This Lovely Lady

Posted on 03 Apr 2013 @ 2:13am by Lieutenant Aria Rice & Raifi Zaren

1,953 words; about a 10 minute read

Mission: Episode 03 - Frontier
Location: USS Galileo: Deck 2, Mess Hall
Timeline: MD03: 1335 hrs

Aria Rice let out a soft breath as she sipped her carbonated water flavoured with lychee. She had to admit, she loved the Mess. Hell, she loved eating in general, but Ansen's food was...well. Yum. So because it was Orion Appreciation Day (and had she appreciated Orions since coming to the Galileo or what!) she had decided to splash out. Ferengi crab rolls and a side of fries and lots of mayonnaise to go with it. And salt. She smiled as she took a crab roll, trying it slowly. It tasted good, actually. Authentic. She reached for the napkin to clean her fingers, glancing around. The real rush hadn't started yet, but since she was on the Alpha shift she had decided to time her lunch for this. Gave her some time to just...breathe, away from the office and Stone and everything else.

Zaren was frankly terribly impressed by the cooking on this ship. He'd had good fare, but this was... unreasonable. Gourmet meals, hour after hour. He'd heard Jool had it in mind to do a segment with the chef, and he couldn't have been more pleased. The man was an artist and deserved some recognition in a public spotlight. Not to mention, it wouldn't hurt Trija's whole 'glory of Starfleet' angle to show how delicious the meals were on board. He'd piled his plate high with a sampling of everything and had grabbed a bowl of some kind of stew he'd never heard of for good measure, wandering through the mess hall in search of people who might be willing to have a little conversation. He'd been doing his best not to interrupt anyone's work, which wasn't that hard considering he wasn't really allowed to go anywhere.

Seeing the young woman sitting along with her crab and fries, he wandered up to her and gave a two fingered wave without letting go of his tray. "Mind if I join you?"

Aria looked at him before smiling warmly to the Trill. "Sure, have a seat..." she studied his clothes for a moment before smiling gently. "So...scuttlebutt said something about some media types being onboard...I take it you're one of them?"

"I am!" he concurred readily. "It's been an interesting reception." He held out his hand, "Raifi Zaren, pleased to make your acquaintance."

Aria took the hand, smiling gently. "Aria Rice," she said and chuckled softly. "Nice to meet you too. And I bet it has been interesting...the Galileo has a lot of tricks up her sleeves."

"Tricks-" he repeated with a curious tilt of his brows. "Now tricks, I have not seen. What sort?"

She smiled warmly as she watched her. "Ah...now, that's secret. Every girl has to have her secrets..." she said in a whisper before winking. "Actually, what I meant was more that she can take a good pounding for a science ship and she works well. If you overlook the replicators going on and off and my shower making a weird sound."

"Mine makes a kind of whistle as it turns on and off. I'd wondered if that was a feature or a flaw."

"Consider it her whistling to you to let you know she finds you sexy," she said and made a whistling sound before smiling.

Zaren laughed. "I'll do that," he agreed. "I heard about that crash landing. Saw some of the footage too. Have you? Seen what it looked like when you all landed on Vega IX?"

"No...but on the plus side, I got to see it from the inside," she said and chuckled softly. "Don't worry, I am sure it looked worse than it was."

"That's true. What happened?" he asked, sipping from a highly fizzy soda and pointing towards her tray, "and can I grab a few of your fries? I think those might have been the only things I didn't see while I was loading up."

She gasped, covering her fries dramatically before pulling back with a grin. "Sure, take some. And it just went..." she made a movement of her hand towards the table, as if her hand crash landed. "Big bara-boom....seriously, when you're in a ship and you know you're going down, you screw your eyes shut."

"By the stars, do I know that feeling," he grinned, grabbing a handful of the fries and popping one in his mouth. "Only when it's happened more than once, you start daring yourself to keep your eyes open. You'll see - why did it go down, though. She's a brand new ship, isn't she?" He nudged his tray towards hers, "Help yourself to whatever you like."

"I'm good with what I have...if I eat too much, I fall asleep on my shift," she said and laughed softly. "She's decently new I think....but you know how it is. Every ship has parts from other older ships on them..."

"So it was a mechanical failing, then?"

"I don't know, we were falling apart at the seams," she said and smiled weakly, shaking her head. "You're asking the wrong girl..." she picked up a chip, dipped it in the mayonnaise and studied him as she ate. "I'm not clever enough to tell you that sort of thing."

"I think you're plenty clever," he said, eating another fry, then lifting one of the crab rolls. She was, and she also clearly didn't want to talk about what had happened. "So," he said after he'd swallowed. "What do you think of all this? New stars. New planets."

"All shiny," she said and smiled warmly, shaking her head for a moment. "I like the idea of us discovering pretty new things. Even if all I do is patrol the ship."

"You won't be going down with any of the research envoys?"

"I don't know," she said and smiled weakly. "Depends how good I am I suppose...or bad..." she winked, sitting back. "Depends on a lot of things."

