JP: Cmdr. DeVeau & Lt. Cmdr. Fairhug - A Friendly Call pt. 1

[griz86]

((Alora’s Apartment, Denali Station < - > Fairhug’s Quarters, Starbase 118 Ops))

Alora sat in front of the console, her shadowy reflection staring back at her. So much had happened and so quickly, she found it rather dizzying. Even though she hadn’t expected it, Captain Oddas had requested that she take up the position of second officer, and with that, she and Gogi had officially switched places. His role was First Officer, the very position she held before Starfleet said it was time for a change.

And more changes would happen. They were already happening. Her body was stretching, her belly growing as the little one inside her grew. Alora didn’t know her baby’s gender, and wouldn’t until the child was born. In the universe, there were so few good surprises left, she wanted to claim this one.  

But not everyone knew. Gogi didn’t. Her crewmates didn’t, at least, hadn’t until it became obvious that she was. Although nowhere near full time, there was no longer any hiding that fact with her clothing, not that she had really tried. She didn’t mind showing. It meant it was real, the baby was real, and in a few months, she would hold her child in her arms. 

She hadn’t told Gogi. Only recently had she told her family, who had so many questions, they rivaled if not outright surpassed the questions they’d had after she had returned home. She didn’t explain much, couldn’t really, not without violating some classified information. She would see them at Christmas, and by that time, she’d be far enough along they could feel the child move.  

She felt the baby herself now, little fluttery movements, like a butterfly inside her. It was beautiful, and sometimes she just lay there, eyes closed, allowing herself to just enjoy it. She hadn’t told others, though. Raymond…well, he knew, but he’d been informed recently. Kestra…she didn’t. Nor Raisa. Nor Gogi, who was the person she sought out at that moment. With the end of the Invitational, she had more time and she wanted to see how he was doing. Hopefully, he was able to settle back in, and in a way, it was kind of picking up where he had left off. She still felt some disappointment that the two of them were simply passing ships, but they would simply continue to keep in touch over coms, as they had done since they first connected on Ops. When the connection finally established, his pleasant expression greeted her, and she returned his with a small smile. 

DeVeau: =/\=Hey Gogi.=/\=

Meanwhile, Gogi had been settling in, or settling *back* in, as the case may be, on Starbase 118.

It was a strange feeling, being back. In some ways, it felt like a lifetime ago that he had last served on the base, while in others, it felt like no time had passed at all.

The circumstances surrounding his transfer from Denali had meant that the whole thing had been a bit of a whirlwind, as he was recovering from a pretty large dose of radiation poisoning from coming almost into physical contact with a Bajoran orb of the prophets.

Still, whether it was a hallucination or not, while he had been laying on a biobed in the Eagle’s sickbay, he had experienced a vision of his father that had brought him some peace, for the first time in a long time.

Having arrived at Starbase 118, he was then whisked off to a planet called Sannin VII, to join the crew of Ops on a diplomatic mission, one in which he had immediately had to take charge of the Narendra while Sal and a team of officers were on the surface.

Now, back at the base and with things seeming to straighten out, he was able to get his feet under the desk, both figuratively and literally.

Sat behind the literal desk in his office, the Bardeezan found himself with a bit of downtime and had received an incoming transmission from someone he had been meaning to call, himself - Alora.

After the bizarre dream he had experienced a couple of nights ago, he had wanted to speak to Alora, as he couldn’t shake the feeling that the dream was trying to tell him something. Maybe it was even some kind of residual experience from the orb, similar to the vision of his father.

Either way, hopefully he would get some answers now. Hopefully, it had just been a dream. A very vivid, specific dream.

As the dark-haired, green-eyed woman’s image appeared on his screen, he couldn’t help but smile warmly in greeting.

Fairhug: =/\= Alora, it’s good to see you. To what do I owe the pleasure? =/\=

DeVeau: =/\=I just wanted to check in and see how you were doing. =/\=

And how Ops was doing. She knew Sal and Gogi were fantastic leaders, and had no doubt the base was in good hands. 

Fairhug: =/\= I’m well. Thank you. =/\=

DeVeau: =/\=Everything going all right?=/\=

Fairhug: =/\= No complaints at the moment - either *from* me, or *about* me. I feel like I’m starting to get back into my stride. =/\=

Alora understood that. Even though she hadn’t transferred to become First Officer, she had struggled to find her feet and her rhythm. Having to transfer on top of that certainly made it more difficult. His transfer had come on the heels of his own, and they were passing ships. Perhaps Starfleet wanted Gogi to have more experience, though he had been First Officer prior. Perhaps they preferred him in that position. She didn’t know, but that was the way of things sometimes. 

