Meanwhile... on the station
Apr 18, 2020 23:31:31 GMT
Post by Admin on Apr 18, 2020 23:31:31 GMT
This RP was played while Karina awaited the return of her ship, the Athena. She had gone to help another station (three days away) and was going to be back in time to head back out with them ((reason for absence from the ship)). Upon her return it was discovered the Athena had left the station and then just 'disappeared'. Karina is stranded on the space station, using daily shuttle time to seek out the Athena in every direction, to no avail. ((The sim is nearly over and didn't want to intrude)). Ky'Laria is a member of the crew newly assigned. Here to board Athena as well, she encounters Karina and the two get to know one another. ((Permission to post Ky is found in PERMISSION... eighteen.AM is their Discord))
April 16, 2020
How long had it been? Karina wasn’t sure she knew exactly. Does she count from when she got orders to depart the Athena to help a local Station in need? Or did she count from returning here a couple days ago to find her ship not just gone, but missing?
She had returned in time to board the Athena before it was due to head out of the station. But she arrived back to find the Station Commander completely at a loss to give her any answers. She had taken a shuttle out today, just like yesterday. She had flown in a different direction this time. After half a day of searching, she was back in the station, exiting the shuttle, cursing not having found anything. In this day and age, with this technology, ships didn’t just disappear without their being a black hole, worm hole or some kind of other anomoly present. And those weren’t here either.
She was storming, once more, towards the Commander’s office to see if there had been any word since the last time she checked 18 hours ago.
She was in her Fleet uniform, having found it made people clear the path before her when she silently stomped down the halls towards the door. Her black boots a staccatto hardly anyone heard, but seemed to thud in her ears and beat in time with her racing heart. It didn’t make sense… not even a little.
Ensign Karina Niles
Doctor
Looking toward the place where the footfalls would become a person passing into view, Ky’Laria gently thumbed a control on her terminal and the projection winked out. Her gaze tracked the human woman. Starfleet, Ensign, she said internally. Fixated on the Commander’s office, where she seems to think she will raise a fuss. Classic Ensign behaviour.
The Kuras continued to quietly examine her as she passed down the spacious hallway. Uniform fits… perfectly, she thought, an arch of spots above her eye emoting slightly along with a tiny head gesture, meant for no one. Well put together. Took the time to make that happen. A doctor, she surmised, glancing at a stripe of blue. And young. So, has either everything… or nothing, to prove.
The woman was about ten paces from the Commander’s office door when Ky’Laria decided, Let’s find out, and rose gracefully from her marginally comfortable seat. “Ensign,” she called out, gently but loud enough to hear, depending on how narrow the woman’s tunnel vision had become.
(OOC: Forgive me; I’m guessing “pretty frickin’ narrow.”)
Karina’s ears perked at the call. It wasn’t a demand, or even an order. It felt more like… a warning…
Six paces, five, four, three “En-sign.” A more ‘superior officer’ sort of tone which she hadn’t wanted to employ in this situation. But… sometimes people just don’t hear you.
If Ky’Laria had sounded like a superior officer to Ensign Niles, she certainly at the moment hadn’t looked the part - at least, not in the Starfleet sense. Clad in a second skin of dark grey fabric at joints and mobile areas, with a coarse cross-weave pattern and a certain synthetic sheen, the outfit was inlaid with thicker, black pads or plates covering vital and flatter areas; clearly, an outfit designed to protect in some manner of a hostile environment. Utilitarian boots covered almost to the knees, and a harness for gear attachments was worn over the chest, all in black. Modest shoulder pads appeared ornamental but compact enough to stay out of one’s way; these too were black, but trimmed in silvery metal around their edges, and bore two broad golden strips across their length.
She slid her hand terminal into a pouch on the right of her stomach, and her light azure-skinned hands came to rest near a vacant weapon holster at each hip. “Your ship is still gone,” was all that she said.
-Squadron Subadmiral Ky’Laria (CO, IUF 19th Battlecruiser Squadron) (… outgoing)
The first rank call out had made Karina slow her stormy pace to merely a hurried one. The second calling had slowed her to a walk and when she approached the speaker, the words then brought her to a halt.
“So there is still no word?” Whatever had been in her mind to say, or do, was gone. It was one thing to think that one could storm into a Commanding Officer’s presence and demand to know what was going on. It was quite another to do it.
“Not as far as the station commander knows,” came Ky’Laria’s matter-of-fact reply. There was no effort to conceal the thorough sizing up that Ky’Laria was conducting on Karina at that moment, probably because of how habitual it was for the Kuras to do so with any new meeting.
She didn’t wilt, so much as change her questioning. She was still determined, and steady before the woman. She had learned swiftly to not be intimidated by rank. It was a job hazard. As a Doctor, she had to be able to outrank the ranked, if not by status, than by actions. If you couldn’t make a Captain calm down and ‘listen’ to you, it could cost their lives or the lives of others. It was with that same tone she spoke to the Sub Admiral. “I had come to see if there was word. I just returned from another shuttle check. They aren’t within reading range. I just don’t understand how a ship could just ‘disappear’. Even if they were halfway back to Earth, we should have some idea of where they were.”
At some point, training had kicked in. Karina stood with her hands clasped behind her as if at parade rest. And she was still holding her head high without being obstinate.
Karina
Doctor
Ky’Laria had taken a moment to consider the Ensign’s line of reasoning, and her eyes narrowed. “What do you expect to accomplish with the sensor palette on a shuttlecraft, that is beyond the capabilities of the long-range and lateral sensors on this station?” she challenged.
Eventually, the Kuras’ body language relented as she recognized a facet of herself in this young human; a medical doctor, probably, running around and trying to work in fields totally outside her own? Strutting up, proverbially locked and loaded, to barge into the station commander’s office and… accomplish what? Aside from a lack of meticulous planning, and wanting perhaps for a dash of cunning, Ky’Laria wondered if perhaps this human’s heart was a little bit Kuras after all… “Unlikely, of course,” Ky’Laria told herself. “But… worth the moment I’ve chosen to spend.”
Sliding her right hand over the utility pouch where she’d put the hand terminal, she unclasped it and retrieved the device again. Thumbing the main power control, she spun it on her palm and held it out to the Ensign. “More than your shuttles will ever tell you about this region of space,” she explained flatly. “But almost certainly still not enough to tell us where our ship has gone.”
With a mix of a smirk and a grimace, Ky’Laria reached up and crossed her arms, grasping the shoulder caps of her uniform and unclasping them. “And would you please, just… stand easy? Now that I am here, I’m a Lieutenant. I was supposed to report to Athena today,” she said, stuffing the ranked shoulder caps awkwardly into her holsters for the moment.
“I need a glass of water,” the Kuras declared. “Come; bring my terminal, and we can sit somewhere and fail to find our duty stations together,” she said, making her best attempt at a cordial invitation after a few years of re-immersion in her own, socially forceful culture.
-Lt. Ky’Laria (Sci)
Karina paused as the woman before her spoke. Her initial reaction had been that of someone speaking a near overly rehearsed speech. Not that she had passed that, her gaze became a bit more focused on the woman before her. She saw the spots and was intrigued. She had never come across such a body image before. Perhaps it was tattooing, or an anomoly of some strange cross breed. The tinted skin and slightly pronounced teeth also lent one’s mind to see more than a mere human.
She stepped up to take the offered terminal and watched as the high ranking insignia were pocketed like a costume change. The outfit the woman wore bore out further inspection as well. More than a work out suit, yet not quite body armour, Karina got the impression this was more than some mere security officer come from training, or some scientist looking for more efficient enviro suits.
“In answer to your first question, I have been on the ship long enough to realize there are times when ships and stations and even whole planets can be obscured and hidden from sensors, but still be visible. If the ship was in danger in one of those moments, I had hopes my own eyes would break the dilemma and I would be able to send for help. But I have checked as far as I dare, alone, in nearly every direction. There is one more, off the port quadrant, I shall try tomorrow. But I do not hold much help at this point.” Despite her resolve to look tomorrow, there was still a hint of defeat in her voice near the fringes. Perhaps not even to the point she was aware of.
“It is natural, to wish that one could do more to influence a situation,” Ky’Laria replied sagely over her shoulder. “And one who wishes to have power beyond their present limits, is most likely to find opportunity make it so.”
Karina gave a half laugh. “While I admire your beliefs, Ma’am… I doubt I can find a ship that isn’t there. No matter what my determination level.”
After issuing an ‘of course not’ chuckle, Ky’Laria quickly replied with a wave of her hand, “I’m not suggesting that you could… will a ship into existence. I mean only that… those who always seek to… master their surroundings, control their situation… those who retain that desire, and keep it deep within themselves, will find themselves achieving it in some small ways. I suppose it’s an attitude of constant self-improvement, through the lens of my people’s culture,” she explained.
Never one to shirk when her mind hit a moment of query, she spoke up as she moved in the direction the woman beckoned. She wasn’t sure why, but she wasn’t ready to merely give up and walk away. “You said our ship… I take it you will be joining the Athena when they get back? The punctuated word held a conviction of certainty any seer would have been proud of. “In what capacity?” She moved up in slightly exaggerated strides till she was beside the woman. She was suddenly thrilled beyond words that she would get to see the medical records of the woman. Before being equal in pace, Karina had taken another study of the woman. It had been a long time since something… or in this case, someone had taken her notice. And she wasn’t sure how she felt about that.
