Cerulean Stars - Chapter 64

Cerulean Stars - Chapter 64

Stardate 48196.2 - March 13, 2371 - 14:42:00

Debriefing the rest of Deep Space Nine's command staff on the various things they hadn't been able to tell them about over subspace had taken the better part of the afternoon, after which Sisko had instructed Raine to familiarize Bashir, Dax, and O'Brien with the Defiant's layout and systems.

“She was originally going to be a testbed for the type 18 shuttlepod.” Raine told the trio as she showed them the shuttlebay. “However, given the extreme limitations of the type 18's capabilities and just what our mission is going to be, I was able to convince Admiral Layton that a pair of Type 9's would be more useful.”

“Good call.” O'Brien offered with a shudder, expanding more after seeing the questioning looks Bashir and Dax were sending him. “I've seen the design proposals, short range warp capability, limited life support, and no replicators, transporter, or tractor beam.”

“And yeah. He continued with a nod of acknowledgement. “They would likely be an improvement over the type 15 pod, but that's a low enough bar we must have lost a good half dozen during my time on the Enterprise.”

“Starfleet officers crash shuttles and the like often enough you really want something with at least a little recoverability.” Raine agreed, biting her bottom lip to keep from giggling at the black humor of the statement.

“I suppose you would know.” Jadzia acknowledged with a cheeky grin.

“She's got you there Commander.” Bashir added in as Raine shot the two a look of disappointment at the betrayal.

“Continuing on.” Raine groused as she turned and began walking out of the small bay. “We have a corridor, standard Starfleet grays, though I've always been more a fan of the shape and cheery lighting on the galaxy and nebula classes myself.”

She couldn't help but giggle at the looks of disbelief she got at that bit of commentary.

“I'm with you there Commander.” O'Brien confessed after a moment, apparently deciding to play along with the joke. “Least they remembered the carpet. You know they are thinking of doing away with it in some of the newer classes?”

“For shame.” Jadzia dramatically put forward, joining in on the fun with a general air of amusement. “Everyone knows how important the carpets are.”

“They provide traction, and keep the squeaky boot noises down.” Raine said, nodding in agreement to the pair as they passed through the open doorway to engineering. 

“That a class 7? O'Brien asked as he looked over the warp core with the eye of a trained master.

“Class 7a.” Raine returned with a shake of her head. “They had to do a partial rebuild to solve a string of problems with the plasma system that would have kept the ship from topping warp 9 without tearing itself apart.”

“I suppose that would do it all right.” O'Brien admitted, not looking away from the core. “If you don't mind Commander, it would probably be a good idea if I did a full check to familiarize myself with any differences before we head out tomorrow.”

“Sure.” Raine agreed with a smile, having planned on dropping him off at the location anyways. “Just be ready to work through the night, because Centurion T'Rel has a couple modifications she needs made so will probably show up to start on that once Commander Sisko finishes getting them situated on the station.”

“Still not sure how I feel about that.” O'Brien muttered.

“Eh.” Raine offered with a shrug she hoped conveyed just how little concern she had about them. “Just assume they’re going to report anything they see or hear back to someone and go from there. No different really from when the Enterprise ran those officer exchanges with the Klingons.”

“One of those was a spy.” O’Brien shot back, crossing his arms and glaring at her with an annoyed expression on his face. “For the Romulans.”

“Okay.” Raine admitted with a grimace, having completely forgotten about that. “Bad example. So I’ll just be blunt about this. Starfleet knows the Romulans are going to be spying on us. And the only orders I have on that front are to limit them to beta-four level systems access and make sure they don’t steal any of the gel-packs.”

“Gel-packs?” O’Brien questioned, almost physically perking up at the word. “I didn’t think those were in service yet outside of the Intrepid class?”

“Apparently Captain Scott knows a guy.” Raine answered with a shrug, having learned in her first life that was apparently just a power most really good engineers tended to have.

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“Computer, activate EMH.” Raine ordered, wondering as she did just how well he and Bashir would get along.

“Please state the nature of the… Oh, it’s you.” The last was said with such a disappointed tone that Raine wondered if maybe she might have been going a bit too hard on the program by stopping in every day to actually give it some hours on the clock.

“Doctor Bashir, Lieutenant Dax.” Raine introduced after deciding the hologram would probably thank her for it in the long run. “Meet Robert, the Defiant’s EMH.”

“As I told you before Commander, I am an emergency medical hologram.” The EMH protested with a put upon sigh. “I don't need a name.”

“That seems rather short sighted.” Bashir put forward with a frown. “What if someone needs your attention during a medical procedure?”

Raine honestly hadn't even considered that, having more wanted to humanize the hologram so the crew would be less likely to just shrug and go along with its eventual retirement.

“They can call me Doctor.” The EMH offered with a prim nod.

Given the scenario Bashir had presented Raine could see several obvious problems with the EMH's suggestion, and from the slightly incensed look on Bashir's face so could he.

“Why don't you and Robert get acquainted while I finish showing Jadzia the rest of the ship?” She suggested before Bashir could really begin correcting the hologram. “He can do a better job of introducing you to the Defiant's medical systems anyways.”

“I suppose.” Bashir returned, apparently thrown for a bit of a loop by her sudden digression. 

