Getting Kasia

Posted on Tue Jan 15th, 2019 @ 1:49am by Lieutenant Commander Kasia Tinsha & Lieutenant Jaime Mallory & Captain Madeline Sanchez
Edited on on Tue Jan 15th, 2019 @ 2:16am

Mission: The First Step...
Location: A planet several hours away.
Timeline: 2388/08/26 1315 (August 26 2388 1:15pm)

Jaime exited a shuttle and smiled as she saw Maddie walking towards her. "All systems checked, Captain. We're ready to go."

"Good, it'll get me away from that stack of PADD's on my desk for a while." Maddie smiled as she approached the shuttle.

Jaime chuckled, "I see you're appreciating the break, Captain...well, actually that makes two of us," she added thinking about the annoying, yet sizzling hot, Jake Bannerman." Suddenly needing to exhale, Jaime shrugged with one shoulder before asking, "Would you like to take the helm this trip?"

Maddie shook her head, "My days of that kind of thing are over...if it hadn't been for this job, I'd have left Starfleet by now."

"Understood." Jaime replied, her smile leaving. "It's just that I heard you were quite a pilot back in the day. I thought you might have missed it..." she raised an eyebrow, "I guess I was wrong."

"Like I said, those days are over." Maddie replied, her usual bright demeanor losing some of its sparkle as Jaime unwittingly brought up the still sore topic. The Puerto Rican Captain may have started to heal but the reminder of her past career and where it had ultimately led her was something that she still hadn't dealt with properly. Instead it was compartmentalised and hidden where she didn't have to think about it every day.

"Yes, Ma'am." Jaime replied, seeing in Maddie's eyes now that she had somehow messed up. "After you?" she asked with a small smile, politely extending out a hand for Maddie to enter the shuttle before her.

"Thank you." Maddie smiled graciously before heading inside of the shuttle and taking a seat upfront beside the pilot seat. At least this mission would be simple and it wasn't like the training ship issue that Connor had presented her with. She was still dreading that. Even now.


It was four hours later, and the shuttle came in at a forty degree angle of descent as it headed for the outpost on the small Class M densely forested world.

Jaime made a minor course correction and pulled up on the controls to level the shuttle out. "Entering ionosphere," she said. "Hull temperature steady at twenty one hundred degrees. Shields are holding." Spotting the outpost, she made another course correction. "We should be arriving in just under five minutes, Captain. Sending request to land."

