My Dream Girl

Posted on Wed Jun 24th, 2020 @ 2:59am by Captain Nycolas Temple & Lieutenant Ziara Rrareth & Sasha Vieers (Deceased)
Edited on on Fri Jul 10th, 2020 @ 5:43pm

Mission: Death in Paradise

Ziara purred gently as she cuddled with Riaan in the bunk that they shared on Dream Girl, Ziara's custom racing runabout. Her hands wandered on Riaan's back, gently massaging the sleeping Cardassian-Bajoran hybrid. "It's time to wake up." She whispered gently to Riaan.

"I don't want to wake up. I want to stay here with you." Riaan complained as she shifted slightly so Ziara could escape.

"Well, I've got to wake up and land the shuttle on the Pandora." Ziara said as she pulled herself regretfully away from her Wife.

"Fine." Riaan said, sitting up.

Ziara slipped to the front of the runabout. Like most runabouts, it had two chairs, but they were arranged in a front and back rather then the usual side by side configuration. The back seat was raised slightly so they could see over the person in the front and the windows were designed for excellent visibility for both of them. While the whole shuttle could be ran from either seat, the front one was perfectly suited to Ziara's body. She had spent a long time working out exactly what the perfect layout was. It included both a throttle and a joystick with lots of buttons that allowed Ziara to control the whole ship without her hands leaving the controls. Ziara slipped in and reflexively fastened the five point harness that would hold her in.

Riaan stepped to the rear seat more slowly. She knew Ziara didn't need her, although she manned the sensors and made sure the engines were running properly. She wasn't an engineer, but she had picked up the basics. Ziara had made a small area just to the side so she could run a small experiment or look at and manipulate data in comfort from the back seat. It wasn't the same as having a whole lab, but the touch made her smile.

The Dream Girl dropped out of warp near the Pandora. "This is MV Dream Girl to USS Pandora. Requesting permission to land." Riaan called out, when there were two of them, Riaan acted as the comms officer even though Ziara could do it from her seat. It was so that in a tense situation, she could focus on piloting while the backseater handled the other things.

Ensign Vieers was on Bridge watch when the shuttle approached, though her mind was clearly elsewhere. It took her a moment, and a prompting from another officer to finally respond. "Oh!" She cried, her hands quickly tapping on her screen. "Dream Girl... Dream Girl... I don't have anything." She pressed the Comms channel, "Pandora to Dream Girl, please send your authorisation codes."

"Belay that order." Nyx commanded as he walked onto the Bridge from his Ready Room. "Apologies, Ensign, the Dream Girl's arrival is a... special favour. I've approved their authorisation."

The Ensign curled up her Trill nose, not wishing to disagree with the Captain but knowing there were protocols to follow. Finally she replied, "As you wish, Captain." She turned back to her console and started entering the docking procedure into the computer. Several decks below, the Shuttle Bay prepared for the imminent arrival.

The Captain pressed the Comms button on his chair as he sat down, "Pandora to Dream Girl. You have permission to dock." Nyx said with a smile.

The Dream Girl curved gracefully inwards and gently landing in the shuttlebay a few minutes later. For a brief moment, Ziara forgot that this wasn't going to be her hanger. She was sad for a moment and then realized she should probably talk to the one who was going to be in charge. For the moment she found a landing pad tucked away in the back to settle on to.

On the Bridge, Nyx nodded to Ensign Vieers, "Send a message that I'm ready to meet our new arrivals in my Ready Room."

The Ensign gave a curt nod, still confused but not wishing to question, "Very well, sir. My watch shift is ending soon, sir. Would you like me to assist Lieutenant Smith?"

"Yes." Nyx replied, barely breaking stride as he exited the Bridge.

A few moments later there was a chime, and when he acknowledged them a short black and white Caitian in a security uniform who was followed by a tall Bajoran-Cardassian hybrid in a science uniform stepped into the ready room. They both wore Bajoran earrings. "Lieutenant Ziara Rrareth reporting for duty captain. Thanks for the assist with the shuttle. I can't wait to surprise them." The Catian said with without an accent on her translated voice that many Caitians had. Without already knowing she was female, one might not realize that fact. Her hair was cut short, and her chest while ample in her official photo was much more subdued to the point of being nonexistent if you didn't know what you were looking for.

