Blue Meets White
Posted on Wed Sep 21st, 2022 @ 5:18am by Ensign Rachel Sinclair & Lieutenant Junior Grade Thex sh'Zoarhi
1,326 words; about a 7 minute read
Mission:
Episode 13 - Crooked River
Location: Officer's Mess Hall - Deck 2 - USS Pioneer
Timeline: MD002 1100 hrs
Thex had a smile on her face as she made her way through the ship's corridors. Another of her shifts was done and now she could put her feet up and relax and she was going to do so in the best way she knew how.
But first she wanted something to eat and drink. So dressed in her gym gear with her dancing outfit in her bag she slipped into the mess hall. Time for some grub.
Sitting at one of the tables, Rachel was trying to take a few moments for lunch while reading up on all of the Pioneer's regulations and procedures. True most of them were fairly standard to Starfleet Regulations, but she'd been given a huge opportunity right out of the Academy and she wasn't going to squander it by not being prepared for any situation that may arise.
Sitting facing the windows so she could look out on the stars, Rachel had a bowl of soup in the middle of several piles of datapads, each one with a different subject on them ranging from transfer regulations to the proper procedure for away team behavior and first contact.
Grabbing a drink and a snack Thex looked around for a seat. Looking around her blue eyes focused on the white individual sitting at one of the tables. It couldn't be could. Walking over the individual's face looked familiar as the andorian calmly asked. " Rachel Sinclair?"
Looking up from her work, Rachel was met by a familiar face she hadn’t seen in some time, “Thex? Is that you?” She said before standing up and rushing over to give her a hug, “I can’t believe it, it’s been what, almost two or three years?”
" Three years though it feels like a lifetime," Thex said as she returned the hug her bag jiggling slightly at her side. " Last time I saw you you were off for your survival training. "
Rachel rolled her eyes, “oh don’t remind me. Those weeks in Australia were the worst. I think I lost almost 5kg just from sweat alone. What about you? What have you been up to since the academy?” She asked, glancing down at her collar, “I see you’ve made Lieutenant JG”
" Oh, a lot. Some of which I can't tell you as it's still classified, but yeah I made JG. How's the fleet been treating you?" She inquired.
Rachel shrugged, “so far so good, but this is my first assignment so we’ll just have to wait and see. Would you care to join me for….” She said before remembering her table was piled with padds, “…um, actually if you could give me a minute I’ll clear some room for you to take a seat” Rachel then quickly turned around and started moving the stacks from the table to the floor.
Thex leaned in and helped making sure all the piles were neat and out of the way, before sitting down putting her bag on one of the seats. It jingled slightly as she did so. " Nice to get off your feet after a long shift. " She said to her freind.
Rachel nodded, “yea, you’d think they’d put chairs at the security stations but apparently we’re the one ones not aloud to sit.” She said before glancing down at the two pips on her collar, feeling a little jealous. “Do you’re operations right? What it like with the engineering and science stuff?”
" Very busy." Thex replied with a smile. " Add in the supply handling and I'm always having a list to check."
“I know what you mean, these stacks aren’t just crime reports. I think they really need a paperwork class at the academy” Rachel said before giving a sigh, “you never know how deep that deep end is until you jump in do you?”
" You really don't." Thex replied honestly wishing she could go into more detail about what had happened after she left the academy. " Simulations is one thing, but nothing prepares you for this." She said looking around the ship.
“Well hopefully I’ve learnt something from those simulations. All that effort for those high grades has to be worth something. I’ve got an entire department to help run and I’ve never served on an active ship before. I mean sure I did well at the academy but that was school, not the real world”
" Rachel," Thex said looking at her friend camaly. " Just breath in and out and think before you do anything. You'll make a great department head." She said reassuringly.
“East for you to say that, you’ve been in the field” Rachel said before taking a deep breath in and out, “sorry, I’ll get there eventually”
" I'm sure you will my friend. Belive me this is easy compared to some of the stuff I had to do." The andorian said warmly.
“Like what? What did you go through after the academy?” Rachel asked
" Well, I can't tell you exactly what happened. Large amounts are still classified, but do you remember my mentor from the academy? Let's just say I was part of her team that thanks to are actions is going to put a lot of Orion syndicate members in cryo for a very long time." Thex replied with a beaming smile.
Rachel’s eyes went wide, “you infiltrated the syndicate?” She whispered, leaning forward a little to keep their conversation a little private, “I wish I could’ve been there. I have a little bit of bad history with them”
Thex nodded as she replied " Well if you can call running the safe house and monitoring the channels infiltrating. The girls from intel handled the infiltration though they did have to end up putting me in a dancing outfit for a few ops. " A smirk spread over her face as she remembered her introduction to one of her favourite hobbies. " Though don't you worry a lot of the syndicate will be ending up in cryo prison through what we did."
“Oh believe me, I won’t miss them. For what they did, cryo is too good a punishment for them” Rachel said, a little bit of anger coming to her voice. Taking a deep breath, Rachel tried to calm herself down, “sorry, I shouldn’t get this worked up about it”
" It's okay my friend if anyone is allowed to get worked up it's you." the operations chief responded.
“Perhaps I should explain my ‘history’ with the syndicate” Rachel said before taking a deep breath, “I was taken as a slave by them when I was a child. My first master wasn’t very nice and even beet any of the others who even tried to befriend me” she said, clenching her fists in an attempt to keep herself calm, “because of what they did to me, I can’t even remember my biological parents or my original name. My current name was given to me by my adoptive father”
Thex looked at her friend calmly before speaking. " Breath in and out my friend. Whatever they did to you they can't hurt you. Hey maybe the bastard is one of the ones going to cryo."
Rachel gave Thex a half smile, “thanks but I’m not sure if knowing that would make me feel better or feel more angry that he’s still alive” she said before taking a deep breath in then slowly releasing it, “does this ship by chance have a ships councillor?”
" Yes, it has a councillor. Go and have a word with her it will do you good." Thex replied reassuringly to her friend.
A Joint Post By
Ensign Rachel Sinclair
Assistant Chief Security/Tactical Officer, USS Pioneer
Lieutenant Junior Grade Thex sh'Zoarhi
Chief Operations Officer, USS Pioneer
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