Pick Me Up

Posted on 12 Jan 2013 @ 3:18am by Nesh Saalm & Rear Admiral Lirha Saalm

2,652 words; about a 13 minute read

Mission: Episode 02 - Resupply
Location: EARTH: San Francisco
Timeline: MD15 - 1520 hrs

ON:

Nesh huddled herself closer together to her bags, her awkwardly long legs wrapping about a few loose pieces of luggage while her lap held the largest. She looked a bit like a clumsy swan, limbs everywhere. She had her chin rested atop the biggest piece, and she was staring up into the sky waiting for the shuttle to arrive. Lirha said she'd be coming today. Was she on time? Would they be late? Faced with the real prospect of leaving her home, she felt it suddenly turn very... real. But she wasn't going to back down now. She hugged her bags tighter and watched another group of people disembark from the next shuttle.

With a puff of dust and debris from underneath her shiny Type-9 shuttlecraft, Lirha slowly landed her craft on the tarmac and powered down the main propulsion systems. With a long sigh, she rubbed her forehead as she prepared to do something she would have never imagined; pick up her little sister and bring her to Galileo for assignment. It wasn't that Nesh wasn't smart or ambitious enough to enter Starfleet, but she had always demonstrated a dislike for the organization, and to some extent, Lirha's career choice. But much had changed in recent weeks, with most of it culminating when Nesh had been involved in a joyriding shuttle accident with her boyfriend. Their mother, Aila, had been less than pleased, and tension between the two Orions had grown to staggering proportions. As such, Lirha had (after many long hours of consideration) taken the appropriate steps to get Nesh out of the house for a few months and to give her mother some breathing room.

Standing up from her seat and walking to the rear hatch, Lirha tapped the door release and waited as the ramp deployed with a soft hiss. The bright sun and clear skies of San Francisco suddenly beamed down into the rear of the craft, and Lirha took a long deep breath of fresh air as she stepped out of the shuttle and back on to Earth. She glanced around for any signs on Nesh, and quickly spotted her green figure surrounded by a mound of baggage. With a smile on her gold lips, Lirha held up her hand and waved, then began to walk towards her sister.

Nesh shot up off the ground with a grin, and ran toward Lirha awkwardly with her bags. She groaned in pain and set them down, rubbing her shoulder. "Okay, bad idea," she said to herself wanly. "Ree-Hee, you made it!" she exclaimed, bending down to wrap her arms around Lirha tightly. She breathed a sigh of relief. "I thought you'd never get here."

Lirha returned the hug with a tight one of her own, happy to finally see her sister in-person again. It had been about two months since their last meeting, but somehow it had felt much longer.

Stepping back, she looked up at the younger Orion and looked her over in an inspecting manner, noticing how she had continued to grow taller and her hair had become a bit longer since their last visit. "Sorry I'm late, there was a bit of orbital traffic when I arrived." she replied, then reached up to brush her finger over Nesh's gold nose ring. "You know you're going to have to take this out when we get to Galileo, right?" she teased with a friendly grin.

"What?" Nesh blurted out. That was so not expected. "You aren't serious? Really? No way!" She clapped her hand over her nose protectively. But, she'd been the one to lobby for this, and she deflated a little. "I mean, um, yes... Captain?" she tried again hopefully.

The older Orion gave her sister a nod of approval, happy that Nesh at least somewhat understood the chain of command within Starfleet. "Don't worry, I'll be sure to re-pierce it for you when your assignment is finished." she promised, giving Nesh a pat on the shoulder. "So, do you have all of your belongings?" she asked, looking at the large bags that she had packed. Though Lirha would have preferred to hang out in San Francisco for a while with her sister and maybe get a bite to eat, she was on a rather tight schedule and needed to return to Galileo ideally before the end of the day.

With her brick ton of bags hanging every which way, Nesh nodded enthusiastically. "Yep, I'm totally ready to go. Ship shape," she said with an awkward salute of her golden tipped fingers and then grimaced. "Er, okay, the puns are out." She widened her eyes at the sight of the type-9. "Holy crap! Is this yours?" she asked, dropping her things and running to place a hand against it appreciatively.

