Space invasion of the room kind.

Posted on Wed Feb 26th, 2020 @ 9:35pm by Lieutenant Day Smith & Lieutenant Tavana Kolan, Daughter of Kretorg

2,061 words; about a 10 minute read

Mission: Aftermath and Downtime
Location: Transporter room 1, Deck 1, USS Valiant
Timeline: Just after the Ambassador's party

"Okay, so I will be here on this shippie for a while.." Tavana thought out loud as she waited in the transporter room for her duffel bag to appear. She still had to report in officially, but she could get rid of her dress uniform so long and get back into something more comfortable. Once she picked up the Starfleet issue duffel bag, she opened her assignment on her padd and tried to look where she was supposed to bunk.

"Really?" Tavana thought out loud again as she exited the transporter room, dropping the bag unceremoniously on the floor. Her head jerked up as her psionic senses alerted her to a very confusing presence coming in her direction. It felt like Karagh, her father's brother who survived the Borg. A small, not Borg looking, woman came around the corner, of course until the remnants of the Borg became visible.

"Thank you Biv, I will take it from here." Day tried to give a polite smile to the Andorian transporter Chief, it came out insincere. They still weren't in good standing and being around him really made her feel awkward, "Good evening," It took a beat for her to spot the rank on her collar, "Lieutenant." She was still in her dress uniform, just like Day, must've been at the Ambassador's ceremony. Work didn't stop though and with the assignment of the ambassador and their staff to the Valiant she had things to sort out surrounding the guest quarters and food supplies, she'd have to talk to Ainsley about that. She couldn't help but smile a little at the thought. The silence between them had lasted a bit too long, "allow me take you to your quarters."

"That will help, Lieutenant, I am confused. I am assigned quarters, guest quarters, but according to the plan, I am going to sleep in an exhaust vent. I think that will be uncomfortable..." she said and showed the map to her, assuming operations, otherwise, she would have directed her to someone else. "I am Tavana Kolan," she offered. The department should be obvious from her colors, so she didn't bother to expand. "And this is a permanent post now, so I can use guest quarters for now if needed, but I will need assigned quarters," she said. "In time.."

Day took the PADD and studied it, a small frown forming on her features, "That is odd," Definitely something to talk to the quartermaster about, it seemed like someone had messed with the layouts and basically assigned sleeping area room to maintenance sections, "If you are going to be a permanent fixture to the vessel I think it would be best to assign you to crew quarters right away." She handed the PADD back to Tavana and pulled her own device from her pocket, to have a look at the available bunks, "You are aware that you will be required to share quarters with another senior officer?" She asked as she started to walk in the direction of the crew quarters.

"Uh.. No, not exactly," Tavi replied. "Sharing had not crossed my mind.. But I guess I should have anticipated that since this is a small vessel. My pervious ship had a crew of 2,500. I had huge quarters for myself..." she explained.

"Oh, that must have been a Galaxy class vessel, or perhaps a Luna class?" It was starting to dawn on Day that there wasn't really any room left except for the bunk in her quarters.

"I served on a Vor'cha class Klingon battle cruiser. In fact I have not served on a Starfleet vessel since I finished at the academy. So this is all rather new to me. So who will I bunk with? If its you it's cool," Tavana chuckled.

The Klingon battle cruiser thing threw Day for a loop a bit, "I uh, oh. I did not know there was Starfleet personnel attached to vessels in the Klingon Defense Force." She completely skipped over the comment about not minding to bunk with her.

"The VaQ'Bach was such a ship. The basic mission was to look after Federation and Empire interests in the Beta Quadrant and exploring new ones," she answered. There was much more to that but it was the truth.

Day hadn't really kept up to date on the political affairs, the alliance between the Federation and the Klingons was rather tenuous after everything that had happened over the past decade, "You were assigned to the Valiant temporarily at first, but now they have changed this to a more permanent tour for you, may I ask why?"

"I am not sure, maybe the Captain thought I could be useful in the future as well," Tavana shrugged. She realized that while she was very busy at her prior posting, this might not be the case here. She would have to figure out how she was going to deal with that. "So. have you figured out who I will share with?". Tavana was distinctly apprehensive. She never really needed to be diplomatic off duty or had to worry much about the finer points of interpersonal skills on the VaQ'Bach. What if she needed to watch every word and action and step...? Her apprehension grew and the tension she felt earlier sat right back in the pit of her stomach. The forced smile hid that from the woman leading her to her quarters.

They stood at the turbolift for just a moment when it showed up, "Yes. I believe the only available option right now is that you share a room with me." Day stepped inside and waited for Tavana to join her, "Deck 3" The doors closed and within ten seconds they were on the third floor. They got out and Day guided her new roommate to their assigned quarters, on the way there she made sure all the appropriate rights were assigned, "here it is," she came to a standstill, "can you please see if you can open it? I just want to make sure I successfully assigned you to the room."

