutenant JG Karras & Commander Morgan Tarin

2,355 words; about a 12 minute read

Mission: Episode 18 - Cold Station 31
Location: Regula I - Level 16, Mess Hall
Timeline: MD 03, 0748 hrs

[ON]

It was early in the morning on science station Regula I, approximately fifteen minutes before the start of the orbital facility's Alpha shift. Civilian and Starfleet personnel alike now propagated in preparation to begin their days. The corridors of the tree branch hubs on Level 16 become busier and busier by the minute. Inside the station's two mess halls, some crew members hastily arrived to grab a quick meal while others finished their breakfast and prepared to leave.

It was in one of these food halls where Commander Morgan Tarin was now seated. She existed in a relative state of limbo compared to the others who were coming and going. The strategic operations officer was halfway through her meal but ate slowly with her attention primarily focused on her PADD. Occasionally between bites she scrolled down to read, but at a leisurely pace. Her table was empty and devoid of company which afforded her a rare semblance of pre-shift serenity.

As the Commander was navigating her reading, Counselor Karras was navigating the buffet. He had slept extremely well, and had woken up hungry - but not too hungry. All of the dishes laid out before him looked tempting, but he settled on a large, buttery croissant, a heaping dollop of strawberry jam, and a cup of steaming black coffee. His tray full, he scanned the nearby tables for anyone who might be a part of Galileo's crew. He'd only met a few of them so far, and had only started reviewing the personnel files, but no one in the vicinity appeared familiar. That being the case, he walked over to the nearest table with available seating.

"Do you mind if I join you?" he asked, not wishing to disturb the lone officer sitting there, but not wanting to take up space that she could be reserving for others.

The sudden and unfamiliar voice slightly startled Tarin. She was engrossed in her reading but now looked up with vexed eyes towards the mild annoyance. Her expression softened a bit when she observed a youthful-looking man standing in front of her. She noted the tray of food in his hands then re-registered his initial question. "Have a seat," she answered, gesturing her palm to the available chairs. Her attention returned to the PADD on the table in front of her.

"Thank you," Karras acknowledged, taking the furthest empty spot in order to respect her personal space. He unfolded the napkin and placed it in his lap before taking his first, tentative sip of coffee. Then he tore off a corner of croissant and used his knife to smear shiny red jam into the pastry's open pores.

That first bite was perfection. Tart cool joined with flaky warmth. He smiled as he savored his breakfast, realizing it was reminding him of home. Oh, they didn't have these exact foods on Ba'ku, of course. But they did know how to bake. And Earth strawberries tasted almost exactly like the vibrant purple sweetberries that grew just outside his village. The only difference was the color. Satisfied, he took another sip of coffee and turned his thoughts to his agenda for the day.

Tarin's hand reached for her fork. The utensil stabbed a large cluster of scrambled eggs on her plate then brought it to her mouth with mechanical precision. Her eyes remained trained on her PADD while she slowly chewed and read through the morning intelligence report from Starfleet Command. There were some interesting foreign ship movements near the Romulan and Klingon neutral zones which intrigued her. Despite being stationed on a glorified science laboratory two-hundred light years from Earth, she still felt compelled to stay up to date on all matters pertaining to Starfleet. Even those which didn't directly concern her current assignment.

By current assignment? Karras thought, his croissant halfway finished. That would make sense as a way to approach the crew files he had left to review. It would help his memory to have them grouped by department. This method could also help him become familiar with the ship's deck plan, too - once he'd reviewed a particular department's roster, he could break up his day by exploring their designated areas. This would likely require splitting up the Sciences a bit, as they were the largest division. And there were likely places he wouldn't have the clearance to fully explore, but he could still reinforce where they were located. He took a quick drink of his coffee and awkwardly coughed, having swallowed the wrong way.

"Pardon me," he offered, slightly embarrassed.

The commander reluctantly glanced up from her PADD and looked to the fellow man sitting at her table. She wasn't in the habit of commenting on others' eating habits but it would be rude to ignore the pleasantry he exhibited. "...Are you okay?" she asked.

Karras looked up, his face growing red. "I'm good, thanks." He threw his attention back to the remains of his breakfast, now just dipping the final pieces of croissant into the jam. He was not on a strict duty rotation per se, but he liked the idea of keeping to a schedule. His journey to Regula 1 had been his downtime; off duty with a focus on relaxation, meditation, and some pleasure reading. Now it was time to get back to work. Or, at least it would be in a few minutes. He wasn't in such a hurry that he couldn't take the time to enjoy the last of his coffee.

Tarin returned to her screen then paused and discreetly regarded him from the tops of her eyelids. Perhaps to make sure he was actually okay, but also from a growing sense of curiosity. She hadn't seen his face before on the station but he appeared just as occupied with his work as she was with her own. "New here?" she decided to ask. Her fingers pushed her PADD slightly to the side then found her fork again. She took another bite of scrambled eggs while holding his eyes.

"Hmm? Oh, yes, I'm new," he answered, sitting down his cup. "My name is Karras. I was recently assigned to the USS Galileo and I only arrived yesterday." He offered a friendly smile, hoping he had not been rude earlier by not making conversation. "I take it you're, um, local?"

She nodded in confirmation while she chewed, then swallowed. "Morgan Tarin, strategic operations officer," she introduced herself. Her thoughts drifted to the manner in which he'd named himself. He looked Human enough but most she'd encountered in her life didn't just go by a single name. Maybe he identified by his surname? "Just 'Karras'?" she curiously asked.

"Just 'Karras'," he affirmed with a nod. "I'm Ba'ku. We've only ever needed the one name. Although, in a pinch you could go with Counselor, or even Lieutenant if necessary." The last of his coffee gone, he folded his napkin and placed it back on his tray but made no move to leave. "Is it always this busy on Regula-1?"

