Posted by Lieutenant Commander Bethany Kovra Gadi (Chief of Security) in Kindred Souls - Tag: Martel

Posted by Lieutenant Miranda Martel (Chief Engineer) in Kindred Souls - Tag: Martel

Posted by Lieutenant Commander Bethany Kovra Gadi (Chief of Security) in Kindred Souls - Tag: Martel
Posted by… suppressed (3) by the Post Ghost! 👻

(snip)
Bethany took a very deep breath and let it out slowly, ordering her thoughts and settling her emotions. Maybe it was time to drag that focusing candle out that T’Jal had given her. She felt lost and adrift, but that wasn’t Miranda’s fault. “I’m sorry, Miranda. I’m just frustrated. There are people I should contact, information I should be tracking down, and I can’t because of this haunted station and cursed nebula. I spent a lot of years tracking him, and now…” another deep breath. “Well, there’s nothing for it now, but to see how things play out.” Taking a sip of her drink she put the issue with Elias out of her mind, for now, and focused on the fact the woman across from her was struggling with the mission. Bethany was frustrated of the reappearance of Balthazar but she had no issues with taking on the mission. It was just another day at the office. “So tell me, what do you do for fun? Other than tinker with the ship’s systems?”

Gadi, CoS

Bethany seemed to catch herself, steady herself, and then refocus. That was good. good control, even though the air was free to use how she wanted and it was her quarters after all. At the question Miranda fidgeted, picking at a little it of dirt under one nail. Fracking gimbal on shuttle two was acting up again. “I like to hike, do some backpacking. A little bit of rock climbing. I got pretty into martial arts and kickboxing when I was younger. My mom thought the discipline would be a good outlet for me. Settle me down, give me focus. And be useful if I had to defend myself. She was sort of right. Though a few of the scraps I got into … Well, it was good. Quickly found out on the street it’s almost never one on one. So gotta be efficient. Then Starfleet combatives? That was actually fun for me. Well, until I kept getting power-bombed by this massive Klingon. Even with the mats I could still feel myself hit the floor under them.” She lapsed into sheepish silence for a moment, her face and ears turning red. She was thankful there were no psychics nearby. At least the easy assumption was that she was embarrassed at losing.

Bethany grinned, “Martial arts does require a lot of discipline to master, but it is very rewarding. The security department offers a combined martial arts class/practice a couple times a week if you would want to join us.” Then she laughed, “Klingons love to power-bomb people. They are strong and resilient and can manage it over and over again. But the ones that you have to look out for are the ones with the fancy foot work. They will surprise you every time.” She’d learn that with one of her mentors. What she wouldn’t give to discuss this situation with her right now.

“And yeah, I like to tinker and fiddle with things. Take stuff apart and put it back together again. Everything from EPS relays and ODN networks to breaking down phasers, servicing them and putting them back together. I guess it calms me down. And .... I love to fly. Whether it’s a shuttle or a twentieth century aircraft from the Second World War. Or anything in between.” She shrugged one shoulder. “Freedom, speed, just me and the machine, putting it through it’s paces.” For just a moment, there at the last, there was an almost romanticized note or notion to her voice. There was something about being in the clouds or even in space that was liberating when you could go anywhere and however you wanted, provided vehicle and pilot could handle it.

“What about you…?”

Lt Martel, CE

“Martial arts, and computers. I love being able to hack into another computer and shut people down before things get heated. The looks on people’s faces when they go to fire their weapons and nothing works…it’s priceless. Back home I used to climb to the top of this small rock face and lay and watch the stars. There’s nothing else like it. No matter where you are.”

Gadi, CoS

Miranda nodded with a small smile that shone with approval. “I bet. I loved getting into high up places nobody else knew about. And Hacking, electronic warfare was fun. Wasn’t much use for it on my colony, but I did some. The Academy though, we did get into some theoretical war gaming in my applied engineering. I’m no computer science major, but having a decent grounding in software as well as hardware helps. As for training and practice. I’d be down for that, in a heartbeat. Especially since there isn’t much to do on this tiny little gunboat.” Idly she looked toward the pot steaming nearby, frowning and chewing the inside of her bottom lip a little.

Martel, CE

“Well it tends to be a bit of a wild ride. Like you said it’s a tiny gunboat and practice space is limited, but we find the space.” Bethy stood and picked up the steaming pot and brought it over along with small but varied selection of hot drinks. “Help yourself.” She sat back down with a grin. “Up high, secret places, anywhere I shouldn’t be. It was even better if it was somewhere no one else knew about.” Bethany had recently cut her caffeine intake. She missed real strong black coffee, but it was necessary. She chose a mild non-caffeinated tea for the moment and poured hot water over the tea bag and let it steep.

