Posted by Lieutenant Junior Grade Nytha’rae of Vael’Lume (Chief Science Officer) in Check in XO

Posted by Lieutenant Commander Finn Grady (First Officer) in Check in XO

Posted by Lieutenant Junior Grade Nytha’rae of Vael’Lume (Chief Science Officer) in Check in XO
Posted by… suppressed (6) by the Post Ghost! 👻
The corridor outside the Executive Officer’s office carried the tighter rhythm of command spaces. Even here, away from the hangar and Sickbay, the Chimera’s pulse pressed through the bulkheads measured, deliberate, impatient in its own way.

Nytha’rae paused before the door. The placard identified the space as the office of Lt. Cmdr. Finn Grady. She read the name once, committing it to memory. Names were anchors. They shaped how one approached a presence.

She adjusted the strap of her pack across her shoulder and let her bioluminescent markings dim to a steady, neutral glow. At her collarbone, Nytha’kae shifted, wings folding closer as the ambient electromagnetic hum of the command corridor rippled across his senses. His jewel-bright colors dulled to a cautious sheen.

Nytha’rae lifted her hand and rang the chime.

The tone was soft but carried authority a small sound that nonetheless announced her presence into a space of command.

She stepped back half a pace and waited.

Her tail coiled loosely behind her, the black tuft at its tip brushing once against the deck before going still. She focused on her breath, slow and measured, grounding herself in the rhythm she carried from Vael’Lume rather than the one imposed by the ship.

Nytha’kae peered toward the door, then tucked his head beneath one wing. The corridor lighting was too bright for his eyes; she angled her shoulder slightly to shade him from the worst of it.

Footsteps passed somewhere farther down the passage. A panel hummed. The door remained closed.

Waiting was not emptiness. It was a discipline. In the forests of her homeworld, one waited for the living world to answer through sound, through movement, through the subtle easing of tension in the air.

Here, she waited for a door to open.

And until it did, she stood quietly at the edge of a command space that did not yet know her, holding still enough to be seen.

LTJG Nytha’rae

Finn glanced up from some personnel change reports he had been looking over at the sound of the chime. “Come on in!” he called out.

As the doors slid open he saw the Vaelari officer standing there, noting the rank pips on her collar. He stood to greet her, his face widening in a friendly grin that made his green-blue eyes sparkle a bit. The XO stood about Nytha’rae’s same height with a runner’s build and a mildly unkempt bit of wavy dark hair on his head. Glancing around the office she would notice that it was somewhat sparsely decorated at this point: there was a picture of the skyline of Nashville, Tennessee on Earth with an ancient skyscraper building with two spires sticking up on either side taking center stage. Another picture was an artistic rendering of several stringed instruments in their stands, facing each other like they were the band members though their players were absent. Finally, there was a picture of a younger looking Finn, dressed in riding gear, holding the reins of a Tennessee walking horse.

“Welcome Lieutenant, I’m guessing you must be my new Chief Science Officer? I’m Lieutenant Commander Finn Grady, the XO. Please have a seat,” he said with the faint hint of an accent from the Southern United States on Earth. He gestured to the chairs in front of his desk.

Lieutenant Commander Grady - XO

Nytha’rae paused just inside the threshold, allowing the room’s rhythm to settle around her before she stepped fully in. The hum here was quieter than the corridor, less sharp than Sickbay, more contained. The bioluminescent lines along her cheekbones dimmed to a neutral glow.

She inclined her head in greeting rather than offering the human gesture of a smile.

“I am Nytha’rae of Vael’Lume,” she said softly. “Lieutenant, Chief Science Officer.”

Her gaze moved briefly, taking in the shapes of the room—not for decoration, but for the story the images told. Stone towers against sky. Instruments standing in quiet communion. A younger version of the man before her with a living creature of muscle and breath and patience. The pictures spoke of roots, of craft, of movement across open ground. It eased something tight at the base of her throat.

She stepped forward and took the offered seat, settling carefully so her tail did not press awkwardly against the chair’s edge. The black tuft at its tip brushed once against the floor and stilled.

“Thank you for receiving me, Lieutenant Commander Grady,” Nytha’rae said. “I am newly arrived to your ship. I wish to learn her rhythms before I am asked to change them.”

Her bioluminescence warmed a fraction at her collarbone as she met his gaze, calm and present.

“I will not be loud in your spaces,” she added. “But I will speak when the land we walk upon begins to fail beneath our feet.”

LT.JG Nyth’rae

Finn nodded at Nytha’rae’s words. “I will admit that I am still picking up on some of her rhythms myself, I’m a little bit of a new bird on the Chimera as well. Also, I’m afraid that sometimes I can get a little bit loud on my own.”

He gestured to the fiddle hanging on the wall, “Doesn’t take much for me to catch the urge to go to town on those strings. I can get a little rowdy.” He gave her a little bit a sly grin as his mind went to being on stage sawing away at a good blue grass tune.

“Anyway, I do hope you will feel free to speak up when needed. I only know the basic requirements for science stuff, I came up through the security line myself. I consider you the expert and I want you to feel empowered to be that. If I recall from your file this is your first time as head of the science department, what are your feelings about that?”

Lieutenant Commander Grady - XO

Nytha’rae listened as he spoke, her gaze briefly shifting to the instrument hanging on the wall. The curve of the wood and the tension of the strings reminded her of the way living branches bent in the canopy when the wind passed through them.