Grinning as Nesh suddenly appeared in awe of the shiny Starfleet shuttle, Lirha followed her and stopped to lean against the side of the craft. "Yes, her name is Livia," she answered, pointing to the italicized inscription on the side of the hull. "She is my ship's newest Type-9, and she has a sister shuttle, Virginia, back on Vega. They're both named after Galileo's daughters," she explained.

"Galileo," Nesh repeated, tracing over the inscription of the Livia. "Oh, that science guy. Yeah," she breathed knowingly. "Yep, great guy." She pointed a finger outward and shrugged, tapping the door. The back hatch opened upward, revealing the sleek interior. Nesh crawled over, eying the configuration in fascination. "Ree-Hee, this is rich!"

Lirha nodded in agreement. "Type-9s are the fleet's mid-sized and most common shuttlecraft. They have a multi-role function, therefore Starfleet has outfitted them to be comfortable in order to accommodate a variety of mission types for extended periods of time," she explained, then went back over to collect the remainder of Nesh's bags and place them in the aft of the shuttle. Turning back to Nesh, she narrowed her eyes and gave her a stern look. "Don't you dare think about joyriding in one of these..."

Nesh scowled. "I did not joy ride! I was... a bystander! In the passenger seat! Hands totally away from the thrusters," she mumbled under her breath as they approached the front. "To be honest," she said more seriously, "This is kind of high tech. I feel like I'm going to break something if I even touch it. Oh my god, Starfleet is going to kill me. I'll end up in the brig! You can't let them put me in the brig," she grasped Lirha's arm, pleadingly.

Shaking her head and chuckling lightly, Lirha dismissed the notion. "No one is going to put you in the brig...as long as you behave." she replied with a cautious, elder-sister tone to her voice. "You did read the Starfleet preparation and protocol packet that I sent you, right?" she asked with a bit of suspicion and a raised eyebrow. "As long as you follow proper procedures, you should do just fine..." she added, also knowing that following proper procedures was not exactly Nesh's forte.

Nesh clutched her hand to her chest. "Of course I read it!" she said, a little too eagerly. "Completely. Absolutely. I'm totally prepared. Yes, sir!" She winced. "Well, at least, the parts I understood... what if I do something wrong? What if people are mean to me? What if they make me do push-ups?!" she cried, deadly serious.

It was clear to Lirha that Nesh was having last-minute jitters, which was to be expected and completely normal for someone so young who had never spent any extended time in space before. Softening her voice, Lirha tried her best to reassure her. "No one is going to be mean to you, or make you do pushups...don't worry. I know you're probably a bit nervous right now but try to relax, everything will be just fine. You'll start to feel better once we arrive at Galileo, I promise," she replied.

Nesh sniffed reluctantly and squared her shoulders, seating herself up straight when she dropped down into the co-pilot chair. "Okay. All right. I can so do this. So, what am I going to do on board?" she asked, regaining some of her regular enthusiasm, though it was clear it was a little forced. She fiddled with something on the side of her chair absently.

Moving next to her sister, Lirha slid herself down into the helm seat and tapped a series of commands into the LCARS console in front of her. The aft hatch slowly closed with a soft hiss and created an airtight seal, and the interior lights came to life as the shuttlecraft powered up. "I was thinking you could take a civilian position within the science department...something along the lines of a scientist's mate? I think it would give you a chance to be involved in all sorts of research and study, and it would be more hands-on than the other civilian positions." she answered, hoping Nesh would approve.

"Oh, I really hate these things," Nesh said to herself as it began to float up off of the ground. "Scientist's mate? Really? You want me to work in your science department?" She blinked. The Galileo was a science vessel. "That's like the most important department!" she beamed happily.

With a puff of debris and thermal heat waves from the tarmac, the small shuttlecraft slowly lifted off the ground as Lirha delicately manipulated the flight controls and piloted the craft until it was several thousand feet above the city. "I think the science department will be fun," Lirha casually replied, still keeping her eyes on the controls and the airspace in front of them. "You're right, it is an important department and currently constitutes about half of Galileo's crew. I think you will find it very diverse with a wide variety of options available to keep you occupied," she added.

"Count me in," Nesh said, though she realized that sounded a bit more high pitched when they hurtled into the air. Ever since the shuttle crash she'd gotten into, these things just weren't the same. They were so high up. "So, what does a scientist's mate... do?" she asked, frowning a little.