Gadi, CoS

As Gadi went on about secret and high places, her smile brightened. She knew exactly what the other woman was talking about, and was guilty of the same. “I know exactly what you mean. That’s one of the things I like about crawling around in Jeffries tubes. I’ll find quiet, out of the way spots where nobody goes and I can just… be. Or in a few cases, find an external view port where it’s just me and the stars.” She shrugged. On most any ship the chief engineer could go most anywhere without restriction, or much restriction. It was her job, after all, to be able to go anywhere and fix or access anything that needed work. and they were a senior officer, trusted with high level access.

Bethany nodded, “I’ve found one or two like that here on Asimov, bit I’m not sure how unknown they are. She’s a small ship and everyone is looking for a little solitude.”

Taking the proffered pot, she snagged herself a black tea and loaded some sweetener into the mug and added hot water, letting it begin to steep as well. Cradling the mug in hand, she let it’s heat begin to seep into her cold hands while the air filled with the aroma of fresh teas, and another little layer of stress and tension seemed to peel off of of her. “At least I haven’t caught anybody making shine in one of the crawlspaces. Or trying to anyway.”

Martel, CE

“Well.....I doubt anyone is trying to make any shine, but watch out for the FedSec Agent. I hear tell he has a stash of shine he brought with him from home. I haven’t found any contraband though.” In all truthfulness Bethany didn’t care if he did or not. Everyone had alcohol stashed somewhere, and Pikelsimer wasn’t under her jurisdiction unless it came to ship’s safety. And from what Shara told her about him, the man wasn’t capable of being that dumb that Bethany would have to do something. And we’ll....maybe....the older FedSec Agent and his shine reminded her a little of home. She picked up her mug and let the steam waft into her face before taking a sip. “Why Star Fleet?”

Gadi, CoS

Miranda shrugged. “It’s not hard to get actual booze out of the replicators with a little know-how. It’s a little more difficult on the Asimov because they’re mostly limited to the mess hall, but still,” she mused. Cradling the cup of tea in her hands she sighed. “Partially colonial mentality. Everything everybody else has is better. Starfleet doesn’t struggle to make ends meet. To get things done. Not like we did. I figure if I can pick up some of that and bring it back then at least Stumpton would be better. Part of it too was proving to myself I was Starfleet material. My mom tried, but washed out. But she was good enough for the CDF. Made a name for herself there. I dunno if I will ever do what she does, but Starfleet seemed like a good way to grow my engineering skills and more. And I guess maybe I wanted to get off that rock. I may go back to New Tejas someday,” she murmured, ending the word Texas with the Spanish variant.

“There are days I think it was a great decision. And then others when… I feel like I was so naive. And my stomach turns. I suppose I haven’t … fully figured out how to move forward after … the Shamshir.” Everything came back to that ship, and that short but terrible time. “I’m not even sure what moving forward really looks like, to tell the truth. Right now I’m just putting one foot in front of the other, hoping something reveals itself. Or I fin… It’s so far behind me.” Her gaze had fallen deep into the dark tea in her hands, rather than focused on Gadi. After a moment she lightly wiped at the corner of one eye with a fingertip, then cleared her throat.

Bethany shook her head, “You move forward when you decide where you want to move to. It’s not easy, but you can’t make a journey unless you know where you want to go,” more wisdom from her uncles. “You may not end up where you thought you would, but you can’t move from a cross roads if you don’t pick a direction.”

“You?”

Miranda

“Me?” Bethany’s look got very far away. “I was 6 when the Dominion arrived on Betazed. I was 7 when they came to our city and started rounding up the adults. They came for my father. They had no interest in me or my human mother…” It was still very easy for Bethany to remember the fear and impotent frustration as they dragged her father out of their house. “There was a fight of some sort and many of the adults escaped, my father included. We snuck out to the country side into the jungle to hide. Eventually making our way to the resistance. My father’s leg was severally broken in the altercation, but we kept going. His leg never healed right, we had no access to medical equipment or supplies.” She stared out the window to the vastness of the station where they were docked, but all she saw were images of fear and horror. “Eventually we heard a rumor that a member of the 3rd house escaped the planet to get help. It was several months before anything happened. But then a member of Star Fleet Intelligence brought a team to help us fight. It was dangerous and risky, he wasn’t Betazoid nor did he have any connection to anyone on the planet, but he did it anyway. A little awe and hero worship go a long way. I decided that if he could do that for strangers, I could to. So when I got old enough I joined Star Fleet and worked and annoyed my way into SFI.”

Gadi, CoS

Miranda listened quietly, nodding. “That’s pretty incredible. There were a lot of horror stories that came out of Betazed. I guess I got lucky being farther away. We had a couple of incursions, but nothing like a full-scale invasion. That must have been pretty scary.” She shook her head, then took a sip of her tea. “Pretty good story though, and I’m glad you made it out.” There was no small amount of compassion filtered through her words, but also a little awe. To make it through that whole thing, as a kid? She could only imagine the crap her friend had gone through.

Martel, CE