The Lower Decks

Posted on Fri Nov 12th, 2021 @ 6:18am by Ensign Cassandra Irwin & Ensign Alicio Perim & Ensign Oliver Allen
Edited on on Fri Nov 12th, 2021 @ 6:20am

Mission: The Story of a First Contact Launch Day
Location: Junior Crew Messhall, USS Titan
Timeline: 2411.03.12 1300 Hours

“Two Lida fruits, chilled to -5 degrees from room temperature.”

With a satisfied chime, the replicator spun together a collection of bluish particles and out from the yellow tinted exit port materialized a plate of furry, greenish fruits. Gleefully, Ensign Alicio Perim took hold of one and began peeling back the skin. Once enough of the skin was removed, revealing the lime-green flesh underneath, she took a bite. A grin quickly formed across her lips, having found the fruit satisfactory, and in response, she took the other fruit and slid it into her pocket. Turning around, Alicio stared out into the mess hall she had just wandered into several moments prior and just like when she came in, the place was empty. It seems she was a bit overzealous like always, having arrived on the USS Titan earlier than the mandate, but this was how Ensign Alicio Perim approached her career in Starfleet.

Taking in a deep breath, she approached one of the many benches near the windows and took a seat. Space was as beautiful as always, and while there may not be any company at the moment, at least she can enjoy the view.

Ensign Allen and Ensign Irwin walked in to the messhall for their lunch break. The two had arrived on the ship together a few days prior. They weren't in a relationship or anything, but that had been inseparable since high school. Oliver went to the nearest replicator and Cassandra stood at the one directly next to him. He ordered coffee with eggs and bacon.

"Dude, you realize that it's the middle of the day right?" she criticized.

Oliver mimicked quietly, "It's not like you haven't had breakfast for lunch ever before."

"I heard that!" she hit him playfully after she ordered her own meal.

"Owww."

"Just walk it off" she mocked.

"Rude" Oliver said jokingly as the two went off to find a place to sit down.

The sound of chattering eventually entered into Ensign Perim’s idle mind, her head quickly snapping to the location from which it originated. She smiled at the sight of two more Ensigns, and it was quickly decided then and there that she should probably go over and say hi, even though they looked pretty chummy together. Turning around to face the window, where she can see a faint albeit present reflection of herself, the Trill Ensign quickly dusted herself off and made sure there were no rogue strands of hair over her eyes. Getting to her feet, she walked over to Allen and Irwin, though she kept herself from sliding into one of the benches.

“Ensign Alicio Perim, Engineering,” she introduced herself with a small wave. “Sorry for the intrusion, but I am new here!” Her gaze slowly fell down to the floor, before looking back up as if having an idea. “Um… Lida fruit?” she said, with a subtle grin as she produced a rather furry looking green fruit from her pants pocket.

"Ensign Oliver Allen, Assistant CFCO. Thanks for the offer but I'll pass since I have a plate full of food" he greeted.

"Ensign Cassandra Irwin, Medical Officer. I apologize for my friend here he's rather picky when it comes to food."

"Hey that's not fair..." Oliver protested.

Perim chuckled at their antics. It reminded her very much of her relationship with her older brother, though in her particular situation, Perim played Allen’s role as opposed to Irwin’s. Giving both a generous nod as she slid into the bench opposite of the, the Trill began peeling her new fruit seeing as both of the humans denied her offer.

“I used to be like that when I was little,” she said, before taking a bite of the green fruit. “I wouldn’t go near my vegetables or fruits, but now that I’ve left Trill… I can’t seem to get enough of it.”

Cassandra chuckled. "I know a certain someone who's like that" she winked and motioned to Oliver, in an attempt to continue mocking her best friend. Oliver just rolled his eyes.

Perim took another bite of her Lida fruit, before looking between the two Ensigns. “So um… are you two like, an item or something?” she asked, the human subtlety for these types of questions seemingly lost on the Trill officer.

Oliver and Cassandra looked at each other and then back at Perim and laughed before containing themselves.

""Erm, sorry about that. We just get that question a lot. Truth is, we've been friends since at least high school, maybe more. We are really close. That's why we are basically inseparable" Oliver stated.

Perim’s cheeks turned a light shade of pink when the two now clearly besties burst into laughter. She should have guessed the true nature of their relationship, but all her time spent in the labs has really dulled her senses for these types of things. Chuckling awkwardly along, she set down her fruit.

