Meeting of the Helm Officers

Posted on Tue Nov 26th, 2024 @ 9:31pm by Lieutenant Kayoko Himeji

1,064 words; about a 5 minute read

Mission: The Campaign for Coridan
Location: Officers Mess

The Unicorn was one of the first Starfleet ships to have two consoles designed to operate flight control operations. On one side would be Kayoko's Station, designated purely for helm control and directly next would be another station purely foe navigation and course plotting. In Kayoko's opinion, splitting up helm and navigation made it easier for the helm officers. It would mean working in a team, and since the helm often stood alone are the forward center of the bridge it would make it less lonely.

She had been eager to meet the officer whom she would no doubt be sat next to for many hours. They would need a good working relationship in order to co-ordinate together, especislly if the ship saw combat; which was going to be more often than not these days.

She entered the ship's officer's mess as most of the Alpha shift crew were assigned to lunch break. Today's serving of chicken curry with rice was a good option, just as long as it wasn't too spicy. Having picked up a bowl of fluffy rice and good helping of curry, she spotted who she thought was Lieutenant Weston. She had been given a brief description of him, and this young nan matched that.

She carried her tray over and hovered over the table for a moment. "Excuse me? Are you Lieutenant Weston?" She asked softly.

The young man looked up, "Yes," he responded before standing up to greet the young woman, "I'm guessing by the bars, Lt. Himeji..." His eyes widened a bit behind his glasses as he said, "I apologize if I butchered that."

Kayoko smiled. "Can I join you?"

"Oh, ah, yeah of course," Blake responded as he sat back down, "I would say you don't need my permission, but you wouldn't know that."

She slid down into the seat opposite, placing her tray in front of her. "It's always polite to ask," she told him. "So..." she started after a few seconds of silence. "We'll be sitting next to each other a lot on the bridge..."

"True," Blake responded with a neutral expression and nodded, "So we shall... A new experience for the two of us... Frankly I'm glad to only be doing navigation, which is where my interests lie. Splits the workload up anyway."

Kayoko couldn't help but smirk a little as she used a spoon to pop some of the curry into her mouth. The flavour was nice, and thankfully it was rather mild. After swallowing she looked back at Blake. "So you're more interested in Navigating over flying? Were you a helm officer before?"

Blake nodded, "Well until this class you had to do both, as you know," he responded, "I just was always more interested in navigation... I clustered in that area at the academy and basically was on... autopilot for the helm stuff... Not as though I didn't put my best into it, just was less interested in it." He looked into the young woman's hazel eyes through his glasses.

"Navigating was never my strong point." She admitted. "I can do it, but it takes a lot of focus. However, somehow piloting comes much more naturally to me..." her attention seemed to wander. "I can't wait to see what I can do with this ship... Warp Seven, it gets me all excited. Almost like when see a guy you really like and he sits next to you or looks your way..." she held a hand up to her heart as she gazed into nowhere. She seemed to be enjoying herself as her mind wandered.

After a few seconds she 'came back down to Earth' from her little 'high moment' and snapped back into reality. "Sorry. That was probably a bit weird..." she said looking down as her cheeks started to glow red.

"Totally fine," Blake responded with a chuckle, "I wouldn't know, I don't have much experience being a high school girl." He smiled at his own joke. "I hope this war is quick," he commented, "So we can get back to exploring..." He sighed, "Sorry for bringing us back to reality," he added.

Kayoko nodded in agreement. "Although war is never good, it always ends up driving us Humans to new heights." She paused "And lows of course..." she looked down at the table for a second. "Basically, from what I've seen, everytime there is a war, we as a species invent something, or overcome something to help stop, or shorten that war. The Nuclear Bomb in nineteen forty five for example. The aircraft carrier, and this ship..." she told him. "We always seem to use it as an excuse for advancement. But does that mean it takes war and conflict for us to advance?" She looked up at Blake. "Are we really that much of an aggressive species like the Vulcans say we are?"

"Well, this is certainly a defensive war," Blake responded, "We didn't go looking for it... We didn't start it. That was the Romulans." He paused for a moment, "I've spent a great deal of time with Vulcans... To sit and allow oneself to be murdered is not logical."

"You spent a long time with Vulcans? Didn't you find them... well... boring?" Kayoko asked.

The young man nodded, "My last assignment was with the officer exchange program. I spent time on several of their ships including central command. If anything I grew an appreciation for them. They have a refreshing way of life. Relaxed and slow paced, but I suppose their long life span lends them to that way of living," he said.

Kayoko nodded. "So, they don't exactly rush with anything. I guess that's why it took so long for us to develop the warp speeds we have today..."

"Well from what I understand, they wanted us to learn on our own," Blake responded, "And there are valuable lessons in doing it the gradual way versus the quick reckless way..." He paused for a moment. He looked down at the table and smirked, "I suppose I sound like the Vulcan Ambassador," he commented.

"Yeah, you kinda do..." Kayoko teased. "But without the point ears," she added with a cheeky wink.

With that said she finished the rest of her food quickly and jumped to her feet. "Well I'll see you around!" she said as she turned and took her tray back to the serving area.

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