"Lieutenant Juinor Grade Riaan Rrareth reporting for duty, and thank you." The Hybrid said softly, just loud enough to carry clearly to the captain. She seemed more comfortable letting her wife do the talking for them.

Nyx greeted the two with a firm nod, as he indicated to the two chairs in front of his desk. Taking his own seat, Nyx leaned back and clasped his hands together, "I'm looking forward to springing this surprise on Griffin and Brennan. We could use a bit of boost to our spirits."

Ziara smiled as the two of them sat. "Their so cute with each other and Aoife is precious. If my kids are half as adorable, I figure I'll be doing well." Ziara gushed. Riaan nodded quietly in agreement. Although she wasn't smiling, she was happy.

"They start off adorable," Nyx replied with a knowing tone, "It's charade, I'm telling you." He laughed to himself and then tapped away on his console, "We're going to need to figure out how to manage this surprise. It seems we may still be several days before we leave Paradise."

"We told them we would be attending the wedding via the holodeck. So just until then, depending on how distracted they are with the planning, settling into our quarters and perhaps getting a look at the weapon banks and the labs."

"We won't be able to hide it from Cailus for very long. The man has the nose of a hound. " Nyx replied with a shrug. "I've put your arrival and identity on highest security, only myself and Commander Nash will know. It may mean staying in the Guest Quarters for a few days."

Ziara nodded, "That's fine. We'll be quiet and keep things on to down low so that he won't notice. Part of the reason Starfleet is sending a tactical officer is so that he can focus more on the security aspect. That and the rising tensions. I've been reading the files and getting through the backlock but I'd like to hear what's happening from a on the ground perspective."

Nyx nodded, "We originally came to this station, locally named Paradise Outpost, to investigate possible links to the Alrakis Pact. However, after a night of shore leave, one of their security guards was found murdered, with evidence suggesting the murder was committed by one of our crew. We've been attempting to investigate everyone who had visited Paradise before station Chief Katya, held all of the Pandora responsible. Unfortunately, today we have discovered that a member of our crew has also been killed on the station, further complicating matters. Griffin is leading the investigation and I believe is narrowing down the suspects, but we still don't have a firm culprit at this time. To make matters worse, it is possible that the person responsible was planning to commit treason and betray the Pandora, with a suggestion of a bomb being planted on Paradise. We've also discovered that the Breen Confederacy have silently infiltrated the Outpost's security personnel and may in fact be in control of the station."

He paused and gave a slight shrug, "So, that's where we're at right now."

Ziara nodded working through the implications, "If things go sideways, we might have to fight the station and/or the Breen. I assume leave's been canceled, so we can leave if we need to." Ziara's mind went first to the attack and escape vectors, but there were other things. "What do we know about the station's load out?" Ziara asked.

"Sensors picked up a series of plasma cannons surrounding the station, with phasers on the top and bottom." Nyx answered, "Their actual capacity is unknown, as Paradise operates with an exclusion zone around the station. Once you're allowed in, they control everything. They won't let us leave until we can give them a person responsible for the murder. Plus, we detected a number of Breen fighters in the area surrounding. I don't doubt they will engage us if given the opportunity."

"Even if this gets cleared up, do you think we'll have problems with them?" Ziara asked.

"Yes." Nyx replied truthfully. "They will be looking for any excuse to attack us. It will give the Breen further reason to remove the Federation from the Inconnu Expanse. That's why we must tread carefully but, should everything go to hell, we need a quick escape plan. I'll have you meet with Lieutenant Boucher as well, he is our Starfighter CO, he can assist with how to defend the ship should it be necessary."

Ziara grinned, "Aye sir, I flew in a Starfighter squadron, so I'll coordinate with him."

Nyx gave a small sigh, "I'm afraid my time is short. Is there anything else we need to discuss?"

Ziara shook her head. "I think that's it. Riaan?" She said to her wife who had been quiet the whole time. Riaan took a moment, thoughtfully considering before shaking her head in the negative.

"Very well, I'll let you get to it." Nyx replied with a firm nod. "Let's hope we can pull this surprise off."

OFF