Getting Things Done

Posted on 24 Jan 2022 @ 7:58am by Lieutenant Commander Cintia Sha'mer & Commander Indi Hawk

1,992 words; about a 10 minute read

Mission: Home
Location: Chief Tactical Office, USS Odin

So much to do, so little time. At least, that's how it felt for Sha'mer.

The senior staff briefing had been… interesting. She had made sure to be the first to arrive, for various reasons. It was a good way to see the interactions between the crew members, and it would also ensure that their first impression of her was a more professional one than the stupid brace might indicate.

One of the people who entered looked like an animal… She had to search her memories for a comparison, it looked familiar… A rabbit, with fur and floppy ears and a tail. She had seen the name of the race on her PADD when she read up on the crew, but she had never heard of the Ts'usugi before.

One by one the others filed in, Commander Hawk amongst them. Sha'mer noted with a mixture of amusement and relief that she sat down at the other end of the table.

The Captain had been one of the last to arrive. He turned out to be a tall human, Sha'mer would probably be level with him if he sat down and she was standing. But he was dwarfed by the person who entered with him, a gigantic fur-covered being who, for some reason, wore a hat. It nearly brushed the ceiling. Only years of practice made her not gape at either. But as the Captain introduced himself as the new Commanding Officer, it made her realise that only the Chief Ops was not a new arrival. Someone in Starfleet Command must've had a weird sense of humour, she thought wryly. What is this, the USS Oddball? Gotta collect as many races on board as you can? Two AI's, one officer from the Mirror Universe, these two, and me… Please don't tell me that they assigned me to this ship because I'm the only available Vo'Sh'un in Starfleet.

That was the one thought she indulged in before focusing on the Captain when he outlined the mission. She didn't need to make notes, but she did so anyway. New species, new and potentially very volatile situation. Well, she wanted to be back on a ship… No use complaining now.

The rest of that day had been spent in a frenzy, the night had been confusing and she didn't have as much sleep as she wanted. So this morning she made an early start and spent it, for the most part, on doing a visual inspection of the weapon systems. Oh, the logs were detailed enough, but she wanted to see for herself. It meant walking and occasionally crawling around in the bowels of the ship. After that, her leg held up surprisingly well (relatively speaking, of course, but in a flash of foresight she had brought her cane to her office that morning and that turned out to have been a good idea), but the brace itself had somehow developed an annoying click. Nothing which couldn't be solved with half an hour of time, some lubricant and a few screwdrivers, probably, only she didn't have that time. She still needed to schedule a meeting with the security chief first, then with Ops and the air group – and Ops would be busy for most of the day with her updates… Oh, and in between, grabbing some lunch might also be a good idea. Her breakfast had mostly consisted of raktajino, that and the orange juice of last night.

Indi for her part hadn't bothered much with the aftermath of the staff briefing yet. As Security wouldn't get particularly involved until they actually arrived, she figured she still had plenty of time. Of course, when she saw the meeting request of the Tactical chief, she wrinkled her nose, but figured she couldn't keep avoiding the woman just because she was but wasn't her wife. Deciding she could just as well get it over with, she hauled herself to her feet and over to the Commander's office. Once there, she found the door open, so just peered inside. "You wanted to discuss some things, Commander?" she asked as neutrally as she could muster.

"Yes." Sha'mer set the PADD down which she had been reading (the pile on her desk had been considerably reduced by now), picked up the mug on her desk and grimaced briefly. Empty. Of course. Raktajino had a tendency to evaporate while she was doing her reading or other administrative tasks. She cast a longing glance at the replicator, debated with herself whether to get up for a refill – squeaky brace and all – or just do what she normally did. Would it spook the Commander? Or would she be used to it? Maybe her counterpart in the Mirror Universe did the same thing. Or maybe-

Actually, she found she didn't care for second- and triple guessing and she didn't care for getting up either. With a curt (and totally unnecessary) handwave towarde the replicator, it hummed to life and a moment later the empty mug on her desk was replaced with a fresh one. "Would you like something to drink as well, Commander?" she asked in an equally neutral tone.

"You can skip the wave," Indi muttered in a tone that indicated old habit, and from that same habit simply entered the office to drop in the first chair available. It took her a moment to realize she'd overstepped the nature of their relationship by doing so, but oh well. "And a coke would be nice," she added to cover up her mishap.

Well, that answered that question. Sha'mer concentrated briefly and a moment later a coke appeared on her desk in front of the commander. This time she skipped the hand movement. "Force of habit," she muttered and took a sip of her raktajino. "Anyway. Yes. Sorry. Did you have a chance to read through the material regarding the Sal'kiirans?"