She stopped chewing and stared at him. Ba'ku. Tarin remembered the exact year the news of the Federation's incident with his people was first announced. At the time in '75, she was a senior-year cadet completing her mandatory cruise training aboard USS Georgia. When word came across the Starfleet channels detailing Enterprise's encounters with his people and the Son'a, it was a surreal moment. A space-faring humanoid species which deliberately rejected technology yet could live for hundreds of years due to their planet's unique properties. In all her time in Starfleet, she never thought she'd actually meet one of the fabled. She finally released her gaze. "I'm sorry...I've just never met one of your people before. The station is usually quiet. Until the task group came in two days ago."

Karras had honestly forgotten Galileo was part of a task force and wondered what that might mean for his new assignment. Regardless, it did account for the crowd.

"No need to apologize," he assured. "There are not many of us Ba'ku to begin with, and since meeting the Federation, only a few of us have left our home. I'm not entirely sure, but I might hold the record for being away the longest." He felt his mood fall a bit after admitting that possibility. Had it really been over ten years since he'd left for the Academy?

Tarin resumed eating while trading her attention between Karras and her meal. She silently contemplated his words. "I don't know much about your people," she prefaced in between chews, "but the Starfleet profile on the Ba'ku says you're reclusive in nature. That you deliberately shun technology. Why did you leave and why are you here? In Starfleet, I mean."

"I wanted to see what was out here, and Starfleet seemed a good way to accomplish that," Karras explained. "I suppose there were a variety of organizations I could have joined instead, but it was a Starfleet crew that saved my people. If not for them..." he shook his head, recalling how they'd left their village in the middle of the night, frightened and unsure. How five strangers guided and protected them, risking their own lives, all to do what was right. "By joining Starfleet, I'm not just seeing the universe. I'm getting the chance to help others along the way. All this technology, well, accepting it is a compromise I have to make to follow my path."

He shifted slightly, leaning forward and resting his arms on the table. "How about you?"

The commander raised her eyebrows. "Me?" At first she wasn't exactly sure what he was referring to. She didn't come from any sort of society which was comparable to the Ba'ku. She possessed a standard Human lifespan of approximately 120 years. Nothing about herself was out of the ordinary. Not to her, at least. Then she realized he might be inquiring about her own reasons for joining Starfleet. "Family tradition."

"Interesting," Karras commented. 'Family Tradition' was a common response heard when the question was asked, particularly among Humans for some reason. He'd always assumed that it was somehow tied to their relatively short life spans - a way to keep their forebearers alive and present somehow. It was certainly understandable. "Were they all in command? Your family, I mean."

Tarin forked the last of her scrambled eggs into her mouth then wiped her lips with her napkin. She neatly set her cutlery down on the plate to signal she was finished eating before leaning back in her chair to further observe Karras. "No."

Another short answer. Karras understood this polite interaction was winding to a close. With his own meal finished and quite a bit of work ahead of him, he saw no reason to linger... yet, the Commander seemed in no hurry. Since he wasn't on an exact schedule, he thought of how to redirect the conversation.

"Do you enjoy being assigned to a station? My first assignment was at Starbase 2."

She expressed a light shrug, her attention now fully focused on him. "It's not a bad posting. I've heard of worse ones." The reality of serving in Starfleet was that not even the most qualified and ambitious cadet would usually obtain their dream assignment. The old days of prodigies like James T. Kirk were far gone. When orders came down from Command, that was the end of it. "Did Starbase 2 treat you well?"

Karras nodded an affirmation, his thoughts drifting back to his time there. "It had a pretty impressive and renowned medical facility, so I was able to gain a lot of diverse experience when I was there." He sat back and let out a wistful sigh. "You know, I've only had the two assignments so far, the starbase and a starship. To tell you the truth, I'm not entirely sure which I preferred. Both had their pros and cons... though, I suppose I made more friendships while on the Bellerophon."

Pondering the unique name of the ship he'd referenced, Tarin quickly tried to recall its designation from memory. "Intrepid-class?" There were thousands of vessels in the fleet, but over the course of her career she'd learned to recall the majority of them.

The counselor actually dropped his jaw in amazement. "Um, yes! Intrepid class..." Karras had been onboard a good three months before he'd internalized what class his ship had been designated. "That is fantastic recall, Commander. Truely impressive. Strategic operations sounds like the perfect fit for you."

Tarin stared at him without blinking for a short moment. If he'd been a Human from Earth, she'd probably have interpreted his comment as sarcastic. But he was a Ba'ku, so she therefore assumed he was being genuine with his compliment. "Starfleet Command apparently agrees with you," was her best response.

"Yes, I suppose they do," he managed to fumble. It was a little ironic, the fact that a trained counselor could struggle with polite conversation. But then again, his strength was listening, not making small talk. Perhaps it was best to - what was the expression - cut and run? Then they could both get about their respective duties.

Slowly standing, Karras collected his tray. "Well, Commander Tarin, it was nice chatting with you. I hope you have a pleasant day."

She watched him rise and gather his temporary belongings. Her eyes remained on him throughout the course of his movements. "You as well, Karras." She was tempted to return back to her PADDs but decided to first give the new arrival a piece of advice. "Mind the airlocks while you're here. Sometimes the seals get stuck. Ops is working on a permanent fix but if you ever find yourself stranded, give me a call."

Karras smiled, touched by the kind words. "Good to know. Thank you." With that, he turned and set off for the airlock that would lead to his new ship.

[OFF]

--

CMDR Morgan Tarin
Strategic Operations Officer
Regula I
[PNPC Saalm]

LTJG Karras
Chief Counselor
USS Galileo-A

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