Getting around

Posted on 14 Oct 2026 @ 1:14pm by 1st Lieutenant S'earr & Captain Alexandria Somers

1,902 words; about a 10 minute read

Mission: General Sim Postings
Location: Starbase 51/Various
Timeline: The day after speaking to Hawksley

[ON]

The next day Alex wore her old Olive Green trousers and shirt, with boots. She was not fancy-dressed; her hair was in a loose ponytail, she wore no perfume or anything like that, just a fresh, clean smell and studs in her ears. Her OGs had been updated with her Fleet Rank of full Captain, but the rest of it still showed 95th Rifle Logos, and she had her Crossbelt on; her boots had gleaming toe caps she also wore a peak cap. She guessed some aspects of her training would never go away.

She put on some tight surgical gloves that matched her skin tone; if she was going to shake this man's hand, she did not want to leave her scent on him. She knew enough to know Caitian's and female scents did not go well together unless the pair were ready to bond. She already had a husband; she did not want another, and it would be wrong, as her RCO was directly under her chain of command.

Deciding that she was ready, she left her quarters, pausing only to locate her quarry: "Computer, location of Lieutenant S'earr?" she asked.

"Lieutenant S'earr is in the Starbase Gym number one," the computer dutifully replied. She then left her office and entered the nearest turbolift. There were a couple of others in there who pretended not to stare at her old-fashioned uniform, but they were junior officers and saw her name tag and her rank and straightened up.

"What floor, Captain Somers?" The Andorian Lieutenant asked.

"Starbase Gym Number One, please, Lieutenant," she responded with a friendly smile and the destination was entered. She found it strange that one had to do a physical input of a destination "Lieutenant, why does this lift require tactile use when all other lifts are voice-controlled?" She asked.

"I do not know, Captain; it has been that way since I have been assigned here," the Andrian said.

She sighed. "Thank you, Lieutenant," she answered and remained silent the rest of the ride. After a time, the lift stopped at her destination. Her two companions were still with her; she nodded at the pair as she left the lift and turned right, and there in front of her was the massive Gymnasium Number One.

- SB51 Gym 1 -

As she entered, she saw a seven-foot white-furred Caitian male; he was changing exercise machines. She saw him and swallowed hard; a scene from an old TV Series went through her mind at that moment: a small robot looking up at a humanoid female at a diplomatic function and simply saying, "bee dee bee dee, what a body!" oO Oh you are so correct on that, my little robot inner voice Oo she thought.

She tried to control herself as she approached him, she paused "Lieutenant S'earr?" She begun.

S'earr had just finished adjusting the resistance settings on the exercise machine when he heard his name.

His ears turned toward the approaching voice, and he paused, one large paw resting against the machine's frame.

"Lieutenant S'earr?" He turned to face her fully.

At seven feet tall, the white-furred Caitian towered over most of the gym's occupants. His broad shoulders and powerful physique were evident even beneath his fitted exercise attire, though his expression remained calm and attentive.

His golden eyes settled upon her, and one ear flicked forward, as afforded all females, a respectful bow of the head in greeting. "That would be correct." His deep voice carried easily across the gym, smooth and measured. "Have we met before, ma'am?"

A faint twitch of his whiskers accompanied the question. He studied her for a moment, not in an intimidating manner, but with the quiet curiosity of a feline who had just encountered something unexpected.

She took off her hat so that her whole face could be seen and put it under her left arm and shallowly bowed her head; she had no ears that could do what the Caitian had just done. She looked up at him and smiled "Hello, Lieutenant. My name is Captain Alexandria Somers. I am your new Commanding Officer," she announced herself and held out her gloved hand.

S'earr listened to her introduction, his new commanding officer. He had wondered what happened to the other female who bore the same name. He saw the offered hand and particularly the glove worn on it. Touch had been offered by the female; thus, he would accept. From between his hands' position to very gently grasping her hand, a slight muscular flex just to ensure his claws were fully away, lest he harm her. "A pleasure, ma'am."

She shook it "Apologies for what I am about to say, Lieutenant, but as a female, I have to get it out of my system. You are one fine specimen of a male! If I were not a married woman and could deal with the scent linking...!" She left the rest unsaid, then she lightly shook her head, finished shaking his hand and lowered hers.

"Thank you, ma'am," S'earr replied. Accepting the compliment for which it was intended.

All business again "Let us walk, Lieutenant. Just for clarification, I was not admitting a weakness, Lieutenant, just an observation about your physique, so back to normal subjects: how much do you know about why the old CO had to leave the Tomcat?" Alex asked.

