Starfleet Hearts

Posted on 19 Jun 2022 @ 5:46pm by Commander Morgan Tarin & Lieutenant Aria Rice & Ensign Mimi

2,474 words; about a 12 minute read

Mission: Episode 18 - Cold Station 31
Location: USS Galileo-A - Deck 2, Mess Hall
Timeline: MD 08, 0738 hrs

[ON]

Aria Rice rolled her shoulders as she sat down. Breakfast with the other officers...it had started to become habit. She was tired, the sort of tiredness that had seeped into her bones. Not enough sleep, too much to do, too much going on. She had put herself at one of the smaller tables, a little away from the main group, as an excuse to drink her coffee. Her stomach wasn't quite ready for the toast she had in front of her, instead she had her hands cupping her mug as if it was the most precious thing in the universe.

Plus side, she had taken a quick shower between the gym session and this breakfast, tied her wet hair back and put on enough makeup to cover the dark circles under her eyes. She had gotten good at covering how she felt, how tired she was, over the last few days. As if she was slipping into a persona she didn't recognise in the mirrors.

In a much better state than most of the other officers after the PT session, Mimi strode into the mess hall. There wasn't the typical spring in her step though as her body was tired and craving sustenance and craving it hard, she headed to the replicator and ordered a hearty meal; a large rare steak, fried eggs, a few boiled potatoes and a mug of tea to wash it down with. Taking her tray she searched for a free space finding one near Lt Rice.

"May I join you Lieutenant?" Mimi asked.

Aria looked at Mimi with surprise, because it felt that she wasn't often alone with her. Despite having served for a long time together, she didn't know Mimi as well as she'd like. "Sure," she said, before she took another gulp of her coffee. "Be warned, my language skills are diminished as my lungs are still rattling around the decks trying to catch up with the rest of me..."

Mimi chuckled as she sat down. "I understand that feeling, Nekomi are meant for short bursts of intense speed rather than long term endurance, the opposite of almost everyone else at the session."

"Your sprint velocity is impressive, ensign," added a familiar dry voice. Commander Morgan Tarin held her own breakfast tray in one hand and a juice beverage in the other as she approached then procured a chair across from the other two and sat down. The daily officer PT sessions had been a recent addition to the senior crew's schedule and one which she personally enjoyed. Like the security chief, the acting captain had hit the sonic shower then changed into a fresh duty uniform before reporting to mandatory joint-breakfast socialization. Her loosely-curled dark hair flowed tightly across her cheeks forcing her to tuck one side back behind her right ear in preparation to eat. "Lieutenant Rice, your times are getting better."

Aria stood out of habit the moment she clocked Commander Tarin come to them and sit down. "Thanks, ma'am," she said, although she wasn't entirely sure if that was true or not. The exercise wasn't new to her, what was new to her was doing it in such a group with the limited range of exercise to do. But she appreciated the sentiment. She then sat down again, slowly, glancing at Mimi.

Tarin reorganized the food on her tray, shuffling her cream cheese bagels alongside her sausages and eggs. She took a sip of her orange juice before unfolding her cutlery roll-up and placing a napkin in her lap. "Are you both excited for today's duty shift?"

"Excited is a strong word," Aria said, lifting her coffee to her lips and taking a healthy sip of the dark brown liquid. "Maybe once I've gotten a few of these inside me, ma'am."

Glancing at Rice's drink, the commander presumed it to be a caffeinated beverage. "Raktajino?"

"Nowhere near as sophisticated," Aria said, before she chuckled, relaxing a little on what felt like more neutral ground instead of work, duty, exercise or anything she had to report her. "It's just Terran coffee. Stronger than an Americano, weaker than an espresso. Served black."

"Nekomi do not have very sophis...sophisticat-ed tastebuds but I found coffee to be a very strange taste, not a very nice one." Mimi said after several bites of her steak.

A subtle amused smirk tugged at the side of Morgan's lip. "It's not for everyone. I don't think there's a single chief medical officer in Starfleet who approves of its prolonged, daily use." She shrugged. "But we all have our vices."

