SD 241906.12 || Kindred Spirits

Posted on 12 Jun 2019 @ 10:15pm by Lieutenant Tye Beryl

1,900 words; about a 10 minute read

With her first mission under her belt as CHelm, Lieutenant Tye Beryl was looking forward to downtime. It was hard not to reflect on how things went, and evaluate what she and her department did right or wrong. She knew she was a capable pilot, and she'd gotten plenty of time at Helm before joining the Odin, though when things hit the fan, the Chief tended to take over, limiting how much combat experience she'd gotten under her belt.

Her first time out as CHelm, and Tye found herself in the middle of combat with hostiles who had ships more maneuverable than the Odin. With help of the fighters, though, the Odin came out more or less in one piece. She considered that a successful mission. Now? Now she wanted a stiff drink to go along with a nice piece of steak to celebrate her first mission as Chief Helm. She came to the airlock, and found there was a bit of a line. It seemed everyone had a similar idea.

As one of the several standing in line, the tall broad form directly in front of Tye was just turning slightly to adjust his stance. He could get a little fidgety when he got bored, and this line seemed to be moving quite slowly. He just then noticed there was someone behind him and he smirked slightly. "Kinda all like rats from a sinking ship, but at least we're in space and can't sink," he quipped.

Tye laughed easily and gave a broad smile to the rather tall man standing in front of her, "Everyone wants to take advantage of downtime. I think all of us know all too well that downtime doesn't come around all too often." She couldn't help but size the man up, and her smile turned to a bit of a smirk, "So what might you be getting up to? Any plans?"

Quinn considered this. "Can't be too much. I'm a squadron commander..." He looked askingly at her.

Now he turned a little more so he could face her while still keeping the line's movement in his periphery. "I didn't get too much time on the station before boarding so I'm hoping to get to explore it more. And by explore, of course, I mean find a bar and drink while watching other people do things." He held out a hand. "Quinn Romanov."

Taking the offered hand, Tye gave a firm shake, "Tye Beryl. . .and despite the Bajoran appearance, Tye is my given name. Your plan sounds pretty much like my plan. Mind some company?"

Quinn smiled. This time it was less "being polite" and more "I'm up to something." He nodded once. "Be glad for it. You know any good places to go?"

"I went right from my transport to the Odin, so I didn't even have a chance to find where the good watering holes were," Tye answered, her smirk growing. "Could make for an interesting evening."

"What, wandering around lost on the station and hoping we trip over a tankard of ale?" he said with a laugh, catching sight of the line finally moving...all of one person. "Although at this rate, downtime will be over before we even get off the ship. Did some security personnel catch the Fizellian Flu or something?" He craned his head to the side to try to see what the holdup was.

Beryl tilted her head to look around the rather broad Quinn before looking to him once more, "How much trouble do you think we'd get in if we ducked out of the line and did a site to site transport? I'm getting thirsty."

Quinn considered this. "Can't get into too much trouble, I'd think. I'm a squadron commander, after all." He looked at her to see how she ranked and if she had enough clout to keep them from getting yelled at.

"You a squadron commander and me as Chief Helm. . .we might get a little tongue lashing," Tye replied. She looked to her left, and then to her right before grabbing his arm and pulling him into the closest side-corridor, "I'm willing to take the risk if you are?"

"I'm willing," he said. Although normally a fairly stoic fella, he did share a mischief streak with his sister. He chuckled, his voice deep and resounding from low in his chest.

Tye didn't hesitate as she tapped her comm badge and gave the order for the site to site transport. Seconds later, the pair materialized on the Promenade of the station, and she looked around a moment before flashing a wicked smirk at the fighter pilot, "Problem solved?"

He flashed that smile again. "Indeed. I like a girl who thinks on her feet." He gave a very quick brow wag and then turned to face the corridor, no one the least bit fazed by their sudden appearance. "Well, which way do we go, then?" He looked both ways. "I think I smell food that way." He pointed. "Shall we?"

Her smirk broadened, "I think you may be right. Lead the way!"

As it turned out, the pair didn't have very far to go before reaching was clearly the primary "food area" for the promenade. There were several restaurants and bars touting all sorts of cuisine and exotic drink. True to his pilot nature, Quinn kept walking till he found one that wasn't as...shiny as the others. "This one looks good to me."

"A pilot through and through. Not going for the new and shiny," Tye replied and grinned. "Sounds good to me. First round is on me," she added.