"I am a Marine, ma'am; fleet command decisions are out of my purview. I serve under who I am told, I go where I am ordered, and I act on what I'm directed." S'earr spoke as he fell into step beside the woman.

"I am with you there, Lieutenant. I am a former Rifles Officer. I deal with practical matters; now I have to adjust and think like a Ship Captain, not a Rifle Officer. One bit of advice I can offer is that, at some point, you will have to make such a command decision, regardless of rank at the time you are" she paused.

"Understood, ma'am." He replied, if by command decision she meant during his time as the Marine Commander, then he had little doubt.

"If you notice I am not wearing the standard uniform for a Fleet Officer, I should be, but I find the old-style more comfy; but then again, that is me, but have no worry I will be in the correct attire at the mission briefing. *pauses* So, I read in your file that Commodore Somers authorised you to have standard hand weapons built to accommodate your size; have you spoken to Engineering and the armoury officer to get them replicated?" Alex asked.

"I have. I was measured and assessed for fabrication; at least two are being made ready for me per weapon type, ma'am," S'earr replied.

"Excellent, I could never see those massive hands of yours holding normal-sized weapons!" she chuckled. "What I am going to need you to do, El-tee, is to do some training with the rifles; use this data Crystal on the largest holodeck; it has a potential scenario for assisting a Species during First Contact. This species is warp-capable but isolated; the training simulation data on that crystal has friend and foe on. The foe has been made up, as it is a training simulation, but it should be close enough to be a generic enemy, using aspects of all known hostile or belligerent species Starfleet has thus encountered," she paused.

"The friendly species we have called the Trelan, again, we have made up a composite species using Major S'arila Donovan as a template: eyes, height, but blue skin, so seven feet at their highest," Alex said, handing the crystal to S'earr "Use a general set-up deployment template with elements accounting for defence of a place; we have used an earth-type castle, but glammed it up to look alien. The program is adaptive, very adaptive. I know you and the Rifles are on shore leave, Lieutenant, but run the Rifles through this, and also make sure they know the environment may be different if something like it happens in real life. Any questions?" Somers said.

S'earr paused his stride. It was obvious that the new Captain had not been briefed on something, though potentially lost in the transition of captaincy. "Ma'am, has Marine Command contacted you?" S'earr asked. "I received orders from Major General Haige that I am being seconded to another unit for deployment. I was unable to glean from the General an exact duration, but I thought they had already run it by you or the previous Captain."

Looking at him, a little surprised, she was a practical woman "I had not. Thank you for informing me. I guess the General realised that having a Catian Marine Officer, who required the need to be in open spaces, I can understand this; that was why I was so surprised a Catian warrior was assigned to a ship and not a planet. Did you not realise that there would be so little ground action? One of the reasons I moved from Rifles to Fleet. Now the Dominion War is over; Starfleet is returning to its exploration ways, and warriors like us are seldom needed in areas such as the Mira Sector," she paused.

She stops walking, turns to face him "I will be sorry to lose you, Lieutenant. I think you could have had a great tour of duty on the Tomcat. Also, the Crossbelt you were issued is yours; consider it a souvenir. If your next unit commander will allow you to wear it, you are free to do so, but if not, it can become your wall trophy *smiles*. Make sure to hand in your Department Head Codes and ID Badge before you leave 51, please; they are unique to the Tomcat and not used anywhere else," she said and paused.

"Understood Captain," S'earr spoke, noting the requirements posed to him.

Then she once again held out her hand "It was nice to meet you, Lieutenant, if only for a brief moment in time. I wish you all the best in your new assignment. I hope you get a planet-based assignment on a planet with a large forest for you to hunt in. *then with some concern* Have you made any close friends, the type that could become your mate or partner?" She asked, "If so, you will need to speak to them", she asked.

S'earr shook the offered hand. "Some I would consider friends, yes, during my time on board. I shall endeavour to meet them once more before departing." S'earr replied.

Smiling as she withdrew her hand, "I shall leave you to it, Lieutenant S'earr, she could not think of any traditional Welsh blessings, but an Irish one came to mind: "May your troubles be less, and your blessings be more, and nothing but happiness come through your door." She finished with a smile.

"Ma'am." S'earr bowed his head in parting and watched her turn and leave.

With a smile and nod, Alex put her hat back on, turned and left the area, realising that she would have to get used to the standard Starfleet uniform.

[OFF]



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