[SHU] LtJG Vistain: Trespasser

[Rich]

((Main Shuttlebay, USS Garuda))

::Danielle smiled as she finished the recalibrations on shuttlecraft Jalana. She tapped the shuttle's hull with her knuckle.::

Vistain: There you go, Bashful. Good as new.

::The Garuda's youngest shuttle Jalana -- or "Bashful" as Danielle had nicknamed it, joining the ranks of "Grumpy" (aka Thunderbird) and "Dopey" (aka Karura) -- had proved useful to keeping the plants at bay, but running the engines in such a way to produce that specific frequency had turned out to be a massive headache to resolve once the crisis was over.::

::Now that she was finally done, Danielle decided it was time to reward herself to some delicious Thai cuisine. She was just wrapping up things at her workstation in the bay's "maintenance shed" with thoughts of khao soi when she saw a figure peering near one of the shuttles.::

Vistain: ::sighing:: Really?

::How many times had she told Esha to stop unauthorized visitors? She'd need to have another word with the Antican crewman. It was bad enough when she had to let down a class of schoolchildren a few months back, explaining to their teacher that no, the crewman's go ahead of "sure, why not" was *not* official approval of such a visit.::

::She stepped out to confront the uninvited guest.::

Vistain: Excuse me, can I-

::Danielle stopped when the person turned around, revealing herself to be the former chief engineer of the Garuda.::

Vistain: Oh, I'm sorry, commander! I didn't, uh, I couldn't tell it was you from the shed. I just saw someone without a uniform.

::The woman nodded with an apologetic smile.::

Rahman: No, forgive me, Danielle. I was just... I was in the area, and so I thought I might stop by.

::Danielle nodded back.::

Vistain: It's good to see you again, ma'am.

Rahman: Likewise. Although, I certainly hadn't expected to find myself in such a predicament as soon as I got back.

Vistain: I don't think any of us did, ma'am!

::The shuttle engineer grinned.::

Vistain: So you're back on duty?

Rahman: Um… not exactly. I'm a project manager for the SCE now.

Vistain: Ah.

::Danielle of course had been just as shocked as the rest of the engineers on Garuda when their former department head had been relieved of duty and then arrested last year. They'd served with her since Garuda was sent out to the Menthar Corridor, and many like Danielle had served with Commander Rahman for years on the Mercury earlier.::

::She hadn't known the exact details about exactly what had happened with the charges against the commander, but the important part was that she was back on the job.::

Rahman: In a civilian role.

::Well. Mostly back on the job.::

Vistain: …ah.

::Danielle realized then that this put her in a bit of an awkward position.::

Vistain: Uh… forgive me, commander, but if you're not-

::Oh, how to put this!::

Vistain: I guess, if you're not figuratively in uniform either… um…

::But Danielle's old boss returned a reassuring smile.:: 

Rahman: It's okay, Danielle. I know. I'm not supposed to be here. I just… I just missed it. I'll go.

::As the Kriosian turned towards the exit, Danielle thought for a moment before calling out.::

Vistain: Actually, ma'am, uh, I was just getting done with my shift. If you were hungry, I was planning to grab a bite to eat.

::The other woman turned around and returned a small grin.::

Rahman: Sounds good.

Vistain: Great! Do you like Thai?

::The two engineers headed out of the bay, leaving "Bashful", "Grumpy", and the other naughty shuttlecraft to their rest.::

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Lieutenant JG Danielle Vistain

Engineer - Shuttlebay Ops, USS Garuda