"And yet most I've come across have been heavily reliant on it," Aria said lightly, sitting back before she sighed softly as she finished the cup. "I am going to grab another, does anyone want anything while I'm up?"

"I am fine thank you." Mimi replied with a slight shake of her head as she cut up some more chunks of steak.

Morgan shook her head to decline the offer. When the security chief momentarily departed, Tarin bit into one of her bagels and chewed. "Is your sleep schedule improving with our new routine?" she asked the Nekomi between bites. The subtle reference to past transgressions couldn't go unnoticed, but the question wasn't asked with malice.

Mimi's ears twitched at Tarin's question, she slowly took another bite as she debated her response. "My sleeping pattern is fine Sir, I usually get up in time for some exercise before my shift, my species needs to rest or eat more regular than humans. It is only when unusual situations happen that I have problems." 'Like you waking us up in the middle of the night for an emergency recall and then wanting me for bridge duty'

Sipping her orange juice, Morgan raised her eyebrows. "I imagine your first year at the Academy was...challenging." She remembered her own experience very acutely - the visceral memories of attending taps at 2100 followed by rude and spontaneous awakenings to assemble in formation at 0230...for no reason other than to acclimate cadets to disturbed sleep cycles while instilling a culture of unpredictability and discipline. She also recalled the food. Mediocre at the best of times and terrible-tasting emergency rations when on exercise. It was sometimes enough to break a cadet if they didn't possess the mental fortitude.

"I went through my 'teen' years on a starship," Mimi told her. "So I had some understanding of what it would be like. I learned to work on less sleep than I would like but everyone has a limit."

"You were a civilian aboard the Charleston when you were young, if I remember?" Morgan tried her best to recall Mimi's service record and personnel file from memory. She was still acclimating to the plethora of different personnel aboard the Nova-class and occasionally her memory slipped.

"Yes. My foster mother was the chief operations officer onboard." Mimi replied somewhat surprised Tarin had looked her up. "When I got older she persuaded the Captain to let me...... apprentice with her."

Aria came back with her coffee, sitting down silently, having caught the words Captain and Apprentice. So, out of curiosity, she kept her mouth shut and her ears open.

"I see." Morgan returned to her bagel and took another hungry bite out of its donut shape. Her lack of further questioning could possibly be construed as disinterest, or simply attributed to her curt personality. She glanced to Rice after the security chief returned to the table. "You don't seem like the apprentice type."

Aria chuckled, giving a small shrug. "I'd say Starfleet is a joint academic and practical application training," she said, sipping her coffee slowly, savouring it.

"We're in the habit of training the best of the best. It's to expected," casually remarked the red-collared commander. She quickly finished her bagel and cleaned her hands, then procured a fork and focused on the pile of scrambled eggs on her plate. Morgan was silent while she continued eating and occasionally looked up while chewing to observe the other officers at the adjacent table.

"Not sure everyone...can be the best of the best," Aria suddenly said, after a moment's silence. "Sure, the exams are tough. There's a set number of places a year, and every Federation planet wants their people in. And then we also add on top those from other planets that are eligible to join...so don't get me wrong, on paper it's considered the best candidates." She looked around for a moment, giving a small shrug. "Case in point, yours truly. I scored well on my exams because I spent three years prepping for them. I passed the physical by the skin of my teeth to get into my specialism. I am decent at my job, but I am not the best of the best, and I don't think I ever had that potential. I was what looked good on paper the year I applied, and I was lucky enough to have a good day when others who may have had more potential than me, had a bad day. I will never be the next..." she stopped, before making a face. "Okay, I can't think of a single Security officer who'd be likely to get a statue of them. But my point is...if I am okay enough at my job to enable other people to be the best...then that is enough for me. Not saying I can't improve, because we live and we learn and evolve, but...I know I won't ever be considered the best of the best."

