Lt. Commander Ayiana Sevo - Calm Vacation
Aaron Schimmel
(( Cochtois Lagoon, Deluvia IV ))
Xanti enjoyed beaches; not for the water - Pahkwa-Thanhs were not well adapted to water - but the environment. The environment was rather cool with the ocean breeze, but when the sun beat down on the sand, it reflected onto him warm enough to satisfy his gigantothermic biology. So he tended to lay on the sand without a towel or anything beneath him. The downside was that the sand. Got. Everywhere. Between his scales, in his claw sheaths, and his eyes.
Every once in a while, Xanti would get up and run along the shore, several kilometers an hour, to release pent-up energy. He had found that younglings often raced alongside him, eventually giving up as they could not keep pace.
One such youngling was M’Rish, the niece of Lt. JG L’rann. The young Caitian kitten had taken a liking to the giant Pahkwa-thanh. Xanti sometimes found him babysitting M’Rish, and the three of them often enjoyed vacations together.
Except she wasn’t so young anymore. L’rann had adopted M’Rish after her sister could no longer take care of her. At the time, the girl was around 7 or 8 years old, stunted from negligence and malnutrition, and horribly undereducated. It had been years since then, and with a lot of love, care, and education, M’Rish was entering her teenage years in the best health she’d ever been in. But she still loved playing with Xanti. Right now, M’Rish was laying against Xanti’s torso - herself on a towel, as the sand was a bit too hot for her - reading a PADD. L’rann was nearby, basking in the sun on a chair; sunglasses over her eyes, and happily snoozing.
Liss: What are you reading? Schoolwork?
M’Rish let out a huff.
M’Rish: Heck no! I’m on vacation! It's a very old book.
Liss: What is it about?
M’Rish: This human manages to de-extinct creatures from Earth and decides to build a theme park to put them in. The creatures are described a lot like you.
Xanti chuckled. He knew what she was reading, and it was a strange quirk of parallel evolution that Pahkwa-thanhs resembled some theropod dinosaurs of ancient Earth.
Liss: How far are you?
M’Rish: Just in the beginning. The scientists and this math guy just arrived at the park to examine it before it opens. They just saw their first “din-oh-sores.” Giant ones with really long necks. They sound cool. I wonder what’s going to happen?
Liss: I’m sure everything will go fine. ::He chuckled.::
M’Rish: Maybe. It wouldn't be much of a book if “everything went fine.”
She returned to reading her PADD. Xanti mused that she was certainly a sharp one. Wait until she sees the movies.
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PO3 Xanti Ilas Ysa Liss (PNPC)
Engineering Technician
U.S.S. Gorkon
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simmed by
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Lt. Commander Ayiana Sevo
Mission Specialist
U.S.S. Gorkon
V239109AS0
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