Karina
Doctor
Unseen, Ky’Laria spared a brief smile at the sound of the young Ensign’s purposeful footfalls in pursuit. “I will be joining the Athena when they get back,” she repeated as her smile slowly faded.
Pausing until the human had caught up, she looked over at her, and briefly again looked her over, before continuing, “I am a science officer… at least, in Starfleet.” Pausing to reflect on something which seemed to amuse her, she soon added, “I had the opportunity to study the Federation’s outlooks on astrophysics and biochemistry, at the Academy. I even obtained some of those quaint, four-year degrees!”
She held out her hand, gesturing at the terminal which Karina was holding. “On the subject of astrophysics, that is the foundation of my inquiry into Athena’s disappearance.”
They came upon an intersection, and Ky’Laria quickly rounded the corner to the right, stopping a few paces later at a turbolift. “Are you well versed in astrophysics, Ensign..?” she trailed off, making unspoken inquiry as to her unlikely research partner’s - intern’s? Draftee’s? - name.
Lt. Ky’Laria (Sci)
A science officer. That explained her sense of the ‘impossible’. It was an admirable quality that ocassionally the technical minded doctor wished she could share. “Quaint four year degrees?” She laughed at that. “You make it sound like it was a walk in the park. If it was, for you, then I applaud you. I know bodies, not stars. I fear I barely managed to pass my basic astro classes at the Academy. Probably would have failed if not for Ja.. just having a friend to help.” She bit back the momentary slip. He was someone she wanted to forget… not remember. And certainly not with fondness.
Ky’Laria observed the woman for a moment; unfortunately for the young doctor’s attempts at concealment, her body gave away still more. Subtle changes in skin temperature and capillary dilation, respiratory rhythm, even chemical signals betrayed, to the Kuras’ understanding of humans, a wound perhaps slightly re-opened.
She pressed the call button for the turbolift, resolving to regale the human with all the details of how easily she could read her. It would be worth trying to avoid the context, however. Perhaps focusing on the capabilities of her spots… “I wasn’t referring to the difficulty,” Ky’Laria stated, bringing her tone down a touch to better align with the changes in the Ensign’s body language. “But the longevity. My people seldom obtain any kind of… certification? Until at least… r-r-r-r…” The odd trilling noise which she issued seemed, by her expression, to be a simple filler sound - a Kuras ‘hmm.’ “Twenty-one years is the shortest degree-like… thing, that we have. Twenty-five Earth years, in fact.”
Karina nodded. “We have such lengthy studies in some fields. And even in medicine, knowing enough and never knowing it all is a constant reason for learning. So I guess I will be learning for another 25 yrs as well. Though, sadly, life and knowledge are the only things we get. Not additional educational accolades.”
At the hanging of her name, Karina chided herself mentally. “Niles… Ensign Karina Niles. Call me Karina. Seems silly to be worrying about rank and position right now with the ship’s fate still unknown.” She quickly realized this woman’s rank was no trifling thing and found herself nearly stammering to correct herself. “I mean, my rank, anyway, Ma’am. Just call me Karina, or Doctor if you wish. I’m not the Chief of the Athena medical, but Doctor will suffice anyway.” She hadn’t gotten a multitude of degrees, but she had studied her backside off to get where she was.
She just hoped she hadn’t just offended someone who could snip that short in a heartbeat.
Karina
Doctor
The lift doors hissed open; the car was empty. Ky’Laria, who had been watching Karina unravel a little before her, glanced to the waiting lift and silently gestured for the doctor to enter first.
With a stoic expression, Ky’Laria stepped with ever-graceful motion into the lift, and the door hissed shut behind her. “Is it Starfleet that would have me reprimand you now for… being too informal? Or is that a facet of human culture?” For all the imposing presence, her voice had a genuine air of curiosity about it. Surely, ‘at home,’ a subordinate would simply have been better trained than to disrespect the hierarchy of command so, but this was not her home fleets and certainly not the same culture. For Ky’Laria, it was a strangely refreshing opportunity to learn again - and why could one not learn from someone a hundredth one’s age?
-Lt. Ky’Laria (Sci)
The Doctor stepped in and off to the side. She was learning to handle another species and culture she was unfamiliar at the same time she was being studied. It was a bit of an ‘under the magnifying glass’ type of situation she had been used to under the Heads of every hospital and location she had been in. So when she thought of it that way, she managed to calm down a bit.
When Ky asked about Fleet punishing her for informality, she let loose a soft laugh that at least seemed genuine and natural, even if just for a second. “I suppose they would. But only because we don’t know one another well enough for me to make such a suggestion.” She made the admission like only a true goody goody would do. Most would say no and save their skin, but Karina was honest and apparently willing to accept whatever came from such an admission. “May I ask, Ma’am, what should I call you? Perhaps the best course of action. Then I will know your rank and name and no need to worry about missteps in professionalism.”
“Quite,” Ky’Laria replied quickly; she had actually not intended to withhold her own identity for so long. She turned to face Karina, and with her ever-confident air stated, “I am Ky’Laria.” It was spoken as a single word, lightly as though with a lilt, just touching at the hard consonants between the melodious vowel sounds. “A standard of professionalism is sensible, especially when it seems we have some unplanned work to do.” At that, she gave a curt, affirming nod before facing forward again in the lift. “I have not specified a destination,” she muttered and quickly declared, “Crew lounge. Nearest.”
“A pleasure, Ky’Laria,” her pronunciation, while not perfect, was extremely close.
Being this close to Ky, Karina had the sensation of being close to a power of more than just rank. There was an aire about the woman that spoke of strength, control and the ability to handle anything that came her way. She had sensed it, in at least some degree, around most Command positional folks of nearly any race. It came with practice at being lead, leading and also making choices that left marks of strength on the person doing the choosing.
This woman had the aire of Command, even if she wasn’t Karina’s Commanding Officer.
Karina
Doctor
“You are obviously not part of my chain of command, and I see no reason to report your informality to your own. It would accomplish nothing, especially in the context of whatever perils they are experiencing in this very moment,” she offered, a hint of authoritative staccato to her voice. “I… won’t tell your boss, if you don’t tell mine,” she added much more softly, clearly sounding as though she were trying out the turn of phrase for the first time.
“I believe it is custom to address medical doctors in Starfleet by the title of ‘Doctor,’ rather than rank. That will make it Doctor Niles, then, since at least one of us is in uniform…” As she trailed off, Ky’Laria wore the tiniest smirk.
-Lt. Ky’Laria (Sci)
A sly smirk turned up the edges of Karina’s lips as the phrase was attempted. “Then we are agreed, it shall stay between us. And yes, Doctor Niles is more than sufficient. Even just Niles will work as well.” It dawned on her that Ky had said something that had struck her as odd.
“Unplanned work?” The two words holding a plethora of wonder and curiosity and not a small touch of excitement. For all her proper etiquette and decorum, one thing that got Karina’s attention was discovery. And this woman had just suggested something that the Doctor definitely wanted to discover.
Karina
Doctor
“Were you planning for your ship to disappear into the abyss?” Ky’Laria asked rhetorically in reply.
The turbolift slowed and then gently halted. Once the doors slid open, Ky’Laria stepped out first this time, glanced to each side, and said, “This way,” with a small hand gesture. “We have been handed an extraordinary challenge simply for the opportunity to report for, or return to duty,” she explained as her long strides carried her toward the door to the crew lounge. “And since we will never be able to obtain any lab time in a situation like this, all we have to work with are a set of sensor data on a terminal you’ve never seen the like of before, and…” She wore a grin bearing a hint of mischief as she stopped at the lounge entrance. “An astrophysicist you’ve never seen the like of before. After you, Doctor.”
The ‘nearest’ lounge proved to be no Ten Forward; it was more of a departmental break room, with eight tables, two replicators, and no bar host; it at least had expansive windows to the vast exterior of space, so one could watch shuttles mill about, or the occasional ship float by.
Lt. Ky’Laria (Sci)
Karina half laughed, “No, I don’t even they planned on disappearing.
When Ky said information and a person Karina had never seen the likes of, the Doc took the opportunity to ask. “Forgive me for asking, if it’s rude. But what exactly ‘are’ you. Because I admit I am a bit lost on the species. And while I am sure I will have your medical file when you bored, well,” she shrugged and blushed at the brashness of her own forwardness as they moved into the small break room.
“You wish to be my personal physician, then?” Ky’Laria asked in retort, smiling slightly. “My species is called, Kuras, which actually means simply, ‘people,’ in our language. And, you’ve likely not seen us before due to the fact that there are, at most, sixty-three of us across all of Starfleet. We are not a member of the Federation,” she explained, seemingly content to do so even after centuries of having the conversation.
“And to be honest, I don’t know any Astrophysicists so I can’t say anything other than that you will be the best one I know.” She smiled and tried to get it to come out as a compliment, even if a bit off.
Ky’Laria chuckled breathily at that, glancing to the window. “I shall be sure to live up to the competition,” she remarked, her tone sprinkled with sarcasm. “Bring me any others you meet; I shall have to eliminate them.”
Karina smiled and laughed softly, “I shall remember to do that.”
As the door shushed shut behind them, it wasn’t as small as it looked because of the windows. Karina headed for the replicator and got a large glass of energy juice. She hadn’t eaten since breakfast and her stress from the shuttle ride was starting to dampen so if she didn’t hydrate, she would certainly not be feeling good in the next hour. “Can I get you something, Ky’Laria?” She asked as she after taking a huge draw from the glass and nearly half emptying it before turning to the other woman.