DeVeau: =/\=I’m glad to hear it.=/\=

Fairhug: =/\= How are things on Denali? How did the Invitational go? =/\=

Although he was pleased to be back on Starbase 118, Gogi had to admit that he was slightly disappointed to have missed out on the Denali Invitational. From what he had heard, it had been an incredibly entertaining event, although not without its security issues and as the former Chief of Security for Denali, he couldn’t help but wonder how he would have dealt with those challenges.

DeVeau: =/\=It went well. We managed to stop some crazy Cardassian from getting a bunch of people addicted to his food. He’s still detained and being interrogated, so we’re still uncertain of motive beyond profit but…=/\=

But Alora wasn’t sure that was all it was. Some of the things Mr. Fox had said didn’t sit well with her, but he had yet to ‘crack’.  

The Bardeezan’s fiery red eyebrows raised at that. Just when you thought you had heard everything as a Starfleet officer…

Fairhug: =/\= I hear the Ensign’s Joyride put in a good showing. =/\=

He leaned back slightly in his chair and took a sip from a cup of gunpowder tea that he had replicated before he had sat down.

Alora chuckled softly. Although she had rooted for Oddas, she had also rooted for Ensign’s Joyride, since she still had many ties to Ops. Madison had been there, but alas, they too were ships passing in the night. 

DeVeau: =/\=They did an excellent job! I’m sorry I didn’t have a chance to see Madison, but our schedules just didn’t align.=/\=

She had Mr. Fox to thank for that, truthfully.  

DeVeau: =/\=What about Ops? Is everything all right? Has Sal allowed himself to recover? =/\=

Her former CO had a bad habit of not taking care of himself, and not communicating his needs. Alora still worried about him, but hopefully Gogi would make sure all was well with the Commodore of Ops. 

Gogi was also well aware of Sal’s tendency to look after pretty much everyone, but himself. However, maybe it was because they had recently managed to (hopefully) shut down Terra Prime for good, but the Betazoid Commodore had an air of someone who was very much at ease with everything, right now. As about at ease as the Commodore of a Starbase could be, anyway.

Fairhug: =/\= Sal seems pretty relaxed at the moment, actually. Although he had a pretty rough experience down on Sannin VII. The crew was involved in a body-swap incident. =/\=

DeVeau: =/\=Really? That…sounds weird. I would have hated to be in someone else’s body. I’m glad you’re back to normal.=/\=

She paused and eyed him closely.

DeVeau: =/\=You are back to normal, right?=/\=

Gogi let out a snort through his nose in amusement and shook his head as he swallowed another mouthful of tea.

Fairhug: =/\= Luckily, I was not one of the crew members involved in the body-swap. I was up on the Narendra dealing with a bunch of unauthorised shuttle racers who were causing havoc in the system. =/\=

DeVeau: =/\= Wow, racing’s really become a thing, hasn’t it?=/\=

Fairhug: =/\= I think they may have actually been practicing for the Denali Invitational…but I doubt any of them made it there. Let’s just say the whole thing didn’t end well for any of them. =/\=

Alora could guess. Hopefully they hadn’t gotten themselves killed and just were thrown into a brig, but she was almost afraid to ask more.  

DeVeau: =/\= Well, sounds like you’ve certainly had an adventure. Anything else occur?=/\=

Fairhug: ::leaning forward, with one elbow resting on the desk:: =/\= Actually, there was something I wanted to ask you about…=/\=

He let the statement hang for a moment, attempting to gauge Alora’s reaction, to see if she had any idea what he might be getting at.

There was little to react to, but the curiosity at his statement certainly washed over her expression, and a single eyebrow arched upward with such pinpointed motion that even Garev likely would have been impressed.  

DeVeau: =/\= Sure, what is it?=/\=

Fairhug; =/\= Well, a couple of nights back, I had a very strange dream…and you were in it. =/\=

Then again, she probably should have known that was coming. Dreamwalking didn’t always happen, but when it did, it certainly made for an interesting conversation. The curiosity gave way to more sheepishness and she reached up and rubbed the back of her head.  

DeVeau: =/\=Ah. Yeah. About that…=/\=

The Commander’s reaction, as well as her words, was telling. Evidently Gogi was onto something.

Fairhug: =/\= Then you know what I’m referring to? =/\=

He framed it as a question, because he still wasn't sure how it was possible for two people to have shared the same dream.

Sometimes people didn’t remember it. Either that, or they didn’t bring it up. Since Alora had vivid dreams often, she also couldn’t always tell if it was a real dreamwalk or just a regular dream. Finding friends and even barely acquaintances in the stories her unconscious mind dreamed up were not unusual for her. 

DeVeau: =/\=I thought it might be a dreamwalk, and since you’re asking about it, you just confirmed it.=/\=

TBC

********************

Lieutenant Commander Gogigobo Fairhug 

First Officer

Starbase 118 Ops

E239411GF0

&

Commander Alora DeVeau

Mission Specialist &

Second Officer

Denali Station

al...@blar.net

M239008AD0