Morgan did a double-take then slowed her chewing and swallowed. She stared into Aria's pale blue eyes with a baffled expression. Never in her career had she witnessed an officer - let alone a department head - volunteer such a resigned critique of themselves. If Galileo was her long-term command instead of a temporary one, that kind of talk would never be tolerated. "No, you'll never be the best," she agreed. "Not with that attitude. No one in the fleet should be content with mediocrity. Certainly not the chief security officer aboard Starfleet's premier science vessel. You're selling yourself short."

"Some may argue that the short part is the biggest factor," Aria said lightly, with a smile that seemed oddly easy. She sat back in her chair, her hand curled comfortably around the coffee cup. "I am not mediocre. I am good at what I do. I'm just saying I don't expect to be the next...Worf. There's a nice, healthy dose of reality in me. I know how I got this job, and I will do it to the best of my abilities." And it was simple from her point of view. With Wyatt onto better things, she was simply the only option left to Lirha Saalm. If there had been anyone else, she was dead certain they would have been picked. But she had been there, she had a rank that wasn't too shabby...it had made sense on paper.

Rice's explanation was diplomatic. More so than most other security officers were capable of, in Tarin experience. And yet, the young woman's acute self-awareness could be her biggest hindrance to making that next leap. Morgan looked to the other officer at the table with a tight brow. "Do you feel the same way? That you won't..or can't be the best?"

Mimi had devoured the majority of her meal while Tarin and Aria talked but even though she was focusing on her food her sharp hearing had still heard every word. "I have some... disadvantages over most other crew, I have not trained for this my entire life, I had to learn to understand a whole new language and a hundred other new things. So I do not think I can be as good as someone who had the idea to join from a early age."

Morgan dropped her fork on her plate. The clink echoed across the mess hall without ceremony. Arms now folded across her chest, only one thought presented itself. Unbelievable. She struggled to find the language to convey her rising feelings of disappointment at the two yellow-collared officers. Starfleet was the most coveted organization in the entire Alpha Quadrant and processed a million academy applications per semester. And here were these two, doubting their skills and abilities while overlooking their privilege and accomplishments. An idea for rectification crossed her mind. "You're both alpha shift personnel, yes?"

"I'm on whatever shift the work needs done in, considering there's a total of three of us in my department. But officially...yes," Aria said, tiredly, glancing at Mimi. Tarin had looked unimpressed. Aria, frankly, didn't give a damn at the moment. She was just resigned to the next punishment that Tarin would dole out, perhaps for speaking out of turn. And she had, to be honest. Aria had been informal, and spoken a bit too openly. And she was quickly learning that every transgression would have a severe punishment. So she supposed now it was what? Onto another shift? Double shifts?

"Yes." Mimi simply replied, though it was far less simple than that, she jumped around wherever Tarin decided she was needed, which was certainly not doing her sleep pattern any good.

"Good." Morgan picked her fork up and stabbed it back into her eggs. There would be no scheduling conflicts to the detriment of the ship's operations. She resumed eating which produced another long silence. After devouring more of her breakfast, she glanced back up at them. "Both of you will report to Holodeck One with me this afternoon at 1700. We're going on a hike."

And here is the punishment... Aria thought, but kept her features neutral. She would have to push the reports until later then. Good thing there was caffeine in the world, who needed sleep? "Yes ma'am," she said, her voice oddly flat, a confirmation of an order received.

And I guess I am in trouble again... Mimi thought, her ears twitched slightly at the thought, no doubt it was extra physical training or some other devious punishment disguised as something 'helpful' "Aye Sir."

Shoveling the remainder of her scrambled eggs into her mouth, Morgan presented a rare smile to Aria and Mimi before biting into her sausages. "It'll be fun. I promise," she added in between chews with a wink - a wink that symbolized the hidden nature of the exercise they would soon embark upon together.

To Be Continued...

[OFF]

--

Commander Morgan Tarin
Acting Commanding Officer
USS Galileo-A
[PNPC Saalm]

Lt. Aria Rice
Chief Security Officer
USS Galileo-A

Ensign Mimi
Deputy Operations Manager
USS Galileo-A

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