Karina
Doctor
Normally, there was scarce choice beyond water when it came to Ky’Laria’s hydration needs, but at least for curiosity’s sake, she simply had to ask. “What… is that?” she asked, compelled to shift from ‘aloof’ to ‘aback’ and pace slowly toward Karina as the aroma of whatever was in the glass crashed against her olfactory sense.
Lt. Ky’Laria (Sci)
Karina, usually one to answer questions in the context of the conversation was struck by the last question first. “It’s a simple juice with additional energy supliments and vitamins for a body that is lacking nutrients on a regular basis.” She glanced down realizing it probably sounded horrible. “I drink it when I tend to miss meals, which is more than Doc Gray would like.” They were known to keep another at task for eating, though more often than not, they would go the entire shift with neither of them eating. It was a slightly thick red juice with an aroma of various spices but not in a heady way. A combination of vegetables and additional items Karina spoke of, it bordered on the taste of tomato soup without the heat of having just come from the stove.
Ky’Laria stopped a pace away, looking briefly down into the glass. “It sounds, though does not look like some of the nutritional supplements that I will be filing into Athena’s computer,” she observed, “However, mine present more as laboratory concoctions even than this.” The ridges on the sides of her nose bunched gently together as she sniffed the air, still coming to grips with the interesting combination of aromas.
She held the glass out, “You are welcome to a sip if you wish. As to being your personal physician. I mean, I imagine you could request it of the Doctor when you arrive. But I merely meant I will have access. I have access to all personnel medical files since sometimes I am around when Doctor Gray is not available, or able to handle simpler things if he is engaged with something more important.”
Karina
Doctor
Ky’Laria accepted the glass and, rather than taking a sip even of the ‘no-touch’ variety, raised the glass next to her face, slid out a tapered, violet-hued tongue and coaxed a single drop over the brim of the glass onto it. Holding the glass upright, she seemed to pause as the arches of scaly spots above her eyes descended into a manner of frown. Soon, she lifted her free hand to gingerly wipe away the droplet and withdrew her tongue. “No,” she stated, offering the glass back at a very full extension of her arm. “Thank you. However, I cannot break down most of the sugars in this beverage.” Pausing, she ‘frowned’ again and directed her gaze just off to the side while running her tongue against the roof of her mouth. “At best it would offer no nutritional value, and at worst it would render me quite ill for a short time.” Looking eventually back at Karina, she said, “A glass of water will suffice, for now.”
Karina got the glass of water wondering absently what requirements the woman had. As she came to the table she offered, “As a medical officer I have the ability to get a specially programmed drink, if it will help. May take me a moment to get it programmed in, but I can if you wish. And if it’s sugars you need, I can also get that in a form you could use if necessary.”
Ky’Laria chuckled, glancing away for a moment as her amusement showed plainly in her lingering smile. “I did mention that I was not going to make an issue of you being ‘overly’ informal earlier, correct?” she teased. “I’m not… hungry, at the moment. I do not even have to eat each day,” she added, on a more serious note. “However, the Federation’s M-class standard artificial environment–” Ky’Laria paused to gesture at the general surroundings– “Are quite dry for my preference. So, I do consume an impressive amount of water.”
Moving to a window-side table, she beckoned Karina to follow once more and chose a seat opposite her. “I will happily accept the skills of any of the ship’s doctors,” she explained, “Since I know that each of you will need to spend the same amount of time studying the information I bring about my physiology and medical requirements. I simply–” Ky’Laria stopped, as if suddenly reconsidering how to finish her sentence. With a little smile briefly twitching its way across her features, she glanced out the window, and back to Karina. “I sense that you are especially curious.”
-Lt. Ky’Laria (Sci)
The smile and blush once more replaced themselves on Karina’s face. “Well, if that’s a polite for of ridiculously curious, than thank you. Yes, I admit I am. Even more now that I know there are special concessions you will require. As a Doctor, I have taken an oath to maintain the secrecy of anything you tell me. So there is no trouble if you have need of something and can’t get it without some questions being raised. All right?” She settled across from the woman and finished her drink and set the empty glass on the table off to her right and slightly behind her so it wasn’t in line of sight for Ky.
Karina
Doctor
“What do you–“
Ky’Laria gazed intently across the table at Karina, searching her for some clue as to what she was thinking. “I appreciate your willingness to assist… but I wonder– you almost sound as if you think some part of my dietary needs is… contraband, or something,” she said, chuckling and letting her right forearm rest flat on the table. Her fingers drummed gently on the tabletop and her eyes and lips narrowed just slightly. Clearly, she was considering something… “I suppose, depending on how I obtained–” She stopped, idly waving that thought off with her other hand.
“Ordinarily this would have waited until the medical interview, when you- or another ship’s doctor- have my medical information at hand,” Ky’Laria explained, though her voice was still tinged with a hint of amusement at Karina’s barely-restrained flood of curiosity. “Obviously, as a doctor, you’re well versed in biology. Xenobiology is optional at this time. Feeding strategies, yes? Predation, parasitism, grazing… yes?”
Karina felt like she should pay attention or miss something vital. “Mmmhhmmm…” she nodded to the query.
“You will never fully comprehend, Doctor, how I hate this term,” Ky’Laria said, almost muttering. “Biologically, my species fits your science’s definition of… micropredators.” Perhaps it was the ‘micro-‘ prefix, but to utter the word seemed to somehow damage the Kuras’ pride; she seemed to shake it off quickly enough, however, and continued. “Specifically, hematophages.” It was at this point in the conversation that centuries of experience had informed Ky’Laria to wait, and allow both the scientific minds and laypeople a moment to process. She gazed intensely at Karina, examining her reaction.
-Lt. Ky’Laria (Sci)
“I’m sure it’s not contraband,” she smiled. “I merely meant when it comes to extra vitamins, minerals and additives, some replicators won’t do it as a general safety measure. I merely meant…” it then hit her what the rest of Ky’Laria’s explanation had been about.
One corner of Ky’Laria’s lips curled upward slightly as she offered Karina a knowing gaze and a small, affirming nod.
She tilted her head slightly as if trying to make sure she had it right.”Oh, you mean you need blood?” The question was said with as much shock as if asking if the sock in her hand was the one she had been seeking. It was if it hadn’t actually registered. “I mean, there are definitely things specific to blood I can understand as nutrients, but I am sure we can find a more palatable way for you to accept them.” Karina had missed the point entirely. Her mind was so wrapped in the additions to the blood it didn’t occur to her scientific mind that the blood was the exact thing needed, not just the copper and iron that came immediately to mind.
Karina
Doctor
Hmm. Karina clearly meant well, but so far she had only made it to ‘almost there.’ “Well… it’s not a matter of palatability as it is of portability, but you are thinking on the right track, Doctor. But perhaps you are trying to solve a problem that I do not have. In the end, like any organism, I require nutrients and energy to function,” she explained. After a brief pause to consider Karina’s empty glass, she slid it to the middle of the table, between them.
“This… cocktail of yours, does not have the optimum nutrition for my physiology, I am sure. But it has all the basic elements for my survival… though not in a form that my body can access. So, this could represent… fruits, grains… the Sitara stalks on my homeworld, anything.” Glancing up at Karina for a moment, she looked back down at the glass and gently tapped its base against the table. “So, right here at this table, we have a food chain, in theory. You drink this, you break down the nutrients into glucose, simple lipids, amino acids and the like.” Releasing the glass and letting it be, she again met Karina’s gaze, gesturing toward her with both hands. “These, my body can utilize just as yours does. But, since I cannot convert them to those forms…” Pausing to show some amusement dance across her features, she concluded, “I have to get them from you.”
Deliberately, Ky’Laria waited for a moment before grinning, “As an example. However, my body frankly does not care whether the glucose comes from… you, or from a nutritional supplement I produce in the replicator in my quarters. This is the essence of my people’s highly unglamorous version of the field of food science,” she chuckled, picking up her glass of water for a long sip.
-Lt’ Ky’Laria (Sci)
Karina watched her as she spoke and, albeit slowly, she would see the Doctor start to put the hints together. When she said it didn’t matter if the nutrients came from Karina directly, or the replicator, the connection was made. Her eyebrows rose, though not in fear but in the fact it had suddenly dawned on her. “So you can get your nutrients from drinking blood directly or synthesizing something equivalent in your quarters. I understand.” She took a moment to absorb this and she leaned back. Not out of fear, because curiosity still reigned too prevalent in her mind. It never triggered in her ‘fight or flight’ that the woman across from her said she was ok with biting her for a food source. “Can I ask you something?” She paused, though not long enough to give Ky an actual change to respond to the permission request. Instead she just moved on and asked anyway. “Do you prefer to drink from a person?”
Ky’Laria blinked as her upper lip gave a single, tiny quiver. The reflex to ‘free’ her incisors into their extended position was always a strong one, and the considerable effort to suppress it caused her to sit erect, adopting an almost regal air. With slightly narrowed eyes and widely raised ‘eyebrow’ spots, her surprise was genuine.
The question came out with a genuine desire to know if that was what she wanted. Her mind still not quite making the connection that she should be cautious, if not downright scared.
Karina
Doctor
The Kuras drew in a long breath through narrowly opened lips. “It would be more accurate,” she began, giving a slow, tilted nod, “To say that Kuras prefer live prey. We have powerful predation instincts, and a hunting spirit. Our culture evolved to celebrate these, rather than suppress them.”