Picking up the coke, and combining said gesture with a nod, the other woman in gold confirmed the question. Even though she hadn't read the entire thing yet, because she would have plenty of time to do that, she had read enough to be able to hold a meeting about them. But even then, she thought this was way too prematurely. A lot could happen en route. "Interesting read," Indi added once she realized most of the conversation had taken place in her head to herself thus far.

"Indeed." Sha'mer leaned back in her chair and studied the other woman. "Now, I know there are a lot of differences between what we call the Mirror Universe and this one." Yes, you are married to my counterpart there, for one thing! "But we have many things in common, too." I wonder what she is like… my counterpart there. Strange thing to think about… Mind on the job, Sha'mer! "Which is a long prelude to ask you if you have come across any Sal'kiirans in your universe."

Interesting reasoning. Indi hadn't actually thought about that yet. Which was an answer in itself. If she had met any Sal'kiirans in her universe, she'd have said so already. "Can't say I have. If their territory is indeed as remote, it's not a surprise either. We had more than our hands full with species far closer to home."

Interesting, though hardly relevant unless this ship would ever return to the Mirror Universe, with her on it. Or unless she ever ended up there herself. Something she had no intention to – but then again, few who ended up there had done so deliberately as far as she knew. "It would've been a long shot, but I just wanted to make sure." She smiled thinly and pressed her fingertips together in front of her face, looking over them at the commander. At that moment she looked remarkably like her counterpart. " Another question I had. Your background is quite different from what we're used to in Starfleet, I understood. Have you implemented any changes to the standard tasks of security officers or your own position? Training programs, additional rules, anything I ought to be aware of?"

Another interesting line of thought. Indi couldn't help but regain some sympathy for this woman. She recognized some of the reasons why she'd fallen in love with her wife. "Most people are still wrapping their heads around the fact that somebody who didn't come up through Starfleet, is now their boss. As there's no urgency in implementing change, I'm giving them some time to get used to me. I'd be willing to go over the changes I have in mind with you at some point."

Sha'mer gave a slight nod. "Please. I think there is much that we can learn from each other." She wrapped both hands around the mug of raktajino, drawing comfort from its heat. "And on that note, I was wondering if you also teach classes. Hand-to-hand combat techniques is what I'm thinking of."

"For you to attend, you mean?" Indi asked, carefully drinking her coke while studying the other woman. The study was by no means intended to be subtle or unseen.

"Yes," Sha'mer replied simply. "I need to be able to defend myself and I need to be able to adapt my fighting style to accommodate for my… present situation." She couldn't help but pull a face, though she regained control of herself quickly enough.

Indi had no trouble imagining this Sha'mer could adapt just as well to the physical handicaps as her version had. Group classes weren't the place for it though. "I can teach you. Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday morning at 6 am in the gym." Most people didn't start their gym day until 7, she knew from experience. It would give them some privacy.

Sha'mer had no problems with getting up early. That this was something she shared with er counterpart was something she could easily guess. But she couldn't help but wonder just how far the similarities between her and her mirror universe self went. The way the commander studied her, that prompt reply… And how much did that reply cost Indi, offering to train the woman who looked like her wife, who, in many ways, had to act like her wife, yet was at the same time a complete stranger? "Thank you," she said sincerely. That was all she could, in truth, say.

"Sure," Indi nodded. If she'd been able to follow Sha'mer's train of thoughts, she probably would have agreed with a lot of it. It did cost her dearly, but as the only way was forward, she didn't think it the best approach to keep stuck in the other universe. "Is there anything else I can do for you?"

"Not that I can think of." Sha'mer gave that thin smile again. "It was quite a list already. On the other hand, is there anything I can do for you, commander?"

As Indi hadn't requested the meeting, and still wasn't altogether sure she wanted to be here in the first place, that was an easy question to answer. Thus, she finished her coke and got to her feet. "Not at the moment, Commander. I'll see you at 6am."

"Thank you for coming by. Until tomorrow, then." Sha'mer stared at the space where Indi had been sitting for some moments after the commander had left, lost in thought. Stupid, useless thoughts about this universe and the one next door, wondering how much she had in common with her counterpart and what the differences would be like. It also made her wonder if another version of commander Hawk existed here, and what she was like. Had they ever met?

She called herself to order once again. It wasn't as if those questions would get any answers anytime soon, or if she even wanted those answers. And it wasn't as if she didn't have enough to do.

With a sigh, she picked up the next PADD and began to read.

 

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