Lost in Translation

Posted on Tue Jun 27th, 2023 @ 11:38pm by Captain Calypso Skyie & Lieutenant Rebecca Stevenson

Mission: Lower Decks
Timeline: Sometime Prior To Reaching Nebula

"What do you mean, 'I am off course'." Rebecca said to the computer on board. "You were the one navigating!" She leaned back in her pilots chair with a sigh, "Honestly, I do not see why they could not let me do this on my own."

"Your the one who activated me. I also would appreciate it if you did not sit in me." Said the Pilot hologram who was sitting in the same seat and appeared only when Rebecca sat back.

"Look, two weeks of flight to get to this new post is lonely. And you can get over it. You can pilot from annnnyyyywherrrrre on this dinky ship. You don't always have to sit here. Besides that, I can hear the engine better from here."

"...thought you were past doing that." said the pilot ai in a low voice while appearing to be focused on outside.

"Yeah....well....so did I." Rebecca said with a tone clearly stating a sad reminder awaited. She shook her head softly, her pink hair flowing over her face for a few moments before she stood and moved out of the chair, "Just get us to where we need to be."


Space was... Space. Calypso Calliope Skyie thought to herself as she made the gentle turn in the Razor fighter she'd decided to take out for the first time in months. The ship was just checking out some moon in the system and she'd pawned that off onto Alex. She missed flying and was due back aboard in... Half an hour, but she could extend it. Captain's prerogative and all. It was, of course, then that her sensors picked something up dropping out of warp.

Instantly her old reflexes kicked in and the fighter snapped onto a new course to align the best sensors onto the new craft and send the standard IFF code request, which came back blank. A quick visual of the results showed it was a Federation shuttle, but who knew? A quick decision crossed her mind as she automatically set course and powered her weapons, "Incoming shuttle, identify yourself, this is Calamity coming in on your four-o-clock."

On board the Statham, Rebecca heard the message come across open frequencies. "Find out who is sending that message and put it on screen, " she said sitting down in the second hand screen.

The A.I. complied, "It's the Calamity alright, however I am showing an older IFF. Sending one of the older responses back."

"Belay that, open channels." Rebecca said waiting for the order to be followed, the hail chime filled the Yellowstone runabout. "Uhhhh yeah were, like, here to check your oil? Y'all called bout one a few months back, thought we would come out this way, see if y'all still need it?"

One little twitch would be all it would take, and the pilot knew it. And this person, whoever it was, would be one of those who wanted to play games? It would be about five more seconds before they were in weapons range and if she took out engines if they didn't... "Calamity to unknown shuttle," She repeated once again, emphasizing her words, "Identify yourself. You are entering space around USS Chimera and we're not expecting anyone."

"Okay, okay, unknown person. I can feel the tension in your voice. Sending over ID now. However I do suggest at least going to secure channels. We will switch to your older frequency." Rebecca said removing the ability to respond back except on frequency 812.353 with the encryption key entered. It was about a month of so out of date but it would pass for anything out this far. She did make a mental note to get on her team about updating the comms relay onboard.

The information scrolled down Cally's HUD as the comm squelched from the frequency change. "Chimera flight control, Chimera Actual. I need the shuttlebay cleared, bringing in a stray. No response, I'll handle it myself." She didn't even wait for a response from her Operations people as she went on the hunt for the frequency that the shuttle had changed to and entered her own encryption key, "Runabout Statham, you are cleared to Chimera's shuttlebay, be advised I'm your escort in. Maintain comm restrictions, we've had reports of piracy out here and we're trying not to attract any attention. Calamity clear."

Two clicks of a response on the frequency was all that was given in acknowledgement. Rebecca nodded toward the A.I. pilot who she called, "James, take us in, toot sweet. Observe all protocols. I am going to get dressed. While I do enjoy this freedom, I highly doubt they will." As she stood she strode back into the back to get dressed, she sighed. She wished she had never called him that. "And...erase your name from the record. Find something new to call yourself but....not James."