Her posture eased slightly as she, ironically, managed to fully suppress her momentary call to instinct, and she leaned toward the table again. “As an individual, at this stage of my life, I take a practical outlook. Sustenance, is sustenance. But it is the hunt which truly calls to the heart of a Kuras; the feed is simply its culmination.” With a gently widening grin, she decided to add, “The reward.”
Once more, Ky’Laria examined Karina closely across the table for a moment before reaching for another sip of water. “Do you understand the distinction?” she queried, in a suddenly easygoing tone.
-Lt. Ky’Laria (Sci)
The image of this woman, so regal and proper, ‘hunting’ was something Karina couldn’t quite wrap her head around. So she did what she always did… she asked questions. “I cannot say I personally knot the distinction, but I can respect and understand there is one. So is it the hunt itself, proving one is a superior species, that makes you want to gain your prey that way, versus… say… being handed a volunteer and losing that ability to prove you are above them? Or is the adrenaline and oxygenating of the blood from the panic, fear and flight, change the taste of the blood and therefor make it a more palatable drink?”
Ky’Laria issued the most genuine chuckle yet, amused enough to give a fully open smile as she glanced out the window. “Congratulations, Doctor. You have stumbled upon one of the great philosophical questions of my people.” Turning her water glass idly between her thumb and forefinger, she returned her attention to Karina, the smile naturally ebbing from her features. “I am something of a… romantic, I suppose, would be the best term in your language. Perhaps ‘traditionalist.’ I tend to, deep within me, believe the former. However, thinking scientifically, the latter is technically quite true. I cannot discount it,” she explained.
Despite her mind trying to remain calm and scientific, there was a base instinct inside, indeed inside every living being, that started to register the woman across the table as something to be feared. While her brain tried to suss out the reasons for preferring the to hunt instead of being handed a voluntary donation, her hands were absently starting to fidget and her heart was beating just a touch faster than it had been at their meeting not too long ago.
Kairina
Doctor
Ky’Laria sat for a moment, strictly observing, and notably allowing a deep silence to fill the room. She saw the tiny shifts in skin tint, and heard - felt - Karina’s heart rate. She drew in a breath, deeply through the nose, drawing it out but making it just noticeably audible. “Focus on that,” she said, her voice in a lower register; it was not forceful, but still assertive. “You are flushing, and your heart rate has increased. Your pupils have dilated, and your eyes are moving more rapidly. Do not fully lose your calm… but allow yourself to feel this. Focus on it,” she repeated, her tone now a strange mixture of command and reassurance.
Karina was barely aware of what was happening, even as the words made her fall silent and realize how her body was reacting. Once more, the scientific part of her brain said it was natural, given the topic of discussion. But then… it changed....
She felt her heart pounding faster in her chest and the heat rising to her cheeks. Her lips parted a moment to gasp a breath then she bit on her lower lip as if trying to stop it. “I… ” the young Doctor couldn’t even finish her sentence. It made no sense to her mind. She was scared. That’s what her mind told her. She didn’t recognize the sensation, not truly, and that in and of itself frightened her as well. She set her hands flat on the table in an effort to control not clenching them.
Unmoving, Ky’Laria did little but to fix her gaze on Karina, as if to stare into her. “Do you feel, right now, like you are… in control?” A small, and gentle tilt of her head was all that marked a short pause. “You may be, you may not be… the fact does not matter. Do you feel like you have power over this moment?”
-Lt. Ky’Laria (Sci)
Karina couldn’t move. Whether it was something Ky had done, or merely what she was, it made no difference to Karina. Now that she was aware of it, it frightened her. Fascination still filled her eyes, though fear was on her like a second skin. When Ky asked if she felt in control, she shook her head. “No.. but I don’t think you are in control either, are you?” The curiosity she was still capable of surprised her as well. It was a question meant to ask if Ky did this for a specific reason, or if she did it because she had no choice.
“Given all the things which can vary, and change, even in this small space? In just this small moment? Probably not,” Ky’Laria replied flatly, ever staring into the doctor. Her questioning had not caused the Kuras to waver. “But does that make any difference to the way you feel?”
A young man appeared seemingly from nowhere and summarily intoned, “The Base Commander will see you now”. Then the hologram disappeared answering the question of how the aide has appeared so unannounced.
Junior Gamemaster Conspiracy Theorist
The sudden arrival of the holo made Karina actually jump and squeal, her hand going to her hip where her phaser would have been had she been armed. After he left, she shook her head and looked at Ky. “I … I can’t even describe how that… felt.” The last word came from her almost as if it had been an alien concept to her. She laughed but it was high and nervous. “I don’t remember being that scared in a rain of acid blood. How do you do that?” And again, the scientific curiosity wrapped her in safety and comfort as her heart fought to slow down.
Karina
Doctor
It had taken extreme, though unseen effort for Ky’Laria not to react with her own alarm at the appearance of the holographic messenger. She had simply darted her gaze to it, and observed its message before looking back to Doctor Niles with a small sigh. “Nothing especially… untoward, Doctor,” she grinned. “I have a natural advantage, in that I can sense the outward signs of your emotions just as well as you sense the inward ones, but… other than that, it’s simple, if not easily mastered.”
“Earlier, I alluded to one’s capacity to constantly seek to gain power over their circumstances,” she explained, slowly rising from the chair with her usual, effortless-looking grace. “To master their surroundings. There is a phrase in my language which translates- clumsily- to… ‘endeavour to bend as much of the universe as possible, to your will.’ It sounds far better in its original form, but it is the essence of what it means to be Kuras.” Striding around the table, she slid the two empty glasses, one at a time, to the corner at Karina’s right elbow. She left them there for a moment and, feeling Karina’s struggle to calm her heart, the Kuras placed her hand on Karina’s shoulder with a slowly mounting pressure. She did not clutch at the woman; it was firm pressure with an open hand - a somehow calming weight. “Be. Still, Doctor…” she commanded, but with the same low, soft intonations as before.
Picking up the two glasses, Ky’Laria moved to return them to the replicator alcove. “Holding dominion over one’s small corner of the universe,” she began a new, her tone referential to the poorly-translated maxim she had mentioned moments before, “It sounds as though it needs to signify feats of… omnipotence. How else can one hold sway over something so… universal?” she asked, visibly satisfied by her own turn of phrase. She pressed a control, and the glasses shimmered away into the matter recycling buffer. “But one has more influence over one’s environs than most beings will ever fully understand,” she offered as she walked back over to the table to stand beside Karina’s chair, looking down at her.
Turning slightly in her seat, about to rise, she paused with Ky’s hand on her shoulder. The command to calm didn’t do as much to ease her as the touch had. Karina’s whole life was rooted in the substancial, in the science, in the here and now. Feeling the slight pressure of the woman’s hand pressing down on her shoulder seemed to be the reset to the anchor within her that she needed. It was as if, in her fear, she had half risen from herself. And in the same manner it intrigued her that Ky could affect her that way, it was equally astonishing she could flip her abilities and calm Rin. “Thank you,” the doctor managed to smile and murmur as the woman released her. She took a deep, steadying breath and stood up.
“Come,” she said, her smile a friendly invitation but her voice again melding congeniality with compulsion. “It would seem that at least one of us has an appointment.”
-Lt’ Ky’Laria (Sci)
A slight smile crossed her lips. “I think it may be me. I had been asking the last two days to see him. I thought, perhaps, he would be willing to impart a way I might help with finding the ship. I don’t have access to the monitoring facilities upon the station because of not being crew, and not being cleared.” She sighed in resignation. “I fear the answer will be there is nothing to do but wait. And mark my words,” she shook her head, “he’ll offer me a place in medical to keep occupied in till the ship returns.”
She followed Ky out of the room and was beside her in a few steps as they entered the hall.
Karina
Doctor
As Ky’Laria strode down the hallway, she looked over her shoulder to Karina, amused by her apparent certainty. “Very confident of you, Doctor Niles… what makes you so sure that he has a position for you?” she challenged, looking into her holsters and reversing her earlier decision to remove her rank caps.
Her uniform stretched over her left side as both hands reached up to affix the left shoulder cap. “Do you think he might find some use for me, as well?” she grinned.
-Lt. Ky’Laria (Sci)
Karina took a couple long strides to avoid double stepping to come up aside the woman. “I don’t know he has a position. It’s just customary to offer busy work to those pacing. I am worrying over my ship, so the offer of work will be his way of keeping tabs on me as well as trying to occupy my mind so I don’t dwell.” At the query about a position, Rin could only shrug. “I have no idea. But if you wish something to do while here, I am sure he would find something for you. Is that what you want?” She glanced up at the woman and wondered why a person would want to be given busy work to distract them.
Karina
Doctor
“It’s what you want,” Ky’Laria replied with another small grin. “Would it be so strange?” She left that question unanswered, shortening her stride a touch lest she make the poor doctor start jogging to keep up.
“Perhaps there will be some lab work for us to turn out,” she added as they came upon the same turbolift door they had emerged from earlier. “Cultures to grow… or something,” she added as she pressed the call button before working on her right shoulder pad. “Though I assume you are hoping to be drafted into the grand search efforts…”
-Lt. Ky’Laria (Sci)
“No, I don’t want it,” Karina answered a bit more harsh than she meant to. She didn’t want to be given ‘busy work’ to keep her mind occupied. And she knew if she was assigned to Medical, her attention would be lacking. That wasn’t a good thing for a doctor to suffer while on duty.
