"Take her in, Mr. Aerin. Nice and easy."
Lieutenant Darrian Blair stood at the tactical station of the Federation Starship USS O'Donnell, registry NCC-84209. His arms folded as he watched the viewscreen as it was seemingly swallowed up by Dry Dock 47, one of the larger ship repair bays at Utopia Planitia Fleet Yards orbiting Mars.
The glow of the Red Planet loomed in the lower portion of the viewscreen. Blair sighed. It had bee months since he had returned to Earth, and here he was, a few hours by shuttle away.
The Galaxy-class cruiser eased to a stop, and Blair could feel the slight tremors as support tendrils from the dry dock found their hardpoints and latched into place.
"Alright people." Captain McCullough stood and turned to face the majority of his bridge crew. "You've all got two days leave anywhere in the Sol System, I suggest you make the most of it." And with that, he proceeded to disappear into his ready room.
A pleasant murmur flowed through the bridge as crew members locked down their stations for keeping and headed towards one of the two bridge turbolifts. Blair locked down his own and headed towards the aft lift. Crewmembers filed past him as he waited for his Vulcan friend, Orion Aerin. They stepped into the turbolift, just the two of them-most of the bridge crew had already filed out by the time Aerin had walked across the bridge.
Blair smirked. "Nice job taking us in back there. Deck 15, transporter room." A confirmation noise was heard and the lift began to move.
"Thank you, Lieutenant."
Blair's smirk twisted into a slight frown. "Come on, Orion, we're off duty. And I was joking about the docking job. A hotshot pilot like yourself should be able to take a starship of any class into 47 with their eyes closed."
Aerin looked at him with the classic Vulcan coolness. "I am sorry, Darrian." His eyes returned to looking straight ahead at the lift doors. "But, how do you know I did not have my eyes closed?"
His head turned to meet Blair's critical look and coolly raised an eyebrow.
Suddenly the internal comm. System beeped, and Blair made an 'I'll get it' gesture to Aerin. He tapped his commbadge.
"Blair here." A small pause.
"Don't tell me you buys are leaving the ship without me."
Blair smirked and looked to Aerin for a moment. "Not at all, Ember. We're on our way to Transporter Room Two to get a head start on leave. Care to join us?"
"I'm just leaving sickbay - I'll be there in five minutes, don't leave without me."
"We wouldn't dream of it. Blair out."
Just then the doors to the lift opened, signaling their arrival at Deck 15. The two lieutenants made their way down the corridor to the transporter room.
The doors to the room whisked open as they approached. There were a few dozen people milling about, waiting to be transported aboard Starbase 2, and from there, most of them to Earth. Many carried bags. Blair noted that most of these people hadn't seen Earth for a longer time than he had-even since the end of the Dominion War. The O'Donnell had been running long range reconnaissance deep inside Cardassian space for a large duration of the war, running on radio silence and an average of five hours' sleep a night. Two days was hardy enough leave for the crew, but that was Captain McCullough for you.
Several minutes passed. Blair stepped outside the room and looked left and right along the corridors as a third group of seven was transported out. He grumbled a bit as he walked back to Aerin's side. "At this rate, we'll be the last ones off the ship."
A few more minutes later, Blair, Aerin, and the transporter operator were the only ones left in the transporter room. Suddenly the doors flew open, and Ember Conserkk walked in.
Blair's jaw nearly hit the floor, and Aerin looked on with the Vulcan equivalent of astonishment, namely a stoic stare. Conserkk was dressed, not in a standard-issue unisex Starfleet uniform, but instead a sleeveless, long, low cut-not to mention revealing-green dress. Ironically enough, her communicator badge still hung from a strap that held the dress onto her left shoulder.
"Holy shit, Ember, have a date with the base commander or something?" Blair waggled a brow at her.
Conserkk smirked as she made her way to the transporter platform. "Close enough. First officer."
Blair folded his arms as looked to the girl incredulously, albeit jokingly. Aerin stood his ground impassively.
"What? Okay okay, I'm sorry for making you boys wait. On the way here I passed by my quarters and I decided to... accessorize."
Blair and Aerin continued to stare.
"Whaaaat?" Conserkk's cries became insistent.
Aerin finally spoke. "Highly illogical and inefficient." He proceeded to step onto the transporter pad.
"You said it." Blair soon followed. "Just make sure McCullough doesn't catch you like that." He turned to the transporter operator. "Energize."