The rest of the flight in was rather smooth and the landing by the runabout was.. Proficient, but clearly an autopilot landing. The Razor settled down next to it and as soon as the cockpit cracked open, Cally was hauling herself out of it, discarding the flight helmet and only briefly making sure she had her sidearm available, just in case. She briefly ran her fingers through her hair before patting the call-sign on the fighter in her own post-flight ritual and headed for the aft of the runabout where the new arrival would be emerging from. On the way, she felt herself overheating and unzipped her flight suit partway, exposing a fair bit of cleavage as she attempted to cool off, the nametag of Skyie on her left chest.

As the gangplank fell on the back of the runabout, Rebecca straightened her clothes. She had no clue who was on the other side but after her joke was not taken with warmth, she figured that she was going to end up in the brig. "Might as well start in a blaze of glory." she thought to herself. Taking a deep breath and then a quick pause she locked eyes with the woman on the other side of the plank. For a second she thought she caught the name on the tag and let out the air she was holding in an under the breath, "Fuck." It was hard to tell whether that was heard or not.

Cally's blue eyes met golden eyes as she reviewed the very basic information she'd gotten from the ID sent over. Lieutenant Rebecca Stevenson. The brief service record made it clear that she was an Engineer by trade, but then again. She held the gaze for a trio of heartbeats, then sighed, taking a glance over the entire person in front of her. Shorter, skinny, pink hair. She scratched an itch on her arm and half-shuddered at another thought entirely. "Captain Calypso Skyie." She said simply as an introduction, "Will you come with me, please?" She gestured towards the main shuttlebay door, "I'll have someone attend to your baggage shortly."

Rebecca gave herself a quiet thought before nodding, "Yes, Ma'am." Was all she said before dropping her bags to the ground and watching one slightly slide along the path. As she began to walk she noticed the looks she was getting from some of the crew. She figured it was her hair, as that always stood out the most to everyone. That and her voice. What was it James used to say? Siren call or something like that. A brief smile came to her face recalling that before shaking her head lightly and quickly again. Too much time alone to get here. Wasn't good for her mental health but now that she was here, she had a chance at change.

There was only one problem with being a pilot like she was, and that was that in the confines of a cockpit, the flightsuit got HOT. And itchy. It was much better just wearing it around the ship. So where to go? Quarters for a shower? Might not be appropriate, so she changed her path, "So, Lieutenant, what are you in for?" She gave a side-glance at the other woman, "Don't worry, I've heard it all, I'm a former Marine pilot, so they gave me a ship pulled out of mothballs when they couldn't justify keeping me from my own command."

Rebecca dodged one part of the clothing but just barely. Was enough for her to twitch and dodge quicker, hopefully, for the next round that appeared to be in the works. "I uhhh...well...I have some things I need to work out, so they tell me. "Rebecca said, which was near a lie. But was it? Starfleet had told her that she was cleared of anything and they had given her a medal for valor or something she just kept stowed at her parents house. "I have the documents in the updated situation report. It's the last month or so's worth of messages and news from the fleets." She took from her side arm pocket, the only kind in existence for Operations officers, or so it was once, a iso chip containing the required information.

"Later, later," Cally waved it away as her destination came into sight, some of her tenseness ebbing away, "Computer, load last program" She said with some relief, keeping on going as the holodeck doors slid open and she walked through just expecting the other woman to follow her into the luxurious bright but slightly overcast day on a pool deck. The Captain didn't even look towards Rebecca as she stopped briefly to bend down and unseal the flight boots and kick them off, then moving on towards the hot tub as she completely unzipped the flight suit and peeled it off, getting out of the legs with a few complicated hops that also took her socks with them, leaving her in only what God gave her a handful of steps from the hot tub, "Some things to work out?" She looked over her shoulder, "Here's a pretty good place to work them out, out in the beyond, with no Admiral or anything to keep their eye on us, don'tcha think?"