Tavana was looking at a message on her padd when Day mentioned who her room mate would be. So it took a while to penetrate. It was only when they arrived that she reacted. "Oh, I will bunk with you?" she asked, breathing out her relief. "I can't tell you how scared I was to bunk with someone ..... complicated," she said for lack of a better word. She pressed her palm on the pad to test it and the door swished open. With a grin she entered and then turned to Day with a concerned frown. "Sorry, I am so elated that you will be my room mate. You were alone before, will you be okay to have me?" she asked, showing the gentle side of her nature.

"It has been up to the quartermaster to assign the bunks. They have avoided bunking someone with me." Day shrugged a bit, "It was not due to personal choice." Though she had to admit it was nice to have a room to herself, "Can I ask what makes you so relieved to bunk with me? Most people do not have the same enthusiasm when it comes to associating themselves with individuals that share my background."

Tavana smiled. "Point number one, my favorite uncle was also Borg, and we became quite close. You represent some familiarity for me," she explained quietly. "Secondly, I don't know how to put this, but I have always found it hard to make friends with women. I am half Klingon, not sensitive or very feminine. It feels as if I have to play a role to fit in. The Betazoid half doesn't help much. It's complicated in here sometimes," she said pointing at her head. "I will find it hard to be too afraid to relax and be myself. I find you calming somehow. Does that sound selfish?"

"I do not think so. Although I might not be the best person to ask this." Day stepped into the small room and looked around, "I have taken the top bunk, but if you have a strong preference I have no qualms about switching."

"It's fine, I will sleep at the bottom. I can be quite restless, so that way I won't disturb you." Tavana placed her duffel bag on the bed. "I don't snore, but please tell me what potential things will bother you?"

"I am rather solitary," It was a bit awkward standing around in her room with someone else there, "but I do not think we would bother each other in that sense." She stepped towards the bunk and looked inside, not looking for anything in particular, "anything I can keep in mind while sharing a living space with you?"

"This is not easy for you," Tavana commented. "I guess it will take some time getting used to," she said. "For both of us. I think as long as we are honest with each other and talk about what issues may arise, we should be fine...". There was some of the diplomat showing its head at least. "As for me, I guess I am rather a loner too now. But I don't like to be alone. Just someone being there is good for me..." she mused. `

"Well, that at least I can provide. I do spend most of my off duty time here," There was a moment of silence after that, "How do you usually spend your off duty time?"

Recently I spend a lot of time crying and missing my crew, she thought, but pursed her lips. "I suppose here I will spend time in the gym working out or training in the holodeck. I do Mix Martial Arts fighting. I also like cooking, but obviously not here,' she added with a wry smile. How her life had changed.

"There is no holodeck on this vessel, as it was built for combat," There was so much sacrificed for that purpose on this particular class of vessel, "Though they are looking to install emitters in the mess hall so its layout can be changed." There wasn't really a lot that Day and Tavana had in common, "Do you cook Klingon cuisine?"

"Oh, no holodeck....crap. Okay, I will have to find someone willing to spar with me," she shrugged, hiding her disappointment. "Yes, I cooked Klingon food, but anything else that seems interesting. I like trying new recipes and trying flavours. So where will I do rock climbing?" she asked with an exaggerated pout. "Or mountain climbing, or kayaking?"

"Presumably in rocky areas?" Day realised that the question had stemmed from the lack of holodeck, "or whenever we have a layover at a Starbase." She plucked at the small curtain that was supposed to give her a semblance of privacy if she were to lay in bed, "maybe you should get some of that exercise in before we depart."

"That my new roommate, sounds an excellent idea.." Tavana conquered as she started to unpack her meager belongings. There would have been no space for my blades and stuff anyway, she thought with some irony. Uninvited tears welled up in her eyes and she quickly wiped them away. Turning to her she smiled. "By the way, I never got your name..."

"Lieutenant Day Smith," she extended a hand in the traditional Human greeting.

Tavana took her hand. "Nice to meet you, Lieutenant. But since we are going to share a room, you can call me Tavana." She had quite a few questions for Day, but that could wait. "I am going to take your advice and explore the holodecks on the station. I will see you later..." she said, observing that Day may need some time alone to process having to share what used to be her own space.

"Have a pleasant evening" Day gave a small polite bow of her head before turning towards the small room. It was going to be different having to share it with someone else. She looked at the top bunk, before looking over at the small desk in the room. She'd have to spend a lot more time outside of these quarters now that there was someone else also using this space.

[OFF]

Lieutenant Day Smith
Chief of Operations

&

Lieutenant Tavana Kolan
Chief Diplomatic Officer

USS Valiant

 

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