SIM:A Rogue Amongst the Stars/Chapter 2
 A Rogue Amongst the Stars |
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Chapter 2
((Shuttle, on route to Star Station Esperance))
In the rear of the shuttle, Geoffrey Teller was sweating profusely. His uniform jacket was folded over a workstation chair as he moved through a series of isometric exercises recommended by Counselor Orrey to help him deal with his suffocating feelings of panic aboard a shuttle. Ever since his near death experience escaping the Artemis, stepping aboard anything smaller than a cruiser had rankled Tellers nerves and made his chest ache as if his ribs had somehow broken again.
Teller suspected part of the reason for this enforced vacation included the Captain checking up on his state of mind, and he was determined to get through it even if it killed him. As he was approaching his fifteenth repetition of the exercises, that was becoming an all too real possibility. He stopped and closed his eyes, forcing himself to relax as the Counselor had suggested. He had almost made a dent in it when an unexpected chime from the computer made him jump nearly into the ceiling and through the hull.
Up at the front of the shuttle, Roshanara sat with her feet propped up on the console (she’d of course disabled the controls) as she continued reading the romance novel Demon of the Seas on her PADD. She was just getting to the good part where the heroine was about to unmask the mysterious pirate captain’s identity when the shuttle’s com systems rang an alert. Leaning over, she pressed the accept hail button.
Rahman: =/\= Captain Rahman’s shuttle. How can I help you? =/\=
There was a moment of silence, the red-haired Trill silently processing the (strange?) intriguing greeting.
Kinan:::sarcastically:: =/\= Yes, I’m looking for Captain Rahman. She’s late for check-in. Is she home? I’d like to speak with her please. =/\=
Roshanara smiled back at her former first officer, even though she wasn’t even present.
Rahman: =/\= Well, you’ll have to beam aboard. Are you ready? =/\=
Kinan: =/\= I don’t know--are you tall enough to operate the transporter controls? =/\=
The irony being that, for once, Kinan was probably the only person in the galaxy actually *shorter* than Roshanara. Go figure.
Rahman: =/\= Considering I was able to beam my boyfriend back thousands of years from the stone age, I think I can manage one Trill officer. =/\=
Kinan: =/\= I’ll take that under advisement. =/\=
A few taps later, and Teller and Rahman were joined by Lt. Commander Kinan Venroe, a Trill administrative officer with red hair and distinctive orange spots--and who only stood at about 5 feet, one inch, almost a head shorter than the also-red-headed engineer.
The captain sat up and then got up to greet her in a hug.
Rahman: Kinan!
Following their embrace, Roshanara pointed at the engineer at the back of the shuttle, gesturing for him to come join the two.
Rahman: This is my chief engineer aboard Veritas, Lieutenant Geoffrey Teller. Commander Kinan Venroe served as my first officer aboard the Invicta briefly.
Teller: ::Teller offered a handshake:: Ma’am, any friend of the Captain’s is a friend of mine. Pleasure to meet you.
Kinan: Mister Teller. ::She nodded her head.:: I’ve read your file--it’s nice to finally put a proper face to the name.
Kinan Venroe had a history with the Veritas, though it wasn’t quite as explicit as some other officers. Kinan was a personnel administration officer--when she finalized her days as Captain Rahman’s executive officer, she’d been reassigned to Cait Spacedock... and was promptly put in charge of all personnel needs and requirements for a multitude of areas. At first, she was only supposed to look after the assignments of people to the Menthar Corridor. And then, out of nowhere, the Shoals also came under her purview (which was ridiculous, but of course Kinan would never say a word about that because she was comparatively more diplomatic than Venroe’s previous hosts).
When the Veritas needed a new captain, Kinan had assigned the crew. This had earned her some iire from older crew members, but reassignment was part of the job.
Alas, Kinan herself never made it out to the Shoals, despite it being next door to Cait. She preferred it that way. She hadn’t exactly *enjoyed* her stint as executive officer of Invicta, though she appreciated it for what it was.
Teller: ::smiling:: Suppose you’ve got some stories from your time with the Skipper here. Any I really shouldn’t know about?
(Yes).
Kinan: oO No. Oo ::to Teller:: For the most part? The Menthar Corridor never used to be quite as problematic an area of space that it is today. So . . . not really.
Teller: ::to Rahman:: Sure seems like a loyal officer to me, Skipper, but I don’t believe a word of it. I may not have been on the Veritas long, but I have noticed that trouble seems to find us pretty frequently.
The captain rolled her eyes at the young man.
Rahman: There will be plenty of time for stories… let’s make way to Esperance. ::glances over at Kinan:: I hope you brought some reading material or games to keep yourself occupied.
Kinan: In this case, I’ve brought work home with me. These personnel files won’t get reviewed, otherwise.
Teller: If not, Skipper’s got some technical manuals she seems really interested in. I’m sure she’d be happy to share….
Kinan’s eyebrows crinked upward, giving a diplomatic (pained? I’d say pained) smile at the suggestion, liquid brown eyes flickering between captain and officer.
After a moment of awkward silence, she spoke again.
Kinan: So where should I put my bag?
Continue to Chapter 3