"Acknowledged." Maddie replied sleepily as she opened one eye and looked through the viewscreen before yawning and stretching out her arms. The Assistant Dean had opted to rest on the journey and had barely heard Jaime's words as she slumbered in the seat beside her.

~~~

Sweat beaded on Kasia's forehead as she moved through the forested area outside of the research complex. Slapping at a stinging insect that had tried to make a meal of her she followed after the white tipped tail that she could barely make out 50 meters in front of her. Of course Loki had wanted to hunt in the middle of the hottest part of the day. Blasted Sehlat.

=^=Commander Tinsha=^= came a casual voice through her comm. =^=Your ride is here. You have two visitors heading your way.=^=

=/\=Acknowledged. Daring of them to venture out into this heat.=/\= Kasia grinned and then gave a piercing whistle. "Loki, go find our visitors please?"

A long drawn out mmrrawr answered her as the sehlat did an about face and turned to search out the two. Delicately sniffing the air, he mewed and pointed with a paw.

A ways behind her Jaime and Maddie moved through the forest, having been given the general direction Kasia had gone in order to meet up with her. Jaime was eager to stretch her legs and had somehow managed to talk Maddie into it.

"I didn't exactly plan on wading through a forest to find her." Maddie grumbled as she stepped awkwardly on a tree root and stumbled sideways a little, reaching out to steady herself on the trunk of a huge and clearly ancient tree.

"Are you okay?" Jaime asked, reaching out to her. She paused suddenly, sensing something, but unsure of what it was stood straight and looked around.

Loki padded out of the brush and sat on the trail, waiting for the women to notice that he was here. A magnificent tricolor beast whose body was mottled black and gold, the tips of ears, nose, paws and tail were white. He made a chattering noise, so that the ladies would notice him.

"Yeah I'm fine...." Maddie's voice trailed off as she heard the noise and turned to see what had made the noise as she winced and realized that actually she wasn't fine at all because her ankle was sprained. "Is that....?" her voice trailed off as she eyed the creature.

"Oh my gosh...!" Jaime's eyes widened. "That's ahh..that's a Sehlat!" she said in a sotto voice and wondered out loud, "What would one be doing out here...?"

"I don't know but aren't they vicious?" Maddie asked, taking a couple of steps back as she eyed the creature suspiciously.

Sitting again at the tone of her voice and hearing the word vicious Loki shook his head in a very definitive 'no' gesture. Making another of his chittering noises.

"Well...undomesticated ones are..." Jaime replied, having noticed his reaction, "but it's unnatural for a wild one to be off Vulcan..."

Loki wriggled from his eartufts to his tail as if excited. Then rising carefully on fluffy paws he padded up to Jaime and sniffed her. A snort escaped his nostrils and then he glanced over his shoulder.

"Don't let it get near you." Maddie hissed, "It might bite." she backed off further.

"Oh my gosh..." Jaime had whispered at first, not even sure if she should move at Loki's approach, and having placed a hand on Maddie's arm. But then, before he even started sniffing her, she had sensed something.

A woman in science blue emerged from the brush and then carefully removed a leafy branch from her long hair. "Good boy Loki, Thank ye'. Good afternoon ladies! Enjoying the trip?"

An awareness that there was something very special about this Sehlat hit Jaime, Just like... Jaime looked from Loki to the woman, and her mouth dropped a little.

"This thing's yours?" Maddie asked, "Are you even allowed to keep a vicious animal like that?" she added wishing the animal would leave them alone.

"Has he done anything except sniff ye'?" Kasia responded quietly, her eyes flashing and brogue increasing in her irritation. "If he were as vicious as ye' claim, he would nae have warned ye' of his presence, nor would ye' still be standing."

"Yeah well just in case, call him off will you?" Maddie asked, looking more than stern.

Kasia laughed a little and then shaking her head she spoke quietly. "Enough trickster. Are you ready to go?"

Loki looked at her, the forest and then back to her. He nodded once a slow but solid 'yes'.

"Are there any large predators in between us and the shuttle?" Kasia asked him as if he were another member of her team.

He sniffed the air for a long moment pointed his nose to the east, and then shook his head 'no'. Kasia reached out and scratched his ears. "I'll give you a sausage later to make up for the interrupted hunt."

He made a happy mreep sound and then fell in at her heels, waiting for directions.

"Wait a second." Maddie frowned as she watched the exchange, "Is that thing sentient?"

"His name is Loki." Kasia responded, quietly but firmly.

Jaime had walked up to Loki and now started scratching behind an ear. "He's special." she said, smiling over at the other two women. She just knew, just like she had with Morrigan.

Loki thumped his head into Jaime's chest, in eagerness for more scratches. Kasia couldn't help but laugh "Oh he'll never leave ye alone now."

"That's alright." Jaime grinned, giving him more of what he wanted.

"Great." Maddie mumbled, flashing Jaime an annoyed look for encouraging the beast.

Jaime straightened and looked back at her, "Captain, I'm not feeling any hostility from him.." and then wondered if Maddie even knew she was more than half Betazoid and empathic. "not so much from the Commander here," she said, glancing over at Kasia with a teasing smile.

"And you can tell that how?" Maddie frowned, quick to pick up on Jaime's words. After all, she most definitely did not know that the other woman was a hybrid. But then, the assistant Dean had been focused on other things of late and definitely wasn't as observant or as astute as she normally was.

"I'm empathic, Ma'am. My mother was Trill/Betazoid and my biological father was Human/Betazoid." Jaime then smiled, "I was teasing about the Commander." thinking mostly. "I only read the emotions of others when it feels necessary or when they're broadcast loudly. And I can assure you that Loki," she placed a hand on his head, "is very sweet." She started walking back in the direction that they had came from, turning around once as she walked, "Someone neglected to put him on the passenger list, but we have room."

"It is not uncommon, since technically he is classified as a research animal, even though he is my pet" Kasia muttered as she raised her eyes to Jaime. She had actually not been teasing about her reaction to the Captain. Her surface emotions would have been easy for any empath to read and she felt a brief trickle of regret that she'd been subjected to her fiery nature.

Jaime smiled knowingly as she turned back around. She continued walking a few feet before stopping to wait on the other women. She had a secret, something she had figured out and discerned that it was something she needed to keep to herself.

"Fine." Maddie sighed, reluctantly giving consent for their latest addition to the passenger manifest, "I trust that you're ready to go?" she asked of Kasia, wanting nothing more than to get back home at this stage.

"Yes ma'am" she murmured and then looked closely at her before rummaging in her pack for an analgesic and a coolant spray. "Here..."

Maddie took the items and raised an eyebrow, wondering just why she was being handed them in the first place.

"I've been married to a healer for too long to not notice when someone's in pain. I'm clumsy so I carry them. I trust ye can use them on yerself aye?" Kasia smiled a little at her confusion.

Having forgotten about her ankle because she was standing still, Maddie finally made the connection and said "Ooooh! Thanks." She managed a sheepish smile before bending down to attend to it, keeping one wary eye on the Sehlat. "In case you hadn't guess by the way...I'm Madeline Sanchez, Assistant Dean at the Academy and this here is Lieutenant Jaime Mallory, our flight deck supervisor and pilot for the day."

Jaime waved at her, smiling as she found it both embarrassing and amusing they had forgotten to intro themselves with all the excitement due to Loki.

Kasia laughed softly and shook her head at the introduction so late in the game. "Pleasure, I'm Kasia Tinsha, but I'm guessing that ye knew that already."

"I hazarded a guess." Maddie smiled before asking "So are you ready to go?"

"Yes Ma'am" was Kasia's crisp response as she pointed her Sehlat in the direction of the shuttle. A change is as good as a rest, and you'll not miss him as much if you're busy. Ah, Miach, do you miss me? Her thoughts drifted to the melancholy as she walked the path after them.

Jaime turned around one time as they walked, not stopping but smiling back at Kasia before turning back around. She sighed at knowing what she knew.

Once they were all safely tucked away in the shuttle, Maddie looked at Jaime and said "Whenever you're ready Lieutenant."

"Aye, Captain." Then they were on their way.

~~~


Captain Madeline Sanchez
Assistant Dean
Magellan Campus

&

Lt. Commander Kasia Tinsha
Science Researcher

&

Lieutenant Jaime Mallory
Pilot/Flight Deck Supervisor


&

Loki
Intelligent Sehlat