Cerulean Stars - Chapter 86

Cerulean Stars - Chapter 86

Stardate 48316.8 - April 26, 2371 - 15:10:00

“And that's when we got into a discussion about the importance of universal translator compatible naming conventions.” Raine explained to Janeway, the unintentional Maquis rebranding still one of her more embarrassing accomplishments given the way it was actively helping to blunt negative opinions about the group.

Janeway hid her mouth behind her mug to hide her smile. “You didn't.”

“I did.” Raine confirmed with a nod. “Cut to a couple weeks later and we receive an official announcement from them about how, to better represent the wide breadth of different species in their group, they're renaming themselves The Free Colonies."

“Oh, I bet your mother just loved that.” Janeway put forward with an amused shake of her head.

“I got a two hour lecture the last time I returned home about not giving branding advice to terrorists.” Raine informed her, giving an exaggerated shudder at the memory.

Janeway seemed to consider the story for a moment before giving a nod. “Okay, I'll admit, that's a pretty embarrassing mistake to have made. But you haven't heard yet about how I was responsible for the Hakaran mistake.”

“You mean the thing that had everyone in the Quadrant running around at warp five for nearly a year?” Raine asked to be absolutely sure they were talking about the same thing.

“The one and only.” Janeway confirmed with a nod. “One of my papers on the environmental effects of differing subspace topography was used as a base for estimating the compounding damage being done to subspace. Only, that paper was supposed to have been submitted as a half complete theoretical for others to try and complete since I was transferring to the command track and wouldn't have the time to do it myself.”

She sighed and hung her head. “Except I had just pulled an all nighter finishing up the last of my paperwork and I accidentally submitted it as a complete paper instead.”

“And nobody checked it?” Raine questioned, not sure whether she believed the woman given how obsessive scientists could be about trying to tear down each other's work.

“The math was good.” Janeway admitted with a shrug. “Assuming you first made several assumptions about subspace layers having a generally uniform nature.”

Raine stared at Janeway for a moment, considering the many varied encounters the woman was about to have that would thoroughly disprove that assumption. And wondering as she did if maybe at least a couple of those might have been the sort of secret Q test that anyone who caught the beings attention seemed to experience at least a couple of times in their lives.

“Okay, you win.” She admitted. “Even if I live to a thousand I don't think–

The briefing room door slid open interrupting Raine before she could finish and admitting the grinning form of Commander Sisko.

“Captain Janeway.” He greeted the human woman with a nod. “Sorry to keep you waiting.”

“It's fine, Commander.” Janeway reassured him with a smile. “We've been using the time to catch up.”

“Oh?” He inquired with a look over to the Asari. “You two know each other?”

“Same Academy graduating class.” Raine explained with a wry grin. “So we were just going through the usual comparison of our failures and accomplishments.”

“I'm ahead.” Janeway bragged in a good natured tone, raising her empty coffee mug as she did to add just a little extra emphasis to her claim.

“She is.” Raine agreed, seeing no reason to deny it given the woman had her beat in pretty much everything outside of physical and maybe diplomatic ability.

“It's good to see you two get along better than me and Commander Solok at least.” Sisko offered with a quirk lipped grin as he walked over to the replicator. “Raktajino, hot.”

“We weren't nearly as close as you and Commander Solok.” Raine explained, having heard complaints about the Vulcan more than once over the years. 

She turned to Janeway. “I think the last year we had only what? A single class together?”

“Temporal Mechanics 401.” Janeway confirmed with a nod. “I remember because you got into a semester-long argument with the professor about the existence of temporally induced dimensional branching events.”

That certainly hadn't been one of Raine's proudest moments, but she knew they were possible, even if she still didn't have the slightest inkling of any idea about how they could be accomplished without violating Brown's third principle of time stream continuity.

“Switching the subject away from my embarrassing past. Did everything go okay with Na'Tal, Commander?”

“My mind is apparently a byzantine maze unlike anything she'd ever encountered before.” Sisko confessed in an amused tone as he stepped around the table, coffee in hand, to take a seat at his customary spot at the end of the table. “And she wasn't able to find any trace of telepathic influence.”

He let the sentence hang for a moment before continuing. “Ever.”

