SHORELEAVE! (part 2)
Posted on Thu Jul 5th, 2012 @ 7:56am by Captain Elsie Halliwell & Lieutenant JG Rami Miral & Lieutenant JG Miranda Stefani
Edited on on Sat Jan 5th, 2013 @ 8:57pm
1,061 words; about a 5 minute read
Mission:
Absence Makes the Heart Grow Fonder
Location: USS Ranger, Docked at Starbase 116
Timeline: Current
Mikaela Stensrud stood on the warp core catwalk, facing the dual row of workstations that paralleled Engineering's main walkway on both levels when the captain's announcement resonated through. Arms folded and perched atop the red safety railing, her authoritative stance was at odds with her leadership thus far. Seeking perspective to accompany the usual administrative perusal of the people and machines under her purview, the new engineering chief minimized her presence by placing Lieutenant Telana in charge of day to day operations and withholding hard expectations. The measured ingratiation some resorted to during a leadership change could was much harder when they didn't know the new boss' fancy, leaving ability and ethic as the staff's only fall back. There was also Telana's leadership, but that was okay. Because for all her interest in her new staff, she considered determining whether the incumbent assistant actually provided value in that capacity a top priority.
One might think prejudice the catalyst of this swift scrutiny, and would be partly correct since Mikaela's experience with Orion women gave her little reason to question society's disparaging perspective. Lieutenant Reynaldi, the predecessor under whom Telana commenced her Ranger service, may've thought enough of her to appoint her his assistant. Yet it was hard to justify with her record; modest aptitude along with incidents that reinforced the mischievous, lascivious stereotypes Mikaela wouldn't suffer from anyone, much less her right-hand engineer. She didn't disbelieve in turning over a new leaf. Whether it was what transpired here was impossible to say since Reynaldi apparently wasn't keen on keeping his personnel reflections on file. Not that she was critcizing; she'd only recently began to appeciate the benefits of doing so.
The Orion fortunately didn't provoke her reservations during their return to Federation space, leaving Mikaela to quietly observe her spearhead Engineering's share of berthing the ship. Her staff would naturally commence leave later despite the captain's orders, but she was still fresh from some relatively recent downtime with the Pelican and wanted to ensure her preparedness when liberty expired. So she didn't plan to take much time off. In fact, she turned on a heel and started for one of the lifts, resigned to making a decision about Telana. After all, if irreconcilable differences came of her verdict, she could hardly do better than to have a starbase nearby. . .
Miranda Stefani packed a small duffel bag with essentials and headed for the transporter room. She was spending a week touring the arboretum on the starbase and then going camping. It had been far too long since she'd had the time to camp and she was looking forward to it.
She wished she had someone to spend the time with, but companion or no, she was going to enjoy her break. The computer in the arboretum was set on a summer schedule. Light rain and lots of sunshine. It would be fine for the week she'd be away.
She stopped in the doorway to look over her trees. "See you in a week!"
Rami Miral slipped quietly through the corridors of the Ranger on her way to the starbase. Few people greeted her and fewer still noticed she was there. But that was one of the side effects of working in Intel. She spent most of her time on a computer in her office digging through databases and looking up information. It was a lonely job, but one she enjoyed. And, because Intel had the reputation it did, few took the time to get to know her, figuring she was only talking to them to get information.
Still, she maintained a cheerful disposition. For the next week, she was just Miral and Miral was going to have some fun.
The last mission had been long and Zhukov and T'mpest had not had much alone time to together. Vlad was looking forward to getting off the ship and spending time with his...girlfriend. She was that. He would have to formalize that though. This may be the perfect opportunity to do just that. He grabbed his bag from his quarters and began to head to the corridor leading to the starbase,
T'mpest filed her last report and logged out of her computer. Done. Now, she had nothing to do for the next week but relax with Vladimir. Her bag was packed and she left Sammi and Salem to keep track of things while she was gone. Grinning happily, she headed for the umbilical to meet Vlad on the starbase.
Cross-legged on her bed, Anaia stared out at the rapidly dwindling expanse of stars, watching as each tiny pinprick of light was gradually consumed by the sleek yet uninspiring embrace of the starbase's docking port. The view from her little haven had been mesmerising of late, so much so that time had passed with her doing little more than pressing her nose to the viewport and setting her imagination adrift. The bland monotony of StarFleet-issue grey struck her as being almost disappointing but it did herald the commencement of a week that contained horizon-bending promise. With the naive innocence of one who had no idea what 'shoreleave' actually meant, she wondered if this really was going to be possible for Halliwell to step away from her work but the buzz of excitement and anticipation gathering momentum amongst the crew held a contagious element that had reached even this remote little sanctuary. An ever-changing landscape brought its hardships. The toll of the last mission was written across the features of every face she had seen over the past few days. But the possibilities...
She smiled faintly at the darkness.
Scooting off the bed, the little girl made her way to the computer terminal that had become her constant friend whilst the Ranger had been deep in the throes of a mission that hadn't allowed her a lot of freedom. Basic instruction had given her the courage to investigate and there was confidence now as she addressed the computer, her lilting accent ringing true against the pervading silence.
"Computer, tell me about shoreleave."
OFF:
Commander T'mpest Michaels
Executive Officer
Lieutenant Commander Vladimir Zhukov
Chief Flight Control Officer
Lieutenant JG Mikaela Stensrud
Chief Engineer
Anaia Viel (Halliwell)
Captain's Daughter
Lieutenant JG Rami Miral
Assistant Chief Intelligence Officer
Lieutenant JG Miranda Stefani
Botanist
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