<snip>

“Alright then, if you’re sure,” he said, placing the bar back on its rack to give his shoulders a rest. “How about a change in subject?”

Cmdr. Dr. Brad Walker
Chief of Staff

Dira’s lowered herself back to the mat and rested her head on folded arms for a moment. “Sure,” she said softly before chuckling. “And all that comes to mind is work. I know that’s a bit of the reality of shifting into a new role, but it is a little sad. So, tell me something about yourself I don’t know.”

Captain Myqian, CO

“Sure,” Brad said, walking away from the squat rack, grabbing a towel and wiping his face with it. “I spent the summer I turned 16 in a kayak, paddling the entire navigable length of the river that runs through my home city.”

Cmdr. Dr. Brad Walker
Chief of Staff

“Really? What made you decide to do that, and how long was the river” she asked, rather fascinated. As someone who loved being outdoors herself, she could imagine the reasons for doing so. It was often no different than the pull her father and her and felt towards traipsing over the woodlands and beaches of the outskirts of Hadran City. She shifted into a sitting position again, with one knee up, and twisted gently in the opposite direction.

Captain Myqian, CO

“The entire river is almost 3800 kilometers, but it’s basically cut in half for hydropower generation. I started just below the last dam, and from there to where it flows into an even bigger river was 1350 kilometers,” Brad said. “And it was in part a challenge to myself, but also a way to just spend time on my own and away from my four little brothers.”

Cmdr. Dr. Brad Walker
Chief of Staff

She grinned. “I love kayaking. It’s such a fluid and freeing way of moving across water. Though I can’t imagine going that sort of distance. The one time I did river kayaking, it did not go well. Then again, I suppose you weren’t dealing with white water on your journey.”

Brad chuckled. “No, the only falls on that river are impounded well behind the dams. It took me most of a fortnight, since I limited myself to 100 kilometers a day. Aftewards, I’d head to shore and make camp for the night, or head into the nearest town for a meal and a room.”

“What was it like having so many siblings?” Myqian asked.

“Incredibly frustrating,” Brad replied quickly. “Especially with the youngest ones. Bret and Brian are each two years younger than me and each other, then Braedyn and Brynden were born when I was 11, so they were barely toddlers while I was in my teens.”

Captain Myqian, CO

Cmdr. Dr. Brad Walker
Chief of Staff

Dira tried to imagine what it would have been like to have grown up with other children in the house and with such an age range, and she found it rather difficult. She shook her head. “I’m an only child and my parents divorced when I was young so I have a hard time imagining what it would be like. But I can imagine that that age difference creates a much different dynamic with your youngest siblings than the middle ones. Are you close with any of them?”

“I was closest with Bret and Brian growing up. They even followed me into the Fleet, but they both mustered out after their first tour and went into private practice back on Earth,” Brad said. “The twins I don’t think I’ve seen since they graduated high school, and that was 12 years ago. The last I heard, they were both involved in refugee resettlement in the Beta Quadrant, but even that was three years ago.”

Cmdr. Dr. Brad Walker
Chief of Staff

Captain Myqian, CO