Sharah was standing in the kitchen, of her quarters, cooking. After Joseph had returned to his quarters to unpack she had left to check in with the labs and handled a few reports and reviewed a few experiments that needed her attention. She was disappointed he hadn’t asked her to stay with him. She had asked the captain for a favor, but she considered Drudoc a good friend and not just her captain. But it was still a favor of her commanding officer. But then Joseph was very annoyed with her, so she guessed he didn’t want to be around her at the moment. She had known he would be, and there was nothing she could do about it now. He was making his way through check-ins, without her as a burden. That was what she wanted, and although he was upset with her, she could not bring herself to be sorry. They usually did things his way, but just this once, she knew she was right, and she needed him to know that. So to keep herself busy she had gone to work, despite the captain having basically given her the day off. After the labs she’d made the rounds of the arboretums. She was proud of the work that was progressing. Arboretum 3 was coming along nicely and would be a great asset for the ship if things went sideways. But right now, Sharah was more concerned with stopping her attempt to cook from going sideways.

The redesign of her quarters had been finished for a few weeks now. Ebony wood flooring and cherry wood accents, matching the wood she’d used to design Joseph’s chess set. Oak and white pine on the walls and ceiling. The colors and furniture was similar, but not exact, to the cabin on the gulf. The layout of course was slightly different, but when she returned every day it reminded her of what she was working towards. The life she wanted. She enjoyed the holo-emitters on the windows, but she didn’t use them much. Only when the blackness of space, the vast emptiness, was too much. This, the cabin, was where she loved being alive. The living area was directly in front of the door with the kitchen behind it and to the left. The work area, just a desk and chair, with the built in shelves, but smaller, to the right against the wall before leading to the bedroom. Her sketch of Joseph on the pier was hanging on the wall near the ‘kitchen’ and in her bedroom was the one of the light house. Her photos were next to her books. And on the coffee table next to her bonsai was her chess set, in the middle of a game.

That morning at the senior staff meeting it had seemed to drag on forever. Until a message came in for the captain announcing the arrival of a new officer. The whole senior staff knew, and if they didn’t, they weren’t paying attention. With good natured ribbing that made Sharah blush furiously she’d double timed it to the transporter pad after being dismissed. She’d barely made it before Joseph stepped through the doors. It had taken all her self discipline to not throw herself into his arms after all this time. But they were both on duty and she could wait, just a bit longer.

The water was beginning to boil and she was gathering the pasta to add to the water. She’d made it, and at least this time it looked like pasta and not ripped pieces of dough like the first time she had cooked for Joseph. The lemon grilled chicken was finished and sitting on a plate in the replicator keeping warm. She put the pasta in, the sauce still simmering and turned to begin cleaning up the mess she had made. Which was impressive to say the least. She was walking back from dropping the leftover pasta dough in the recycler when the noise crashed over her making her stagger. She reached out a hand to catch herself as she stumbled, her hand landing on the side of the pot of boiling water. She yelled as it burned her hand; she turned on the water at the sink and ran the cold water over it waiting for the wave to stop so she could concentrate to find her med kit.
Lt jg Fayth, CSO