Just One Or Two...Or Three

Posted on Tue Oct 8th, 2019 @ 6:47am by Lieutenant Cyrin Xanth & Lieutenant Commander Yarinna "Fanthom" Hawkins

Mission: Onboarding & Departure
Location: CAG Office
Timeline: Transit to the Delta Quadrant

Cyrin was going stir-crazy ever since he'd locked down controls to the helm and they'd entered the weird other-space where impossible speeds he'd been taught were actually that - impossible - could happen. It was messing with him, going so fast should make him excited, right? Not having any control though was enough for him to be feeling out sorts, right? Cyrin had learned a cure for such questions, and he'd brought it with him on a surprise visit to Yarinna's office. He tapped the door control and chime, made sure what he carried was well hidden under the cloth, both hands went behind his back to hold it there, and waited.

Yarinna was just finishing her report on the scout ship and her fighter. "Enter", she said, half looking to see who it was.

"You know there has to be a pilot at the helm at all times, of course," Cyrin started without any kind of greeting as he walked in, hands still behind his back. "Starfleet regulations. Even when there is quite literally nothing any pilot could do if we get in trouble right now." The young Trill was definitely ill-suited for boredom.

"Well I guess he is going to be bored even while he is staring into the view screen", Yarinna retorted laughing. "What brings you down to my alcove? Have you come to pick my brains?", she said laughing.

"Hopefully not, at least not this time." Cyrin revealed the cloth-covered bundle from behind his back with a flourish. "I just finished a shift of staring at said view screen and want nothing more to do with work for at least a few hours. Lieutenant Russian, bless him, let me keep this..." Cyrin lifted the cloth and revealed a tall glass bottle, filled with a pale blue liquid. Romulan ale.

"Oh my god! Is that what I think it is?", she said, not even waiting for an answer. Opening her drawer she pulled out two glasses, "Well you gonna stand there or you gonna sit and uncork that bottle?", Yarinna said smiling.

For an answer he walked over to the desk, a grin of his own, and pulled the cork. Then he handed the bottle over to Yarinna for her approval, "Please, be my guest if it's been a while." Cyrin took the seat and would definitely let her savor it if she liked. "I figured a small toast might be in order. Do you realize that we are among just a handful of pilots to have ever reached these speeds?"

"Yes and it is the first time I have exceeded the warp 9 barrier so yes we are a few of the priviledged ones", Yarina said and shoved her glass to Cyrin to pour her the ale. Yarinna was facinated by her bosses light humor and his jocular attitude. She knew they would work well together as time went on.

He poured out a measure of the potent beverage for the both of them and re-corked the bottle. "Here's to that then, and the fact we didn't tear ourselves to pieces to do it." Cyrin lifted his glass to her's with a clink before downing half of the blue liquid. It burned all the way down to the pit of his stomach, made the symbiont shift around. He let out a sigh, and some of the enthusiasm seemed to drain out of him as leaned back in his chair. "So, now that we got some free time and aren't scrambling to get ready at the last minute, I'd like to get to know you better, Yarinna. I haven't even gotten a chance to read your file yet, so the sky's the limit."

"Well, let's see, my husband, Cmdr. Paul "Ghost" Hawkins was KIA 10 years ago during a dog fight with Orion pirates. We were out numbered and out gunned. He got shot out of the sky as we were fighting these pirates and I almost lost my own life in that. It was a miserable loss for us but they lost a lot of ships. Grew up on Miramar AirForce Base in California. Both my mother and father are pilots in the Air Command and I, of course followed in their footsteps. Learned to fly dad's Gryphon at the age of 13 and took it out for a joy ride two years later", she said laughing. Stopping long enough to down her ale and then continuing. "Anyway, when I got back I ended up getting grounded for about a year. However, even with that done, I ended up flight leader of Red Squadron in the Academy the second year I was in the Academy. That says a lot about my Academy years. After graduation I got assigned to the USS Magellan as Wing Leader and thats where I met my dead husband. The Magellan was a great ship. She was my home for 20 years. i have both goodcand bad memories from that ship. The majority of them good. After the death of Paul, I got promoted to CAG and for the last ten years on the ship was spent fighting battle after battle u til the Magellan was damaged badly and decomissioned. I been through a lot Xanth and it has been rough to stay ontop of my emotions", Yarinna said finishing her glass of ale. "I need a refill", she said, pushing her glass towards Xanth.

