Sizing Each Other Up - Part I

Posted on Sun Dec 10th, 2023 @ 12:56pm by Captain Robert Burke & Commander Khiane Mau

1,433 words; about a 7 minute read

Mission: EPISODE 1: SHAKEDOWN
Location: USS Hecate - Ready Room
Timeline: Prior to Launch

::ON::

The couple stopped to kiss, oblivious to the bear, her cubs ambling behind her, moving through a clearing not a hundred yards from where they stood. And if they didn't see the bear, they certainly didn't see the large cat watching them from the woods. She was muscular and sleek, a full eight feet from nose to tail, standing two foot tall at the shoulder and for all that they cared, she was invisible. She could cross the eighteen feet that separated her from them in one jump, but for the couple, they were alone in the world with a brand new ring he'd placed on her finger the night before.

The cat wore a leather, breakaway collar around her neck with a tag that had "Mittens" engraved on one side. The other side held more details but few got close enough to read it. The cat's tail switched lazily from side to side and she yawned, showing an impressive array of teeth. Even if the man had been paying attention, as he should, her hearing was vastly superior to his as was her eyesight. And while this wasn't how she had intended to spend her time, the cat had taken it upon herself to watch over the young lovers. At least until they were out of danger.

She heard the sound of booted feet coming up the path and her eyes swiveled forward as she became more alert. A full grown mountain lion, who was not native to this area, would be of concern to some and she'd no desire to get wounded for as payment for a generous act on her part.

After a few moments, a Starfleet cadet came hesitantly down the path, tricorder in hand, checking the readout every few steps. When he was within five feet of her, he stopped and called out, "Commander Mau?"

Growling softly, the cat stalked out onto the road causing both the cadet and the young couple to take a few steps back. The man wrapped his arm around his fiance while the cadet whoofed in relief. "Glad I found you, Commander. You've been ordered to the USS Hecate."

The couple shared a concerned look as the cat loped off into the bushes. "You need some water," the woman said as he approached moving slowly and awkwardly. "Dehydration will make you see funny things..."

The cadet blinked in surprise as his expression changed to confusion. "No, ma'am," he answered politely. "Got a shuttle down in the clearing. Haven't been out here but a few minutes." He shut down the tricorder and settled the strap back in place, crossbody. "Thanks for asking though."

"But ... you ... well, you called that Mountain Lion Commander," she said. "You know its just a big cat, right? Dangerous at that."

"So's the mother bear that's not far off." A woman, dressed in a Starfleet uniform and holding a worn leather collar in one hand, said as she stepped out of the trees and onto the road. "If the wind shifts and she gets your scent, you could be in trouble. If you keep going down this road, you'll find a better spot that's out of her territory."

"Uhhh .... thanks," the couple said in unison with just the bit of an upward note on the end of the word to indicate it wasn't quite thanks; they walked off, whispering to themselves, as they went.

"Idiots," Khiane murmured. "Two days they've been out here. Not a bit of sense between them." She turned toward the cadet. "Okay, so what's this about orders?"

"Captain Burke put in a request for a First Officer and Commander Arev still has two weeks left on his training course. That puts you at the top of the list." He fell into step beside her as they headed back toward the shuttle. "Excelsior Class just heading out for its shakedown cruise."

"Riley," Khiane said as she turned to look at the young cadet who'd been assisting her the past couple of months, "is there anything you can't find out?"

"Not so far, Commander," he said as the reached the edge of the clearing. "The shuttle's just around this bend. Do you want to go straight to the Hecate?"

"Might as well," Khiane said with a slight shrug. "My bags are packed even if I did have a very different destination in mind. If you could arrange to have them transferred to the Hecate?"

"Of course, of course," Riley said as they reached the shuttle and he opened the hatch. "Would have done it already but wanted your approval first."

"Going to miss you Riley," Khiane said as she followed him in. "Let me know where you end up, would you?"

"Sure thing, Commander. Only a year and a half left," Riley said. "Then it'll be me rushing off to some amazing ship or other."

[Some Time Later]

Riley landed the shuttle neatly in the hangar bay of the Hecate. While en route she'd had a chance to read her orders, same as the Vera Rubin. XO and Chief Intelligence Officer. There'd been enough time to say good-bye and thank him for his efforts. He'd blushed ... again ... but now it was time for a new beginning. The Hecate this time.

She made her way to the Bridge and hit the chime on the Captain's Ready Room door.

In the act of pouring a coffee, Burke looked up from his desk towards the corner of the Ready Room with the door. A quick glance at his desk interface confirmed the lack of scheduled appointments. He was about to get stuck in to the latest briefing reports on the Klingon border regions, and felt a slight sense of disappointment at the interruption.

'Enter?' he called out with a questioning tone.

Khiane entered at once and approached the captain's desk, placing the PADD with her orders down on the end as she did so. It was all computerized but sometimes, orders went missing, so backups never hurt. "Commander Khaine Mau reporting as ordered, Captain," she said in an alto that managed to be both warm and smoky at the same time or at least that was how it had been described to her.

'Commander Khiane!' Burke exclaimed with a wide smile as he noted the striking woman cross the room. 'A pleasure. I'm glad you could get to Utopia Station at such short notice.' Getting to his feet he extended a hand slowly across the desk, making sure she could see the movement clearly. 'I trust your transfer orders and flight were all in order?'

"It's Mau actually," Khiane said as she approached the desk; she accepted his handshake, and the part of her that would never be tamed noted with a predator's satisfaction the slowed movements. When she was younger, she would have answered the attempt with a swipe of her claws, because this was a purely human thing, this pressing of flesh as a way of greeting.

Nodding in response, Burke raised his eyebrows, 'my fault entirely, Commander. I do tend to the familiar.' He indicated the chair in front of his desk. 'Please take a seat.' As he took his own he asked, 'can I interest you in some refreshments?'

"Khiane is, you would say, my ... given name and one I answer to readily," Khiane said as she sat down in the indicated seat, legs crossed, and her hands folded in her lap. "Coffee would be amazing," she added. "Just got in from a two-day excursion in the wilderness and all I've had is water."

Pushing his coffee tray across the table, Burke flipped over the spare china cup next to the coffee service and indicated it, 'help yourself. It's fresh. Our Operations department have already worked out I get through the stuff quite regularly during a shift.' He looked at her, 'was the excursion a personal one, or duty-related?' What he wanted to ask was did you spend your entire time as a feline, but felt it indelicate.

"Personal," Khiane said as she busied herself pouring herself a cup of coffee. She sighed as she took a sip, savoring the taste, and returned to her seat. Things needed to be said. Things that she wouldn't talk about ordinarily but this was different. He was the captain and she was his First Officer. And so, she resigned herself to have the conversation.

[To be Continued ...]

::OFF::

Captain Robert Burke
Commanding Officer
USS Hecate

Commander Khiane Mau
Executive & Chief Intelligence Officer
USS Hecate

 

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