Lieutenant Commander Daniel Merou, personal log, Stardate 55481 (Audio Transcript)
The Catalyst is currently hosting a group of science division cadets, we are performing a survey of the shattered planet that Starbase 39 orbits. The planet has been surveyed many times, Starfleet academy uses it as a training ground for planetary surveys. The Catalyst has done this a few times. This is the kind of thing we do between missions.
All the repairs are complete. The new shield generator went in easily and was fully tested, shields are 100%, and ready for us when we need it. Also T’Varo was cleared for light duty last night, and returned to work this morning. Because she’s on light duty, and I was cleared for regular duty a few days ago, she and I will be partially swapping duties. She’ll mostly be handling admin and security clearances.
End Log
Lieutenant T’Varo, still sore from the injuries she received when she was thrown headfirst into the warp core, tapped the door chime on Mr Gamben’s quarters. Apparently his replicator was not working properly. Normally the Bajoran engineer would be able to fix it on his own, but the repair requires a security clearance that is beyond what he has access to. She wasn’t sure why this requires a high clearance, but she suspected it’s one of many security holdovers from the dominion war.
“Enter” said the junior grade lieutenant from inside the cabin, the door hissed open, and T’Varo entered.
Gamben Sota’s quarters were smaller than T’Varo’s, and sparsely decorated. He had a prayer mandala against one wall, the young lieutenant is a devout follower of the Prophets. He also had a number of holo-photos of his sisters, friends, and some cadets he graduated with. Notably there were no photos of any other members of his family. The photo of Sota’s “sisters” caught her eye, his personnel file says he only has one sibling. One of the girls is clearly his sister, the other is identical to Mr Gamben, except with longer hair and lacking his thin beard. ‘Curious’ she thought, as she turned to the Bojoran engineer.
“Lieutenant T’Varo? I was expecting Cmd Merou.” said Sota.
“The Commander doing a plasma conduit diagnostic with LT Rayah.” replied T’Varo flatly.
“It’s always interesting seeing a 2 meter tall Kelpian crawling through the jeffries tubes.” said Sota.
“Indeed,” said T’Varo, “what do you need my help with?”
“My replicator isn’t working, it’s asking for a level 5 security clearance.” replied Sota.
“It’s a dominion war security measure, I do not know why it’s still in place.” said T’Varo.
T’Varo entered her clearance into the computer, and the two engineers began working. Her clearance would be required later so she stayed to work with Sota. After a few minutes he tried to start a conversation. Normally trying to do so with a Vulcan would be pointless, most Vulcans are not interested in small talk. T’Varo, however, was a little different, she’d always been curious about her fellow crew members, and is somewhat skilled in this type of conversation, at least for a Vulcan.
“So... Lieutenant,” he began awkwardly “have you recovered from your injuries?”
“Well enough, Dr Deleon has me on light duty,” replied T’Varo flatly, “that is the other reason why I’m here instead of Cmd Merou.”
“I guess that makes sense.” said Sota, still awkward.
The repair took an hour, as they worked they discussed the war, among other things. Sota had transferred from ship to ship, wherever he was needed. At one point he served on the USS Adelaide, a nebula class starship commanded by Captain Edward Merou, LC Merou’s father. Sota only was only there for a few weeks and never actually met the captain. The Adelaide was destroyed during by a Cardassian weapons platform at the first battle of Chin’toka. A third of the crew, including Sota, made it off the ship and were rescued by a Romulan warbird. Unfortunately Capt Marou was not among them. Sota spent the rest of the war on the USS Lexington.
T’Varo spent the war at Starbase 348, where damaged starships were repaired so they could return to the front line. She did damage assessment, inspecting ships to determine what repairs would be needed. As they talked she recalled the number of times she’d entered a compartment that had been open to space, and found bodies. Some of them had been though explosive decompression. It’s something she still struggles with. She didn’t tell Sota about that part.
The topic of conversation shifted many times after that. They talked shop, about the other engineers, the latest news from Cardassian space, and their families. When families were brought up, Sota became evasive, and would talk only of his sister, Gamben Nara, to whom he is very close, and no one else. T’Varo talked about her brother, Telon, who is an artist.
The whole time they talked, Sota was nervous and awkward. T’Varo couldn’t figure out why. She went over all the reasons she could think of. Was it because she’s a woman? No, he has no problem with talking to any of the other women on the crew. Because she is the alpha shift lead? No, he has no problem talking to any of his superiors, not matter the rank or position. She came to the conclusion that it was the picture of him and his sister, she now knows something about him that most others don’t, clearly that bothers him.
When they finished the repair, T’Varo entered her security code, and they tested the replicator. It worked, so the repair was complete. She got up to leave.
“Do... do... you... ah,” he said much more awkwardly then before, “Do you... ah... Would you like to get some dinner with me sometime?”
“Excuse me, Lieutenant?” she asked. Then it dawned on T’Varo why he’s been so awkward this whole time, and she wondered why it didn’t occur to her before. Gamben Sota has a crush on her. She thought it over briefly, he’s only a year younger than she is, and on a different shift. Logically there was no conflict, and she liked him.
“I... I was wondering if you’d like to get dinner with me.” he replied.
“Very well, Lieutenant.” She said “This evening?”
“That’s great!” He said with a hint of excitement.
“Then I shall see you this evening.” she said and she turned to walk back to engineering.
End