Lieutenant Hallia Yellir - Not Quite a Crime
Ryan Fender
(( Quark’s Bar, Promenade, Deep Space Nine ))
Seated in perhaps one of the most infamously famous establishments this side of the quadrant, the Captain and the Chief Engineer had sat down for a quick catch up. Exchanging pleasantries had turned into full-blown conversation after receiving their drinks. Hallia made an effort to pace herself, not quite sure how a Tamarian Frost will leave her when she gets to the bottom.
MacKenzie: So, any plans for shore leave? I’ve been to the station once before, right as I was assigned to the Resolution, but I didn’t have much of a chance to do any sight-seeing.
Yellir: For starters— I’m absolutely going to sightsee, and I really want to visit Bajor, I hear the Rankatha province is amazing this time of year.
MacKenzie: I’ve never been there before – you’ve heard good things?
Yellir: The views are to die for, besides, they’ve really bounced back since the war. It’s amazing to see how it’ll be in person How about you?
Something in Hallia was… oddly excited about the idea of sightseeing. Usually she stuck to the ship like glue, almost preaching that nothing would go wrong as long as she kept staring at the warp core. But given the rich history of Bajor— and her brief but fascinating looks at Bajoran culture, she wanted to see what the planet and its people were like.
MacKenzie: Well, I hear the shopping both on the station and on Bajor is incredible. I like collecting garments from the places I travel, so I’m hoping to stumble into something beautiful. I also want to check out the Bajoran Institute of Science and the Monastery of the Kai.
All of those seemed like absolutely amazing plans. Plus adding to one’s wardrobe was never a bad thing. After seeing just the windows of the tailor here on the station, Hallia had kept that close to the top of her list. But a thought did cross her mind. The Yelikan knew next to nothing about MacKenzie’s time pre-Resolution, so in a sudden turn of conversation, she poised a question.
Yellir: I have a question for you— and it might be overstepping, but before all ::gesturing around:: this, did you ever get into trouble on shore leave? Of course I’m not talking full on brawls, but you seem like you’ve had some adventures.
The Engineer took yet another small sip as a devilish look crossed the CO’s features.
MacKenzie: Well, I suppose that depends how you define trouble… Do you want to hear about the time we were ambushed by the Maquis coming back from a funeral on Betazed and I had to perform brain surgery on the guy I was dating, or the time we went on a bit of a bar crawl in the Shoals?
Yellir: Brain surgery? Put a pin in that— Betazed’s a bit close to home right now. What’re the Shoals like?
As much as she was fascinated to hear about brain surgery, she knew next to nothing about the Shoals.
MacKenzie: Right. I suppose Betazed still hits a little close to home… Shoals, it is…
She took a sip before starting the story.
MacKenzie: The Veritas was stationed in a part of the galaxy known as the Shoals – it’s an area of space between the Federation and the Tholian Assembly. It’s treacherous, warp drive is severely limited, and there’s a lot of hostile actors. ::waving her hand dismissively:: Anyway, there’s a world that was frequently part of our stops, and it had a greasy diner that had some of the best burgers in the galaxy. We were spending one shore leave on the planet and organized a bit of bar crawl.
Hallia nodded her head, shifting her body to face the Captain a little more. Her chin rested in her hands as the story unfolded.
Yellir: And? How was it? Did you run the replicator’s dry?
MacKenzie: It was a night of too much alcohol, awful karaoke, nearly getting pummeled by a gang of drunk soccer hooligans, and Captain Rahman nearly ready to hand it to Captain Teller and Commander Ukinix for disorderly conduct…
Hallia’s eyesight dropped to the bar’s countertop for a moment as if to catch her breath. While knowing very few of the mentioned people, the idea of making a CO that angry sounded like a death sentence. Especially to someone like her who often kept her head down.
Yellir: How’d you get out of it? I imagine your CO was inches from popping you all in the brig for a few weeks.
There was a dismissiveness to Addison’s eyeroll.
MacKenzie: Well, I suppose that’s the trick – knowing just where the line is, and knowing how not to catch the attention of your CO for the wrong reasons.
Yellir: ::slowly nodding:: Good to know, good to know. Although I couldn’t imagine it’s easy to hide a bender like that from a CO.
Addison picked up her mug and took another swig.
MacKenzie: What about you? Anything interesting during prior shore leaves? ::she paused, recalling how many of them they’d been on together:: …that’s outside the statue of limitations?
As if biting down on a sour grape, Hallia’s face cringed slightly. She wanted to pick her next few anecdotes very carefully.
Yellir: Well, with respect to the people we’ve worked with, I think this crew was a bit of a bad influence on me. I was a fairly good noodle before working with you lot.
MacKenzie: Response?
Hallia chuckled as she sipped away at her drink. Other than the ones she was certain the Commander had no doubt heard from the grapevine, the Yelikan’s mind was cast further back. Back to a very early point in her career— somewhere that seemed like no more than a stopping point for her.
Yellir: Okay— maybe I have one story I can tell you. Not as impressive as a bar crawl in the Shoals. But when I briefly worked on Duronis II’s medical staff, there was a concert that a few of us got invited to. I think it was… KnotSlip or something? I can’t remember, I mostly just went because I thought it would be a lot of fun. I think they’re an Earth group.
MacKenzie: Response?
Yellir: We went, of course it was a good time, but they had this thing… I…I think it was a mosh pit or something? None of us were from Earth and we didn’t really know what it was for, but it looked like fun at the time, so we all went in there.
Hallia made a very dismissive shrug at her decision, distinctly remembering having her ears blown out throughout the entire performance
MacKenzie: Response?
Yellir: Well, less than ten minutes go by, a Nausicaan fellow I worked with bumped into this Proxcinian, covered in this big necklace of glowsticks, face full of stickers the band was handing out— and this Nausicaan gets absolutely folded like cheap laundry, lands face-first into a table. Next thing I know, me and a Petty Officer are giving him stitches while the band keeps playing cause he’s bleeding from his head. Neither of us were in the right mind because we may or may not have been incredibly intoxicated.
MacKenzie: Response?
A very reluctant chuckle flowed from her in the midst of taking another sip.
Yellir: Oh don’t get me wrong, we did an awful job at the sutures, but he recovered pretty fine— probably just a very bruised ego from the incident. There might have been an infection, but that's what happens when you get stitches on a concert floor and your doctors took something a Laudean in a coat offered them.
MacKenzie: Response?
TAG/TBC
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Lieutenant Hallia Yellir
Chief Engineer
USS Artemis-A
G239409EK0