“Well you two would make a very cute couple,” she said under her breath, before quickly clearing her throat. “So um… real life romcoms aside, is this your first posting? This is actually my first time stepping outside of the Daystrom Institute… heh, never really been in space this long before.”

Hearing what she thought she heard, she blushed a little bit, containing herself a few moments later. She looked at Oliver who was about to answer the question.

"Well, for starters, there was a time period where we were separated when I was still finishing the academy, and Cassandra had already been commissioned to the previous Titan. For my Senior space-assignment I managed to join the Titan. I actually finished the academy on that ship. Up until the end of the Federation-Klingon war we served there. We then transferred to more planet-side assignments because we wanted a break from deep space. I became a shuttle pilot, and Cassandra became a medical officer at SFM" the conn officer began.

Cassandra added to Oliver's statement, "After about a year of that, when we found out about the new Titan, we transferred here. So, it isn't quite our first posting, but we have been back and forth between Earth and space."

Perim’s eyes shifted between the two Ensigns. While no doubt young and probably around the same age as her, she could tell from their stories that they both have much more experience with Starfleet in general than her. Bowing her head, she picked up the half eaten Lida fruit again and took another bite.

“You guys seem to really like the Titan huh?” she said between bites.

"Yeah something like that" Oliver replied as he picked up his fork and began to take a bite of his own food.

Her eyes shifted between the two again. Ollie seemed especially short with his answer which made Perim wonder if there was something about this ship he's not saying. She looked over to Cassandra.

"Well I suppose everyone is pining for a position on one of the Federation's flagships..." she said with a shrug, "I didn't exactly choose to be here, but I suppose there's not much one can do when you're at the bottom of the food chain."

"Even though the Titan isn't the Enterprise, she is a state of the art vessel. The Titan's non-emergency maximum speed without a slipstream drive is warp 9.985. I might be a doctor and not an engineer, but that is fast" Cassandra added. "You mentioned you didn't choose to be here. If you don't mind me asking, did you apply to one of the flagships?" she asked to confirm what Perim had said.

"Huh? Oh no... no..." Perim replied, before letting out a soft chuckle. "I'm a faculty researcher, or well... I was a faculty researcher for Daystrom. My mom actually convinced me to get a commission just last year; believe it or not, I didn't even attend a full four year at that Academy you all went to."

She let out a sigh, crumpling up what little remains of the peel that was left. "I should have guessed that by getting a commission, I was at the mercy of the STR. I suppose my research is more valuable on the Titan than on some rock in Okinawa, though I actually have no idea how anything really works up here in this expanse… Did I mention I didn’t even go to your fancy Academy?”

"Research is as valuable there, as it is on the Titan, if not more, if I'm being honest. I will say, it is impressive that you gained a commission without the academy" Cassandra replied.

"Well... when you have a doctorate in advanced artificial environment and intelligence simulation, I assume things like commissions come secondary." Perim said with a shrug. "Sorry, I don't mean to brag, or to dumb down the Academy... it's impressive what you do there, I know I can't even fire a phaser without getting scared... hehe."

"Yeah. But when you get down to the specifics, we need more people like you who have extra training. It's-" Oliver replied as he got interrupter by his communicator.

=^=Ensign Allen, your assistance is required in the main shuttlebay=^=

Oliver sighed. "Duty calls I guess. Sorry to cut things short." He then tapped his communicator as he rose up. =^=On my way=^=

"It was nice meeting you by the way" he looked at Perim and then turned is attention back towards Cassandra. "I'll see you later shorty."

"I'm not that short!" she yelled out at Oliver, who had a wry smile as he walked out of the mess hall. "That smug bastard" she chuckled to herself.

"It was a pleasure meeting you too Ensign Allen," Perim said with a small grin before turning her attention back to Cassandra. "Well I should probably get going myself, apparently I'm the only one in the engineering department so far."

Getting to her feet, she gave Cassandra a wave. "I guess I'll be seeing you two around then, and thanks for the reassurances." With a bow of her head, the young Trill left the messhall.

Cassandra watched the Trill leave. It was nice meeting new people. She thought about how perceptive Perim was on how close her and Oliver were. Deep down, Cassandra and Oliver knew that something like that could be a possibility one day. One day.