As they entered the lift, Rin nodded her head. “Of course…” was her only reply as the door closed. Of course she wanted to find her ship… of course she didn’t want to be stirred from that course… of course she wanted to be part of a grand search. It seemed like a ridiculous question. At least to Rin it did.
Karina
Doctor
((We are gonna let it hover here. If Gm wants us at the office, then by all means let us know with a post. Otherwise, this is good for them for now… just feeling like we are rambling hehhheehe))
April 16, 2020
How long had it been? Karina wasn’t sure she knew exactly. Does she count from when she got orders to depart the Athena to help a local Station in need? Or did she count from returning here a couple days ago to find her ship not just gone, but missing?
She had returned in time to board the Athena before it was due to head out of the station. But she arrived back to find the Station Commander completely at a loss to give her any answers. She had taken a shuttle out today, just like yesterday. She had flown in a different direction this time. After half a day of searching, she was back in the station, exiting the shuttle, cursing not having found anything. In this day and age, with this technology, ships didn’t just disappear without their being a black hole, worm hole or some kind of other anomoly present. And those weren’t here either.
She was storming, once more, towards the Commander’s office to see if there had been any word since the last time she checked 18 hours ago.
She was in her Fleet uniform, having found it made people clear the path before her when she silently stomped down the halls towards the door. Her black boots a staccatto hardly anyone heard, but seemed to thud in her ears and beat in time with her racing heart. It didn’t make sense… not even a little.
Ensign Karina Niles
Doctor
Looking toward the place where the footfalls would become a person passing into view, Ky’Laria gently thumbed a control on her terminal and the projection winked out. Her gaze tracked the human woman. Starfleet, Ensign, she said internally. Fixated on the Commander’s office, where she seems to think she will raise a fuss. Classic Ensign behaviour.
The Kuras continued to quietly examine her as she passed down the spacious hallway. Uniform fits… perfectly, she thought, an arch of spots above her eye emoting slightly along with a tiny head gesture, meant for no one. Well put together. Took the time to make that happen. A doctor, she surmised, glancing at a stripe of blue. And young. So, has either everything… or nothing, to prove.
The woman was about ten paces from the Commander’s office door when Ky’Laria decided, Let’s find out, and rose gracefully from her marginally comfortable seat. “Ensign,” she called out, gently but loud enough to hear, depending on how narrow the woman’s tunnel vision had become.
(OOC: Forgive me; I’m guessing “pretty frickin’ narrow.”)
Karina’s ears perked at the call. It wasn’t a demand, or even an order. It felt more like… a warning…
Six paces, five, four, three “En-sign.” A more ‘superior officer’ sort of tone which she hadn’t wanted to employ in this situation. But… sometimes people just don’t hear you.
If Ky’Laria had sounded like a superior officer to Ensign Niles, she certainly at the moment hadn’t looked the part - at least, not in the Starfleet sense. Clad in a second skin of dark grey fabric at joints and mobile areas, with a coarse cross-weave pattern and a certain synthetic sheen, the outfit was inlaid with thicker, black pads or plates covering vital and flatter areas; clearly, an outfit designed to protect in some manner of a hostile environment. Utilitarian boots covered almost to the knees, and a harness for gear attachments was worn over the chest, all in black. Modest shoulder pads appeared ornamental but compact enough to stay out of one’s way; these too were black, but trimmed in silvery metal around their edges, and bore two broad golden strips across their length.
She slid her hand terminal into a pouch on the right of her stomach, and her light azure-skinned hands came to rest near a vacant weapon holster at each hip. “Your ship is still gone,” was all that she said.
-Squadron Subadmiral Ky’Laria (CO, IUF 19th Battlecruiser Squadron) (… outgoing)
The first rank call out had made Karina slow her stormy pace to merely a hurried one. The second calling had slowed her to a walk and when she approached the speaker, the words then brought her to a halt.
“So there is still no word?” Whatever had been in her mind to say, or do, was gone. It was one thing to think that one could storm into a Commanding Officer’s presence and demand to know what was going on. It was quite another to do it.
“Not as far as the station commander knows,” came Ky’Laria’s matter-of-fact reply. There was no effort to conceal the thorough sizing up that Ky’Laria was conducting on Karina at that moment, probably because of how habitual it was for the Kuras to do so with any new meeting.
She didn’t wilt, so much as change her questioning. She was still determined, and steady before the woman. She had learned swiftly to not be intimidated by rank. It was a job hazard. As a Doctor, she had to be able to outrank the ranked, if not by status, than by actions. If you couldn’t make a Captain calm down and ‘listen’ to you, it could cost their lives or the lives of others. It was with that same tone she spoke to the Sub Admiral. “I had come to see if there was word. I just returned from another shuttle check. They aren’t within reading range. I just don’t understand how a ship could just ‘disappear’. Even if they were halfway back to Earth, we should have some idea of where they were.”
At some point, training had kicked in. Karina stood with her hands clasped behind her as if at parade rest. And she was still holding her head high without being obstinate.
Karina
Doctor
Ky’Laria had taken a moment to consider the Ensign’s line of reasoning, and her eyes narrowed. “What do you expect to accomplish with the sensor palette on a shuttlecraft, that is beyond the capabilities of the long-range and lateral sensors on this station?” she challenged.
Eventually, the Kuras’ body language relented as she recognized a facet of herself in this young human; a medical doctor, probably, running around and trying to work in fields totally outside her own? Strutting up, proverbially locked and loaded, to barge into the station commander’s office and… accomplish what? Aside from a lack of meticulous planning, and wanting perhaps for a dash of cunning, Ky’Laria wondered if perhaps this human’s heart was a little bit Kuras after all… “Unlikely, of course,” Ky’Laria told herself. “But… worth the moment I’ve chosen to spend.”
Sliding her right hand over the utility pouch where she’d put the hand terminal, she unclasped it and retrieved the device again. Thumbing the main power control, she spun it on her palm and held it out to the Ensign. “More than your shuttles will ever tell you about this region of space,” she explained flatly. “But almost certainly still not enough to tell us where our ship has gone.”
With a mix of a smirk and a grimace, Ky’Laria reached up and crossed her arms, grasping the shoulder caps of her uniform and unclasping them. “And would you please, just… stand easy? Now that I am here, I’m a Lieutenant. I was supposed to report to Athena today,” she said, stuffing the ranked shoulder caps awkwardly into her holsters for the moment.
“I need a glass of water,” the Kuras declared. “Come; bring my terminal, and we can sit somewhere and fail to find our duty stations together,” she said, making her best attempt at a cordial invitation after a few years of re-immersion in her own, socially forceful culture.
-Lt. Ky’Laria (Sci)
Karina paused as the woman before her spoke. Her initial reaction had been that of someone speaking a near overly rehearsed speech. Not that she had passed that, her gaze became a bit more focused on the woman before her. She saw the spots and was intrigued. She had never come across such a body image before. Perhaps it was tattooing, or an anomoly of some strange cross breed. The tinted skin and slightly pronounced teeth also lent one’s mind to see more than a mere human.
She stepped up to take the offered terminal and watched as the high ranking insignia were pocketed like a costume change. The outfit the woman wore bore out further inspection as well. More than a work out suit, yet not quite body armour, Karina got the impression this was more than some mere security officer come from training, or some scientist looking for more efficient enviro suits.
“In answer to your first question, I have been on the ship long enough to realize there are times when ships and stations and even whole planets can be obscured and hidden from sensors, but still be visible. If the ship was in danger in one of those moments, I had hopes my own eyes would break the dilemma and I would be able to send for help. But I have checked as far as I dare, alone, in nearly every direction. There is one more, off the port quadrant, I shall try tomorrow. But I do not hold much help at this point.” Despite her resolve to look tomorrow, there was still a hint of defeat in her voice near the fringes. Perhaps not even to the point she was aware of.
“It is natural, to wish that one could do more to influence a situation,” Ky’Laria replied sagely over her shoulder. “And one who wishes to have power beyond their present limits, is most likely to find opportunity make it so.”
Karina gave a half laugh. “While I admire your beliefs, Ma’am… I doubt I can find a ship that isn’t there. No matter what my determination level.”
After issuing an ‘of course not’ chuckle, Ky’Laria quickly replied with a wave of her hand, “I’m not suggesting that you could… will a ship into existence. I mean only that… those who always seek to… master their surroundings, control their situation… those who retain that desire, and keep it deep within themselves, will find themselves achieving it in some small ways. I suppose it’s an attitude of constant self-improvement, through the lens of my people’s culture,” she explained.
Never one to shirk when her mind hit a moment of query, she spoke up as she moved in the direction the woman beckoned. She wasn’t sure why, but she wasn’t ready to merely give up and walk away. “You said our ship… I take it you will be joining the Athena when they get back? The punctuated word held a conviction of certainty any seer would have been proud of. “In what capacity?” She moved up in slightly exaggerated strides till she was beside the woman. She was suddenly thrilled beyond words that she would get to see the medical records of the woman. Before being equal in pace, Karina had taken another study of the woman. It had been a long time since something… or in this case, someone had taken her notice. And she wasn’t sure how she felt about that.
Karina
Doctor
Unseen, Ky’Laria spared a brief smile at the sound of the young Ensign’s purposeful footfalls in pursuit. “I will be joining the Athena when they get back,” she repeated as her smile slowly faded.
Pausing until the human had caught up, she looked over at her, and briefly again looked her over, before continuing, “I am a science officer… at least, in Starfleet.” Pausing to reflect on something which seemed to amuse her, she soon added, “I had the opportunity to study the Federation’s outlooks on astrophysics and biochemistry, at the Academy. I even obtained some of those quaint, four-year degrees!”