Rebecca slipped the Iso chip back into her right arm pocket. As they continued on she was not prepared for the program at hand and instantly regretted walking right into what seemed to be a very warm and het bright holodecked sun. She stretched her face a few times before brining up her hands, to rub her eyes. When she looked next, she had stopped very very short and very suddenly as she almost walked into her new Captain. Before she noticed, she backed up a step or two. Her vision getting better all the time, she noted much of the woman before her. As she listened, she moved her eyes up from the full figure a bit, "That was one of the things I had considered while taking this post. It is one of the appeals."

"Well, so far, we've met at least a dozen new species and one that controls a rather large area of local space." Calypso half-shrugged as she eased one foot into the hot tub, then got the rest of herself in, turning around to face Rebecca as the water flowed around her and up to her shoulders with an audible sigh of relief, "Oh, this feels much better... So, I guess the question is, are you here just a message delivery girl, or here for good? I could always use a good engineer, but I've also got an Ensign down there that's exceeding all expectations. I might have to dump you out an airlock if you step all over her toes and make her all sulky." The smile on her face made it clear that she was joking about the airlock... Probably.

Rebecca was quick to respond after the word Engineering was mentioned, "I am your new Chief Operations officer." She said as if it came out as a run on sentence. So far her experience was threatening an oil change on the ship, docking with an A.I. to which she was sure was noticed by a fighter pilot who was also her Captain and to top that off, in a nude meeting with said Captain. So on a weirdness scale, this was a ten. But it was on par with what she was hoping for. Something very much different from the way it was from before. It was then she realized her face was contorting into all her emotions or rather memories. One minute panicked, the next unsure and so on into what she found pleasurable expression. Soon as she realized she spoke, "I am sorry. That came out a little fast."

"And why would I need a new Chief Operations Officer?" Cally asked imperiously, then glanced down at the water, "Okay, yes, I DO need an actual one.. All I've got are a handful of Ensigns whose pips are so new they squeak or are idiots who got dumped on me, plus some NCOs, so welcome aboard Lieutenant!" She did look back up, wondering what was going on in the Lieutenant's head, "Is something wrong? Feel free to get comfortable or something if you want, oh, don't worry, you're not in any trouble, I just needed to get some water going. I'm not going to bite, I promise."

"Thank you, Ma'am." Rebecca said more out of habit then anything. She managed to kick out of her autopilot. "My record isn't perfect, I also know that it's not perfect out here. Figured two wrongs might make one good right decision. I must confess, in the air of confidentiality, that I picked this assignment over many others because I feel that...well...I don't know why I did. But in the span of an hour since I made contact, everything I have seen so far is out of the norm as my father would say. Two weeks of not knowing what to expect but...well I am glad that I am here." She said with a defining nod. For some reason she felt much younger that she actually she was.

"And this old bat of a CO thought about using you for target practice if you hadn't responded to the comm." Calypso pursed her lips slightly, "I've had this feeling that we're going to need to be flexible out here, in every way imagineable. So far this crew has taken down a pirate group, saved a damsel in distress on a world where there are very few rules and we're on our way to a nebula the likes that no one has ever seen before. If we don't know what to expect from the people we call family on board, it just helps us get ready for what we don't know to expect in this great big Galaxy, right?"

Rebecca chuckled, "I did see that weapons were armed. I am glad that you decided not to fire. Thankfully, Ja...the A.I. is very quick with shields. WE had a run in a few days ago with some unsavory type. We managed to give them the slip but just barely. Didn't stick around to scan sadly but I could get us there if need be." Rebecca said more relaxed now. "I.. do you mind if I join you? I have been stuck in a sonic shower for a better part of two weeks and company was less then tolerable."

"By all means!" Cally made a wide gesture with her arms, "I tend to have this holodeck set as my personal playground." In other words, it was reserved for her exclusive use, and used to reward crew she thought needed a break, "We'll get Jenna to take a look over the runabout, there was a weak spot I had targeted, "I'm a bit protective of Chimera here, first actual command, had a tough life before she got renamed, too, guess it helps for a ship and a Captain to both be beat up." She snapped out of old memories, "Oh, need me to turn around to give you a moment?"

