At the end of the day
Posted on Tue Aug 27th, 2019 @ 10:39am by Lieutenant Rianna Repatha Thibideaux & Lieutenant Day Smith
995 words; about a 5 minute read
Mission:
New Beginnings
Location: Mess Hall
Timeline: MD001 2030 hrs
The first day on a new posting, and what a day it had been. Day had met with half the senior staff and her own department, which was just a very small group of people on a ship like this. The social interactions had been draining her from energy and she really needed some food. Entering the mess hall she saw that she had chosen a good time to be here. There weren't a great many people around, looking at the chrono on the wall she realised why that was. She missed the traditional lunch hour by about 90 minutes. Even so, it wasn't really surprising to her to see the Chief Engineer also seated in the mess at this time, launching the vessel must've put a strain on her department as well. She walked up to the replicator and ordered a nutritious dinner before making her way over to the Engineer. The two departments would be working very closely together, and she remembered what her counsellor had told her back in the institute. The social aspect of ship life will make the on duty aspect easier to navigate, "Do you mind if I join you, Lieutenant?" She asked meekly as she realised she had already arrived at the table.
"Sure, have a seat. Oh by the way, I'm Lt. Jg. Rianna Repatha but you can call me Rianna", she replied, motioning forr the woman to sit.
"Lieutenant Day Smith." She introduced herself as she sat down across the table. She took the small paper napkin and put in on her lap before picking up the fork and stabbing one of her small potatoes with it and starting to eat.
"So how do you like the little lady? Small, compact, but kicks like a mule. I hope they nailed the problem with the engines. I remember Miles O'Brien fixed the USS Defiant's engines. I just hope they learned from that time.", Rianna said eating her sandwich.
Day frowned a bit, the name rang a bell somewhere in the back of her mind but other than the connection with the first vessel of the type she couldn't place the significance of the person named Miles O'Brien, "There have been extensive refits to the design since its initial launch in 2370." She took another bite before continueing, "Though the design has always had a propensity for unstability surrounding its power distribution. The result of trying to outfit the small hull with extensive offensive and defensive systems." She realised this wasn't really continuing the conversation and added, "Have you been assigned quarters yet?"
"Funny you should ask, no one has bothered to even ask yet so I am somewhat shacking in engineering at the moment", Rianna chuckled.
"I'm the new Chief of Operations, so I'm expected to check up on the work done by my Quartermaster." Day looked up from her meal only exactly long enough to make that statement, "I will make sure they reach out to you and arrange quarters for you. I've come to understand that one needs to share a room with someone else of the senior staff due to space limitations on the vessel."
"Yup we have to bunk with another. I don't mind as long as they don't snore in their sleep. Hope they don't mind bunking with a hybrid as well", Rianna said eating her gagh quietly. "She is a small ship but in the hands of a seasoned pilot she can do almost anything. I know I have flown Defiant's before. Fast and deadly", she added finishing her gahg and starting on her Rokeg blood pie. "Your excitement might give you indigestion if you're not careful Lt. Smith", Rianna chuckled.
"They took some of the armaments out in favour of scientific equipment," Day responded matter of factly. She thought it had been an odd choice for a warship but it had been explained to her that they were looking to find the vessel design a purpose outside of armed conflict. She quirked an eyebrow at the indigestion comment, "I fail to see how my digestive tract is affected by my level of perceived elation."
Rianna almost spat the food from her mouth as she laughed. "Lt. Smith it is a known fact that any amount of excitement while eating can cause indigestion", she said laughing still.
"Interesting." Day looked at her meal and took another bite as she tried to ignore the laughing, "Something to keep in mind when selecting my conversational partners during meals." Throughout her reintegration into regular life, excitement had never really been much of an issue, perhaps that's why it was never covered in their basic understanding of xeno-biology, "at what level of excitement does it start to affect my digestion?"
Rianna was in hysterics by now. Lt. Smith's responses only made her laugh harder. "My dear Smith, you are ok!! You have succeeded in making me laugh. I must congratulate you on that aspect. Com'on let me buy you a drink and we can chew the fat in the holodeck", Rianna added.
Day finished her meal, took the napkin and carefully dabbed her mouth to clean herself up. There were many idioms and saying that she had familiarised herself with, with their existence at least, not so much their application. This one she hadn't heard. She wondered where it had originated and what exactly it meant. Then she had a moment of doubt and wondered if it was actually literal, "I... Thank you." She frowned, she decided to go with it for the moment, at least until such a time that actual fat chewing was required.
Still chuckling, Rianna got up and waited for Smith. This was going to be an interesting trip to the holodeck. Something she really needed to do to unwind and relax. What better way than to do it in the company of a new friend
Lt. Jg. Rianna Repatha
Chief Engineering Officer
USS Valiant
Lt. Day Smith
Chief Operations Officer
USS Valiant
RSS Feed