Butterflies and Turbolifts

Posted on 11 Sep 2023 @ 3:57pm by Petty Officer 3rd Class Helliun 'Hel' Inant & Ensign Tora Zalos

1,717 words; about a 9 minute read

Mission: Episode 18 - Cold Station 31
Location: USS Galileo - Deck 2, Transporter Room 1
Timeline: MD 17, 1930hrs

[ON]

Tora couldn't quite work out if the feeling in her stomach was butterflies from nervousness or excitement (or possibly a bit of vertigo) as she materialized on the transporter pad. Probably all of them. She wasn't a doctor. At least she stepped down alright, which was good.

The redheaded alien woman working in the transporter room itself was something unusual. She'd never met anyone like her before - at least, not till today. She smiled and approached her as she looked up from repair work. Might as well take the time to make a new friend. "Hi! So, um. I'm new here. Name's Tora." She said cheerfully. "I hope I'm not interrupting!"

PO3 Helliun Inant, sleeves rolled up and her hair tied back from her face, glanced at her with yellow eyes and smiled, before looking back at the open panel. "You materialised here and it looks like your bits and bobs are all where they should be. Always a good sign when someone's tuning the transporter..." she closed the panel and took her toolkit, straightening to look at the Cardassian Ensign. "I'm Helliun Inant, most call me Hel."

Tora held out a hand for the woman to shake. "It's because of people like you that we're able to get here with everything where it is. You and the engineering crew who maintain the transporters give yourselves far too little credit." She said. "Don't think I've ever seen someone of your species before. Gotta say, though, I do quite like the color of your hair. Pretty rare to find a species with naturally red hair, heh."

Hel took the hand, surprised by the very human gesture, but she still did it. That was Starfleet for you. "I'm Axan'ka. Throw a rock in the sands on my planet and you'll hit someone with my hair colour," she said, with a small shrug. "And you're Cardassian, I think. Never been good on species recognition." It wasn't something one usually told someone else, but Hel was nothing if not honest.

"That's right, I'm Cardassian. I know, we're something of a rarity in the Federation, much less in Starfleet. I don't blame you for not having seen many of us around." She joked. "I'll be going now, don't want to keep you from work if you're busy with something! Transporter maintenance is a long, tedious process from what I hear." Tora withdrew her hand and picked up her bags, ready to leave.

"I'm actually done, you were my final test," Hel said and pointed at her bags. "Non-biological matter..." she then pointed at Tora. "Biological matter. Both reassembled with everything where you expect. So...done with this one." Her eyes went back to her bags and she sighed. "You'll most likely have quarters on Deck 3. Now it's not a long walk, nothing is on a Nova, but you got enough bags here to see you through the razor winds. I'll help you carry."

"Really? Thank you so much! Oh, you just have to let me pay you back for this, I insist." Tora shouldered her heavier duffel bag, leaving the lighter carry case to Hel. "A drink, something to eat, anything at all." Together the two set off from the transporter room bound for the turbolift. "But yeah, my quarters are on deck three. Something tells me you've worked with Galileo long enough to have that information at the tips of your fingers, eh?" She joked. Enlisted personnel were very often the experienced ones in the fleet, moreso than any ensign, honestly, and Hel had to be no different.

Hel picked the case up without any issue, walking with her. "Well, it's a small ship. And I know every inch of her, where she needs some...tender loving care," she smiled, raising her eyebrows before she walked into the turbo list with her. "Deck 3 has sickbay on it. So if you don't like doctors, you sneak away the opposite direction. I suggest a little bit before...your shift." She let out a breath, tipping her head back and rolling her shoulders. "Deck three," she said to the computer.

"I'm not scared of doctors or nurses, and I don't have anything to hide. I still don't get why people are." Tora quipped as the turbolift began to move. "My first shift is tomorrow, so I got all night. Was the transporter the last thing you have to do this shift?"

"No," Hel admitted, shaking her head before she smiled. "I've got the waste reclamation system to look at. Joys of being enlisted, sticking my sensitive nose there. But I'm also pretty much immune to most illnesses, so I'm a solid choice." She watched the Cardassian, studying the other woman. "Tomorrow is going to be busy, we are to report at 1200 hours, in our uniforms. All of us. Includes you, Tora."

