Lonely at the top

Posted on Thu Dec 6, 2018 @ 11:38pm by Captain Maritza Soran & Civilian Sha'rae Astare

1,156 words; about a 6 minute read

Mission: Doors of Perception
Timeline: MD 03 2100

[ON]

Maritza looked at the clock. 2100. She massaged her temples with her fingers. A headache was beginning to creep over her. It was going to be a long day. She was still waiting on Fleet and State dep
artment to answer her queries on Xi'Cadia. They were still trying to find whatever was stalking the new colony. There were still rumblings of discontent on the Promenade. Nothing ever seemed to get fixed. She was just running to keep up.

Her terminal pinged, and she glanced at it. Dyson Yard reportung it's Dilithium stock. She opened it and swore softly in the partially lit room. Stocks already depleted after the Svikiri incident. Resupply was due this week, from the Xi'Cadian processing facility.

"Fuck." She muttered angrily into the darkened room. DS5 was in its night cycle and the lights had dimmed without her even noticing. Nothing could go smoothly for even a week.

She opened the draw in the desk, then shut it again. There ws no reason to look. There was nothing inside. It was just instinct. Habit. Hoping for something to be there. Something to ease the edge. She sat back for a second, then walked to her small replicator. "Caffeine, maximum safe dose." It provided two little pills and a cup of water.

Sha'rea stepped of out of the lift, tray in hand, nodding to the night shift crew members manning Ops. Lasuma had been right and Maritza was working late; probably fueled by nothing more than coffee and willpower. Stepping over to their commanding officer's office she knocked on the door.

Maritza looked up. Who was that at this hour? She'd sent Claude off shift hours ago. And the OPS crew would have been the skeleton crews for the two night shifts and they would have come straight in. "Come in!"

Dispite the hour Sha'rae greeted her warmly. "Hello again. Mr. Lasuma thought you might need this." Setting the tray of a hearty, but not too heavy, evening meal along with a thermos of hot tea.

Soran was surprised to see Geral Lasuma's... what was she? His steward? his PA? And why would he even send anything. How would he even know she was here and not in her quarters at this hour ? "Sha'rae wasnt it? Its very kind of him but I have a replicator."

Sha'rae smirked and blinked as she glanced from Maritza to the water an pills and back

"It will produce food. But this is more efficient." To prove her point, and not from any desire to be rebellious, not a shred, Maritza insisted to herself, she tossed the pills into her mouth and chased them down with a gulp of water.

Sha'rae's mirk merged with a wry grin as she shook her head taking a breath. "He was right...'caffeine and willpower'." Hefting the tray slightly, "Those pills will only cause you to crash later, which I'm sure you know. This however, as he knew there was no getting you to stop working, will provide both short and longterm energy."

"Caffeine and willpower?" Maritza repeated, not sure what to make of that. But with the tray in front of her, there was something of a fait accompli going on. She gestured for Sha'rae to lift the lids.

With a hand on the lid she clarified her statement to answer Maritza's question. "Surviving on caffine and willpower." Lifting the lid, she did in such a way to send the steam and aroma in Maritza's direction.

Maritza's stomach gurgled audibly, and she went a little pink. It had been sometime since breakfast. She smelled the rich warm spices of Hesperat and fresh bread. Her mouth watered. "Alright I'm impressed." She admitted to Sha'rae. "It smells incredible. To what do I owe such generosity."

She shrugged, "some how he found out you were still here and like I said, he figured you would be pushing yourself on little more than caffeine and willpower. Sooo he sent this, and an invitation." Slipping the card out from underneath the tray.

Maritza took the card, but couldn't resist trying the hesperat before reading it. The dish was delicious, less spicy and more aromatic than most hesperat, a warming feel good dish. "I may try and poach his chef for my steward."

She opened the card.

The hand written note read: "Once I knew you were working late I knew there would be no getting you to stop until you were ready. I also knew you would need some proper sustenance to keep you going. I hope you enjoy it.

Thank you for the invitation to the opening ceremony on the planet and I would hope you will join me tomorrow night."

Maritza put the warm feeling in her belly down to the hesperat. She was a grown woman after all. She looked to Sha'rae. "Is tomorrow night a particular occasion?"

Shaking her head smiling. "Not that I am aware of. He is definitely being very particular with several details though."

And now Maritza did feel a surge of giddiness that was nothing to do with a caffeine high. "What sort of details?"

Sha'rae hesitated, "I'm not sure I should be telling you this but he plans to take you to his mountain retreat. He never takes anyone there."

Lasuma's Bajorran home from home? He'd talked about it when they'd had dinner a few days earlier. "I'm honored." She swallowed another mouthful of hesperat to silence her gurgling stomach. "Should I dress for the cold?"

"To be honest I don't know. Though if that were the case I'm sure he would have said something. So should I tell him you'll be there?"

Maritza bit her lip. Maybe she shouldn't do this. It might be interpreted as favouritism. Or taking bribes. but... "Just let me know when I should arrive."

"I will. And he wanted me to mention that his yacht will remain in the docking bay so there won't be any interuptions."

Maritza couldn't help a little smile. "I'm sure with a little forewarning we could avoid interruptions, and leave the docking bay if needed."

Smiling back Sha'rae nodded. "I think he was concerned you wouldn't want your crew to think anything was up, to make sure no rumors got start...that sort of thing. But if you wanted to make those arrangements I will let him know. "

She hadn't considered that. Maybe it was too early to be swanning off around their shiny new solar system with someone she hardly knew. "A good point. For now we should probably stay here. Would Nineteen hundred hours be a good time?"

"That should be ideal." Bowing her head with a smile. "I will let you let get back to... whatever you were up to."

"Goodnight," Soran gave her a nod, and then got on with devouring her dinner."

[OFF]

Commander Martza Soran
CO
Deep Space Five

Sha'rae Astare
Valet to Geral Lasuma

 

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