Weigh Anchor

Posted on Thu Apr 2nd, 2020 @ 2:15am by Lieutenant JG Miraj Derani

Mission: INTERMISSION: Rebuild, Reuse, Recycle
Location: Stardock, Earth
Timeline: Five days before Elysium departure
1117 words - 2.2 OF Standard Post Measure

[ON]

Miraj Derani tightened her bright pink bunches, an unconscious gesture, as she looked in the store window. The antique telescope was a thing of beauty with shining brass fittings and a smooth wood casing that had been polished with the hands of its users. It looked like an early 19th century model straight from the Golden age of Nelson and his Royal Navy.

She sighed. It was lovely. But she hadn't amassed enough from her credits stipend for another treat so soon after her last, a set of pennants from Cort's own age of sail. The Boslics had been just as keen on sailing as the Humans had been and she felt the pull to the sea from both sides of her heritage.

Then to her dismay she saw the store owner come into the display and remove it, taking it back into the store with him and out of Miraj's covetous sight.

In the shop window she caught her reflection; the pink hair, the lightly flared orbital arches, and the feint impression of the crease in her forehead marked her as not entirely human. Her bright blue eyes and the very slightness of those features marked her as not entirely Boslic. Even now she couldn't quite believe that those features were attached to a Starfleet uniform. She'd made it. She'd graduated, and been assigned, not to a small survey ship, but an enormous, beautiful Elysium, complete with a new type of engine, A quantum Slipstream.

"Penny for them?" A tall man in a long coat, dark hair tied back in a short tail, was grinning at her.

Miraj jumped, then looked round and grinned back. "Mal!" she squealed, jumping at him and throwing her arms around his neck and her legs around his hips, hugging him for all she was worth.

Her fully human brother staggered slightly as she hit him, and he hugged back before sitting her back down on the floor. "Hey, Kid. Thought I'd find you trawling the antiques

"What are you doing here?"

The tall man put his hands in the pockets of his long coat, "Dad said you'd been assigned. Sorry I missed graduation. Thought I'd come pick up the Queen Anne's Revenge, rather than let you leave it in storage."

The Queen Anne's Revenge was Miraj's own boat, named after the infamous pirate ship. Originally it was a salvaged Waverider that she'd begged, wheedled and annoyed her father, brother and almost all of their respective crews into helping her with the restoration and customization.

She'd made one last trip from earth to Jupiter Station in it, enjoying the feel of being thrown around in a tiny craft as she'd tried every manoeuvre she knew from the boring to the stupid and loved every moment, feeling alive as the impulse engines and thrusters had throbbed and fired and burned and till she was giddy with exhilaration and she could feel the excitement of Queen Anne like a drug. She was going to miss her favourite girl so much.

"Thank you!" She beamed, bouncing lightly on the balls of her feet. "She'll be much happier tucked up on the Stranger."

"So," Mal began turning his little sister away from the antiques and towards the nearest cafe. "I heard you got sent to the Elysium. Are you sure you can handle such a stately whale of a ship?" he teased.

Miraj gave him a soft punch on the arm as punishment for his . "Its got a SLipsteam Drive!" she bounced in her seat. "It could be the oldest leakiest, crabbiest, boat and it would still be more glorious than anything. Even Queen Anne. Quantum Slipsteam!! I'm going to go transwarp!!"

She paused, trying, and failing to get her excitement under control. "I'm one of the first pilots to fly it in the field!!! Thats going to be a big plus when I go for the test pilot program in a few years!" Mal chuckled, but Miraj didn't let him get a word in edgeways. "Plus it has lots of space. I might even get permission to bring Queen Anne on board and store her in the hanger. And I'm told it gets about. Especially now it can transwarp. You never know what I might find. And I'm not sailing five years away in the opposite direction to the Typhon Expanse."

"Ah," her brother said, steering her into a booth at the side of a small bar, themed like an old earth restaurant. He ordered her a milk shake and a coffee for himself, giving the waitress a smile that would cause the ruin of saints and she simpered at him in return. "You're hoping for a trip to all the bad places."

"Just because no one's seen her, doesn't mean she didn't come out. They've just come back from Cardassia, so they're likely to be staying this side of space, you never know, we could cross paths. Lots of juicy targets for a pirate around here. And Orion space isn't far. I could learn something, meet someone."

The waitress brought their order. Mal watched her walk away with great interest to where she and her colleague behind the counter sent him long, lust-filled looks, then turned away. When Miraj reached for her milkshake, he put his hand over hers. "Don't do anything stupid. The people your mother came from are bad people. And don't get your hopes up. Its been ten years. That's a long time to disappear for."

"She's my mother," Miraj insisted.

"I know. But you're my sister, and I don't want you to get hurt."

She slurped her milkshake. "I'm a big girl. I'll be alright. And how much trouble can I get in? Its a diplomatic ship, not a patrol boat. Lots of holding conferences and talking. We're not going to be taking on the Syndicate. The most excitement I'm going to get is likely getting to try an Icarus in something with decent shields. And slipstream. Did I mention slipstream?"

Mal snorted. "Yeah, well. Get too cocky and you'll lose half the ship. Again. And this time it will have people in it."

She looked crestfallen and Mal laughed. "Miraj," She raised her eyes to him. "You are amazing at a conn. If anyone can moon a sun and get away without scorching the nacelles, its you. But you can't fly in and out of history-"

"Technically-" Miraj broke in.

Mal cut her off "You know what I mean. No extracurricular shit. Just take care of yourself. Okay?"

She nodded. "Okay."

"Now." He drained his coffee, "Can I walk you to your ship?"

[OFF]

Ensign Miraj Derani
Assistant Chief Conn Officer
USS Elysium