As the shuttle Livia ascended and broke through the upper atmosphere and into space, Lirha tapped a series of commands into the flight console and activated the craft's autopilot. Leaning back in her seat as the on-board computer took control of the flight path, she reached down below the console and tapped a button to release a small drawer. Retrieving a PADD from the small receptacle, Lirha tapped a few more buttons until she finally queued up a description of the various science positions and their assigned duties. "Here, give this a read." she said as she handed the PADD to Nesh. "It is a position usually assigned to NCOs, that means non-commissioned officers, but in your case it can apply to a civilian. Basically, you will learn the tools of the trade for being a science officer, and assist other science officers with their duties as necessary. You will probably start off with basic administrative work until you get a feel for how the department functions, and following that you may be called upon to handle more important matters." she explained.

Taking the PADD, Nesh read through it, unconscious of the sour expression forming on her face. Administrative work? she thought to herself distastefully. Ew! Her dark green lips were flat while she continued to read, but she finally nodded, reminding herself that she had asked, after all, and Lirha was technically doing her a favor. Screw it, she thought colorfully in Standard. I'll be totally awesome as a science officer. Totally. Maybe. "Wait," she said suddenly, sounding a whole lot more perky, "This means I'm like, an officer now!" she deduced gleefully. "Can I order anyone around?" she puffed up. "Miss Saalm, reporting for duty! No, no... Miss Saalm," she lowered her voice dramatically, "Reporting for duty!" she saluted solemnly.

Letting out a light laugh, Lirha looked over at the other Orion and grinned. "Well, you are technically still a civilian so you are going to be at the bottom of the command structure for a while. And you're only sixteen -- the minimum age for NCOs is eighteen. But...if you perform your duties well, then...you may be in line for a promotion eventually," she explained.

Nesh smirked. "I am so going to get promoted," she promised, crossing her legs professionally because she was professional now. This illusion was abruptly shattered as the shuttle waved a little to the side and her eyes widened, hands tightening maniacally on the handle by her chair. "We're going to die, oh my god, we're dying!"

The shuttle's flight computer made a series of course adjustments as they prepared to go to warp, yet the inertial dampeners appeared to be a bit delayed in their response, making the ride a bit bumpy for several moments before becoming smooth again. "Don't worry, I think the inertial dampeners just need to be recalibrated." Lirha casually said to her sister in an attempt to calm her. Understandably, Nesh probably had a bit of a fear of flying from her most recent accident. "We've only got a couple minutes before we go to warp, and then it should be...how do the Humans say?" she paused to think of the correct phrase, "Ah yes, 'smooth sailing'."

"This does not feel smooth," Nesh muttered unhappily, but forced herself to calm down a bit while the shuttle recalibrated itself. But true to her words, it gradually calmed down and she relaxed a little when they went to warp. "So, where is the Galileo anyway? What's Vega IX?" she asked, pronouncing I and X instead of nine.

"It is pronounced 'Vega Nine'." she replied, correcting Nesh. "The Federation uses a numbering system for planets based on something called 'Roman numerals'. Romans were citizens of Rome, an ancient Earth civilization who used combinations of letters to signify numerical values." she explained. "You can look it up on your PADD, if you like."

"Hmph," Nesh hurrumphed in her seat, shifting slightly and fidgeting with the top of her skirt. She turned the PADD on and a stream of information regarding... Romans... popped up. "These people were weird," she pronounced unapologetically, flipping the PADD over so Lirha could see. "I'll just stick with nine," she grinned. "How long until we get there, anyway?" she asked, the quintessential version of are we there yet?

"Only a few hours." Lirha answered, stifling a soft yawn with the back of her hand. "It shouldn't take long, don't worry. In the meantime, I'm going in back to take a short nap. Do me a favor and keep your eyes on the forward console and if any alerts or strange noises sound, come and wake me. And...make sure you don't touch anything." she added with a suspicious look, knowing that it was much easier said than done for Nesh.

The younger Orion grinned. "You can count on me!" she said smartly, shifting seats when Lirha stood and resting her feet on the sides. She leaned back, holding up the PADD and settled in for a long journey.

OFF:

CAPT Lirha Saalm
Commanding Officer
USS Galileo

Nesh Saalm
Scientist's Mate, CIV
USS Galileo

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