PNPC Lieutenant Sylvie Doucet - But ah! Oh, the summer nights!
Renée Chalfant
(( Brew Continuum, Port Observation Lounge, Deck 10, USS Chin’toka ))
Doucet: So, what do you remember of last year’s Frontier Day?
Dasal: I kind of remember a lot about it, yet also very little. Everyone was talking about it but- also like everyone was vague and just scared. Like I knew about it-who wouldn’t but I got most of my information from other cadets. It sounded bad, a few in the class above me “graduated” early to get people out and helping.
After the drinks came back, Dasal picked up the coffees and nodded for Sylvie to follow him to a spot to sit. He gave her the latte once they found a spot and clumsily got into his seat. He waved off the bump and gave her a thumbs-up, speaking in a low voice.
Dasal: So you stole the ship for that?
Sylvie took a sip of her latte, nodding as she set the cup back down. Her memories came back, swinging first to the search for the changeling onboard the Astraeus and the explosion in the Operations Center there that had hurt so many.
Doucet: I was on the USS Astraeus and we were chasing down the Titan because Starfleet Command thought it had gone rogue. After dealing with some changeling saboteurs, we found out something weird was going on and we went straight to Earth, just in time to see the fireworks starting. Captain Mei’konda felt we needed more firepower to save the day, so Serala, who was a Commander and the First Officer of the Astraeus then, led a team from that ship to the Chin’toka in drydock. I was on that team. It took some bluffing and some forged orders using a fleet admiral’s stolen signature, but we got on the ship with enough people to get going.
Dasal: So like what is the minimum number of people needed to fly a ship like this? That’s insane! Was it hard?
Doucet: ::laughing:: Easier than you’d think to steal a ship, it turns out, so long as we made it look like we convincingly belonged there. Our Chief of Ops on the Astraeus got her hands on a signature and forged last minute urgent transfer orders to get the numbers we needed. I think the total was just over a hundred? I’m not sure. A lot of people are still serving on this ship from that moment. Serala and I are two of them of course. There’s also T’Ama, Is’Kah, Ghee’looth Xiron… Commander Sherlock, Brodie… and of course, our mutual boss here in Sickbay, Doctor Edrei.
Dasal: That’s wicked, I wish I could do something like that. I might not actually be brave enough though… if I’m honest.
She nodded thoughtfully, then took another draught of her latte before answering.
Doucet: If you had asked me before, I would have said the same. It turns out that you’ll only know the answer to that once you’re in the moment. We had orders and Earth was in danger. I thought it was a risky move and honestly patently absurd at the time, but bringing the Chin’toka online and into that battle turned out to be the right move. I think Command realized they couldn’t just try us all for stealing the ship since we were key to saving the day and just ended up going along with it, leaving Captain Serala in command and everything.
Dasal: Response
Doucet: Mmhm! So what do you think of the coffee here?
Dasal: Response
Doucet: It’s good, right? I think we get spoiled by the sameness from the replicator and forget that sometimes making it from scratch is just what we need. Since Sickbay isn’t too far from here, a lot of the staff there come here on our breaks. It’s also pretty popular with the ship as a whole, so you’ll never really anticipate who you’ll run into here.
Dasal: Response
Doucet: Yeah, even Captain Serala will wander in every so often and mingle with the rest of the crew.
Dasal: Response