Certifiable

Posted on Fri Mar 14th, 2025 @ 9:24pm by Lieutenant Xalanth & Lieutenant Ryan Keel

2,698 words; about a 13 minute read

Mission: Gone, Without Ever Knowing the Way
Location: Armoury USS Astrea

:ON:

Keel made his way around Deck Eight, studiously ignoring the Intelligence suite as he went. Although a Diplomatic Officer these days, he was still required to certify his phaser skills. Though he wasn't as sharp as in his days with the Marines, he was hoping that it would still be a relatively simple requirement to fulfill.

He hadn't actually fired a weapon in anger in several years. Keel hoped to keep it that way.

Rounding the corridor, he chimed the access to the Armoury. He had made a previous appointment, but he thought it best to ring the doorbell so to speak, rather than just marching in.

Xalanth smiled as he stored the last of the phaser rifles and slid the tray back into the armour locker. Another job done. Hearing the door chime he headed for the window to the firing range and gave a polite enter. He smiled at the individual who stepped in. The new diplomatic officer if he remembers the face. " Hello, there Lieutenant Keel what can I help you with? " he enquired.

'You have me at a disadvantage,' Keel smiled as he was allowed entry to the Armoury. The sight was a familiar one, and he relaxed in its environment. 'I'm here for my phaser certs. Just looking to dot the i's and cross the t's on my transfer to the Astrea, lieutenant?' he let the question hang in the air a moment.

" Lieutenant JG Xalanth." the red lizard replied with a smile. " I read your file when you were transferred over." The lizard said walking back from the window and quickly returning with a hand phaser. " Take window two I'll get the target program set up for you."

'A pleasure to meet you, Mister Xalanth,' Keel replied, moving towards window two. 'You need me to take anything with me?' He guessed, from his own file readings on each of the senior officers in each department, that Xalanth was the Dragonian he'd read about. Quietly delighted, he hoped they would have the opportunity to converse.

" Here." Xalanth said handing him a spare power pack before stepping out and onto the range and taking his place standing behind the range control panel. " Range is hot." He called out as the holographic target ball appeared. " You may fire when ready." He said to Keel.

Picking up the phaser, Keel settled in to a familiar stance on the balls of his feet. Extending his arm he sighted along the short brow of the phaser and let loose a shot. He clipped the lower left edge of the sphere.

Wincing in frustration he shook his head. 'Must be rustier than I thought,' he declared, allowing the frustration to tighten his voice slightly.

" Not had to use a phaser in a while? " Xalanth enquired as the target reset.

'Not particularly,' Keel managed a smile as he brought the phaser up close to fiddle with the settings a little. Clenching and unclenching his hand around the grip, he tried to get it to fit more comfortably in his hand. 'They tend to frown on Diplomatic Officers drawing a weapon, you know?' He flashed a grin, 'it's a bit undiplomatic really.'

Standing straighter, he forced himself to looses up, bouncing from one foot to the other, then stilling himself. 'Alright.' Keel brough the phaser up to eye level, and snapped off a shot, hitting the target squarely. 'That's better,' he said, feeling some relief come over him. 'So, Lieutenant, how'd you find yourself aboard the Astrea?' he asked Xalanth.

"Transferred." Xalanth replied with a slight hint of bitterness in his voice. " Someone in the fleet doesn't like me and keeps trying to keep me and my family apart so I keep getting transferred away. Here's hoping we can stay together now though. The Astrea a good ship and we have plenty of room for us. What about you how have you ended up here?"

'By choice,' Keel replied, putting the phaser down for a moment. 'The time came to move on from my previous assignment, and the Astrea needed a Chief Diplomatic Officer.' He frowned, looking at the Dragonian. 'Who would have something against you so badly that they try and keep you away from your family?'

The lizard let out a slight sigh" I've annoyed a few admirals in my time in the fleet. One was up to some very shady stuff during the Romulan evacuations. Another has this paranoid belief that my species and I are a ..." He gestured his hands in a quotation sign he'd picked up at the academy. " A waiting biological cascade waiting to happen. You'd think after the cadet she sent to spy on me told her i wasn't an agent here to test the waters she'd get the message or after i won the Christopher Pike Medal of Valor.. Twice. Still, no...." he said letting out a snort as he did so.

" Sorry, my clan has a low threshold for lies and slander. I can go on for hours." He apologised.

