New Friends

Posted on Sun Jan 20th, 2019 @ 8:32am by Lieutenant Jane Sinclair MD, DVM & Lieutenant Zoe Cayce

1,379 words; about a 7 minute read

Mission: Mission 0 - Christening of Legacy and Crew Arrival
Location: Gym
Timeline: 2261.184 1800

Dr. Jane Sinclair had been aboard Legacy for three days at this point and had successfully avoided the gym in that time. One thing she did not enjoy was working out, despite being a doctor and fully understanding the value of regular exercise. She would have avoided it longer, but Nurse T’Kal wouldn’t let up until she agreed to get in some gym time.

Just after her shift, she walked into the gym, wearing a tank top and gym shorts, towel over her shoulder, brown and blue hair pulled back into a pony tail. She looked at the various machines, completely uncertain as to where to start.

She had been doing floor exercises. Standing position. Arms bent at the elbows and close to her body. Raise on leg, bent at the knee and straight out from the hip, extend in a sharp kick, return to the bent position and then back to the floor. Easy enough but when done this way, what mattered was the form. Adjusting every nuance so that the overall movement was as perfect as it could be. It sounded strange to some, but to Zoe Cayce, newly arrived on the USS Legacy and still trying to adjust with to the surfeit of men aboard, it was relaxing. Calming.

She was dressed in a black camisole top and matching shorts and her black hair (straight and if one could anthropomorphize, mulish stubborn about remaining so) was piled up in an untidy knot on her head. Lean and well-muscled, there wasn't a spare ounce on her anywhere. Not from vanity but more from an active lifestyle and a love of physical challenge. She was barefoot, her shoes and towel tucked out of the way, and she smiled as the newcomer walked in. She liked the idea of two-toned hair and had thought more than once of adding a blue streak though she didn't have the beginnings of a clue how to go about it. She took in the awkward body language and stopped and walked over. "First time in enemy territory," she asked in accented Federation Standard.

Jane smiled a bit awkwardly. “That obvious?” she asked in her own accented Standard. “I’m sorry, I don’t mean to bother you. I rarely come to the gym but the bloody nurse insisted. Something about carrying me here herself?” She smiled and approached the other woman, who looked about her age, not tall but a few inches taller than her, very fit, and quite pretty. “Hi. I’m Jane. Jane Sinclair, Chief Medical Officer.” She extended her hand for a handshake.

Zoe, having learned about the custom in her first weeks at the Academy, accepted the handshake as she said, "Zoe Cayce. I'm the Chief of Security." She cocked her head slightly to one side and a tendril of hair, slid out of his haphazard arrangement. "A bit, obvious I mean. Its that way that newcomers look around as though they've stepped into a torture den, you know? I don't use the machines myself. I'd much rather do something and let the exercise part be happy by product."

“Huh,” said Jane. “I honestly never thought of that. What sort of things do you do?” Jane’s curiosity was piqued. She was no athlete, but Zoe might have some idea of something that was fun and avoided the gym. “And where’s your accent from? It’s lovely.”

Zoe smiled and as she did so, the security officer slid away to reveal the easy going woman beneath. "I'm Cygnian," she said. "Born on Cygni XIV in the Omega 1 system. Now, as to the things I like to do? Well, anything connected to the water. Swimming. Diving. A bit of surfing. But I also do martial arts ... something that's handy to know, especially in the life we live, but its also ... calming too. I learned how to center myself, how to be in the moment and do what's needed without letting the moment control me. Make sense?"

“I enjoy a good swim, too!” said Jane. “And I understand what you mean. I feel that way out in the field. I’m human but I was born and raised on Vega Colony. Farming town. That feeling of being centered...I feel that when I’m outdoors, walking among the crops. Gently working with the animals. Cute little barn cats rubbing their heads on my ankles,” she said with a big smile on her face.

"Back home," Zoe said as she pulled her hair out of the knot that was already threatening to undo itself, "I lived in a beach house. One of my mothers is an oceanographer, you know? So ... no barns ... no fields. But lots of cats. Mine sleeps on the pillow next to me at night and bites me, very gently, on the shoulder to wake me up when its time to feed him." She chuckled at the memory and wished, not for the first time, that she'd been able to be with him in his last days. "Really thinking about smuggling one on board."

“Oh, we’re allowed small pets on this ship,” Jane assured Zoe. “A few crewmembers have cats, small dogs, some rodents and reptiles. Some fish. I’m thinking of getting a cat next time we stop at a colony.” She showed off a rather nasty scratch on her arm that refused to heal quickly. “I’m also a veterinarian. One little cutie got a bit rambunctious with me the other day.” She smiled at the thought of Petty Officer Alves and his cat Missy’s appointment two days earlier.

"There were ... uh ... a couple of mornings where I'd wake up late and I'd have all these mysterious red marks on my arm," Zoe grinned at the memory. "I think that's about when he decided to try a different tact. He'd sleep on the pillow and then watch me ... first sign of movement, he literally stuck his face in my face." She mock shuddered at the memory. "Nothing like the tickle of whiskers to get you awake."

She regarded the doctor for a moment while doing some mental calculations. "Chief Medical Officer and Veterinarian? That's a lot of time in school ..."

Jane nodded. “A lot of it was practical learning back in Vega when I was a teen, and I took animal physiology electives when I was at Starfleet Medical. During my last posting, aboard USS Pascal, I was permitted to take distance learning courses with Royal Veterinary College, with practical sessions and exams whenever we stopped at colonies. And I like to continue learning! I’m thinking of trying my hands at massage therapy next. So to speak.” She smiled at her own stupid joke.

"We security types love massages," Zoe affirmed, "and are always willing to be used for practice. As to the learning, well, I do too ... if its something that interests me. Kind of where me and my mathematics teachers parted company. Now that I think of it, that was true of a couple of instructors at the Academy as well. I wanted to learn trick riding, they wanted me to learn navigation."

Jane laughed a bit. “Well, when I start learning, let me know. First massage is yours.”

“I don’t suppose this ship has swimming amenities, does it?” asked Jane, hoping Zoe had explored a bit more and knew of something she didn’t. “Or some other way to get in the water, aside from the bathtub?”

"You know, I don't know," Zoe said with a mock frown as she placed her index finger against her lip in thought. "I think, it requires some exploration. On my last ship, I must have found four good hiding spots that no one else knew about and two, that were favorites for romantic getaways and one particularly lazy crewman."

Jane grinned, her eyes alight with curiosity. “Shall we go explore then?” she asked. “See if there’s a pool, or find the secret hiding spots?”

"Now that sounds like a plan," Zoe said as she gestured toward the exit and leaned in conspiratorially as they walked. "Every good exploration starts on the lowest deck, you know."

Jane blushed beet red as they entered the corridor. “Don’t I know it!”

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