Commiseration

Posted on Sat Nov 25th, 2017 @ 1:38am by Executive Officer Valiyi Uhin & Captain Rueben Gregnol

Mission: Mission 5 - Liberation
Location: Deck 3 - Ward Room
Timeline: Back Post
1370 words - 2.7 OF Standard Post Measure

Rueben lent over his beer reading a crew rotation from sickbay. It was such a familiar task one Former Starfleet Officer to another, him and Mott now there was some honesty between them it was an easier relationship, and his crew rotas were a lot easier to read as he just did them like he did in Starfleet. He glanced up as a woman walked into the Wardroom, he blinked at her a few times before he recognised her from Ardanan party.

"Can I help you?" The Captain asked thinking that passengers weren't really allowed in the Ward Room.

"I thought I recognized you." Standing at the door was Valiyi Uhin, wearing the royal blues and purples of her minor Betazoid house in the form of a flowing dress. "I wasn't certain until I saw you at the paperwork Rueben. How is it that a deceased Starfleet officer ended up all the way out here commanding this lovely vessel?"

"They resurrect if they have been very bad on vessels like this." The man muttered looking at her finally as he prepared himself for an argument or something with the Betazoid.

"I'll have to learn your secret and avoid it." Nonplussed, Valiyi strode over to sit at the table he had his work on. "But I do not plan to die with a uniform on, or at least, a red and black uniform." As she sat herself down, she folded her hands over her lap and smiled. "I'm still surprised to see you all the way out here. Why this one and not reinstate yourself?"

"You know as well as I do Captain." He said softly. "Starfleet only do things that help them." Rueben put it simply knowing she would know exactly what he meant. It wasn't normal Starfleet pulling his strings like a puppet but Intelligence services had been known to go above Command.

Expressionless, Valiyi shook her head. "Not a Captain, not anymore. With everything that occurred with the mess on the Nimoy, I decided to retire. Seems having a bunch of diplomats on an older vessel is a tad idealistic."

"I heard about that... I am sorry." He said looking at her with actual emotion. It didn't happen often but when it did it was sincere. "It is a shame as the concept would work on a base." He said truthfully, a station had always been his dream assignment.

"It would have worked just fine on the Nimoy," Valiyi pointed out, "We were given plenty of space and time to do what we needed to. It was the lack of Starfleet support that had the ship fall through the cracks. No matter, it gave me plenty of opportunities to realize that I was not as fit for the fleet as I originally thought, which simply gives me the opportunity to provide myself with other methods of learning."

"So what are you exactly doing now then?" He wondered softly looking up properly from his shift duties to look at the woman. He shook his head for a moment, why did Betazoid's always have to have the same look in there eyes when they spoke to him?

Valiyi gestured toward the door with a hand, shaking her head. "I'm diplomatically representing some of your Ardanan guests before the wedding. There was suspicion that one side or the other would try to murder someone, so I was sent as part of the Federation's new 'Civilian Initiative' to assuage any fears. I do not find this as comforting, but I prefer to be off in the stars." She paused, brow furrowing. "But what of you? Starfleet could not have stranded you out this far. What motivated you to join this motley crew?"

"It is a long story." Reuben didn't feel like going through it with someone he barely knew or trusted for all he knew right then and was that she was sent from Starfleet. "There has been a lot of fighting within the group is the normal still on the planet?" He said thinking back to the fight that had been split up.

"I've got time." Valiyi rested a hand on the table, brow raising. She waved a hand upon mention of the fight. "This is merely a means to an end. It seems like two bickering families who want nothing to do with each other, a true Romeo and Juliet tale, although I have never actually seen the bride and groom together. I would be more concerned with that than the families bickering."

"Well my crew nearly getting knifed was what concerned me more than two teenagers." He admitted dismissing her dismissal of his question. He had to admit he hadn't seen the bride or groom together, the groom he had seen plenty looking around the ship bothering the Engineers but the Bride barely left her quarters seeming the ship, not to her standard.

At this, Valiyi shrugged her shoulders. "The Ardanans have been made clear not to harm those who may be part of whatever feud they have going on, not if the planet wishes keep out of conflicts involving the Federation. The Mary Rose may be a civilian vessel, but most of your crew are still citizens of Federation planets. Or, that is what I've made clear to the wedding party." She gave pause. "... I do not wish your crew harmed, either. They have nothing to do with this other than to see the guests safely to their destination."

"So what are you doing when this is all over? Where will you go then?" He wondered thoughtfully lifting his glass to drink some of the amber liquid again.

"A vacation, I suppose." Valiyi gave a wane smile. "I'm not certain. My career prospects are all diplomatic, and mostly planetside at this point. Maybe I'll take to travel before I settle down."

"Anywhere along our route. We are going from Ardana to Trill?" He offered softly thinking that the base above Ardana wasn't exactly the best place to get to a good place from. The planet despite what it could offer and being the only place for Zenite in the universe was still a backwater.

"Is that an offer, Rueben?" She raised a brow, intrigued. "I hadn't thought of hitch-hiking on a vessel such as this, but if you're offering, I certainly would not say no."

"Well, i would hate to just leave you on that Starbase it isn't exactly where..." He was lost for words in Federation Standard to describe Valiyi. "I couldn't fellow captain in that place." He had heard about that base and it's reputation and he couldn't leave a woman there alone. He rolled his eyes and stood up going to find some more whiskey before his gentleman side showed through even more.

Resting a hand on the table, Valiyi's head tilted to one side. "I believe myself capable of dealing with more than a few unwanted hands." She didn't seem offended, more amused. "Always thinking of the security of others. Alright, alright. I'll travel alongside, but only for awhile, and only if you accept payment for it. What would it look like if you started giving random, Betazoid hitch hikers rides? You'd never hear the end of it from the houses."

Giving Betazoid Hitchhikers rides was better than kidnapping Betazoids and pretty much holding them hostage on the ship, He thought to himself before he glanced away. "You don't know half of what the Betazoid houses already think of me," He said thinking of Jeassaho and that huge steaming pile of trouble. "Oh don't you worry you can work your passage. What were you before Captain?"

Valiyi merely smiled at this. "A diplomat, Rueben. I've been a diplomat and language specialist this whole time. And it seems your ship may have use of me, if you end up running into other issues involving planets and weddings..."

The man just simply smiled. It sounded like a done deal to him, a language specialist could be handy indeed if things carried on the way they were going.

OFF::

Rueben Gregnol
Captain
SS Mary Rose

Valiyi Uhin
Hitchhiker
SS Mary Rose