'You don't need to apologise. You serve the Federation. That alone should be enough to spare you that kind of rubbish, that kind of prejudice.' Keel could feel himself get hot under the collar. 'I can't stand that kind of behaviour, especially if someone's gone above and beyond for us.' He shook his head and said sincerely, 'I hope they back off of you.' He calmed himself a moment as the target beeped its readiness, and Keel stepped back up to the plate, and snapped off another shot.

'Aim's still a little off - you sure the Astrea's got the standard phaser?' he asked with a half-smile.

" Should be there the latest phaser spec from the replicator," Xalanth replied. " Try breathing in and out then firing."

'Alright.' He took a breath in, then let it out, releasing the trigger as he went. This time the shot landed, pinging the target and causing it to flash green. 'Alright!' Keel pumped the air, 'much better, thanks.' He turned to look at Xalanth. 'So, what are you going to do about these people who're bothering you?'

Xalanth pressed a few buttons recorded the score and began preparing the target for the next level. " What I can. I've reported them to internal affairs and the JAG, but I'm just a lieutenant jg and they're high up in the fleet command. Most of my complaints have been dismissed or are still under review. " He said letting out a sigh. " Other than that I just try and keep my record clean and do my best for my career and my girls."

'I guess it's the best you can do under the circumstances,' Keel replied, a little dubious. But he brightened, 'you have kids then? I take it they're aboard ship from the way you've been talking?'

" Six of my daughters are here. " Xalanth explained with a weak smile on his face. " My Cemet is with my third. They are being transferred back here but someone got her posted to a deep space exploration ship. She only found out she was pregnant after they past the point of no return." He said letting out a sigh.

'Six daughters,' Keel replied, a little incredulous, 'and they transferred your wife away? It must be tough on you both with only you here for the kids.' The target beeped a warning it was about to time out once more, forcing Keel to turn and shoot once more. It was acceptable. 'How do you cope?'

" Wives." Xalnth corrected raising his sleeve to reveal his bonding bracelet. The four red big gems glowed in the room light upon it's golden frame each surrounded by smaller gems. " I keep forgetting my clan's bonding habits aren't the norm. " He gestured to the gems. " T'para, Leilani, Zola and Fulvia. Four of the parts of my soul and the daughters they blessed me with. Yazar,Travla, Cemet,Lersi , Amrar ,Antistia and my dear little Lwiari." His voice became a gentle soft tone. He clearly cared for all of his family. " What about you Keel do you have any family?" He enquired.

'No, no wives,' Keel smiled sadly. 'The, uh, last one didn't work out. Too many cross-purposes.' He looked askance at the other officer. 'How do you manage? If you don't mind me asking, that is. You can always tell me to mind my own beeswax. I just find other cultures to be interesting.' He smiled sheepishly, 'and don't really have a filter.'

" Sorry to hear that and no it's fine. As for how I manage I just do what the holy books tell my people to do. Love them as much as they love me, work with them, not against them and make sure to perform the ritual sparring on their day" the red lizard said before realising he should explain. " My home world has an eight-day week. My people's religion tells us that each day relates to part of the soul. The dawn sparring is performed on said day. It lets out any bad feelings one builds up over the week. At least that's what the holy books say."

'As in, physical sparring? Hand-to-hand, that sort of thing?' Keel asked, entirely forgetting he was here for his certification. He leaned on the partition, resting his forearms against it as he listened to the Dragonian talk about his culture. 'Wouldn't that injure yourself or one of your partners?'

" Yes, and it could easily injure us. My species is on par with the Vulcans strength-wise, but I know how to control my strength. My mates are all trained in Starfleet's defence form, some of their own cultures plus what I've taught them of my own people's fighting form. Besides, half the ritual is caring for each other after the spar. Healing and holding each other and remembering why we love each other." Xalanth replied before shaking his head. " Sorry, I'm rambling. " He apologised as he typed in the next setting for the phaser test.

'Not at all,' Keel replied with a smile, 'this is deeply fascinating to me - it's why I became a Diplomatic Officer rather than stay a jarhead. Learning about other cultures and species is something I actively enjoy.' His smile widened into a grin, 'not that you have to spill your life out to me, of course.'