She held out her hand, gesturing at the terminal which Karina was holding. “On the subject of astrophysics, that is the foundation of my inquiry into Athena’s disappearance.”
They came upon an intersection, and Ky’Laria quickly rounded the corner to the right, stopping a few paces later at a turbolift. “Are you well versed in astrophysics, Ensign..?” she trailed off, making unspoken inquiry as to her unlikely research partner’s - intern’s? Draftee’s? - name.
Lt. Ky’Laria (Sci)
A science officer. That explained her sense of the ‘impossible’. It was an admirable quality that ocassionally the technical minded doctor wished she could share. “Quaint four year degrees?” She laughed at that. “You make it sound like it was a walk in the park. If it was, for you, then I applaud you. I know bodies, not stars. I fear I barely managed to pass my basic astro classes at the Academy. Probably would have failed if not for Ja.. just having a friend to help.” She bit back the momentary slip. He was someone she wanted to forget… not remember. And certainly not with fondness.
Ky’Laria observed the woman for a moment; unfortunately for the young doctor’s attempts at concealment, her body gave away still more. Subtle changes in skin temperature and capillary dilation, respiratory rhythm, even chemical signals betrayed, to the Kuras’ understanding of humans, a wound perhaps slightly re-opened.
She pressed the call button for the turbolift, resolving to regale the human with all the details of how easily she could read her. It would be worth trying to avoid the context, however. Perhaps focusing on the capabilities of her spots… “I wasn’t referring to the difficulty,” Ky’Laria stated, bringing her tone down a touch to better align with the changes in the Ensign’s body language. “But the longevity. My people seldom obtain any kind of… certification? Until at least… r-r-r-r…” The odd trilling noise which she issued seemed, by her expression, to be a simple filler sound - a Kuras ‘hmm.’ “Twenty-one years is the shortest degree-like… thing, that we have. Twenty-five Earth years, in fact.”
Karina nodded. “We have such lengthy studies in some fields. And even in medicine, knowing enough and never knowing it all is a constant reason for learning. So I guess I will be learning for another 25 yrs as well. Though, sadly, life and knowledge are the only things we get. Not additional educational accolades.”
At the hanging of her name, Karina chided herself mentally. “Niles… Ensign Karina Niles. Call me Karina. Seems silly to be worrying about rank and position right now with the ship’s fate still unknown.” She quickly realized this woman’s rank was no trifling thing and found herself nearly stammering to correct herself. “I mean, my rank, anyway, Ma’am. Just call me Karina, or Doctor if you wish. I’m not the Chief of the Athena medical, but Doctor will suffice anyway.” She hadn’t gotten a multitude of degrees, but she had studied her backside off to get where she was.
She just hoped she hadn’t just offended someone who could snip that short in a heartbeat.
Karina
Doctor
The lift doors hissed open; the car was empty. Ky’Laria, who had been watching Karina unravel a little before her, glanced to the waiting lift and silently gestured for the doctor to enter first.
With a stoic expression, Ky’Laria stepped with ever-graceful motion into the lift, and the door hissed shut behind her. “Is it Starfleet that would have me reprimand you now for… being too informal? Or is that a facet of human culture?” For all the imposing presence, her voice had a genuine air of curiosity about it. Surely, ‘at home,’ a subordinate would simply have been better trained than to disrespect the hierarchy of command so, but this was not her home fleets and certainly not the same culture. For Ky’Laria, it was a strangely refreshing opportunity to learn again - and why could one not learn from someone a hundredth one’s age?
-Lt. Ky’Laria (Sci)
The Doctor stepped in and off to the side. She was learning to handle another species and culture she was unfamiliar at the same time she was being studied. It was a bit of an ‘under the magnifying glass’ type of situation she had been used to under the Heads of every hospital and location she had been in. So when she thought of it that way, she managed to calm down a bit.
When Ky asked about Fleet punishing her for informality, she let loose a soft laugh that at least seemed genuine and natural, even if just for a second. “I suppose they would. But only because we don’t know one another well enough for me to make such a suggestion.” She made the admission like only a true goody goody would do. Most would say no and save their skin, but Karina was honest and apparently willing to accept whatever came from such an admission. “May I ask, Ma’am, what should I call you? Perhaps the best course of action. Then I will know your rank and name and no need to worry about missteps in professionalism.”
“Quite,” Ky’Laria replied quickly; she had actually not intended to withhold her own identity for so long. She turned to face Karina, and with her ever-confident air stated, “I am Ky’Laria.” It was spoken as a single word, lightly as though with a lilt, just touching at the hard consonants between the melodious vowel sounds. “A standard of professionalism is sensible, especially when it seems we have some unplanned work to do.” At that, she gave a curt, affirming nod before facing forward again in the lift. “I have not specified a destination,” she muttered and quickly declared, “Crew lounge. Nearest.”
“A pleasure, Ky’Laria,” her pronunciation, while not perfect, was extremely close.
Being this close to Ky, Karina had the sensation of being close to a power of more than just rank. There was an aire about the woman that spoke of strength, control and the ability to handle anything that came her way. She had sensed it, in at least some degree, around most Command positional folks of nearly any race. It came with practice at being lead, leading and also making choices that left marks of strength on the person doing the choosing.
This woman had the aire of Command, even if she wasn’t Karina’s Commanding Officer.
Karina
Doctor
“You are obviously not part of my chain of command, and I see no reason to report your informality to your own. It would accomplish nothing, especially in the context of whatever perils they are experiencing in this very moment,” she offered, a hint of authoritative staccato to her voice. “I… won’t tell your boss, if you don’t tell mine,” she added much more softly, clearly sounding as though she were trying out the turn of phrase for the first time.
“I believe it is custom to address medical doctors in Starfleet by the title of ‘Doctor,’ rather than rank. That will make it Doctor Niles, then, since at least one of us is in uniform…” As she trailed off, Ky’Laria wore the tiniest smirk.
-Lt. Ky’Laria (Sci)
A sly smirk turned up the edges of Karina’s lips as the phrase was attempted. “Then we are agreed, it shall stay between us. And yes, Doctor Niles is more than sufficient. Even just Niles will work as well.” It dawned on her that Ky had said something that had struck her as odd.
“Unplanned work?” The two words holding a plethora of wonder and curiosity and not a small touch of excitement. For all her proper etiquette and decorum, one thing that got Karina’s attention was discovery. And this woman had just suggested something that the Doctor definitely wanted to discover.
Karina
Doctor
“Were you planning for your ship to disappear into the abyss?” Ky’Laria asked rhetorically in reply.
The turbolift slowed and then gently halted. Once the doors slid open, Ky’Laria stepped out first this time, glanced to each side, and said, “This way,” with a small hand gesture. “We have been handed an extraordinary challenge simply for the opportunity to report for, or return to duty,” she explained as her long strides carried her toward the door to the crew lounge. “And since we will never be able to obtain any lab time in a situation like this, all we have to work with are a set of sensor data on a terminal you’ve never seen the like of before, and…” She wore a grin bearing a hint of mischief as she stopped at the lounge entrance. “An astrophysicist you’ve never seen the like of before. After you, Doctor.”
The ‘nearest’ lounge proved to be no Ten Forward; it was more of a departmental break room, with eight tables, two replicators, and no bar host; it at least had expansive windows to the vast exterior of space, so one could watch shuttles mill about, or the occasional ship float by.
Lt. Ky’Laria (Sci)
Karina half laughed, “No, I don’t even they planned on disappearing.
When Ky said information and a person Karina had never seen the likes of, the Doc took the opportunity to ask. “Forgive me for asking, if it’s rude. But what exactly ‘are’ you. Because I admit I am a bit lost on the species. And while I am sure I will have your medical file when you bored, well,” she shrugged and blushed at the brashness of her own forwardness as they moved into the small break room.
“You wish to be my personal physician, then?” Ky’Laria asked in retort, smiling slightly. “My species is called, Kuras, which actually means simply, ‘people,’ in our language. And, you’ve likely not seen us before due to the fact that there are, at most, sixty-three of us across all of Starfleet. We are not a member of the Federation,” she explained, seemingly content to do so even after centuries of having the conversation.
“And to be honest, I don’t know any Astrophysicists so I can’t say anything other than that you will be the best one I know.” She smiled and tried to get it to come out as a compliment, even if a bit off.
Ky’Laria chuckled breathily at that, glancing to the window. “I shall be sure to live up to the competition,” she remarked, her tone sprinkled with sarcasm. “Bring me any others you meet; I shall have to eliminate them.”
Karina smiled and laughed softly, “I shall remember to do that.”
As the door shushed shut behind them, it wasn’t as small as it looked because of the windows. Karina headed for the replicator and got a large glass of energy juice. She hadn’t eaten since breakfast and her stress from the shuttle ride was starting to dampen so if she didn’t hydrate, she would certainly not be feeling good in the next hour. “Can I get you something, Ky’Laria?” She asked as she after taking a huge draw from the glass and nearly half emptying it before turning to the other woman.
Karina
Doctor
Normally, there was scarce choice beyond water when it came to Ky’Laria’s hydration needs, but at least for curiosity’s sake, she simply had to ask. “What… is that?” she asked, compelled to shift from ‘aloof’ to ‘aback’ and pace slowly toward Karina as the aroma of whatever was in the glass crashed against her olfactory sense.