“The strings would not disturb me,” she said softly. “Rhythm is another way a place breathes.”

She folded her hands loosely in her lap, the faint glow along her throat settling into a calm pulse.

“It is my first time guiding a science department, yes,” Nytha’rae continued. “On my world we do not place one voice above the others for long. Knowledge is usually carried in circles.” She tilted her head slightly, considering the thought before finishing it. “But Starfleet does not walk in circles. It walks forward.”

Her tail shifted slightly behind the chair as she settled more comfortably.

“I feel… responsible,” she said simply. “The science team will look to me when the land beneath our missions is not yet understood. I must help them hear what the world is saying before we place our weight upon it.”

Her bioluminescence warmed faintly as she met his gaze again.

“If I do this well, the ship will return home with new knowledge and without leaving broken ground behind us.”

LT.JG Nytha’rae

Finn nodded at her words, “It can feel strange to be ‘in charge’ for the first time, I can only imagine it being that much harder when coming from a place such as your world where ‘in charge’ is not a thing. But there are a lot of ways to be ‘in charge’ and to run a department. I find that the best leaders lead more by their actions and less with their commands. I trust you will find a way where you can be true to both yourself and to Starfleet regulations.”

He smiled thinking back to his own first days as a department head and these first days as a First Officer. A lot of things can be taught but for others, there is no substitute for experience.

“And don’t go giving Starfleet too much credit, they’ve been know to run in circles a time or two,” he grinned.

Lieutenant Commander Grady - XO

Nytha’rae listened quietly as he spoke, the faint bioluminescence along her throat holding a calm, steady glow. His words about leading through action rather than command seemed to settle well with her; she gave a small, acknowledging nod.

“There is one thing I should make clear early,” she said gently.

Her hands rested loosely in her lap as she continued.

“My people do not carry weapons like the ones used in Starfleet.” She did not say the word immediately, as if it carried a weight of its own. “Energy weapons burn more than the body. To us they disturb the balance of the ground they touch.”

Her tail shifted slightly behind the chair as she chose her words carefully.

“I understand that Starfleet relies on them. I do not ask others to follow my people’s ways.” She lifted her gaze back to him. “But I will not carry a phaser.”

There was no defiance in her tone only a quiet certainty.

“Instead, I carry the weapon of my people.” She gestured lightly toward her back as if acknowledging something that was not currently visible in the office. “A bow, carved from the living wood of my family’s tree. It was given to me when I came of age.”

The glow along her cheekbones warmed slightly.

“It is not a weapon of war to us. It is a tool of balance. It reminds us that when life must be taken, we must see it clearly.”

She inclined her head once more.

“I wished you to know this before a situation arises where it might cause confusion.”

Lt.JG Nytha’rae

Finn considered her words for a moment before responding. “I definitely want to respect your wishes here, Lieutenant, if you don’t feel like you should carry a phaser I would never try to force you to do that. Luckily, you are in a department that, hopefully, should not find itself needing a weapon very often. On an away mission, perhaps, but there will be plenty of other officers there. I do wonder about something though… a phaser can be set to stun settings, it’s not required to kill your target or really even seriously injure it. I’m not familiar with your particular bow, but in my experience, an arrow is going to cause a lot more damage than a phaser set to stun. Perhaps you can help me understand that better?”

Lieutenant Commander Grady - XO

Nytha’rae listened to the First Officer without interrupting, the bioluminescent lines along her throat holding a calm, steady glow. When he finished, she inclined her head slightly before answering.

“There is one more thing I should explain clearly,” she said gently.

Her hands rested loosely together in her lap as she chose her words with care.

“My people do not carry phasers—even on stun. To us, such weapons disturb something deeper than the body. They harm the spirit of the one who fires them and the one they strike.” She paused briefly. “We would say they poison the soul of both.”

Her gaze remained calm and direct.

“I will not inflict that harm upon another being.”

She lifted one hand slightly, indicating the idea of the weapon she carried.

“The weapon I do carry is a bow. It is carved from the living wood of my family’s tree—one that has grown beside our home for many generations. When I came of age, a branch was given to me and shaped into the bow I carry now.”

The faint glow along her cheekbones warmed as she spoke of it.

“It is not simply a weapon. It is a reminder of responsibility. When an arrow leaves the string, you cannot pretend it did not happen.”

Her tail shifted quietly behind the chair.

“And if I ever draw that bow in your service,” she added calmly, “then something has gone… as your people say… epically south.”

Her expression remained composed.

“I will not draw it unless the situation has reached what Starfleet calls deadly force. Until that moment, I will seek other ways to protect life.”

Lt.JG Nytha’rae

“I appreciate the explanation, Lieutenant. Honestly, that makes a lot more sense when you explain it that way. Perhaps we do get a little cavalier sometimes knowing that our weapon is not going to kill someone physically. Maybe we ought to find ways to keep it holstered a little longer than we do,” he pondered this as a grin formed back across his face. “I don’t know if you’re ever going to catch another security officer saying that outside of this meeting.”

He chuckled a little thinking about telling the marines onboard that they needed to practice more diplomacy prior to drawing weapons. That likely wouldn’t go over very well.

“Perhaps while you’re leading our scientists in discovering all the secrets of the universe the rest of us might do some learning from you. Anything is possible out here, I think. At any rate, Lieutenant, I am excited to see how you choose to lead and remember my door is always open. I don’t want to keep you too long.”

Lieutenant Commander Grady - XO