To New Friends

Posted on Sun Aug 19, 2018 @ 4:01pm by Lieutenant Martha Cusack & Ensign Gaalen Tholav

Mission: Falling Star
Location: Gaalen's Quarters
Timeline: MD34 || 19:15

Martha had unfortunately had to defer going to Gaalen's quarters as promised due to an increased workload. With this now dealt with and out of the way the Chief Tactical Officer had agreed a revised day and time to visit the Andorian flight control officer to assist with building his model of the Kumari.

With a PADD and measuring equipment in each of her hands Martha made her way to Gaalen's quarters. Once there she pressed the chime and waited for permission to enter.

Gaalen had just finished his evening meal and returned the used cutlery and plate to the replicator to be recycled. He then heard the chime and ensured everything was ready for Martha before allowing his guest to enter.

"Enter" the Andorian called.

Martha entered as requested and stood just inside the door.

"Here to measure up for your model as promised" Martha said.

Gaalen nodded. "Thank you - it's here when you're ready. Can I get you anything to drink?"

Martha pondered the Andorian's offer as she approached the model. After studying it for a moment or two she decided to accept the man's offer of a beverage.

"Yes please. I'll have a cup of warm breakfast tea" Martha replied.

Gaalen nodded again and went up to the replicator. He ordered a cup of tea for Martha which he transferred to the table and some Andorian ale for himself. It wasn't quite the same as the real thing but it was close enough.

"Thank you. Where are the mounting points you'd like me to measure?" Martha asked.

Gaalen approached the model and pointed out the various ports he had made for the lasers he had asked Martha to manufacture.

"That works. I'll get measuring now and then we can discuss what I've got in mind" Martha responded.

Gaalen acknowledged Martha and stood away slightly to give her some space to work. Using her measuring device Martha carefully measured each of the positions Gaalen had pointed out to her and after double checking the measurements she wrote them down on her PADD. Martha then confirmed she had the correct number of readings and placed her belongings to one side.

"I have everything I need. Essentially I'll be making a smaller scale laser diodes which will fit inside the housings. If I remember correctly the beams emitted from Andorian particle cannons are blue aren't they?" Martha said.

Gaalen nodded. "They are yes - and thank you. That sounds good but unfortunately beyond my level of expertise"

"You shouldn't underrate yourself Ensign. You've built all of this yourself so far and from what I can see you've done a first class job" Martha replied.

Gaalen shrugged. "Perhaps not. Reacting positively compliments has never really been something I'm good at. I appreciate your kind words though and also taking the time out to do this favour for me. If there's anything I can do in return...I would appreciate it"

Martha took a sip of her tea and smiled. She liked Gaalen already and could see they were very similar people. Making friends was clearly something neither person was good at but Martha would be more than happy with Gaalen's friendship.

"Your friendship is more than enough Gaalen. And please feel free to call me Martha when we're off duty" Martha responded.

Gaalen raised his glass to toast his new friendship.

"To new friends" Gaalen said.

Martha nodded. "To new friends"

Martha raised her cup of tea and tapped it gently against the Andorian's glass before they both took a sip of their drinks. Making new friends was still quite hard for Martha so she felt making a new friend - Gaalen - was a significant achievement for her.

"How long have you been working on this Gaalen?" Martha asked.

Gaalen replied. "It took me about six months to machine all the parts in my spare time. The skeleton took a couple of weeks to assemble and what I've done so far has taken three days. Still quite a bit to do as you can see"

"It's very impressive. I've got a couple of things on for the next few evenings but I'll be able to get those diodes done within a week. Do you have a control panel to operate them or would you like one of those too?" Martha responded.

Gaalen came around to where Martha was stood and lifted the cover from the control panel to reveal it.

"These will control the internal lights and these will control the diodes once they're installed" Gaalen said.

Martha nodded and admired Gaalen's work. The Andorian was clearly very gifted and it made her wonder why he was a Flight Control Officer rather than an Engineer.

"What made you choose Flight Control over Engineering?" Martha asked.

Gaalen thought about that question for a moment. He wasn't sure about the answer himself other than perhaps he wanted to follow in his father's footsteps.

"My father was a pilot so...that's why I suppose. What about yourself? Why Tactical?" Gaalen replied.

Martha smiled. "Well I originally started in Operations because I like organising things but I was offered a role in Tactical about four years ago and well...it made me wonder why I hadn't chosen it when I entered the Academy"

"I can imagine you like blowing things up" Gaalen said - chuckling.

Martha grinned. "You could say that"

Martha and Gaalen continued to talk about a wide range of things for a couple of hours - including their former assignments, hobbies and their future plans. Both had received a significant confidence boost after making a new friend - with Martha inviting Gaalen over to her quarters in a couple of days' time to share an evening meal with herself, Lucia and Elsie.

"I'll have to get going now I'm afraid Gaalen but I'm looking forward to seeing you again in a couple of days" Martha said.

Gaalen nodded. "I look forward to it"