" Good to know. I always like talking about my people and trying to correct some of the rumours that have spread about us. " Xalnth replied giving the man the best smile that he could. " Next level." He said as the orb returned this time moving. " Anything about my people you want to know in particular? " He added.

Keel planted his feet, and rolled his shoulders, loosening them somewhat, then snapped off a shot, hitting the target first time. 'Better,' he said mildly, 'finally got my eye in. My old drill sergeant would be spitting teeth by now with my standards.' He looked over at Xalanth, and smiled, 'I'm afraid I haven't really read about Dragonians - I knew you were aboard, but that was about it, really.'

"Afraid there is not much written about us that doesn't come from a rather biased source. At least right now. " Xalanth joked doing his best wink clearly indicating which of his kind had been doing said writing. " I can tell you what I know but I am only from one desert clan. I really don't know much about the tunnelers or many of the city-states."

Shrugging in response, Keel said, 'I didn't even know there was that much of a cultural divide in your people.' Genuinely fascinated, he asked, 'would you like to get a drink or something? Talk about it off-duty? I'm taking up a hell of a lot of your time here. I'm sure there's better things you could be doing that certifying my phaser skills.'

"Of course, I can see when i have some free time and see if we can meet up. Maybe you could stop by and meet the family." Xalanth replied with a friendly reptilian grin.

'That would be a pleasure,' Keel replied with genuine pleasure. He turned back to the target and pointed. 'Let's get this done, so I can get out of your hair, so to speak. It's another three or four difficulty levels, depending, right?'

The lizard nodded as he loaded the next level. The orb appeared again only moving and changing colour. "You may fire when ready."

Puffing out a breath, Keel raised the phaser again, carefully watching the target move. Leading the target slightly, he let loose a shot, hitting it almost squarely in the center. 'Best yet,' he remarked drily, and flashed a smile to the Dragonian. 'What's your Chief of Department like?'

"Commander Eirly Andersen?" Xalanth enquired as he thought it through. " I like her. She makes sure the security department is in top shape. She's going to be a great second officer."

'Anything I'd need to know before meeting her?' Keel asked casually as he watched the next target being tee'd up. 'I don't want to accidentally insult her or anything like that,' he smiled.

"Just act as you would to any other Starfleet officer and you should be fine." Xalanth replied.

'Noted,' Keel nodded as he turned back to the target for one last shot. Moving in a more randomised fashion than the last difficulty level, the target also flashed a random set of colours, only one of which, red, was to be targeted. Watching the target carefully, he picked his moment, and clipped it when it turned red. Keel nodded in satisfaction.

" One last level. " The lizard said as he loaded up the last target. Two orbs appeared and began moving in random patterns as they flashed in a multitude of colours. " You may fire when ready." the lizard stated.

Damn, Keel thought. He hated this one. Watching both the targets, the ex-Marine tried to discern a pattern in the fluctuation, but gave up on it, and decided to hope for the best. Tracking their movements with his phaser, he shot at the first target, then the second in quick succession. Mercifully the second shot hit the target in the right area, during the correct colour combination. The first one, the shot connected, but the colour combination switched.

Keel sighed as the program shut itself down. 'How'd I do?'

" Well within acceptable perimeters." the lizard replied from his console. " Please swap the phaser power cell and return the phaser to the armour window. "

Doing as instructed, Keel walked back to the Armour window and handed him the now-unneeded phaser. 'Thanks ever so much for your time,' he said. It had been nice to have a chat with someone that hadn't entirely involved work. He liked Xalanth, Keel decided, and was looking forward to getting to know him.

Xalanth took the phaser and placed it back in it's rack and the power cell in for charging. " Your qualifications should have been updated. I see no reason that you can't carry a phaser on away missions." he said with a smile. " I'll see if i can see if we have some overlapping free time and see if i can invite you round for dinner." He added.

'Thank you, on both accounts,' Keel replied with a grin. 'I'm sure your family will keep you busy, but please let me know if the chance comes up for food. And let me know if I can bring a dessert or something. Rigelian tradition - don't turn up to a person's house empty handed.'

" I will. I'll see you round the ship." The lizard finished with a smile and a wave before returning to his work.

Keel took his leave, smiling as he went.

:OFF:

Lieutenant Ryan Keel
Chief Diplomatic Officer
USS Astrea

Lieutenant (JG) Xalanth
Assistant Chief Security/Tactical Officer
USS Astrea

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