“Moderately odd.” Raine commented, wondering if that was because of something the Prophets did to cloak his mind from psychics that might try to dig a little too deep. “But as long as she says you're clear of any sudden and inexplicable clock building urges it should be fine.”

“Clock building urges?” Janeway inquired as she shot the two of them a confused look.

“It's a long story.” Sisko told her as he began to use the tabletop controls to bring something up on the monitor only to pause and turn to Raine. “That'll be all, Commander.”

Which was all but directly telling the Asari that what the two of them were about to discuss was above her classification level, so she gave a nod of understanding before getting up and heading to the door. Leaving the two to continue their talk in private as she went to hunt down the pair who would hopefully be her patsy.

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“You know.” Broik said as Raine watched him corner the hapless young ensign that was Harry Kim and start the soft sell for one of Quark's less interesting endeavors. “We don't get many new officers like yourself coming through the door of Quark's nowadays.”

To Harry's credit he seemed to immediately clue in to the fact that the Ferengi was setting him up for something with the way he tensed up at Broik's words. Though of course, memory told Raine that caution may have been more due to the fact the Ferengi looked like a Ferengi than any sort of properly instilled survival instinct.

“How did you know I was a new officer?” He asked as he turned a cautious look to Broik.

Broik motioned widely across the interior of the bar. “The way you were looking around, of course.”

He gave the ensign a toothy grin. “Fresh eyes gleaming with the shine of someone having their first experience with the splendor of the galaxy and possibly looking to take a little piece of that back with him.”

Which was a fair angle to take Raine knew, because it was a rare Starfleet captain that would try to forbid their crew from souvenir hunting. Mainly because all but the most hard headed captains could figure out it was better to allow it so the stuff their crew grabbed could be checked, then disallow it and have whatever they grabbed anyways turn out to be something dangerous.

“I'm really not interested.” Harry told Broik, moving to walk past the Ferengi only for him to match the ensign's step.

“Are you sure?” Broik prodded, likely deciding the fact that Harry hadn't outright refused meant there was the possibility of convincing him. “Quark's carries a select line of exclusive handworked Gamma Quadrant curios that make excellent gifts for family and loved one's.”

“Very.” Harry said as he turned a disapproving look to the other man. “We were warned about the Ferengi at the Academy. So I'm not going to fall for whatever you're trying to do.”

Which Raine knew was ironically just selling overpriced, though surprisingly high quality, Dosai jewelry that Quark had arranged the occasional delivery of at Pel's prompting.

Broik humphed, crossing his arms as a look of faux offense flashed across his features. “Speciesism from a member of the Federation? I thought your people were supposed to be better than that.”

“What!? No!” Harry protested, his eyes going wide in alarm as he no doubt flashed back to various interspecies ethics courses. “What I meant was–

“Why.” Broik interrupted, building up a respectable look of outrage. “I have half a mind to contact your captain and make a formal complaint about your behavior here.”

Raine rolled her eyes at the theatrics before with a sigh starting to walk over to save the young ensign, only to pause before getting more than two steps as a recognizable red uniformed officer beat her to it.

“What's this about a formal complaint?” Tom Paris inquired in a good natured tone as he walked over to the pair. “I'm close to the captain, so if you need me to get her down here it shouldn't be too much trouble.

“Oh, I'm sure there's no need for that.” Broik hastily rejected. “We Ferengi are perfectly willing to let bygones be bygones when it comes to paying customers.”

He turned an expectant look to Harry that left Raine sighing at how Quark really needed to hire a couple more staff with at least a modicum of sense. Because while the sales pitch hadn't been entirely bad, at least to the point he started trying to hard sell Harry, it had a rather obvious flaw that should have had the Ferengi realize it was a waste of time.

“They're newly graduated ensigns, Broik.” Raine said as she joined the trio. “They'll be lucky to have five Credits to their name.”

“I have a few more then,” Harry began with a defensive tone in his voice as he turned to look at her, only to stop mid sentence and go stiff as he took in the pips on her uniform's collar. 

“Hello beautiful.” Tom murmured at the same moment as his eyes very obviously traced their way up Raine's uniformed body.

“Ma'am!” Harry finally got out, his mouth clearly moving faster than his brain at this point. “I'm sorry, I didn't know you were…”

He trailed off, the realization that he hadn't actually said anything particularly objectionable to her settling.