"I can manage that!" Tora smiled at her new friend. "Immune to most diseases, huh! That's cool! I wish I had that kind of ability.- I got sick more than I'd like living on Risa." She quipped. "Tons of different bacteria live there with all the people that come in from everywhere. Is it an Axanar trait?"

"Yes," Hel said and looked at her before the turbolift stopped and she got out. "But because of that, I am a natural carrier. Of everything. So twice a month, I get to go there..." she pointed at the doors to sickbay. "And be tested for everything we know of. So not that cool. More an inconvenience. It also means the other Axans, those who had a slightly different evolutionary path than my people, shun us. But we're the planet's majority so they keep to their waters and mountains, while the sands are ours."

"So you grew up in a desert?" Tora asked as they began to make their way to her quartera, which, according to her PADD, were a short distance down the hall. "I can't imagine that being very nice to live in, all warm and dry. I love the heat, but not when it's also hot enough to scorch the moisture from my skin. It takes work, having scales this soft." She joked.

Hel smiled, her eyes on the other woman before she nodded. "Well, my skin is like the sands...rough. I am sure that you are a creature of...humid forests and warm waters." A guess, she didn't know anything about Cardassians. Except there had been a war, but there had been plenty of wars in the universe. She didn't answer her question though, because she would not have described the sands as just deserts. They were...so much more. They were life and death wrapped into a dangerous dance.

"Cardassia is pretty hot and dry, so you know." Tora replied with a grin. "Though I spent a lot of time living on Risa, which doea have plenty of humid foresta and warm waters! So I suppose you're not entirely wrong!" She giggled as they walked down the corridor and stopped outside her quarters. "I can take it from here, unless you wanna stay fkr a bit?" She asked, playfully raising an eye ridge at the other.

"I can't, not if I want this ship to leave on schedule," Hel put the bag down, watching the other woman. "Welcome to the Gally. Take care of her and she'll take care of you."

"I'm sure." Tora raised an eyebrow at the other. "You've been watching me the whole time since we've left the turbolift. Is it something about me?" She asked.

"I was trying to figure out if I could take you down in a fight," Hel admitted as she met her eyes, a slow grin coming to her. "And also, not seen a Cardassian before. My people, we...are hunters, biologically. Carnivores. Instinct is usually...can I fight it, can I kill it, can I eat it. Now, civilised as we are, we don't tend to do those three things. But the instinct is still there."

"I like to think I can hold myself in a fight. Don't think I taste very good, though - I've heard that Cardassian meat tastes like some kind of meat that's gone bad." Tora mused, making a disgusted face for a moment before relaxing once more. "As to me being the first Cardassian you've ever seen - I hope I've made a good first impression! I'm sure we'll be seeing each other around a lot more often from now on... drink? Something to repay you for bringing my bags here." She offered.

"I'd like that," Hel said, never one to turn down a drink. "Once I've done my work, that is..." she sighed, shaking her head. "I volunteer for this. Every time." For a chance of peace and quiet with the warp core.

"Which is why you deserve a break. Let me know when you're finished, and we can go enjoy ourselves?" Tora smiled back at her. "Let me treat you for a night, or something. Unwind and all that, you know?"

"A drink would be good, but won't be able to do it today," Hel admitted, shaking her head. "But there's always some time tomorrow." And she meant it. Tomorrow should be an easier day, at least she hoped that she had a clearer schedule then. "I am trying to avoid the starbase. Gives me the creeps."

"Tomorrow." Tora decided with a warm smile. "We'll have it here on board, then, at the loungr, wherever it is. And let's avoid uniforms - when you want to unplug from work, really do unplug from work, even if it's for a little while, you know? Something casual for us both. Does that sound good to you?"

"Hm," Hel looked at her for a long moment, considering it. "Lounge, can't promise about the uniform," she added the last with a grin. "Deck 2, we call it the Callisto."

"The Callisto. I'll see you there, Hel. Just come in whatever you can, and I'll do the same." Tora grinned. "See you tomorrow." She winked at the other and retreated into her quarters - at least, for the time being.

[OFF]

Ensign Tora Zalos
Science Officer
USS Galileo-A

Petty Officer 3rd Class Helliun 'Hel' Inant
Engineering Officer
USS Galileo-A
[PNPC Rice]

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