New Digs

Posted on Mon Jul 19th, 2021 @ 7:42pm by Commander Curtis Thibideaux & Lieutenant JG Rianna Repatha Thibideaux

1,417 words; about a 7 minute read

Mission: Diplomacy by any means necessary.
Location: Crew Quarters
Timeline: Before the Trial of Ms. Smith

Curtis yawned and made eye contact with a couple of Valiant’s passing tech’s as he walked through the ship’s companionway. They were due to land on Valdivae in approximately eight hours and he’d be at the helm, which meant he was on down time for the next six hours.

So it made perfect sense that he and Rianna would pick now to move in together.

Right?

Moving wasn’t much of a chore for him. He’d had his chest transported over, rather than have the thing’s follow me bump along behind him for the short trip. He had a bag slung over his left shoulder and a valve pack with his tailored uniforms in his right hand. As he neared the new quarters, he slowed his pace and wondered again if this was a good idea.

Shrugging, then squaring his shoulders he approached the doorway. He reached out and activated the portal, then stepped through.

Rianna was waiting inside, just out of sight hoping to surprise him. Well, guess what, it worked! "Surprise" she said, stepping out of the shadow. Grabbing Curtis, she planted a big passionate kiss on him, then whispered, "Welcome home my Imzadi!"

Curtis dropped both packs and wrapped his arms about Valiant's chief engineer. After a few moments, they broke the kiss and he glanced about. "Home, hey? Well that suits, though I don't know about your snoring..."

"My snoring? I don't snore", she snorted as she pulled him inside letting the door slide shut. "How does the captain feel about us bunking together? I know that most of the crew know about us but the captain?" she wondered. Rianna was over joyed that finally they were actually living together finally and it was making her feel whole.

Retrieving the valve pack, Curtis stepped to a storage cabinet and moved the uniforms into storage and tucked the suitcase away. Turning his head to look at her over his shoulder, he said. "That wasn't you? Then I'll need to talk to security. We may have a pack of Slor's running the GNDN conduits."

Finished, he turned back and continued, "The Captain really wasn't in a place to say no, but he wished us well and approved the change of berths." Moving to his spacer's chest which was tucked into a corner, he opened it and pulled out a bottle and held it up. "We're off duty for a few more hours; bourbon?"

"Oh hell yes, on the rocks. The way I like it" Rianna said holding her hand outstretched waiting for the precious liquid. "A time to celebrate our moving in together!" she said. "Now about we tedoo our quarters?" she asked Curtis.

Curtis eyed the demanding appendage as he turned to the compartment's small replicator station and whistled up two rock's glasses with accompanying 5cm spheroid of ice, which he poured three fingers of the Mercurial brandy. Turning back, Valiant's XO handed one of the glasses to his intended. Glancing around and deciding he needed a different vantage point, he leaned against one of the bulkhead's and then slid to sit on the floor. Glancing up at Rianna as he took his first sip of the caramel, smokey liquor Curtis asked. "Redo? There's barely enough room in here to swing a cat, but I suppose we can do something."

Taking another sip as the first alcoholic bite hit his stomach, he asked, "What did you have in mind?"

"Well maybe a curtin to hide the fact we don't have a window. Maybe different sheets and a few pictures on the walls. It looks drab and dreary without home improvements", Rianna said smiling sipping the brandy. "Oh that is smoothe...." she added, savouring the after taste.

Curtis eyed his intended over the rim of the glass and then said, "Computer; give us a window in the port side bulkhead, approximately a meter wide running from deck to ceiling. Show us Betazoid, standard parking orbit over Shadtaar prefecture."

The holographic window popped into place behind Curtis's left shoulder and he grinned into Rianna's eyes. "Window's are easy. I'm good with new sheets, pictures as long as we skip the clowns.' And then he grinned, "It's the trapeze and mirror's on the ceiling that I'm wondering about."

"Huh?" Rianna said looking up to see what Curtis was talking about. "I was thinking about maybe just having a standard canopy over the bed," she added.

Chuckling, Curtis sipped at his drink again and said, "We have to work on your sexual deviancy. But for the bed, I thought..." He pushed himself up and stretched out, hitting a control and there was a slight hissing noise and a bed pivoted down from where it had been recessed into a wall. "Instead of the bunk design, this compartment has a murphy bed configuration that allows it to be out of the way when we don't need it, opening up more space. It's still tight, but that's Valiant."

Resuming his comfortable spot on the floor, he asked. "What do you think about Day killing the Ambassador. Seems out of character for her..."

"I'm not convinced she did it. From what I saw on the recordings, it looks like the timing is off between when she entered and left. I have been trying ti enhance the recordings to see if they were tampered with," Rianna said.

Curtis took another pull from his glass and let his head softly thud back against the bulkhead, "I'm starting to think she did and she didn't," he said cryptically. Catching his intended's eye, he shrugged and said, "We've been over the recordings and more times than I want to think about and it's fairly conclusive."

After another taste of the bourbon, he said, "My brain is telling me it can't be her. We know her. It's possible she was compelled without her knowledge, but..."

"But what? Curtis she is a victim here. Recordings can be hacked, reworked and made to look like she did it. Hell you can extrapolate all you want! Day is not guilty, I just wish I could talk to her and read her to find out the truth," Rianna said, sitfing on the floor next to Curtis.

"But the hard reality is that finding out the truth may be taken out of our hands. Politics is weighing in and putting it's thumb on the scales. Valiant has work to do and this is distracting from that and becoming it's own thing: getting in the way of matters of state."

Sighing a bitter sounding sigh, the blonde human sipped from his glass again and said "Seems like we can't get out of the gate without drama. First Bella's grabbed. Now the Ambassador's dead. And we have the lemur's to do something with. Valdivae's ground control customs were beside themselves when they found out we have a number of unknown life-forms aboard. We suggested not following their wishes to land and that wasn't met well. So we're going to be quarantined and be required to jump through hoops to move around on planet. It's enough to drive a man to drink."

"And a woman too!", Rianna laughed falling into the bed. "Oh dear, this bed feels wonderful. Curtis come see how it feels," she said softly urging him to join her.

From his position on the floor, he watched his intended flop onto the bed and he chuckled. "Aye aye, miss," he said as he crawled and then slid/rolled onto his back beside her, artfully keeping his drink from spilling. Valiant's XO rolled his shoulder's slightly and settled into the bed, "Yeah. Nice," he commented. "I almost think I could drift off..."

"Oh no you don't Mr. Thibideaux!" Rianna said laughing. Rolling on to her side kissing him deeply. Thought's of future pleasures raced through her mind as she deepened the kiss. She loved him and she knew he loved her, but could it really happen that they marry and stay on the same ship? She hoped and prayed it would work. She would follow him anywhere he was sent.

Curtis slid his arms around his intended and returned her kiss, then looked up at her and said, "Ahh Ms. Repatha. It does seem I'm not as tired as I thought...

Mr. Thibideaux, I love you, she said softly through the kiss.

"And I you," Curtis replied.


Lt. Jg. Rianma Repatha
Chief Engineering Officer
USS Valiant

&

Commander Curtis Thibideaux
Executive Officer
USS Valiant

 

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