Lieutenant Darrian Blair stood at the tactical station of the Federation Starship USS O'Donnell, registry NCC-84209. His arms folded as he watched the viewscreen as it was seemingly swallowed up by Dry Dock 47, one of the larger ship repair bays at Utopia Planitia Fleet Yards orbiting Mars.
The glow of the Red Planet loomed in the lower portion of the viewscreen. Blair sighed. It had bee months since he had returned to Earth, and here he was, a few hours by shuttle away.
The Galaxy-class cruiser eased to a stop, and Blair could feel the slight tremors as support tendrils from the dry dock found their hardpoints and latched into place.
"Alright people." Captain McCullough stood and turned to face the majority of his bridge crew. "You've all got two days leave anywhere in the Sol System, I suggest you make the most of it." And with that, he proceeded to disappear into his ready room.
A pleasant murmur flowed through the bridge as crew members locked down their stations for keeping and headed towards one of the two bridge turbolifts. Blair locked down his own and headed towards the aft lift. Crewmembers filed past him as he waited for his Vulcan friend, Orion Aerin. They stepped into the turbolift, just the two of them-most of the bridge crew had already filed out by the time Aerin had walked across the bridge.
Blair smirked. "Nice job taking us in back there. Deck 15, transporter room." A confirmation noise was heard and the lift began to move.
"Thank you, Lieutenant."
Blair's smirk twisted into a slight frown. "Come on, Orion, we're off duty. And I was joking about the docking job. A hotshot pilot like yourself should be able to take a starship of any class into 47 with their eyes closed."
Aerin looked at him with the classic Vulcan coolness. "I am sorry, Darrian." His eyes returned to looking straight ahead at the lift doors. "But, how do you know I did not have my eyes closed?"
His head turned to meet Blair's critical look and coolly raised an eyebrow.
Suddenly the internal comm. System beeped, and Blair made an 'I'll get it' gesture to Aerin. He tapped his commbadge.
"Blair here." A small pause.
"Don't tell me you buys are leaving the ship without me."
Blair smirked and looked to Aerin for a moment. "Not at all, Ember. We're on our way to Transporter Room Two to get a head start on leave. Care to join us?"
"I'm just leaving sickbay - I'll be there in five minutes, don't leave without me."
"We wouldn't dream of it. Blair out."
Just then the doors to the lift opened, signaling their arrival at Deck 15. The two lieutenants made their way down the corridor to the transporter room.
The doors to the room whisked open as they approached. There were a few dozen people milling about, waiting to be transported aboard Starbase 2, and from there, most of them to Earth. Many carried bags. Blair noted that most of these people hadn't seen Earth for a longer time than he had-even since the end of the Dominion War. The O'Donnell had been running long range reconnaissance deep inside Cardassian space for a large duration of the war, running on radio silence and an average of five hours' sleep a night. Two days was hardy enough leave for the crew, but that was Captain McCullough for you.
Several minutes passed. Blair stepped outside the room and looked left and right along the corridors as a third group of seven was transported out. He grumbled a bit as he walked back to Aerin's side. "At this rate, we'll be the last ones off the ship."
A few more minutes later, Blair, Aerin, and the transporter operator were the only ones left in the transporter room. Suddenly the doors flew open, and Ember Conserkk walked in.
Blair's jaw nearly hit the floor, and Aerin looked on with the Vulcan equivalent of astonishment, namely a stoic stare. Conserkk was dressed, not in a standard-issue unisex Starfleet uniform, but instead a sleeveless, long, low cut-not to mention revealing-green dress. Ironically enough, her communicator badge still hung from a strap that held the dress onto her left shoulder.
"Holy shit, Ember, have a date with the base commander or something?" Blair waggled a brow at her.
Conserkk smirked as she made her way to the transporter platform. "Close enough. First officer."
Blair folded his arms as looked to the girl incredulously, albeit jokingly. Aerin stood his ground impassively.
"What? Okay okay, I'm sorry for making you boys wait. On the way here I passed by my quarters and I decided to... accessorize."
Blair and Aerin continued to stare.
"Whaaaat?" Conserkk's cries became insistent.
Aerin finally spoke. "Highly illogical and inefficient." He proceeded to step onto the transporter pad.
"You said it." Blair soon followed. "Just make sure McCullough doesn't catch you like that." He turned to the transporter operator. "Energize."