Lunch Meeting

Posted on Sunday September 22nd, 2019 @ 10:39am by Lieutenant Gypsy Sage & Civilian .

Mission: Oh Where, Oh Where, Has My Everything Gone?
Location: Mess Hall
Timeline: Current

ON:

Having returned from the planet, and leaving the capture and relocation of the infestation to those of the crew who handled those things, which was definitely not the archaeologist, Namira went to the mess hall. Not that her food synthesiser had broken down like many others, but she preferred eating in company.

Once there, and with a plate full of various bite-sized items of finger food usually sufficient to feed three, she approached a table that hosted a woman who certainly stood out on account of her hair colour, and whose arrival Namira had seen announced on the station wide bulletin. Senior crew coming aboard wasn't easy to miss, after all. "Hello, counsellor", she said as she approached. "Would you mind if I joined you?"

Gypsy, who'd been lost in thought, startled a bit. The coffee she had been swallowing missed its mark and went up her nose. She jumped slightly and then coughed. "Oh! Yes. Please have a seat." She had been aboard only an hour and had already met a lot of crew. It was going to be an interesting posting.

Namira put her plate down and took a seat. "I apologise, I did not mean to startle you." She extended her hand across the table. "I'm Namira, and if you spot a bit of dust in my hair that's because I've just come back from the planet below, and they chose a venue in the middle of a desert sand storm for negotiations. I think Mavet is the only one who enjoyed that one."

Gypsy, in all her years on Earth, had never gotten used to handshakes. Her species did not do those but she obliged shaking Namira's hand. "Mavet?" She asked.

"Our Jelly", Namira said. "Cantankerous, pathologically sarcastic public relations officer who finds fault with everything, but you can't help but laugh at what he says." She popped an item of food in her mouth. "And he's... easily excited."

"Sounds like I will have my work cut out for me with him." She sighed. This was a good opportunity. "Tell me more about the crew."

Namira shrugged. "Most of them are misfits of some kind. Why someone decided to place the lot of them together is beyond me. I think our most interesting crewmember is Maerynn, she's a shape shifter. She can become anyone, and tap into their minds to gain understanding as well. It was an eerie experience, but all the same fascinating beyond words."

"I see." With what happened on the shuttle and her way here eerie was what she wanted to avoid. "And the CO?"

"I don't know", Namira said. "He's fairly tight-lipped about personal things. Not that I blame him. Being in charge, he'll have to maintain a certain distance, I suppose. I've had more dealings with the first officer, who apparently doesn't mind being woken up in the middle of the night with recent finds. And for me, as an archaeologist, that's a good thing."

She smiled, "I've always been fond of archeology." She shrugged, "If I hadn't gone into counseling I would have been an archeologist."

"I went into biology first, became an ecologist, but you know how things are. Eventually, you want to try out something else. And digging for lost ages is great fun, most days."

She smiled, "I agree. I have had a chance to observe some digs, it was fun." She studied the woman. "So tell me a bit more about yourself."

"I should make you work for that", Namira smirked. "If I just told you stuff, wouldn't that make it way too easy?"

"Oh no. Easy is the new hard. Telling me would be great." She chuckled.

Namira shrugged. "Well, there's not much to tell. I'm psychologically stable and one hundred per cent sane, except for my CDO, my ADHOLS and that I have to rely on implants to be able to hear anything, anyway."

"I see. Tell me a bit about your CDO? When were you diagnosed?"

"The first time someone had to share lab space with me", Namira grinned. "I think that must have been about a hundred years ago. It's not so bad outside of work."

"Tell me what that was like." She was well aware that she was slipping into counselor mode but it was here job.

Namira laughed. "I have a certain way I like things to be set up. Everything has its place, and gets locked in place so it won't fly around and crush people against the walls if the ground starts shaking. Admittedly, much less of an issue on a station than it can be on ships. Let's just say, I don't care for making certain experiences a second time."

"I agree with you there. I am the same way about having certain things a certain way. Second time?" She ask sipping her drink.

"Getting crushed, it's not fun", Namira said. "But it's mostly because I'll know where everything is without having to look, and for the sake of scientific accuracy in all experiments, proper documentation and so on. If you set up things just so, you'll never have to think about them again."

"You sound like a very interesting person."

"That's kind of you to say", Namira said. "I guess not everything grown in a lab is dull all of the time."

She smiled. "I look forward to getting to know you more." She said. "Now...I do have a question. Have you met the doctor yet?"

Namira shook her head. "Not outside of a general staff meeting, no. I don't get sick, I don't need surgery. I've got no reason to go in and see him professionally."

She sighed, "Drat. I have to go and see him for my check in. This has been quite a couple days, almost eaten, almost stuck in space with oxygen running out, getting away from a needy shuttle and now going to get poked and prodded by a doctor."

"Just be glad you're not worthy of my professional attention", Namira smirked. "It could be worse."

She smiled and tilted her head to the side. "I somehow doubt that."

"You'd have to be dead", Namira explained.

Gypsy smiled. "I very much look forward to getting to know you more. Maybe we could go on a dig together sometime." She stood. "Well I should get the medical over with."

"I'll invite you as soon as I set up the first one", Namira said. "I was looking for minio... er... assistants anyway."

Gypsy chuckled. "Planning world domination?"

Namira shook her head, replying with a seriousness in her voice that belied her true intentions. "No, I'd pick a more appealing planet for that. This one's too industrialised."

She smiled. "Excellent. Well I should go."

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