"Pilot through and through, I'll never turn down a free drink," he said easily. "Second round on me, though." He nodded for them to walk inside, and it took a moment for his rich, brown eyes to adjust to the dimness of the bar. It was pretty much what you wanted when you walked into a bar, right? Once he could see, he led them over to the bartop and waited for her to sit before he did too. He signaled for the bartender to come over.

When the bartender stopped in front of them, Tye smirked, "Best gin on the rocks...make it a double, and whatever he wants." She nodded to Quinn to indicate who the 'he' was she was referring to.

He looked to the bartender with a nod. "Shot of whiskey and a beer chaser," he ordered. Once that was done and the woman had headed off, he turned back to Tye. "So, you're the one who steers the big ship around, eh?"

"That I am, and you're one of the ones who flies those little ships around?" Tye replied.

"That I am," he laughed. "I can't say I ever really had the urge to go helm, although I didn't immediately think about going fighter either. I came to that after a bit of time on another course at the academy, but I'm pretty happy with where I ended up." At that point, their drinks arrived and he took the shot in one go. Then turned to her. "How about you?"

Tye grinned, "I wanted to fly, but I don't know that I ever had the drive to go fighter. I might be a little claustrophobic, and those things seem so small." The barkeep came back and set their drinks in front of them. Raising her glass, she said, "Cheers!"

Quinn chuckled and tapped his glass to hers. "Cheers." He took a sip of his beer and set it down. "And the fighters really aren't that small. I mean, I fit in one and I'm hardly tiny."

The Helm officer took a sip of her gin before flashing Quinn an almost mischievous smile, "No. . .no, you are not tiny." She opted to take another pull from her gin before she said something far too forward. "So. . .I'm guessing Odin wasn't your first posting?" She cleared her throat, though her lips twitched in a slight smirk.

"And if I said that it was and I just happened to be born a full lieutenant?" he teased.

She snorted, "I'd call bullshit."

Quinn grinned. "And you'd be right to do so." He took a pull at his beer. "But no, this wasn't my first posting. I was on the Mai Sung for a while, and the Alexandra. Starbase Zenith too. How about yourself?"

Tye took a long sip of her gin, "I was on the Trinity before getting a last minute transfer to the Odin. One tactical vessel to another." She tilted her head, "I don't know the Mai Sung?"

"I'm pretty much slated to always be on tactical vessels," he chuckled. "Those are the ones that usually have fighter planes on them. The Mai Sung was an Akira class. Pretty thing. Carried a three-squadron wing."

"The Trinity was Akira class, and she was fun to fly, but quite a bit different to the Odin, given the bow to stern difference in length. Ody is quick to turn. . .It's almost as if I think about it, and Ody turns without me doing anything," Tye answered.

"Hey, technology always races ahead. Maybe that's exactly what it does." He winked and waggled a heavy brow at her over the rim of his mug.

Tye laughed "Maybe. I've heard some R&D group is trying to develop an AI system that ties into what we see to help make our reaction time quicker. Maybe I'm an unknowing test subject." She smirked.

He chuckled. "Yeah, I've heard of that too. I've heard they're already testing it on some of the Valk-threes. I'm not really sure what I think of it."

"I admit I am dubious, but would be willing to go into it with an open mind. I don't think I like the idea of the ship reacting without my input, though. I mean. . .what if something distracts my brain and I go left when I should go right?"

"I imagine..." he began, getting serious. "...that it would be adaptive. It wouldn't just read you but the situation too, right? So if it saw an asteroid to your left, it wouldn't go that way even if your brain wandered?"

"That's what they say. I'm still dubious," she said with a soft laugh. She took another sip of gin, "But I suspect if it proves successful, we might not have a choice, eh?"

He snorted. "True enough, but let's not suffer future pain, huh? We're not there yet. So you have to work extra hard to steer us into an asteroid now."

To this, she gave a cheeky grin, "That's what I do best...avoiding flying into things."

"I'm grateful for this," he said with a raising of his glass in mock toast before smirking and taking a drink.

Tye wiggled her brows, "I'll keep ya safe, fly boy. Just so long as you run interference for us and keep gnats away from us, if you know what I mean."

Quinn held out his arms in a show of mock bravado, with a hint of real bravado mixed in. "Just call me pest control."

"Alright, Pest Control," Tye said before downing the rest of her drink. "Buying the next round before finding food?"

"I can do that," he said with a flash of a grin.

End Log
Lt. Tye Beryl
CHelm

&

Lt. Quinn Romanov
Fighter Pilot

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