"The future is a mysterious path," Zaren murmured sagely, although his grin rather killed the somber tone. "So, tell me something, Aria Rice. What is it that people do for fun on this ship? You seem like you'd know."

She chuckled as she nodded. "A good drink and good company is always nice," she said as she considered it. "Holodeck is fun too. I mean, I like going and looking at the trees we have too. Seriously, it's a nice ship for stuff like that."

"But there's not much... group activity," he said, interlacing his fingers. "I'm not sure what I expected, but it's a small ship. I suppose I thought there'd be more of a sense of community. Is there, and I'm just not seeing it?"

Aria chuckled softly, shaking her head for a moment. "Friendships are formed...but it's still a bit early for us to be bonding. This isn't the Voyager...we're not stuck with each other for years and years. People are cautious."

Cautious? he wondered. About befriending one another? "How long do you expect to be assigned to this ship?"

"Until they kick me off," she said, with a straight face before shrugging. "Or until it blows up. Whatever comes first..." and only then did she giggle, her eyes shining with humour. "I can't tell the future."

"So it's not a short term assignment," he murmured with a grin. "Play tongo?"

"Never tried," she said and smiled to him. "But I try a lot of different things..."

"Such as?"

Aria bit her lip, considering it. "Holodeck adventures. New foods...even if they look weird."

"Holodeck adventures, hm?" Zaren lifted his brows. "What sort do you do? I confess I haven't spent that much time at all in holodecks."

She smiled warmly as she chuckled. "Hey, it's as fake as it gets...but fun. I like any adventure...magic is cool though. I like pretend fighting."

"Pretend fighting," he mused. "Like what? Training simulations? Ancient battles? Folk lore?"

"Everything!" she laughed, shaking her head. "I tried being an assassin in one...it was fun. Messed my back up for days, but fun."

"An assassin. I've never attempted such a thing." Too much experience with the real thing, he thought with a little grimace. "So how'd you come to be on the Galileo?"

"Got transferred off my old ship," she said and smiled warmly. "And I am, on this lovely lady!"

"Well, yeah," Zaren smirked. "What was your old ship like?"

"Like this. I mean, not with the crew...but the same class," she said and let out a breath.

"A Nova? And you were in Security on that ship as well? What was it called?"

"A very inventive name...USS Nova," she said and shook her head, with a weak smile.

Zaren grinned. "Really."

She nodded, her eyes shining. "I know, right? Got to love the names they give ships..."

"What were the differences?" the Trill asked, leaning his cheek against his hand, "Between the Nova and the Galileo?"

"The people," she said and leant closer. "Trust me, a ship might have personality, but it is all about the crew. They're more accepting here. Hell, I have heard rumours of different ships where the Captain's only cared about numbers, never about the people."

"More accepting how?"

She smiled gently and shrugged. "Just...you know...nicer. That's all. People are nicer."

"They weren't nice on the Nova?"

"They were, just different," she admitted and smiled to him. "What do you think of this ship anyway?"

"First impressions: I've never had such a hard time getting people to speak candidly before. There's a lot of distrust and a lot of secretiveness. And having spent a great deal of time puddle hopping Cardassian space, that's saying something."

She chuckled as she watched him, with interest. "Well, I consider myself the talker here. Besides, my foot practically lives in my mouth anyway because I don't ask Mr Brain for permission to speak..."

"Then again," he smiled, "I haven't been on the Nova. Or any ship this small save my own. Maybe there's a difference in the communal vibes."

She nodded as she watched him, reaching to touch his arm. "Hey, in my experience? Chilling and just being like you are now helps. People might warm up. If not, it's their of mistake."

Zaren chuckled and patted her hand. "Who were you trying to kill? When you threw your back out assassin-ing?"

She chuckled as she watched him, her eyes shining. "Me? No one real," she admitted softly. "I don't have it in me to kill real people. Just a generic holograph resembling no one I know."

"I'm sorry to say it, but you may be in the wrong business. In your line of work in particular, it is sometimes an unfortunate necessity."

"I'll cross that bridge when I get to it," she admitted, holding his eyes. "Whenever it happens."

"Jobs come and go, darling. Principles are here to stay. Never let the transient change your soul." He winked, shifting the subject. "I'm getting a game together. Tongo. So far it's me and Sylver. You want in?"

She considered it for a moment before nodding. "Yeah, I'm game. I could do my best..." she said and grinned, her eyes shining. "Love a good game me."

"I'll let you know as soon as its lined up." He grinned and squeezed her hand. "We'll keep it fun. No point in the game if it isn't, right?"

"Agreed," Aria said and winked, her eyes warm. "And I will wipe the floor with you...just so you know..." she added teasingly with a confidence she didn't quite feel.

OFF:
Lt. jg Aria Rice
Security
USS Galileo

&

Raifi Zaren
Journalist, FNN
USS Galileo
(pNPC Lilou Peers)

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