Keyla loved the action of being at the helm of Discovery. Being able to steer through an asteroid belt, outrunning an ion storm, manoeuvring the ship during a battle, it all made her adrenaline rush and the thrill was amazing.
She would look over at Owo and smile, sharing the experience with her. Sometimes Tilly would cheer in the background and it made Keyla feel good.
When the action would die down, Keyla found herself in her quarters, making sure she logged every detail of the experience so she could look back on them and be reminded of the thrill.
Keyla could hear a weird giggle coming from somewhere but she couldn't pinpoint where. She was alone in her quarters, just finishing a long shift flying. Trying to ignore the sound, she picked up a book and began to read, trying to pickup where she left off.
The giggling continued; it was getting on her nerves. Putting her book down, she started to search her quarters, looking high and low for whatever it was.
Pulling a PADD out from under her roommate's pillow, she sighed and closed the video that was left open. Maybe she could get some rest now.
Staring out the viewscreen, Keyla couldn't believe the sight in front of her. It looked like it had come out of nightmare. They were meant to be making first contact but the planet was in pieces, floating in space, the debris of ships scattered all around.
Feeling a hand on her shoulder, Keyla looked up and saw Tilly standing next to her. Putting her hand over Tilly's she gave it a squeeze and reached out to Owo, offering her what comfort she could.
Closing her eyes, Keyla hoped that the people who did this would be punished for their crimes.
Keyla was unable to sleep, she had a pounding headache, she was sweating, and she could feel her heart beating in her throat. The last time she felt this bad was when she woke up from getting her implants.
Sitting up, Keyla couldn't deal with the pain for much longer. Her head began to swim and she was not going to get any sleep like this.
Entering sickbay, she was immediately walked over to one of the biobeds and sat down. Seeing Hugh coming over with a concerned look on his face, she began to tell him about the pain.
As Keyla sat at the desk in her quarters, she carefully added new stamps to her stamp collection. She had started collecting stamps when she was only a child, it was something she did with her grandpa and since his passing she promised to keep his memory alive by collecting them from every planet she visited.
As she added the latest stamps into her album, she smiled and closed the old, loved album. Tucking it away, she knew that in a couple of days she would have a few more to add but first she needed to report for duty.
The room was cold, Keyla could feel a pain in her head, radiating down the side of her body. She was nauseous, the lighting hurting her eyes even though they were closed.
Cracking an eye open, she tried to look around but it was too much. Feeling a hand on her shoulder, she saw Hugh standing over her, a soft smile on his face.
"Rest Keyla, your implants are almost stabilised."
Trying to talk, she winced and nodded instead. Seeing the lights go dark, she closed her eyes and hoped that when she woke up, the pain would be gone.
Stealing the last fry from the bowl in the middle of the table, Keyla sipped her chocolate milkshake and listened as Tilly and Owo talked about their latest mission. It was a simple, collect samples and bring them back.
"Hey, are you with us," Owo asked, waving a hand in front of Keyla's face.
"Yeah, sorry," Keyla replied, offering her friends a small smile. "I think I'll call it a night; my head isn't with it."
"If you need us, we're a call away," Owo said, giving her hand a squeeze as she got up and bid her friends goodnight.
Running her hand over the controls in front of her, Keyla did her best to avoid the weapons fire from the Klingon ship attacking them.
They needed to escape before they were blown into pieces and as the voices behind her yelled commands and updated one another, Keyla kept her focus on what she needed to. Sharply turning to port, she evaded the attack and could hear the captain telling her to get ready to jump.
Avoiding another bout of weapon's fire, she watched as they fired back right before the spore drive was engaged and they jumped to safety.
Sitting on her bed with her legs crossed, Keyla closed her eyes and concentrated on her breathing. She had been advised by Hugh to try meditating so here she was trying to clear her mind, pushing all thoughts aside.
Keyla felt like she needed to find herself again, she felt lost and she knew her friends were there for her but some things she felt like she needed to work out by herself.
Trying to picture her favourite place on the beach, more and more detail came to her as her mind cleared. Smiling softly, she felt her body relax.
Keyla would never admit it aloud but she was terrified of whoever created the DMA. Now that they had the coordinates, she didn't know what was going to happen but she knew that she was going to stay on Discovery no matter what.
The crew were her family and together they got through everything life had thrown at them.
Taking a deep breath in, Keyla slowly exhaled and got dressed for her shift. Checking herself out in the mirror, she fixed her hair and made sure her uniform was on straight.
Heading to the bridge, Keyla was ready to fight.