Final Goodbye and a Promise

Posted on Wed Sep 21st, 2022 @ 5:35pm by Commander Kaleetha Sloan (*) & Chief Helmsman Kalahaeia t'Leiya

Mission: Elsewhere
Location: Crew quarters
Timeline: Back Post
1670 words - 3.3 OF Standard Post Measure

Kaleetha looked around the guest quarters and nearly squealed in happiness that she was on a connie class ship that was in such good nick and seemed to have original features. How had so much it survived? Why the hell was it being used in such a way? She glanced into the bathroom and saw the bath in there and laughed. It had been forever since she had, had a bath like that she had not managed it on Holoworld before the ship had broken down. She glanced up as the chime rang and called out that whoever it was could come in.

Kali stepped into the temp quarters - similar to the ones she was now in the process of vacating as she hauled her substantial luggage to permanent ones - and glanced around out of old habit, just in case; but waved slightly when Kaleetha stepped out. "Hey. Figured you might want this back."

She held out a folded shirt, newly cleaned and pressed. "Somehow it ended up in my luggage when we hauled the last of our stuff off the ship in a hurry before they torched it." While it was true the piece of mislaid clothing was a decent gesture to return it, in truth it was also a decent excuse: Whether she even consciously knew it or not, after a lifetime of standing alone in a crowd; of being the only one of her own kind; like a moth to a flame, Kali had a tendency to be drawn to the company of other Romulans...even, apparently, ones who were barely such at all.

Kaleetha looked at the piece of clothing for a moment like she could not remember it then laughed as she accepted it. "I am pretty sure it suited you better anyway. I really would not have minded you keeping it." The scientist assured with a chuckle. "We were lucky to get anything to be fair after that chaos." Kaleetha was pretty sure she was going to be filling in forms around the Holoworld incident for a long time.

"Where are you going; after this; now?" Kali twirled the end of her long fishtail braid over her shoulder between two fingers.

Now that was the million dollar credit question. The woman wasn’t sure in the slightest where she was going to go now. She knew she should head back to Starfleet but it just seemed wrong when she had not really had a holiday. “Not actually sure if I am honest.” She admitted.

One slanted eyebrow - perfectly groomed to the point it was a good bet its owner used eyebrow gel and mascara - raised slightly. "They kick you out too?" Kali joked before her tone grew less jesting, and more confused. "I thought you were, you know, active duty; on leave? No next assignment?"

“Highly unlikely even my worst behaviour will get me kicked out, unfortunately.” Kaleetha was under no illusion that even her naughtiest behaviour would get her kicked out and she had tried hard over the last year or so testing to see how deep the Sons of Cheron manipulation went. “Yeah but I do not exactly know where I am going next but Freecloud I guess is a start.”

"Not a bad spot, really...for the most part." Kali shrugged. "Bring a good coat, though."

"Yeah. Gets pretty cold. But at least I can get anywhere in the universe and explain the mess of Holoworld to the authorities and keep this long out of it." They were good people and did not need a spot light on them after everything. "Really you are staying here?" Kaleetha finally asked her burning question.

"For now, yeah." Kali fingered the braid again. "I don't really have anywhere else to go, unless I want to just...keep doing what I was." She didn't mention the decision had been heavily influenced by insinuations of an opportunity to join the Fenris Rangers; as she wasn't sure if the captain wanted that part out in the open yet or not. "She's a lot bigger than most of what I've ever flown; but I like to think I'm pretty versatile."

It was a good reason but was it really enough for the woman? They had spoken a bit but Kaleetha had never really gotten to the bottom of it all. Starfleet meant a lot to her, she had a reputation as a Sloan to maintain but she could do that by being a decent person and not just a scientist. "Pretty... antique... have you ever flown this old?" Kaleetha said lightly sitting back on the couch indicating the woman could join her if she wanted instead of them being stood there awkwardly.

"In simulations as a cadet; not in reality. Well. Unless you count ancient Romulan ships; I flew a completely ancient little cargo hauler for awhile when I was in the Republic." Kali flopped down onto the couch. "That was probably also hundreds of years old. Every ship has it's own quirks and flow though, versus others; even ones of the same age and class. You have to get to know the one you're working with."

“So I would guess you cannot wait to get your hands on her. A lot of it seems unique.” Kaleetha admitted glancing back to the bathroom and the bath that she was going to get into once she was alone.

"Yeah. I've done a little bit of handling the other day, see if it was feasible; mostly just reading all the manuals so far though." Kali noticed the gaze towards the bathroom and had to tamp down hard the sort of instincts her parents had trained into her early on as to someone glancing towards another room after a second party came along; That a third person was hiding out of sight. "Got other company over? Should I go...?"

Kaleetha burst out laughing and shook her head. It had been a very long time since she had someone over. “If only. I was just admiring the fact there is a bath in these guest quarters before you arrived.” She admitted.

"For all that most of the place turned out to be an unmitigated disaster of poor design and corner-cutting, I am going to miss the jacuzzi and spa tubs on the Holoworld." Kali's seeming fondness for extravagant baths and the like might have been seen by some as a tell of her Earth upbringing...Except that one tended to find similar in many Romulans who hadn't been, too, owing to the doomed planet's far higher water coverage than Vulcan: Having come to a planet with abundant water, they had long since found myriad ways to use and enjoy it. "My parents had a great little spa tub installed in our house on Earth when I was kid; used to like to play out epic water-navy battles with my toy boats in it. Half the places I've stayed in the last few years though have charged by the gallon for that kind of thing." She rolled her eyes. "Typical Ferengi opportunism."

"Without a doubt. I worked on a starbase a few years back and then a seabase, I love water. It has been hard not having something like that recently." She said smiling at how Kaleetha and the woman had clicked in the chaos and somehow kept each other alive. "The Holoworld had certainly been deculant to say the least." Kaleetha said fondly. "How are you feeling after the bio hack?" It was the only term she could think of to describe what had had happened with the comm badge.

"Still creepy as hell." Kali grimaced. "I mean I suppose it was useful; but we basically lived through a 'computers come to life and turn on people' story mixed with 'zombie flick', so...those nasty reviews I was threatening for the cruise company? Have absolutely been left."

Kaleetha laughed. She would never ever look at a zombie movie the same ever again after experiencing it. “Glad to see that you still have your spirit.” The woman laughed before she sobered.

“Kalahaeia… I really appreciate you keeping me alive back there.” The woman commented quickly. She had never been good at saying goodbye or thanking people so the words were not at all natural for her nor easy to speak them.

"No problem." Kali paused. "Well. Huge problems, actually; but none of it was our fault." She shook her head slightly. "Dunno who's problem it will be to handle the follow up on all of it but it won't be mine. I'm out once I filed my report. Made it pretty clear in some possibly stronger-than-advised language that people over at SFI could go screw themselves if they ever even though of trying to contact me again. You, though...." Kali half-smiled ruefully. "You didn't punch out any admirals as far as I know. You could go back. To the fleet. Probably still have the best science projects there."

“Who knows where my path will go. I’m not worried.” Kaleetha really want not at all worried about the future. She was going to take a day at a time and see where it took her. “I will go back to Starfleet though. It’s my home.” She knew that much. She could not go back to earth and do what her parents did, her brain just would not allow her to but she would go and do science things at the very least.

"Well then. Whenever you do...I'd be remiss if I didn't put a plug for an old buddy in and say; if you ever do wind up running some crazy experiment planning to explode a whole nebula for energy or something; make sure to offer a job to Burnie." Kali grinned.

Kaleetha just laughed thinking of the engineer. "I promise." She assured.