"Nah that's fine." Rebecca said getting her self un zipped from the upper part of the uniform. "Scars remind us that the past is real. SO they tell me anyway. With ships, and with people, it adds character." She let the jacket fall off her shoulders and into a small pile forming behind her. As she crisscrossed her arms, she grabbed her undershirt and pulled it up over her head. It was barely noticeable but there was a small patch of discolored skin near her stomach. New skin dermal regenerated over a wound.

Cally watched appreciatively as the new officer began to show what was literally on the surface, “I probably have enough character for two or three people if that’s the case, just not many physical scars to be seen despite it.” Cally laid her arms across the edge of the hot tub, leaning back, “I started off as just another infantry private near the start of the Dominion War before they came around recruiting for people with piloting potential and flew assault shuttles for the Corps until a couple years after the war ended, got shot down a couple times doing it.” She remembered the REALLY bad one like it were yesterday, “Then they got me into flying fighters because they were getting hard up after the slaughter and retirements. Lost lefty here,” She pointed down at her left leg, “In a bad crash and never flew in actual combat since. They regrew the leg and tried to kick me out on a medical, but I transferred to the Fleet instead to learn how to fly starships, made my way up to here and voila! Broke the new lefty bad on my last ship, but they did a slower fix on it instead of giving me yet another new one.”

Rebecca listened as she took off her pants leaving just what God gave her open to the nature of the artificial environment. Each bit of Cally's words resonated with her as she began to slip into the hot tub letting the hot water wash over her skin. "We encountered a Borg vessel, I was Assistant Chief Engineer at the time. This was about a month or more ago, I don't know it all has happened so fast. I lost a lot, friends and family alike." Her tone slower and sadder than before. "It's not quite the same when its you who survive. I am lucky to have done so."

“No, it isn’t the same.” Calypso agreed somberly, “Mine was about two years ago, Perseus if you ever heard of her. Pirate hunter, became the hunted. Almost got the bastard a couple months ago, but he slipped out of our fingers after we sucked him in.” Cally chuckled slightly, “I lost the best Captain I’d ever served under, she was destined to be an Admiral, Marjorie Taylor. I haven’t gone up against the Borg and I hope never to have to, they creep me out.”

"Borg are an acquired taste. We had no idea they were even in the area so we were unprepared for the fight." Rebecca said as she sank into the water allowing her pink hair to float a little above it. "I am sorry for the loss of your Captain. Too many good people taken too early." She shook her head, "But they never said that life was fair, they just said it's what it is. Now I intend to make the most of what I can do. Help where and how I can." She then brought her hand above the water and began to stir her finger around in a circle on the surface of the water causing ripples in an already bubbly pool of water.

"So, Rebecca." Calypso decided that it was time to change the subject, things were getting far too morose. She also edged around the tub to sit closer to the new Operation officer, "What sort of things do you do in your spare time? I know I love to swim and play tennis, despite one particular twerp constantly beating me whenever I play her. Got other hobbies too, like singing and flying and this and that, but those are my favorites, always keeps me busy and plenty of exercise."

"Me? Well I tend to like the finer things in life. I have been known to crash a wine tasting or two then afterword, read up on the science fiction holo-novels. Then there is the 'boring' side that everyone laughs at but I do enjoy, technical manuals on the newest star ships." Rebecca said relaxing her shoulders more, "Have been known to belt out a tune or two when time permits."

"We should have another karaoke night!" Calypso smacked the water and made a splash, "We had one when we shipped out from Earth seven-ish months ago or so, went over really well! Great excuse to get some drinks in us and show our stuff!" Her eyes brightened, "But you like Science Fiction as well?" She leaned forward in the water, closer to Rebecca, "What's your favorite? I've always been a fan of the older writers from the late 20th and early 21st, though Brar has a good series going on right now, I hope we can get downloads when he puts out the next in his series!"

