Mom, can I borrow the car...for two weeks?

[Nijil tr'Korjata 0]

Mom, can I borrow the car...for two weeks?

A joint log of Chirakis Kirel and Nijil tr’Korjata

 

A door. No...the door. The same metallic gray as any of the hundreds of doors throughout Aegis, but this was the Captain’s door. The balance of power in this sector and even people’s very lives decided mere meters away. Or, perhaps of greater importance, today’s brew of replicated coffee.

 

Outside the door, Operations continued as it always did: every chair filled, every conversation a murmur. She, Lt. Kital, was nowhere to be found, having gone off duty hours ago. Asking the Captain for this favor could prove to be difficult on its own and Niji did not want any suspicion from Jylliene.

 

“Am I early?” Nijil thought to himself. He peered at the chrono atop the main viewscreen. Five minutes left. He hated waiting. Arrive on time next time and save some trouble. However this did give him some time to mentally run through just how to ask permission. “So...er, mom, can I borrow the car and take my girlfriend around the galaxy. I fixed it up real nice, even detailed.” Wait, how old is he? Nijil never did this on ch’Rihan. Just present the engineering reasons and drop the visit to Trill when she asks where. No problem. Nothing wrong with going to Trill. Yeah, that would so not...the door hissed open.

 

Before him stood Captain Chirakis. She looked exactly like her file photo: imposing, in control, and ready to say “no.” In fact, a negative outcome is what he expected. The navigational deflector was newly installed and it would need calibration, but, and this is a big one, not at warp all the way to Trill. Once he asked to take Jylliene along she would surmise the trip was not all business. Permission is one hurdle after another. “Centurion,” she said evenly, “no need to stand outside.”

 

She waved Nijil in, pointing him into a high-backed chair as she returned to her own. Behind her hung an impressive display of weapons, some familiar, some not, all casting an ominous reflection in the ambient light. Along the opposite wall the main tactical display shifted colour from green to yellow and back as traffic moved throughout Aegis’ sector.

 

Leaning away from the organized chaos of notes, diagrams, charts, and padds before her, the captain rested her hands in her lap and regarded him with a measure of amusement at his uneasiness and slipped comfortably into Rihan. “How may I help you, Centurion?”

 

“First off the repairs to the Nei’rrh are nearly complete,” Nijil started with no latency. “Like any complex ship system they need to be tested and tuned. Components have their own personality if you will. So I need to take the shuttle out on a cruise.” His eyes widened at the thought.

 

She nodded.

 

“I would run her hot and adjust the deflection as I go, but...” His last word hung in the air like a fog. This was the point where the request sounded simple enough and there’d be no reason to deny it. He moved past that hump. “But, I would request to take Lieutenant Kital. Her training on flight operations aboard a Romulan vessel are ongoing.” So, taking her along should not be too much to ask, but this was not the real problem area. He looked down at her desk before continuing with the next part. “I would request a two week voyage, round trip.” Nijil then looked her directly in the eye.

 

Captain Chirakis’ eyes scrutinized his every move during the next few minutes of silence. She seemed to be weighing each word, or maybe every syllable he had spoken, "A two week cruise..." she mused, drawing the word out and dwelling on it for some time, "...for the shakedown of a shuttle seems quite excessive, Centurion. Does that specification come from SubCommander Jorahl... or from you?"

 

He pondered a choice of equal minutes of silence, but decided against it. “I have not spoken to the SubCommander on this matter. In fact he has, to date, given me a high level of autonomy regarding the smaller craft maintenance. The Nei’rrh is a class of craft that poses unique repair challenges, ones the Federation would not design into their vessels. Few craft her size can achieve warp 9, but it comes at a price.” Nijil himself was not convinced. Even with its compressed repair schedule, calibration of the deflector would only take some hours. Perhaps, the engineer thought, he was asking the wrong way.

 

“Captain,” he started anew, “Captain Chirakis, I’ll just level with you, because otherwise even I will forget what I’m asking.” He paused, then swallowed. “The two week cruise includes a visit to Trill, Lieutenant Kital’s homeworld. Due to our closeness and my Rihan heritage I’ve inadvertently created a rift between her and her mother. I wish to fix this, plus she simply has not been home in sometime. That said, the deflector and all systems would be calibrated enroute, piloting lessons taught, and anything else of benefit to Aegis.”

 

Well that felt no better. How about you invite the Captain and then you three can play games and tell stories....

 

Silence greeted the room again, but Nijil cut it short. “If the request is too long or the Lieutenant's relationship with myself demonstrates a far too personal reason for this cruise your denial will be understood.” Now he let the air clear and the silent pondering of the Captain begin.

 

One minute turned into two. Two turned into five. Still she sat, relaxed in her chair, passively regarding him until one brow rose slightly and she asked, “Is there anything else I should know?”

 

Nijil glanced at the weapons behind her, then took a deep breath. “Well, none that I can recall at the moment.” He felt like he had dug a hole that would soon send him through the deck plating. It felt good to just tell it like it is, but the regret was not far behind. “Is there something you’d like to know?”

 

“Yes, there is,” she began, leaning forward to rest her elbows on the desk. “Have you cleared your cruise with SubCommander Jorahl, and is he aware of your progress and your intentions concerning Nei’rrh?”

 

“He does not at the moment,” he answered. A flaw in his request emerged. He could not very well jump willy-nilly in the chain of command and expect to start this adventure. Pleading his case to the SubCommander should have been his first move. However, this may be his first stop. “I will need to go over this with SubCommander Jorahl.”

 

“Indeed,” she said, pulling a PADD forward for notes. “You will file a detailed flight plan that will include the projected times and coordinates for Nei’rrh’s systems tests. You will keep a detailed log on systems analysis and future reconfigurations or repairs, if needed. And,” she looked up from her notes, “you will, of course, have to consult with Lieutenant Kital.” She let that phrase hang a moment. “She will need a replacement. Assuming, of course, that SubCommander Jorahl releases you for that period of time.”

 

Internally Nijil beamed, externally he looked the same mildly scared engineer. “Very well. I will do those things you ask.” He thought about items he’d leave behind while on this trip. One popped in his head he felt bad about nearly forgetting. “One more thing. Have you heard anything from the Rihan orphan Annisha?”

 

The captain raised a brow. “Centurion tr’Korjata, those are not requests.” Again the silence. “And no, I have not heard anything from her. Should I have? Is there cause for concern?”

 

“She seemed emphatic about writing back to me once she got settled. I’ve sent a short message, but it was bounced back. Perhaps she’s just excited to be at her new home. I know I would be.” A feeling of disappointment fell over him, but not surprise. Annisha just needed more time.

 

“Perhaps,” the captain replied. “A period of adjustment is needed with any move.”

 

“Well, I am grateful for your time. I’m sure you have more pressing matters.” He smiled as best he could.

 

“Inform me if you do hear from her. It is important for station records.”

 

Nijil nodded. “Yes Captain.”