Cyrin had listened quietly, sipped his drink, and not made a sound as Yarinna spoke to him about her life. Finding out she had been the cadet commander of Red Squad made his eyebrows rise though. Every cadet knew about Red Squadron, and the reputation for skill and sheer bravery they had. Cyrin hadn't even tried out for them, stayed in his own cadet squadron at the Academy, knowing these were pilots beyond what he would ever be, so he was thoroughly impressed. The loss of a loved one was a pain neither young man nor the young symbiont had experienced yet, but he imagined how painful that must have been and likely didn't even come close. Loss had never been a part of his life and he couldn't understand how talking about Paul must make her feel, or leaving the Magellan.

Still quiet for a moment, Cyrin reached for the bottle and poured them both out another measure of the blue liquor. When he held his glass in a hand near his face, leaned back in the chair again, his grey eyes seemed now almost blue like the drink. "Why did you keep on flying?" Cyrin asked gently, both curious and impressed as he studied her. "I bet a lot of people would have left the Fleet, going through what you did."

"I love flying free in the heavens. I guess the idea of a desk doesn't sit well with me. Dad ended up behind a desk when he stopped flying and I have no intention of being stuck behind one", Yarinna said smiling. "Flying allows me to let my mind go free and explore my feelings and besides it allows me to hone my skills flying", she added.

"I definitely understand that sentiment," Cyrin leaned forward to clink their glasses together and give Yarinna a wink before he took another sip. There was something so freeing about being a pilot, whether sitting at the helm of a fighter or a cruiser. That kind of power at one's fingertips was addictive. Still, Cyrin felt that nagging doubt in the back of his mind if this was truly the path for him. "What made you want to take an assignment all the way out here, away from home?"

"Believe it or not, the stars are my home. I grew up in the stars hence my home being in the heavens", Yarinna said chuckling finishing the ale and pouring another. Yarinna was determined to get wasted but not busted either.

"Ah, a boomer, huh?" Cyrin chuckled. He'd picked up that word from the humans on Earth: born and lived in space almost all of their lives. He watched Yarinna pour another, and his eyes widened a bit. Romulan Ale was potent, especially this batch he'd gotten his hands on. Well...he leaned forward and offered his glass for a refill as well. "I can't say that, lived most of my life with boots on the ground." Cyrin sipped and let the sharpness of the drink fill him with a contended sigh. "So, what do you do with your off time?" Cyrin asked, trying to be casual.

"In my off time? Well I usually either spend rime in the simulator or I hit the holodeck for some horseback riding or swimming. Sometimes I go hiking or climbing", Yarinna said. Finishong her ale, she poured a final glass as now she was feeling a slight buzz.

She was definitely going to drink him under the table. Cyrin enjoyed the illegal brew quite a bit, but he had to pace himself. Already he had felt the corners of his mouth moving upwards on their own, the sudden slowness that hit his brains. His last one was going to take a while, and then he should probably go straight to his quarters to liedown. "Climbing?" That would have made him smile any day, and he leaned forward towards her all excited. Rock climbing was one of his favourite sports. "Me too! Have you done Cataria Cliffs, on Betazed?"

"Not yet, I haven't. However, I am going to do it as soon as I can get a pass home. Unless I do it in the holodeck......wait.......care to join me?", she suddenly asked.

"I'd love to, Yarinna," Cyrin flashed another of his big smiles her way, then tossed back a bit more of his drink. Almost done. "But trust me, if we get back home you have to do the real thing. The smell of the jungle, the warmth of the air...no holodeck can get that right." She had definitely hit on something near and dear to the Trill's heart. He was just thinking about how comfortable this was too. "I don't get horses though," he said, a bit teasingly so she'd know he was joking. "Why trust to a slow animal when you're a pilot? We go much faster."

"Hey, we could go horseback riding too. I haven't done that in ages", Yarina said excitedly.

This time he pulled a face, "I think I'll take a pass, if you don't mind!" Cyrin chuckled. "We don't get along." Really, he was just terrified of the beasts, along with any other one humanoids rode. He liked a form of transportation that did exactly as he told it to. He finished off his drink finally, felt the dizziness set in. "Okay, I'm gonna leave the rest of that-" he pointed at the bottle of Romulan Ale "-with you."

Cyrin stood, swayed a little bit, laughed, "Yep, right back to my quarters, so Lieutenant Russian doesn't see. Here's to not dying from the catapult!"

Yarina stood, swayed a tad as her head spun, "Yes I think so too, Here"s to a good bottle of Romulan Ale and friends and a hell of a ride and live", she said laughing. "Now where do I crash?"

"Hopefully: nowhere," Cyrin thought himself quite funny with that answer as he made his way to the door. Okay, hopefully he'd remember later when he brought out the rest of the case of the Romulan Ale to caution people this was a particular strong batch. Cyrin looked her way, smiled again, and shrugged, "See you later, Yarinna." Then he made an unsteady way out the door.