“So wait.” Broik interjected in an annoyed tone as he looked between the two ensigns. “They're broke?”

“By the standards of the ensigns assigned here? Absolutely.” Raine returned, fully aware that the usual daily stipend for ensigns on shore leave to non-federation locations was in fact exactly the five credits she had suggested. A number that was about four times lower than what they provided to the ensigns stationed here for restaurant and holosuite access.

“I don't suppose you'd like to?” Broik asked, motioning hopefully over to the display case on the bar.

Raine pointed with both hands at her head. “Still no ears.”

And sadly earrings were most of what Quark tended to get from the Dosai, a safe bet given the Bajorans had made wearing earrings a cultural practice, but annoying nonetheless to those rare species like hers that lacked ears to put them in.

“Ah right.” Broik mumbled, as he retreated in embarrassment. “Always forget you don't actually have lobes.”

Ferengi compliments could be oddly backhanded at times Raine mused to herself as she turned back to the pair of ensigns, focusing first on the taller of the two.

“You're not my type.” She told him with a deadpan harsh enough that only the most stubborn playboys would fail to take the hint.

“Are you sure?” Paris asked, shooting Raine a smile he likely thought was suave but to the Asari just came off as sort of insecure. “I'm pretty fun to be around once you actually get to know me.”

Raine shot him an overly sweet smile. “I have a teenage daughter and am looking for a serious long term relationship”

“But I suppose if you say you're not interested it can't be helped.” Paris flipped on an all but immediate dime.

“Anyways.” Raine continued, turning her eyes to Harry. “Ensign Kim, isn't it?”

“Yes ma'am.” Harry confirmed with a rapid nod, looking very much like he wanted to dissociate himself from the other ensign at this side.

“Good.” Raine said as she gave the man a much more normal grin. “I was hoping to ask you for a personal favor.”

A number of conflicted emotions seemed to cycle across Harry's face at that, before settling on one that seemed equal parts embarrassed and flattered.

“I'm really… I have a girlfriend.” 

“A personal favor involving your engineering and programming expertise.” Raine clarified, ignoring the quiet chuckles coming from Tom Paris at Harry's misunderstanding.

Harry’s eyes darted around the room as if looking for the punchline of whatever joke Raine was playing on him. 

“My engineering and programming expertise?” He finally repeated. “You have to have people more skilled than me around here?”

“Well, yes.” Raine admitted with an acknowledging bob of her head, no doubt thoroughly popping any ego based bubble she might have briefly inflated. “But none with an ensigns free time and access to the new type nine holodecks.”

Tom elbowed him in the side. “Say yes. It never hurts to have a senior officer owe you a favor.”

Given trading favors was at least partially how things got done in the lower ranks of Starfleet, Raine knew that wasn't exactly bad advice to give to someone who very well might not have realized it yet.

“What would you want me to do?” Harry floated cautiously, seeming to actually consider it now that Tom had put the upside to her request in perspective.

Raine reached into her pocket and pulled out a usb-drive sized data crystal that she offered to the ensign. “Nothing big, just run through a holoprogram I’ve been putting together while Voyager is on assignment and give me a review of how it runs when you pass back through the area.”

“You do holo-programing?” Tom interjected before Harry could answer with the excited tone of someone who had more than a passable interest in the subject. “What’s it about?”

“It’s an adaptation of a series from my original homeworld.” Raine admitted, which was the story she’d been telling since she first started working on it. “Though a lot of the character and story details were handled by my partner Felix Knightly.”

“If Harry’s not up for it, I'll be happy to give the program a look over.” Tom offered as he stared at the data crystal with an almost naked desire on his face. “Always wanted to see some of Felix’s work, but he usually doesn’t do mass produced programs.”

“No! No, I’ll do it.” Harry insisted, all but snatching the data crystal from Raine’s hand as she gave the pair a wry grin.

Raine clapped Harry on the shoulder. “Great, I look forward to hearing what you think of it. And like Tom said, if you ever need a favor in the future, don’t be afraid to ask.”

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Author’s notes: No, Janeway wasn’t really any more responsible for Warp Speed Limit than the authors of the dozen + other papers Servona used to put her theory together. But in the game of Academy class bragging you sometimes exaggerate a little.

And yes, sometimes the simple plan for smuggling a hologram aboard a cursed voyage is the one that works.