Lt. Ky’Laria (Sci)
Karina, usually one to answer questions in the context of the conversation was struck by the last question first. “It’s a simple juice with additional energy supliments and vitamins for a body that is lacking nutrients on a regular basis.” She glanced down realizing it probably sounded horrible. “I drink it when I tend to miss meals, which is more than Doc Gray would like.” They were known to keep another at task for eating, though more often than not, they would go the entire shift with neither of them eating. It was a slightly thick red juice with an aroma of various spices but not in a heady way. A combination of vegetables and additional items Karina spoke of, it bordered on the taste of tomato soup without the heat of having just come from the stove.
Ky’Laria stopped a pace away, looking briefly down into the glass. “It sounds, though does not look like some of the nutritional supplements that I will be filing into Athena’s computer,” she observed, “However, mine present more as laboratory concoctions even than this.” The ridges on the sides of her nose bunched gently together as she sniffed the air, still coming to grips with the interesting combination of aromas.
She held the glass out, “You are welcome to a sip if you wish. As to being your personal physician. I mean, I imagine you could request it of the Doctor when you arrive. But I merely meant I will have access. I have access to all personnel medical files since sometimes I am around when Doctor Gray is not available, or able to handle simpler things if he is engaged with something more important.”
Karina
Doctor
Ky’Laria accepted the glass and, rather than taking a sip even of the ‘no-touch’ variety, raised the glass next to her face, slid out a tapered, violet-hued tongue and coaxed a single drop over the brim of the glass onto it. Holding the glass upright, she seemed to pause as the arches of scaly spots above her eyes descended into a manner of frown. Soon, she lifted her free hand to gingerly wipe away the droplet and withdrew her tongue. “No,” she stated, offering the glass back at a very full extension of her arm. “Thank you. However, I cannot break down most of the sugars in this beverage.” Pausing, she ‘frowned’ again and directed her gaze just off to the side while running her tongue against the roof of her mouth. “At best it would offer no nutritional value, and at worst it would render me quite ill for a short time.” Looking eventually back at Karina, she said, “A glass of water will suffice, for now.”
Karina got the glass of water wondering absently what requirements the woman had. As she came to the table she offered, “As a medical officer I have the ability to get a specially programmed drink, if it will help. May take me a moment to get it programmed in, but I can if you wish. And if it’s sugars you need, I can also get that in a form you could use if necessary.”
Ky’Laria chuckled, glancing away for a moment as her amusement showed plainly in her lingering smile. “I did mention that I was not going to make an issue of you being ‘overly’ informal earlier, correct?” she teased. “I’m not… hungry, at the moment. I do not even have to eat each day,” she added, on a more serious note. “However, the Federation’s M-class standard artificial environment–” Ky’Laria paused to gesture at the general surroundings– “Are quite dry for my preference. So, I do consume an impressive amount of water.”
Moving to a window-side table, she beckoned Karina to follow once more and chose a seat opposite her. “I will happily accept the skills of any of the ship’s doctors,” she explained, “Since I know that each of you will need to spend the same amount of time studying the information I bring about my physiology and medical requirements. I simply–” Ky’Laria stopped, as if suddenly reconsidering how to finish her sentence. With a little smile briefly twitching its way across her features, she glanced out the window, and back to Karina. “I sense that you are especially curious.”
-Lt. Ky’Laria (Sci)
The smile and blush once more replaced themselves on Karina’s face. “Well, if that’s a polite for of ridiculously curious, than thank you. Yes, I admit I am. Even more now that I know there are special concessions you will require. As a Doctor, I have taken an oath to maintain the secrecy of anything you tell me. So there is no trouble if you have need of something and can’t get it without some questions being raised. All right?” She settled across from the woman and finished her drink and set the empty glass on the table off to her right and slightly behind her so it wasn’t in line of sight for Ky.
Karina
Doctor
“What do you–“
Ky’Laria gazed intently across the table at Karina, searching her for some clue as to what she was thinking. “I appreciate your willingness to assist… but I wonder– you almost sound as if you think some part of my dietary needs is… contraband, or something,” she said, chuckling and letting her right forearm rest flat on the table. Her fingers drummed gently on the tabletop and her eyes and lips narrowed just slightly. Clearly, she was considering something… “I suppose, depending on how I obtained–” She stopped, idly waving that thought off with her other hand.
“Ordinarily this would have waited until the medical interview, when you- or another ship’s doctor- have my medical information at hand,” Ky’Laria explained, though her voice was still tinged with a hint of amusement at Karina’s barely-restrained flood of curiosity. “Obviously, as a doctor, you’re well versed in biology. Xenobiology is optional at this time. Feeding strategies, yes? Predation, parasitism, grazing… yes?”
Karina felt like she should pay attention or miss something vital. “Mmmhhmmm…” she nodded to the query.
“You will never fully comprehend, Doctor, how I hate this term,” Ky’Laria said, almost muttering. “Biologically, my species fits your science’s definition of… micropredators.” Perhaps it was the ‘micro-‘ prefix, but to utter the word seemed to somehow damage the Kuras’ pride; she seemed to shake it off quickly enough, however, and continued. “Specifically, hematophages.” It was at this point in the conversation that centuries of experience had informed Ky’Laria to wait, and allow both the scientific minds and laypeople a moment to process. She gazed intensely at Karina, examining her reaction.
-Lt. Ky’Laria (Sci)
“I’m sure it’s not contraband,” she smiled. “I merely meant when it comes to extra vitamins, minerals and additives, some replicators won’t do it as a general safety measure. I merely meant…” it then hit her what the rest of Ky’Laria’s explanation had been about.
One corner of Ky’Laria’s lips curled upward slightly as she offered Karina a knowing gaze and a small, affirming nod.
She tilted her head slightly as if trying to make sure she had it right.”Oh, you mean you need blood?” The question was said with as much shock as if asking if the sock in her hand was the one she had been seeking. It was if it hadn’t actually registered. “I mean, there are definitely things specific to blood I can understand as nutrients, but I am sure we can find a more palatable way for you to accept them.” Karina had missed the point entirely. Her mind was so wrapped in the additions to the blood it didn’t occur to her scientific mind that the blood was the exact thing needed, not just the copper and iron that came immediately to mind.
Karina
Doctor
Hmm. Karina clearly meant well, but so far she had only made it to ‘almost there.’ “Well… it’s not a matter of palatability as it is of portability, but you are thinking on the right track, Doctor. But perhaps you are trying to solve a problem that I do not have. In the end, like any organism, I require nutrients and energy to function,” she explained. After a brief pause to consider Karina’s empty glass, she slid it to the middle of the table, between them.
“This… cocktail of yours, does not have the optimum nutrition for my physiology, I am sure. But it has all the basic elements for my survival… though not in a form that my body can access. So, this could represent… fruits, grains… the Sitara stalks on my homeworld, anything.” Glancing up at Karina for a moment, she looked back down at the glass and gently tapped its base against the table. “So, right here at this table, we have a food chain, in theory. You drink this, you break down the nutrients into glucose, simple lipids, amino acids and the like.” Releasing the glass and letting it be, she again met Karina’s gaze, gesturing toward her with both hands. “These, my body can utilize just as yours does. But, since I cannot convert them to those forms…” Pausing to show some amusement dance across her features, she concluded, “I have to get them from you.”
Deliberately, Ky’Laria waited for a moment before grinning, “As an example. However, my body frankly does not care whether the glucose comes from… you, or from a nutritional supplement I produce in the replicator in my quarters. This is the essence of my people’s highly unglamorous version of the field of food science,” she chuckled, picking up her glass of water for a long sip.
-Lt’ Ky’Laria (Sci)
Karina watched her as she spoke and, albeit slowly, she would see the Doctor start to put the hints together. When she said it didn’t matter if the nutrients came from Karina directly, or the replicator, the connection was made. Her eyebrows rose, though not in fear but in the fact it had suddenly dawned on her. “So you can get your nutrients from drinking blood directly or synthesizing something equivalent in your quarters. I understand.” She took a moment to absorb this and she leaned back. Not out of fear, because curiosity still reigned too prevalent in her mind. It never triggered in her ‘fight or flight’ that the woman across from her said she was ok with biting her for a food source. “Can I ask you something?” She paused, though not long enough to give Ky an actual change to respond to the permission request. Instead she just moved on and asked anyway. “Do you prefer to drink from a person?”
Ky’Laria blinked as her upper lip gave a single, tiny quiver. The reflex to ‘free’ her incisors into their extended position was always a strong one, and the considerable effort to suppress it caused her to sit erect, adopting an almost regal air. With slightly narrowed eyes and widely raised ‘eyebrow’ spots, her surprise was genuine.
The question came out with a genuine desire to know if that was what she wanted. Her mind still not quite making the connection that she should be cautious, if not downright scared.
Karina
Doctor
The Kuras drew in a long breath through narrowly opened lips. “It would be more accurate,” she began, giving a slow, tilted nod, “To say that Kuras prefer live prey. We have powerful predation instincts, and a hunting spirit. Our culture evolved to celebrate these, rather than suppress them.”
Her posture eased slightly as she, ironically, managed to fully suppress her momentary call to instinct, and she leaned toward the table again. “As an individual, at this stage of my life, I take a practical outlook. Sustenance, is sustenance. But it is the hunt which truly calls to the heart of a Kuras; the feed is simply its culmination.” With a gently widening grin, she decided to add, “The reward.”