"Should be every Friday in the lounge. Surprised your lounge specialist hasn't set to that already. Greaaaat way to motivate the crew and keep things light, especially in tense situations. As for the science fiction, I am very much into the twenty first century. Especially what they used to call one hit wonders. Have you ever heard of Defying Gravity? They had such interesting tastes, I can not lie. They also had such high hopes for the future. If they could only see us now." Rebecca laughed lightly and in an airy tone. It felt like a long time since she laughed.

“Can’t say that I have..”Cally made a mental note to look up that book series, or whatever it was, when she had a chance, “I’ll be the first to say I preferred longer running book series and movies or episodic sagas, like Battlestar Galactica and if you’ve ever read the Honor Harrington series? They tried to make a movie series out of it before that Third World War, but it flopped pretty bad.” She wavered her hand in a so-so gesture, “But agreed, they had no clue on what we’re up to now! I think they were just limited to what they could comprehend rather than what actually could be.”

Rebecca listened closely and nodded at several of the series and recommendations, "And their music, I mean, even with World War Three, there music never stopped, it just kept going, getting better and better with time." She ran her wet hands through her hair and it began to change color slightly making it more vibrant pink than previously. "Something about the music of that era just sends chills down my spine."

"It was a divergence from what they'd been at before, that's for sure." Cally agreed, settling back against the wall again and sinking up to her chin, "Where Betazed just kept going on the way it always had been, always HAS been." She corrected herself, "Sometimes I envy Earth and all the dramatic changes that happened there, grew as a culture in different directions, rather than just continue on."

"I am majority human, a little bit of other things as well, but I find that my father was one hell of a diverse man. He could not stay settled down long until he met my mother. I think humans are that way. Always wanting more or striving for something new and yet proud of where they come from." Rebecca said with a shrug and she continued making the swirling bits in the water with her finger. She felt comfortable. A type of comfortable she hadn't felt since before she poured herself into Starfleet.

"I find that humans are the most versatile of people. Vulcans are a bit too stuffy and literal, my own people almost too reflective in their own way, but humans? Never know what they're gonna do! In fact-" Cally got cut off by a chime to get her attention and for a moment, she ignored it until it chimed again, then she sighed heavily, "Go ahead, this is the Captain."

"Ma'am? I've got Commander Espersen here in the shuttlebay and he is pissed." It was a hushed voice, one that Cally recognized as the primary shuttlebay controller, a loud voice in the background, "There's a runabout and your Razor in the way of the Argo and he wants to get out."

"Shit..." Cally muttered as she wanted to dive underwater to escape, but there would be none that way, "Can you move them for us? I'm... Inprocessing the new Operations officer at the moment and we're a bit preoccupied." She paused a moment, "Pretty please?"

There was silence for a moment as a thought ran through the controller's mind based on his own experiences involving the Captain, "Yes, ma'am... But ma'am? He's going to be on the warpath and I'm going to deflect. Bantam out."

Calypso looked sheepishly over at Rebecca and gave a shrug, "I'm guessing that means we should probably wrap up here? For now at least, we've got plenty of time to get to know each other!"

Rebecca buried her face under the water for a moment before allowing herself to resurface, "Aye. I am here for quite awhile and there is plenty of time to share stories and interests." Rebecca then began the walk up and out of the hot tub spotting a towel. She bent down to grab it and made sure to grab her clothes as well. "Anyone I should be wary of, Captain?"

Calypso pursed her lips and slowly nodded once, "Really just one person you need to worry about on board. She really is a bit of a lecher, blonde and some would call her a complete pain in the ass." She waved away the thought of the person, "But the odds of finding yourself alone with her are really not that large. Most of the time, that is."

"Noted. I will be cautious of anyone fitting that description." Rebecca said with a smile. "Thank you for making me feel more at home. Better than being shot out the sky." she said getting dressed as she spoke.

"I only actually shoot at people I don't like!" Cally winked at Rebecca, "I'll see you soon!"

"Going to hold you too that." Rebecca said departing with her uniform finally adjusted.

Calypso smiled broadly at the woman leaving and settled deeper into the hot tub, submerging until just her nose and above weren't covered. 'Oh just you wait and see...'