Meeting the ops chief.
Posted on Sun Feb 2nd, 2025 @ 5:35am by Lieutenant Daynah Ral & Lieutenant JG Xalanth
1,602 words; about a 8 minute read
Mission:
Gone, Without Ever Knowing the Way
Location: Barisa Prime Starbase.
Anyone could tell Xalanth was a happy lizard. The smile on his raptor face gleamed like a thousand suns as he walked with his eldest. Yazar was happy to be reunited with her father as she bore a similar smile. The dragaonian hybrid now came up to her father's waist and was really begging to resemble her father. Other than her ear ridges and with the faint traces of brown scales along her forehead showing the traces of her Vulcan heritage.
The two had been Yarven flying on the holodeck dressed in the jumpsuits from Xalanths home which were a mix of modern tech with old steel plates and chainmail. " Can we get something to eat? " Yazar asked her father. Her voice shows her mother's Vulcan heritage and her Earth upbringing. He nodded as the two of them began to look for a seat at one of the cafes that dotted the promenade. Through the observation bay viewport, they could see the Astera hopefully the family home for a good long while.
Looking at the faces at the seats the lizard stopped when he noticed one. One of the new faces he'd seen on the incoming transfers to the ship. " Hello there Lieutenant Daynah Ral isn't it?" He asked politely.
Daynah had received her transfer orders days before the Astrea arrived. She was to assist in the repairs and refit of the ship and then stay on as the Chief of Operations. During the days she waited for the ship she familiarized herself with the crew. At the very least putting names to faces. So, it was no surprise to her that she knew who the Dragonian was when he approached. "Yes Lieutenant Xalanth you caught me." Daynah smiled softly as she looked at the young woman who was with him. "And who might this be? Please join me."
" I'm Yazar." The young girl said with a slight chirp in her voice as she took a seat. Xalanth smiled at his daughter as he took the seat next to her. " My firstborn. She and most of my family will be joining me onbaord the Astrea."
"I'm Daynah..." she said to the young girl with a smile. She turned to Xalanth. "That is great news. It is always good when your family can join you on an assignment. Other than my parents and brother I do not have a family. At least not in this lifetime." Daynah often wondered how her previous host's spouses lived after her deaths. But, investigating things like that was frowned upon in Trill society. "So, Yazar are interested in following your father's footsteps into Starfleet?"
A smile spread over the young lizard's face. " I hope so. My dads the bravest officer in the fleet. Do you know he won the Christopher Pike Medal of Valor twice." She said with all the joy a youth had for a father they thought was invincible. Xalanth gently rubbed the top of her head affectionately. " By not in this lifetime i take it you're a joined trill?" He enquired politely.
Daynah smiled and leaned over to the little one and whispered. "Twice you say? Well then I should be safe serving on the Astrea then I think." She winked at the little girl and sipped the rachtijino that she had. "Yes I am. Ral and I have been joined for seventeen years. Before that I have lived through four other lifetimes. Where are my manners? Can I get the two of you anything?"
" I'll have a water and a meat curry, but please allow me to get them," Xalanth replied with a smile on his face as he turned to his daughter. " " And what would you like my dear?"
Yazar smiled. " Chicken fillets and a coke dad. " She replied with a slight chirp in her voice.
Looking back at Daynah the lizard added. " Can I get you anything?"
Daynah was about to order her lunch so she smiled softly. "Zabu stew with some yamok sauce. Thanks!" Cardassian cuisine was a favorite of hers. Although she knew that the replicator would not do yamok sauce justice. But you took what you could get when you were this far from Cardassian space.
" Coming right up," Xalanth said as he stood up and headed to the replicator. Yazar smiled as her father went to get their order before turning the operations officer some of the chain mail on her outfit clincking slightly as she moved. " May I ask miss what you did in your other lifetimes?" She said with the curiosity of youth.
Daynah smiled softly. In the moment she realized that Ral did not often speak about themselves. Of course she knew everything about him, and he about her, but he simply did not like to share about himself. But, the sheer curiosity and wonder of the child seemed to bring the aged symbiote to the forefront. "Well, I am 228 years old. In in that time I have lived through four lifetimes. First there was Rodan who was a musician and composer. Today I can play the harp, and piano because of him. Next came Eliza the molecular biologist. I like to think that I got my curiosity for the unknown from her. Next was a Starfleet Captain Alaryc. From him I learned about duty, honor, and what it means to serve the greater good. Finally there was poor sweet Jazra. She was a student on Betazed." Daynah stopped herself from saying more about Jazra as she was unsure if the child should know the horrors that were the Dominion War. "And here I am now. A Starfleet Officer again. It is quite interesting to see how people, and traditions, change through the years."
" I'm sorry about Jazra. " the young lizard said emotionally. " My compshara is from Betazed. Her family gets very upset about what happened to their home. It must be amazing to know how things have changed over such a long time. Dragonians only made orbit one hundred years ago. "
"And here you are. That is an amazing feat in such a short period of time. It took humans centuries to get from orbit to the Federation, for example. "What happened on Betazed was horrible, but it was also fortunate. From every bad situation there is something to learn, and the Dominion War taught us much. Such things as we can make sure that it will never happen again." Daynah spoke softly but with enough authority for the child to understand that this was a teaching moment.
" Well, we did have our war with the Yor. Dad doesn't like talking about it." Yazar added as her father returned and began placing down the items. " Has she been talking your ear off Daynah? " He joked as he rubbed the top of his daughter's head as he gave her her chicken.
"Yes, and she seems to be very astute. You have quite the little one there. One day she will be giving us both orders." Daynah said with a laugh. She looked at the stew and it seemed to be made well. She took a bite and savored it. "Delicious. Sometimes even replicators can screw up the taste of something."
" She's going to be head of Starfleet Medical in no time if she keeps stealing her mothers medical textbooks. " Xalanth grinned as his daughter dug into her food. He could remember when she was so small and how her hand could barley fit around his figure. " If all of my girls are going to be in Starfleet I'm going to have my own fleet to boss around someday." He joked.
"Well when the time comes, look me up. I am sure that I can lend a hand at the success of this fleet of ladies." Daynah smiled. It was quite refreshing to share some time with a young family. She had spent so much time on ships that did not allow families aboard. There was definitely something about having families around, something that reminded you why you did what you did.
" I'm sure me and my mates will appreciate it as would all of our girls. " Xalanth added as he carried on his meal.
" I have six sisters. Do you have any brothers or sisters Daynah?" Yazar enquired as she finished one of her chicken bits.
"I have a younger brother who serves aboard the USS Pioneer. We both went into Starfleet together although he went the enlisted route. I decided to be an officer." Daynah had not thought of her brother in some time. The turn of this conversation had brought the idea that she should message him to the forefront of her mind.
" Family is the most important thing in the world as my clan says." added the security officer. " Will need to take my youngest ones to meet the clan when I have some leave booked. "
"I would agree although I would add one thing to that statement. The family you choose is just as important and in some cases more important than the family you are born into. A starship crew that travels together and goes through life and death together can be more like a family than your blood relatives." That was a sentiment that came from Alaryc Ral's thoughts. As a Captain of a starship he felt that his crew was his family.
" Indeed. If I'd never left my own home I'd have never joined Starfleet and found the four wonderful women who have blessed me with my daughters and all the friends I've met along the way." Xalanth added rasing his glass slightly. " To found family."
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