Once more, Ky’Laria examined Karina closely across the table for a moment before reaching for another sip of water. “Do you understand the distinction?” she queried, in a suddenly easygoing tone.
-Lt. Ky’Laria (Sci)
The image of this woman, so regal and proper, ‘hunting’ was something Karina couldn’t quite wrap her head around. So she did what she always did… she asked questions. “I cannot say I personally knot the distinction, but I can respect and understand there is one. So is it the hunt itself, proving one is a superior species, that makes you want to gain your prey that way, versus… say… being handed a volunteer and losing that ability to prove you are above them? Or is the adrenaline and oxygenating of the blood from the panic, fear and flight, change the taste of the blood and therefor make it a more palatable drink?”
Ky’Laria issued the most genuine chuckle yet, amused enough to give a fully open smile as she glanced out the window. “Congratulations, Doctor. You have stumbled upon one of the great philosophical questions of my people.” Turning her water glass idly between her thumb and forefinger, she returned her attention to Karina, the smile naturally ebbing from her features. “I am something of a… romantic, I suppose, would be the best term in your language. Perhaps ‘traditionalist.’ I tend to, deep within me, believe the former. However, thinking scientifically, the latter is technically quite true. I cannot discount it,” she explained.
Despite her mind trying to remain calm and scientific, there was a base instinct inside, indeed inside every living being, that started to register the woman across the table as something to be feared. While her brain tried to suss out the reasons for preferring the to hunt instead of being handed a voluntary donation, her hands were absently starting to fidget and her heart was beating just a touch faster than it had been at their meeting not too long ago.
Kairina
Doctor
Ky’Laria sat for a moment, strictly observing, and notably allowing a deep silence to fill the room. She saw the tiny shifts in skin tint, and heard - felt - Karina’s heart rate. She drew in a breath, deeply through the nose, drawing it out but making it just noticeably audible. “Focus on that,” she said, her voice in a lower register; it was not forceful, but still assertive. “You are flushing, and your heart rate has increased. Your pupils have dilated, and your eyes are moving more rapidly. Do not fully lose your calm… but allow yourself to feel this. Focus on it,” she repeated, her tone now a strange mixture of command and reassurance.
Karina was barely aware of what was happening, even as the words made her fall silent and realize how her body was reacting. Once more, the scientific part of her brain said it was natural, given the topic of discussion. But then… it changed....
She felt her heart pounding faster in her chest and the heat rising to her cheeks. Her lips parted a moment to gasp a breath then she bit on her lower lip as if trying to stop it. “I… ” the young Doctor couldn’t even finish her sentence. It made no sense to her mind. She was scared. That’s what her mind told her. She didn’t recognize the sensation, not truly, and that in and of itself frightened her as well. She set her hands flat on the table in an effort to control not clenching them.
Unmoving, Ky’Laria did little but to fix her gaze on Karina, as if to stare into her. “Do you feel, right now, like you are… in control?” A small, and gentle tilt of her head was all that marked a short pause. “You may be, you may not be… the fact does not matter. Do you feel like you have power over this moment?”
-Lt. Ky’Laria (Sci)
Karina couldn’t move. Whether it was something Ky had done, or merely what she was, it made no difference to Karina. Now that she was aware of it, it frightened her. Fascination still filled her eyes, though fear was on her like a second skin. When Ky asked if she felt in control, she shook her head. “No.. but I don’t think you are in control either, are you?” The curiosity she was still capable of surprised her as well. It was a question meant to ask if Ky did this for a specific reason, or if she did it because she had no choice.
“Given all the things which can vary, and change, even in this small space? In just this small moment? Probably not,” Ky’Laria replied flatly, ever staring into the doctor. Her questioning had not caused the Kuras to waver. “But does that make any difference to the way you feel?”
A young man appeared seemingly from nowhere and summarily intoned, “The Base Commander will see you now”. Then the hologram disappeared answering the question of how the aide has appeared so unannounced.
Junior Gamemaster Conspiracy Theorist
The sudden arrival of the holo made Karina actually jump and squeal, her hand going to her hip where her phaser would have been had she been armed. After he left, she shook her head and looked at Ky. “I … I can’t even describe how that… felt.” The last word came from her almost as if it had been an alien concept to her. She laughed but it was high and nervous. “I don’t remember being that scared in a rain of acid blood. How do you do that?” And again, the scientific curiosity wrapped her in safety and comfort as her heart fought to slow down.
Karina
Doctor
It had taken extreme, though unseen effort for Ky’Laria not to react with her own alarm at the appearance of the holographic messenger. She had simply darted her gaze to it, and observed its message before looking back to Doctor Niles with a small sigh. “Nothing especially… untoward, Doctor,” she grinned. “I have a natural advantage, in that I can sense the outward signs of your emotions just as well as you sense the inward ones, but… other than that, it’s simple, if not easily mastered.”
“Earlier, I alluded to one’s capacity to constantly seek to gain power over their circumstances,” she explained, slowly rising from the chair with her usual, effortless-looking grace. “To master their surroundings. There is a phrase in my language which translates- clumsily- to… ‘endeavour to bend as much of the universe as possible, to your will.’ It sounds far better in its original form, but it is the essence of what it means to be Kuras.” Striding around the table, she slid the two empty glasses, one at a time, to the corner at Karina’s right elbow. She left them there for a moment and, feeling Karina’s struggle to calm her heart, the Kuras placed her hand on Karina’s shoulder with a slowly mounting pressure. She did not clutch at the woman; it was firm pressure with an open hand - a somehow calming weight. “Be. Still, Doctor…” she commanded, but with the same low, soft intonations as before.
Picking up the two glasses, Ky’Laria moved to return them to the replicator alcove. “Holding dominion over one’s small corner of the universe,” she began a new, her tone referential to the poorly-translated maxim she had mentioned moments before, “It sounds as though it needs to signify feats of… omnipotence. How else can one hold sway over something so… universal?” she asked, visibly satisfied by her own turn of phrase. She pressed a control, and the glasses shimmered away into the matter recycling buffer. “But one has more influence over one’s environs than most beings will ever fully understand,” she offered as she walked back over to the table to stand beside Karina’s chair, looking down at her.
Turning slightly in her seat, about to rise, she paused with Ky’s hand on her shoulder. The command to calm didn’t do as much to ease her as the touch had. Karina’s whole life was rooted in the substancial, in the science, in the here and now. Feeling the slight pressure of the woman’s hand pressing down on her shoulder seemed to be the reset to the anchor within her that she needed. It was as if, in her fear, she had half risen from herself. And in the same manner it intrigued her that Ky could affect her that way, it was equally astonishing she could flip her abilities and calm Rin. “Thank you,” the doctor managed to smile and murmur as the woman released her. She took a deep, steadying breath and stood up.
“Come,” she said, her smile a friendly invitation but her voice again melding congeniality with compulsion. “It would seem that at least one of us has an appointment.”
-Lt’ Ky’Laria (Sci)
A slight smile crossed her lips. “I think it may be me. I had been asking the last two days to see him. I thought, perhaps, he would be willing to impart a way I might help with finding the ship. I don’t have access to the monitoring facilities upon the station because of not being crew, and not being cleared.” She sighed in resignation. “I fear the answer will be there is nothing to do but wait. And mark my words,” she shook her head, “he’ll offer me a place in medical to keep occupied in till the ship returns.”
She followed Ky out of the room and was beside her in a few steps as they entered the hall.
Karina
Doctor
As Ky’Laria strode down the hallway, she looked over her shoulder to Karina, amused by her apparent certainty. “Very confident of you, Doctor Niles… what makes you so sure that he has a position for you?” she challenged, looking into her holsters and reversing her earlier decision to remove her rank caps.
Her uniform stretched over her left side as both hands reached up to affix the left shoulder cap. “Do you think he might find some use for me, as well?” she grinned.
-Lt. Ky’Laria (Sci)
Karina took a couple long strides to avoid double stepping to come up aside the woman. “I don’t know he has a position. It’s just customary to offer busy work to those pacing. I am worrying over my ship, so the offer of work will be his way of keeping tabs on me as well as trying to occupy my mind so I don’t dwell.” At the query about a position, Rin could only shrug. “I have no idea. But if you wish something to do while here, I am sure he would find something for you. Is that what you want?” She glanced up at the woman and wondered why a person would want to be given busy work to distract them.
Karina
Doctor
“It’s what you want,” Ky’Laria replied with another small grin. “Would it be so strange?” She left that question unanswered, shortening her stride a touch lest she make the poor doctor start jogging to keep up.
“Perhaps there will be some lab work for us to turn out,” she added as they came upon the same turbolift door they had emerged from earlier. “Cultures to grow… or something,” she added as she pressed the call button before working on her right shoulder pad. “Though I assume you are hoping to be drafted into the grand search efforts…”
-Lt. Ky’Laria (Sci)
“No, I don’t want it,” Karina answered a bit more harsh than she meant to. She didn’t want to be given ‘busy work’ to keep her mind occupied. And she knew if she was assigned to Medical, her attention would be lacking. That wasn’t a good thing for a doctor to suffer while on duty.
As they entered the lift, Rin nodded her head. “Of course…” was her only reply as the door closed. Of course she wanted to find her ship… of course she didn’t want to be stirred from that course… of course she wanted to be part of a grand search. It seemed like a ridiculous question. At least to Rin it did.
Karina
Doctor
((We are gonna let it hover here. If Gm wants us at the office, then by all means let us know with a post. Otherwise, this is good for them for now… just feeling like we are rambling hehhheehe))