“Great!” She exclaimed, grabbing a smiling Jadzia by the arm and dragging the Trill woman out the door.“Have fun.”

“That was mean.” Jadzia scolded after the door closed behind them, the severity of her faux admonishment broken up by the women’s rapid descent into giggling.

“Yes, well, he would have kept us in there for the next hour and I really want to finish this up so I can get back to my quarters and just spend an hour relaxing in a hot bath.” Raine explained to her with a tired sigh as they began walking to the bridge.

Jadzia cringed slightly at that before shooting the Asari an apologetic look.

“That bad?”

“I originally thought Sisko’s revenge for my creative problem solving was not telling me about the promotion till we got to Earth.” Raine began with a self pitying tone. “But now I know it was actually promoting me in the first place. Because the work will just, not, stop.”

“First I had to put together an entire security team, then I had to help work out issues with the Romulans, during which time I was also helping to put together and test out a fleet wide Jem’Hadar training scenario, all the while having to juggle taking care of Saya and dealing with my mother.”

“And that’s not even counting the past five days I’ve spent on an overcrowded ship dealing with the aftermath of bored security officer stupidity.” She finished with a whine.

“It’ll get better.” Jadzia put forward consolingly as she gave Raine a light hug.

“And well, look on the bright side.” Jadzia continued with a playful smirk as she released Raine and took a step back. “At least you and that Romulan engineer seem to be getting along pretty well.”

Raine stopped dead at that, shooting the Trill woman a look of utter disbelief because there was no way she should have been able to hear about that already.

“Benjamin told me about it when you were talking with Odo.” Jadzia explained with a mirthful glint in her eyes after letting the Asari stew in confusion for a moment. “Speaking of which, what’s this I hear about an autograph book?”

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Stardate 48196.8 - March 13, 2371, Time - 19:58:00

Raine sank into the tub of hot water with a sigh of pure bliss as various strained muscle groups realized she was home and it was finally safe to relax.

“Computer, play–”

The door chime rang, and she sank under the water with a groan before surfacing a moment later.

“Saya!” She yelled out. “Get that would you!?”

The sound of feet on carpet echoed out for a moment before she heard the door open with its customary swish.

“It's Mrs O'Brien!” Saya yelled back. “Want me to tell her you're busy!?”

“No!” Raine answered, pulling herself out of the tub and grabbing the fluffy robe she had prepared beforehand. “Tell her I'll be out in a minute.”

Slipping into the invitingly comfortable robe, she gave her fins a quick pat down with a nearby towel before walking out through her bedroom to the living room.

“I hope I didn't interrupt anything.” Keiko offered apologetically as she took in Raine's state of dress from where she had taken a seat on one of the couches.

“Just me, a bottle of synthale, and some bubbles alone in the tub.” Raine said as she offered the woman a lopsided smile.

“Ah.” Keiko returned with an understanding bob of her head. “The long week special.”

“You don't wanna know the number of officers I caught doing the walk of shame back to their quarters on the trip back here.” Raine offered with a tired shake of her head.

“Oh no.” Keiko giggled.

“You've never quite seen a walk of shame, till you've seen a Vulcan walk of shame.” Raine continued bemusedly, though to be fair she supposed at forty-five there was no way ensign Sular hadn't known what she was getting into when she had decided to take the plunge into the vast realm of inter-species hookups.

“I don't know.” Keiko offered in a cagey tone as her lips quirked upwards into a sly smile. “I think a Klingon doing it might rank up there.”

Raine held up a finger about to inquire more about that odd comment before lowering it and giving a light shake of head.

“I wasn't always married to Miles, you know.” Keiko provided innocently.

“So what's the bad news?” Raine finally asked as she perched on the arm of the couch, knowing Keiko wouldn't have shown up so late at night if it wasn't something in that vein.

Keiko sighed, fidgeting with the edge of her jacket as she built herself up to whatever it was she wanted to say.

“I'm going to be closing the school.” She finally confessed.

That made sense Raine supposed, any Bajorans with families were likely heading to a location that wasn't at risk of becoming target number one of any Dominion invasion. Though of course the Asari knew from the nearly two years she'd been friends with the woman, that the lack of challenging work would leave Keiko metaphorically climbing the walls by the month's end.

“It's all right, I get it.” Raine tried to reassure her. “You have anything lined up for after? Or do I need to warn O'Brien that he should start work on that arboretum he's been putting off?”

“I have an offer from the–”

The chime on her door rang once more, so with a twitching eye ridge and fully in fuck-it mode, she walked over and palmed the door control, completely unsurprised to find Odo standing on the other side with a padd in hand.

“Ah Commander, I was hoping we could go over…” He began, only to pause as he too took in her general state of dress and tired expression. 

“I suppose this can wait till the morning, have a good night Commander.” He finished with a nod before making a hasty retreat back down the corridor.

Hanging her head, she gave an annoyed growl before tapping the control to close the door and returning to the couch with the sound of Keiko’s giggling as an accompaniment.

“That poor man.” She finally got out as Raine’s own lips quirked slightly in shared mirth.

“He was right to run.” Raine admitted giving in and joining Keiko in her laughter. “For my bathrobe clad wrath is known throughout the quadrant.”