Can I Play Helm Operator?

Posted on Thu Jul 27th, 2023 @ 5:41pm by Chief Helmsman Kalahaeia t'Leiya & Maras (*)

Mission: Fractures
1614 words - 3.2 OF Standard Post Measure

Whilst Maras knew everyone by sight now it was not like she had many conversations with a lot of the people, she was not part of the crew but she was not exactly a paying passenger having agreed to do some paid work on the side for Gregnol that was strictly need to know by very few people. The nearly full blooded Vulcan and the crew members just passed each other and said hello, bye or Bon Appetite when it fit or kept the strict lines of distance. But she was determined to talk to as many people around their department as she could starting with the Romulan senior helm operator.

She took her tray from the replicator with a bowl of soup and roll for a light lunch and moved across the mess to her. “Hi, can I sit with you?” She asked standing there in front of Kalahaeia.

"Sure. Maras, right?" Kali smile, waved a hand at the available chair, and shoved another bite of pad thai into her mouth.

“Yeah. I know we have not really spoke much but I am trying to branch out and meet more people.” Maras said slowly pulling out the seat and putting herself down into it. It was a good start to her plan as Engineering had not gone so well.

"Kalahaiaea." Kali gave a polite little dip of her head to Maras and started with the full version given the kid had the right vocal cords for it. "Kali, to the humans. I'm the flight chief."

Mara offered her own incline of her head. She knew the woman’s name but it did the quite found the same coming from the woman herself. The non-vulcanoids did not quite say it correctly. “I'm Maras but you knew that.” Maras took a small bite of her food. “Do you enjoy your profession?”

"Flying, you mean?" Kali thought it was highly unlikely the young Vulcan meant the combination of gambling-and-goon-punching she'd been doing the last few years before this; but you never knew. "Yeah. Though, unfortunately with something this size you can't do a lot of the really fancy stuff you can pull off with smaller craft like a fighter or a runabout or a Defiant-class; but there's definitely something to be said for a classic. Sulu flew one of these!" Kali grinned; she had admit she found it a bit of a thrill to know she was flying the same class the legendary pilot had.

“You have another profession?” The nearly full bloodied Vulcan said with an upraised eyebrow. She was under no illusion that the group were not quite as innocent as they seem but she was not going to judge. The universe was not quite as black and white as it seemed to her six months ago. “I remember. Have you ever asked Cassie if she’d met any of them?” It had a question she had thought of asking a few times.

"Depends on what one considers a 'profession'. And how far back you go - the last years before I left the fleet, I was an intelligence officer." Kali shrugged. "And no, actually, I haven't - that's not a bad idea, though."

Maras nodded at the fact that she was going to inquire more about Cassie’s past with her. It had been something she had always wanted to know but she was not at a level of closeness to venture there. “And how was intelligence work? Did you prefer that to flying?” It was a simple question she hoped.

"It was...a mistake, mostly." Kali shrugged. "For a variety of reasons. Including that it was pretty boring in comparison."

Maras nodded a little. She could understand thinking that the grass was greener on the other side and finding out that in fact more boring and not at all what you wanted. “We all make mistakes.” She assured leaning back with her mug in her hand.

"Though; exactly what mine were or weren't varies wildly depending on who you ask." Kali downed her next bite of pad thai with a swig of lemonade. "So what brought you out this way? Wanted to get to know your...ancestors?"

Ancestor did not quite cover what Cassie was to her though it was like having an ancestor around the way that people used to to speak about her. “My grandmother. So not quite ancestor but I needed a fresh start and here I am.” It was a simple as that to her.

Kali fought the urge to raise an eyebrow; because to her eyes at least, Maras looked like she probably wasn't even thirty yet; which by their shared frame of aging made it...interesting...that someone would need any sort of a fresh start when they were effectively barely an adult. There had to be a story there; but the signals were coming through loud and clear that it apparently wasn't a story the kid felt like sharing at the moment yet. "So what are you hoping to do out here longer term, then? Take on some contract work? Join up with the Rangers?"

It had been the only thing on her mind over the last couple of weeks now that she felt she could get out of bed without it being a chore and wanting to actually make better connections with people onboard. "I...I do not really know. I know my skills are not as useful out here. You do not teach people how to fly do you by any chance?" Maras asked taking the shot now that it was out there that she was looking for something to do.

"Never got certified as a flight instructor, no." Kali shook her head. "Especially not for something this large. I could probably give you some lessons on some smaller stuff sometime, though maybe; something like a shuttle. But if you wanted a real license, you'd have to still take lessons somewhere with a real flight instructor."

Maras grew quiet for a long moment as she took a sip from her drink and nodded. It was logical and she had no idea why she had been wistfully thinking of finding a place for herself doing that. "Logical." She finally conceded behind Vulcan logic and familiar phrasing.

"Sorry." Kali's heart and sympathy went out a bit to someone so damn young and lost seeming; it couldn't help doing so really, given her own history. "Had to do a lot of catch-up work initially on flying stuff this large myself - I flew fighters, mostly, when I was a pilot in the fleet; though I was also qualified for smaller ships like a Defiant-class. Learned to fly the larger stuff mostly when I was running cargo in the Republic for a few years. But it means I'm just not confident enough to think I could be a good instructor yet for anyone else." She paused for a moment to polish off the last of her pad thai. "What sort of skills have you wanted to learn or thought you had a talent for in the past?"

“Do not be sorry. I should not have asked and put you in that position to say no.” Maras said quietly before she looked up at the woman and shrugged indifferently. “My skills lie in things that are seeking less and less useful the longer I spend out here.” She admitted. “I work in what you would most likely feel like is a useless skill - Humanities.”

"Mmm, what sort of humanities?" Kali mused. "I mean, depending on the area, maybe there's some sort of practical application you can make of some things you learned....?"

“History. I was a research assistant before joining the Vulcan Humanities centre two years ago.” Maras said a little hopeful that someone was at least trying to gauge what she was capable of.

"Hmm. So, at a minimum, you're probably decent at finding information, absorbing it, analyzing or considering it in context. Lots of things can make use of that sort of skillset; just would need to learn some additional stuff to complement it." Kali said. "What's looked interesting to you, then, besides flight ops?"

"I am not sure," Maras admitted. "I just thought trying something new would be nice. Something useful to the ship and the community onboard." She added trying to explain her feelings around it all.

"Maybe check in with ops." Kali considered. "Might be some sort of admin or supply-related work you could be good at. Or ask someone if you can dig through the grotto and figure out what's all there...I swear we could probably make a boatload selling half that stuff at auction sometime...."

Maras's attention shifted at the second mention of operations and the grotto to what the universe could be telling her when everyone seemed to be mentioning it from Cassie to Kali so maybe she should talk to Jake or Gregnol. "I will give it a look as you are the second person to mention that to me," Maras assured. Maybe Operations was the way to go just like Cassie? Maybe it was a family thing to give up your profession for something simpler.

"As I understand it, at one point the ship was owned by a bit of a pack rat." Kali considered the piles of random items stuffed into the place. "Though even that may be underselling it a bit actually."

"Thank you. I will leave you to the rest of your meal." Maras assured finishing up her soup. The conversation had been enlightening and it had definitely poked her more towards Operations.